AG RESEARCH Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4135 To amend the Research Facilities Act and the Agricultural Research, Exten- sion, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to address deferred maintenance at agricultural research facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 14, 2023 Ms. SCHRIER (for herself and Mr. MANN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Research Facilities Act and the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to address deferred maintenance at agricultural research facilities, 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 ‘‘Augmenting Research 4 and Educational Sites to Ensure Agriculture Remains 5 Cutting-edge and Helpful Act’’ or the ‘‘AG RESEARCH 6 Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4135 IH SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FACILITIES. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 2 (1) in 2019, agriculture and related indus- 3 tries— 4 (A) contributed $1,109,000,000,000 to the 5 gross domestic product of the United States 6 (5.2 percent of the total gross domestic product 7 of the United States); and 8 (B) provided 22,200,000 jobs domestically 9 (10.9 percent of total employment in the United 10 States); 11 (2) the National Institute of Food and Agri- 12 culture provides more than $1,700,000,000 in re- 13 search funding each year to schools of agriculture; 14 (3) a study published in 2015 found that de- 15 ferred maintenance needs at 91 schools of agri- 16 culture across the United States totaled 17 $8,400,000,000, with a total replacement cost of 18 $29,000,000,000; 19 (4) a study published in 2021 found that de- 20 ferred maintenance needs at schools of agriculture 21 across the United States had increased to 22 $11,500,000,000, with a total replacement cost of 23 $38,100,000,000; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4135 IH (5) infrastructure investments must be made at 1 schools of agriculture to ensure that United States 2 agricultural research remains globally competitive. 3 (b) EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS.—Section 3(d) of 4 the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 390a(d)) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 7 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 8 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 9 designated) the following: 10 ‘‘(1) review the proposal in consultation with 11 representatives of National Institute of Food and 12 Agriculture peer review panels;’’. 13 (c) GRANTS FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FACILI- 14 TIES.—Section 4 of the Research Facilities Act (7 U.S.C. 15 390b) is amended to read as follows: 16 ‘‘SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FACILI- 17 TIES. 18 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to as- 19 sist agricultural research facilities in efforts to alter or re- 20 pair those facilities or equipment of the facilities necessary 21 for conducting agricultural research. 22 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab- 24 lish in the National Institute of Food and Agri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4135 IH culture a competitive grant program to provide to 1 agricultural research facilities the Federal share of 2 the cost of the construction, alteration, acquisition, 3 modernization, renovation, or remodeling of— 4 ‘‘(A) the agricultural research facilities; or 5 ‘‘(B) equipment of the agricultural re- 6 search facilities necessary for conducting agri- 7 cultural research. 8 ‘‘(2) SECRETARIAL WAIVER.—Notwithstanding 9 section 3(c)(2)(A), the Secretary may provide that 10 the Federal share described in paragraph (1) is up 11 to 100 percent of the costs described in that para- 12 graph on a case-by-case basis, as the Secretary de- 13 termines to be appropriate. 14 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT; TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 16 Grants awarded under this section shall be in such 17 amounts and under such terms and conditions as 18 the Secretary determines are necessary to carry out 19 the purpose of this section. 20 ‘‘(2) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—To the max- 21 imum extent practicable, grants shall be awarded 22 under this section to ensure— 23 ‘‘(A) an equitable geographic distribution 24 of funds; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4135 IH ‘‘(B) an equitable distribution of funds to 1 diverse institutions; 2 ‘‘(C) an equitable distribution of funds to 3 institutions with diverse areas of study within 4 agricultural science; and 5 ‘‘(D) an equitable distribution of funds to 6 agricultural research facilities of various sizes. 7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Not greater than 20 per- 8 cent of amounts made available to carry out this sec- 9 tion shall be awarded to projects in any 1 State. 10 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this 11 section, the Secretary shall establish procedures 12 for— 13 ‘‘(A) the submission of proposals for com- 14 petitive grants; and 15 ‘‘(B) in consultation with representatives 16 of National Institute of Food and Agriculture 17 peer review panels, the review and selection of 18 proposals submitted under subparagraph (A).’’. 19 (d) FUNDING.—Section 6 of the Research Facilities 20 Act (7 U.S.C. 390d) is amended— 21 (1) by striking the section designation and 22 heading and all that follows through the end of sub- 23 section (a) and inserting the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4135 IH ‘‘SEC. 6. FUNDING AND LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS. 1 ‘‘(a) FUNDING.— 2 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections 4 (b) through (d), but notwithstanding any other 5 provision of law, on October 1, 2023, and on 6 each October 1 thereafter through October 1, 7 2027, out of any funds in the Treasury not oth- 8 erwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treas- 9 ury shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out 10 section 4 $200,000,000, to remain available 11 until expended. 12 ‘‘(B) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The 13 Secretary shall be entitled to receive, shall ac- 14 cept, and shall use to carry out section 4 the 15 funds transferred under paragraph (1), without 16 further appropriation. 17 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 18 addition to amounts made available under paragraph 19 (1), subject to subsections (b) through (d), there is 20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not 21 more than $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 22 2024 through 2028, to remain available until ex- 23 pended, for the study, plan, design, structure, and 24 related costs of agricultural research facilities under 25 this Act.’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4135 IH (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘Federal’’ be- 1 fore ‘‘administration’’. 2 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTERS. 3 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the Agricultural 4 Research Service Capital Investment Strategy dated April 5 2012 indicates that research facilities of the Agricultural 6 Research Services have more than $1,000,000,000 in de- 7 ferred maintenance. 8 (b) DIRECT FUNDING FOR DEFERRED MAINTE- 9 NANCE AT ARS RESEARCH FACILITIES.—Title IV of the 10 Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform 11 Act of 1998 is amended by inserting before section 404 12 (7 U.S.C. 7624) the following: 13 ‘‘SEC. 401. DIRECT FUNDING FOR DEFERRED MAINTE- 14 NANCE AT ARS RESEARCH FACILITIES. 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts made available 16 under subsection (c), the Secretary shall provide direct 17 payments to research facilities of the Agricultural Re- 18 search Service for the purpose of addressing deferred 19 maintenance. 20 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In providing direct payments under 21 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to the most 22 critical structures in accordance with the Agricultural Re- 23 search Service Capital Investment Strategy dated April 24 2012. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4135 IH ‘‘(c) FUNDING.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 2 provision of law, on October 1, 2023, and on each 3 October 1 thereafter through October 1, 2027, out 4 of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 5 priated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer 6 to the Secretary to carry out this section 7 $200,000,000, to remain available until expended. 8 ‘‘(2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Sec- 9 retary shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 10 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans- 11 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro- 12 priation.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4135.IH H4135 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB