DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act

To provide for Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture joint research and development activities, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act 2. Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture joint research and development activities (a) In general The Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the Secretaries (b) Memorandum of understanding (1) In general The Secretaries shall carry out and coordinate the activities under subsection (a) through the establishment of a memorandum of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreement. (2) Requirements The memorandum or agreement described in paragraph (1) shall require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process that considers applications from Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, and other appropriate entities. (c) Coordination In carrying out the activities under subsection (a), the Secretaries may— (1) conduct collaborative research relating to a variety of focus areas, such as— (A) modeling and simulation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data assimilation, large-scale data analytics, and predictive analysis in order to optimize algorithms for purposes relating to agriculture and energy, such as life-cycle analyses of agricultural or energy systems; (B) fundamental agricultural, biological, computational, and environmental science and engineering, including advanced crop science, crop protection, breeding, and biological pest control, in collaboration with the program authorized under section 306 of the Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 18644 (C) integrated natural resources and the energy-water nexus, including in collaboration with the program authorized under section 1010 of the Energy Act of 2020 ( 42 U.S.C. 16183 (D) advanced biomass, biobased products, and biofuels, including in collaboration with the activities authorized under section 9008(b) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 ( 7 U.S.C. 8108(b) (E) diverse feedstocks for economically and environmentally sustainable fuels, including aviation and naval fuels; (F) colocation of agricultural resources and activities and ecosystem services with diverse energy technologies and resources, such as geothermal energy, nuclear energy, solar energy, wind energy, natural gas, hydropower, and energy storage; (G) colocation of agricultural resources and activities with carbon storage and utilization technologies; (H) invasive species management to further the work done by the Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds; (I) long-term and high-risk technological barriers in the development of transformative science and technology solutions in the agriculture and energy sectors, including in collaboration with the program authorized under section 5012 of the America COMPETES Act ( 42 U.S.C. 16538 (J) grid modernization and grid security; (K) rural technology development, including manufacturing, precision agriculture technologies, and mechanization and automation technologies; and (L) wildfire risks and prevention, including the role of the power sector in fire prevention and mitigation and wildfire impacts on energy infrastructure; (2) develop methods to accommodate large voluntary standardized and integrated data sets on agricultural, environmental, supply chain, and economic information with variable accuracy and scale; (3) promote collaboration, open community-based development, and data and information sharing between Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, industry partners, and other appropriate entities by providing reliable access to secure data and information that are in compliance with Federal laws (including regulations); (4) support research infrastructure and workforce development as the Secretaries determine to be necessary; and (5) conduct collaborative research, development, and demonstration of methods and technologies— (A) to improve the efficiency of agriculture operations and processing of agricultural products; and (B) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the operations and processing described in subparagraph (A). (d) Agreements In carrying out the activities under subsection (a), the Secretaries may— (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, and other entities in order to maximize the effectiveness of research and development; and (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies as appropriate. (e) Report Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report describing the following: (1) Interagency coordination between each Federal agency involved in the research and development activities carried out under this section. (2) Potential opportunities to expand the technical capabilities of the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture. (3) Collaborative research achievements. (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial successes. (5) Continuation of coordination activities between the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture. (f) Research security The activities authorized under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.

Summary: DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act This bill requires the Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture to carry out cross-cutting and collaborative research and development activities through the establishment of an interagency agreement. The agencies are authorized to (1) carry out reimbursable agreements in order to maximize research and development effectiveness, and (2) collaborate with other federal agencies. Further, the interagency agreement must require the use of a competitive, merit-reviewed process, which considers applications from federal agencies, national laboratories, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit institutions. Research and development activities may include collaborative research in a variety of focus areas such as integrated natural resources and the energy-water nexus, biofuels and biobased products, invasive species management, grid modernization and security, and rural technology development; developing methods to accommodate large voluntary standardized and integrated data sets on agricultural, environmental, supply chain, and economic information; supporting research infrastructure and workforce development; and conducting collaborative research and development on ways to improve agriculture operations and processing efficiencies, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.