7 U.S.C. § 7656 — Designation of Crisis Management Team within Department

(a) Designation of Crisis Management Team: The Secretary of Agriculture must designate a Crisis Management Team within USDA, made up of (1) senior staff with strong subject-matter expertise from each relevant USDA agency, and (2) headed by a team leader with strong management and communication skills. (b) Duties of Crisis Management Team: The Team must (1) develop a department-wide crisis management plan — considering similar plans from other agencies and large organizations — and write procedures to carry it out; (2) periodically review and update that plan and its procedures; (3) make sure USDA staff follow the crisis procedures, know the plan, and are encouraged to flag possible crises to the Team; (4) coordinate how USDA gathers and shares information on issues the Team manages; (5) make sure USDA spokespeople give the public accurate, timely, scientifically sound, and easy-to-understand information during crises; and (6) work with and coordinate other USDA activities during a crisis alongside other federal agencies, states, local governments, industry, and public interest groups. (c) Role in prioritizing certain research: The Team must work with the Advisory Board to help prioritize USDA-funded or USDA-run agricultural research on animal health, natural disasters, food safety, and other agricultural issues. (d) Cooperative agreements: The Secretary must try to make cooperative agreements with other federal agencies that run related programs, to keep information sharing consistent, accurate, and coordinated across the government during a crisis — for example, working with the CDC and FDA on a fast, coordinated response to a food-borne pathogen threat.