National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Act of 2019

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for the defense of United States agriculture and food through the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Act of 2019 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) Animal The term animal 7 U.S.C. 8302 (2) Secretary The term Secretary (3) Transboundary disease The term transboundary disease 7 U.S.C. 8914(a) (4) Veterinary countermeasure The term veterinary countermeasure 7 U.S.C. 8302 3. National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (a) In general The Secretary shall carry out the relevant responsibilities of the Secretary under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (relating to the defense of United States agriculture and food) and the national biodefense strategy developed under section 1086 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 ( 6 U.S.C. 104 (b) Duties Pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall use the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility— (1) to integrate agricultural, zoonotic disease, and public health research; (2) to address threats from human pathogens, high-consequence zoonotic disease agents, emerging foreign animal diseases, and animal transboundary diseases; (3) to address biological incidence threats; (4) to provide training; and (5) to coordinate, partner, and share data and information with the Secretary of Homeland Security, including the support of the production of biological material threat assessments. 4. Research and development Pursuant to section 3, the Secretary shall carry out research and development objectives— (1) to develop veterinary countermeasures for emerging foreign animal diseases and animal transboundary diseases; (2) to provide advance test, diagnostic, and evaluation capability for threat detection, vulnerability assessment, and veterinary countermeasure assessment for animal and zoonotic diseases; and (3) for such other purposes as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 5. Evaluation Pursuant to section 4, not less frequently than biennially, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall evaluate and update the strategic research plan for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility based on risk and threat assessments. 6. Availability of data (a) Congressional report Every 6 months until the date described in subsection (b), the Secretary and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall submit to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committees on Agriculture and Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report describing— (1) progress under each phase described in the memorandum of agreement entitled Memorandum of Agreement Between the U.S. Department of Agriculture Marketing and Regulatory Programs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research, Education, and Economics, and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (2) the operations and mission, including coordination, under any successor memorandum of agreement, or similar joint agreement or understanding, between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security, or other relevant agencies, that documents the biodefense mission of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. (b) Termination The reporting requirement under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date on which the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility attains full operating capability. (c) Effective date This section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 7. Effect (a) In general Nothing in this Act requires the Secretary to have administrative jurisdiction over the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. (b) Transfer of jurisdiction If administrative jurisdiction over the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is transferred from the Secretary to another Federal agency, any reference in this Act (other than section 6) to the Secretary shall be deemed to be a reference to the head of that Federal agency. 8. Effective date Except for section 6, this Act shall take effect on the date on which all phases in the memorandum of agreement described in section 6(a)(1) are completed.

Summary: National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Act of 2019 This bill provides statutory authority for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to act through the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to provide integrated research, development, and response capabilities to defend U.S. agriculture and food against bio- and agro-terrorism threats. Specifically, the bill requires USDA to use the facility to implement research and development objectives to (1) develop veterinary countermeasures for emerging foreign animal diseases and animal transboundary diseases; (2) provide advanced test, diagnostic, and evaluation capability for threat detection, vulnerability assessment, and veterinary countermeasure assessment for animal and zoonotic diseases; and (3) assist with the development, and address vulnerability assessments, of the agriculture and food sectors. USDA must also evaluate the work of the facility and publish an unclassified strategic research plan for the facility based on risk and threat assessment.