II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2636 

To amend the Research Facilities Act and the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to address deferred maintenance 

at agricultural research facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2021 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KING, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

MERKLEY, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Research Facilities Act and the Agricultural 

Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 

to address deferred maintenance at agricultural research 

facilities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AuGmenting Research 

5 and Educational Sites to Ensure Agriculture Remains 

6 Cutting-edge and Helpful Act’’ or the ‘‘AG RESEARCH 

7 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FACILITIES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

3 (1) in 2019, agriculture and related indus4 tries— 

5 (A) contributed $1,109,000,000,000 to the 

6 gross domestic product of the United States 

7 (5.2 percent of the total gross domestic product 

8 of the United States); and 

9 (B) provided 22,200,000 jobs domestically 

10 (10.9 percent of total employment in the United 

11 States); 

12 (2) the Department of Agriculture funds more 

13 than $1,600,000,000 in research funding each year 

14 to schools of agriculture; 

15 (3) a study published in 2015 found that de16 ferred maintenance needs at 91 schools of agri17 culture across the United States totaled 

18 $8,400,000,000, with a total replacement cost of 

19 $29,000,000,000; 

20 (4) a study published in 2021 found that de21 ferred maintenance needs at schools of agriculture 

22 across the United States had increased to 

23 $11,500,000,000, with a total replacement cost of 

24 $38,100,000,000; and 


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1 (5) infrastructure investments must be made at 

2 schools of agriculture to ensure that United States 

3 agricultural research remains globally competitive. 

4 (b) EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS.—Section 3(d) of 

5 the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 390a(d)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

8 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re10 designated) the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) review the proposal in consultation with 

12 representatives of National Institute of Food and 

13 Agriculture peer review panels;’’. 

14 (c) GRANTS FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FACILI15 TIES.—Section 4 of the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 

16 390b) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FACILI18 TIES. 

19 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to as20 sist agricultural research facilities in efforts to alter or re21 pair those facilities or equipment of the facilities necessary 

22 for conducting agricultural research. 

23 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab25 lish in the National Institute of Food and AgriVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Aug 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2636.IS S2636

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1 culture a competitive grant program to provide to 

2 agricultural research facilities the Federal share of 

3 the cost of the construction, alteration, acquisition, 

4 modernization, renovation, or remodeling of— 

5 ‘‘(A) the agricultural research facilities; or 

6 ‘‘(B) equipment of the agricultural re7 search facilities necessary for conducting agri8 cultural research. 

9 ‘‘(2) SECRETARIAL WAIVER.—Notwithstanding 

10 section 3(c)(2)(A), the Secretary may provide that 

11 the Federal share described in paragraph (1) is up 

12 to 100 percent of the costs described in that para13 graph on a case-by-case basis, as the Secretary de14 termines to be appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT; TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

17 Grants awarded under this section shall be in such 

18 amounts and under such terms and conditions as 

19 the Secretary determines are necessary to carry out 

20 the purpose of this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—To the max22 imum extent practicable, grants shall be awarded 

23 under this section to ensure— 

24 ‘‘(A) an equitable geographic distribution 

25 of funds; 


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1 ‘‘(B) an equitable distribution of funds to 

2 diverse institutions; and 

3 ‘‘(C) an equitable distribution of funds to 

4 agricultural research facilities of various sizes. 

5 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Not greater than 20 per6 cent of amounts made available to carry out this sec7 tion shall be awarded to projects in any 1 State. 

8 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this 

9 section, the Secretary shall establish procedures 

10 for— 

11 ‘‘(A) the submission of proposals for com12 petitive grants; and 

13 ‘‘(B) in consultation with representatives 

14 of National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

15 peer review panels, the review and selection of 

16 proposals submitted under subparagraph (A).’’. 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

18 6 of the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 390d) is amend19 ed— 

20 (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 

21 striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2026’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘Federal’’ be23 fore ‘‘administration’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTERS. 

2 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the Agricultural 

3 Research Service Capital Investment Strategy dated April 

4 2012 indicates that research facilities of the Agricultural 

5 Research Services have more than $1,000,000,000 in de6 ferred maintenance. 

7 (b) DIRECT FUNDING FOR DEFERRED MAINTE8 NANCE AT ARS RESEARCH FACILITIES.—Title IV of the 

9 Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform 

10 Act of 1998 is amended by inserting before section 404 

11 (7 U.S.C. 7624) the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 401. DIRECT FUNDING FOR DEFERRED MAINTE13 NANCE AT ARS RESEARCH FACILITIES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts made available 

15 under subsection (c), the Secretary shall provide direct 

16 payments to research facilities of the Agricultural Re17 search Service for the purpose of addressing deferred 

18 maintenance. 

19 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In providing direct payments under 

20 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to the most 

21 critical structures in accordance with the Agricultural Re22 search Service Capital Investment Strategy dated April 

23 2012. 

24 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 

25 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out 


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1 this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

2 through 2026.’’. 

Æ 


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