Sponsors (12)
The bill builds significant U.S. genomic sequencing capacity and standardized data access to boost conservation, research, and domestic biosecurity, but does so at meaningful taxpayer cost while constraining some international collaboration and raising privacy and conflict-of-interest risks.
Scientists and conservationists gain broad, standardized access to comprehensive genomic data from National Park System units, improving biodiversity research and conservation planning.
Federal agencies (USGS, Smithsonian, USDA) receive funding and capacity to perform sequencing, curation, and long-term sample storage, creating federal jobs and institutional capability.
Biological samples are preserved long-term in U.S. repositories with export restrictions, keeping materials available for domestic research and strengthening biosecurity oversight.
Taxpayers will fund tens of millions of dollars annually to run sequencing, storage, and data management operations.
Restricting storage to U.S. repositories and limiting exports may reduce international scientific collaboration and data sharing, hindering multinational research partnerships.
Public release of genomic data and associated metadata could expose sensitive locality information and threaten Indigenous cultural resource protections and local community privacy.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Creates a USGS‑run pilot to collect, catalog, and whole‑genome sequence species sampled from selected National Park System units, following applicable laws.
Official title: Establish the America's Living Library Project, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 5, 2026 by Todd Young · Last progress March 5, 2026
Creates a pilot program within the Department of the Interior (run by the U.S. Geological Survey) to collect, catalog, and whole‑genome sequence samples of animals, plants, fungi, and microbes from selected National Park System units. The program must follow existing permitting and consultation requirements (for example, the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act) and requires interagency coordination and definitions for key terms, including a process to identify "high‑priority species."