7 U.S.C. § 5812: Program administration

Summary

The Secretary must run the programs through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Service, and other appropriate agencies. The Secretary must set up at least four Regional Administrative Councils and, with those councils, pick regional host institutions to carry out the work. Each Regional Administrative Council must include people from federal research agencies, state extension services and experiment stations, soil conservation, state sustainable-ag departments, nonprofits with relevant expertise, farmers using sustainable methods, agribusiness, the State or U.S. Geological Survey, and other experts. The councils must promote the programs in their regions, set goals and rules for choosing projects, create a technical committee to review proposals, act on that committee’s recommendations while working with the host institution, and publish an annual report that evaluates funded projects. A council or committee member cannot take part in discussing or recommending a project if they have or had a business or professional connection to the applicant, including serving as a consultant.

Title 7, §5812

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Duties of Secretary

The Secretary shall—

(1)administer the programs and projects conducted under section 5811 and 5813 of this title through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and other appropriate agencies;

(2)establish a minimum of four Regional Administrative Councils in accordance with subsection (b); and

(3)in conjunction with such Regional Administrative Councils, identify regional host institutions required to carry out such programs or projects.

(b)Regional Administrative Councils

(1)Membership

The membership of the Regional Administrative Councils shall include representatives of— (A)

(B)the National Institute of Food and Agriculture;

(C)State cooperative extension services;

(D)State agricultural experiment stations;

(E)the Soil Conservation Service;

(F)State departments engaged in sustainable agriculture programs;

(G)nonprofit organizations with demonstrable expertise;

(H)farmers utilizing systems and practices of sustainable agriculture;

(I)agribusiness;

(J)the State or United States Geological Survey; and

(K)other persons knowledgeable about sustainable agriculture and its impact on the environment and rural communities.

(2)Responsibilities

The Regional Administrative Councils shall—

(A)promote the programs established under this subchapter at the regional level;

(B)establish goals and criteria for the selection of projects authorized under this subchapter within the applicable region;

(C)appoint a technical committee to evaluate the proposals for projects to be considered under this subchapter by such council;

(D)review and act on the recommendations of the technical committee, and coordinate its activities with the regional host institution; and

(E)prepare and make available an annual report concerning projects funded under section 5811 and 5813 of this title, together with an evaluation of the project activity.

(3)Conflict of interest

A member of the Regional Administrative Council or a technical committee may not participate in the discussion or recommendation of proposed projects if the member has or had a professional or business interest in, including the provision of consultancy services, the organization whose grant application is under review.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical

Amendments

to this section. The

Amendments

by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 110–246, § 7511(c)(15)(A), substituted “the National Institute of Food and Agriculture” for “the Cooperative State Research Service in close cooperation with the Extension Service”. Subsec. (b)(1)(B) to (L). Pub. L. 110–246, § 7511(c)(15)(B), added subpar. (B), redesignated former subpars. (D) to (L) as (C) to (K), respectively, and struck out former subpars. (B) and (C) which read as follows: “(B) the Cooperative State Research Service; “(C) the Extension Service;”. 1996—Subsec. (a)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 104–127, § 860(b)(1), redesignated pars. (3) and (4) as (2) and (3), respectively, substituted “subsection (b)” for “subsection (e)” in par. (2), and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: “establish the Advisory Council in accordance with subsection (c) of this section;”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–127, § 860(a), (b)(3), redesignated subsec. (e) as (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which required Secretary, not later than Apr. 1, 1991, and each April 1 thereafter, to prepare and submit to congressional committees and to Advisory Council report describing results of programs carried out under section 5811, 5813, and 5821 of this title and report describing progress of projects conducted under this subchapter. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 104–127, § 860(b)(4), redesignated subpars. (B) to (F) as (A) to (E), respectively, and struck out former subpar. (A) which read as follows: “make recommendations to the Advisory Council concerning research and extension projects that merit funding under section 5811 and 5813 of this title;”. Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 104–127, § 860(b)(2), (3), redesignated subsec. (e) as (b) and struck out subsec. (c) which provided for membership of the National Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Council and subsec. (d) which set forth responsibilities of Advisory Council.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2008 AmendmentAmendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 8701 of this title. Amendment by section 7511(c)(15) of Pub. L. 110–246 effective Oct. 1, 2009, see section 7511(c) of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 1522 of this title.

§5812 Program Administration

Summary

Title 7, §5812

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Amendments

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata