IB 

Union Calendar No. 54 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1713 

[Report No. 118–74, Parts I and II] 

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 

MAY 22, 2023 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

TENNEY, Mr. WILLIAMS of New York, Ms. CARAVEO, Mrs. FOUSHEE, 

Ms. STEVENS, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, and Ms. PEREZ

MAY 22, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology with 

amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 


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MAY 22, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Agriculture with an amendment; committed 

to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 22, 2023] 

A BILL 

To provide for Department of Energy and Department of 

Agriculture joint research and development activities, and 

for other purposes. 


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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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND DEPARTMENT OF 

7 AGRICULTURE JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVEL8 OPMENT ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

11 ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall carry out cross-cutting and collabo12 rative research and development activities focused on the 

13 joint advancement of Department of Energy and Depart14 ment of Agriculture mission requirements and priorities. 

15 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec16 retaries shall carry out and coordinate the activities under 

17 subsection (a) through the establishment of a memo18 randum of understanding, or other appropriate inter19 agency agreement. Such memorandum or agreement shall 

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

21 which considers applications from Federal agencies, Na22 tional Laboratories, institutions of higher education, non23 profit institutions, and other appropriate entities. 

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

25 under subsection (a), the Secretaries may— 


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•HR 1713 RH

1 (1) conduct collaborative research over a variety 

2 of focus areas, such as— 

3 (A) modeling and simulation, machine 

4 learning, artificial intelligence, data assimila5 tion, large scale data analytics, and predictive 

6 analysis in order to optimize algorithms for 

7 purposes related to agriculture and energy, 

8 such as life cycle analysis of agricultural or en9 ergy systems; 

10 (B) fundamental agricultural, biological, 

11 computational, and environmental science and 

12 engineering, including advanced crop science, 

13 crop protection, and breeding, including biologi14 cal pest control, including in collaboration with 

15 the program authorized under section 306 of 

16 the Department of Energy Research and Inno17 vation Act (42 U.S.C. 18644); 

18 (C) integrated natural resources and the 

19 energy-water nexus, including in collaboration 

20 with the program authorized under section 

21 1010 of the Energy Act of 2020 (enacted as di22 vision Z of the Consolidated Appropriations 

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

24 (D) advanced biomass, biobased products, 

25 and biofuels, including in collaboration with the 


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1 activities authorized under section 9008(b) of 

2 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

3 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8108(b)); 

4 (E) diverse feedstocks for economically and 

5 environmentally sustainable fuels, including 

6 aviation and naval fuels; 

7 (F) colocation of agricultural resources and 

8 activities and ecosystem services with diverse 

9 energy technologies and resources, such as geo10 thermal energy, nuclear energy, solar energy, 

11 wind energy, natural gas, hydropower, and en12 ergy storage; 

13 (G) colocation of agricultural resources 

14 and activities with carbon storage and utiliza15 tion technologies; 

16 (H) invasive species management to fur17 ther the work done by the Federal Interagency 

18 Committee for the Management of Noxious and 

19 Exotic Weeds; 

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

21 barriers in the development of transformative 

22 science and technology solutions in the agri23 culture and energy sectors, including in collabo24 ration with the program authorized under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1713.RH H1713

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1 tion 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 16538); 

3 (J) grid modernization and grid security; 

4 and 

5 (K) rural technology development, includ6 ing manufacturing, precision agriculture tech7 nologies, and mechanization and automation 

8 technologies; and 

9 (L) wildfire risks and prevention, including 

10 the power sector’s role in fire prevention and 

11 mitigation and wildfire impacts on energy infra12 structure; 

13 (2) develop methods to accommodate large vol14 untary standardized and integrated data sets on ag15 ricultural, environmental, supply chain, and eco16 nomic information with variable accuracy and scale; 

17 (3) promote collaboration, open community18 based development, and data and information shar19 ing between Federal agencies, National Labora20 tories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit in21 stitutions, industry partners, and other appropriate 

22 entities by providing reliable access to secure data 

23 and information that are in compliance with Federal 

24 rules and regulations; 


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1 (4) support research infrastructure and work2 force development as the Secretaries determine nec3 essary; and 

4 (5) conduct collaborative research, development, 

5 and demonstration of methods and technologies to— 

6 (A) improve the efficiency of agriculture 

7 operations and processing of agricultural prod8 ucts; and 

9 (B) reduce greenhouse gas emissions asso10 ciated with such operations and such proc11 essing. 

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

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

14 (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between 

15 the Department of Energy, the Department of Agri16 culture, and other entities in order to maximize the 

17 effectiveness of research and development; and 

18 (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as 

19 appropriate. 

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

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

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

23 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa24 tives, and the Committee on Energy and Natural ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1713.RH H1713

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1 sources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

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

3 (1) Interagency coordination between each Fed4 eral agency involved in the research and development 

5 activities carried out under this section. 

6 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the tech7 nical capabilities of the Department of Energy and 

8 the Department of Agriculture. 

9 (3) Collaborative research achievements. 

10 (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial suc11 cesses. 

12 (5) Continuation of coordination activities be13 tween the Department of Energy and the Depart14 ment of Agriculture. 

15 (f) RESEARCH SECURITY.—The activities authorized 

16 under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent 

17 with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Develop18 ment, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as divi19 sion B of the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–167; 

20 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.)). 

21 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DOE and USDA Inter23 agency Research Act’’. 


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•HR 1713 RH

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 Secre11 taries shall carry out and coordinate the activities under 

12 subsection (a) through the establishment of a memorandum 

13 of understanding, or other appropriate interagency agree14 ment. Such memorandum or agreement shall require the use 

15 of a competitive, merit-reviewed process, which considers 

16 applications from Federal agencies, National Laboratories, 

17 institutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, and 

18 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 purVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1713.RH H1713

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•HR 1713 RH

1 poses related to agriculture and energy, such as 

2 life cycle analysis of agricultural or energy sys3 tems; 

4 (B) fundamental agricultural, biological, 

5 computational, and environmental science and 

6 engineering, including advanced crop science, 

7 crop protection, breeding, and biological pest 

8 control, in collaboration with the program au9 thorized under section 306 of the Department of 

10 Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 18644); 

12 (C) integrated natural resources and the en13 ergy-water nexus, including in collaboration 

14 with the program authorized under section 1010 

15 of the Energy Act of 2020 (enacted as division 

16 Z of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

17 (42 U.S.C. 16183)); 

18 (D) advanced biomass, biobased products, 

19 and biofuels, including in collaboration with the 

20 activities authorized under section 9008(b) of the 

21 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

22 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8108(b)); 

23 (E) diverse feedstocks for economically and 

24 environmentally sustainable fuels, including 

25 aviation and naval fuels; 


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•HR 1713 RH

1 (F) colocation of agricultural resources and 

2 activities and ecosystem services with diverse en3 ergy 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 and 

8 activities with carbon storage and utilization 

9 technologies; 

10 (H) invasive species management to further 

11 the work done by the Federal Interagency Com12 mittee for the Management of Noxious and Ex13 otic 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 (K) rural technology development, including 

23 manufacturing, precision agriculture tech24 nologies, and mechanization and automation 

25 technologies; and 


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•HR 1713 RH

1 (L) wildfire risks and prevention, including 

2 the power sector’s role in fire prevention and 

3 mitigation and wildfire impacts on energy infra4 structure; 

5 (2) develop methods to accommodate large vol6 untary standardized and integrated data sets on agri7 cultural, environmental, supply chain, and economic 

8 information with variable accuracy and scale; 

9 (3) promote collaboration, open community10 based development, and data and information sharing 

11 between Federal agencies, National Laboratories, in12 stitutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, 

13 industry partners, and other appropriate entities by 

14 providing reliable access to secure data and informa15 tion that are in compliance with Federal rules and 

16 regulations; 

17 (4) support research infrastructure and work18 force development as the Secretaries determine nec19 essary; and 

20 (5) conduct collaborative research, development, 

21 and demonstration of methods and technologies to— 

22 (A) improve the efficiency of agriculture op23 erations and processing of agricultural products; 

24 and 


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•HR 1713 RH

1 (B) reduce greenhouse gas emissions associ2 ated with such operations and such processing. 

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

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

5 (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between 

6 the Department of Energy, the Department of Agri7 culture, and other entities in order to maximize the 

8 effectiveness of research and development; and 

9 (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as ap10 propriate. 

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

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

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

14 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa15 tives, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

16 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

17 of the Senate, a report detailing the following: 

18 (1) Interagency coordination between each Fed19 eral agency involved in the research and development 

20 activities carried out under this section. 

21 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the tech22 nical capabilities of the Department of Energy and 

23 the Department of Agriculture. 

24 (3) Collaborative research achievements. 

25 (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial successes. 


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1 (5) Continuation of coordination activities be2 tween the Department of Energy and the Department 

3 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 Development, 

7 Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as division B of 

8 the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 

9 19231 et seq.)). 


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Union Calendar No. 54 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1713 

[Report No. 118–74, Parts I and II] 

A BILL 

To provide for Department of Energy and Department activities, and for other purposes. ment of Agriculture joint research and developMAY 22, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology with amendments 

MAY 22, 2023 

Reported from the Committee on Agriculture with an 

printed House on the State of the Union and ordered to be amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole 


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