DOD and USDA Interagency Research Act

Summary#

This bill directs the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Agriculture to run joint research and development work on agriculture and food defense. The work covers national security, agricultural resilience, feedstocks for bioindustrial manufacturing, natural resource management, and related topics (for example, PFAS impacts, wildfire research, precision agriculture, drones, and supply chain security).

The Departments must sign a memorandum of understanding or similar agreement to coordinate projects. That agreement must use a competitive, merit-reviewed process open to federal agencies, national laboratories, colleges and universities, nonprofits, and industry. The Departments may make grants that require recipients to provide non-Federal matching funds equal to the grant. The agreement must include a risk management plan, research security practices, and may leverage international partnerships.

The bill authorizes reimbursable agreements with other entities and collaboration with intelligence and other federal agencies. It allows the Departments to use unobligated funds already appropriated to certain USDA and DOD research accounts. The Secretaries must report to the listed congressional committees annually, and the Government Accountability Office must review the initiative at least once every five years. The bill also says courts must defer to the Secretaries’ reasonable interpretation of ambiguous provisions.

What it means for you#

• Researchers, universities, national labs, nonprofits, and companies can apply to compete for awards and partnerships under a merit-reviewed process.
• Grant recipients would be required to provide non-Federal matching funds equal to the grant amount.
• State, local, and Tribal agencies, and industry partners may be included in secure information sharing and applied field tests.
• Agricultural producers’ data used in these activities is protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and from other disclosures by the Secretaries, according to the bill text.
• The Departments may share personnel through an interagency exchange and run demonstration projects to move technologies into real-world use.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on total estimated cost of the program. The bill authorizes the Secretaries to use unobligated funds already appropriated for the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority and for DOD research, development, testing, and evaluation. The bill also authorizes grants that require recipients to provide matching non-Federal funds equal to the grant amount. Annual reports must include expenditures for the activities.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.