Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “American Agricultural Security Act of 2024”.
American Agricultural Security Act of 2024
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish centers of excellence for agricultural security research, extension, and education, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Centers of excellence
Centers of excellence— The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the “Secretary”) shall establish at least 1 center of excellence for the purpose of carrying out research, extension, and education activities for each of the areas of focus described in subsection (c).
Host institutions—
In general— Institutions eligible to host or co-host a center of excellence established under this section include—
an 1862 Institution, as defined in section 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601);
an 1890 Institution, as defined in such section 2;
a 1994 Institution, as defined in such section 2;
a non-land-grant college of agriculture, as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103);
a Hispanic-serving agricultural college or university, as defined in such section 1404; and
an accredited school of veterinary medicine.
Distribution— To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure the geographic diversity of institutions selected to host or co-host a center of excellence established under this section.
Limitation— An institution selected to host or co-host a center of excellence under this section may host or co-host only one such center of excellence at a time.
Duties— An institution or institutions selected to host or co-host a center of excellence established under this section shall partner with the Agricultural Research Service, other Federal agencies, State Governments, other institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), agricultural industry groups, or other relevant entities to—
reduce duplicative efforts and focus on filling gaps across research, extension, and education activities by enhancing coordination and improving cost-effectiveness;
leverage available resources by using public-private partnerships;
implement training and educational initiatives to increase awareness and effectively disseminate solutions to target audiences through extension activities;
increase the economic returns to rural communities by identifying, attracting, and directing funds to high-priority agricultural issues;
rapidly respond to emerging issues that threaten any sector of the United States agricultural industry;
focus on workforce development for employers to recruit and retain high quality employees in rural areas; and
engage in assistance for administrative management and education regarding potentially valuable intellectual property derived from federally-supported research, extension, and education activities.
Areas of focus— The areas of focus described in this subsection are each of the following:
Biosecurity and cybersecurity— Research, extension, and education activities focused on agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity efforts to defend the United States food supply from any attacks.
Biosystems and agricultural engineering— Research, extension, and education activities focused on biosystems and agricultural engineering, including precision agriculture technologies and mechanization and automation technologies for specialty crops.
Digital agriculture— Research, extension, and education activities focused on developing, evaluating, and deploying digital agriculture, including artificial intelligence.
Foreign animal disease— Research, extension, and education activities focused on foreign animal diseases, including the ecology and etiology of emerging diseases, control methods, and implementation strategies to enhance preparedness and response efforts to protect the livestock and poultry industry.
Terms—
Duration— The term of an award under this section shall be for a 5-year period, and may be renewed for not more than one additional 5-year period.
Construction prohibited— Funds made available under this section shall not be used for the construction of a new building or facility or the acquisition of, expansion, remodeling, or alteration of an existing building or facility (including site grading and improvement, and architect fees).
Annual report— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and every year thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing—
the projects initiated by each center of excellence established under this section in the preceding year;
the amount of funding for each such project and the funding source;
the institutions participating in each such project and their shares of the overall funding for each project;
the level of cost-sharing for each such project;
technology transfer and intellectual property management actions undertaken by each such center, such as the number of relevant invention disclosures, provisional patents filed, non-provisional patents filed and issued, number of licenses executed, and start-up companies registered; and
any additional information the Secretary determines to be necessary.
Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
Sec. 3 Agriculture and food protection grant program
In general— The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary will award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to support research, extension, and education activities that improve the capability of the United States to protect the food and agricultural system from any chemical, biological, cybersecurity, or bioterrorism attack.
Use of funds— An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall use funds received through the grant—
to encourage basic and applied research on, and the development of, qualified agricultural countermeasures;
to promote the development and expansion of teaching programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and other disciplines closely allied to the food and agriculture system of the United States to increase the number of trained individuals with an expertise in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity;
to expand or upgrade facilities to meet biosafety and biosecurity requirements necessary to protect facility staff, members of the public, and the food supply while carrying out agricultural biosecurity research;
to cover costs associated with the acquisition of equipment and other capital costs related to expansion of food, agriculture, and veterinary medicine teaching programs in agricultural biosecurity and cybersecurity; or
otherwise improve the capacity of the United States to respond in a timely manner to emerging or existing threats.
Eligible entities— An entity eligible to receive a grant under this section is—
a State agricultural experiment station;
a State departments of agriculture;
a college or university;
a university research foundation;
a research institution or organization;
a Federal agency;
a national laboratory; or
any group consisting of 2 or more of the entities described in paragraphs (1) through (7).
Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.