[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4023 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4023
To establish the America's Living Library Project, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 5, 2026
Mr. Young (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Coons, Mr. Daines,
Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the America's Living Library Project, 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 ``America's Living Library Act''.
SEC. 2. AMERICA'S LIVING LIBRARY PROJECT.
(a) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Control.--The term ``control'' means having the
ability, directly or indirectly, to determine (without regard
to whether exercised through 1 or more corporate structures)
the manner in which an entity conducts activities, through any
means, including--
(A) ownership interest;
(B) authority to commit the real or financial
assets of the entity;
(C) position as a director, officer, or partner of
the entity; or
(D) contractual arrangement.
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of the Interior.
(3) Foreign entity of concern.--The term ``foreign entity
of concern'' has the meaning given the term in section 40207 of
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18741).
(4) High-priority species.--The term ``high-priority
species'' has the meaning given the term by the Secretary, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, and the Director of the National Museum of Natural
History of the Smithsonian Institution, based on factors such
as the conservation status, economic, cultural, or ecological
value, biomedical or public health relevance, and rarity of the
species.
(5) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term ``Indian tribe'' in section 102 of the
Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C.
5130).
(6) Office.--The term ``office'' means the office
established or designated under subsection (e)(1).
(7) Program.--The term ``program'' means the America's
Living Library Project established under subsection (b).
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior (acting through the Director of the United
States Geological Survey).
(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a pilot program,
to be known as the ``America's Living Library Project''.
(c) Purpose.--The purpose of the program is to facilitate the
collection of new genomic data from species that are found in units of
the National Park System.
(d) Interagency Coordination.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the program, the Secretary
shall coordinate--
(A) the collection, cataloging, and whole-genome
sequencing of samples from animals, plants, fungi, and
microbes found on selected units of the National Park
System, subject to--
(i) applicable permitting and consultation
requirements under the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.), and
the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16
U.S.C. 1361 et seq.);
(ii) applicable permitting requirements
under section 42 of title 18, United States
Code; and
(iii) applicable requirements under the
Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et
seq.);
(B) the establishment of a publicly available
genomic database for resulting genomic data collected
under the program, including long-read sequence data,
genome assemblies, annotations, and associated
metadata, except that the database shall withhold from
public release any personally identifiable information
and any sensitive collection locality information,
including precise collection site locations or
coordinates, as determined to be appropriate by the
Secretary to protect personnel, specimens, and
resources;
(C) as the Secretary determines to be appropriate,
the integration of the Integrated Taxonomic Information
System and any other systems, such as the PLANTS
Database of the Department of Agriculture and the World
Register of Marine Species, to provide scientific name
concepts for organisms to accompany the genomic
database; and
(D) the long-term storage of samples collected
under the program.
(2) Partner agencies.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall coordinate with the Director of the National
Park Service, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the Director of the
National Center for Biotechnology Information of the National
Institutes of Health, and any other appropriate Federal agency.
(e) Establishment of Program Office.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a new, or
designate an existing, office within the United States
Geological Survey to administer the program.
(2) Staff.--The Secretary shall hire staff to carry out the
program in accordance with this section.
(3) Authority.--The office shall have the authority--
(A) to carry out the program in accordance with
this Act;
(B) subject to such terms as the Secretary may
determine appropriate, to enter into and implement any
contract, lease, cooperative agreement, or other
transaction that is necessary to carry out the program
with--
(i) any Federal agency, including the
Department of Agriculture and the Department of
Defense; or
(ii) any public or private person or
entity;
(C) to develop mechanisms to receive in-kind
contributions from biotechnology companies, subject to
requirements that the mechanisms developed shall--
(i) limit in-kind contributions to the
provision of resources to carry out the
program, such as materials, instrumentation, or
technological capabilities (such as
deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing); and
(ii) include vetting for, and prevention
of, conflicts of interest; and
(D) to use, subject to the consent of the
applicable Federal agency, the services, personnel, and
facilities of any other Federal agency.
(f) Selection of Units of the National Park System.--
(1) Initial selection.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, based on the criteria described
in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall select 5 units of the
National Park System at which to carry out the program
initially.
(2) Selection criteria.--The Secretary, in consultation
with the Director of the National Park Service, shall select
units of the National Park System under this subsection based
on objective criteria that take into account--
(A) the biological landscape of the unit of the
National Park System;
(B) the feasibility of implementation at, and
operational readiness of, the unit of the National Park
System;
(C) the quality of the education and public
engagement opportunities at the unit of the National
Park System;
(D) the research value and alignment of the unit of
the National Park System with program priorities,
including, where appropriate, genomic sequencing and
associated metadata needs;
(E) the geographic and ecological diversity across
the National Park System; and
(F) any other criteria established by the
Secretary.
(3) Additional units of the national park system.--Not
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary shall select, in accordance with the criteria under
paragraph (2), an additional 20 units of the National Park
System at which to carry out the program.
(4) Notice of selections.--Not later than 15 days after the
date on which a unit of the National Park System is selected
under this subsection, the Secretary shall make publicly
available on a Department website a notice that--
(A) lists any units of the National Park System
selected as part of that selection process; and
(B) provides, for each unit of the National Park
System selected as part of that selection process, a
brief statement of reasons describing how the selection
satisfies the criteria described in paragraph (2).
(g) Program Requirements.--
(1) Data standards.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary shall--
(A) leverage existing and emerging data standards
to ensure--
(i) high-quality data are obtained under
the program; and
(ii) program data are considered usable and
interoperable, with appropriate metadata to be
included;
(B) ensure that data outputs under the program--
(i)(I) meet applicable Federal data
standards for biological data; or
(II) if there are no applicable Federal
data standards described in subclause (I), meet
data standards for the program established by
the Secretary, in consultation with relevant
Federal agencies, based on findability,
accessibility, interoperability, and
reusability data principles and using industry
best practices;
(ii) as appropriate, comply with Department
policies relating to species listed as
endangered or threatened under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
and
(iii) are updated to comply with any
applicable United States Geological Survey
standards for biological data; and
(C) ensure that appropriate cybersecurity and
access safeguards are implemented to protect the data
generated or stored under the program, including by
ensuring that data outputs under the program are
updated as necessary to meet applicable Federal
cybersecurity standards for genomic data, including
controls consistent with the National Institute of
Standards and Technology special publications 800-53
(relating to Security and Privacy Controls for
Information Systems and Organizations) and 800-111
(relating to Guide to Storage Encryption Technologies
for End User Devices) or any successor framework.
(2) Long-term storage.--The Secretary shall consult with
the Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of the National
Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution with
respect to storage capabilities for the management and long-
term storage of samples collected under the program, subject to
the following:
(A) Ownership of any samples collected under the
program shall not be transferred, but samples may be
housed with the Smithsonian Institution, the Department
of Agriculture, or another qualified repository
pursuant to a written repository agreement, which shall
provide that access to samples collected under the
program shall be managed by the respective
institutional collection managers, with--
(i) the natural history collections to be
managed by the Director of the National Museum
of Natural History of the Smithsonian
Institution; and
(ii) the germplasm repository to be managed
by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(B) Before any samples are collected under the
program, the Secretary, in coordination with the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of the
National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian
Institution, shall--
(i) evaluate the species to be sampled to
identify which species need to be collected for
long-term storage;
(ii) from among the species identified
under clause (i), identify which species should
be considered to be high-priority species;
(iii) ensure that all samples proposed for
collection and long-term storage under the
program are evaluated in accordance with
appropriate standards identified by the
Secretary to minimize the risk of collecting or
storing disease vectors, pathogens, or other
harmful biological agents; and
(iv) require that any microbial or pathogen
material identified through an evaluation under
clause (iii) as requiring enhanced biosafety or
biosecurity measures shall be--
(I) accessioned and stored
separately from other program samples
in a distinct, access-controlled
collection; and
(II) handled and stored only in
facilities with containment and
operational controls appropriate to the
identified risk, consistent with
applicable Federal biosafety and
biosecurity requirements.
(C) Any samples identified for long-term storage
under subparagraph (B)(i) shall be--
(i) collected and stored under the program;
and
(ii) preserved in the natural history
collections to be managed by the Director of
the National Museum of Natural History of the
Smithsonian Institution for the purposes of
later research and long-term preservation.
(D) Any high-priority species identified under
subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be collected for storage in
each of--
(i) the natural history collections to be
managed by the Director of the National Museum
of Natural History of the Smithsonian
Institution; and
(ii) the germplasm repository to be managed
by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(E) Any physical samples collected under the
program shall not be transferred, exported, or loaned
outside the United States.
(F) Any physical storage, curation, and laboratory
processing of samples collected under the program shall
occur within facilities located in the United States.
(3) Sampling and collection procedures.--In carrying out
the program, the Secretary shall--
(A) establish sampling and collection procedures
and policies consistent with applicable Department
rules and standards, including permitting and
consultation requirements under the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.), section 42 of
title 18, United States Code, the Lacey Act Amendments
of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), and the Marine Mammal
Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.); and
(B) develop sampling plans that leverage existing
research and monitoring programs within the Department.
(4) Sequencing and data processing.--In carrying out the
program, the Secretary shall--
(A) partner with the Secretary of Agriculture, the
Director of the National Museum of Natural History of
the Smithsonian Institution, and the heads of other
applicable Federal agencies to sequence genomic
information from samples collected under the program;
(B) develop and use standardized sequencing
protocols to ensure consistency and comparability of
data; and
(C) incorporate automated data processing and
quality checks to ensure the reliability of the data.
(h) Tribal Consultation.--In implementing the program, the
Secretary shall engage in consultation with Indian Tribes in accordance
with section 306108 of title 54, United States Code, Department
policies on Tribal consultation, and other applicable law.
(i) Implementation Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress an implementation plan for the program that
provides the following:
(1) A description of the expansion of genomic sequencing
under the program to additional units of the National Park
System under subsection (f)(3), including the consideration of
partnerships with companies, contractors, and third parties to
assist the office in carrying out the expansion.
(2) An outline of methods in which the program could be
expanded to include other federally managed land and Federal
programs and facilities that manage biological resources,
including land and programs or facilities managed by the Bureau
of Land Management, the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, and the Forest Service, including units of the
National Wildlife Refuge System and units of the National Fish
Hatchery System.
(3) A plan to facilitate, prior to public release,
expedited access pathways or other non-public services
(including bulk export application programming interfaces and
any computer resources supported by the program within the
United States) for the development, training, or evaluation of
artificial intelligence models, to be limited to entities
organized under the laws of the United States that are not
owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by any foreign
entity of concern.
(j) Reports.--
(1) Preliminary report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
methodological review and report of preliminary
findings of the program.
(B) Inclusion.--The review and report submitted
under subparagraph (A) shall include a plan for the
sustainable and long-term funding of the program with
recommendations relating to--
(i) a graduated subscription model
developed in coordination with the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and
Technology and the Director of the National
Institutes of Health for the database
established under subsection (d)(1), the cost
of which shall be based on the size and usage
of the accessing organization; and
(ii) potential partnerships with
institutions of higher education, philanthropic
organizations, and nongovernmental
organizations, such as the National Park
Foundation, to secure grants and additional
funding for the program in accordance with
applicable policies of the Department.
(2) Final report.--As soon as practicable after the date on
which the program is terminated under subsection (l), the
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture,
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
methodological review and report that describes the final
findings with respect to the program.
(k) Program Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act--
(1) to the Secretary for program oversight and management
of the conduct of genome sequencing in selected units of the
National Park System--
(A) $16,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 and
2028;
(B) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(C) $54,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2030 and
2031;
(2) to the National Museum of Natural History of the
Smithsonian Institution for sample storage--
(A) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 and
2028;
(B) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(C) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2030 and
2031;
(3) to the National Center for Agricultural Utilization
Research of the Department of Agriculture for sample storage--
(A) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 and
2028;
(B) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(C) $9,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2030 and
2031;
(4) to the National Animal Germplasm Program of the
Department of Agriculture for sample storage--
(A) $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 and
2028;
(B) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(C) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2030 and
2031; and
(5) to the National Center for Biotechnology Information of
the National Institutes of Health for program data storage--
(A) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 and
2028;
(B) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(C) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2030 and
2031.
(l) Termination of Authority.--The authority to carry out the
program terminates on the date that is 10 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
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