12 2 STA T . 12 37PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 23 4—M A Y 22 , 200 8be e p e stand pat hog ens urv e il lan c e progra m$2,750 ,000 f or each of fiscal y ears 200 8 through 20 1 2 .‘ ‘ (4)AN N UALREPO R T ON RE S PONSE TO H ONE YB EE C OLONY COLLAPSE DI SORDER. —T he S ecretary shall submit to the C om - mittee on Agriculture of the H ouse of R epresentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, N utrition, and F orestry of the Senate an annual report describing the progress made by the D epartment of Agriculture in— ‘‘(A) investigating the cause or causes of honey bee colony collapse
and ‘‘( B ) finding appropriate strategies to reduce colony loss. ‘‘(i) RE G IONAL CENTERS O FEX CELLENCE.— ‘‘(1) ESTABLISH M ENT.—The Secretary shall prioriti z e regional centers of e x cellence established for specific agricul- tural commodities for the receipt of funding under this section. ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—A regional center of excellence shall be composed of 1 or more colleges and universities (including land-grant institutions, schools of forestry, schools of veterinary medicine, or N LG CA I nstitutions (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching P olicy Act of 1 9 77 (7 U .S.C. 3 103))) that provide financial support to the regional center of excellence. ‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— The criteria for consideration to be a regional center of excel- lence shall include efforts— ‘‘(A) to ensure coordination and cost-effectiveness by reducing unnecessarily duplicative efforts regarding research, teaching, and extension; ‘‘(B) to leverage available resources by using public / private partnerships among agricultural industry groups, institutions of higher education, and the Federal Govern- ment; ‘‘(C) to implement teaching initiatives to increase a w areness and effectively disseminate solutions to target audiences through extension activities; ‘‘(D) to increase the economic returns to rural commu- nities by identifying, attracting, and directing funds to high-priority agricultural issues; and ‘‘(E) to improve teaching capacity and infrastructure at colleges and universities (including land-grant institu- tions, schools of forestry, and schools of veterinary medi- cine). ’ ’; and (4) in subsection ( j ) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)), by stri k ing ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1 6 72 of the Food, Agri- culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925) is amended— (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(e), (f), and (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e) through (i)’’; and (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1), (6), (7), and (11)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (4), (7), (8), and (11)(B)’’; and (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (e) through (i)’’.
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