[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4173 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4173

To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a specialty 
 crop mechanization and automation initiative, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 2023

  Mr. LaMalfa (for himself, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Miller of Ohio, and Ms. 
 Spanberger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a specialty 
 crop mechanization and automation initiative, 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 ``Advancing Automation Research and 
Development in Agriculture Act''.

SEC. 2. MECHANIZATION AND AUTOMATION FOR SPECIALTY CROPS.

    The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 
1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.) is amended by inserting at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 412A. MECHANIZATION AND AUTOMATION FOR SPECIALTY CROPS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within the 
Department a stand-alone competitive research and extension grant 
program to increase the competitiveness of specialty crops in the 
United States through the advancement and acceleration of the 
mechanization and automation, including--
            ``(1) Projects that create or improve cost-effective 
        technologies to reduce a specialty crop grower's manual labor 
        requirements and increase the efficiency of crop production, 
        resource management, harvesting, processing, post-harvest 
        technologies, and packaging through mechanization, automation, 
        and other innovations and technologies.
            ``(2) Projects that increase adoption of mechanization and 
        automation technologies by:
                    ``(A) Emphasizing adoption drivers that could 
                include but are not limited to connectivity, autonomy, 
                reliability, durability, in-field validation, and cost-
                effectiveness.
                    ``(B) Investing and developing human capital to 
                increase the specialty crop sector's capacity to work 
                with new technologies, and to manage a more tech-
                focused farm workforce.
            ``(3) Projects that accelerate automation and mechanization 
        through prototype development, in-field trial testing, ongoing 
        industry engagement, and rapid commercialization.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--The Secretary may carry out the section 
through eligible entities described in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Eligible Entities Described.--Eligible entities described in 
this subsection are--
            ``(1) Federal agencies;
            ``(2) national laboratories;
            ``(3) colleges or universities;
            ``(4) research institutions or organizations;
            ``(5) private organizations or corporations;
            ``(6) State agricultural experiment stations;
            ``(7) individuals;
            ``(8) organizations representing specialty crop growers; or
            ``(9) groups consisting of 2 or more entities described in 
        paragraphs (1) through (8).
    ``(d) Review of Proposals.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall award competitive grants on the basis of--
            ``(1) a scientific peer review conducted by a panel of 
        subject matter experts from Federal agencies, non-Federal 
        entities, and the specialty crop industry; and
            ``(2) a review and ranking for merit, relevance, and impact 
        conducted by a panel of specialty crop industry representatives 
        for the specific specialty crop.
    ``(e) Consultation.--Each fiscal year, before conducting the 
scientific peer review described in paragraph (1) of subsection (d) and 
the merit and relevancy review described in paragraph (2) of such 
subsection, the Secretary shall consult with the specialty crops 
committee regarding such reviews. The committee shall provide the 
Secretary--
            ``(1) in the first fiscal year in which that consultation 
        occurs, any recommendations for conducting such reviews in such 
        fiscal year; and
            ``(2) in any subsequent fiscal year in which such 
        consultation occurs--
                    ``(A) an assessment of the procedures and 
                objectives used by the Secretary for such reviews in 
                the previous fiscal year;
                    ``(B) any recommendations for such reviews for the 
                current fiscal year; and
                    ``(C) any comments on grants awarded under 
                subsection (d) during the previous fiscal year.
    ``(f) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report on--
            ``(1) the results of the consultations with the specialty 
        crops committee conducted under subsection (e);
            ``(2) the specialty crops committee's recommendations, if 
        any, provided to the Secretary during such consultations; and
            ``(3) the specialty crops committee's review of the grants 
        awarded under subsection (d) in the previous fiscal year.
    ``(g) Administration.--
            ``(1) In general.--With respect to grants awarded under 
        this section, the Secretary shall seek and accept proposals for 
        grants.
            ``(2) Term.--The term of a grant under this section may not 
        exceed 10 years.
            ``(3) Matching requirement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An entity receiving a grant 
                under this section shall provide non-Federal matching 
                funds (including funds from an agricultural commodity 
                promotion, research, and information program) equal to 
                not less than 15 percent of the amount of the grant.
                    ``(B)  In-kind support.--Non-Federal matching funds 
                described in subparagraph (A) may include in-kind 
                support.
                    ``(C)  Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the 
                matching requirement under subparagraph (A).
            ``(4) Other conditions.--The Secretary may set such other 
        conditions on the award of a grant under the program under 
        subsection (a) as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
    ``(h) Priorities.--In making grants under the program under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide a higher priority to 
projects that--
            ``(1) include proposals that address the training or 
        retraining of farm workers to operate, repair, program or 
        otherwise maintain resulting automation solutions; and
            ``(2) include explicit mechanisms to communicate results to 
        producers and the public.
    ``(i) Buildings and Facilities.--Funds made available under this 
section shall not be used for the construction of a new building or 
facility or the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or alteration of an 
existing building or facility (including site grading and improvement, 
and architect fees).
    ``(j) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Specialty crop.--The term `specialty crop' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 3 of the Specialty Crops 
        Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Public Law 
        108-465).
            ``(2) Specialty crops committee.--The term `specialty crops 
        committee' means the committee established under section 1408A 
        of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
        Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123a).
            ``(3) Program.--The term `program' means the Specialty Crop 
        Mechanization and Automation Research and Development Program 
        established in subsection (a).
    ``(k) Mandatory Funding.--Of the funds of the Commodity Credit 
Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 and each fiscal year 
thereafter, and shall remain available until expended.''.
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