IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1713 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2023 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DOE and USDA Inter3 agency Research Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND DEPARTMENT OF 

5 AGRICULTURE JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVEL6 OPMENT ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

9 ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall carry out cross-cutting and collabo10 rative research and development activities focused on the 

11 joint advancement of Department of Energy and Depart12 ment of Agriculture mission requirements and priorities. 

13 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec14 retaries shall carry out and coordinate the activities under 

15 subsection (a) through the establishment of a memo16 randum of understanding, or other appropriate inter17 agency agreement. Such memorandum or agreement shall 

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

19 which considers applications from Federal agencies, Na20 tional Laboratories, institutions of higher education, non21 profit institutions, and other appropriate entities. 

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

23 under subsection (a), the Secretaries may— 

24 (1) conduct collaborative research over a variety 

25 of focus areas, such as— 

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1 (A) modeling and simulation, machine 

2 learning, artificial intelligence, data assimila3 tion, large scale data analytics, and predictive 

4 analysis in order to optimize algorithms for 

5 purposes related to agriculture and energy, 

6 such as life cycle analysis of agricultural or en7 ergy systems; 

8 (B) fundamental agricultural, biological, 

9 computational, and environmental science and 

10 engineering, including advanced crop science, 

11 crop protection, breeding, and biological pest 

12 control, in collaboration with the program au13 thorized under section 306 of the Department 

14 of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 18644); 

16 (C) integrated natural resources and the 

17 energy-water nexus, including in collaboration 

18 with the program authorized under section 

19 1010 of the Energy Act of 2020 (enacted as di20 vision Z of the Consolidated Appropriations 

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

22 (D) advanced biomass, biobased products, 

23 and biofuels, including in collaboration with the 

24 activities authorized under section 9008(b) of 

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1 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

2 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8108(b)); 

3 (E) diverse feedstocks for economically and 

4 environmentally sustainable fuels, including 

5 aviation and naval fuels; 

6 (F) colocation of agricultural resources and 

7 activities and ecosystem services with diverse 

8 energy technologies and resources, such as geo9 thermal energy, nuclear energy, solar energy, 

10 wind energy, natural gas, hydropower, and en11 ergy storage; 

12 (G) colocation of agricultural resources 

13 and activities with carbon storage and utiliza14 tion technologies; 

15 (H) invasive species management to fur16 ther the work done by the Federal Interagency 

17 Committee for the Management of Noxious and 

18 Exotic Weeds; 

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

20 barriers in the development of transformative 

21 science and technology solutions in the agri22 culture and energy sectors, including in collabo23 ration with the program authorized under sec24 tion 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 16538); 

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1 (J) grid modernization and grid security; 

2 (K) rural technology development, includ3 ing manufacturing, precision agriculture tech4 nologies, and mechanization and automation 

5 technologies; and 

6 (L) wildfire risks and prevention, including 

7 the power sector’s role in fire prevention and 

8 mitigation and wildfire impacts on energy infra9 structure; 

10 (2) develop methods to accommodate large vol11 untary standardized and integrated data sets on ag12 ricultural, environmental, supply chain, and eco13 nomic information with variable accuracy and scale; 

14 (3) promote collaboration, open community15 based development, and data and information shar16 ing between Federal agencies, National Labora17 tories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit in18 stitutions, industry partners, and other appropriate 

19 entities by providing reliable access to secure data 

20 and information that are in compliance with Federal 

21 rules and regulations; 

22 (4) support research infrastructure and work23 force development as the Secretaries determine nec24 essary; and 

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1 (5) conduct collaborative research, development, 

2 and demonstration of methods and technologies to— 

3 (A) improve the efficiency of agriculture 

4 operations and processing of agricultural prod5 ucts; and 

6 (B) reduce greenhouse gas emissions asso7 ciated with such operations and such proc8 essing. 

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

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

11 (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between 

12 the Department of Energy, the Department of Agri13 culture, and other entities in order to maximize the 

14 effectiveness of research and development; and 

15 (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as 

16 appropriate. 

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

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

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

20 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa21 tives, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re22 sources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

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

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1 (1) Interagency coordination between each Fed2 eral agency involved in the research and development 

3 activities carried out under this section. 

4 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the tech5 nical capabilities of the Department of Energy and 

6 the Department of Agriculture. 

7 (3) Collaborative research achievements. 

8 (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial suc9 cesses. 

10 (5) Continuation of coordination activities be11 tween the Department of Energy and the Depart12 ment of Agriculture. 

13 (f) RESEARCH SECURITY.—The activities authorized 

14 under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent 

15 with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Develop16 ment, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as divi17 sion B of Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.). 

Passed the House of Representatives December 4, 

2023. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk.