DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Compromise of privacy
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Environmental harm
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains. It briefly mentions AI/ML technologies as research focus areas (7.3 Lack of robustness - minimal coverage) and includes data sharing provisions that touch on privacy considerations (2.1 Privacy compromise - minimal coverage). The document primarily focuses on establishing collaborative research frameworks rather than addressing AI-specific risks.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Information
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Educational Services
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This Act primarily governs AI research and development activities in the Agriculture, Mining, Construction and Manufacturing sector (through USDA agricultural research) and the Scientific Research and Development Services sector (through DOE and USDA collaborative R&D). It also addresses applications in Trade, Transportation and Utilities (energy grid), Information (data analytics), and Public Administration (federal agency coordination).

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress with mandatory language requiring DOE and USDA to carry out collaborative research activities, establish interagency agreements, and submit reports to Congressional committees.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; House of Representatives; Senate
• Summary: The document is a Congressional Act passed by the House of Representatives and received by the Senate, indicating Congress as the proposing authority for this legislation.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Department of Energy (DOE); Department of Agriculture (USDA); Federal agencies; National Laboratories; institutions of higher education; nonprofit institutions
• Summary: The Act explicitly targets the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of Agriculture, requiring them to carry out collaborative research activities. It also applies to entities participating in the competitive merit-reviewed process including Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit institutions.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate
• Summary: Congressional committees are designated as the recipients of mandatory reports, indicating their oversight and enforcement role. The Secretaries must submit reports detailing coordination and achievements to these specific committees.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; Department of Energy; Department of Agriculture
• Summary: The same Congressional committees that enforce also monitor through mandatory reporting requirements. The Secretaries themselves are required to monitor and report on interagency coordination, technical capabilities, research achievements, and future opportunities.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily covers the Plan and Design stage by establishing research frameworks and priorities, and the Build and Use Model stage through its focus on developing AI/ML algorithms and technologies for agriculture and energy applications. It does not substantially address data collection, validation, deployment, or operational monitoring stages.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• Predictive AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions artificial intelligence and machine learning as technologies for collaborative research between DOE and USDA. It does not define or distinguish between AI models, AI systems, frontier AI, general purpose AI, task-specific AI, foundation models, generative AI, predictive AI, or discuss compute thresholds or open-weight models.