§ 178c — Research And Development Program By Secretary Of Agriculture

(a) The Department of Agriculture shall be the lead agency in carrying out this subchapter. (b) 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, and including hemp (as defined in section 1639o of this title)) 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) 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) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in carrying out a demonstration project referred to in subsection (b)(9), 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.