I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2428 
To enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research and development 
programs through improved coordination and collaboration between the 
Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and land-grant 
colleges and universities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2007 
Mr. EDWARDS (for himself, Mr. LAMPSON, and Mr. COSTA) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research 
and development programs through improved coordina-
tion and collaboration between the Department of Agri-
culture, the Department of Energy, and land-grant col-
leges and universities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. BIOFUELS RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘Biofuels Research Initiative Act of 2007’’. 
(b) RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND
EDUCATIONAL 
PROGRAMS ON BIOBASED ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND 
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PRODUCTS.—Title IX of the Farm Security and Rural In-
vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 9011. RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND EDUCATIONAL 
PROGRAMS ON BIOBASED ENERGY TECH-
NOLOGIES AND PRODUCTS. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the programs es-
tablished under this section are— 
‘‘(1) to enhance national energy security 
through the development, distribution, and imple-
mentation of biobased energy technologies; 
‘‘(2) to promote diversification in, and the envi-
ronmental sustainability of, agricultural production 
in the United States through biobased energy and 
product technologies; 
‘‘(3) to promote economic diversification in 
rural areas of the United States through biobased 
energy and product technologies; and 
‘‘(4) to enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and 
biomass 
research 
and 
development 
programs 
through improved coordination and collaboration be-
tween the Department of Agriculture, the Depart-
ment of Energy, and the land-grant colleges and 
universities. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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‘‘(1) LAND-GRANT
COLLEGES
AND
UNIVER-
SITIES.—The term ‘land-grant colleges and univer-
sities’ means— 
‘‘(A) 1862 Institutions (as defined in sec-
tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 
and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 
7601)); 
‘‘(B) 1890 Institutions (as defined in sec-
tion 2 of that Act) and West Virginia State 
College; and 
‘‘(C) 1994 Institutions (as defined in sec-
tion 2 of that Act). 
‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.—To carry out the purposes 
described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall establish 
programs under which— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary shall provide grants to the 
lead land grant university for each of the regional 
consortiums with the lead university selected based 
on criteria in subsection (e); and 
‘‘(2) the consortium shall use the grants in ac-
cordance with this section. 
‘‘(d) GRANTS TO A CONSORTIUM.—The Secretary 
shall use amounts made available for a fiscal year under 
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subsection (j) to provide a grants in equal amounts to the 
lead land grant university for each of the regional consor-
tiums with the lead university selected based on criteria 
in subsection (e): 
‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR CONSORTIUM MEMBERSHIP.—To 
be a member of a consortium, a university must have the 
following attributes: 
‘‘(1) Demonstrated history, capability and intel-
lectual property in germplasm development, includ-
ing but not limited to genetics, plant breeding, and 
molecular techniques. 
‘‘(2) Production logistics, including but not lim-
ited to cropping systems, harvesting technologies, 
storage technologies, and transportation systems. 
‘‘(3) Economic and policy analysis, including 
but not limited to probabilistic forecasts, economic 
feasibility, and business plans. 
‘‘(4) Environmental assessment, including but 
not limited to life-cycle analysis, climate change as-
sessment, air quality, and water use evaluations of 
bioenergy production systems. 
‘‘(5) Facilities, including but not to facilities for 
genomics, plant breeding, crop production, crop 
processing, equipment design and fabrication, equip-
ment testing, and environmental testing. 
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‘‘(6) Academic and research capabilities in 
plant science, agronomy, soil science, plant physi-
ology, plant pathology, entomology, engineering, ag-
ricultural engineering, and agricultural economics. 
‘‘(7) Management capabilities in academics, re-
search administration, intellectual property develop-
ment, contract management, Federal procurement, 
and agricultural technology transfer. 
‘‘(f) REGIONAL CONSORTIUM GROUPS.—Each of the 
following shall be considered a regional consortium group 
for the purposes of this Act: 
‘‘(1) NORTH-CENTRAL CONSORTIUM.—A north- 
central university consortium for the region com-
posed of the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Min-
nesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 
‘‘(2) SOUTHEASTERN CONSORTIUM.—A south-
eastern university consortium for the region com-
posed of— 
‘‘(A) the States of Alabama, Florida, Geor-
gia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; 
‘‘(B) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 
and 
‘‘(C) the United States Virgin Islands. 
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