SMITH-LEVER ACT
Chapter 79 of the 63rd Congress, as amended
SMITH-LEVER ACT
ch79
115–334
Statute Compilation
United States House of Representatives
Office of the Legislative Counsel
text/xml
EN
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2021-10-15
Smith-Lever Act
Agricultural Extension Work Act
10296
63
1914-05-08
SMITH-LEVER ACT
[Chapter 79 of the 63rd Congress; Approved on May 8, 1914; 38 Stat. 372, 7 U.S.C. 341 et seq.]
[As Amended Through P.L. 115–334, Enacted December 20, 2018]
[Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Chapter 79 of the 63rd Congress. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/]
[Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]

TABLE OF CONTENTS1
^1
This table of contents is not part of the Act but is included for user convenience.
Sec. 1.
Cooperative extension work by colleges.
Sec. 2.
Cooperative agricultural extension work.
Sec. 3.
Appropriations.
Sec. 4.
Ascertainment of entitlement of State to funds; time and manner of payment; State reporting requirements; plans of work.
Sec. 5.
Replacement of diminished, lost, or misapplied funds.
Sec. 8.
Disadvantaged agricultural areas.
Sec. 9.
Rules and regulations.
Sec. 10.
Definition of State.
Sec. 11.
Short title.

AN ACT
To provide for cooperative agricultural extension work between the agricultural colleges in the several States receiving the benefits of an Act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and of Acts supplementary thereto, and the United States Department of Agriculture
Sec. 1.
[7 U.S.C. 341]
In order to aid in diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects relating to agriculture, uses of solar energy with respect to agriculture, home economics, and rural energy, and to encourage the application of the same, there may be continued or inaugurated in connection with the college of colleges in each State, Territory, or possession, now receiving, or which may hereafter receive, the benefits of the Act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled “An Act donating public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts” (Twelfth Statutes at Large, page five hundred and three) and of the Act of Congress approved August thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety (Twenty-sixth Statutes at Large, page four hundred and seventeen and chapter eight hundred and forty-one), agricultural extension work which shall be carried on in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture: Provided, That in any State, Territory, or possession in which two or more such colleges have been or hereafter may be established, the appropriations hereinafter made to such State, Territory, or possession shall be administered by such college or colleges as the legislature of such State, Territory, or possession may direct. For the purposes of this Act, the term “solar energy” means energy derived from sources (other than fossil fuels) and technologies included in the Federal Non-Nuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974, as amended.
Sec. 2.
[7 U.S.C. 342]
Cooperative agricultural extension work shall consist of the development of practical applications of research knowledge and giving of instruction and practical demonstrations of existing or improved practices or technologies in agriculture, uses of solar energy with respect to agriculture, home economics, and rural energy, and subjects relating thereto to persons not attending or resident in said colleges in the several communities, and imparting information on said subjects through demonstrations, publications, and otherwise and for the necessary printing and distribution of information in connection with the foregoing; and this work shall be carried on in such manner as may be mutually agreed upon by the Secretary of Agriculture and the State agricultural college or colleges or Territory or possession receiving the benefits of this Act.
Sec. 3.
[7 U.S.C. 343]
(a)
there are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act such sums as Congress may from time to time determine to be necessary.
(b)
(1)
Out of such sums, each State and the Secretary of Agriculture shall be entitled to receive annually a sum of money equal to the sums available from Federal cooperative extension funds for the fiscal year 1962, and subject to the same requirements as to furnishing of equivalent sums by the State, except that amounts heretofore made available to the Secretary for allotment on the basis of special needs shall continue available for use on the same basis.
(2)
There is authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, and for each fiscal year thereafter, for payment to the Virgin Islands and Guam, $100,000 each, which sums shall be in addition to the sums appropriated for the several States of the United States and Puerto Rico under the provisions of this section. The amount paid by the Federal Government to the Virgin Islands and Guam pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed during any fiscal year, except the fiscal years ending, June 30, 1971, and June 30, 1972, when such amount may be used to pay the total cost of providing services pursuant to this Act, the amount available and budgeted for expenditure by the Virgin Islands and Guam for the purposes of this Act.
(3)
There are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1996, and for each fiscal year thereafter, for payment on behalf of the 1994 Institutions (as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994), such sums as are necessary for the purposes set forth in section 2. The balance of any annual funds provided under the preceding sentence for a fiscal year that remains unexpended at the end of that fiscal year shall remain available without fiscal year limitation. Such sums shall be in addition to the sums appropriated for the several States and Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam under the provisions of this section. Such sums shall be distributed on the basis of a competitive application process to be developed and implemented by the Secretary and paid by the Secretary to 1994 Institutions (in accordance with regulations that the Secretary may promulgate) and may be administered by the 1994 Institutions through cooperative agreements with colleges and universities eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (12 Stat. 503, chapter 130; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), or the Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 419, chapter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University, located in any State.
(4)

Annual appropriation for hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities.—
(A)

Authorization of appropriations.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for payments to Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103)) such sums as are necessary to carry out this paragraph for fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, to remain available until expended.
(B)

Additional amount.—
Amounts made available under this paragraph shall be in addition to any other amounts made available under this section to States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, or the United States Virgin Islands.
(C)

Administration.—
Amounts made available under this paragraph shall be—
(i)
distributed on the basis of a competitive application process to be developed and implemented by the Secretary;
(ii)
paid by the Secretary to the State institutions established in accordance with the Act of July 2, 1862 (commonly known as the “First Morrill Act”) (7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.); and
(iii)
administered by State institutions through cooperative agreements with the Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities in the State in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(c)
Any sums made available by the Congress or further development of cooperative extension work in addition to those referred to in subsection (b) hereof shall be distributed as follows:
(1)
Four per centum of the sum so appropriated for each fiscal year shall be allotted to the Secretary of Agriculture for administrative, technical, and other services, and for coordinating the extension work of the Department and the several States, Territories and possessions.
(2)
Of the remainder so appropriated for each fiscal year 20 per centum shall be paid to the several States in equal proportions, 40 per centum shall be paid to the several States in the proportion that the rural population of each bears to the total rural population of the several States as determined by the census, and the balance shall be paid to the several States in the proportion that the farm population of each bears to the total farm population of the several States as determined by the census. Any appropriation made hereunder shall be allotted in the first and succeeding years on the basis of the decennial census current at the time such appropriation is first made, and as to any increase, on the basis of decennial census current at the time such increase is first appropriated.
(d)
The Secretary of Agriculture shall receive such amounts as Congress shall determine for administration, technical, and other services and for coordinating the extension work of the Department and the several States, Territories, and possessions. A college or university eligible to receive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University, may compete for and receive funds directly from the Secretary of Agriculture. A 1994 Institution (as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 103–382)) may compete for and receive funds directly from the Secretary of Agriculture for the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk funding program and the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program.
(e)

Matching Funds.—
(1)

Requirement.—
Except as provided in paragraph (4) and subsection (f), no allotment shall be made to a State under subsection (b) or (c), and no payments from the allotment shall be made to a State, in excess of the amount that the State makes available out of non-Federal funds for cooperative extension work.
(2)

Failure to provide matching funds.—
If a State fails to comply with the requirement to provide matching funds for a fiscal year under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture shall withhold from payment to the State for that fiscal year an amount equal to the difference between—
(A)
the amount that would be allotted and paid to the State under subsections (b) and (c) (if the full amount of matching funds were provided by the State); and
(B)
the amount of matching funds actually provided by the State.
(3)

Reapportionment.—
(A)

In general.—
The Secretary of Agriculture shall reapportion amounts withheld under paragraph (2) for a fiscal year among the States satisfying the matching requirement for that fiscal year.
(B)

Matching requirement.—
Any reapportionment of funds under this paragraph shall be subject to the matching requirement specified in paragraph (1).
(4)

Exception for insular areas.—
(A)

In general.—
Effective beginning for fiscal year 2003, in lieu of the matching funds requirement of paragraph (1), the insular areas of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States shall provide matching funds from non-Federal sources in an amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the formula funds distributed by the Secretary to each of the insular areas, respectively, under this section.
(B)

Waivers.—
The Secretary may waive the matching fund requirement of subparagraph (A) for any fiscal year if the Secretary determines that the government of the insular area will be unlikely to meet the matching requirement for the fiscal year.
(f)

Matching Funds Exception for 1994 Institutions and Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities.—
There shall be no matching requirement for funds made available to a 1994 Institution or Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (b).
(g)
(1)
The Secretary of Agriculture may conduct educational, instructional, demonstration, and publication distribution programs and enter into cooperative agreements with private nonprofit and profit organizations and individuals to share the cost of such programs through contributions from private sources as provided in this subsection.
(2)
The Secretary may receive contributions under this subsection from private sources for the purposes described in paragraph (1) and provide matching funds in an amount not greater than 50 percent of such contributions.
(h)

Multistate Cooperative Extension Activities.—
(1)

In general.—
Not less than the applicable percentage specified under paragraph (2) of the amounts that are paid to a State under subsections (b) and (c) during a fiscal year shall be expended by States for cooperative extension activities in which 2 or more States cooperate to solve problems that concern more than 1 State (referred to in this subsection as “multistate activities”).
(2)

Applicable percentages.—
(A)

1997 expenditures on multistate activities.—
Of the Federal formula funds that were paid to each State for fiscal year 1997 under subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of Agriculture shall determine the percentage that the State expended for multistate activities.
(B)

Required expenditures on multistate activities.—
Of the Federal formula funds that are paid to each State for fiscal year 2000 and each subsequent fiscal year under subsections (b) and (c), the State shall expend for the fiscal year for multistate activities a percentage that is at least equal to the lesser of—
(i)
25 percent; or
(ii)
twice the percentage for the State determined under subparagraph (A).
(C)

Reduction by secretary.—
The Secretary may reduce the minimum percentage required to be expended for multistate activities under subparagraph (B) by a State in a case of hardship, infeasibility, or other similar circumstance beyond the control of the State, as determined by the Secretary.
(3)

Applicability.—
This subsection does not apply to funds provided—
(A)
by a State or local government pursuant to a matching requirement;
(B)
to a 1994 Institution (as defined in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–382; 7 U.S.C. 301 note)); or
(C)
to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or Guam.
(i)

Merit Review.—
(1)

Review required.—
Effective October 1, 1999, extension activity carried out under subsection (h) shall be subject to merit review.
(2)

Other requirements.—
An extension activity for which merit review is conducted under paragraph (1) shall be considered to have satisfied the requirements for review under section 103(e) of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998.
(j)

Integration of Research and Extension.—
Section 3(i) of the Hatch Act of 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361c(i)) shall apply to amounts made available to carry out this Act.
SEC. 4.
[7 U.S.C. 344]

ASCERTAINMENT OF ENTITLEMENT OF STATE TO FUNDS; TIME AND MANNER OF PAYMENT; STATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; PLANS OF WORK.
(a)

Ascertainment of Entitlement.—
On or about the first day of October in each year after the passage of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall ascertain as to each State whether it is entitled to receive its share of the annual appropriation for cooperative agricultural extension work under this Act and the amount which it is entitled to receive. Before the funds herein provided shall become available to any college for any fiscal year, plans for the work to be carried on under this Act shall be submitted by the proper officials of each college and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary shall ensure that each college seeking to receive funds under this Act has in place appropriate guidelines, as determined by the Secretary, to minimize actual or potential conflicts of interest among employees of such college whose salaries are funded in whole or in part with such funds.
(b)

Time and Manner of Payment; Related Reports.—
The amount to which a State is entitled shall be paid in equal quarterly payments in or about July, October, January, and April of each year to the treasurer or other officer of the State duly authorized by the laws of the State or receive the same, and such officer shall be required to report to the Secretary of Agriculture on or about the first day of April of each year, a detailed statement of the amount so received during the previous fiscal year and its disbursement, on forms prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(c)

Requirements Related to Plan of Work.—
Each extension plan of work for a State required under subsection (a) shall contain descriptions of the following:
(1)
A summary of planned projects or programs in the State using formula funds.
(2)
A description of the manner in which the State will meet the requirements of section 3(h).
(3)
A description of the manner in which the State will meet the requirements of section 3(i)(2) of the Hatch Act of 1887 (7 U.S.C. 361c(i)(2)).
(4)
A description of matching funds provided by the State with respect to the previous fiscal year.
(d)

Extension Protocols.—
(1)

Development.—
The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop protocols to be used to evaluate the success of multistate, multi-institutional, and multidisciplinary extension activities and joint research and extension activities in addressing critical agricultural issues identified in the plans of work submitted under subsection (a).
(2)

Consultation.—
The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop the protocols in consultation with the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board established under section 1408 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123) and land-grant colleges and universities.
(e)

Treatment of Plans of Work for Other Purposes.—
To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall consider a plan of work submitted under subsection (a) to satisfy other appropriate Federal reporting requirements.
Sec. 5.
[7 U.S.C. 345]
If any portion of the moneys received by the designated officer of any State, for the support and maintenance of cooperative agricultural extension work, as provided in this Act, shall by any action or contingency be diminished or lost or be misapplied, it shall be replaced by said State, and until so replaced no subsequent appropriation shall be apportioned or paid to said State. No portion of said moneys shall be applied, directly or indirectly, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings, or the purchase or rental of land, or in college-course teaching, lectures in college, or any other purpose not specified in this Act.
Sec. 6.6–1
^{6–1}
7 U.S.C. 346. Repealed by the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–185, section 103(f)(1), 112 Stat. 528.)
Sec. 7.7–1
^{7–1}
7 U.S.C. 347. Repealed by the Act of June 29, 1960, Public Law 86–533, section 1(21), 74 Stat. 249.
Sec. 8.
[7 U.S.C. 347a]
(a)
The Congress finds that there exists special circumstances in certain agricultural areas which cause such areas to be at a disadvantage insofar as agricultural development is concerned, which circumstances include the following: (1) There is concentration of farm families on farms either too small or too unproductive or both; (2) such farm operators because of limited productivity are unable to make adjustments and investments required to establish profitable operations; (3) the productive capacity of the existing farm unit does not permit profitable employment of available labor; (4) because of limited resources, many of these farm families are not able to make full use of current extension programs designed for families operating economic units nor are extension facilities adequate to provide the assistance needed to produce desirable results.
(b)
In order to further the purposes of section 2 in such areas and to encourage complementary development essential to the welfare of such areas, there are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as the Congress from time to time shall determine to be necessary for payments to the States on the basis of special needs in such areas as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(c)
In determining that the area has such special need, the Secretary shall find that it has a substantial number of disadvantaged farms or farm families for one or more of the reasons heretofore enumerated. The Secretary shall make provisions for the assistance to be extended to include one or more of the following: (1) Intensive on-the-farm educational assistance to the farm family in appraising and resolving its problems; (2) assistance and counseling to local groups in appraising resources for capability of improvement in agriculture or introduction of industry designed to supplement farm income; (3) cooperation with other agencies and groups in furnishing all possible information as to existing employment opportunities, particularly to farm families having underemployed workers; and (4) in cases where the farm family, after analysis of its opportunities and existing resources, finds it advisable to seek a new farming venture, the providing of information, advice, and counsel in connection with making such change.
(d)
No more than 10 per centum of the sums available under this section shall be allotted to any one State. The Secretary shall use project proposals and plans of work submitted by the State Extension directors as a basis for determining the allocation of funds appropriated pursuant to this section.
(e)
Sums appropriated pursuant to this section shall be in addition to, and not in substitution for, appropriations otherwise available under this Act. The amounts authorized to be appropriated pursuant to this section shall not exceed a sum in any year equal to 10 per centum of sums otherwise appropriated pursuant to this Act.
Sec. 9.
[7 U.S.C. 348]
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 10.
[7 U.S.C. 349]
The term “State” means the States of the Union, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
SEC. 11.
[7 U.S.C. 341 note]

SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Smith-Lever Act”.