
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC427]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
                    CHAPTER 17--MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
 
Sec. 427. Agriculture research; declaration of policy; duties of 
        Secretary of Agriculture; use of existing facilities
        
    It is declared to be the policy of the Congress to promote the 
efficient production and utilization of products of the soil as 
essential to the health and welfare of our people and to promote a sound 
and prosperous agriculture and rural life as indispensable to the 
maintenance of maximum employment and national prosperity. It is also 
the intent of Congress to assure agriculture a position in research 
equal to that of industry which will aid in maintaining an equitable 
balance between agriculture and other sections of our economy. For the 
attainment of these objectives, the Secretary of Agriculture is 
authorized and directed to conduct and to stimulate research into the 
laws and principles underlying the basic problems of agriculture in its 
broadest aspects, including but not limited to: Research relating to the 
improvement of the quality of, and the development of new and improved 
methods of the production, marketing, distribution, processing, and 
utilization of plant and animal commodities at all stages from the 
original producer through to the ultimate consumer; research into the 
problems of human nutrition and the nutritive value of agricultural 
commodities, with particular reference to their content of vitamins, 
minerals, amino and fatty acids, and all other constituents that may be 
found necessary for the health of the consumer and to the gains or 
losses in nutritive value that may take place at any stage in their 
production, distribution, processing, and preparation for use by the 
consumer; research relating to the development of present, new, and 
extended uses and markets for agricultural commodities and byproducts as 
food or in commerce, manufacture, or trade, both at home and abroad, 
with particular reference to those foods and fibers for which our 
capacity to produce exceeds or may exceed existing economic demand; 
research to encourage the discovery, introduction, and breeding of new 
and useful agricultural crops, plants, and animals, both foreign and 
native, particularly for those crops and plants which may be adapted to 
utilization in chemical and manufacturing industries; research relating 
to new and more profitable uses for our resources of agricultural 
manpower, soils, plants, animals, and equipment than those to which they 
are now, or may hereafter be, devoted; research relating to the 
conservation, development, and use of land, forest, and water resources 
for agricultural purposes; research relating to the design, development, 
and the more efficient and satisfactory use of farm buildings, farm 
homes, farm machinery, including the application of electricity and 
other forms of power; research and development relating to uses of solar 
energy with respect to farm buildings, farm homes, and farm machinery 
(including equipment used to dry and cure crops and provide irrigation); 
applied research to develop agricultural, forestry, and rural energy 
conservation and biomass energy production and use; research relating to 
the diversification of farm enterprises, both as to the type of 
commodities produced, and as to the type of operations performed, on the 
individual farm; research relating to any other laws and principles that 
may contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a permanent and 
effective agricultural industry including such investigations as have 
for their purpose the development and improvement of the rural home and 
rural life, and the maximum contribution by agriculture to the welfare 
of the consumer and the maintenance of maximum employment and national 
prosperity; and such other researches or experiments bearing on the 
agricultural industry or on rural homes of the United States as may in 
each case be deemd \1\ advisable, having due regard to the varying 
conditions and needs of Puerto Rico, the respective States, and 
Territories. In effectuating the purposes of this section, maximum use 
shall be made of existing research facilities owned or controlled by the 
Federal Government or by State agricultural experiment stations and of 
the facilities of the Federal and State extension services. Research 
authorized under this section shall be in addition to research provided 
for under existing law (but both activities shall be coordinated so far 
as practicable). For purposes of sections 427 to 427j of this title, the 
term ``solar energy'' means energy derived from sources (other than 
fossil fuels) and technologies included in the Federal Non-Nuclear \2\ 
Energy Research and Development Act of 1974, as amended [42 U.S.C. 5901 
et seq.].
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``deemed''.
    \2\ So in original. Probably should be ``Nonnuclear''.
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(June 29, 1935, ch. 338, title I, Sec. 1, 49 Stat. 436; Aug. 14, 1946, 
ch. 966, title I, Sec. 101(1), 60 Stat. 1082; Pub. L. 95-113, title XIV, 
Sec. 1446, Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 1011; Pub. L. 96-294, title II, 
Sec. 253, June 30, 1980, 94 Stat. 707.)

                       References in Text

    Sections 427a to 427h and 427j of this title, referred to in text, 
were repealed by act Aug. 11, 1955, ch. 790, Sec. 2, 69 Stat. 674. See 
sections 361a to 361i of this title.
    The Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974, 
as amended, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 93-577, Dec. 31, 1974, 88 
Stat. 1878, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 74 
(Sec. 5901 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For 
complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note 
set out under section 5901 of Title 42 and Tables.

                          Codification

    Another section 1446 of Pub. L. 95-113 is classified to section 
3222a of this title.


                               Amendments

    1980--Pub. L. 96-294 inserted provisions relating to applied 
research to develop agricultural, forestry, and rural energy 
conservation and biomass energy production and use.
    1977--Pub. L. 95-113 inserted reference to research and development 
relating to uses of solar energy with respect to farm buildings, farm 
homes, and farm machinery (including equipment used to dry and cure 
crops and provide irrigation) and inserted definition of ``solar 
energy''.
    1946--Act Aug. 14, 1946, amended section generally to provide for a 
greatly augmented research program in order to enable agriculture to 
attain a position in research comparable to that of other industries.


                    Effective Date of 1977 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 95-113 effective Oct. 1, 1977, see section 1901 
of Pub. L. 95-113, set out as a note under section 1307 of this title.


                               Short Title

    Act June 29, 1935, as amended, which enacted sections 329, 343, 
343d-1, and 427-427j of this title, is popularly known as the 
``Agricultural Research Act'' and also as the ``Bankhead-Jones Act''.

                          Transfer of Functions

    Functions of all officers, agencies, and employees of Department of 
Agriculture transferred, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of 
Agriculture by 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 2, Sec. 1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 
F.R. 3219, 67 Stat. 633, set out as a note under section 2201 of this 
title.


                       Minimum Sum for Contracting

    Minimum of $1,500,000 of appropriations of Department of Agriculture 
for research and service work authorized by this section and section 
1621 et seq. of this title as available for contracting in accordance 
therewith, see section 1623a of this title.

Ex. Ord. No. 9310. Transferring Nutrition Functions of Office of Defense 
        Health and Welfare Services to Department of Agriculture

    Ex. Ord. No. 9310, Mar. 6, 1943, 8 F.R. 2913, provided:
    By virtue of the authority vested in me by Title I of the First War 
Powers Act, 1941 [former sections 601 to 605 of Appendix to Title 50, 
War and National Defense], as President of the United States, and in 
order to enable the Secretary of Agriculture more effectively to carry 
out his responsibilities with respect to the Nation's food program, it 
is hereby ordered:
    1. The functions, powers, and duties, with respect to nutrition, (a) 
of the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services in the Office for 
Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President (including 
all functions, powers, and duties of the Nutrition Division of the 
Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services), and (b) of the Director 
of the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services, are transferred to 
the Department of Agriculture and shall be administered under the 
supervision and direction of the Secretary of Agriculture through such 
agency or agencies in the Department as the Secretary shall designate.
    2. The personnel, property, and records used primarily in the 
administration of the functions, powers, and duties transferred by this 
Order are transferred to the Department of Agriculture. So much of the 
unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds 
available for the use of the Office of Defense Health and Welfare 
Services in discharging the functions, powers, and duties transferred by 
this Order, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, 
shall be transferred to the Department of Agriculture for use in 
connection with the exercise of the functions, powers, and duties so 
transferred. In determining the amounts to be transferred hereunder, 
allowance shall be made for the liquidation of obligations previously 
incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds.
                                                  Franklin D. Roosevelt.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 361a, 427i, 1623a, 1629, 
3152 of this title; title 42 section 8852.
