ARPA–Terra Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2732 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Terra, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 29, 2019 Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Terra, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ARPA–Terra Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY–TERRA. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 7 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6911 8 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2732 IS ‘‘SEC. 224B. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY– 1 TERRA. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) ARPA–TERRA.—The term ‘ARPA–Terra’ 4 means the Advanced Research Projects Agency– 5 Terra established by subsection (b). 6 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 7 the Director of ARPA–Terra appointed under sub- 8 section (d). 9 ‘‘(3) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Agri- 10 culture Transformation Acceleration Fund estab- 11 lished under subsection (l)(1). 12 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ad- 13 vanced Research Projects Agency–Terra in the Depart- 14 ment— 15 ‘‘(1) to overcome the long-term and high-risk 16 technological barriers in the development of agricul- 17 tural technologies that enhance export competitive- 18 ness, environmental sustainability, and resilience to 19 extreme weather and infectious disease; and 20 ‘‘(2) to ensure that the United States maintains 21 a technological lead in developing and deploying ad- 22 vanced agricultural technologies that increase eco- 23 nomic opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural 24 communities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(c) MEANS.—To achieve the goals described in sub- 1 section (b), ARPA–Terra shall carry out agriculture tech- 2 nology projects that— 3 ‘‘(1) identify and promote revolutionary ad- 4 vances in fundamental sciences; 5 ‘‘(2) translate scientific discoveries and cutting- 6 edge inventions into technological innovations; and 7 ‘‘(3) accelerate transformational technological 8 advances in areas that, due to technical and finan- 9 cial uncertainty, industry is not likely to undertake 10 without Federal assistance. 11 ‘‘(d) DIRECTOR.— 12 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—There shall be in the De- 13 partment a Director of ARPA–Terra, who shall be 14 appointed by the President, by and with the advice 15 and consent of the Senate. 16 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be 17 an individual who, by reason of professional back- 18 ground and experience, is especially qualified to ad- 19 vise the Secretary on, and manage research pro- 20 grams addressing, matters pertaining to long-term 21 and high-risk technological barriers to the develop- 22 ment of agricultural technologies. 23 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO SECRETARY.—The Di- 24 rector shall report to the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(4) RELATIONSHIP TO CHIEF SCIENTIST.—In 1 carrying out the responsibilities of the Director, the 2 Director shall coordinate with the Chief Scientist to 3 identify relevant scientific priorities and future 4 trends relating to agricultural technologies. 5 ‘‘(5) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.— 6 No other programs within the Department shall re- 7 port to the Director. 8 ‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 9 Director shall include— 10 ‘‘(1) approving all new programs within ARPA– 11 Terra; 12 ‘‘(2) developing funding criteria and assessing 13 the success of programs through the establishment 14 of technical milestones; 15 ‘‘(3) administering the Fund through awards to 16 institutions of higher education, companies, research 17 foundations, trade and industry research collabora- 18 tions, or consortia of those entities, which may in- 19 clude land-grant institutions, federally funded re- 20 search and development centers, research stations, 21 and research laboratories, to achieve the goals de- 22 scribed in subsection (b) through targeted accelera- 23 tion of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(A) novel early-stage research with pos- 1 sible technology applications; 2 ‘‘(B) development of techniques, processes, 3 and technologies, and related testing and eval- 4 uation; 5 ‘‘(C) research and development of manu- 6 facturing processes for novel technologies; and 7 ‘‘(D) coordination with nongovernmental 8 entities for demonstration of technologies and 9 research applications to facilitate technology 10 transfer; 11 ‘‘(4) terminating programs carried out under 12 this section that are not achieving the goals of the 13 programs; and 14 ‘‘(5) to the maximum extent practicable, ensur- 15 ing that the Fund supports research that reflects di- 16 versity with respect to region, water quantity, and 17 agricultural practice. 18 ‘‘(f) PERSONNEL.— 19 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 21 designate employees to serve as program man- 22 agers for each of the programs established by 23 the Director pursuant to subsection (e). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A program 1 manager of a program shall be responsible 2 for— 3 ‘‘(i) establishing research and develop- 4 ment goals for the program, including 5 through the convening of workshops and 6 conferring with outside experts, and publi- 7 cizing the goals of the program to the pub- 8 lic and private sectors; 9 ‘‘(ii) soliciting applications for specific 10 areas of particular promise, especially 11 areas that the private sector or the Federal 12 Government are not likely to undertake 13 alone; 14 ‘‘(iii) building research collaborations 15 for carrying out the program; 16 ‘‘(iv) selecting on the basis of merit, 17 after soliciting advice under subsection (j) 18 as appropriate, each of the projects to be 19 supported under the program after consid- 20 ering— 21 ‘‘(I) the novelty and scientific 22 and technical merit of the proposed 23 projects; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(II) the demonstrated capabili- 1 ties of the applicants to successfully 2 carry out the proposed project; 3 ‘‘(III) the consideration by the 4 applicant of future commercial appli- 5 cations of the project, including the 6 feasibility of partnering with one or 7 more commercial entities; and 8 ‘‘(IV) any other criteria that the 9 Director determines to be appropriate; 10 ‘‘(v) preparing technologies for an 11 eventual transfer from lab to market; 12 ‘‘(vi) monitoring the progress of 13 projects supported under the program; and 14 ‘‘(vii) recommending program restruc- 15 ture or termination of research partner- 16 ships or whole projects. 17 ‘‘(C) TERM.—The term of a program man- 18 ager— 19 ‘‘(i) shall be 4 years; and 20 ‘‘(ii) may be renewed by the Director. 21 ‘‘(2) HIRING AND MANAGEMENT.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 23 have the authority— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(i) to make appointments of sci- 1 entific, engineering, and professional per- 2 sonnel without regard to the civil service 3 laws; and 4 ‘‘(ii) to fix the compensation of per- 5 sonnel described in clause (i) at a rate to 6 be determined by the Director. 7 ‘‘(B) PRIVATE RECRUITING FIRMS.—The 8 Secretary or the Director may contract with 9 private recruiting firms for the hiring of quali- 10 fied technical staff to carry out this section. 11 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The Director 12 may use all existing authorities of the Secretary 13 to hire administrative, financial, and clerical 14 staff as necessary to carry out this section. 15 ‘‘(g) REPORTS AND ROADMAPS.— 16 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—As part of the annual 17 budget request submitted to Congress under section 18 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Director 19 shall provide to the appropriate committees of Con- 20 gress a report that describes projects supported by 21 ARPA–Terra during the previous fiscal year. 22 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—Not later 23 than October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2023, the Di- 24 rector shall provide to the appropriate committees of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2732 IS Congress a roadmap that describes the strategic vi- 1 sion that ARPA–Terra will use to guide the choices 2 of ARPA–Terra for future technology investments 3 over the following 3 fiscal years. 4 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 6 practicable, the Director shall ensure that the activi- 7 ties of ARPA–Terra are coordinated with, and do 8 not duplicate the efforts of, programs and labora- 9 tories within the Department and other relevant re- 10 search agencies. 11 ‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER COORDINATOR.— 12 To the extent appropriate, the Director may coordi- 13 nate technology transfer efforts— 14 ‘‘(A) with the Department; and 15 ‘‘(B) to increase the transfer of tech- 16 nologies to market, with outside entities, includ- 17 ing the Foundation for Food and Agricultural 18 Research. 19 ‘‘(3) LESSONS LEARNED.—In developing 20 ARPA–Terra, the Director shall build on lessons 21 learned from the Agriculture Advanced Research 22 and Development Authority pilot program estab- 23 lished under section 1473H of the National Agricul- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2732 IS tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act 1 of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3319k). 2 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECH- 3 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make available to pur- 4 chasing and procurement programs of Federal agencies in- 5 formation regarding the potential to demonstrate tech- 6 nologies resulting from activities funded through ARPA– 7 Terra. 8 ‘‘(j) ADVICE.— 9 ‘‘(1) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Director 10 may seek advice on any aspect of ARPA–Terra 11 from— 12 ‘‘(A) an existing Department advisory com- 13 mittee; and 14 ‘‘(B) a new advisory committee organized 15 to support the programs of ARPA–Terra and to 16 provide advice and assistance on— 17 ‘‘(i) specific program tasks, including 18 transfer from lab to market; or 19 ‘‘(ii) overall direction of ARPA–Terra. 20 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF ADVICE.—In 21 carrying out this section, the Director may seek ad- 22 vice and review from— 23 ‘‘(A) the President’s Council of Advisors 24 on Science and Technology; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(B) the Foundation for Food and Agri- 1 culture Research; 2 ‘‘(C) the Advanced Research Projects 3 Agency–Energy; 4 ‘‘(D) the Defense Advanced Research 5 Projects Agency; and 6 ‘‘(E) any professional or scientific organi- 7 zation, or individual agricultural practitioner, 8 with expertise in specific processes or tech- 9 nologies under development by ARPA–Terra. 10 ‘‘(k) EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—The authority under 11 this section— 12 ‘‘(1) is in addition to existing authorities of the 13 Secretary; and 14 ‘‘(2) does not supersede or modify any existing 15 authorities. 16 ‘‘(l) FUNDING.— 17 ‘‘(1) FUND.—There is established in the Treas- 18 ury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 19 ‘Agriculture Transformation Acceleration Fund’, 20 which shall be administered by the Director for the 21 purposes of carrying out this section. 22 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIA- 23 TION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2732 IS ‘‘(A) BUDGET REQUEST.—The budget re- 1 quest for ARPA–Terra shall be separate from 2 the rest of the budget request of the Depart- 3 ment. 4 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATIONS.—Appropriations to 5 the Fund shall be separate and distinct from 6 the rest of the appropriations for the Depart- 7 ment.’’. 8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 9 (1) The first section 225 of the Department of 10 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (relating to 11 Food Access Liaison) (7 U.S.C. 6925) is redesig- 12 nated as section 224A. 13 (2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agri- 14 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 15 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to estab- 18 lish in the Department the Advanced Research 19 Projects Agency–Terra under section 224B.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2732.IS S2732 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS