To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a National Bio and Agro-defense Facility.

SECTION 1. NATIONAL BIO AND AGRO-DEFENSE FACILITY.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6. 
U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 316. NATIONAL BIO AND AGRO-DEFENSE FACILITY.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is in the Department a National Bio and 
Agro-defense Facility (referred to in this section as the `NBAF'), 
which shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the 
Secretary.
    ``(b) Purposes.--
            ``(1) In general.--The NBAF shall be an integrated human, 
        foreign-animal, and zoonotic disease research, development, 
        testing, and evaluation facility with the purpose of supporting 
        the complementary missions of the Department, the Department of 
        Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services in 
        defending against the threat of potential acts of agroterrorism 
        and natural-occurring incidents related to agriculture with the 
        potential to adversely impact public health, animal health, and 
        the economy, or may otherwise impact homeland security.
            ``(2) Knowledge production and sharing.--The NBAF shall 
        produce and share knowledge and technology for the purpose of 
        reducing economic losses caused by foreign-animal, zoonotic, 
        and, as appropriate, other endemic animal diseases of livestock 
        and poultry and preventing human suffering and death caused by 
        diseases existing or emerging in the agricultural sector.
    ``(c) Responsibilities of Director.--The Secretary shall vest in 
the Director primary responsibility for each of the following:
            ``(1) Directing basic, applied, and advanced research, 
        development, testing, and evaluation relating to foreign-
        animal, zoonotic, and, as appropriate, other endemic animal 
        diseases, including foot and mouth disease, and performing 
        related activities, including--
                    ``(A) developing countermeasures for foreign-
                animal, zoonotic, and, as appropriate, other endemic 
                animal diseases, including diagnostics, vaccines and 
                therapeutics;
                    ``(B) providing advanced test and evaluation 
                capability for threat detection, vulnerability, and 
                countermeasure assessment for foreign-animal, zoonotic, 
                and, as appropriate, other endemic animal diseases;
                    ``(C) conducting nonclinical, animal model testing 
                and evaluation under the Food and Drug Administration's 
                Animal Rule as defined in parts 314 and 601 of title 
                22, Code of Federal Regulations, to support the 
                development of human medical countermeasures by the 
                Department of Human Services under the Public Health 
                Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq);
                    ``(D) establishing NBAF information-sharing 
                mechanisms to share information with relevant 
                stakeholders, including the National Animal Health 
                Laboratory Network; and
                    ``(E) identifying and promoting uniform national 
                standards for animal disease diagnostics.
            ``(2) Facilitating the coordination of Federal, State, and 
        local governmental research and development efforts and 
        resources relating to protecting public health and animal 
        health from foreign-animal, zoonotic, and, as appropriate, 
        other endemic animal diseases.
            ``(3) Ensuring public safety during an emergency by 
        developing an emergency response plan under which emergency 
        response providers in the community are sufficiently prepared 
        or trained to respond effectively and given sufficient notice 
        to allow for an effective response.
            ``(4) Ensuring NBAF site and facility security.
            ``(5) Providing training to develop skilled research and 
        technical staff with the needed expertise in operations 
        conducted at biological and agricultural research facilities.
            ``(6) Leveraging the expertise of academic institutions, 
        industry, the Department of Energy National Laboratories, State 
        and local governmental resources, and professional 
        organizations involved in veterinary, medical and public 
        health, and agriculture issues to carry out functions describes 
        in (1) and (2).
    ``(d) Requirements.--The Secretary, in designing and constructing 
the NBAF, shall ensure that the facility meets the following 
requirements:
            ``(1) The NBAF shall consist of state-of-the-art 
        biocontainment laboratories capable of performing research and 
        activities at Biosafety Level 3 and 4, as designated by the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National 
        Institutes of Health.
            ``(2) The NBAF facility shall be located on a site of at 
        least 30 acres that can be readily secured by physical measure.
            ``(3) The NBAF facility shall be at least 500,000 square 
        feet with a capacity of housing a minimum of 80 large animals 
        for research, testing and evaluation.
            ``(4) The NBAF shall be located at a site with a 
        preexisting utility infrastructure, or a utility infrastructure 
        that can be easily built.
            ``(5) The NBAF shall be located at a site that has been 
        subject to an Environmental Impact Statement under the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
            ``(6) The NBAF shall be located within a reasonable 
        proximity to a national or regional airport and to major 
        roadways.
    ``(e) Authorization to Procure Real Property and Accept in Kind 
Donations for the NBAF Site.--The Secretary may accept and use 
donations of real property for the NBAF site and may accept and use in-
kind donations of real property, personal property, laboratory and 
office space, utility services, and infrastructure upgrades for the 
purpose of assisting the Director in carrying out the responsibilities 
of the Director under this section.
    ``(f) Applicability of Other Laws.--
            ``(1) Public buildings act.--The NBAF shall not be 
        considered a ``public building'' for purposes of the Public 
        Buildings Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.).
            ``(2) Live virus of foot and mouth disease research.--The 
        Secretary shall enable the study of live virus of foot and 
        mouth disease at the NBAF, wherever it is sited, 
        notwithstanding section 113a of title 21, United States Code.
    ``(g) Coordination.--
            ``(1) Interagency agreements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall enter into 
                understandings or agreements with the heads of 
                appropriate Federal departments and agencies, including 
                the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 
                Health and Human Services, to define the respective 
                roles and responsibilities of each Department in 
                carrying out foreign-animal, zoonotic, and other 
                endemic animal disease research and development at the 
                NBAF to protect public health and animal health.
                    ``(B) Department of agriculture.--The understanding 
                or agreement entered into with the Secretary of 
                Agriculture shall include a provision describing 
                research programs and functions of the Department of 
                Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security, 
                including those research programs and functions carried 
                out at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and those 
                research programs and functions that will be 
                transferred to the NBAF.
                    ``(C) Department of health and human services.--The 
                understanding or agreement entered into with the 
                Department of Health and Human Services shall describe 
                research programs of the Department of Health and Human 
                Services that may relate to work conducted at NBAF.
            ``(2) Cooperative relationships.--The Director shall form 
        cooperative relationships with the National Animal Health 
        Laboratory Network and American Association of Veterinary 
        Laboratory Diagnosticians to connect with the network of 
        Federal and State resources intended to enable an integrated, 
        rapid, and sufficient response to animal health emergencies.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title 
III the following:

``Sec. 316. National Bio and Agro-defense Facility.''.

Summary: Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF), which shall: (1) be an integrated human, foreign-animal, and disease research, development, testing, and evaluation facility to support DHS, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other federal agencies in defending against the threat of agroterrorism and certain naturally-occurring incidents related to agriculture; and (2) produce and share knowledge and technology for the purpose of protecting animal and public health and reducing economic losses caused by diseases of livestock and poultry.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a joint strategy to define the respective roles and responsibilities of DHS and USDA regarding activities undertaken at NBAF on foreign animal diseases. Authorizes the Secretaries to: (1) enter into agreements with the heads of federal agencies with missions that may be supported by NBAF activities; or (2) use existing agreements with such heads to define the respective roles and responsibilities of each agency in carrying out research, development, testing, evaluation, and diagnostic activities at NBAF.

Directs the DHS Secretary to appoint a Director of NBAF who shall be responsible for: (1) managing, operating, and maintaining NBAF; (2) ensuring NBAF physical site security, information security, biosafety, biosecurity, and biosurety; (3) developing an emergency response plan for training and notifying emergency response providers in the surrounding community; and (4) monitoring the activities of DHS and USDA and reporting to the respective Secretaries on the status of the fulfillment of each Department's obligations.

Requires the DHS Secretary to appoint one or more Directors of Homeland Security Programs, one of whom shall be the Director of Homeland Security Research Programs at NBAF. Makes that Director responsible for: (1) directing the research programs of DHS at NBAF; (2) facilitating the coordination of federal, state, and local governmental efforts and resources relating to DHS's activities carried out pursuant to the joint strategy; (3) providing training to DHS research and technical staff at NBAF; (4) conducting animal model development, testing, and evaluation to support the development of human medical countermeasures; and (5) leveraging the expertise of academic institutions, private industry, the Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories, state and local governmental resources, and professional organizations to carry out DHS's activities at NBAF.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint one or more Directors of USDA Programs at NBAF who shall be responsible for directing the programs of the Department at NBAF.

Directs the DHS Secretary to ensure that the NBAF facility: (1) consists of state-of-the-art biocontainment laboratories capable of performing research and activities at Biosafety Levels 3 and 4; (2) is of sufficient size in terms of acreage and laboratory capacity and has access to necessary supporting infrastructure to enable the Secretaries to carry out their respective responsibilities pursuant to the joint strategy; and (3) is located at a site that has been subject to an Environmental Impact Statement. Authorizes the DHS Secretary to acquire real property for NBAF through purchase or donation and to accept and use in-kind donations of personal property, laboratory and office space, utility services, and infrastructure upgrades to carry out the purposes of the Act.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a permit to the DHS Secretary for work on the live virus of foot and mouth disease at NBAF, which shall be valid unless the Secretary of Agriculture finds that the study of such live virus at NBAF is not being carried out in accordance with regulations issued under the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002.

Authorizes appropriations.