GOVERNMENT
Sweeping Changes Proposed in Federal Agricultural Research Two bills recently introduced in Senate would add sustainability to criteria for selecting federal research projects in agriculture Three members of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee, including its chairman and ranking minority member, have recently introduced three bills aimed at making it easier for farmers to adopt sustainable or alternative agricultural practices. Two of the bills would make sweeping changes in the federally supported agricultural research program. The committee is currently working on a new 1990 farm bill that Congress is expected to enact by the end of the year. Provisions of the three bills are likely to be folded into this omnibus legislation. The term sustainable, as defined by the committee's ranking minority member, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R.Ind.), means "an agricultural system that is economically viable and environmentally sound over the short and long term" (C&EN, March 5, page 26). Bills introduced by committee chairman Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D.Vt.), Sen. Thomas A. Daschle (D.S.D.), and Lugar all contain provisions that would advance research in sustainable agriculture, aid in the transfer of information about sustainable agriculture from the research community to farmers, and foster cooperation among farmers, extension agents, university and government researchers, and representatives of agribusiness and nonprofit organizations. Leahy's bill, S. 2334, contains
Leahy: farm bill for sustainability some of the most specific provisions to promote sustainable agriculture. It would establish a new 50-50 statefederal matching grant program to assist states in creating sustainable agriculture research, extension, and education projects. It would require that the Department of Agriculture develop technical guides to assist farmers and agriculture professionals in understanding the mechanisms of sustainable agriculture systems. And it would authorize at least $15 million for the existing USDA low-input sustainable agriculture program, a large increase from its current funding of $4.45 million. The bill also calls for a national training program in sustainable agriculture for Extension Service agents and other agricultural leaders. Under Leahy's bill, extension agents would be encouraged to offer advice to farmers on reduced pesti-
cide and fertilizer applications. The bill would reallocate federal research dollars now spent on development of herbicide-resistant plants to investigations into alternative weed-control systems that require the use of little or no herbicide. This is one of the most controversial sections of the bill. USDA has expressed grave reservations about trying to regulate technology. Leahy's bill also would direct USDA to select research and extension projects according to whether they advance the purposes of sustainable agriculture—that is, reduce the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, improve low-input farm management, and promote crop, livestock, and enterprise diversification. For the most part, the goals of agricultural research have not been spelled out in previous farm legislation, so Leahy's bill could define the direction for revolutionary changes in the federal research program. Daschle's bill, S. 2259, is similar. It is mainly concerned with the process by which priority areas of research are defined and the criteria used in selecting federal research projects in agriculture. It states that the current "planning and priority setting in the federally supported agricultural research and extension system is ineffective." To remedy this, the bill would establish criteria for the selection of federal research projects. According to the bill, projects should, in general, enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of the agricultural system. The specific purposes of these research projects should be to increase employment opportunities in agricultural and rural communities, to strengthen the family-farm system of agriculture, to protect the environment and natural resourcApril 16, 1990 C&EN
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Government es—including soil, wildlife habitats and populations, and surface and groundwater—and to enhance human health by developing farming systems that have no adverse impacts on the health of consumers and farm workers. Another specific purpose would be to strengthen the long-run competitiveness of U.S. agriculture by reducing production costs and reliance on nonrenewable resources, such as petroleum. The research section of Lugar's bill, S. 2292 (which now consists essentially of the Bush Administration's proposals), also promotes research in sustainable agriculture. It would direct USDA to conduct research and education projects needed to improve agricultural sustainability; implement soil, water, and energy conservation practices; diversify farmers' enterprises; and protect the health of farm workers and consumers. It would increase USDA's competitive grants research program to $100 million by 1991 (double current funding) and to $300 million by 1995. This proposal is based on a National Academy of Sciences report entitled "Investing in Agriculture: A Proposal to Strengthen the Agricultural, Food, and Environmental System." It is impossible to say precisely which of these provisions Congress will include in the final 1990 farm act as it goes through the process of reauthorizing the farm bill, a process it repeats every five years. However, policy experts in Washington, D.C., believe that several of these provisions will form the core of the farm bill's research section. Leahy has promised that "the 1990 farm bill will be the farm bill for sustainability." I. Garth Youngberg, executive director of the Institute for Alternative Agriculture, Beltsville, Md., expects that the 1990 farm act will be significantly different from the 1985 act and will contain a number of important provisions promoting sustainable agriculture. In contrast, Harold F. Reetz Jr., director of the west central states for the Potash & Phosphate Institute, based in Atlanta, predicts that the new farm act will differ in only minor ways from the current one. Bette Hileman 26 April 16, 1990 C&EN
Federal Alert— new legislation
SENATE
April 4. House and Senate bills are listed under subject matter by bill number, primary sponsor, and committee^) to which referred.
OSHA. S. 2442—Simon (D.-lll.). Assures right of victims of workplace accidents and/ or surviving family members to be informed about OSHA's investigations of accident, to participate in proceedings relating to accident. Labor & Human Resources.
HOUSE
Patents. S. 2326—DeConcini (D.-Ariz.). Amends patent law to protect biotechnology discoveries by providing for issuance of process patent in cases where either starting material or resulting product is novel; provides protection against offshore, uncompensated use of patented biotechnological materials. Judiciary.
Business. S. 2322—Chafee (R.-R.l.). Amends antitrust law to permit U.S. companies to create joint production ventures; establishes commission to study impact of anThis C&EN list highlights legislation titrust laws on U.S. competitiveness. Judiintroduced between March 28 and ciary.
Asbestos. H.R. 4220—Thomas (R.-Wyo.). Repeals Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986; requires EPA study of health hazards associated with serpentine and amphibole fibers. Energy & Commerce. Drugs. H.R. 4231—Fazio (D.-Calif.). Adds 27 substances to list of precursor chemicals transactions that must be reported to Drug Enforcement Administration. Energy & Commerce; Judiciary. Education. H.R. 4331—Buechner (R.-Mo.). Requires NSF to establish grant program for development, dissemination of new learning technologies. Science, Space & TechnologyEnvironment. H.R. 4332—Courter (R.-N.J.). Directs EPA to study feasibility of developing uniform standards and definitions of plastic degradabiiity. Energy & Commerce. H.R. 4433—Paxon (R.-N.Y.). Prohibits any person or business concern that violates federal waste disposal laws from receiving EPA contracts for 10 years. Energy & Commerce. Exports. H.R. 4191—Levine (D.-Calif.). Gives Department of Commerce sole authority to issue export control regulations; provides for automatic decontrol of items to noncommunist country destinations after two years, unless Commerce formally recontrols them; liberalizes controls on exports to Eastern Europe. Foreign Affairs; Ways & Means; Banking, Finance & Urban Affairs. immigration. H.R. 4165—Schumer (D.N.Y.). Provides for admittance yearly to U.S. of up to 60,000 employer-sponsored immigrants who possess at least bachelor's degree in field in which U.S. graduates are in short supply; 30,000 visas for noncitizen managers and executives of U.S. corporations. Judiciary. Research. H.R. 4197—Scheuer (D.-N.Y.). Specifies that EPA air research program include, among other things, research on short- and long-term effects of pollutants on human health and ecosystems. Science, Space & Technology; Energy & Commerce. Taxes. H.R. 4177—Stark (D.-Calif.). Imposes escalating excise tax of 10 to 45 cents per lb on emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides from utility plants. Ways & Means. H.R. 4308—Rostenkowski (D.-lll.). Ensures that foreign-owned corporations, U.S. subsidiaries of such firms pay their fair share of U.S. income tax. Ways & Means.
Pesticides. S. 2227-4.eahy (D.-Vt.). Prohibits export of pesticides not registered for use in U.S., permits export of registered, but "hazardous," pesticides only to countries that have effective pesticide regulatory apparatus. Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. Pipelines. S. 2323—Lautenberg (D.-N.J.). Prohibits Department of Transportation from issuing blanket regulatory exemptions for pipelines that transport hazardous materials. Commerce, Science & Transportation. Research. S. 2371—Bradley (D.-N.J.). Calls for National Academy of Sciences study of feasibility of establishing National Institute for Environmental Research, modeled on NIH, containing problem-oriented centers to competitively fund research on environmental problems. Environment & Public Works. Taxes. S. 2424—Baucus (D.-Mont.). Imposes tax of about $15 per ton on emissions of certain chemicals regulated under new clean air bill. Finance. Technology. S. 2349—Bingaman (D.-N.M.). Establishes office of international technology monitoring within Department of Commerce to coordinate and disseminate information, including unclassified analyses, obtained by government regarding developments in science, research, and technology throughout world. Commerce, Science & Transportation. Transportation. S. 2318—Metzenbaum (D.Ohio). Requires payment of annual registration fee by manufacturers, shippers of hazardous materials; permits states to enforce federal hazardous materials rail transportation rules; establishes central reporting systems and data center to which all movements of hazardous materials would be reported. Commerce, Science & Transportation. S. 2393—Exon (D.-Neb.). Prohibits back-toback hauling of food products and chemicals or garbage in same vehicles. Commerce, Science & Transportation. Waste. S. 2238-Shelby (D.-Ala.). Requires each state to develop 20-year plan, either individually or as part of regional compact, for disposing of its own hazardous and solid waste; enables each to limit shipments of waste from other states into its territory. Environment & Public Works.
