National Institute of Food and Agriculture Act of 2007 - Establishes within the Department of Agriculture the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which shall be an agency composed of a Director (who shall be a scientist) and a Standing Council of Advisors.
Authorizes the Director to establish standing scientific committees. Requires the Director to establish: (1) an Office of Advanced Science and Application which shall monitor national needs and advances in research to identify problems for which solutions are realistically achievable through research; (2) an Office of Scientific Assessment and Liaison which shall monitor programs and expenditures; (3) an Office of Scientific Personnel which shall assess the number of, and need for additional, agricultural scientists in the United States.
Directs the Institute to provide grants to support and promote the highest quality of fundamental agricultural research, including grants to fund research proposals submitted by: (1) individual scientists; (2) research centers composed of a single institution or multiple institutions; and (3) other individuals and entities from the private and public sectors, including Department and other federal researchers.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 971 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 971
To establish the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, to provide
funding for the support of fundamental agricultural research of the
highest quality, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 22, 2007
Mr. Bond (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Lugar, and Mr. Nelson of
Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, to provide
funding for the support of fundamental agricultural research of the
highest quality, 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 ``National Institute of Food and
Agriculture Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the task force established under section 7404 of the
Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 3101
note; 116 Stat. 457)--
(A) conducted an exhaustive review of agricultural
research in the United States; and
(B) evaluated the merits of establishing 1 or more
national institutes focused on disciplines important to
the progress of food and agricultural science;
(2) according to findings and recommendations provided to
Congress by the task force--
(A) agriculture in the United States faces critical
challenges, including impending crises in the food,
agricultural, and natural resource systems of the
United States;
(B) exotic diseases and pests threaten crops and
livestock;
(C) the United States faces a public health
epidemic due to the increasing number of overweight and
obese Americans;
(D) agriculturally-related environmental
degradation is a serious problem for the United States
and other parts of the world;
(E) certain animal diseases threaten human health;
and
(F) agricultural producers in the United States of
several primary crops are no longer the world's lowest-
cost producers;
(3) to meet those critical challenges, it is essential that
the United States ensure that the agricultural innovation that
has been so successful in the past continues in the future;
(4) agricultural innovation has resulted in hybrid and
higher-yielding varieties of basic crops and enhanced the
global food supply by increasing yields on existing acres;
(5) since 1960, the global population has tripled, but
there has been no net increase in the quantity of land in the
United States under cultivation;
(6) as of the date of enactment of this Act, only 1.5
percent of the population of the United States provides food
and fiber to partially supply the needs of the United States;
(7)(A) agriculture, fundamental agricultural research, and
fundamental sciences play a major role in maintaining the
health and welfare of all people of the United States and
maintaining the land and water of the United States; and
(B) that role must be expanded;
(8) research that leads to understandings of the ways in
which cells and organisms function is critical to continued
innovation in agriculture in the United States;
(9) future innovations developed as a result of those
understandings are dependent on fundamental scientific research
and would be enhanced by ideas and technologies from other
fields of science and research;
(10) opportunities to advance fundamental knowledge of
benefit to agriculture in the United States have never been
greater;
(11) many of those new opportunities are the result of
amazing progress in the life sciences during recent decades,
attributable in large part to the provision made by the Federal
Government through the National Institutes of Health and the
National Science Foundation;
(12) new technologies and new concepts have expedited
advances in the fields of genetics, cell and molecular biology,
and proteomics;
(13) much of that scientific knowledge is ready to be used
in agriculture and food sciences through a sustained,
disciplined research effort at an institute dedicated to
conducting that research;
(14) publicly-sponsored research is essential to continued
agricultural innovation--
(A) to mitigate or harmonize the long-term effects
of agriculture on the environment;
(B) to enhance the long-term sustainability of
agriculture; and
(C) to improve the public health and welfare;
(15) competitive, peer-reviewed fundamental agricultural
research is best suited to promoting the research from which
breakthrough innovations that agriculture and society require
will come;
(16) it is in the national interest to dedicate additional
funds on a long-term, ongoing basis to an institute dedicated
to funding competitive, peer-reviewed grant programs that
support and promote the highest caliber of fundamental
agricultural research;
(17) the capability of the United States to be
internationally competitive in agriculture is threatened by
inadequate investment in research;
(18) to be successful over the long term, grant-receiving
institutions must be adequately reimbursed for costs of
conducting agricultural research if the institutions are to
pursue that kind of research; and
(19) to meet those challenges, address those needs, and to
provide for vitally needed agricultural innovation, it is in
the national interest to provide sufficient Federal funds over
the long term to fund a significant program of fundamental
agricultural research through an independent national
institute.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a national
institute--
(1) to ensure that the technological superiority of
agriculture in the United States effectively serves the people
of the United States in the coming decades; and
(2) to support and promote fundamental agricultural
research of the highest caliber to achieve the goals of--
(A) increasing the international competitiveness of
agriculture in the United States;
(B) developing foods and expanding knowledge to
improve diet, nutrition, and health, and to combat
obesity;
(C) decreasing the dependence of the United States
on foreign sources of petroleum by--
(i) developing biobased fuels and products;
(ii) enhancing methods of production at
biobased fuels refineries;
(iii) reducing energy consumption at
biobased fuel refineries; and
(iv) increasing the use of coproducts of
biobased fuels production;
(D) creating new and more useful products from
plants and animals;
(E) improving food safety to reduce the incidence
of foodborne illness in the United States;
(F) improving food security by protecting plants
and animals in the United States from insects,
diseases, and the threat of bioterrorism;
(G) enhancing agricultural sustainability;
(H) improving the environment;
(I) strengthening the economies of rural
communities in the United States;
(J) improving farm profitability and the viability
and competitiveness of small and moderate-sized farms;
(K) strengthening national security by improving
the agricultural productivity of subsistence farmers in
developing countries to combat hunger and the political
instability that hunger produces;
(L) assisting in modernizing and revitalizing the
agricultural research facilities of the United States
at institutions of higher education, independent,
nonprofit research institutions, and consortia of those
institutions, through capital investment; and
(M) achieving such other goals, and meeting such
other needs, as the Secretary or the Institute
determines to be appropriate.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Standing
Council of Advisors established by section 4(d)(1).
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Agriculture.
(3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Institute.
(4) Fundamental agricultural research; fundamental
science.--The terms ``fundamental agricultural research'' and
``fundamental science'' mean research or science that, as
determined by the Secretary--
(A) advances the frontiers of knowledge so as to
lead to practical results or to further scientific
discovery; and
(B) has an effect on agriculture, food, human
health, or another purpose of this Act as described in
section 2(b).
(5) Institute.--The term ``Institute'' means the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture established by section 4(a).
(6) Multidisciplinary grant.--The term ``multidisciplinary
grant'' means a grant provided to 2 or more collaborating
investigators to carry out coordinated, multidisciplinary
research programs involving multiple disciplines that has been
approved by the Institute.
(7) Project grant.--The term ``project grant'' means a
grant provided to 1 or more principal investigators to conduct
research that has been approved by the Institute.
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(9) State.--The term ``State'' means--
(A) each of the several States of the United
States;
(B) the District of Columbia;
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
(D) Guam;
(E) American Samoa;
(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands;
(G) the Federated States of Micronesia;
(H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
(I) the Republic of Palau; and
(J) the United States Virgin Islands.
(10) United states.--The term ``United States'', when used
in a geographical sense, means all of the States.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT; COMPOSITION.
(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Department an
agency to be known as the ``National Institute of Food and
Agriculture''.
(b) Location.--The location of the Institute shall be determined by
the Secretary.
(c) Composition.--The Institute shall be composed of the Council
(including committees and offices established under section 5) and the
Director.
(d) Standing Council of Advisors.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established a Standing Council
of Advisors.
(2) Composition.--The Council shall be composed of 25
members, including--
(A) the Director; and
(B) 24 members appointed by the Secretary, with the
concurrence of the Director, of whom--
(i) 12 members shall be highly-qualified
scientists who, as determined by the
Secretary--
(I) are not employees of the
Federal Government;
(II)(aa) have expertise in the
fields of agricultural research,
science, food and nutrition, or related
appropriate fields; and
(bb) represent a diversity of those
fields;
(III) are appropriate for
membership on the Council solely on the
basis of established records of
distinguished service; and
(IV) collectively represent the
views of agricultural research and
scientific leaders in all regions of
the United States; and
(ii) 12 stakeholders shall be distinguished
members of the public, as determined by the
Secretary, including--
(I) representatives of agricultural
organizations and industry; and
(II) individuals with expertise in
the environment, subsistence
agriculture, energy, food and
nutrition, and human health and
disease.
(3) Term.--The members of the Council shall serve
staggered, 4-year terms, as determined by the Secretary.
(4) Meetings.--The Council shall meet at the call of the
Director and the Secretary, but not less often than annually.
(5) Chairperson and vice chairperson.--The Council shall
elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the members
of the Council.
(6) Duties.--The Council shall--
(A) assist the Director in--
(i) establishing research priorities of the
Institute; and
(ii) reviewing, judging, and maintaining
the relevance of the programs of the Institute;
(B) review all proposals approved by the scientific
committees established under section 5(a)(1) to ensure,
to the maximum extent practicable, that the purposes of
this Act are being met; and
(C) through the meetings described in paragraph
(4), provide an interface between scientists and
stakeholders to ensure, to the maximum extent
practicable, that the Institute is coordinating
national goals with realistic scientific opportunities.
(e) Director.--
(1) In general.--The Institute shall be headed by a
Director, who shall be an individual who is--
(A) a distinguished scientist; and
(B) appointed by the President (after taking into
consideration recommendations provided by the Council),
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(2) Term.--The Director shall serve for a single, 6-year
term.
(3) Compensation.--The Director shall receive basic pay at
the rate provided for level II of the Executive Schedule under
section 5513 of title 5, United States Code.
(4) Supervision.--The Director shall report directly to the
Secretary.
(5) Authority and responsibilities of director.--
(A) In general.--Except as otherwise specifically
provided in this Act, the Director shall--
(i) exercise all of the authority provided
to the Institute by this Act (including any
powers and functions delegated to the Director
by the Council);
(ii) in consultation with the Council,
formulate programs in accordance with policies
adopted by the Institute;
(iii) establish committees and offices
within the Institute in accordance with section
5;
(iv) establish procedures for the peer
review of research funded by the Institute;
(v) establish procedures for the provision
and administration of grants by the Institute
in accordance with this Act;
(vi) assess the personnel needs of
agricultural research in the areas supported by
the Institute, and, if determined to be
appropriate by the Director or the Secretary,
for other areas of food and agricultural
research; and
(vii) cooperate with the Council to plan
programs that will help meet agricultural
personnel needs in the future, including
portable fellowship and training programs in
fundamental agricultural research and
fundamental science.
(B) Finality of actions.--An action taken by the
Director in accordance with this Act (or in accordance
with the terms of a delegation of authority from the
Council) shall be final and binding upon the Institute.
(C) Delegation and redelegation of functions.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clauses (ii) and (iii), the Director may, from
time to time and as the Director considers to
be appropriate, authorize the performance by
any other officer, agency, or employee of the
Institute of any of the functions of the
Director under this Act, including functions
delegated to the Director by the Council.
(ii) Policymaking functions.--The Director
may not redelegate policymaking functions
delegated to the Director by the Council.
(iii) Contracts, grants, and other
arrangements.--The Director may enter into
contracts and other arrangements, and provide
grants, in accordance with this Act--
(I) only with the prior approval of
the Council or under authority
delegated by the Council; and
(II) subject to such conditions as
the Council may specify.
(iv) Reporting.--The Director shall
promptly report each contract or other
arrangement entered into, each grant awarded,
and each other action of the Director taken,
under clause (iii) to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the
Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the
House of Representatives.
(6) Status on council.--
(A) In general.--The Director shall be an ex
officio member of the Council.
(B) Compensation and tenure.--Except with respect
to compensation and tenure, the service of the Director
on the Council shall be coordinated with the service of
other members of the Council.
(C) Voting; election.--The Director shall be--
(i) a voting member of the Council; and
(ii) eligible for election by the Council
as Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of the
Council.
(7) Staff.--
(A) In general.--Subject to this paragraph, the
Director shall recruit and hire such senior staff and
other personnel as are necessary to assist the Director
in carrying out this Act.
(B) Senior staff.--Each individual hired as senior
staff of the Director shall--
(i) be a highly accomplished scientist, as
determined by the Director;
(ii) be recruited from the active
scientific community; and
(iii) be appointed and serve on the basis
of 4-year, rotating appointments.
(C) Temporary staff.--Staff hired by the Director
under this paragraph may include scientists and other
technical and professional personnel hired for limited
terms, or on temporary bases, including individuals on
leave of absence from academic, industrial, or research
institutions to work for the Institute.
(D) Compensation.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clause (ii), subject to such policies as the
Council shall periodically prescribe, the
Director may fix the compensation of staff
hired under this paragraph without regard to
the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III
of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code,
relating to classification of positions and
General Schedule pay rates.
(ii) Maximum rate of pay.--The rate of pay
for an individual hired under this paragraph
shall not exceed the rate payable for level V
of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of
title 5, United States Code.
(8) Reporting and consultation.--The Director shall--
(A) periodically report to the Secretary with
respect to activities carried out by the Institute; and
(B) consult regularly with the Secretary to ensure,
to the maximum extent practicable, that--
(i) research of the Institute is relevant
to agriculture in the United States and
otherwise serves the national interest; and
(ii) the research of the Institute
supplements and enhances, and does not replace,
research conducted or funded by--
(I) other agencies of the
Department;
(II) the National Science
Foundation; or
(III) the National Institutes of
Health.
SEC. 5. COMMITTEES AND OFFICES OF INSTITUTE.
(a) Standing Scientific Committees.--
(1) In general.--The Director may establish such number of
standing scientific committees within the Institute as the
Director determines to be appropriate.
(2) Composition.--A standing scientific committee
established under paragraph (1) shall consist of such members
of the Council appointed under section 4(d)(2)(B)(i) as the
Director may select.
(3) Term.--Members of a standing scientific committee
established under paragraph (1) shall serve for staggered, 4-
year terms, as determined by the Director.
(4) Review of proposals.--
(A) In general.--A standing scientific committee
shall apply rigorous merit review to research proposals
received by the Institute to ensure, to the maximum
extent practicable, that research funded by the
Institute is scientifically of high quality.
(B) Determination of scientific merit.--A research
proposal received by the Institute and reviewed by a
standing scientific committee under subparagraph (A)
shall be--
(i) assigned a score based on the
scientific merit of the proposal, as determined
by the standing scientific committee; and
(ii) if approved by the standing scientific
committee, forwarded, along with the score, to
the Council for final review.
(C) Declination of proposals.--If the Council
determines that a research proposal forwarded under
this paragraph does not meet standards of scientific
review established by a standing scientific committee
or any similar standard established by the Director,
the Council shall decline to recommend the research
proposal for funding by the Institute.
(5) Ad hoc review members.--The Director may supplement a
standing scientific committee under this subsection with 1 or
more ad hoc reviewers in a case in which a research proposal
received by the Institute requires specialized knowledge not
represented on that or any other standing scientific committee.
(b) Offices.--
(1) Office of advanced science and application.--
(A) Establishment.--The Director shall establish
within the Institute an Office of Advanced Science and
Application (referred to in this paragraph as the
``Office'').
(B) Duties.--The Office shall--
(i) closely monitor national needs and
advances in research with the goal of
identifying pressing problems for which
solutions are realistically achievable through
research;
(ii) coordinate creative talent from
diverse disciplines to bridge potential gaps
between fundamental agricultural research and
high-priority, practical needs; and
(iii) recommend to the Director ways in
which existing fundamental agricultural
research may be applied to the most urgent
problems addressed by the Institute.
(C) Staff.--
(i) In general.--The Office shall employ a
small, focused staff of rotating experts in
science and agriculture.
(ii) Talent pool; term.--Primary staff of
the Office--
(I) shall be appointed from the
ranks of active scientists; and
(II) shall serve terms of not to
exceed 3 years.
(D) Intensive study groups.--The Office shall--
(i) focus primarily on the most urgent
problems addressed by the Institute; and
(ii) assemble such intensive study groups
as are necessary to address those problems.
(E) Reports.--The Office shall submit to the
Director and the Council periodic reports that--
(i) describe the activities being carried
out by the Office; and
(ii) recommended new research priorities
for the Office, as appropriate.
(2) Office of scientific assessment and liaison.--
(A) Establishment.--The Director shall establish
within the Institute an Office of Scientific Assessment
and Liaison (referred to in this paragraph as the
``Office'').
(B) Duties.--The Office shall--
(i) monitor the effectiveness of the
scientific expenditures by the Institute;
(ii) oversee the coordination of research
efforts of the Institute with those of other
programs;
(iii) assess the effectiveness of programs
of the Institute by evaluating--
(I) the quality of the science
funded by the Institute, using such
tools as are readily available; and
(II) the contributions of the
Institute to the national research
effort, including ways in which the
Institute collaborates and cooperates
with the Department and with other
Federal agencies; and
(iv) encourage cooperative approaches among
various research agencies within the Federal
Government.
(3) Office of scientific personnel.--
(A) Establishment.--The Director shall establish
within the Institute an Office of Scientific Personnel
(referred to in this paragraph as the ``Office'').
(B) Duties.--The Office shall--
(i) cooperate with scientific and
agricultural experts to assess--
(I) the number of scientists in
agriculture and related fields in the
United States; and
(II) how many additional scientists
in agriculture and related fields are
needed to meet the purposes of this
Act; and
(ii) generate and maintain data that may
assist the Director and the Council in planning
appropriate Institute fellowship and training
programs.
(4) Additional offices.--The Director may establish such
additional offices within the Institute as the Director or the
Council determines to be necessary to carry out the duties of
the Institute under this Act.
SEC. 6. DUTIES.
(a) In General.--The Institute shall provide competitive, peer-
reviewed grants in accordance with section 8(b) to support and promote
the highest quality of fundamental agricultural research, including
grants to fund research proposals submitted by--
(1) individual scientists;
(2) research centers composed of a single institution or
multiple institutions; and
(3) other individuals and entities from the private and
public sectors, including researchers of the Department and
other Federal agencies.
(b) Report to Congress.--Not later than December 31, 2008, and
biennially thereafter, the Institute shall submit to the Secretary, the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, and
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a
comprehensive report that describes the research funded and other
activities carried out by the Institute during the period covered by
the report.
SEC. 7. POWERS.
(a) In General.--The Institute shall have such authority as is
necessary to carry out this Act, including the authority--
(1) to promulgate such regulations as the Institute
considers to be necessary for governance of operations,
organization, and personnel;
(2) to make such expenditures as are necessary to carry out
this Act;
(3) to enter into contracts or other arrangements, or
modifications of contracts or other arrangements--
(A) to provide for the conduct, by organizations or
individuals in the United States (including other
agencies of the Department, Federal agencies, and
agencies of foreign countries), of such fundamental
agricultural research, research relating to fundamental
science, or related activities as the Institute
considers to be necessary to carry out this Act; and
(B) at the request of the Secretary, for the
conduct of such specific fundamental agricultural
research as is in the national interest or is otherwise
of critical importance, as determined by the Secretary,
with the concurrence of the Institute;
(4) to make advance, progress, and other payments relating
to research and scientific activities without regard to
subsections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31, United
States Code;
(5) to acquire by purchase, lease, loan, gift, or
condemnation, and to hold and dispose of by grant, sale, lease,
or loan, real and personal property of all kinds necessary for,
or resulting from, the exercise of authority under this Act;
(6) to receive and use donated funds, if the funds are
donated without restriction other than that the funds be used
in furtherance of 1 or more of the purposes of the Institute;
(7) to publish or arrange for the publication of research
and scientific information to further the full dissemination of
information of scientific value consistent with the national
interest, without regard to section 501 of title 44, United
States Code;
(8)(A) to accept and use the services of voluntary and
uncompensated personnel; and
(B) to provide such transportation and subsistence as are
authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for
individuals serving without compensation;
(9) to prescribe, with the approval of the Comptroller
General of the United States, the extent to which vouchers for
funds expended under contracts for scientific or engineering
research shall be subject to itemization or substantiation
prior to payment, without regard to the limitations of other
laws relating to the expenditure and accounting of public
funds;
(10) to arrange with and reimburse the Secretary, and the
heads of other Federal agencies, for the performance of any
activity that the Institute is authorized to conduct; and
(11) to enter into contracts, at the request of the
Secretary, for the carrying out of such specific agricultural
research as is in the national interest or otherwise of
critical importance, as determined by the Secretary, with the
consent of the Institute.
(b) Transfer of Research Funds of Other Departments or Agencies.--
Funds available to the Secretary, or any other department or agency of
the Federal Government, for agricultural or scientific research shall
be--
(1) available for transfer, with the approval of the
Secretary or the head of the other appropriate department or
agency involved, in whole or in part, to the Institute for use
in providing grants in accordance with the purposes for which
the funds were made available; and
(2) if so transferred, expendable by the Institute for
those purposes.
(c) Restriction on Activities.--The Institute--
(1) shall be a grant-making entity only; and
(2) shall not--
(A) conduct fundamental agricultural research or
research relating to fundamental science; or
(B) operate any laboratory or pilot facility.
SEC. 8. BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS.
(a) Budgetary Management Goals.--The Director, in coordination with
the Secretary, shall manage the budget of the Institute to achieve the
goals of--
(1) providing sufficient funds over a period of time to
achieve the purposes of this Act;
(2) fostering outstanding scientific talent, and directing
that talent toward work on issues relating to agriculture; and
(3) adequately reimbursing grant-receiving institutions for
costs to encourage the pursuit of agriculturally-related
research.
(b) Budgetary Guidelines for Grants.--
(1) In general.--To achieve the goals described in
subsection (a), the Institute shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, ensure that grants awarded for each fiscal year
comply with the guidelines described in paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) Project grants.--With respect to project grants, to the
maximum extent practicable--
(A) the Institute shall award approximately 1,000
new project grants annually;
(B) the average project grant amount, including
overhead, shall be approximately $225,000 for each
fiscal year, as adjusted in accordance with the
Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers, United
States city average, as published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics;
(C) a project grant shall be provided for a maximum
period of 5 years, with an average award duration of
3.5 years;
(D) the Institute shall require the recipients of a
project grant to submit appropriate reports on research
carried out using funds from the project grant; and
(E) the Institute shall provide such number of
training project grants as the Director or the
Institute determines to be appropriate.
(3) Multidisciplinary grants.--With respect to
multidisciplinary grants, to the maximum extent practicable--
(A) for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011, the
Institute shall provide 10 multidisciplinary grants;
(B) for fiscal year 2012 and subsequent fiscal
years, the Institute shall provide multidisciplinary
grants to fund not fewer than 40 research centers, on
the conditions that--
(i) sufficient funds are available; and
(ii) a sufficient number of qualified
research proposals are received;
(C) the research centers provided multidisciplinary
grants may be composed of a single institution or
multiple institutions;
(D) the average multidisciplinary grant amount,
including overhead, shall be approximately $3,000,000
for each fiscal year, as adjusted in accordance with
the Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers,
United States city average, as published by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics;
(E) a multidisciplinary grant shall be provided for
a maximum period of 5 years;
(F) in the aggregate, multidisciplinary grants
provided under this paragraph for a fiscal year shall
represent approximately 15 percent of the total grants
provided by the Institute for the fiscal year, on the
condition that a sufficient number of qualified
research proposals are received for the fiscal year;
and
(G) merit review of the research proposal relating
to the multidisciplinary grant is conducted to ensure,
to the maximum extent practicable, that only quality
research proposals are funded.
(c) Indirect Costs.--As part of a project grant or
multidisciplinary grant provided under this Act, the Institute shall
pay indirect costs of conducting research, including the costs of
overhead, to the recipient of the grant at a rate that is not less than
any standard negotiated rate applicable to similar grants made by the
National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation, as of
the date of enactment of this Act, as determined by the Secretary.
SEC. 9. FUNDING.
(a) In General.--Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation,
the Secretary shall use to carry out this Act--
(1) for fiscal year 2008, $245,000,000 for project grants,
of which not more than $20,000,000 shall be made available for
administrative expenses incurred by the Institute;
(2) for fiscal year 2009, $515,000,000, of which--
(A) not less than $450,000,000 shall be made
available for project grants;
(B) not less than $30,000,000 shall be made
available for multidisciplinary grants; and
(C) not more than $35,000,000 shall be available
for administrative expenses incurred by the Institute;
(3) for fiscal year 2010, $780,000,000, of which--
(A) not less than $675,000,000 shall be made
available for project grants;
(B) not less than $60,000,000 shall be made
available for multidisciplinary grants; and
(C) not more than $45,000,000 shall be made
available for administrative expenses incurred by the
Institute;
(4) for fiscal year 2011, $935,000,000, of which--
(A) not less than $800,000,000 shall be made
available for project grants;
(B) not less than $90,000,000 shall be made
available for multidisciplinary grants; and
(C) not more than $45,000,000 shall be made
available for administrative expenses incurred by the
Institute; and
(5) for fiscal year 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter,
$966,000,000, of which--
(A) not less than $800,000,000 shall be made
available for project grants;
(B) not less than $120,000,000 shall be made
available for multidisciplinary grants; and
(C) not more than $46,000,000 shall be made
available for administrative expenses incurred by the
Institute.
(b) Limitation.--For fiscal year 2012 and each subsequent fiscal
year, administrative expenses paid by the Institute shall not exceed 5
percent of the total expenditures of the Institute for the fiscal year.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3620-3621)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3621-3624)
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