[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2706 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2706

 To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
  Policy Act of 1977 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter 
      into cooperative agreements relating to drought prevention, 
    preparedness, response, and mitigation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

  Mrs. Fischer (for herself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching 
  Policy Act of 1977 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter 
      into cooperative agreements relating to drought prevention, 
    preparedness, response, and mitigation, 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. POLICY RESEARCH CENTER ON DROUGHT PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS, 
              RESPONSE, AND MITIGATION.

    Subtitle C of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3151 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 1419D the following:

``SEC. 1419E. POLICY RESEARCH CENTER ON DROUGHT PREVENTION, 
              PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND MITIGATION.

    ``(a) In General.--Consistent with this section, the Secretary 
shall enter into multiyear cooperative agreements of up to 5 years each 
with a policy research center described in subsection (b) to conduct 
research and education programs that--
            ``(1) are objective, operationally independent, and 
        external to the Federal Government;
            ``(2) concern the effect of public policies and trade 
        agreements on--
                    ``(A) the farm and agricultural sectors (including 
                commodities, livestock, dairy, and specialty crops);
                    ``(B) the environment;
                    ``(C) rural families, households, and economies; 
                and
                    ``(D) consumers, food, and nutrition; and
            ``(3) focus on matters relating to drought prevention, 
        preparedness, response, and mitigation.
    ``(b) Policy Research Center Described.--A policy research center 
referred to in subsection (a) that is eligible to apply for funding 
under that subsection is a State agricultural experiment station, 
college or university, or other public research institution or 
organization that has a history of providing objective, scientific 
information to Federal agencies and the public to support and enhance 
efficient, accurate implementation of Federal drought preparedness and 
drought response programs, including interagency thresholds used to 
determine eligibility for mitigation or emergency assistance.
    ``(c) Preference.--In making awards under this section, the 
Secretary shall give a preference to policy research centers that have 
information, analysis, and research relating to drought mitigation.
    ``(d) Activities.--Funding may be provided under this section for 
disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and education concerning 
policy research activities consistent with this section, including 
activities that--
            ``(1) support weekly production of and enhancements to the 
        United States Drought Monitor;
            ``(2) support other products and services to help better 
        prepare and respond to drought, including--
                    ``(A) work carried out in collaboration with the 
                Department of Agriculture;
                    ``(B) through the expansion of drought resilience 
                and monitoring tools that span across disciplines from 
                climatology and remote sensing to planning and 
                geospatial analysis; and
                    ``(C) communications products and services; or
            ``(3) support climate and drought resilience and 
        profitability on working agriculture lands, targeting marginal 
        lands and Tribal regions in the western United States, 
        including efforts to provide tools to address water quantity.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $19,000,000 for the period of 
fiscal years 2024 through 2028, to remain available until September 30, 
2028.''.
                                 <all>