§ 3121. — Responsibilities of Secretary and Department 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: 7USC3121]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 64--AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND TEACHING
SUBCHAPTER II--COORDINATION AND PLANNING OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH,
EXTENSION, AND TEACHING
Sec. 3121. Responsibilities of Secretary and Department of
Agriculture
The Department of Agriculture is designated as the lead agency of
the Federal Government for agricultural research (except with respect to
the biomedical aspects of human nutrition concerned with diagnosis or
treatment of disease), extension, and teaching in the food and
agricultural sciences, and the Secretary, in carrying out the
Secretary's responsibilities, shall--
(1) establish jointly with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services procedures for coordination with respect to nutrition
research in areas of mutual interest;
(2) keep informed of developments in, and the Nation's need for,
research, extension, teaching, and manpower development in the food
and agricultural sciences and represent such need in deliberations
within the Department of Agriculture, elsewhere within the executive
branch of the United States Government, and with the several States
and their designated land-grant colleges and universities, other
colleges and universities, agricultural and related industries, and
other interested institutions and groups;
(3) coordinate all agricultural research, extension, and
teaching activity conducted or financed by the Department of
Agriculture and, to the maximum extent practicable, by other
agencies of the executive branch of the United States Government;
(4) take the initiative in establishing coordination of State-
Federal cooperative agricultural research, extension, and teaching
programs, funded in whole or in part by the Department of
Agriculture in each State, through the administrative heads of land-
grant colleges and universities and the State directors of
agricultural experiment stations and cooperative extension services,
and other appropriate program administrators;
(5) consult the Advisory Board and appropriate advisory
committees of the Department of Agriculture in the formulation of
basic policies, goals, strategies, and priorities for programs of
agricultural research, extension, and teaching;
(6) report (as a part of the Department of Agriculture's annual
budget submissions) to the House Committee on Agriculture, the House
Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry, and the Senate Committee on Appropriations
actions taken or proposed to support the recommendations of the
Advisory Board;
(7) establish appropriate review procedures to assure that
agricultural research projects are timely and properly reported and
published and that there is no unnecessary duplication of effort or
overlapping between agricultural research units;
(8) establish Federal or cooperative multidisciplinary research
teams on major agricultural research problems with clearly defined
leadership, budget responsibility, and research programs;
(9) in order to promote the coordination of agricultural
research of the Department of Agriculture, conduct a continuing
inventory of ongoing and completed research projects being conducted
within or funded by the Department;
(10) coordinate all agricultural research, extension, and
teaching activities conducted or financed by the Department of
Agriculture with the periodic renewable resource assessment and
program provided for in sections 1601 and 1602 of title 16 and the
appraisal and program provided for in sections 2004 and 2005 of
title 16;
(11) coordinate the efforts of States, State cooperative
institutions, State extension services, the Advisory Board, and
other appropriate institutions in assessing the current status of,
and developing a plan for, the effective transfer of new
technologies, including biotechnology, to the farming community,
with particular emphasis on addressing the unique problems of small-
and medium-sized farms in gaining information about those
technologies; and
(12) establish appropriate controls with respect to the
development and use of the application of biotechnology to
agriculture.
(Pub. L. 95-113, title XIV, Sec. 1405, Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 985;
Pub. L. 97-98, title XIV, Sec. 1405, Dec. 22, 1981, 95 Stat. 1298; Pub.
L. 99-198, title XIV, Sec. 1404, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1544; Pub. L.
101-624, title XVI, Sec. 1605(b)(3), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3714; Pub.
L. 104-127, title VIII, Secs. 852(b)(1), 853(b)(2), Apr. 4, 1996, 110
Stat. 1171, 1172.)
Amendments
1996--Par. (5). Pub. L. 104-127, Sec. 852(b)(1)(A), substituted
``Advisory Board'' for ``Joint Council, Advisory Board,''.
Par. (11). Pub. L. 104-127, Sec. 852(b)(1)(B), struck out ``the
Joint Council,'' before ``the Advisory Board''.
Par. (12). Pub. L. 104-127, Sec. 853(b)(2), struck out ``, after
coordination with the Technology Board,'' after ``establish''.
1990--Par. (12). Pub. L. 101-624 inserted ``, after coordination
with the Technology Board,'' after ``establish''.
1985--Pars. (11), (12). Pub. L. 99-198 added pars. (11) and (12) and
struck out former par. (11) which required the Secretary to ``take the
initiative in overcoming barriers to long-range planning by developing,
in conjunction with the States, State cooperative institutions, the
Joint Council, the Advisory Board, and other appropriate institutions, a
long-term needs assessment for food, fiber, and forest products, and by
determining the research requirements necessary to meet the identified
needs.''
1981--Par. (1). Pub. L. 97-98, Sec. 1405(1), substituted ``Secretary
of Health and Human Services'' for ``Secretary of Health, Education, and
Welfare''.
Par. (5). Pub. L. 97-98, Sec. 1405(2), substituted ``and appropriate
advisory'' for ``and other appropriate advisory''.
Par. (6). Pub. L. 97-98, Sec. 1405(3), inserted ``or proposed''.
Pars. (10), (11). Pub. L. 97-98, Sec. 1405(4)-(6), added pars. (10)
and (11).
Effective Date of 1981 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97-98 effective Dec. 22, 1981, see section 1801
of Pub. L. 97-98, set out as an Effective Date note under section 4301
of this title.
Effective Date
Subchapter effective Oct. 1, 1977, see section 1901 of Pub. L. 95-
113, set out as an Effective Date of 1977 Amendment note under section
1307 of this title.
