[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4173 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4173
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a specialty
crop mechanization and automation initiative, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 15, 2023
Mr. LaMalfa (for himself, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Miller of Ohio, and Ms.
Spanberger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a specialty
crop mechanization and automation initiative, 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 ``Advancing Automation Research and
Development in Agriculture Act''.
SEC. 2. MECHANIZATION AND AUTOMATION FOR SPECIALTY CROPS.
The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of
1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.) is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
``SEC. 412A. MECHANIZATION AND AUTOMATION FOR SPECIALTY CROPS.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within the
Department a stand-alone competitive research and extension grant
program to increase the competitiveness of specialty crops in the
United States through the advancement and acceleration of the
mechanization and automation, including--
``(1) Projects that create or improve cost-effective
technologies to reduce a specialty crop grower's manual labor
requirements and increase the efficiency of crop production,
resource management, harvesting, processing, post-harvest
technologies, and packaging through mechanization, automation,
and other innovations and technologies.
``(2) Projects that increase adoption of mechanization and
automation technologies by:
``(A) Emphasizing adoption drivers that could
include but are not limited to connectivity, autonomy,
reliability, durability, in-field validation, and cost-
effectiveness.
``(B) Investing and developing human capital to
increase the specialty crop sector's capacity to work
with new technologies, and to manage a more tech-
focused farm workforce.
``(3) Projects that accelerate automation and mechanization
through prototype development, in-field trial testing, ongoing
industry engagement, and rapid commercialization.
``(b) Eligible Entities.--The Secretary may carry out the section
through eligible entities described in subsection (c).
``(c) Eligible Entities Described.--Eligible entities described in
this subsection are--
``(1) Federal agencies;
``(2) national laboratories;
``(3) colleges or universities;
``(4) research institutions or organizations;
``(5) private organizations or corporations;
``(6) State agricultural experiment stations;
``(7) individuals;
``(8) organizations representing specialty crop growers; or
``(9) groups consisting of 2 or more entities described in
paragraphs (1) through (8).
``(d) Review of Proposals.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall award competitive grants on the basis of--
``(1) a scientific peer review conducted by a panel of
subject matter experts from Federal agencies, non-Federal
entities, and the specialty crop industry; and
``(2) a review and ranking for merit, relevance, and impact
conducted by a panel of specialty crop industry representatives
for the specific specialty crop.
``(e) Consultation.--Each fiscal year, before conducting the
scientific peer review described in paragraph (1) of subsection (d) and
the merit and relevancy review described in paragraph (2) of such
subsection, the Secretary shall consult with the specialty crops
committee regarding such reviews. The committee shall provide the
Secretary--
``(1) in the first fiscal year in which that consultation
occurs, any recommendations for conducting such reviews in such
fiscal year; and
``(2) in any subsequent fiscal year in which such
consultation occurs--
``(A) an assessment of the procedures and
objectives used by the Secretary for such reviews in
the previous fiscal year;
``(B) any recommendations for such reviews for the
current fiscal year; and
``(C) any comments on grants awarded under
subsection (d) during the previous fiscal year.
``(f) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report on--
``(1) the results of the consultations with the specialty
crops committee conducted under subsection (e);
``(2) the specialty crops committee's recommendations, if
any, provided to the Secretary during such consultations; and
``(3) the specialty crops committee's review of the grants
awarded under subsection (d) in the previous fiscal year.
``(g) Administration.--
``(1) In general.--With respect to grants awarded under
this section, the Secretary shall seek and accept proposals for
grants.
``(2) Term.--The term of a grant under this section may not
exceed 10 years.
``(3) Matching requirement.--
``(A) In general.--An entity receiving a grant
under this section shall provide non-Federal matching
funds (including funds from an agricultural commodity
promotion, research, and information program) equal to
not less than 15 percent of the amount of the grant.
``(B) In-kind support.--Non-Federal matching funds
described in subparagraph (A) may include in-kind
support.
``(C) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the
matching requirement under subparagraph (A).
``(4) Other conditions.--The Secretary may set such other
conditions on the award of a grant under the program under
subsection (a) as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(h) Priorities.--In making grants under the program under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide a higher priority to
projects that--
``(1) include proposals that address the training or
retraining of farm workers to operate, repair, program or
otherwise maintain resulting automation solutions; and
``(2) include explicit mechanisms to communicate results to
producers and the public.
``(i) Buildings and Facilities.--Funds made available under this
section 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).
``(j) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Specialty crop.--The term `specialty crop' has the
meaning given that term in section 3 of the Specialty Crops
Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Public Law
108-465).
``(2) Specialty crops committee.--The term `specialty crops
committee' means the committee established under section 1408A
of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching
Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123a).
``(3) Program.--The term `program' means the Specialty Crop
Mechanization and Automation Research and Development Program
established in subsection (a).
``(k) Mandatory Funding.--Of the funds of the Commodity Credit
Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 and each fiscal year
thereafter, and shall remain available until expended.''.
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