Title: Seeds for the Future Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Seeds for the Future Act
This bill amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that at least $50 million of USDA grant funding is used each year for competitive research grants that support the development of public cultivars.
A "cultivar" is a variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for use in cultivation because of its improved characteristics. A "public cultivar" is the commercially available uniform end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance.
The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish a public cultivar research activities coordinator within USDA to coordinate research activities relating to the breeding of public cultivars.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5208 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5208

 To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act 
and the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to further 
 plant cultivar research, development, and commercialization, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2018

  Mr. Pocan (for himself and Mr. Soto) introduced the following bill; 
           which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act 
and the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to further 
 plant cultivar research, development, and commercialization, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Seeds for the Future Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT.

    Section 2 of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research 
Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(A) Conventional breeding.--The term `conventional 
        breeding' means the development of new varieties of an organism 
        through controlled mating and selection without the use of 
        transgenic methods.
            ``(B) Cultivar.--The term `cultivar' means a variety of a 
        species of plant that has been intentionally selected for use 
        in cultivation because of the improved characteristics of that 
        variety of the species.
            ``(C) Public cultivar.--The term `public cultivar' means a 
        cultivar that is the commercially available uniform end product 
        of a publicly funded breeding program that has been 
        sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and 
        stable performance.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Public Cultivar Development Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--Of the amount of grants made under 
        subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of Agriculture (referred 
        to in this subsection as the `Secretary') shall ensure that not 
        less than $50,000,000 for each fiscal year is used for 
        competitive research grants that support the development of 
        public cultivars.
            ``(2) Priority.--In making grants under paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall give priority to high-potential research 
        projects that lead to the release of public cultivars.
            ``(3) Grants.--The Secretary shall ensure that the terms 
        and renewal process for any competitive grants made under 
        subsection (b) facilitate the development and commercialization 
        of public cultivars through long-term grants not less than 5 
        years in length.
            ``(4) Report.--Not later than October 1 of each year, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that provides 
        information on all public cultivar and breeding research funded 
        by the Department of Agriculture, including--
                    ``(A) a list of public cultivars and varieties of 
                public cultivars developed and released in a 
                commercially available form;
                    ``(B) areas of high-priority research;
                    ``(C) identified research gaps relating to public 
                cultivar development; and
                    ``(D) an assessment of the state of 
                commercialization for cultivars that have been 
                developed.''.

SEC. 3. PUBLIC CULTIVAR RESEARCH COORDINATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 251 of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Public cultivar research activities coordinator.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Under Secretary shall 
                appoint a coordinator within the Research, Education, 
                and Extension Office that reports to the Under 
                Secretary to coordinate research activities at the 
                Department relating to the breeding of public cultivars 
                (as defined in paragraph (3) of section 2(a) of the 
                Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act 
                (7 U.S.C. 3157(a))).
                    ``(B) Duties of coordinator.--The coordinator 
                appointed under subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) coordinate plant breeding research 
                        activities funded by the Department relating to 
                        the development of public cultivars;
                            ``(ii)(I) carry out ongoing analysis and 
                        track activities for any Federal research 
                        funding supporting plant breeding (including 
                        any public cultivars developed with Federal 
                        funds); and
                            ``(II) ensure that the analysis and 
                        activities are made available to the public not 
                        later than 60 days after the last day of each 
                        fiscal year;
                            ``(iii) develop a strategic plan that 
                        establishes targets for public cultivar 
                        research investments across the Department to 
                        ensure that a diverse range of crop needs are 
                        being met in a timely and transparent manner;
                            ``(iv) convene a working group in order to 
                        carry out the coordination functions described 
                        in this subparagraph comprised of individuals 
                        who are responsible for the management, 
                        administration, or analysis of public breeding 
                        programs within the Department from--
                                    ``(I) the National Institute of 
                                Food and Agriculture;
                                    ``(II) the Agricultural Research 
                                Service; and
                                    ``(III) the Economic Research 
                                Service;
                            ``(v) in order to maximize delivery of 
                        public cultivars, promote collaboration among--
                                    ``(I) the coordinator;
                                    ``(II) the working group convened 
                                under clause (iv);
                                    ``(III) the advisory council 
                                established under section 1634 of the 
                                Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 
                                Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5843);
                                    ``(IV) genetic resource 
                                conservation centers;
                                    ``(V) land-grant colleges and 
                                universities (as defined in section 
                                1404 of the National Agricultural 
                                Research, Extension, and Teaching 
                                Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103));
                                    ``(VI) Hispanic-serving 
                                institutions (as defined in section 
                                502(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
                                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)));
                                    ``(VII) Native American-serving 
                                nontribal institutions (as defined in 
                                section 371(c) of the Higher Education 
                                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(c)));
                                    ``(VIII) nongovernmental 
                                organizations with interest or 
                                expertise in public breeding; and
                                    ``(IX) public and private plant 
                                breeders;
                            ``(vi) convene regular stakeholder 
                        listening sessions to provide input on national 
                        and regional priorities for public cultivar 
                        breeding research activities across the 
                        Department; and
                            ``(vii) evaluate and make recommendations 
                        to the Under Secretary on training and resource 
                        needs to meet future breeding challenges.''; 
                        and
            (2) in subsection (f)(1)(D)(i), by striking ``(7 U.S.C. 
        450i(b))'' and inserting ``(7 U.S.C. 3157(b))''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 296(b)(6)(B) of the Department 
of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)(6)(B)) is 
amended by striking ``Office; and'' and inserting ``Office (including 
the public cultivar research activities coordinator under subsection 
(e)(6) of that section); and''.
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