Washington ? Kansas officials have agreed to give land to the Homeland Security Department for a national lab for research on deadly germs, even though the agency still needs permission and money from Congress to build the lab.

The department has said it hopes to award a contract in September for the massive laboratory where foot-and-mouth and other diseases will be studied.

The Kansas Board of Regents last week approved an agreement giving the federal agency nearly 49 acres for the lab near Kansas State University in Manhattan. The agreement says the land would be given under a deed requiring that the acreage be returned if the lab isn’t built.

A Texas group has filed suit claiming the Kansas site was improperly chosen. On Thursday, a federal judge questioned whether the lawsuit suit was premature because the lab might never materialize.