Calendar No. 154

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1150

[Report No. 105–73]

A BILL

To ensure that federally funded agricultural reother purposes. tain agricultural research programs, and for nificance, to reform, extend, and eliminate cer- priority concerns with national or multistate sig- search, extension, and education address highSEPTEMBER 5, 1997

Read twice and placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 154

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1150

[Report No. 105–73]

To ensure that federally funded agricultural research, extension, and education address high-priority concerns with national or multistate significance, to reform, extend, and eliminate certain agricultural research

programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 5, 1997

Mr. LUGAR, from the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on the

calendar

A BILL

To ensure that federally funded agricultural research, extension, and education address high-priority concerns with

national or multistate significance, to reform, extend,

and eliminate certain agricultural research programs,

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform

4 Act of 1997’’.

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

TITLE I—PRIORITIES, SCOPE, AND REVIEW OF AGRICULTURAL

RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND EDUCATION

Sec. 101. Standards for Federal funding of agricultural research, extension,

and education.

Sec. 102. Priority setting process.

Sec. 103. Relevance and merit of federally funded agricultural research, extension, and education.

Sec. 104. Research formula funds for 1862 Institutions.

Sec. 105. Extension formula funds for 1862 Institutions.

Sec. 106. Research facilities.

TITLE II—OTHER REFORMS OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH,

EXTENSION, AND EDUCATION

Subtitle A—Amendments to National Agricultural Research, Extension, and

Teaching Policy Act of 1977

Sec. 201. Advisory Board.

Sec. 202. Grants and fellowships for food and agricultural sciences education.

Sec. 203. Policy research centers.

Sec. 204. International agricultural research, extension, and teaching.

Sec. 205. General administrative costs.

Sec. 206. Expansion of authority to enter into cost-reimbursable agreements.

Subtitle B—Amendments to Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act

of 1990

Sec. 211. National Agricultural Weather Information System.

Sec. 212. National Food Genome Strategy.

Sec. 213. Imported fire ant control, management, and eradication.

Sec. 214. Agricultural telecommunications program.

Sec. 215. Assistive technology program for farmers with disabilities.

Subtitle C—Amendments to Other Laws

Sec. 221. 1994 Institutions.

Sec. 222. Cooperative agricultural extension work by 1862, 1890, and 1994 Institutions.

Sec. 223. Eligibility of certain colleges and universities for extension funding.

Sec. 224. Integration of research and extension.
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Sec. 225. Competitive, special, and facilities research grants.

Sec. 226. Fund for Rural America.

Sec. 227. Honey research, promotion, and consumer information.

Sec. 228. Office of Energy Policy and New Uses.

Subtitle D—New Programs

Sec. 231. Biobased products.

Sec. 232. Precision agriculture.

Sec. 233. Formosan termite eradication program.

Sec. 234. Nutrient composition data.

Sec. 235. Consolidated administrative and laboratory facility.

Sec. 236. National Swine Research Center.

Subtitle E—Studies and Miscellaneous

Sec. 241. Evaluation and assessment of agricultural research, extension, and

education programs.

Sec. 242. Study of federally funded agricultural research, extension, and education.

Sec. 243. Sense of Congress on State match for 1890 Institutions.

TITLE III—INITIATIVE FOR FUTURE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

SYSTEMS

Sec. 301. Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems.

TITLE IV—EXTENSION OR REPEAL OF CERTAIN AUTHORITIES;

TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS

Sec. 401. Extensions of authorities.

Sec. 402. Repeal of authorities.

Sec. 403. Short titles for Smith-Lever Act and Hatch Act of 1887.

Sec. 404. Technical corrections to research provisions of Federal Agriculture

Improvement and Reform Act of 1996.

TITLE V—AGRICULTURAL PROGRAM SAVINGS

Sec. 501. Nutrition programs.

Sec. 502. Information technology funding.

Sec. 503. Haying and grazing on conservation reserve land.

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) 1862 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘1862 Insti4 tution’’ means a college or university eligible to re5 ceive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (12 Stat.

6 503, chapter 130; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.).
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1 (2) 1890 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘1890 Insti2 tution’’ means a college or university eligible to re3 ceive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890 (26

4 Stat. 419, chapter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), in5 cluding Tuskegee University.

6 (3) 1994 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘1994 Insti7 tution’’ means a 1994 Institution (as defined in sec8 tion 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant

9 Status Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–382; 7 U.S.C.

10 301 note)).

11 (4) ADVISORY BOARD.—The term ‘‘Advisory

12 Board’’ means the National Agricultural Research,

13 Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory

14 Board established under section 1408 of the Na15 tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teach16 ing Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123).

17 (5) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

18 means the Department of Agriculture.

19 (6) HATCH ACT OF 1887.—The term ‘‘Hatch

20 Act of 1887’’ means the Hatch Act of 1887 (as des21 ignated by section 403(b)).

22 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

23 the Secretary of Agriculture.
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1 (8) SMITH-LEVER ACT.—The term ‘‘Smith2 Lever Act’’ means the Smith-Lever Act (as des3 ignated by section 403(a)).

4 (9) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’

5 means a person who conducts or uses agricultural

6 research, extension, or education.

7 TITLE I—PRIORITIES, SCOPE,

8 AND REVIEW OF AGRICUL9 TURAL RESEARCH, EXTEN10 SION, AND EDUCATION

11 SEC. 101. STANDARDS FOR FEDERAL FUNDING OF AGRI12 CULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND

13 EDUCATION.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure that

15 agricultural research, extension, or education activities de16 scribed in subsection (b) address a concern that—

17 (1) is a priority, as determined under section

18 102(a); and

19 (2) has national or multistate significance.

20 (b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (a) applies to—

21 (1) research activities conducted by the Agricul22 tural Research Service; and

23 (2) research, extension, or education activities

24 administered, on a competitive basis, by the Cooper-
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1 ative State Research, Education, and Extension

2 Service.

3 SEC. 102. PRIORITY SETTING PROCESS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with section 1402 of

5 the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and

6 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3101), the Sec7 retary shall establish priorities for agricultural research,

8 extension, and education activities conducted or funded by

9 the Department.

10 (b) INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing priorities for

12 agricultural research, extension, and education ac13 tivities conducted or funded by the Department, the

14 Secretary shall solicit and consider input and rec15 ommendations from stakeholders.

16 (2) 1862, 1890, AND 1994 INSTITUTIONS.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning Oc18 tober 1, 1998, to obtain agricultural research,

19 extension, or education formula funds from the

20 Secretary, each 1862 Institution, 1890 Institu21 tion, and 1994 Institution shall establish and

22 implement a process for obtaining stakeholder

23 input concerning the use of the funds.

24 (B) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall

25 promulgate regulations that prescribe—
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1 (i) the requirements for an Institution

2 to comply with subparagraph (A); and

3 (ii) the consequences for an Institu4 tion of not complying with subparagraph

5 (A), which may include the withholding

6 and redistribution of funds to which the

7 Institution may be entitled until the Insti8 tution complies with subparagraph (A).

9 (c) MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES.—Section 1402 of the

10 National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching

11 Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3101) is amended—

12 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

13 MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES’’ after ‘‘PURPOSES’’;

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—’’ before

15 ‘‘The purposes’’; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(b) MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES.—To the maximum

18 extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that feder19 ally supported and conducted agricultural research, edu20 cation, and extension activities are accomplished in a man21 ner that—

22 ‘‘(1) integrates agricultural research, education,

23 and extension functions to better link research to

24 technology transfer and information dissemination

25 activities;
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1 ‘‘(2) encourages regional and multistate pro2 grams to address relevant issues of common concern

3 and to better leverage scarce resources;

4 ‘‘(3) achieves agricultural research, education,

5 and extension objectives through multi-institutional

6 and multifunctional approaches and by conducting

7 research at facilities and institutions best equipped

8 to achieve those objectives; and

9 ‘‘(4) requires accountability to be measured

10 against shared national goals of the research, edu11 cation, and economics mission area agencies of the

12 Department and their partners that receive Federal

13 research, extension, and higher education funds,

14 consistent with the Government Performance and

15 Results Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–62) and

16 amendments made by that Act.’’.

17 (d) NOTIFICATION OF ADVISORY BOARD AND CON18 GRESS.—Section 1408 of the National Agricultural Re19 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7

20 U.S.C. 3123) is amended—

21 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g)

22 as subsections (e) through (h), respectively; and

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow24 ing:
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1 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF ADVISORY BOARD AND CON2 GRESS.—

3 ‘‘(1) ADVISORY BOARD.—The Secretary shall

4 provide a written response to the Advisory Board re5 garding the implementation of any written rec6 ommendations made by the Advisory Board to the

7 Secretary under subsection (c).

8 ‘‘(2) CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall provide

9 to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of

10 Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture,

11 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a copy of the

12 response of the Secretary to an Advisory Board rec13 ommendation concerning the priority mission areas

14 of the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food

15 Systems established under section 301(c)(2)(B) of

16 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education

17 Reform Act of 1997.’’.

18 SEC. 103. RELEVANCE AND MERIT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED

19 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND

20 EDUCATION.

21 (a) REVIEW OF CSREES RESEARCH.—The Sec22 retary shall establish procedures that ensure—

23 (1) scientific peer review of each agricultural re24 search grant administered, on a competitive basis,
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1 by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and

2 Extension Service; and

3 (2) merit review of each agricultural extension

4 or education grant administered, on a competitive

5 basis, by the Cooperative State Research, Education,

6 and Extension Service.

7 (b) ADVISORY BOARD REVIEW.—The Advisory Board

8 shall review, on an annual basis, the relevance to the Sec9 retary’s priorities established under section 102(a), and

10 adequacy, of the funding of all agricultural research, ex11 tension, or education activities of the Department.

12 (c) REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.—

13 (1) REVIEW RESULTS.—As soon as practicable

14 after the initial review is conducted under subsection

15 (b) for a fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter,

16 the Secretary shall consider the results of the annual

17 review when formulating each request for proposals,

18 and evaluating proposals, involving an agricultural

19 research, extension, or education activity funded, on

20 a competitive basis, by the Department.

21 (2) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—In formulating a

22 request for proposals described in paragraph (1), the

23 Secretary shall solicit and consider input from stake24 holders on the prior year’s request for proposals.
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1 (d) SCIENTIFIC PEER REVIEW OF ARS RE2 SEARCH.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

4 procedures that ensure scientific peer review of re5 search activities of the Agricultural Research Serv6 ice.

7 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The procedures shall re8 quire that—

9 (A) at least once every 5 years, a review

10 panel verify that a research activity referred to

11 in paragraph (1) and research conducted by

12 each scientist employed by the Agricultural Re13 search Service—

14 (i) has scientific merit and relevance

15 to the priorities established under section

16 102(a); and

17 (ii) has national or multistate signifi18 cance, as required under section 101(a)(2);

19 (B) a review panel comprised of individuals

20 with scientific expertise, a majority of whom are

21 not employees of the Agricultural Research

22 Service; and

23 (C) the results of the panel reviews are

24 transmitted to—
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1 (i) the Committee on Agriculture of

2 the House of Representatives;

3 (ii) the Committee on Agriculture,

4 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and

5 (iii) the Advisory Board.

6 (e) MERIT REVIEW.—

7 (1) 1862 AND 1890 INSTITUTIONS.—Effective

8 beginning October 1, 1998, to obtain agricultural re9 search or extension funds from the Secretary for an

10 activity, each 1862 Institution and 1890 Institution

11 shall—

12 (A) establish a process for merit review of

13 the activity; and

14 (B) review the activity in accordance with

15 the process.

16 (2) 1994 INSTITUTIONS.—Effective beginning

17 October 1, 1998, to obtain agricultural extension

18 funds from the Secretary for an activity, each 1994

19 Institution shall—

20 (A) establish a process for merit review of

21 the activity; and

22 (B) review the activity in accordance with

23 the process.

24 (f) REPEAL OF PROVISIONS FOR WITHHOLDING

25 FUNDS.—
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1 (1) SMITH-LEVER ACT.—Section 6 of the

2 Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 346) is repealed.

3 (2) HATCH ACT OF 1887.—Section 7 of the

4 Hatch Act of 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361g) is amended by

5 striking the last paragraph.

6 (3) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EX7 TENSION, AND TEACHING POLICY ACT OF 1977.—

8 Section 1468 of the National Agricultural Research,

9 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7

10 U.S.C. 3314) is repealed.

11 SEC. 104. RESEARCH FORMULA FUNDS FOR 1862 INSTITU12 TIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Hatch Act of

14 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361c) is amended—

15 (1) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (3)

16 and inserting the following:

17 ‘‘(3) Not less than 25 percent shall be allotted

18 to the States for cooperative research employing

19 multidisciplinary approaches in which a State agri20 cultural experiment station, working with another

21 State agricultural experiment station, the Agricul22 tural Research Service, a college, or a university, co23 operates to solve problems that concern more than

24 1 State. The funds available under this paragraph,

25 together with the funds available under subsection
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1 (b) for a similar purpose, shall be designated as the

2 ‘Multistate Research Fund, State Agricultural Ex3 periment Stations’.

4 ‘‘(4) Research carried out under paragraph (3)

5 shall be subject to scientific peer review. A project

6 review under this paragraph shall be considered to

7 satisfy the merit review requirements of section

8 103(e) of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and

9 Education Reform Act of 1997.’’; and

10 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘regional re11 search fund, State agricultural experiment stations,’’

12 and inserting ‘‘Multistate Research Fund, State Ag13 ricultural Experiment Stations,’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5 of the

15 Hatch Act of 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361e) is amended in the

16 first sentence by striking ‘‘regional research fund’’ and in17 serting ‘‘Multistate Research Fund, State Agricultural

18 Experiment Stations’’.

19 SEC. 105. EXTENSION FORMULA FUNDS FOR 1862 INSTITU20 TIONS.

21 Section 3 of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343) is

22 amended by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(h) MULTISTATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION AC24 TIVITIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than the applica2 ble percentage specified under paragraph (2) of the

3 amounts that are made available to carry out sub4 sections (b) and (c) during a fiscal year shall be al5 lotted to States for cooperative extension activities in

6 which 2 or more States cooperate to solve problems

7 that concern more than 1 State (referred to in this

8 subsection as ‘multistate activities’).

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGES.—

10 ‘‘(A) CURRENT EXPENDITURES ON

11 MULTISTATE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of

12 Agriculture shall determine the percentage of

13 Federal formula funds described in paragraph

14 (1) that each State expended for fiscal year

15 1997 for multistate activities.

16 ‘‘(B) PLANNED EXPENDITURES ON

17 MULTISTATE ACTIVITIES.—For fiscal year 2000

18 and each subsequent fiscal year, a State shall

19 expend for multistate activities a percentage of

20 the Federal formula funds described in para21 graph (1) for a fiscal year that is at least equal

22 to the lesser of—

23 ‘‘(i) 25 percent; or

24 ‘‘(ii) twice the percentage for the

25 State determined under subparagraph (A).
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1 ‘‘(C) REDUCTION BY SECRETARY.—The

2 Secretary may reduce the minimum percentage

3 required to be allotted for multistate activities

4 under subparagraph (B) in a case of hardship,

5 infeasibility, or other similar circumstance be6 yond the control of the State, as determined by

7 the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(D) PLAN OF WORK.—The State shall in9 clude in the plan of work of the State a descrip10 tion of the manner in which the State will meet

11 the requirements of this paragraph.

12 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection does not

13 apply to funds provided—

14 ‘‘(A) by a State or local government pursu15 ant to a matching requirement;

16 ‘‘(B) to a 1994 Institution (as defined in

17 section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land18 Grant Status Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–

19 382; 7 U.S.C. 301 note)); or

20 ‘‘(C) to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

21 the Virgin Islands, or Guam.

22 ‘‘(i) MERIT REVIEW.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning Octo24 ber 1, 1998, extension activity carried out under

25 subsection (h) shall be subject to merit review.
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1 ‘‘(2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—An extension ac2 tivity that is merit reviewed under paragraph (1)

3 shall be considered to have been reviewed under sec4 tion 103(e) of the Agricultural Research, Extension,

5 and Education Reform Act of 1997.’’.

6 SEC. 106. RESEARCH FACILITIES.

7 (a) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—Section

8 3(c)(2)(C)(ii) of the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C.

9 390a(c)(2)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘regional needs’’

10 and inserting ‘‘national or multistate needs’’.

11 (b) NATIONAL OR MULTISTATE NEEDS SERVED BY

12 ARS FACILITIES.—Section 3 of the Research Facilities

13 Act (7 U.S.C. 390a) is amended by adding at the end the

14 following:

15 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL OR MULTISTATE NEEDS SERVED BY

16 ARS FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall ensure that each

17 research activity conducted by a facility of the Agricultural

18 Research Service serves a national or multistate need.’’.

19 (c) 10-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN.—Section 4(d) of the

20 Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 390b(d)) is amended by

21 striking ‘‘regional’’ and inserting ‘‘multistate’’.

22 (d) COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH CAPACITY.—Section

23 4 of the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 390b) is amend24 ed by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(g) COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH CAPACITY.—After

2 submission of the 10-year strategic plan required under

3 subsection (d), the Secretary shall continue to review peri4 odically each operating agricultural research facility con5 structed in whole or in part with Federal funds, and each

6 planned agricultural research facility proposed to be con7 structed in whole or in part with Federal funds, pursuant

8 to criteria established by the Secretary, to ensure that a

9 comprehensive research capacity is maintained.’’.

10 (e) PRIORITY RESEARCH.—The Competitive, Special,

11 and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i) is

12 amended in subsection (b)(2) by striking ‘‘regional’’ and

13 inserting ‘‘multistate’’.

14 TITLE II—OTHER REFORMS OF

15 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH,

16 EXTENSION, AND EDUCATION

17 Subtitle A—Amendments to Na18 tional Agricultural Research,

19 Extension, and Teaching Policy

20 Act of 1977

21 SEC. 201. ADVISORY BOARD.

22 Section 1408(b) of the National Agricultural Re23 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7

24 U.S.C. 3123(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(7) EQUAL REPRESENTATION OF PUBLIC AND

2 PRIVATE SECTOR MEMBERS.—In appointing mem3 bers to serve on the Advisory Board, the Secretary

4 shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable,

5 equal representation of public and private sector

6 members.’’.

7 SEC. 202. GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS FOR FOOD AND AGRI8 CULTURAL SCIENCES EDUCATION.

9 Section 1417 of the National Agricultural Research,

10 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

11 3152) is amended—

12 (1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e),

13 (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j) as subsections (d), (f), (g),

14 (h), (i), (j), (k), and (l), respectively;

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow16 ing:

17 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under sub18 section (b), the Secretary shall give priority to—

19 ‘‘(1) applications for teaching enhancement

20 projects that demonstrate enhanced coordination

21 among all types of institutions eligible for funding

22 under this section; and

23 ‘‘(2) applications for teaching enhancement

24 projects that focus on innovative, multidisciplinary

25 education programs, material, and curricula.’’; and
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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) (as redesig2 nated by paragraph (1)) the following:

3 ‘‘(e) FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION INFOR4 MATION SYSTEM.—From amounts made available for

5 grants authorized under this section, the Secretary may

6 maintain a national food and agricultural education infor7 mation system that contains information on enrollment,

8 degrees awarded, faculty, and employment placement in

9 the food and agricultural sciences and such other informa10 tion as the Secretary considers appropriate.’’.

11 SEC. 203. POLICY RESEARCH CENTERS.

12 Section 1419A(a) of the National Agricultural Re13 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7

14 U.S.C. 3155(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and trade

15 agreements’’ after ‘‘public policies’’.

16 SEC. 204. INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EX17 TENSION, AND TEACHING.

18 (a) TEACHING.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1458 of the Na20 tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teach21 ing Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3291) is amend22 ed—

23 (A) in the section heading, by striking

24 ‘‘RESEARCH AND EXTENSION’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND TEACHING’’;
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1 (B) in subsection (a)—

2 (i) in paragraph (1)—

3 (I) by striking ‘‘related research

4 and extension’’ and inserting ‘‘related

5 research, extension, and teaching’’;

6 and

7 (II) in subparagraph (B), by

8 striking ‘‘research and extension on’’

9 and inserting ‘‘research, extension,

10 and teaching initiatives addressing’’;

11 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking

12 ‘‘education’’ and inserting ‘‘teaching’’;

13 (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking

14 ‘‘scientists and experts’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘science and education experts’’;

16 (iv) in paragraph (5), by inserting

17 ‘‘teaching,’’ after ‘‘development,’’;

18 (v) in paragraph (6), by striking

19 ‘‘education’’ and inserting ‘‘teaching’’;

20 (vi) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘re21 search and extension’’ and inserting ‘‘re22 search, extension, and teaching’’; and

23 (vii) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘re24 search capabilities’’ and inserting ‘‘re-
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1 search, extension, and teaching capabili2 ties’’; and

3 (C) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘counter4 part agencies’’ and inserting ‘‘counterpart re5 search, extension, and teaching agencies’’.

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The subtitle

7 heading of subtitle I of title XIV of the National Ag8 ricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy

9 Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3291 et seq.) is amended by

10 striking ‘‘Research and Extension’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘Research, Extension, and Teaching’’.

12 (b) GRANTS FOR COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS.—Sec13 tion 1458(a) of the National Agricultural Research, Ex14 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

15 3291(a)) is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

17 end;

18 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

20 (3) by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(9) make competitive grants for collaborative

22 projects that—

23 ‘‘(A) involve Federal scientists or scientists

24 from land-grant colleges and universities or

25 other colleges and universities with scientists at
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1 international agricultural research centers in

2 other nations, including the international agri3 cultural research centers of the Consultative

4 Group on International Agriculture Research;

5 ‘‘(B) focus on developing and using new

6 technologies and programs for—

7 ‘‘(i) increasing the production of food

8 and fiber, while safeguarding the environ9 ment worldwide and enhancing the global

10 competitiveness of United States agri11 culture; or

12 ‘‘(ii) training scientists;

13 ‘‘(C) are mutually beneficial to the United

14 States and other countries; and

15 ‘‘(D) encourage private sector involvement

16 and the leveraging of private sector funds.’’.

17 (c) REPORTS.—Section 1458 of the National Agricul18 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of

19 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3291) is amended by adding at the end

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall provide biennial

22 reports to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of

23 Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri24 tion, and Forestry of the Senate on efforts of the Federal

25 Government to—
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1 ‘‘(1) coordinate international agricultural re2 search within the Federal Government; and

3 ‘‘(2) more effectively link the activities of do4 mestic and international agricultural researchers,

5 particularly researchers of the Agricultural Research

6 Service.’’.

7 SEC. 205. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle K of the National Agri9 cultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of

10 1977 is amended by inserting before section 1463 (7

11 U.S.C. 3311) the following:

12 ‘‘SEC. 1461. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in

14 law, indirect costs charged against a grant described in

15 subsection (b) shall not exceed 25 percent of the total Fed16 eral funds provided under the grant award, as determined

17 by the Secretary.

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply

19 to—

20 ‘‘(1) a competitive research grant made under

21 subsection (b) of the Competitive, Special, and Fa22 cilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)); and

23 ‘‘(2) except as otherwise provided in law, a com24 petitive research, extension, or education grant made

25 under—
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1 ‘‘(A) section 793 of the Federal Agri2 culture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996

3 (7 U.S.C. 2204f); or

4 ‘‘(B) section 301 of the Agricultural Re5 search, Extension, and Education Reform Act

6 of 1997.’’.

7 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Section 1469 of the

8 National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching

9 Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3315) is amended—

10 (1) by striking the section heading and all that

11 follows through ‘‘Except as’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing:

13 ‘‘SEC. 1469. AUDITING, REPORTING, BOOKKEEPING, AND

14 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as’’;

16 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the

17 following:

18 ‘‘(3) the Secretary may retain up to 4 percent

19 of amounts appropriated for agricultural research,

20 extension, and teaching assistance programs for the

21 administration of those programs authorized under

22 this or any other Act; and’’; and

23 (3) by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITY FOOD PROJECTS.—The Secretary

25 may retain, for the administration of community food
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1 projects under section 25 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977

2 (7 U.S.C. 2034), 4 percent of amounts available for the

3 projects, notwithstanding the availability of any appro4 priation for administrative expenses of the projects.’’.

5 SEC. 206. EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO

6 COST-REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTS.

7 Section 1473A of the National Agricultural Research,

8 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

9 3319a) is amended in the first sentence by inserting ‘‘or

10 other colleges and universities’’ after ‘‘institutions’’.

11 Subtitle B—Amendments to Food,

12 Agriculture, Conservation, and

13 Trade Act of 1990

14 SEC. 211. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL WEATHER INFORMA15 TION SYSTEM.

16 Title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

17 and Trade Act of 1990 is amended by striking subtitle

18 D (7 U.S.C. 5851 et seq.) and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘Subtitle D—National Agricultural

20 Weather Information System

21 ‘‘SEC. 1637. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES.

22 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This subtitle may be cited as

23 the ‘National Agricultural Weather Information System

24 Act of 1997’.

25 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subtitle are—
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1 ‘‘(1) to facilitate the management and coordina2 tion of a national agricultural weather and climate

3 station network for Federal and State agencies, col4 leges and universities, and the private sector;

5 ‘‘(2) to ensure that timely and accurate infor6 mation is obtained and disseminated; and

7 ‘‘(3) to aid research and education that requires

8 a comprehensive agricultural weather and climate

9 database.

10 ‘‘SEC. 1638. AGRICULTURAL WEATHER SYSTEM.

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agri12 culture may establish the National Agricultural Weather

13 Information System (referred to in this subtitle as the

14 ‘System’). The System shall be comprised of the oper15 ational and research activities of the Federal, State, and

16 regional agricultural weather information systems.

17 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding chapter 63 of

18 title 31, United States Code, to carry out this subtitle,

19 the Secretary may—

20 ‘‘(1) enter into contracts, grants, cooperative

21 agreements and interagency agreements without re22 gard to competitive requirements, except as other23 wise provided in this subtitle, with other Federal and

24 State agencies to—
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1 ‘‘(A) support operational weather and cli2 mate data observations, analysis, and derived

3 products;

4 ‘‘(B) preserve historical data records for

5 research studies useful in agriculture;

6 ‘‘(C) jointly develop improved computer

7 models and computing capacity for storage, re8 trieval, dissemination and analysis of agricul9 tural weather and climate information;

10 ‘‘(D) enhance the quality and availability

11 of weather and climate information needed by

12 the private sector for value-added products and

13 agriculturalists for decisionmaking; and

14 ‘‘(E) sponsor joint programs to train pri15 vate sector meteorologists and agriculturalists

16 about the optimum use of agricultural weather

17 and climate data;

18 ‘‘(2) obtain standardized weather observation

19 data collected in near real time through regional and

20 State agricultural weather information systems;

21 ‘‘(3) coordinate the activities of the Chief Mete22 orologist of the Department of Agriculture and

23 weather and climate research activities of the De24 partment of Agriculture with other Federal agencies

25 and the private sector;
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1 ‘‘(4) make grants to plan and administer State

2 and regional agricultural weather information sys3 tems, including research in atmospheric sciences and

4 climatology;

5 ‘‘(5) encourage private sector participation in

6 the System through cooperation with the private sec7 tor, including cooperation in the generation of

8 weather and climate data useful for site-specific ag9 ricultural weather forecasting; and

10 ‘‘(6) make competitive grants to carry out re11 search in all aspects of atmospheric sciences and cli12 matology regarding the collection, retention, and dis13 semination of agricultural weather and climate ob14 servations and information with priority given to

15 proposals that emphasize—

16 ‘‘(A) techniques and processes that relate

17 to—

18 ‘‘(i) weather- or climate-induced agri19 cultural losses; and

20 ‘‘(ii) improvement of information on

21 weather and climate extremes (such as

22 drought, floods, freeze, and storms) well in

23 advance of their occurrence;

24 ‘‘(B) the improvement of site-specific

25 weather data collection and forecasting;
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1 ‘‘(C) the impact of weather on economic

2 and environmental costs in agricultural produc3 tion; or

4 ‘‘(D) the preservation and management of

5 the ecosystem.

6 ‘‘SEC. 1639. FUNDING AND ADMINISTRATION.

7 ‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS.—

8 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC

ADMINISTRATION WORK.—Not more than 2 9 ⁄3 of the

10 funds made available for a fiscal year to carry out

11 this subtitle shall be used for work with the National

12 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary

14 of Agriculture may retain for administration of the

15 System up to 4 percent of the amounts made avail16 able to carry out this subtitle, notwithstanding the

17 availability of any appropriation for administrative

18 expenses to carry out this subtitle.

19 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—

20 ‘‘(A) BUILDINGS OR FACILITIES.—Funds

21 made available to carry out this subtitle shall

22 not be used for the planning, repair, rehabilita23 tion, acquisition, or construction of a building

24 or facility.
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1 ‘‘(B) EQUIPMENT PURCHASES.—Of funds

2 made available under a grant award under this

3 subtitle, a grantee may use for equipment pur4 chases not more than the lesser of—

5 ‘‘(i) $15,000; or

‘‘(ii) 1 6 ⁄3 of the amount of the grant

7 award.

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—The Federal

9 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and title XVIII

10 of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2281

11 et seq.) shall not apply to a panel or board created for

12 the purpose of reviewing applications or proposals submit13 ted for grants under section 1638.

14 ‘‘SEC. 1640. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

16 this subtitle $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998

17 through 2002.’’.

18 SEC. 212. NATIONAL FOOD GENOME STRATEGY.

19 Section 1671 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

20 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5924) is amended to

21 read as follows:

22 ‘‘SEC. 1671. NATIONAL FOOD GENOME STRATEGY.

23 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

24 ‘‘(1) to expand the knowledge of public and pri25 vate sector entities and persons concerning genomes
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1 for species of importance to the food and agriculture

2 sectors in order to maximize the return on the in3 vestment in plant, animal, and microbial genomics;

4 ‘‘(2) to focus on the species that will yield early,

5 scientifically important results that will enhance the

6 usefulness of many plant, animal, and microbial spe7 cies;

8 ‘‘(3) to build on genomic research, such as the

9 Human Genome Initiative and the Arabidopsis Ge10 nome Project, to understand gene structure and

11 function that is expected to have considerable pay12 offs in crop species ranging from corn to soybean to

13 cotton and animal species ranging from cattle to

14 swine to poultry;

15 ‘‘(4) to develop improved bioinformatics to en16 hance both sequence or structure determination and

17 analysis of the biological function of genes and gene

18 products;

19 ‘‘(5) to develop, within the National Food Ge20 nome Strategy required under subsection (b) for ag21 riculturally important plants, animals, and microbes,

22 a Plant Genome Initiative under which—

23 ‘‘(A) the Plant Genome Initiative will be

24 an interagency activity conducted with—
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1 ‘‘(i) the Department of Agriculture as

2 the lead Federal agency; and

3 ‘‘(ii) the National Science Foundation

4 and the Department of Energy as partici5 pants; and

6 ‘‘(B) the National Institutes of Health will

7 continue to invest in the underlying critical

8 technologies through its Human Genome Initia9 tive and other genetics research;

10 ‘‘(6) to establish, within the National Food Ge11 nome Strategy, an Animal Genome Initiative—

12 ‘‘(A) to address the obstacles limiting the

13 development and implementation of gene-based

14 approaches for animal improvement, such as

15 high-resolution genomic maps; and

16 ‘‘(B) to take advantage of complementary

17 work of the Human Genome Initiative, the Ag18 ricultural Research Service, and State agricul19 tural experiment stations;

20 ‘‘(7) to encourage Federal Government partici21 pants to maximize the utility of public and private

22 partnerships for food genome research;

23 ‘‘(8) to allow resources developed under this

24 section, including data, software, germplasm, and

25 other biological materials, to be openly accessible to
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1 all persons, subject to any confidentiality require2 ments imposed by law; and

3 ‘‘(9) to encourage international partnerships

4 with each partner country responsible for financing

5 its own strategy for food genome research.

6 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary of Ag7 riculture (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’)

8 shall develop and carry out a National Food Genome

9 Strategy to—

10 ‘‘(1) study and map agriculturally significant

11 genes to achieve sustainable and secure agricultural

12 production;

13 ‘‘(2) ensure that current gaps in existing agri14 cultural genetics knowledge are filled;

15 ‘‘(3) identify and develop a functional under16 standing of genes responsible for economically im17 portant traits in plants, animals, and microbes of

18 importance to agriculture;

19 ‘‘(4) ensure future genetic improvement of agri20 culturally important species;

21 ‘‘(5) support preservation of diverse germplasm;

22 ‘‘(6) ensure preservation of biodiversity to

23 maintain access to genes that may be of importance

24 in the future; and
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1 ‘‘(7) otherwise carry out the purposes of this

2 section.

3 ‘‘(c) CONTRACTS, GRANTS, AND COOPERATIVE

4 AGREEMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

6 into or make contracts, grants, or cooperative agree7 ments with individuals and organizations in accord8 ance with section 1472 of the National Agricultural

9 Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of

10 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3318).

11 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—A grant under this

12 subsection shall be made on a competitive basis.

13 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.—

14 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro15 mulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry

16 out this section.

17 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION WITH THE NATIONAL

18 ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—The Secretary may use

19 funds made available under this section to consult

20 with the National Academy of Sciences regarding

21 the administration of the National Food Genome

22 Strategy without regard to the requirements of the

23 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) or

24 title XVIII of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977

25 (7 U.S.C. 2281 et seq.).
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1 ‘‘(3) INDIRECT COSTS.—Indirect costs under

2 this section shall be allowable at the rate indirect

3 costs are allowable for contracts, grants, or coopera4 tive agreements entered into or made by the Na5 tional Science Foundation for genomic research.’’.

6 SEC. 213. IMPORTED FIRE ANT CONTROL, MANAGEMENT,

7 AND ERADICATION.

8 Section 1672 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

9 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925) is amended—

10 (1) by striking subsections (a), (d), (e), and (f);

11 (2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and

12 (g) as subsections (a), (b), and (c), respectively; and

13 (3) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(d) IMPORTED FIRE ANT CONTROL, MANAGEMENT,

15 AND ERADICATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL ADVISORY AND IMPLEMENTA17 TION BOARD ON IMPORTED FIRE ANT CONTROL,

18 MANAGEMENT, AND ERADICATION.—

19 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of

20 Agriculture may establish a National Advisory

21 and Implementation Board on Imported Fire

22 Ant Control, Management, and Eradication (re23 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘Board’).

24 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall con25 sist of 12 members who are experts in ento-
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1 mology, ant ecology, wildlife biology, electrical

2 engineering, economics, or agribusiness and

3 who are appointed by the Secretary from aca4 demia, research institutes, and the private sec5 tor.

6 ‘‘(C) COMPENSATION.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A member of the

8 Board shall not receive any compensation

9 by reason of service on the Board.

10 ‘‘(ii) EXPENSES.—A member of the

11 Board shall be reimbursed for travel, sub12 sistence, and other necessary expenses in13 curred by the member in the performance

14 of a duty of the member.

15 ‘‘(D) TERMINATION.—The Board shall ter16 minate 60 days after the date on which the na17 tional plan is submitted to the Board under

18 paragraph (4)(B).

19 ‘‘(2) INITIAL GRANTS.—

20 ‘‘(A) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary

22 shall publish a request for proposals for

23 grants for research or demonstration

24 projects related to the control, manage-
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1 ment, and possible eradication of imported

2 fire ants.

3 ‘‘(ii) INPUT FROM BOARD.—In devel4 oping a request for proposals under clause

5 (i), the Secretary shall solicit and consider

6 input from the Board.

7 ‘‘(B) SELECTION.—Not later than 1 year

8 after the date of publication of the request for

9 proposals, the Secretary shall evaluate and se10 lect meritorious research or demonstration

11 projects related to the control, management,

12 and possible eradication of imported fire ants.

13 ‘‘(C) GRANTS.—The Secretary may award

14 a total of $6,000,000 for each fiscal year in

15 grants to colleges, universities, research insti16 tutes, Federal laboratories, or private entities

17 selected under subparagraph (B), for a term of

18 not to exceed 5 years, for the purpose of con19 ducting research or demonstration projects re20 lated to the control, management, and possible

21 eradication of imported fire ants. Each project

22 shall be completed not later than the end of the

23 term of the grant.

24 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) EVALUATION; SELECTION.—If the

2 Secretary awards grants under paragraph

3 (2)(C), the Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(i) evaluate all of the research or

5 demonstration projects conducted under

6 paragraph (2)(C) for their use as the basis

7 of a national plan for the control, manage8 ment, and possible eradication of imported

9 fire ants by the Federal Government, State

10 and local governments, and owners and op11 erators of land; and

12 ‘‘(ii) on the basis of the evaluation, se13 lect the projects the Secretary considers

14 most promising for additional research or

15 demonstration related to the control, man16 agement, and possible eradication of im17 ported fire ants and notify the Board of

18 the selection.

19 ‘‘(B) GRANTS.—The Secretary may award

20 a grant of up to $4,000,000 for each fiscal year

21 to each of the colleges, universities, research in22 stitutes, Federal laboratories, or private entities

23 selected under subparagraph (A)(ii) for the pur24 pose of conducting research or demonstration

25 projects for the preparation of a national plan
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1 for the control, management, and possible

2 eradication of imported fire ants. Each project

3 shall be completed not later than 2 years after

4 the grant is made.

5 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL PLAN.—

6 ‘‘(A) EVALUATION; SELECTION.—If the

7 Secretary awards grants under paragraph

8 (3)(B), the Secretary shall—

9 ‘‘(i) evaluate all of the research or

10 demonstration projects conducted under

11 paragraph (3)(B) for their use as the basis

12 of a national plan for the control, manage13 ment, and possible eradication of imported

14 fire ants by the Federal Government, State

15 and local governments, and owners and op16 erators of land; and

17 ‘‘(ii) on the basis of the evaluation, se18 lect 1 project funded under paragraph

19 (3)(B), or a combination of grant projects,

20 as the basis for the plan and notify the

21 Board of the selection.

22 ‘‘(B) GRANT.—The Secretary may award a

23 grant of up to $5,000,000 to the sponsor or

24 sponsors of the grant project selected under

25 subparagraph (A)(ii) for the purpose of the
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1 final preparation of the national plan for the

2 control, management, and possible eradication

3 of imported fire ants that is based on the

4 project. If the Secretary awards a grant under

5 this subparagraph, the national plan shall be

6 completed, and submitted to the Board, not

7 later than 1 year after the grant is made.

8 ‘‘(C) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later

9 than 60 days after the plan is submitted to the

10 Board under subparagraph (B), the Secretary

11 shall submit to Congress the national plan for

12 the control, management, and possible eradi13 cation of imported fire ants.

14 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

15 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

16 as are necessary to carry out this subsection for

17 each of fiscal years 1998 through 2002.’’.

18 SEC. 214. AGRICULTURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS PRO19 GRAM.

20 Section 1673 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

21 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5926) is amended—

22 (1) in subsection (c)—

23 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1)

24 through (5) as paragraphs (2) through (6), re25 spectively;
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1 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as

2 so redesignated) the following:

3 ‘‘(1) A*DEC.—The term ‘A*DEC’ means the

4 distance education consortium known as A*DEC.’’;

5 and

6 (C) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

8 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through

9 A*DEC.’’;

10 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘The Sec11 retary shall establish a program, to be administered

12 by the Assistant Secretary for Science and Edu13 cation,’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of Agriculture

14 shall establish a program, to be administered

15 through a grant provided to A*DEC under terms

16 and conditions established by the Secretary of Agri17 culture,’’; and

18 (3) in the first sentence of subsection (f)(2), by

19 striking ‘‘the Assistant Secretary for Science and

20 Education’’ and inserting ‘‘A*DEC’’.

21 SEC. 215. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM FOR FARM22 ERS WITH DISABILITIES.

23 Section 1680 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

24 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5933) is amended—

25 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (6);
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1 (2) in subsection (b)—

2 (A) in striking ‘‘DISSEMINATION.—’’ and

3 all that follows through ‘‘GENERAL.—The’’ and

4 inserting ‘‘DISSEMINATION.—The’’; and

5 (B) by striking paragraph (2); and

6 (3) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

9 there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

10 this section $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998

11 through 2002.

12 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL GRANT.—Not more than 15

13 percent of the amounts made available under para14 graph (1) for a fiscal year shall be used to carry out

15 subsection (b).’’.

16 Subtitle C—Amendments to Other

17 Laws

18 SEC. 221. 1994 INSTITUTIONS.

19 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 532 of the Equity in Edu20 cational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (Public Law

21 103–382; 7 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended by adding at

22 the end the following:

23 ‘‘(30) Little Priest Tribal College.’’.

24 (b) ACCREDITATION.—Section 533(a) of the Equity

25 in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (Public
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1 Law 103–382; 7 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended by adding

2 at the end the following:

3 ‘‘(3) ACCREDITATION.—To receive funding

4 under sections 534 and 535, a 1994 Institution shall

5 certify to the Secretary that the Institution is—

6 ‘‘(A) accredited by a nationally recognized

7 accrediting agency or association determined by

8 the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec9 retary of Education, to be a reliable authority

10 as to the quality of training offered; or

11 ‘‘(B) as determined by the agency or asso12 ciation, making progress toward the accredita13 tion.’’.

14 SEC. 222. COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION WORK

15 BY 1862, 1890, AND 1994 INSTITUTIONS.

16 Section 3(b)(3) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C.

17 343(b)(3)) is amended in the last sentence by striking

18 ‘‘State institutions’’ and all that follows through the pe19 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘1994 Institutions (in ac20 cordance with regulations that the Secretary may promul21 gate) and may be administered by the Institutions through

22 cooperative agreements with colleges and universities eligi23 ble to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (12

24 Stat. 503, chapter 130; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), or the Act

25 of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 419, chapter 841; 7 U.S.C.
45

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1 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University, located in any

2 State.’’.

3 SEC. 223. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN COLLEGES AND UNI4 VERSITIES FOR EXTENSION FUNDING.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Smith-Lever Act

6 (7 U.S.C. 343) is amended by striking subsection (d) and

7 inserting the following:

8 ‘‘(d) FUNDING OF EXTENSION ACTIVITIES.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall receive

10 such amounts as Congress shall determine for ad11 ministrative, technical, and other services and for co12 ordinating the extension work of the Department

13 and the several States, territories, and possessions of

14 the United States.

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN COLLEGES AND

16 UNIVERSITIES FOR EXTENSION FUNDING.—

17 ‘‘(A) COMPETITIVE AWARDS.—Colleges

18 and universities (as defined in section 1404 of

19 the National Agricultural Research, Extension,

20 and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

21 3103)), including a foundation established by

22 the colleges or universities, shall be eligible for

23 extension funding awarded under paragraph (1)

24 on a competitive basis.

25 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPETITIVE AWARDS.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An entity de2 scribed in clause (ii) shall be eligible for

3 extension funding awarded under para4 graph (1) on a noncompetitive basis.

5 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABILITY.—Clause (i) shall

6 apply to—

7 ‘‘(I) a college or university eligi8 ble to receive funds under the Act of

9 July 2, 1862 (12 Stat. 503, chapter

10 130; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.);

11 ‘‘(II) a college or university eligi12 ble to receive funds under the Act of

13 August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 419, chap14 ter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), includ15 ing Tuskegee University;

16 ‘‘(III) a 1994 Institution (as de17 fined in section 532 of the Equity in

18 Educational Land-Grant Status Act

19 of 1994 (Public Law 103–382; 7

20 U.S.C. 301 note)); and

21 ‘‘(IV) a foundation established by

22 a college, university, or Institution de23 scribed in this clause.

24 ‘‘(3) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING, COOP25 ERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND REIMBURSABLE AGREE-
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1 MENTS.—To maximize the use of Federal resources,

2 the Secretary of Agriculture shall, to the maximum

3 extent practicable, enter into memoranda of under4 standing, cooperative agreements, or reimbursable

5 agreements with other Federal agencies under which

6 the agencies provide funds, facilities, and other re7 sources of the agencies to the Department of Agri8 culture to assist the Department in carrying out ex9 tension work.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of the

11 Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343) is amended—

12 (1) in subsections (b)(1) and (c), by striking

13 ‘‘Federal Extension Service’’ each place it appears

14 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’; and

15 (2) in subsection (g)(1), by striking ‘‘through

16 the Federal Extension Service’’.

17 SEC. 224. INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND EXTENSION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Hatch Act of

19 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361c) is amended by adding at the end

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(h) INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND EXTEN22 SION.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than the applica24 ble percentage specified under paragraph (2) of the

25 Federal formula funds that are made available to
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1 carry out this Act and subsections (b) and (c) of

2 section 3 of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343),

3 to colleges and universities eligible to receive funds

4 under the Act of July 2, 1862 (12 Stat. 503, chap5 ter 130; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), during a fiscal year

6 shall be allotted to activities that integrate coopera7 tive research and extension (referred to in this sub8 section as ‘integrated activities’).

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGES.—

10 ‘‘(A) CURRENT EXPENDITURES ON INTE11 GRATED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Agri12 culture shall determine the percentage of the

13 Federal formula funds described in paragraph

14 (1) that each State expended for fiscal year

15 1997 for integrated activities.

16 ‘‘(B) PLANNED EXPENDITURES ON INTE17 GRATED ACTIVITIES.—For fiscal year 2000 and

18 each subsequent fiscal year, a State shall ex19 pend for integrated activities a percentage of

20 the Federal formula funds described in para21 graph (1) for a fiscal year that is at least equal

22 to the lesser of—

23 ‘‘(i) 25 percent; or

24 ‘‘(ii) twice the percentage for the

25 State determined under subparagraph (A).
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1 ‘‘(C) REDUCTION BY SECRETARY.—The

2 Secretary may reduce the minimum percentage

3 required to be allotted for integrated activities

4 under subparagraph (B) in a case of hardship,

5 infeasibility, or other similar circumstance be6 yond the control of the State, as determined by

7 the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(D) COMPLIANCE.—The State shall pro9 vide to the Secretary a description of the man10 ner in which the State will meet the require11 ments of this paragraph.

12 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection does not

13 apply to funds provided—

14 ‘‘(A) by a State or local government pursu15 ant to a matching requirement;

16 ‘‘(B) to a 1994 Institution (as defined in

17 section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land18 Grant Status Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–

19 382; 7 U.S.C. 301 note)); or

20 ‘‘(C) to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

21 the Virgin Islands, or Guam.

22 ‘‘(4) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Funds that are

23 used in accordance with paragraph (2)(B) may also

24 be used to satisfy the requirements of subsection
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1 (c)(3) and the requirements of section 3(h) of the

2 Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(h)).’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3 of the

4 Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343) (as amended by section

5 105(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(j) REFERENCE TO OTHER LAW.—Section 3(h) of

7 the Hatch Act of 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361c(h)) shall apply to

8 amounts made available to carry out this Act.’’.

9 SEC. 225. COMPETITIVE, SPECIAL, AND FACILITIES RE10 SEARCH GRANTS.

11 (a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.—The Competitive, Spe12 cial, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i)

13 is amended in subsection (b)—

14 (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1), by

15 inserting ‘‘national laboratories,’’ after ‘‘Federal

16 agencies,’’; and

17 (2) in the second sentence of paragraph (3)(E),

18 by striking ‘‘an individual shall have less than’’ and

19 all that follows through ‘‘research experience’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘an individual shall be within 5 years of

21 the individual’s initial career track position’’.

22 (b) SPECIAL GRANTS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Competitive, Special,

24 and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i)
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1 is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting

2 the following:

3 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL GRANTS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri5 culture may make grants, for periods not to exceed

6 3 years, to colleges, universities, other research insti7 tutions and organizations, Federal agencies, private

8 organizations or corporations, and individuals for

9 the purpose of conducting research to address—

10 ‘‘(A) agricultural research needs of imme11 diate importance, by themselves or in conjunc12 tion with extension or education; or

13 ‘‘(B) new or emerging areas of agricultural

14 research, by themselves or in conjunction with

15 extension or education.

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may not

17 make a grant under this subsection—

18 ‘‘(A) for any purpose for which a grant

19 may be made under subsection (d); or

20 ‘‘(B) for the planning, repair, rehabilita21 tion, acquisition, or construction of a building

22 or facility.

23 ‘‘(3) REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—The Sec2 retary shall make a grant under this subsection

3 for a research activity only if—

4 ‘‘(i) the activity has undergone sci5 entific peer review arranged by the grantee

6 in accordance with regulations promul7 gated by the Secretary; and

8 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a grant

9 awarded competitively under this sub10 section, the grantee provides to the Sec11 retary a proposed plan for graduation from

12 noncompetitive Federal funding for grants

13 under this subsection.

14 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION AND EDUCATION ACTIVI15 TIES.—The Secretary shall make a grant under

16 this subsection for an extension or education

17 activity only if—

18 ‘‘(i) the activity has undergone merit

19 review arranged by the grantee in accord20 ance with regulations promulgated by the

21 Secretary; and

22 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a grant

23 awarded competitively under this sub24 section, the grantee provides to the Sec25 retary a proposed plan for graduation from
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1 noncompetitive Federal funding for grants

2 under this subsection.

3 ‘‘(4) PARTNERSHIPS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IMMEDIATE NEEDS.—Except in the

5 case of a grant awarded competitively under

6 this subsection, to receive a grant under para7 graph (1)(A), a recipient of a grant shall enter

8 into a partnership to carry out the grant with

9 another entity referred to in paragraph (1).

10 ‘‘(B) NEW AND EMERGING AREAS.—Ex11 cept in the case of a grant awarded competi12 tively under this subsection, after a recipient

13 has received a grant under paragraph (1)(B)

14 for 3 consecutive years, to receive such a grant

15 for an additional year, the recipient shall enter

16 into a partnership to carry out the grant with

17 2 or more entities referred to in paragraph (1).

18 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant

20 under this subsection shall—

21 ‘‘(i) prepare on an annual basis a re22 port describing the results of the research,

23 extension, or education activity and the

24 merit of the results; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) submit the report to the Sec2 retary.

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro5 vided in clause (ii), on request, the Sec6 retary shall make the report available to

7 the public.

8 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—Clause (i) shall

9 not apply to the extent that making the re10 port, or a part of the report, available to

11 the public is not authorized or permitted

12 by section 552 of title 5, United States

13 Code, or section 1905 of title 18, United

14 States Code.

15 ‘‘(6) SET ASIDE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—

16 Of the amounts made available for a fiscal year to

17 carry out this subsection, not more than 4 percent

18 of the amounts may be retained by the Secretary to

19 pay administrative costs incurred by the Secretary to

20 carry out this subsection.’’.

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

22 by paragraph (1) takes effect on October 1, 1998.
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1 SEC. 226. FUND FOR RURAL AMERICA.

2 Section 793(b) of the Federal Agriculture Improve3 ment and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 2204f(b)) is

4 amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘January 1,

6 1997, October 1, 1998, and October 1, 1999’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘October 1, 1997, and each October 1

8 thereafter through October 1, 2001’’; and

9 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(3) PURPOSES.—Subject to subsection (d), of

12 the amounts transferred to the Account for a fiscal

13 year, the Secretary shall make available—

14 ‘‘(A) for activities described in subsection

15 (c)(1), not less than 50 percent, and not more

16 than 67 percent, of the funds in the Account;

17 and

18 ‘‘(B) for activities described in subsection

19 (c)(2), all funds in the Account not made avail20 able under subparagraph (A).’’.

21 SEC. 227. HONEY RESEARCH, PROMOTION, AND CONSUMER

22 INFORMATION.

23 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 2 of the

24 Honey Research, Promotion, and Consumer Information

25 Act (7 U.S.C. 4601) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking the section heading and ‘‘SEC.

2 2. The Congress’’ and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress’’; and

5 (2) in subsection (a) (as designated by para6 graph (1)), by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(8) Research directed at improving the cost-ef8 fectiveness and efficiency of beekeeping and develop9 ing better means of dealing with pest and disease

10 problems is essential to keeping honey and honey

11 product prices competitive, facilitating market

12 growth, and maintaining the financial well-being of

13 the honey industry.

14 ‘‘(9) Research involving the quality, safety, and

15 image of honey and honey products, and how that

16 quality, safety, and image may be affected during

17 the extraction, processing, packaging, marketing,

18 and other stages of the honey and honey product

19 production and distribution process, is highly impor20 tant to building and maintaining markets for honey

21 and honey products.’’.

22 (b) RESEARCH PROJECTS.—Section 7(f) of the

23 Honey Research, Promotion, and Consumer Information

24 Act (7 U.S.C. 4606(f)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(f) Funds’’ and inserting the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds’’;

5 (2) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and in6 serting the following:

7 ‘‘(3) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary shall’’;

8 and

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as des10 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following:

11 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH PROJECTS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Honey Board

13 shall reserve at least 8 percent of all assess14 ments collected during a year for expenditure

15 on approved research projects designed to ad16 vance the cost-effectiveness, competitiveness, ef17 ficiency, pest and disease control, and other

18 management aspects of beekeeping and honey

19 production.

20 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT AVAILABILITY.—If all

21 funds reserved under subparagraph (A) are not

22 allocated to approved research projects in a

23 year, any unallocated reserved funds shall be

24 carried forward for allocation and expenditure

25 under subparagraph (A) in subsequent years.’’.
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1 SEC. 228. OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES.

2 Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture Reorga3 nization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6911 et seq.) is amended

4 by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 220. OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES.

6 ‘‘An Office of Energy Policy and New Uses of the

7 Department shall be established in the Office of the Sec8 retary.’’.

9 Subtitle D—New Programs

10 SEC. 231. BIOBASED PRODUCTS.

11 (a) DEFINITION OF BIOBASED PRODUCT.—In this

12 section, the term ‘‘biobased product’’ means a product

13 that is produced from a renewable agricultural or forestry

14 product.

15 (b) COORDINATION OF BIOBASED PRODUCT ACTIVI16 TIES.—The Secretary shall—

17 (1) coordinate the research, technical expertise,

18 economic information, and market information re19 sources and activities of the Department to develop,

20 commercialize, and promote the use of biobased

21 products;

22 (2) solicit input from private sector persons who

23 produce, or are interested in producing, biobased

24 products;
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1 (3) provide a centralized contact point for ad2 vice and technical assistance for promising and inno3 vative biobased products; and

4 (4) submit an annual report to Congress de5 scribing the coordinated research, marketing, and

6 commercialization activities of the Department relat7 ing to biobased products.

8 (c) RESEARCH AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR

9 BIOBASED PRODUCTS.—

10 (1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE CONTRACTOR.—

11 In this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible contractor’’

12 means—

13 (A) a party that has entered into a cooper14 ative research and development agreement with

15 the Department under section 12 of the Steven16 son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980

17 (15 U.S.C. 3710a);

18 (B) a recipient of funding from the Alter19 native Agricultural Research and Commer20 cialization Corporation established under sec21 tion 1658 of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva22 tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5902);

23 (C) a recipient of funding from the Bio24 technology Research and Development Center;

25 or
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1 (D) a recipient of funding from the De2 partment under a Small Business Innovation

3 Research Program established under section 9

4 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638).

5 (2) RESEARCH.—The Secretary may use the

6 funds, facilities, and technical expertise of the Agri7 cultural Research Service, cooperative research and

8 development agreement funds, or other funds—

9 (A) to enter into cooperative agreements

10 with eligible contractors to operate pilot plants

11 and other large-scale preparation facilities to

12 promote the practical application of biobased

13 technologies; and

14 (B) to conduct—

15 (i) research on environmental impacts

16 of the technologies;

17 (ii) research on lowering the cost of

18 manufacturing biobased products; or

19 (iii) other appropriate research.

20 (3) SALE OF BIOBASED PRODUCTS.—For the

21 purpose of determining the market potential for

22 biobased products, an eligible contractor who enters

23 into a cooperative agreement may sell biobased prod24 ucts produced at a pilot plant or other large-scale

25 preparation facility under paragraph (2).
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1 (d) PILOT PROJECT.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting

3 through the Agricultural Research Service, shall es4 tablish and carry out a pilot project under which

5 grants are provided, on a competitive basis, to sci6 entists of the Agricultural Research Service to—

7 (A) encourage innovative and collaborative

8 science; and

9 (B) during each of fiscal years 1999

10 through 2001, develop biobased products with

11 promising commercial potential.

12 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

13 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

14 this subsection $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years

15 1999 through 2002.

16 SEC. 232. PRECISION AGRICULTURE.

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

18 (1) AGRICULTURAL INPUTS.—The term ‘‘agri19 cultural inputs’’ includes all farm management, ag20 ronomic, and field-applied agricultural production in21 puts, such as machinery, labor, time, fuel, irrigation

22 water, commercial nutrients, livestock waste, crop

23 protection chemicals, agronomic data and informa24 tion, application and management services, seed, and

25 other inputs used in agricultural production.
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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible en2 tity’’ means—

3 (A) a State agricultural experiment sta4 tion;

5 (B) a college or university;

6 (C) a research institution or organization;

7 (D) a Federal agency;

8 (E) a national laboratory;

9 (F) a private organization or corporation;

10 or

11 (G) an individual.

12 (3) PRECISION AGRICULTURE.—The term ‘‘pre13 cision agriculture’’ means an integrated information14 and production-based farming system that is de15 signed to increase long-term site-specific and whole16 farm production efficiencies, productivity, and profit17 ability while minimizing unintended impacts on wild18 life and the environment by—

19 (A) combining agricultural sciences, agri20 cultural inputs and practices, agronomic pro21 duction databases, and precision agriculture

22 technologies to efficiently manage agronomic

23 systems;

24 (B) gathering on-farm information pertain25 ing to the variation and interaction of site-spe-
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1 cific spatial and temporal factors affecting crop

2 production;

3 (C) integrating the information with ap4 propriate data derived from remote sensing and

5 other precision agriculture technologies in a

6 timely manner in order to facilitate on-farm de7 cisionmaking; or

8 (D) using the information to prescribe and

9 deliver site-specific application of agricultural

10 inputs and management practices in agricul11 tural production systems.

12 (4) PRECISION AGRICULTURE TECH13 NOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘precision agriculture tech14 nologies’’ includes—

15 (A) instrumentation and techniques rang16 ing from sophisticated sensors and software

17 systems to manual sampling and data collection

18 tools that measure, record, and manage spatial

19 and temporal data;

20 (B) technologies for searching out and as21 sembling information necessary for sound agri22 cultural production decisionmaking;

23 (C) open systems technologies for data

24 networking and processing that produce valued

25 systems for farm management decisionmaking,
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1 including high bandwidth networks, distributed

2 processing, spatial databasing, object tech3 nology, global positioning systems, data model4 ing, high performance image processing, high

5 resolution satellite imagery, digital

6 orthophotogrammetry simulation, geographic in7 formation systems, computer aided design, and

8 digital cartography; or

9 (D) machines that deliver information

10 based management practices, including global

11 positioning satellites, digital field mapping, on12 the-go yield monitoring, automated pest scout13 ing, and site-specific agricultural input applica14 tion to accomplish the objectives of precision

15 agriculture.

16 (5) SYSTEMS RESEARCH.—The term ‘‘systems

17 research’’ means an integrated, coordinated, and it18 erative investigative process that considers the mul19 tiple interacting components and aspects of precision

20 agriculture systems, including synthesis of new

21 knowledge regarding the physical-chemical-biological

22 processes and complex interactions with cropping

23 and natural resource systems, precision agriculture

24 technologies development and implementation, data

25 and information collection and interpretation, pro-
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1 duction scale planning, production-scale implementa2 tion, and farm production efficiencies, productivity,

3 and profitability.

4 (b) GRANTS.—After consultation with the Advisory

5 Board, the Secretary may make competitive grants, for

6 periods not to exceed 5 years, to eligible entities to carry

7 out research, education, and information dissemination

8 projects for the development and promotion of precision

9 agriculture. The projects shall address 1 or more of the

10 following:

11 (1) The study and promotion of components of

12 precision agriculture technologies using a systems

13 research approach designed to increase long-term

14 site-specific and whole-farm production efficiencies,

15 productivity, and profitability.

16 (2) The improvement in the understanding of

17 agronomic systems, including soil, water, land cover,

18 and meteorological variability.

19 (3) The development, demonstration, and dis20 semination of information regarding precision agri21 culture technologies and systems into an integrated

22 program.

23 (4) The promotion of systems research and edu24 cation projects focusing on the integration of the

25 multiple aspects of precision agriculture, including
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1 development, production-scale implementation, and

2 farm production efficiencies, productivity, and profit3 ability.

4 (5) The education of agricultural producers and

5 consumers regarding the benefits of precision agri6 culture as it relates to increased long-term farm pro7 duction efficiencies, productivity, and profitability,

8 as well as the maintenance of the environment and

9 improvements in international trade.

10 (6) The provision of training and educational

11 programs for State cooperative extension services

12 agents, agricultural producers, agricultural input

13 machinery, product, and service providers, and cer14 tified crop advisers and other professionals involved

15 in agricultural production and the transfer of inte16 grated precision agriculture technology.

17 (c) EDUCATION AND INFORMATION DISSEMINA18 TION.—Of the funds allocated for grants under this sec19 tion, the Secretary shall reserve a portion of the funds

20 for education and information dissemination grants re21 garding precision agriculture.

22 (d) PRECISION AGRICULTURE PARTNERSHIPS.—

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out this sec24 tion, the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory

25 Board, shall encourage the establishment of appro-
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1 priate multistate and national partnerships or con2 sortia among—

3 (A) land-grant colleges and universities;

4 (B) State agricultural experiment stations;

5 (C) State cooperative extension services;

6 (D) other colleges and universities with de7 monstrable expertise regarding precision agri8 culture;

9 (E) agencies of the Department;

10 (F) national laboratories;

11 (G) agribusinesses;

12 (H) agricultural equipment and input man13 ufacturers and retailers;

14 (I) certified crop advisers;

15 (J) commodity organizations;

16 (K) other Federal or State government en17 tities and agencies;

18 (L) nonagricultural industries and non19 profit organizations with demonstrable expertise

20 regarding precision agriculture; and

21 (M) agricultural producers and other land

22 managers.

23 (2) AGREEMENT BETWEEN SECRETARY OF EN24 ERGY AND SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.—The

25 partnerships established pursuant to this subsection
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1 may include the agreement entered into (before the

2 date of enactment of this Act) by the Secretary of

3 Energy (on behalf of the national laboratories of the

4 Department of Energy) and the Secretary of Agri5 culture (on behalf of agencies of the Department)

6 to promote cooperation and coordination between the

7 national laboratories of the Department of Energy

8 and agencies of the Department of Agriculture in

9 the areas of systems research, technology research

10 and development, and the transfer, utilization, and

11 private-sector commercialization of technology.

12 (3) ROLE OF PARTNERSHIPS.—Partnerships de13 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be eligible grantees

14 for conducting systems research (including on-farm

15 research) regarding precision agriculture and preci16 sion agriculture technologies.

17 (e) LIMITATION.—A grant made under this section

18 may not be used for the planning, repair, rehabilitation,

19 acquisition, or construction of a building or facility.

20 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Secretary may not take

21 the offer or availability of matching funds into consider22 ation in making a grant under this section.

23 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 1 of

24 each year, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress an an25 nual report describing the policies, priorities, and oper-
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1 ations of the grant program authorized by this section

2 during the preceding fiscal year.

3 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate

4 such regulations as the Secretary considers necessary to

5 carry out this section.

6 (i) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—The Federal

7 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and title XVIII

8 of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2281

9 et seq.) shall not apply to a panel or board created for

10 the purpose of reviewing applications or proposals submit11 ted under this section.

12 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

14 appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry

15 out this section for each of fiscal years 1998 through

16 2002, of which, for each fiscal year—

17 (A) not less than 30 percent shall be avail18 able to make grants for research to be con19 ducted by multidisciplinary teams;

20 (B) not less than 40 percent shall be avail21 able to make grants for research to be con22 ducted by eligible entities conducting mission23 linked systems research; and

24 (C) not more than 4 percent may be re25 tained by the Secretary to pay administrative
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1 costs incurred by the Secretary in carrying out

2 this section.

3 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds made

4 available under paragraph (1) shall be available for

5 obligation for a 2-year period beginning on October

6 1 of the fiscal year for which the funds are made

7 available.

8 SEC. 233. FORMOSAN TERMITE ERADICATION PROGRAM.

9 (a) RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The Secretary may make

10 competitive research grants for terms of not to exceed 5

11 years to regional and multijurisdictional entities, local gov12 ernment planning organizations, and local governments

13 for the purpose of conducting research for the control,

14 management, and possible eradication of Formosan ter15 mites in the United States.

16 (b) ERADICATION PROGRAM.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

18 into cooperative agreements with regional and multi19 jurisdictional entities, local government planning or20 ganizations, and local governments for the purposes

21 of—

22 (A) conducting projects for the control,

23 management, and possible eradication of For24 mosan termites in the United States; and
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1 (B) collecting data on the effectiveness of

2 the projects.

3 (2) FUNDING PRIORITY.—In allocating funds

4 made available to carry out this subsection, the Sec5 retary shall provide a higher priority for regions or

6 locations with the highest historical rates of infesta7 tion of Formosan termites.

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

10 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2002.

11 SEC. 234. NUTRIENT COMPOSITION DATA.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall update, on a

13 periodic basis, nutrient composition data.

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

15 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to

16 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa17 tives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

18 Forestry of the Senate a report that describes—

19 (1) the method the Secretary will use to update

20 nutrient composition data, including the quality as21 surance criteria that will be used and the method for

22 generating the data; and

23 (2) the timing for updating the data.
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1 SEC. 235. CONSOLIDATED ADMINISTRATIVE AND LABORA2 TORY FACILITY.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Federal

4 Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40

5 U.S.C. 471 et seq.), the Public Buildings Act of 1959 (40

6 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), or section 5 of the Public Buildings

7 Amendments of 1972 (40 U.S.C. 602a), the Secretary, in

8 consultation with the Administrator of General Services,

9 may enter into contracts for the design, construction, and

10 operation of a consolidated administrative and laboratory

11 facility of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

12 to be located in or near Ames, Iowa.

13 (b) AWARDING OF CONTRACT.—

14 (1) SOLICITATION.—The Secretary may solicit

15 contract proposals from interested parties to carry

16 out subsection (a).

17 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding contracts under

18 subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

19 (A) review the proposals; and

20 (B) provide a higher priority to proposals

21 that—

22 (i) are—

23 (I) the most cost effective for the

24 Federal Government; or

25 (II) safer, based on the relative

26 safety of the proposed facility in com-
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1 parison to facilities of the Animal and

2 Plant Health Inspection Service lo3 cated in Ames, Iowa, in existence on

4 the date of enactment of this Act; and

5 (ii) allow for the use of donated land,

6 federally owned property, or lease-purchase

7 arrangements.

8 (c) DONATIONS.—In carrying out this section, the

9 Secretary may, in connection with real property, buildings,

10 and facilities, accept on behalf of the Animal and Plant

11 Health Inspection Service such gifts or donations of serv12 ices or property, real or personal, as the Secretary deter13 mines necessary.

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

15 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec16 essary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years

17 1998 through 2002, to remain available until expended.

18 SEC. 236. NATIONAL SWINE RESEARCH CENTER.

19 Subject to the availability of appropriations to carry

20 out this section, or through a reprogramming of funds

21 provided for swine research to carry out this section pur22 suant to established procedures, during the period begin23 ning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending De24 cember 31, 1998, the Secretary, acting through the Agri25 cultural Research Service, may accept as a gift, and ad-
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1 minister, the National Swine Research Center located in

2 Ames, Iowa.

3 Subtitle E—Studies and

4 Miscellaneous

5 SEC. 241. EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT OF AGRICUL6 TURAL RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND EDU7 CATION PROGRAMS.

8 (a) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall conduct a

9 performance evaluation to determine whether federally

10 funded agricultural research, extension, and education

11 programs result in public goods that have national or

12 multistate significance.

13 (b) CONTRACT.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter

15 into a contract with an expert in research assess16 ment and performance evaluation to provide input

17 and recommendations to the Secretary with respect

18 to federally funded agricultural research, extension,

19 and education programs.

20 (2) GUIDELINES FOR PERFORMANCE MEASURE21 MENT.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The contractor under

23 paragraph (1) shall develop and propose to the

24 Secretary practical guidelines for measuring
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1 performance of federally funded agricultural re2 search, extension, and education programs.

3 (B) CONSISTENCY WITH GPRA.—The

4 guidelines shall be consistent with the Govern5 ment Performance and Results Act of 1993

6 (Public Law 103–62) and amendments made by

7 that Act.

8 SEC. 242. STUDY OF FEDERALLY FUNDED AGRICULTURAL

9 RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND EDUCATION.

10 (a) STUDY.—Not later than January 1, 1999, the

11 Secretary shall request the National Academy of Sciences

12 to conduct a study of the role and mission of federally

13 funded agricultural research, extension, and education.

14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The study shall—

15 (1) evaluate the strength of science conducted

16 by the Agricultural Research Service and the rel17 evance of the science to national priorities;

18 (2) examine how the work of the Agricultural

19 Research Service relates to the capacity of the agri20 cultural research, extension, and education system of

21 the United States;

22 (3) examine the formulas for funding agricul23 tural research and extension; and

24 (4) examine the system of competitive grants

25 for agricultural research, extension, and education.
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1 (c) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall prepare and sub2 mit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition

4 and Forestry of the Senate—

5 (1) not later than 18 months after the com6 mencement of the study, a report that describes the

7 results of the study as it relates to paragraphs (1)

8 and (2) of subsection (b), including any appropriate

9 recommendations; and

10 (2) not later than 3 years after the commence11 ment of the study, a report that describes the results

12 of the study as it relates to paragraphs (3) and (4)

13 of subsection (b), including any appropriate rec14 ommendations.

15 SEC. 243. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON STATE MATCH FOR 1890

16 INSTITUTIONS.

17 It is the sense of Congress that States should provide

18 matching funds for agricultural research and extension

19 formula funds provided by the Federal Government to

20 1890 Institutions.
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1 TITLE III—INITIATIVE FOR FU2 TURE AGRICULTURE AND

3 FOOD SYSTEMS

4 SEC. 301. INITIATIVE FOR FUTURE AGRICULTURE AND

5 FOOD SYSTEMS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Treas7 ury of the United States an account to be known as the

8 Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (re9 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Account’’) to provide

10 funds for activities authorized under this section.

11 (b) FUNDING.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any funds in the

13 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary

14 of the Treasury shall transfer to the Account—

15 (A) on October 1, 1997, $100,000,000;

16 and

17 (B) on October 1, 1998, and each October

18 1 thereafter through October 1, 2001,

19 $170,000,000.

20 (2) ENTITLEMENT.—The Secretary—

21 (A) shall be entitled to receive the funds

22 transferred to the Account under paragraph

23 (1);

24 (B) shall accept the funds; and
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1 (C) shall use the funds to carry out this

2 section.

3 (c) PURPOSES.—

4 (1) CRITICAL EMERGING ISSUES.—The Sec5 retary shall use the funds in the Account—

6 (A) subject to paragraph (2), for research,

7 extension, and education grants (referred to in

8 this section as ‘‘grants’’) to address critical

9 emerging agricultural issues related to—

10 (i) future food production;

11 (ii) environmental protection; or

12 (iii) farm income; and

13 (B) for activities carried out under the Al14 ternative Agricultural Research and Commer15 cialization Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.).

16 (2) PRIORITY MISSION AREAS.—

17 (A) FISCAL YEAR 1998.—In making grants

18 under this section for fiscal year 1998, the Sec19 retary shall address priority mission areas relat20 ed to—

21 (i) food genome;

22 (ii) food safety, food technology, and

23 human nutrition;
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1 (iii) new and alternative uses and pro2 duction of agricultural commodities and

3 products;

4 (iv) agricultural biotechnology; and

5 (v) natural resource management, in6 cluding precision agriculture.

7 (B) FISCAL YEARS 1999 THROUGH 2002.—

8 In making grants under this section for each of

9 fiscal years 1999 through 2002, the Secretary

10 shall address—

11 (i) priority mission areas described in

12 subparagraph (A); or

13 (ii) after consultation with the Advi14 sory Board, new or different priority mis15 sion areas.

16 (d) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—The Secretary may make

17 a grant under this section to—

18 (1) a Federal research agency;

19 (2) a national laboratory;

20 (3) a college or university or a research founda21 tion maintained by a college or university; or

22 (4) a private research organization with an es23 tablished and demonstrated capacity to perform re24 search or technology transfer.

25 (e) USE OF GRANTS.—
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1 (1) SMALLER INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary

2 may award grants under this section to ensure that

3 the faculty of small and mid-sized institutions who

4 have not previously been successful in obtaining

5 competitive grants awarded by the Secretary under

6 subsection (b) of the Competitive, Special, and Fa7 cilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)) re8 ceive a portion of the grants.

9 (2) PRIORITIES.—In making grants under this

10 section, the Secretary shall provide a higher priority

11 to—

12 (A) a project that is multistate, multi-insti13 tutional, or multidisciplinary; or

14 (B) a project that integrates agricultural

15 research, extension, and education.

16 (f) ADMINISTRATION.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In making grants under this

18 section, the Secretary shall—

19 (A) seek and accept proposals for grants;

20 (B) determine the relevance and merit of

21 proposals through a system of peer review in

22 accordance with section 103;

23 (C) award grants on the basis of merit,

24 quality, and relevance to advancing the pur-
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1 poses and priority mission areas established

2 under subsection (c); and

3 (D) solicit and consider input from stake4 holders in accordance with section 102(b)(1).

5 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—A grant under this

6 section shall be awarded on a competitive basis.

7 (3) TERM.—A grant under this section shall

8 have a term that does not exceed 5 years.

9 (4) MATCHING FUNDS.—As a condition of mak10 ing a grant under this section, the Secretary shall

11 require the funding of the grant be matched with

12 equal matching funds from a non-Federal source if

13 the grant is—

14 (A) for applied research that is commodity15 specific; and

16 (B) not of national scope.

17 (5) DELEGATION.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ad19 minister this section through the Cooperative

20 State Research, Education, and Extension Serv21 ice of the Department.

22 (B) INSTITUTES.—The Secretary may es23 tablish 1 or more institutes to carry out all or

24 part of the activities authorized under this sec25 tion.
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1 (6) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds for

2 grants under this section shall be available for obli3 gation for a 2-year period.

4 (7) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary

5 may use not more than 4 percent of the funds made

6 available for grants under this section for adminis7 trative costs incurred by the Secretary in carrying

8 out this section.

9 (8) BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES.—Funds made

10 available for grants under this section shall not be

11 used for the construction of a new building or facil12 ity or the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or al13 teration of an existing building or facility (including

14 site grading and improvement and architect fees).

15 TITLE IV—EXTENSION OR RE16 PEAL OF CERTAIN AUTHORI17 TIES; TECHNICAL AMEND18 MENTS

19 SEC. 401. EXTENSIONS OF AUTHORITIES.

20 (a) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTEN21 SION, AND TEACHING POLICY ACT OF 1977.—The Na22 tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching

23 Policy Act of 1977 is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (l) of section 1417 (7 U.S.C.

2 3152) (as redesignated by section 202(1)), by strik3 ing ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

4 (2) in section 1419(d) (7 U.S.C. 3154(d)), by

5 striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

6 (3) in section 1419A(d) (7 U.S.C. 3155(d)), by

7 striking ‘‘fiscal years 1996 and 1997’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘each of fiscal years 1996 through 2002’’;

9 (4) in section 1424(d) (7 U.S.C. 3174(d)), by

10 striking ‘‘fiscal years 1996 and 1997’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘each of fiscal years 1996 through 2002’’;

12 (5) in section 1425(c)(3) (7 U.S.C. 3175(c)(3)),

13 by striking ‘‘and 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘through

14 2002’’;

15 (6) in the first sentence of section 1433(a) (7

16 U.S.C. 3195(a)), by striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘2002’’;

18 (7) in section 1434(a) (7 U.S.C. 3196(a)), by

19 striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

20 (8) in section 1447(b) (7 U.S.C. 3222b(b)), by

21 striking ‘‘and 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘through 2002’’;

22 (9) in section 1448 (7 U.S.C. 3222c)—

23 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘and

24 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘through 2002’’; and
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1 (B) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘1997’’

2 and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

3 (10) in section 1455(c) (7 U.S.C. 3241(c)), by

4 striking ‘‘fiscal year 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘each of

5 fiscal years 1997 through 2002’’;

6 (11) in section 1463 (7 U.S.C. 3311), by strik7 ing ‘‘1997’’ each place it appears in subsections (a)

8 and (b) and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

9 (12) in section 1464 (7 U.S.C. 3312), by strik10 ing ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

11 (13) in section 1473D(a) (7 U.S.C. 3319d(a)),

12 by striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

13 (14) in the first sentence of section 1477 (7

14 U.S.C. 3324), by striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘2002’’; and

16 (15) in section 1483(a) (7 U.S.C. 3336(a)), by

17 striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’.

18 (b) FOOD, AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION, AND

19 TRADE ACT OF 1990.—The Food, Agriculture, Conserva20 tion, and Trade Act of 1990 is amended—

21 (1) in section 1635(b) (7 U.S.C. 5844(b)), by

22 striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;

23 (2) in section 1673(h) (7 U.S.C. 5926(h)), by

24 striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’;
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1 (3) in section 2381(e) (7 U.S.C. 3125b(e)), by

2 striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’; and

3 (4) in section 2412 (7 U.S.C. 6710), by striking

4 ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’.

5 (c) CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL MATERIALS ACT.—

6 Section 16(a) of the Critical Agricultural Materials Act

7 (7 U.S.C. 178n(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘1997’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘2002’’.

9 (d) RESEARCH FACILITIES ACT.—Section 6(a) of the

10 Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 390d(a)) is amended by

11 striking ‘‘fiscal years 1996 and 1997’’ and inserting ‘‘each

12 of fiscal years 1996 through 2002’’.

13 (e) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTEN14 SION, AND TEACHING POLICY ACT AMENDMENTS OF

15 1985.—Section 1431 of the National Agricultural Re16 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amendments

17 of 1985 (99 Stat. 1566) is amended by striking ‘‘1997’’

18 and inserting ‘‘2002’’.

19 (f) COMPETITIVE, SPECIAL, AND FACILITIES RE20 SEARCH GRANT ACT.—Subsection (b)(10) of the Competi21 tive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C.

22 450i(b)(10)) is amended by striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘2002’’.

24 (g) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTEN25 SION, AND TEACHING POLICY ACT AMENDMENTS OF
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1 1981.—Section 1432(b)(5) of the National Agricultural

2 Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amend3 ments of 1981 (Public Law 97–98; 7 U.S.C. 3222 note)

4 is amended by striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’.

5 (h) EQUITY IN EDUCATIONAL LAND-GRANT STATUS

6 ACT OF 1994.—Sections 533(b) and 535 of the Equity

7 in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (Public

8 Law 103–382; 7 U.S.C. 301 note) are amended by strik9 ing ‘‘2000’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2002’’.

10 (i) RENEWABLE RESOURCES EXTENSION ACT OF

11 1978.—Section 6 of the Renewable Resources Extension

12 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1675) is amended in the first sen13 tence by striking ‘‘the fiscal year ending September 30,

14 1988,’’ and all that follows through the period at the end

15 and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 1987 through 2002.’’.

16 (j) NATIONAL AQUACULTURE ACT OF 1980.—Sec17 tion 10 of the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 (16

18 U.S.C. 2809) is amended in the first sentence by striking

19 ‘‘the fiscal years 1991, 1992, and 1993’’ each place it ap20 pears and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 1991 through 2002’’.

21 SEC. 402. REPEAL OF AUTHORITIES.

22 (a) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTEN23 SION, AND TEACHING POLICY ACT OF 1977.—Sections

24 1424A and 1476 of the National Agricultural Research,
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1 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

2 3174a, 3323) are repealed.

3 (b) FOOD, AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION, AND

4 TRADE ACT OF 1990.—Subtitle G of title XIV and sec5 tions 1670, 1675, and 1676 of the Food, Agriculture, Con6 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.,

7 5923, 5928, 5929) are repealed.

8 (c) FEDERAL AGRICULTURE IMPROVEMENT AND RE9 FORM ACT OF 1996.—Subtitle E of title VIII of the Fed10 eral Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996

11 (110 Stat. 1184) is repealed.

12 SEC. 403. SHORT TITLES FOR SMITH-LEVER ACT AND

13 HATCH ACT OF 1887.

14 (a) SMITH-LEVER ACT.—The Act of May 8, 1914

15 (commonly known as the ‘‘Smith-Lever Act’’) (38 Stat.

16 372, chapter 79; 7 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), is amended by

17 adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 11. SHORT TITLE.

19 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Smith-Lever Act’.’’.

20 (b) HATCH ACT OF 1887.—The Act of March 2,

21 1887 (commonly known as the ‘‘Hatch Act of 1887’’) (24

22 Stat. 440, chapter 314; 7 U.S.C. 361a et seq.), is amended

23 by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘SEC. 10. SHORT TITLE.

25 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Hatch Act of 1887’.’’.
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1 SEC. 404. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO RESEARCH PROVI2 SIONS OF FEDERAL AGRICULTURE IMPROVE3 MENT AND REFORM ACT OF 1996.

4 (a) SUPPLEMENTAL AND ALTERNATIVE CROPS RE5 SEARCH.—Section 819(b)(5) of the Federal Agriculture

6 Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–

7 127; 110 Stat. 1167) is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph

8 (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(3)’’.

9 (b) JOINT COUNCIL ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL

10 SCIENCES.—Section 1413(b) of the National Agricultural

11 Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7

12 U.S.C. 3128(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘Joint Council,

13 the Advisory Board,’’ and inserting ‘‘Advisory Board’’.

14 (c) ADVISORY BOARD.—

15 (1) SUPPORT FOR ADVISORY BOARD.—Section

16 1412 of the National Agricultural Research, Exten17 sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

18 3127) is amended—

19 (A) in subsections (a) and (b), by striking

20 ‘‘their duties’’ each place it appears and insert21 ing ‘‘its duties’’; and

22 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘their

23 recommendations’’ and inserting ‘‘its rec24 ommendations’’.

25 (2) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—Section 1413(a) of

26 the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and
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1 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3128(a)) is

2 amended by striking ‘‘their powers’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘its duties’’.

4 (d) PLANT AND ANIMAL PEST AND DISEASE CON5 TROL PROGRAM.—Section 1629(g) of the Food, Agri6 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

7 5832(g)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 1650,’’.

8 (e) GRANTS TO UPGRADE 1890 LAND-GRANT COL9 LEGE EXTENSION FACILITIES.—Section 873 of the Fed10 eral Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996

11 (Public Law 104–127; 110 Stat. 1175) is amended by

12 striking ‘‘1981’’ and inserting ‘‘1985’’.

13 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

14 this section take effect on April 4, 1996.

15 TITLE V—AGRICULTURAL

16 PROGRAM SAVINGS

17 SEC. 501. NUTRITION PROGRAMS.

18 (a) FOOD STAMPS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 16 of the Food

20 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2025) is amended—

21 (A) in the first sentence of subsection (a),

22 by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘Subject to subsection (k), the Secretary’’;
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1 (B) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by inserting

2 ‘‘notwithstanding subsection (k),’’ after ‘‘(A)’’;

3 and

4 (C) by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(k) ADMINISTRATIVE COST CONTAINMENT.—

6 ‘‘(1) FISCAL YEAR 1998.—For fiscal year 1998,

7 the amount paid by the Secretary to a State under

8 subsection (a) (except for subsections (a)(6) and

9 (c)(1)(A)) shall not exceed 110 percent of the

10 amount the Secretary paid to the State under sub11 section (a) (minus any amount paid under sub12 sections (a)(6) and (c)(1)(A)) for fiscal year 1996.

13 ‘‘(2) AFTER FISCAL YEAR 1998.—For fiscal year

14 1999 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount

15 paid by the Secretary to a State under subsection

16 (a) (except subsections (a)(6) and (c)(1)(A)) shall

17 not exceed 115 percent of—

18 ‘‘(A)(i) the amount the Secretary paid to

19 the State under subsection (a) (minus any

20 amount paid under subsections (a)(6) and

21 (c)(1)(A)) for fiscal year 1996, adjusted to re22 flect any change in the Consumer Price Index

23 published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for

24 all urban consumers for the period beginning

25 July 1, 1997, and ending the June 30 preced-
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1 ing the fiscal year for which the amount is

2 being determined; divided by

3 ‘‘(ii) the average monthly number of food

4 stamp households in the State during fiscal

5 year 1996; multiplied by

6 ‘‘(B) the average monthly number of food

7 stamp households in the State during the appli8 cable fiscal year.’’.

9 (2) GAO REPORT.—The Comptroller General of

10 the United States shall submit a study to the Com11 mittee on Agriculture of the House of Representa12 tives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition,

13 and Forestry of the Senate on the effect of section

14 16(k) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (as amended

15 by paragraph (1)) on the ability of State agencies to

16 administer the food stamp program.

17 (b) MEALS FOR CHILDREN OF WORKING FAMI18 LIES.—

19 (1) GRANTS FOR LOW-INCOME AREAS.—Section

20 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.

21 1773) is amended by adding at the end the follow22 ing:

23 ‘‘(f) LOW-INCOME AREA GRANT PROGRAM.—

24 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
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1 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘eligi2 ble school’ means a school—

3 ‘‘(i) attended by children, a significant

4 percentage of whom are members of low5 income families, as determined by the Sec6 retary; and

7 ‘‘(ii)(I) as used with respect to a

8 school breakfast program, that agrees to

9 operate the school breakfast program es10 tablished or expanded with the assistance

11 provided under this subsection for a period

12 of not less than 3 years; and

13 ‘‘(II) as used with respect to a sum14 mer food service program for children, that

15 agrees to operate the summer food service

16 program for children established or ex17 panded with the assistance provided under

18 this subsection for a period of not less

19 than 3 years.

20 ‘‘(B) SERVICE INSTITUTION.—The term

21 ‘service institution’ means an institution or or22 ganization described in paragraph (1)(B) or (7)

23 of section 13(a) of the National School Lunch

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)).
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1 ‘‘(C) SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM

2 FOR CHILDREN.—The term ‘summer food serv3 ice program for children’ means a program au4 thorized by section 13 of the National School

5 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761).

6 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es7 tablish a program under this subsection to be known

8 as the ‘Low-Income Area Grant Program’ (referred

9 to in this subsection as the ‘Program’) to assist eli10 gible schools and service institutions through grants

11 to initiate or expand programs under the school

12 breakfast program and the summer food service pro13 gram for children.

14 ‘‘(3) PAYMENTS.—

15 ‘‘(A) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any moneys

16 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the

17 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide to the

18 Secretary $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1998 and

19 each fiscal year thereafter.

20 ‘‘(B) ENTITLEMENT TO FUNDS.—The Sec21 retary shall be entitled to receive the funds

22 made available under subparagraph (A) and

23 shall accept the funds.

24 ‘‘(C) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall

25 use the funds made available under subpara-
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1 graph (A) to make payments under the Pro2 gram—

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of the school breakfast

4 program, to school food authorities for eli5 gible schools; and

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of the summer food

7 service program for children, to service in8 stitutions.

9 ‘‘(D) INSUFFICIENT NUMBER OF APPLI10 CANTS.—The Secretary may expend less than

11 the amount described in subparagraph (A) for

12 a fiscal year to the extent that there is an in13 sufficient number of suitable applicants to initi14 ate or expand programs under this subsection

15 for the fiscal year.

16 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall make pay17 ments under the Program on a competitive basis and

18 in the following order of priority (subject to the

19 other provisions of this subsection) to:

20 ‘‘(A) School food authorities for eligible

21 schools to assist the schools with nonrecurring

22 expenses incurred in—

23 ‘‘(i) initiating a school breakfast pro24 gram under this section; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) expanding a school breakfast

2 program.

3 ‘‘(B) Service institutions to assist the insti4 tutions with nonrecurring expenses incurred

5 in—

6 ‘‘(i) initiating a summer food service

7 program for children; or

8 ‘‘(ii) expanding a summer food service

9 program for children.

10 ‘‘(5) PAYMENTS ADDITIONAL.—Payments under

11 the Program shall be in addition to payments under

12 subsection (b) of this section and section 13 of the

13 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761).

14 ‘‘(6) PREFERENCES.—Consistent with para15 graph (4), in making payments under the Program

16 for any fiscal year to initiate or expand school

17 breakfast programs or summer food service pro18 grams for children, the Secretary shall provide a

19 preference to a school food authority for an eligible

20 school or service institution that—

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of a summer food service

22 program for children, is a public or private non23 profit school food authority;

24 ‘‘(B) has significant public or private re25 sources that will be used to carry out the initi-
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1 ation or expansion of the programs during the

2 year;

3 ‘‘(C) serves an unmet need among low-in4 come children, as determined by the Secretary;

5 or

6 ‘‘(D) is not operating a school breakfast

7 program or summer food service program for

8 children, as appropriate.

9 ‘‘(7) RECOVERY AND REALLOCATION.—The

10 Secretary shall act in a timely manner to recover

11 and reallocate to other school food authorities for el12 igible schools or service institutions any amounts

13 under the Program that are not expended within a

14 reasonable period (as determined by the Secretary).

15 ‘‘(8) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Expenditures

16 of funds from State, local, and private sources for

17 the maintenance of the school breakfast program

18 and the summer food service program for children

19 shall not be diminished as a result of payments re20 ceived under the Program.’’.

21 (2) MEALS AND SUPPLEMENTS.—Section

22 13(b)(2) of the National School Lunch Act (42

23 U.S.C. 1761(b)(2)) is amended—

24 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)

25 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘(2) Any service’’ and in2 serting the following:

3 ‘‘(2) MEALS AND SUPPLEMENTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any service’’;

5 (C) by striking ‘‘3 meals, or 2 meals and

6 1 supplement,’’ and inserting ‘‘4 meals’’; and

7 (D) by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(B) CAMPS AND MIGRANT PROGRAMS.—A

9 camp or migrant program may serve a break10 fast, a lunch, a supper, and meal supple11 ments.’’.

12 (3) NUMBER OF MEALS AND SUPPLEMENTS.—

13 Section 17(f)(2) of the National School Lunch Act

14 (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(2)) is amended by striking sub15 paragraph (B) and inserting the following:

16 ‘‘(B) NUMBER OF MEALS AND SUPPLE17 MENTS.—

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro19 vided in clause (ii), no reimbursement may

20 be made to any institution under this para21 graph, or to a family or group day care

22 home sponsoring organization under para23 graph (3), for more than 2 meals and 1

24 supplement per day per child.
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1 ‘‘(ii) CHILD CARE.—A reimbursement

2 may be made to an institution under this

3 paragraph (but not a family or group day

4 care home sponsoring organization) for 2

5 meals and 2 supplements, or 3 meals and

6 1 supplement, per day per child for chil7 dren that are maintained in a child care

8 setting for 8 or more hours per day.’’.

9 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

10 by paragraphs (2) and (3) take effect on September

11 1, 1998.

12 (c) INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.—Section 26(d)

13 of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769g(d))

14 is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘$150,000’’

15 and all that follows through ‘‘1998’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘$150,000 for fiscal year 1997, and $185,000 for each

17 of fiscal years 1998 through 2002’’.

18 SEC. 502. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FUNDING.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(g) of the Commodity

20 Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714b(g)) is

21 amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘$275,000,000’’

22 and inserting ‘‘$193,000,000’’.

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

24 subsection (a) takes effect on October 1, 1997.
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1 SEC. 503. HAYING AND GRAZING ON CONSERVATION RE2 SERVE LAND.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1232(a) of the Food Se4 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3832(a)) is amended by

5 striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following:

6 ‘‘(7) not to conduct any harvesting or grazing,

7 nor otherwise make commercial use of the forage, on

8 land that is subject to the contract, nor adopt any

9 similar practice specified in the contract by the Sec10 retary as a practice that would tend to defeat the

11 purposes of the contract, except that—

12 ‘‘(A) on application by an owner or opera13 tor who has entered into the contract with the

14 Secretary, the Secretary shall permit harvesting

15 and grazing on land that the Secretary deter16 mines has a sufficiently established cover to

17 permit harvesting or grazing without undue

18 harm to the purposes of the contract if—

‘‘(i) not more than 1 19 ⁄3 of the land

20 under the contract is harvested or grazed

21 in any calendar year;

22 ‘‘(ii) no land under the contract will

23 be harvested or grazed more than once in

24 a 3-year period;

25 ‘‘(iii) the owner or operator agrees to

26 a payment reduction under this subchapter
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1 in an amount that the Secretary deter2 mines is commensurate with the value of

3 the cover crop that is harvested or grazed;

4 and

5 ‘‘(iv) the owner or operator agrees to

6 such other terms and conditions as the

7 Secretary may establish to ensure that the

8 harvesting or grazing is consistent with the

9 purposes of the program established under

10 this subchapter; and

11 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may permit grazing on

12 land under the contract if—

13 ‘‘(i) the grazing is incidental to the

14 gleaning of crop residues;

15 ‘‘(ii) the owner or operator agrees to

16 a payment reduction in annual rental pay17 ments that would otherwise be payable

18 under this subchapter in an amount that

19 the Secretary determines is commensurate

20 with the economic value of the forage that

21 is subject to the incidental grazing; and

22 ‘‘(iii) the owner or operator agrees to

23 such other terms and conditions as the

24 Secretary may establish to ensure that the

25 grazing is consistent with the purposes of
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1 the program established under this sub2 chapter;’’.

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

4 subsection (a) takes effect on October 1, 1997.