HR7832-119

What This Bill Does

The America's Living Library Act directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Geological Survey, to establish a 10-year pilot that collects and whole-genome sequences animals, plants, fungi, and microbes from selected National Park System units. The Secretary must select five park units within 180 days and another 20 within two years, publish the selection reasons, and coordinate with the National Park Service, Agriculture Department, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, National Center for Biotechnology Information, and other agencies.

The program must create a publicly available genomic database containing long-read sequence data, assemblies, annotations, and metadata while withholding personally identifiable information and sensitive collection locations. It must use interoperable data standards, cybersecurity controls, standardized sequencing protocols, automated quality checks, and domestic facilities for all physical storage, curation, and laboratory processing. Samples may not be transferred, exported, or loaned outside the United States. High-priority material receives special long-term storage, and risky microbial or pathogen material must be segregated under appropriate biosafety controls.

USGS must establish or designate a program office, hire staff, contract with public or private entities, accept vetted in-kind biotechnology contributions, consult Indian Tribes, submit an implementation plan within 180 days, and report preliminary findings within three years. The implementation plan must consider expedited nonpublic data and computing access for artificial-intelligence development, but only for United States-organized entities not owned or controlled by a foreign entity of concern. The bill authorizes graduated annual funding for USGS sequencing, Smithsonian storage, two Agriculture Department repositories, and NCBI data storage from fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

Who Benefits and How

Genomic researchers and public database users benefit from a new standardized collection of park-species genome data and preserved samples. United States biotechnology firms eligible for expedited artificial-intelligence access may gain earlier access to bulk data and domestic computing resources. National Park Service science programs gain new inventories and genomic information. The Smithsonian, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, National Animal Germplasm Program, and NCBI receive dedicated funding for sample or data storage.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USGS must build the office, hire staff, select park units, coordinate sampling, manage contracts and in-kind contributions, operate the database, enforce cybersecurity, consult Tribes, and report to Congress. National Park Service unit managers must support sampling while complying with wildlife permitting and resource-protection laws. Smithsonian, Agriculture Department, and NCBI repositories must curate or store program material under domestic, biosafety, and access controls. Federal science appropriations bear the multi-year program costs. Foreign-controlled entities cannot use the proposed expedited nonpublic artificial-intelligence access pathway.

Key Provisions

• Selects five National Park System units within 180 days and 20 additional units within two years.
• Creates a public genomic database while protecting personal information and sensitive collection locations.
• Requires domestic storage, curation, and laboratory processing and bars export or foreign loan of physical samples.
• Requires interoperable data standards, federal cybersecurity controls, standardized sequencing, and automated quality checks.
• Establishes special storage and biosafety controls for high-priority species, pathogens, and other risky biological material.
• Allows contracts, cooperative agreements, and vetted in-kind biotechnology contributions.
• Limits proposed expedited nonpublic AI access to eligible United States entities not controlled by a foreign entity of concern.
• Authorizes specified annual funding for USGS, Smithsonian, Agriculture Department repositories, and NCBI from 2027 through 2031 and terminates the program after 10 years.