505 ILCS 82/ Food and Agriculture Research Act.

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505 ILCS 82/1

(505 ILCS 82/1)

Sec. 1.

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the Food and Agriculture Research Act.

(Source: P.A. 89-182, eff. 7-19-95.)

505 ILCS 82/5

(505 ILCS 82/5)

Sec. 5.

Findings.

It is the intent of this Act to provide a solid base
of State funding for public food and agricultural research programs in
Illinois while fostering public confidence in this research through public
participation.  Blessed with rich agricultural soils and a favorable
agricultural
climate, Illinois traditionally ranks fourth or fifth among the States in the
nation's gross agricultural production.  The food and agricultural sector,
employing nearly 20% of the State's workers, is committed to providing safe,
nutritious, high-quality, affordable, and convenient agricultural products and
services to Illinois citizens.  Compared with all other states, however,
Illinois faces a tremendous challenge to meet its needs for ongoing adequate
research investments that improve human health while protecting and enhancing
its natural resources and environment.  Without adequate State funding, the
food and agricultural sector faces the consequences of falling behind in
information, projects, and programs affecting human lives and the demand for
improved nutrition, food quality, human health, and environment.

Currently, the State's agricultural universities conduct research that
provides basic information about the structure and function of food and
agricultural systems.  Although these agricultural institutions have a
remarkable record of contributions to an improved food and agricultural sector,
their research is significantly underfunded.  The State's Agricultural
Experiment Station, maintained as the food and agricultural research facilities
and program of the University of Illinois, ranks only 29th in state funding
among the state agricultural experiment stations.  Southern Illinois University
at Carbondale, Illinois State University, and Western Illinois University also
conduct food and agricultural research but receive no State appropriated fund
allocations.  This underfunding represents a missed opportunity for Illinois
and places it in poor competitive position with other important agricultural
states.  The State's consumers and producers reap high returns from existing
public investment in food and agricultural research, with a pretax return of
40%, the highest among publicly supported research activities.

Illinois needs mechanisms that allow publicly supported researchers to work
closely with farmers, agribusiness, consumers, conservationists,
environmentalists, and other key decision-makers.  Together, these groups can
identify challenges and opportunities for researchers before they conduct
research and transfer the information and technology.  This will allow Illinois
to retain its prominence as a leading agricultural state.

The Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR) is a statewide
coalition committed to funding relevant and high-quality research and related
outreach
programs leading to profitable, consumer-sensitive, and environmentally sound
food and agricultural systems.  The intent of this Act is to secure funds to
support targeted research initiatives so that Illinois will continue to meet
tomorrow's food and agricultural needs while using our natural resources
responsibly.

The General Assembly of Illinois hereby:

(1) Identifies food and agricultural research as a

critically important activity with great public benefits.

(2) Identifies the State's agricultural universities

responsible for basic, developmental, and adaptive research related to the food and agricultural sector; and

(3) Authorizes the expenditure of State funds to

enlarge, improve, and sustain the publicly supported programs of food and agricultural research in Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 89-182, eff. 7-19-95.)

505 ILCS 82/10

(505 ILCS 82/10)

Sec. 10.

Purpose.

The purpose of this Act is to put a solid foundation
of stable and long-term, State support under the important public activity of
food and agricultural research while improving accountability and gathering
public input concerning that research.  This should provide the institutional
capacity
and program continuity that are required to mount effective food and
agriculture research programs and that cannot be achieved with short-term
funding.

It is the intent of this Act that:

(1) Illinois should be among the top 10 agricultural

states in State funding for its agricultural experiment station, and that other agricultural institutions in the State should be funded proportionately, according to the formula specified below.  These funds shall enhance, rather than substitute for, current ongoing program support.

(2) Research supported by this Act shall be clearly

linked to practical food, agricultural, and related environmental objectives; fully integrated over the disciplines, functions, and activities required to achieve the intent of the General Assembly; coordinated with other, related food and agricultural research; and managed to minimize development time and cost and move results rapidly toward practical application.

(3) Researchers and other program participants shall

investigate both short and long term environmental, health, social, economic, and natural resource implications of products, practices, and systems proposed for use in food and agricultural enterprises.

(4) This Act shall establish mechanisms by which

publicly supported researchers and research administrators work closely with farmers, agribusiness, consumers, conservationists, environmentalists, health care providers, and key decision makers in the food and agricultural sector to identify problems and opportunities, formulate and prioritize research objectives, conduct research, and transfer the resulting information and technology.

(5) A portion of the funds shall be used to support

the necessary system of research facilities and programs needed to pilot test and scale up prototype food, agricultural, and related environmental technology and that these facilities and programs be accessible at cost to qualified persons from Illinois public and private universities and nonprofit organizations that need access to such facilities to conduct research on food, agricultural, and related environmental systems.

(Source: P.A. 89-182, eff. 7-19-95.)

505 ILCS 82/15

(505 ILCS 82/15)

Sec. 15. Allocation of funds.

Appropriations for the purposes of this
Act shall be made to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which shall
allocate funds appropriated under this Act for research to Illinois public and non-public institutions of higher education, as defined in Section 2 of the Higher Education Cooperation Act, as established by the Board of Directors of the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research, which is a non-profit, non-political organization. The Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research shall prepare and deliver to the General Assembly, Governor, Director of Agriculture, and the food and agricultural research administrators at each of the public and non-public institutions of higher learning that receive research dollars under this Act an annual report providing a summary and detailed account of the research programs being supported.

To offset the cost of administering the appropriation, the Department of
Agriculture may retain $50,000 or 1/2 of 1% of the total appropriation,
whichever is less.

To offset the cost of members of C-FAR incurred while performing their
duties as official group representatives, up to 1% of the funds appropriated
for the
purposes of this Act may be allocated by the Department of Agriculture to
cover these expenses.
 Members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for ordinary
and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.  The
reimbursement rates shall not exceed those rates that apply to State
employees.

(Source: P.A. 97-879, eff. 8-2-12.)

505 ILCS 82/20

(505 ILCS 82/20)

Sec. 20. Use of funds.

The 
funds shall be expended as follows:

(1) To support a broad program of food and

agricultural research, to include, but not limited to, research on natural resource, environmental, economic, nutritional, and social impacts of agricultural systems, human and animal health, and the concerns of consumers of food and agricultural products and services.

(2) To build and maintain research capacity including

construction, renovation, and maintenance of physical facilities; acquire and maintain equipment; employ appropriately trained and qualified personnel; provide supplies; and meet the expenses required to conduct the research and related technology transfer activities.

(3) To fund an innovative competitive grants program

administered by the Department of Agriculture within the guidelines and procedures established by the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural  Research.  The grants program is intended to be organized around desired practical, quantifiable, and achievable objectives in the food and agricultural sector.  The Board of Directors of the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research shall evaluate and recommend the proposals for funding.  Proposals may be submitted by any nonprofit institution, organization, or agency in Illinois.  The principal investigator must be a qualified researcher with experience in a food and agriculture related discipline.  Funds from other sources (both public and private) may be combined with funds appropriated for this Act to support cooperative efforts.

It is intended that the universities that receive these funds shall
continue (i) to operate and maintain the on-campus buildings and facilities
used in their agriculture related programs and provide the support services
typically provided other university programs, and (ii) to fund agricultural
programs from the higher education budget.

(Source: P.A. 97-879, eff. 8-2-12.)

505 ILCS 82/25

(505 ILCS 82/25)

Sec. 25. Administrative oversight.

The Department of Agriculture shall
provide general administrative oversight with the assistance and advice of
duly elected Board of Directors of the Illinois Council on Food and
Agricultural Research.  Food and agricultural research administrators at each
of the
universities shall administer the specifics of the funded research programs.  Annually the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research
 administrators shall prepare a combined proposed budget for the research that the Director
of Agriculture shall submit to the Governor for inclusion in the Executive
budget and consideration by the General Assembly.  The budget shall specify
major categories of proposed expenditures, including salary, wages, and fringe
benefits; operation and maintenance; supplies and expenses; and capital
improvements.

(Source: P.A. 100-621, eff. 7-20-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)

505 ILCS 82/95

(505 ILCS 82/95)

Sec. 95.

The Production Agriculture Programs Act is repealed.

(Source: P.A. 89-182, eff. 7-19-95.)

505 ILCS 82/99

(505 ILCS 82/99)

Sec. 99.

Effective date.

This Act takes effect July 1, 1995.

(Source: P.A. 89-182, eff. 7-19-95.)