Agricultural research Legislation - Federal Government

A bill to provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes. 10/3/2008--Public Law.    (There are 6 other summaries) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on October 1, 2008. The summary of that version is repeated here.)Division A: Emergency Economic Stabilization - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 - Title I: Troubled Assets Relief Program - (Sec. 101) Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to purchase troubled assets from any financial [...]

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To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a National Bio and Agro-defense Facility. 3/27/2007--Introduced. Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a National Bio and Agro-defense Facility, which shall: (1) be an integrated human, foreign-animal, and zoonotic disease research, development, testing, and evaluation facility supporting the defense against the threat of agroterrorism and certain naturally-occurring incidents related to agriculture; and (2) produce and share knowledge and technology for the purpose of reducing economic losses caused by diseases of livestock and poultry and preventing human suffering and death caused by diseases in the agricultural sector. Includes among the Facility Director's responsibilities: (1) directing research, development, testing, and evaluation relating to such diseases; (2) developing an emergency response plan; (3) providing training in biological and agricultural [...]

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A bill to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act to establish a biofuels promotion program to promote sustainable production of biofuels and biomass, and for other purposes. 5/23/2007--Introduced. Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a biofuels innovation program which shall: (1) encourage production of dedicated energy crops in a sustainable manner that protects the soil, air, water, and wildlife; (2) provide financial and technical assistance to owners and operators of eligible cropland to produce energy crops and crop mixes to support development and expansion of crop use for biofuels, power or heat generation to supplement or replace nonbiobased energy sources, and biobased products to supplement or replace non-biobased products; (3) establish biofuels innovation program project areas; and (4) provide financial and technical assistance to owners and operators for harvesting, storing, and [...]

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To provide for Federal research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities to enable the development of farms that are net producers of both food and energy, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Directs the Secretary of Energy to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) develop recommendations for evaluation measures and criteria for programs under this Act; and (2) evaluate the feasibility of prize and best practices award programs as tools to promote self-powered farms. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an award program for up to 30 state agricultural research programs for self-powered farm demonstrations; (2) provide low-cost revolving loans and loan guarantees to eligible entities for the commercial application of energy or other technologies that will contribute to establishing self-powered farms, with highest preference given to applicants who propose to meet their energy needs from biobased [...]

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A bill to provide for a program to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by establishing a market-driven system of greenhouse gas tradeable allowances, to support the deployment of new climate change-related technologies, and to ensure benefits to consumers from the trading in such allowances, and for other purposes. 1/12/2007--Introduced. Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and maintain the National Greenhouse Gas Database to collect, verify, and analyze information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Establishes a program for market-driven reduction of GHGs through the use of tradeable allowances. Requires certain covered entities that own or control a source of GHG emissions in the electric power, industrial, and commercial sectors of the U.S. economy to submit to the Administrator, beginning in 2012, one tradeable allowance for every [...]

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A bill to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to promote local and regional support for sustainable bioenergy and biobased products, to support the future of farming, forestry, and land management, to develop and support local bioenergy, biobased products, and food systems, and for other purposes. 2/8/2007--Introduced. Rural Opportunities Act of 2007 - Amends the Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) make state grants for extension, education, applied research, and development activities at institutions of higher education, state agencies, or partnerships for local and regional bioenergy and biobased product use and production; and (2) provide funds for basic research on next generation technology. Authorizes the Secretary to make supplemental rural cooperative development grants. Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary to: (1) [...]

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A bill to establish the Food Safety Administration to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes. 2/15/2007--Introduced. Safe Food Act of 2007 - Establishes the Food Safety Administration to administer and enforce food safety laws. Directs the Administrator of the Food Safety Administration to: (1) promulgate regulations to ensure the security of the food supply from all forms of contamination; (2) implement federal food safety inspection, enforcement, and research efforts to protect the public health; (3) develop consistent and science-based standards for safe food; and (4) prioritize federal food safety efforts and deployment of resources to achieve the greatest possible benefit in reducing food-borne illness. Transfers to the Administration all functions of specified federal [...]

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To provide additional funds for food safety research related to perishable agricultural commodities, to provide emergency financial assistance to producers and first handlers of fresh spinach for losses incurred as a result of the removal of fresh spinach and products containing fresh spinach from the market and other actions undertaken in response to a public health advisory regarding spinach issued by the Food and Drug Administration in September 2006, and for other purposes. 2/8/2007--Introduced. Spinach Research and Recovery Act of 2007 - Authorizes additional FY2008 appropriations for conducting and supporting applied research to enhance the safety of perishable agricultural commodities for consumers for: (1) the Agricultural Research Service: (2) the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; and (3) the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make payments (not to exceed 75% of the value of the [...]

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A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend certain expiring provisions, and for other purposes. 7/24/2008--Introduced. Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend various provisions relating to energy production and conservation and to individual and business-related activities.Extends the tax credit for producing electricity from wind facilities through 2009 and the tax credit for closed and open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, hydropower, landfill gas, and trash combustion facilities through 2011. Includes marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy as a renewable resource for purposes of such tax credit. Extends the energy tax credit for solar energy and the residential energy efficient property tax credit through 2016. Extends the energy tax credits for fuel cell and microturbine property through 2017. Allows a new investment tax credit for combined heat and power system property.[...]

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To provide for the continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes. 5/22/2008--Introduced. Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 - Provides for the continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through FY2012.Revises agricultural and related programs, including provisions respecting: (1) commodity programs; (2) conservation; (3) trade; (4) nutrition; (5) credit; (6) rural development; (7) research and related matters; (8) forestry; (9) energy; (10) horticulture and organic agriculture; (11) livestock; (12) crop insurance and disaster assistance; (13) socially disadvantaged and limited resource producers; and (14) miscellaneous programs.Directs the President to establish and maintain an importer declaration program with respect to the importation of softwood lumber and softwood lumber products.Establishes the Bill Emerson National Hunger [...]

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