I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5208 

To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act and 

the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to further 

plant cultivar research, development, and commercialization, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2018 

Mr. POCAN (for himself and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research 

Grant Act and the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to further plant cultivar research, 

development, and commercialization, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Seeds for the Future 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PUBLIC CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT. 

2 Section 2 of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities 

3 Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(A) CONVENTIONAL BREEDING.—The term 

8 ‘conventional breeding’ means the development of 

9 new varieties of an organism through controlled 

10 mating and selection without the use of transgenic 

11 methods. 

12 ‘‘(B) CULTIVAR.—The term ‘cultivar’ means a 

13 variety of a species of plant that has been inten14 tionally selected for use in cultivation because of the 

15 improved characteristics of that variety of the spe16 cies. 

17 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC CULTIVAR.—The term ‘public 

18 cultivar’ means a cultivar that is the commercially 

19 available uniform end product of a publicly funded 

20 breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to 

21 demonstrate improved characteristics and stable per22 formance.’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(l) PUBLIC CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT FUNDING.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount of grants 

26 made under subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of 


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1 Agriculture (referred to in this subsection as the 

2 ‘Secretary’) shall ensure that not less than 

3 $50,000,000 for each fiscal year is used for competi4 tive research grants that support the development of 

5 public cultivars. 

6 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making grants under para7 graph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to high8 potential research projects that lead to the release of 

9 public cultivars. 

10 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

11 the terms and renewal process for any competitive 

12 grants made under subsection (b) facilitate the de13 velopment and commercialization of public cultivars 

14 through long-term grants not less than 5 years in 

15 length. 

16 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than October 1 of 

17 each year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

18 report that provides information on all public 

19 cultivar and breeding research funded by the De20 partment of Agriculture, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) a list of public cultivars and varieties 

22 of public cultivars developed and released in a 

23 commercially available form; 

24 ‘‘(B) areas of high-priority research; 


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1 ‘‘(C) identified research gaps relating to 

2 public cultivar development; and 

3 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the state of com4 mercialization for cultivars that have been de5 veloped.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. PUBLIC CULTIVAR RESEARCH COORDINATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251 of the Department of 

8 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC CULTIVAR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

13 COORDINATOR.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

15 shall appoint a coordinator within the Research, 

16 Education, and Extension Office that reports to 

17 the Under Secretary to coordinate research ac18 tivities at the Department relating to the breed19 ing of public cultivars (as defined in paragraph 

20 (3) of section 2(a) of the Competitive, Special, 

21 and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 

22 3157(a))). 

23 ‘‘(B) DUTIES OF COORDINATOR.—The co24 ordinator appointed under subparagraph (A) 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) coordinate plant breeding re2 search activities funded by the Department 

3 relating to the development of public culti4 vars; 

5 ‘‘(ii)(I) carry out ongoing analysis and 

6 track activities for any Federal research 

7 funding supporting plant breeding (includ8 ing any public cultivars developed with 

9 Federal funds); and 

10 ‘‘(II) ensure that the analysis and ac11 tivities are made available to the public not 

12 later than 60 days after the last day of 

13 each fiscal year; 

14 ‘‘(iii) develop a strategic plan that es15 tablishes targets for public cultivar re16 search investments across the Department 

17 to ensure that a diverse range of crop 

18 needs are being met in a timely and trans19 parent manner; 

20 ‘‘(iv) convene a working group in 

21 order to carry out the coordination func22 tions described in this subparagraph com23 prised of individuals who are responsible 

24 for the management, administration, or 


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1 analysis of public breeding programs with2 in the Department from— 

3 ‘‘(I) the National Institute of 

4 Food and Agriculture; 

5 ‘‘(II) the Agricultural Research 

6 Service; and 

7 ‘‘(III) the Economic Research 

8 Service; 

9 ‘‘(v) in order to maximize delivery of 

10 public cultivars, promote collaboration 

11 among— 

12 ‘‘(I) the coordinator; 

13 ‘‘(II) the working group convened 

14 under clause (iv); 

15 ‘‘(III) the advisory council estab16 lished under section 1634 of the 

17 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 

18 Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5843); 

19 ‘‘(IV) genetic resource conserva20 tion centers; 

21 ‘‘(V) land-grant colleges and uni22 versities (as defined in section 1404 of 

23 the National Agricultural Research, 

24 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 

25 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103)); 


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1 ‘‘(VI) Hispanic-serving institu2 tions (as defined in section 502(a) of 

3 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1101a(a))); 

5 ‘‘(VII) Native American-serving 

6 nontribal institutions (as defined in 

7 section 371(c) of the Higher Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1067q(c))); 

10 ‘‘(VIII) nongovernmental organi11 zations with interest or expertise in 

12 public breeding; and 

13 ‘‘(IX) public and private plant 

14 breeders; 

15 ‘‘(vi) convene regular stakeholder lis16 tening sessions to provide input on na17 tional and regional priorities for public 

18 cultivar breeding research activities across 

19 the Department; and 

20 ‘‘(vii) evaluate and make rec21 ommendations to the Under Secretary on 

22 training and resource needs to meet future 

23 breeding challenges.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (f)(1)(D)(i), by striking ‘‘(7 

2 U.S.C. 450i(b))’’ and inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

3 3157(b))’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

5 296(b)(6)(B) of the Department of Agriculture Reorga6 nization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)(6)(B)) is amended 

7 by striking ‘‘Office; and’’ and inserting ‘‘Office (including 

8 the public cultivar research activities coordinator under 

9 subsection (e)(6) of that section); and’’. 

Æ 


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