DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act

This legislation tells the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture to work together on research that helps both energy and farming. They must set up a written agreement and use a fair, competitive process to choose projects from federal agencies, national labs, colleges, and nonprofits. The work may cover things like using AI and big data to improve decisions, new biofuels and biobased products, modernizing and securing the electric grid, rural technology (such as precision agriculture and automation), wildfire risk reduction, invasive species control, and pairing farm activities with clean energy or carbon storage. They may also build shared data systems, support research facilities and workforce, and develop ways to make agriculture operations more efficient and cut greenhouse gases.

The departments can partner with other federal agencies and set up reimbursable agreements to make research more effective. A public report on progress and future plans is due two years after the law takes effect, and all work must follow federal research security rules.

• Who is affected: Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture; federal labs, universities, and nonprofits involved in research; agriculture operations and processors; areas focused on the electric grid and rural technology .
• What changes: A formal joint program with competitive project selection; broad research areas (AI/data, biofuels, grid security, rural tech, wildfire, invasive species, clean energy links to farming); shared data efforts; and collaboration with other agencies .
• When: Starts upon enactment, with a progress report due two years later.