I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1713 

To provide for Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture joint 

research and development activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Mr. LUCAS (for himself and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 

and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for Department of Energy and Department of 

Agriculture joint research and development activities, 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 ‘‘DOE and USDA Inter5 agency Research Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND DEPARTMENT OF 

2 AGRICULTURE JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVEL3 OPMENT ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy and the 

5 Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the 

6 ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall carry out cross-cutting and collabo7 rative research and development activities focused on the 

8 joint advancement of Department of Energy and Depart9 ment of Agriculture mission requirements and priorities. 

10 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec11 retaries shall carry out and coordinate the activities under 

12 subsection (a) through the establishment of a memo13 randum of understanding, or other appropriate inter14 agency agreement. Such memorandum or agreement shall 

15 require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process, 

16 which considers applications from Federal agencies, Na17 tional Laboratories, institutions of higher education, non18 profit institutions, and other appropriate entities. 

19 (c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the activities 

20 under subsection (a), the Secretaries may— 

21 (1) conduct collaborative research over a variety 

22 of focus areas, such as— 

23 (A) modeling and simulation, machine 

24 learning, artificial intelligence, data assimila25 tion, large scale data analytics, and predictive 

26 analysis in order to optimize algorithms for 


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1 purposes related to agriculture and energy, 

2 such as life cycle analysis of agricultural or en3 ergy systems; 

4 (B) fundamental agricultural, biological, 

5 computational, and environmental science and 

6 engineering, including advanced crop science, 

7 crop protection, and breeding, including in col8 laboration with the program authorized under 

9 section 306 of the Department of Energy Re10 search and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18644); 

11 (C) integrated natural resources and the 

12 energy-water nexus, including in collaboration 

13 with the program authorized under section 

14 1010 of the Energy Act of 2020 (enacted as di15 vision Z of the Consolidated Appropriations 

16 Act, 2021 (42 U.S.C. 16183)); 

17 (D) advanced biomass, biobased products, 

18 and biofuels, including in collaboration with the 

19 activities authorized under section 9008(b) of 

20 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

21 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8108(b)); 

22 (E) diverse feedstocks for economically and 

23 environmentally sustainable fuels, including 

24 aviation and naval fuels; 


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1 (F) colocation of agricultural resources and 

2 activities and ecosystem services with diverse 

3 energy technologies and resources, such as geo4 thermal energy, nuclear energy, solar energy, 

5 wind energy, natural gas, hydropower, and en6 ergy storage; 

7 (G) colocation of agricultural resources 

8 and activities with carbon storage and utiliza9 tion technologies; 

10 (H) invasive species management to fur11 ther the work done by the Federal Interagency 

12 Committee for the Management of Noxious and 

13 Exotic Weeds; 

14 (I) long-term and high-risk technological 

15 barriers in the development of transformative 

16 science and technology solutions in the agri17 culture and energy sectors, including in collabo18 ration with the program authorized under sec19 tion 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 16538); 

21 (J) grid modernization and grid security; 

22 and 

23 (K) rural technology development, includ24 ing manufacturing, precision agriculture techVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1713.IH H1713

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1 nologies, and mechanization and automation 

2 technologies; 

3 (2) develop methods to accommodate large vol4 untary standardized and integrated data sets on ag5 ricultural, environmental, supply chain, and eco6 nomic information with variable accuracy and scale; 

7 (3) promote collaboration, open community8 based development, and data and information shar9 ing between Federal agencies, National Labora10 tories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit in11 stitutions, industry partners, and other appropriate 

12 entities by providing reliable access to secure data 

13 and information that are in compliance with Federal 

14 rules and regulations; 

15 (4) support research infrastructure and work16 force development as the Secretaries determine nec17 essary; and 

18 (5) conduct collaborative research, development, 

19 and demonstration of methods and technologies to— 

20 (A) improve the efficiency of agriculture 

21 operations and processing of agricultural prod22 ucts; and 

23 (B) reduce greenhouse gas emissions asso24 ciated with such operations and such proc25 essing. 


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1 (d) AGREEMENTS.—In carrying out the activities 

2 under subsection (a), the Secretaries are authorized to— 

3 (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between 

4 the Department of Energy, the Department of Agri5 culture, and other entities in order to maximize the 

6 effectiveness of research and development; and 

7 (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as 

8 appropriate. 

9 (e) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit 

11 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and 

12 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa13 tives, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re14 sources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

15 Forestry of the Senate, a report detailing the following: 

16 (1) Interagency coordination between each Fed17 eral agency involved in the research and development 

18 activities carried out under this section. 

19 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the tech20 nical capabilities of the Department of Energy and 

21 the Department of Agriculture. 

22 (3) Collaborative research achievements. 

23 (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial suc24 cesses. 


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1 (5) Continuation of coordination activities be2 tween the Department of Energy and the Depart3 ment of Agriculture. 

4 (f) RESEARCH SECURITY.—The activities authorized 

5 under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent 

6 with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Develop7 ment, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as divi8 sion B of the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–167; 

9 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.)). 

Æ 


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