[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC344]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 13--AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGES
SUBCHAPTER IV--AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION WORK APPROPRIATION
Sec. 344. Ascertainment of entitlement of State to funds; time
and manner of payment; State reporting requirements; plans of
work
(a) Ascertainment of entitlement
On or about the first day of October in each year after June 26,
1953, the Secretary of Agriculture shall ascertain as to each State
whether it is entitled to receive its share of the annual appropriation
for cooperative agricultural extension work under this subchapter and
the amount which it is entitled to receive. Before the funds herein
provided shall become available to any college for any fiscal year,
plans for the work to be carried on under this subchapter shall be
submitted by the proper officials of each college and approved by the
Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary shall ensure that each college
seeking to receive funds under this subchapter has in place appropriate
guidelines, as determined by the Secretary, to minimize actual or
potential conflicts of interest among employees of such college whose
salaries are funded in whole or in part with such funds.
(b) Time and manner of payment; related reports
The amount to which a State is entitled shall be paid in equal
quarterly payments in or about July, October, January, and April of each
year to the treasurer or other officer of the State duly authorized by
the laws of the State to receive the same, and such officer shall be
required to report to the Secretary of Agriculture on or about the first
day of April of each year, a detailed statement of the amount so
received during the previous fiscal year and its disbursement, on forms
prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(c) Requirements related to plan of work
Each extension plan of work for a State required under subsection
(a) of this section shall contain descriptions of the following:
(1) The critical short-term, intermediate, and long-term
agricultural issues in the State and the current and planned
extension programs and projects targeted to address the issues.
(2) The process established to consult with extension users
regarding the identification of critical agricultural issues in the
State and the development of extension programs and projects
targeted to address the issues.
(3) The efforts made to identify and collaborate with other
colleges and universities within the State, and within other States,
that have a unique capacity to address the identified agricultural
issues in the State and the extent of current and emerging efforts
(including regional efforts) to work with those other institutions.
(4) The manner in which research and extension, including
research and extension activities funded other than through formula
funds, will cooperate to address the critical issues in the State,
including the activities to be carried out separately, the
activities to be carried out sequentially, and the activities to be
carried out jointly.
(5) The education and outreach programs already underway to
convey available research results that are pertinent to a critical
agricultural issue, including efforts to encourage multicounty
cooperation in the dissemination of research results.
(d) Extension protocols
(1) Development
The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop protocols to be used
to evaluate the success of multistate, multi-institutional, and
multidisciplinary extension activities and joint research and
extension activities in addressing critical agricultural issues
identified in the plans of work submitted under subsection (a) of
this section.
(2) Consultation
The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop the protocols in
consultation with the National Agricultural Research, Extension,
Education, and Economics Advisory Board established under section
3123 of this title and land-grant colleges and universities.
(e) Treatment of plans of work for other purposes
To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall consider a
plan of work submitted under subsection (a) of this section to satisfy
other appropriate Federal reporting requirements.
(May 8, 1914, ch. 79, Sec. 4, 38 Stat. 374; June 26, 1953, ch. 157,
Sec. 1, 67 Stat. 85; Pub. L. 87-749, Sec. 1(f), Oct. 5, 1962, 76 Stat.
745; Pub. L. 94-273, Sec. 15, Apr. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 379; Pub. L. 101-
624, title XVI, Sec. 1617, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3732; Pub. L. 105-
185, title II, Sec. 202(a), June 23, 1998, 112 Stat. 531.)
Amendments
1998--Pub. L. 105-185 inserted section catchline, designated
existing provisions as subsecs. (a) and (b), inserted subsec. headings,
in subsec. (b) substituted ``The amount to which a State is entitled''
for ``Such sums'', and added subsecs. (c) to (e).
1990--Pub. L. 101-624 inserted after second sentence ``The Secretary
shall ensure that each college seeking to receive funds under this
subchapter has in place appropriate guidelines, as determined by the
Secretary, to minimize actual or potential conflicts of interest among
employees of such college whose salaries are funded in whole or in part
with such funds.''
1976--Pub. L. 94-273 substituted ``of October'' for ``of July'' and
``of April'' for ``of January''.
1962--Pub. L. 87-749 substituted ``quarterly payments in or about
July, October, January, and April'' for ``semiannual payments on the
first day of January and July'', and struck out ``, Territory or
possession'' wherever appearing.
1953--Act June 26, 1953, among other changes, inserted first two
sentences, inserted references to ``Territory, or possession'' after
references to ``State,'' in sentence commencing ``Such sums'', and in
such sentence, struck out reference to payment by the Secretary of the
Treasury upon warrant of the Secretary of Agriculture, and substituted
``January'' for ``September'' with respect to submission of annual
detailed statements.
Effective Date of 1998 Amendment
Pub. L. 105-185, title II, Sec. 202(c), June 23, 1998, 112 Stat.
533, provided that: ``The amendments made b
