[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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