Two agencies team up on agriculture-energy research with public oversight
H.R. 1326 — DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act · Filed by Frank Lucas (R-OK) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 13, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill directs the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture to jointly conduct research and development activities on topics spanning agriculture, energy, and climate—including AI/machine learning for crop optimization, biofuels, grid modernization, wildfire prevention, and greenhouse gas reduction. The two departments must establish a memorandum of understanding, use competitive merit-reviewed processes open to federal agencies, national labs, universities, nonprofits, and industry, and report back to Congress within two years on their progress and future opportunities.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is establishing a formal collaborative research framework between two federal departments on agriculture-energy nexus topics. It is a structural/procedural bill, not a substantive policy change or appropriation—it authorizes coordination and requires merit-based competitive processes.
What the text implies
- The bill's emphasis on 'data and information sharing' and 'secure data' infrastructure may create new federal data repositories on agricultural supply chains, environmental conditions, and energy systems—potentially valuable to private industry partners granted access, though the bill does not explicitly grant proprietary rights.
- The 'reimbursable agreements' language permits DOE and USDA to accept funding from private entities and other federal agencies to conduct research, which could create financial dependencies or influence research priorities if not carefully managed.
- The bill authorizes 'colocation of agricultural resources with carbon storage and utilization technologies,' which may accelerate deployment of carbon capture on farmland—a nascent market with uncertain environmental and economic returns.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill establishes collaborative research infrastructure on issues of broad public concern—agricultural productivity, renewable energy, climate mitigation, and rural development—using transparent merit-based processes and requiring public reporting. No private entity is shielded from liability, no public funds are diverted to narrow beneficiaries, and the research agenda is explicitly tied to public missions (energy security, food security, emissions reduction).
Who stands to gain
- Agricultural technology companies (precision agriculture, mechanization)
- Renewable energy and biofuels developers
- National laboratories and research institutions (funding flow)
- Universities and nonprofit research entities
Named in the bill
Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Laboratories, Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House Committee on Agriculture, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Feb 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 13, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture…”
- Mar 24, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection”
- Mar 24, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Babin moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $489,417 in lobbying spend. A filing names 50 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Frank Lucas, the sponsor, reported $719,880 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Society of Civil Engineers — $489,417 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,698 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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