[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1717 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1717

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 27, 2007

  Mr. McCaul of Texas (for himself, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Langevin, Mr. 
 Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Etheridge, and Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and 
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

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

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.''.
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