[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4902 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4902
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to
establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Terra, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 29, 2019
Mrs. Axne introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``ARPA-Terra Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-TERRA.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6911 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``SEC. 224B. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-TERRA.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) ARPA-terra.--The term `ARPA-Terra' means the Advanced
Research Projects Agency-Terra established by subsection (b).
``(2) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of
ARPA-Terra appointed under subsection (d).
``(3) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the Agriculture
Transformation Acceleration Fund established under subsection
(l)(1).
``(b) Establishment.--There is established the Advanced Research
Projects Agency-Terra in the Department--
``(1) to overcome the long-term and high-risk technological
barriers in the development of agricultural technologies that
enhance export competitiveness, environmental sustainability,
and resilience to extreme weather and infectious disease; and
``(2) to ensure that the United States maintains a
technological lead in developing and deploying advanced
agricultural technologies that increase economic opportunities
for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.
``(c) Means.--To achieve the goals described in subsection (b),
ARPA-Terra shall carry out agriculture technology projects that--
``(1) identify and promote revolutionary advances in
fundamental sciences;
``(2) translate scientific discoveries and cutting-edge
inventions into technological innovations; and
``(3) accelerate transformational technological advances in
areas that, due to technical and financial uncertainty,
industry is not likely to undertake without Federal assistance.
``(d) Director.--
``(1) Appointment.--There shall be in the Department a
Director of ARPA-Terra, who shall be appointed by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
``(2) Qualifications.--The Director shall be an individual
who, by reason of professional background and experience, is
especially qualified to advise the Secretary on, and manage
research programs addressing, matters pertaining to long-term
and high-risk technological barriers to the development of
agricultural technologies.
``(3) Relationship to secretary.--The Director shall report
to the Secretary.
``(4) Relationship to chief scientist.--In carrying out the
responsibilities of the Director, the Director shall coordinate
with the Chief Scientist to identify relevant scientific
priorities and future trends relating to agricultural
technologies.
``(5) Relationship to other programs.--No other programs
within the Department shall report to the Director.
``(e) Responsibilities.--The responsibilities of the Director shall
include--
``(1) approving all new programs within ARPA-Terra;
``(2) developing funding criteria and assessing the success
of programs through the establishment of technical milestones;
``(3) administering the Fund through awards to institutions
of higher education, companies, research foundations, trade and
industry research collaborations, or consortia of those
entities, which may include land-grant institutions, federally
funded research and development centers, research stations, and
research laboratories, to achieve the goals described in
subsection (b) through targeted acceleration of--
``(A) novel early-stage research with possible
technology applications;
``(B) development of techniques, processes, and
technologies, and related testing and evaluation;
``(C) research and development of manufacturing
processes for novel technologies; and
``(D) coordination with nongovernmental entities
for demonstration of technologies and research
applications to facilitate technology transfer;
``(4) terminating programs carried out under this section
that are not achieving the goals of the programs; and
``(5) to the maximum extent practicable, ensuring that the
Fund supports research that reflects diversity with respect to
region, water quantity, and agricultural practice.
``(f) Personnel.--
``(1) Program managers.--
``(A) In general.--The Director shall designate
employees to serve as program managers for each of the
programs established by the Director pursuant to
subsection (e).
``(B) Responsibilities.--A program manager of a
program shall be responsible for--
``(i) establishing research and development
goals for the program, including through the
convening of workshops and conferring with
outside experts, and publicizing the goals of
the program to the public and private sectors;
``(ii) soliciting applications for specific
areas of particular promise, especially areas
that the private sector or the Federal
Government are not likely to undertake alone;
``(iii) building research collaborations
for carrying out the program;
``(iv) selecting on the basis of merit,
after soliciting advice under subsection (j) as
appropriate, each of the projects to be
supported under the program after considering--
``(I) the novelty and scientific
and technical merit of the proposed
projects;
``(II) the demonstrated
capabilities of the applicants to
successfully carry out the proposed
project;
``(III) the consideration by the
applicant of future commercial
applications of the project, including
the feasibility of partnering with 1 or
more commercial entities; and
``(IV) any other criteria that the
Director determines to be appropriate;
``(v) preparing technologies for an
eventual transfer from lab to market;
``(vi) monitoring the progress of projects
supported under the program; and
``(vii) recommending program restructure or
termination of research partnerships or whole
projects.
``(C) Term.--The term of a program manager--
``(i) shall be 4 years; and
``(ii) may be renewed by the Director.
``(2) Hiring and management.--
``(A) In general.--The Director shall have the
authority--
``(i) to make appointments of scientific,
engineering, and professional personnel without
regard to the civil service laws; and
``(ii) to fix the compensation of personnel
described in clause (i) at a rate to be
determined by the Director.
``(B) Private recruiting firms.--The Secretary or
the Director may contract with private recruiting firms
for the hiring of qualified technical staff to carry
out this section.
``(C) Additional staff.--The Director may use all
existing authorities of the Secretary to hire
administrative, financial, and clerical staff as
necessary to carry out this section.
``(g) Reports and Roadmaps.--
``(1) Annual report.--As part of the annual budget request
submitted to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United
States Code, the Director shall provide to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report that describes projects
supported by ARPA-Terra during the previous fiscal year.
``(2) Strategic vision roadmap.--Not later than October 1,
2020, and October 1, 2023, the Director shall provide to the
appropriate committees of Congress a roadmap that describes the
strategic vision that ARPA-Terra will use to guide the choices
of ARPA-Terra for future technology investments over the
following 3 fiscal years.
``(h) Coordination and Nonduplication.--
``(1) In general.--To the maximum extent practicable, the
Director shall ensure that the activities of ARPA-Terra are
coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs
and laboratories within the Department and other relevant
research agencies.
``(2) Technology transfer coordinator.--To the extent
appropriate, the Director may coordinate technology transfer
efforts--
``(A) with the Department; and
``(B) to increase the transfer of technologies to
market, with outside entities, including the Foundation
for Food and Agricultural Research.
``(3) Lessons learned.--In developing ARPA-Terra, the
Director shall build on lessons learned from the Agriculture
Advanced Research and Development Authority pilot program
established under section 1473H of the National Agricultural
Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.
3319k).
``(i) Federal Demonstration of Technologies.--The Secretary shall
make available to purchasing and procurement programs of Federal
agencies information regarding the potential to demonstrate
technologies resulting from activities funded through ARPA-Terra.
``(j) Advice.--
``(1) Advisory committees.--The Director may seek advice on
any aspect of ARPA-Terra from--
``(A) an existing Department advisory committee;
and
``(B) a new advisory committee organized to support
the programs of ARPA-Terra and to provide advice and
assistance on--
``(i) specific program tasks, including
transfer from lab to market; or
``(ii) overall direction of ARPA-Terra.
``(2) Additional sources of advice.--In carrying out this
section, the Director may seek advice and review from--
``(A) the President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology;
``(B) the Foundation for Food and Agriculture
Research;
``(C) the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy;
``(D) the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency; and
``(E) any professional or scientific organization,
or individual agricultural practitioner, with expertise
in specific processes or technologies under development
by ARPA-Terra.
``(k) Existing Authorities.--The authority under this section--
``(1) is in addition to existing authorities of the
Secretary; and
``(2) does not supersede or modify any existing
authorities.
``(l) Funding.--
``(1) Fund.--There is established in the Treasury of the
United States a fund, to be known as the `Agriculture
Transformation Acceleration Fund', which shall be administered
by the Director for the purposes of carrying out this section.
``(2) Separate budget and appropriation.--
``(A) Budget request.--The budget request for ARPA-
Terra shall be separate from the rest of the budget
request of the Department.
``(B) Appropriations.--Appropriations to the Fund
shall be separate and distinct from the rest of the
appropriations for the Department.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) The first section 225 of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (relating to Food Access Liaison) (7
U.S.C. 6925) is redesignated as section 224A.
(2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(11) The authority of the Secretary to establish in the
Department the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Terra under
section 224B.''.
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