7 U.S.C. § 5312: Functions of Secretaries

Summary

The Secretaries must run and coordinate a national nutrition monitoring program. They must set goals, list the actions and agencies needed to reach those goals, and update the joint plan for national nutrition monitoring. They must make sure the program and the related plan are put into action on time. The Secretaries must include competitive research grants to develop common, cost-effective ways to measure nutrition and link food intake to health, and grants to help States and local governments build monitoring and nutrition services. Each year they must include an interagency budget, encourage teamwork among government, scientists, health workers, business, and the public, hire a major scientific group to report on U.S. diet and nutritional status every two years (or at least every five years if data are lacking), and charge reasonable fees for program publications, using the income for the program (nonprofit charges must not exceed actual costs). Every other year the Secretaries must send a report to the President for Congress by January 15 of each alternate year, beginning with January 15 after October 22, 1990. That report must review program progress, summarize results from plan components, discuss policy implications and future research priorities from the scientific reports, include the Council’s annual reports in full, and add the scientific group’s latest report summary.

Title 7, §5312

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Secretaries, with the advice of the Board, shall—

(1)establish the goals of the coordinated program, identify the activities required to meet such goals, and identify the responsible agencies with respect to the coordinated program;

(2)update the Joint Implementation Plan for a Comprehensive National Nutrition Monitoring System, and integrate it into the coordinated program;

(3)ensure the timely implementation of the coordinated program and the comprehensive plan prepared under section 5313 of this title;

(4)include in the coordinated program and the comprehensive plan a competitive grants program, to be implemented to the extent funds are available, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter to encourage and assist the conduct, by Federal entities, and by non-Federal entities on an appropriate matching funds basis, of research (including research described in section 5313(a)(3) of this title) that will accelerate the development of uniform and cost-effective standards and indicators for the assessment and monitoring of nutritional and dietary status and for relating food consumption patterns to nutritional and health status;

(5)include in the coordinated program and the comprehensive plan a grants program, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, to encourage and assist State and local governments in developing the capacity to conduct monitoring and surveillance of nutritional status, food consumption, and nutrition knowledge and in using such capacity to enhance nutrition services (including activities described in section 5313(a)(5) and 5313(b)(9) of this title);

(6)include in the coordinated program each fiscal year an annual interagency budget for each fiscal year of the program;

(7)foster productive interaction, with respect to nutrition monitoring and related research, among Federal efforts, State and local governments, the private sector, scientific communities, health professionals, and the public;

(8)(A)contract with a scientific body, such as the National Academy of Sciences or the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, to interpret available data analyses, and publish every two years, or more frequently if appropriate, except as provided in subparagraph (B), a report on the dietary, nutritional, and health-related status of the people of the United States and the nutritional quality (including the nutritive and nonnutritive content) of food consumed in the United States; or

(B)if the Secretaries determine that sufficient data analyses are not available to warrant interpretation of such data analyses, inform Congress of such fact at the time a report required in subparagraph (A) would have been published, and publish such report at least once every five years; and

(9)(A)foster cost recovery management techniques in the coordinated program; and

(B)impose appropriate charges and fees for publications of the coordinated program, including print and electronic forms of data and analysis, and use the proceeds of such charges and fees for purposes of the coordinated program (except that no such charge or fee imposed on an educational or other nonprofit organization shall exceed the actual costs incurred by the coordinated program in providing the publications involved).

(b)Biennial report

The Secretaries shall submit to the President for transmittal to Congress by January 15 of each alternate year, beginning with January 15 following October 22, 1990, a biennial report that shall—

(1)evaluate the progress of the coordinated program;

(2)summarize the results of such coordinated program components as are developed under section 5313 of this title;

(3)describe and evaluate any policy implications of the analytical findings in the scientific reports required under subsection (a)(8), and future priorities for nutrition monitoring and related research;

(4)include in full the annual reports of the Council provided for in section 5332 of this title; and

(5)include an executive summary of the report most recently published by the scientific body, as provided for in subsection (a)(8).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Termination of Reporting RequirementsFor termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (b) of this section requiring submission of biennial report to Congress, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and page 31 of House Document No. 103–7.

§5312 Functions of Secretaries

Summary

Title 7, §5312

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Citations & Metadata