1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chronic Wasting Disease Research Act . 2. Chronic wasting disease research grant program (a) In general The Animal Health Protection Act is amended by inserting after section 10409A ( 7 U.S.C. 8308a ) the following: 10409B. Chronic wasting disease research grant program (a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) a focus on research into the transmission of, resistance to, and epidemiology of chronic wasting disease is needed to inform future policies to combat the disease and ensure the health of cervid populations; (2) because States have diverse policies for addressing chronic wasting disease, the Federal Government should coordinate financial and technical support to States, State departments of agriculture, institutions of higher education, and research centers conducting scientific research on chronic wasting disease; (3) under current policies, chronic wasting disease remains a systemic threat to cervids; and (4) scientific advances that lead to the ability to stop transmission of chronic wasting disease are needed to ensure the long-term viability of cervids. (b) Definitions In this section: (1) Chronic wasting disease The term chronic wasting disease means the animal disease afflicting deer, elk, and moose populations that— (A) is a transmissible disease of the nervous system resulting in distinctive lesions in the brain; and (B) belongs to the group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform en­ceph­a­lop­a­thies, which includes scrapie, bovine spon­gi­form encephalopathy, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease. (2) Eligible entity The term eligible entity means— (A) a State department of agriculture; (B) a Tribal research facility; (C) a Tribal department of agriculture; (D) an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 ))