§ 450i. Competitive, special, and facilities research grants
(a)
Establishment of grant program
(b)
Agriculture and food research initiative
(1)
Establishment
There is established in the Department of Agriculture an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative under which the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this subsection as “the Secretary”) may make competitive grants for fundamental and applied research, extension, and education to address food and agricultural sciences (as defined under section
3103 of this title).
(2)
Priority areas
The competitive grants program established under this subsection shall address the following areas:
(A)
Plant health and production and plant products
Plant systems, including—
(B)
Animal health and production and animal products
Animal systems, including—
(D)
Renewable energy, natural resources, and environment
Natural resources and the environment, including—
(E)
Agriculture systems and technology
Engineering, products, and processes, including—
(4)
General administration
In making grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall—
(B)
determine the relevance and merit of proposals through a system of peer and merit review in accordance with section
7613 of this title;
(5)
Allocation of funds
In making grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall allocate funds to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to ensure that, of funds allocated for research activities—
(A)
not less than 60 percent is made available to make grants for fundamental research (as defined in subsection (f)(1) of section
6971 of this title), of which—
(B)
not less than 40 percent is made available to make grants for applied research (as defined in subsection (f)(1) of section
6971 of this title).
(6)
Special considerations
In making grants under this subsection, the Secretary may assist in the development of capabilities in the agricultural, food, and environmental sciences by providing grants—
(A)
to an institution to allow for the improvement of the research, development, technology transfer, and education capacity of the institution through the acquisition of special research equipment and the improvement of agricultural education and teaching, except that the Secretary shall use not less than 25 percent of the funds made available for grants under this subparagraph to provide fellowships to outstanding pre- and post-doctoral students for research in the agricultural sciences;
(B)
to a single investigator or coinvestigators who are beginning research careers and do not have an extensive research publication record, except that, to be eligible for a grant under this subparagraph, an individual shall be within 5 years of the beginning of the initial career track position of the individual;
(C)
to ensure that the faculty of small, mid-sized, and minority-serving institutions who have not previously been successful in obtaining competitive grants under this subsection receive a portion of the grants; and
(D)
to improve research, extension, and education capabilities in States (as defined in section
3103 of this title) in which institutions have been less successful in receiving funding under this subsection, based on a 3-year rolling average of funding levels.
(7)
Eligible entities
The Secretary may make grants to carry out research, extension, and education under this subsection to—
(8)
Construction prohibited
Funds made available for grants under this subsection 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).
(9)
Matching funds
(A)
Equipment grants
(i)
In general
Except as provided in clause (ii), in the case of a grant made under paragraph (6)(A), the amount provided under this subsection may not exceed 50 percent of the cost of the special research equipment or other equipment acquired using funds from the grant.
(ii)
Waiver
The Secretary may waive all or part of the matching requirement under clause (i) in the case of a college, university, or research foundation maintained by a college or university that ranks in the lowest 1/3 of such colleges, universities, and research foundations on the basis of Federal research funds received, if the equipment to be acquired using funds from the grant costs not more than $25,000 and has multiple uses within a single research project or is usable in more than 1 research project.
(10)
Program administration
To the maximum extent practicable, the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, in coordination with the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, shall allocate grants under this subsection to high-priority research, taking into consideration, when available, the determinations made by the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board (as established under section
3123 of this title).
(11)
Authorization of appropriations
(A)
In general
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $700,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, of which—
(i)
not less than 30 percent shall be made available for integrated research pursuant to section
7626 of this title; and
(c)
Special grants
(1)
The Secretary of Agriculture may make grants, for periods not to exceed 3 years—
(A)
to State agricultural experiment stations, all colleges and universities, other research institutions and organizations, Federal agencies, private organizations or corporations, and individuals for the purpose of conducting research, extension, or education activities to facilitate or expand promising breakthroughs in areas of the food and agricultural sciences of importance to the United States; and
(B)
to State agricultural experiment stations, land-grant colleges and universities, research foundations established by land-grant colleges and universities, colleges and universities receiving funds under the Act of October 10, 1962 (16 U.S.C. 582a et seq.), and accredited schools or colleges of veterinary medicine for the purpose of facilitating or expanding ongoing State-Federal food and agricultural research, extension, or education programs that—
(3)
Matching Funds.—
Grants made under this subsection shall be made without regard to matching funds.
(5)
Review requirements.—
(6)
Reports.—
(A)
In general.—
A recipient of a grant under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary on an annual basis a report describing the results of the research, extension, or education activity and the merit of the results.
(e)
Inter-Regional Research Project Number 4
(1)
The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an Inter-Regional Research Project Number 4 (hereinafter referred to in this subsection as the “IR–4 Program”) to assist in the collection of residue and efficacy data in support of—
(2)
The Secretary shall carry out the IR–4 Program in cooperation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, State agricultural experiment stations, colleges and universities, extension services, private industry, and other interested parties.
(3)
In carrying out the IR–4 Program, the Secretary shall give priority to registrations, reregistrations, and tolerances for pesticide uses related to the production of agricultural crops for food use.
(4)
As part of carrying out the IR–4 Program, the Secretary shall—
(A)
participate in research activities aimed at reducing residues of pesticides registered for minor agricultural use;
(5)
The Secretary shall prepare and submit, to appropriate Committees of Congress, a report on an annual basis that contains—
(A)
a listing of all registrations, reregistrations, and tolerances for which data has been collected in the preceding year;
(6)
The Secretary shall submit to Congress not later than November 28, 1991, a report detailing the feasibility of requiring recoupment of the costs of developing residue data for registrations, reregistrations, or tolerances under this program. Such recoupment shall only apply to those registrants which make a profit on such registration, reregistration, or tolerance subsequent to residue data development under this program. Such report shall include:
(f)
Record keeping
Each recipient of assistance under this section shall keep such records as the Secretary of Agriculture shall, by regulation, prescribe, including records which fully disclose the amount and disposition by such recipient of the proceeds of such grants, the total cost of the project or undertaking in connection with which such funds are given or used, and the amount of that portion of the costs of the project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective audit. The Secretary of Agriculture and the Comptroller General of the United States or any of their duly authorized representatives shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipients that are pertinent to the grants received under this section.
(g)
Limits on overhead costs
The Secretary of Agriculture shall limit allowable overhead costs, with respect to grants awarded under this section, to those necessary to carry out the purposes of the grants.
(h)
Authorization of appropriations
Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (e) of this section, there are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.
(i)
Rules
The Secretary of Agriculture may issue such rules and regulations as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out this section.
(k)
Emphasis on sustainable agriculture
The Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that grants made under subsections (b) and (c) of this section are, where appropriate, consistent with the development of systems of sustainable agriculture. For purposes of this section, the term “sustainable agriculture” has the meaning given that term in section
3103 of this title.