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Title IV — Research, Education, and Related Matters

S. 679 · 113th Congress · Apr 9, 2013 · Lineage

IV Research, Education, and Related Matters

Sec. 401 Agriculture and food research initiative

Subsection (b) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1), by striking “food and agricultural sciences” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following:

“(A) in the case of a grant made under paragraph (6), to an entity described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), or (D) of such paragraph; and

“(B) in the case of any other grant made under this subsection, to any eligible entity described in paragraph (7), including a grant made for—

“(i) fundamental research (as defined in section 251(f)(1) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971(f)(1)));

“(ii) applied research (as defined in such section 251(f)(1));

“(iii) integrated research conducted pursuant to section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7626); or

“(iv) integrated research so conducted that is applied or fundamental research.”

(2)
in paragraph (2)—
(A)
in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking “conventional breeding, including cultivar and breed development,” and inserting “public cultivar development through conventional breeding with no requirement or preference for the use of marker-assisted or genomic selection methods, including”;
(B)
in subparagraph (B)(iv), by striking “conventional breeding, including breed development,” and inserting “public breed development through conventional breeding with no requirement or preference for the use of marker-assisted or genomic selection methods, including”; and
(C)
in subparagraph (F)—
(i)
in clause (v), by striking “and” at the end;
(ii)
in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(iii)
by adding at the end the following new clause:

“(vii) new approaches to advance systems that enhance the markets for, and policy related to, locally or regionally produced agricultural food products, as defined in section 310B(g)(9)(A) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)(9)(A)).”

(3)
in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting “, including by conducting each fiscal year at least 1 separate request for applications for grants for research on public cultivar development through conventional breeding as described in paragraph (2)” before the semicolon at the end;
(4)
by redesignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (12);
(5)
by inserting after paragraph (10) the following new paragraph:

“(11) Definitions—In this subsection:

“(A) Conventional breeding—The term conventional breeding means the development of new varieties of an organism through controlled mating and selection without the use of transgenic methods.

“(B) Public breed—The term public breed means a breed that is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that—

“(i) has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance; and

“(ii) remains in the public domain for research purposes.

“(C) Public cultivar—The term public cultivar means a cultivar that is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that—

“(i) has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance; and

“(ii) remains in the public domain for research purposes.”

(6)
in paragraph (12)(A) (as redesignated by paragraph (4)), in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “2012” and inserting “2018”.

Sec. 402 Local and regional food system enterprise facilitation

Section 502 of the Rural Development Act of 1972 (7 U.S.C. 2662) is amended by inserting after subsection (e) the following new subsection:

“(f) Local and regional farm and food system enterprise facilitation

“(1) In general—The Secretary shall establish a local and regional farm and food system enterprise facilitation initiative to increase training and technical assistance for purposes of building sustainable local and regional food systems, the activities of which may include—

“(A) providing practical, reliable, and timely information to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial development organizations concerning business management, business planning, microenterprise, marketing, and entrepreneurial education and training related to the development of local and regional farm and food system enterprises;

“(B) providing training and technical assistance to newly operational and growing local and regional farm and food system businesses;

“(C) establishing networks of entrepreneurial support through partnerships among entrepreneurs, local business communities, all levels of government, nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, and other sectors; and

“(D) providing technical assistance for the preparation of grant and loan applications submitted for purposes of carrying out an activity referred to in subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C).

“(2) Enterprise facilitators

“(A) In general—In carrying out the initiative established under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish in the National Institute of Food and Agriculture the position of enterprise facilitator (referred to in this subsection as an “enterprise facilitator”) to perform the duties specified in subparagraph (C).

“(B) Priority—In allocating funds made available to carry out this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to enterprise facilitators located in areas that—

“(i) have high participation rates for the supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); and

“(ii) are rural areas (as defined in section 343(13) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(13))).

“(C) Duties—An enterprise facilitator shall, to the maximum extent practicable—

“(i) identify and organize local and regional food producers and entrepreneurs into entities that are able to deliver local and regional food into local markets;

“(ii) develop partnerships with local and regional organizations and institutions to train entrepreneurs and facilitate new enterprises, including partnerships eligible for or that have received a grant under paragraph (3);

“(iii) assist local and regional agricultural producers and processors, including new producers and processors, with marketing and distribution of local and regional food products;

“(iv) identify and work to remove barriers to the movement of local and regional food products into the marketplace;

“(v) work with local expanded food and nutrition education programs, schools and other local institutions, and individuals to assist in the development of food aggregation, processing, distribution, and storage skills in the locality or region involved;

“(vi) provide technical assistance in the preparation of grant and loan applications submitted for purposes of carrying out an activity referred to in paragraph (1); and

“(vii) work with private sources of funding and other Federal and State agencies to acquire funds for such purposes through grants and loans.

“(3) Grants

“(A) Authority—In carrying out the initiative established under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities, on a competitive basis, to provide training or technical assistance for purposes of building sustainable local and regional food systems.

“(B) Eligibility—An eligible entity under this paragraph is a collaborative State, tribal, local, or regionally based network or partnership of public or private entities, including a network or partnership of—

“(i) colleges and universities, including cooperative extension colleges and universities;

“(ii) nonprofit organizations;

“(iii) Federal, State, local, and tribal governmental entities; or

“(iv) any other appropriate entities, as determined by the Secretary.

“(C) Application—An eligible entity seeking a grant under this paragraph shall submit to the Secretary an application in such time and in such manner and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including information on any project the entity intends to carry out using grant funds.

“(D) Priority—In awarding grants under this paragraph, the Secretary shall give priority to applications submitted by eligible entities that are led by or include non-profit community-based organizations with expertise in providing training or technical assistance to local and regional food producers.

“(E) Consideration of projects—In awarding grants under this paragraph, the Secretary shall consider, with respect to a project included in an application submitted under subparagraph (C)—

“(i) the relevance of the project to the initiative established under paragraph (1);

“(ii) the appropriateness of the design of the project;

“(iii) the likelihood of achieving the objectives of the project;

“(iv) the inclusion of entrepreneurs and community leaders in the project;

“(v) the availability of enterprise facilitators to assist with the project;

“(vi) adequacy of plans for outreach, evaluation, reporting, and communication; and

“(vii) the national or regional applicability of the findings and outcomes of the project.

“(F) Term—The term of a grant provided under this paragraph shall be not more than three years.”

Sec. 403 Conventional breeding initiative

(a)
In general— Section 251(e) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(6) Conventional plant and animal breeding special initiative

“(A) In general—The Under Secretary shall establish a special initiative within the Research, Education, and Extension Office to coordinate research activities at the Department relating to conventional plant and animal breeding.

“(B) Working group—In carrying out the special initiative established under subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary shall establish a working group that reports to the Under Secretary, to be comprised of individuals who are responsible for the management or administration of public breeding programs in the Department from each of the following agencies within the Department:

“(i) The National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

“(ii) The Agricultural Research Service.

“(iii) The Economic Research Service.

“(iv) The National Agricultural Statistics Service.

“(C) Duties of working group—The working group shall—

“(i) coordinate conventional plant and animal breeding research being conducted at or funded by an agency described in subparagraph (B);

“(ii) carry out ongoing analysis and tracking activities for public grants to ensure that a diverse range of crop and animal breeding needs are being met in a timely and transparent manner;

“(iii) coordinate and collaborate with the National Genetics Resource Advisory Council established pursuant to section 1632 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5841);

“(iv) maximize the delivery of public cultivars and public breeds and ensure the efficient coordination of the activities of the working group and the activities of each of—

“(I) the Agricultural Research Service;

“(II) the National Institute of Food and Agriculture;

“(III) the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council;

“(IV) genetic resource conservation centers;

“(V) land-grant colleges and universities (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103));

“(VI) nongovernmental organizations with interests or expertise in conventional breeding; and

“(VII) public and private conventional plant and animal breeders; and

“(v) evaluate conventional public plant and animal breeding activities and outcomes to make recommendations to the Under Secretary on the adequacy of human and financial resources needed to ensure that the next generation of public breeders and agricultural breeders are prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

“(D) Advisory board—The Under Secretary shall establish an advisory board whose primary duty will be to make recommendations to the working group established under subparagraph (B) on matters related to the duties specified in subparagraph (C). The advisory board shall be comprised of individuals with expertise in conventional plant and animal breeding including representatives from each of the following:

“(i) The Agricultural Research Service.

“(ii) The National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

“(iii) Private foundations and nonprofit organizations that have expertise in conventional plant and animal breeding.

“(iv) Private agricultural research and technology transfer firms.

“(v) Land-grant colleges and universities.

“(E) Definitions—The terms “conventional breeding”, “public cultivar”, and “public breed” have the meaning given such terms in paragraph (11) of subsection (b) of the of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)).”

(b)
Conforming amendment— Section 296(b) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)), as amended by section 109(b), is further amended—
(1)
in paragraph (7) (as amended by such section 109(b)), by striking “or” at the end;
(2)
in paragraph (8), (as amended by such section 109(b)), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(9) the authority of the Secretary to establish a conventional plant and animal breeding special initiative under section 251(e).”

Sec. 404 National genetics resources program

Section 1632(d) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5841(d)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (5), by striking “and” after the semicolon at the end;
(2)
by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
(3)
by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:

“(6) establish a national strategic germplasm assessment and use plan to meet food security goals for the future; and”