§ 178c. — Research and development program by Secretary of Agriculture.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC178c]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 8A--RUBBER AND OTHER CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL MATERIALS
SUBCHAPTER II--CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL MATERIALS
Sec. 178c. Research and development program by Secretary of
Agriculture
(a) Designation of Department as lead agency
The Department of Agriculture shall be the lead agency in carrying
out this subchapter.
(b) Scope of program
The Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct, sponsor, promote, and
coordinate basic and applied research, technology development, and
technology transfer leading to effective and economical methods for
large-scale culturing of plantations and the extraction of latex from
Parthenium or other hydrocarbon-containing plants, and for the
development of other critical agricultural materials from native
agricultural crops having strategic and industrial importance. Such
research shall include, but not be limited to--
(1) carrying out extensive seed collections from wild plants in
Texas, Mexico, and other areas and borrowing or purchasing seeds
from other sources;
(2) developing a stockpile of Parthenium seeds, such stockpile
to be appropriately classified and stored at a suitable facility;
(3) accelerating present plant breeding, genetics, and selection
programs for the purpose of improving and increasing latex yields,
expanding insect and disease resistance, broadening the ranges of
drought and cold resistance of the Parthenium plant, and providing a
system of regional research trials for enhancing and increasing the
supply of foundation seed for certified seed production;
(4) establishing a system of large-scale experimental plantings
(aggregating ten thousand acres or more) to provide shrub for
feedstock to process in the developmental rubber processing facility
described in paragraph (7);
(5) carrying out specific studies on the effects of irrigation
on plant growth and latex yield and survival potential;
(6) developing equipment needed to carry out nursery operations,
planting, cultivating, harvesting, transporting the crop, and other
necessary agricultural activities;
(7) accelerating the refinement of present extraction and
processing technologies and future extraction technologies,
including the development and construction of a developmental rubber
processing facility for the extraction and production of test
quantities of guayule natural rubber;
(8) establishing and maintaining a bank of all pertinent
research data on native latex including extant United States
Government publications and records from the emergency rubber
project. Such data shall be made available to other Federal and
State agencies and private persons who are interested or involved in
native latex research, development, or manufacture; and
(9) studying the economic feasibility of developing other native
agricultural crops (in addition to Parthenium and other hydrocarbon-
containing plants) that would supply critical agricultural materials
for strategic and industrial purposes, carrying out demonstration
projects to promote the development or commercialization of such
crops (including projects designed to expand domestic or foreign
markets for such crops), and, to the extent appropriate, carrying
out research activities with respect to such crops in the manner
specified in paragraphs (1) through (8).
(c) Office of Critical Agricultural Materials
The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish within the Department
of Agriculture an Office of Critical Agricultural Materials, as a
central location where such Department can address research and
development with respect to agricultural crops that have the potential
of producing critical materials for strategic and industrial purposes.
(d) Authority of Secretary in carrying out demonstration project
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in carrying out a
demonstration project referred to in subsection (b)(9) of this section,
the Secretary may--
(1) enter into a contract or cooperative agreement with, or
provide a grant to, any person, or public or private agency or
organization, to participate in, carry out, support, or stimulate
such project;
(2) make available for purposes of clause (1) agricultural
commodities or the products thereof acquired by the Commodity Credit
Corporation under price support operations conducted by the
Corporation; or
(3) use any funds appropriated pursuant to section 178n(a) of
this title, or any funds provided by any person, or public or
private agency or organization, to carry out such project or
reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for agricultural
commodities or products that are utilized in connection with such
project.
(Pub. L. 95-592, Sec. 5, Nov. 4, 1978, 92 Stat. 2531; Pub. L. 98-284,
Sec. 5, May 16, 1984, 98 Stat. 182; Pub. L. 99-198, title XIV,
Sec. 1439, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1559; Pub. L. 102-237, title X,
Sec. 1005(1), Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1894.)
Amendments
1991--Subsec. (b)(9). Pub. L. 102-237 substituted ``industrial
purposes,'' for ``industrial purposes,,''.
1985--Subsec. (b)(9). Pub. L. 99-198, Sec. 1439(a), extended
research program to carrying out demonstration projects to promote the
development or commercialization of native agricultural crops, including
projects designed to expand domestic or foreign markets for such crops.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99-198, Sec. 1439(b), added subsec. (d).
1984--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(1), added subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(1), designated existing
provisions as subsec. (b) and in first sentence of subsec. (b) as so
designated inserted provision relating to development of other critical
agricultural materials from native agricultural crops having strategic
and industrial importance.
Subsec. (b)(1), (2). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(2), redesignated cls.
(a) and (b) as pars. (1) and (2) of subsec. (b).
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(2), (3), redesignated cl. (c)
as par. (3) of subsec. (b) and substituted ``accelerating present plant
breeding, genetics, and selection programs for the purpose of improving
and increasing latex yields, expanding insect and disease resistance,
broadening the ranges of drought and cold resistance of the Parthenium
plant, and providing a system of regional research trials for enhancing
and increasing the supply of foundation seed for certified seed
production'' for ``carrying out breeding and selection programs for the
purpose of improving latex yields, expanding insect and disease
resistance, and broadening the ranges of drought and cold tolerance of
the Parthenium plant''.
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(2), (4), redesignated cl. (d)
as par. (4) of subsec. (b) and substituted ``establishing a system of
large-scale experimental plantings (aggregating ten thousand acres or
more) to provide shrub for feedstock to process in the developmental
rubber processing facility described in paragraph (7)'' for
``establishing a system of experimental plantings in arid and semiarid
regions of the United States having suitable climatic and soil
conditions for the culture of Parthenium''.
Subsec. (b)(5), (6). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(2), redesignated cls.
(e) and (f) as pars. (5) and (6), respectively, of subsec. (b).
Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(2), (5), redesignated cl. (g)
as par. (7) of subsec. (b) and substituted ``accelerating the refinement
of present extraction and processing technologies and future extraction
technologies, including the development and construction of a
developmental rubber processing facility for the extraction and
production of test quantities of guayule natural rubber;'' for ``further
refining present extraction technologies and future extraction
technologies, including technologies which utilize solar energy; and''.
Subsec. (b)(8). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(2), redesignated cl. (h) as
par. (8) of subsec. (b).
Subsec. (b)(9). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(7), added par. (9).
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98-284, Sec. 5(8), added subsec. (c).
