II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2487 

To ensure an abundant and affordable supply of highly nutritious fruits, 

vegetables, and other specialty crops for American consumers and international markets by enhancing the competitiveness of United Statesgrown specialty crops. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2006 

Mr. CRAIG (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

SANTORUM, and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To ensure an abundant and affordable supply of highly nutritious fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops for 

American consumers and international markets by enhancing the competitiveness of United States-grown specialty crops. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Specialty Crops Competition Act of 2006’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and purpose. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—MARKETING 

Sec. 101. Implementation of food safety programs under marketing orders. 

Sec. 102. Increase in maximum amount of assistance authorized under tree assistance program. 

Sec. 103. Fruit and vegetable market news allocation. 

TITLE II—SPECIALTY CROP GRANTS AND LOANS 

Sec. 201. Grants to States to enhance competitiveness of specialty crops. 

Sec. 202. Operating loans. 

Sec. 203. Increased purchases of fruits, vegetables, and specialty crops. 

TITLE III—INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

Sec. 301. Foreign market access study and strategy plan. 

Sec. 302. Technical assistance for specialty crops. 

Sec. 303. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 

Sec. 304. Protection of intellectual property rights in plants and plant-derived 

material. 

Sec. 305. Plant patents. 

TITLE IV—SPECIALTY CROP RESEARCH AND GRANTS 

Sec. 401. Transfer of administration and funding of Office of Pest Management Policy. 

Sec. 402. National specialty crops development initiative grant program. 

Sec. 403. Mechanized harvesting for production and processing methods. 

TITLE V—INVASIVE PEST RESEARCH AND DISEASE RESPONSE 

Sec. 501. Foreign invasive pests and diseases. 

Sec. 502. Emergency response Fund. 

Sec. 503. Independent scientific advice for Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service. 

Sec. 504. Food safety initiatives. 

Sec. 505. Clean plant network. 

TITLE VI—CONSERVATION 

Sec. 601. Elimination of limitation on adjusted gross income from eligibility requirements for environmental quality incentives program. 

Sec. 602. Sustainability practices. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) a secure domestic food supply is a national 

2 security imperative for the United States; 

3 (2) a competitive specialty crop industry in the 

4 United States is necessary for the production of an 

5 abundant, affordable supply of highly nutritious 

6 fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops (includ7 ing nursery crops, floriculture, and low-growing 

8 dense perennial turfgrass sod), which are vital to the 

9 health and well-being of all Americans; 

10 (3) increased consumption of specialty crops 

11 will provide tremendous health and economic bene12 fits to both consumers and specialty crop growers; 

13 (4) specialty crop growers believe that there are 

14 numerous areas of Federal agriculture policy that 

15 could be improved to promote increased consumption 

16 of specialty crops and increase the competitiveness 

17 of producers in the efficient production of affordable 

18 specialty crops in the United States; 

19 (5) as the globalization of markets continues, it 

20 is becoming increasingly difficult for United States 

21 producers to compete against heavily subsidized for22 eign producers in both the domestic and foreign 

23 markets; and 


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1 (6) United States specialty crop producers con2 tinue to face serious tariff and non-tariff trade bar3 riers in many export markets. 

4 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to make 

5 necessary changes in and additions to Federal agricultural 

6 policy to accomplish the goals of increasing specialty crop 

7 consumption and improving the competitiveness of United 

8 States specialty crop producers. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

13 (2) SPECIALTY CROP.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘specialty 

15 crop’’ means each agricultural crop produced in 

16 the United States. 

17 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘specialty 

18 crop’’ does not include wheat, feed grains, oil19 seeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, dry peas, 

20 lentils, chickpeas, and tobacco. 

21 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

22 (A) each of the several States of the 

23 United States; 

24 (B) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

25 (C) Guam; 


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1 (D) American Samoa; and 

2 (E) the United States Virgin Islands. 

3 (4) STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— 

4 The term ‘‘State department of agriculture’’ means 

5 the agency, commission, or department of a State 

6 government responsible for protecting and promoting 

7 agriculture in the State. 

8 TITLE I—MARKETING 

9 SEC. 101. IMPLEMENTATION OF FOOD SAFETY PROGRAMS 

10 UNDER MARKETING ORDERS. 

11 Section 8c(7) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 

12 U.S.C. 608c(7)), reenacted with amendments by the Agri13 cultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

15 (D) as subparagraph (D) and (E), respectively; and 

16 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol17 lowing new subparagraph (C): 

18 ‘‘(C) In the case of an order relating to a specialty 

19 crop (as defined in section 3 of the Specialty Crops Com20 petitiveness Act of 2004), authorizing the implementation 

21 of food safety programs, such as good agricultural and 

22 manufacturing practices, ISO 9000 standards, and Haz23 ard Analysis of Critical Control Points programs, designed 

24 to enhance the safety of the specialty crop and products 

25 derived from specialty crops.’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE 

2 AUTHORIZED UNDER TREE ASSISTANCE PRO3 GRAM. 

4 Section 10204(a) of the Farm Security and Rural In5 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8204(a)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘$75,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$150,000 annually’’. 

7 SEC. 103. FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET NEWS ALLOCA8 TION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

10 Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, shall 

11 use $9,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor12 poration during fiscal year 2007 to carry out market news 

13 activities to provide timely price information of United 

14 States fruits and vegetables in the United States. 

15 (b) FUTURE FUNDING.—Subsequent to fiscal year 

16 2007, funding for the activities described in subsection (a) 

17 shall be annually indexed for inflation. 

18 TITLE II—SPECIALTY CROP 

19 GRANTS AND LOANS 

20 SEC. 201. GRANTS TO STATES TO ENHANCE COMPETITIVE21 NESS OF SPECIALTY CROPS. 

22 (a) AVAILABILITY AND PURPOSE OF GRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

24 2007 through 2009, the Secretary shall make a 

25 grant under this section to each State that submits 

26 an application for a grant for that fiscal year in acVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:56 Mar 31, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2487.IS S2487

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1 cordance with the terms and conditions established 

2 under paragraph (4). 

3 (2) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—The grant funds 

4 shall be used by the State department of agriculture 

5 solely to enhance the competitiveness of United 

6 States specialty crops. 

7 (3) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The State 

8 shall provide assurances to the Secretary that funds 

9 provided to the State under this section will be used 

10 only to supplement, not to supplant, the amount of 

11 Federal, State, and local funds otherwise expended 

12 in support of specialty crops and specialty crop pro13 ducers in the State. 

14 (4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Not later than 

15 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act for 

16 fiscal year 2006 and before commencement of each 

17 of fiscal years 2007 through 2009, the Secretary 

18 shall establish terms and conditions for the submis19 sion of grant applications for that fiscal year. 

20 (b) AMOUNT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

22 and (3), the amount of the grant for a fiscal year 

23 to a State under this section shall bear the same 

24 ratio to the total amount made available under sub25 section (e) for that fiscal year as— 


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1 (A) the value of specialty crop production 

2 in the State during the preceding calendar year; 

3 bears to 

4 (B) the value of specialty crop production 

5 during that calendar year in all those States 

6 submitting applications for a grant for that fis7 cal year. 

8 (2) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—Except as pro9 vided in paragraph (3), at a minimum, each eligible 

10 State shall receive $3,000,000 per fiscal year as a 

11 grant under this section. 

12 (3) LIMITATION.—No State shall receive more 

13 than $15,000,000 of the combined amount from 

14 paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) for any fiscal year 

15 in which this Act applies. 

16 (4) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any funds remaining 

18 after allocations are made under paragraphs (2) 

19 and (3) shall be available on a competitive basis 

20 to any State department of agriculture that 

21 submits an application to the Secretary. 

22 (B) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall— 

23 (i) establish criteria for review of ap24 plications submitted under subparagraph 

25 (A); and 


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1 (ii) award funds to applicants that 

2 best fulfill the criteria. 

3 (c) GRANT EXPENDITURE PRIORITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—It is the intent of Congress 

5 that specialty crop producers, organizations, and 

6 commissions should primarily benefit from the dis7 position of grant funds under this section. 

8 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 grant under this section, a State department of agri10 culture shall conduct at least 1 public hearing, or 

11 provide some other method for public comment, to 

12 obtain the advice and opinion of specialty crop pro13 ducers, organizations, and commissions in the State 

14 regarding the use of grant funds. 

15 (3) CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary shall en16 sure that a State department of agriculture con17 siders the advice and opinions received under para18 graph (2) when making decisions about the use of 

19 grant funds. 

20 (d) USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.— 

21 The Secretary shall use $200,000,000 of funds of the 

22 Commodity Credit Corporation during each of fiscal years 

23 2007 through 2009 to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 202. OPERATING LOANS. 

2 Section 313(a)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and 

3 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1943(a)(1)) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(or, if the borrower is a pro6 ducer of a specialty crop (as defined in section 3 of 

7 the Specialty Crops Competition Act of 2006), 

8 $500,000)’’ after ‘‘$200,000’’; and 

9 (2) by inserting ‘‘(or, if the borrower is a pro10 ducer of a specialty crop (as so defined), 

11 $1,500,000)’’ after ‘‘$700,000’’. 

12 SEC. 203. INCREASED PURCHASES OF FRUITS, VEGETA13 BLES, AND SPECIALTY CROPS. 

14 Section 10603(a) of the Farm Security and Rural In15 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 612c–4(a)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘Of the funds’’ and inserting 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (1) (as designated by para20 graph (1)), by striking ‘‘shall use not’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘shall use, in addition to an amount equal to the 

22 amount used for fiscal year 2001, not’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON OTHER PURCHASES.—The 

25 purchase of additional fruits, vegetables, and other 

26 specialty food crops under paragraph (1) shall not 


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1 decrease, displace, or otherwise affect any purchase 

2 by the Secretary or any agency or entity of fruits, 

3 vegetables, or other commodities.’’. 

4 TITLE III—INTERNATIONAL 

5 TRADE 

6 SEC. 301. FOREIGN MARKET ACCESS STUDY AND STRATEGY 

7 PLAN. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF URUGUAY ROUND AGREE9 MENTS.—In this section, the term ‘‘Uruguay Round 

10 Agreements’’ includes any agreement described in section 

11 101(d) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 

12 3511(d)). 

13 (b) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

14 States shall study— 

15 (1) the extent to which United States specialty 

16 crops have or have not benefitted from any reduc17 tions of foreign trade barriers, as provided for in the 

18 Uruguay Round Agreements; and 

19 (2) the reasons why United States specialty 

20 crops have or have not benefitted from such trade21 barrier reductions. 

22 (c) STRATEGY PLAN.—The Secretary shall prepare 

23 a foreign market access strategy plan based on the study 

24 in subsection (b), to increase exports of specialty crops, 

25 including an assessment of the foreign trade barriers that 


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1 are incompatible with the Uruguay Round Agreements 

2 and a strategy for removing those barriers. 

3 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act— 

5 (1) the Comptroller General shall submit to 

6 Congress a report that contains the results of the 

7 study; and 

8 (2) the Secretary shall submit to Congress the 

9 strategy plan. 

10 SEC. 302. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SPECIALTY CROPS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3205 of the Farm Secu12 rity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 5680) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (d)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—For’’ and 

16 all that follows through ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

20 2007 through 2009, the Secretary shall make avail21 able $10,000,000’’; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) CARRYOVER OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.— 

24 In a case in which the total amount of funds or com25 modities made available under paragraph (1) for a 


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1 fiscal year is not obligated in that fiscal year, the 

2 Secretary shall make available in the subsequent fis3 cal year an amount equal to— 

4 ‘‘(A) the amount made available for the 

5 fiscal year under paragraph (1); plus 

6 ‘‘(B) the amount not obligated in the pre7 vious fiscal year.’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(d) PETITION.—A participant in the program may 

11 petition the Secretary for an extension of a project that 

12 exceeds, or will exceed, applicable time restrictions.’’. 

13 SEC. 303. ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERV14 ICE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish in 

16 the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the De17 partment of Agriculture, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary 

18 Export Petition Division for the sole purpose of processing 

19 petitions that are submitted to that Service for reducing 

20 sanitary and phytosanitary trade barriers in export mar21 kets. 

22 (b) STAFF AND SUPPORT.—The Division shall be 

23 adequately staffed and supported by resources necessary 

24 to manage the work associated with petitions described in 

25 subsection (a). 


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1 (c) ELIMINATION OF BACKLOG.—Not later than 5 

2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall eliminate the backlog of the petitions in exist4 ence on the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 304. PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 

6 RIGHTS IN PLANTS AND PLANT-DERIVED MA7 TERIAL. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

9 an office in the Department of Agriculture for the sole 

10 purpose of encouraging the development and protection of 

11 intellectual property rights in plants and material derived 

12 from plants. 

13 (b) DUTIES.—The office shall be an advocate for the 

14 interests of United States producers of specialty crops— 

15 (1) before the Office of Patents, Trademarks, 

16 and Copyrights of the Department of Commerce and 

17 other Federal agencies; and 

18 (2) in international governmental and non19 governmental organizations dealing with intellectual 

20 property rights. 

21 SEC. 305. PLANT PATENTS. 

22 (a) ESSENTIALLY DERIVED PLANT.—Section 100 of 

23 title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) The term ‘essentially derived plant’ means a 

2 plant that— 

3 ‘‘(1) is predominantly derived from another 

4 plant (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘initial 

5 plant’) or from a plant that is predominantly derived 

6 from the initial plant, while retaining the expression 

7 of the essential characteristics that result from the 

8 genotype of the initial plant; 

9 ‘‘(2) is clearly distinguishable from the initial 

10 plant; and 

11 ‘‘(3) except for differences that result from the 

12 act of derivation, conforms to the initial plant in the 

13 expression of the essential characteristics that result 

14 from the genotype of the initial plant.’’. 

15 (b) NOVELTY.—Section 162 of title 35, United States 

16 Code, is amended— 

17 (1) by striking the section heading and insert18 ing the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 162. Description, claim, novelty’’; 

20 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by 

21 striking ‘‘No plant’’ and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(a) DESCRIPTION.—No plant’’; 

23 (3) in the second undesignated paragraph, by 

24 striking ‘‘The claim’’ and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(b) CLAIM.—The claim’’; and 


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1 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(c) NOVELTY.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para4 graph (2), no plant patent application shall be de5 nied, nor shall any issued plant patent be invali6 dated, on the grounds that the invention was sold or 

7 otherwise disposed of. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

9 apply if— 

10 ‘‘(A) more than 1 year prior to the date of 

11 the application for patent in the United States, 

12 the invention was sold or otherwise disposed of 

13 to other persons in the United States, by or 

14 with the consent of the inventor or discoverer, 

15 or the successor in interest of the inventor or 

16 discoverer, for purposes of exploitation of the 

17 invention; 

18 ‘‘(B) more than 4 years prior to the date 

19 of the application for patent in the United 

20 States, the invention was sold or otherwise dis21 posed of to other persons in a foreign country, 

22 by or with the consent of the inventor or discov23 erer, or the successor in interest of the inventor 

24 or discoverer, for purposes of exploitation of the 

25 invention; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) more than 6 years prior to the date 

2 of the application for patent in the United 

3 States, in the case of a tree or vine, the inven4 tion was sold or otherwise disposed of to other 

5 persons in a foreign country, by or with the 

6 consent of the inventor or discoverer, or the 

7 successor in interest of the inventor or discov8 erer, for purposes of exploitation of the inven9 tion.’’. 

10 (c) PLANT PATENT GRANT.—Section 163 of title 35, 

11 United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘In the case’’ and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (a) applies equally 

17 to— 

18 ‘‘(1) any plant that is essentially derived from 

19 a protected plant, unless the protected plant is an 

20 essentially derived plant; and 

21 ‘‘(2) any plant that is not clearly distinguish22 able from a protected plant.’’. 

23 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal24 ysis for chapter 15 of title 35, United States Code is 


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1 amended by striking the item relating to section 162 and 

2 inserting the following: 

‘‘162. Description, claim, novelty.’’. 

3 (e) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 

4 section apply to— 

5 (1) all applications for plant patents filed on or 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, or pending 

7 on that date; and 

8 (2) in the case of the amendments made by 

9 subsection (b), all plant patents in force on the date 

10 of enactment of this Act. 

11 TITLE IV—SPECIALTY CROP 

12 RESEARCH AND GRANTS 

13 SEC. 401. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING 

14 OF OFFICE OF PEST MANAGEMENT POLICY. 

15 (a) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall transfer the Of16 fice of Pest Management Policy of the Department of Ag17 riculture from the Agricultural Research Service to the Of18 fice of the Secretary for administrative and funding pur19 poses. 

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for the ac22 tivities of the Office of Pest Management Policy 

23 $5,000,000 for each fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 402. NATIONAL SPECIALTY CROPS DEVELOPMENT INI2 TIATIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through in4 tegrated competitive grant programs administered by the 

5 Cooperative Research, Education, and Extension Service, 

6 shall use $30,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit 

7 Corporation for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011 

8 to support the National Specialty Crop Development Ini9 tiative, a long-term program to improve efficiency and 

10 competitiveness of specialty crop producers in the world 

11 marketplace. 

12 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary, acting through 

13 the Agricultural Research Service and the Cooperative Re14 search, Education, and Extension Service, working jointly 

15 with industry, shall use an appropriate amount of funds 

16 described in subsection (a) to organize workshops to de17 velop a comprehensive strategic plan to address short18 term, intermediate-term, and long-term needs in produc19 tion technology, marketing, product development, and food 

20 safety issues essential to maintain a competitive specialty 

21 crop industry. 

22 SEC. 403. MECHANIZED HARVESTING FOR PRODUCTION 

23 AND PROCESSING METHODS. 

24 The Secretary shall authorize the Administrator of 

25 the Agricultural Research Service and the Administrator 

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1 sion Service to conduct research in the areas of mecha2 nized harvesting and new production and processing meth3 ods for specialty crops. 

4 TITLE V—INVASIVE PEST RE5 SEARCH AND DISEASE RE6 SPONSE 

7 SEC. 501. FOREIGN INVASIVE PESTS AND DISEASES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct spe9 cific research— 

10 (1) to identify and prioritize the harmful eco11 nomic and health impact of foreign invasive pests 

12 and diseases threatening the United States; and 

13 (2) to develop corresponding eradication and 

14 control programs. 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $1,000,000. 

18 SEC. 502. EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

20 Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, to be 

21 known as the ‘‘Invasive Pest and Disease Response Fund’’ 

22 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’), consisting of— 

23 (1) such amounts as may be appropriated to 

24 the Fund; and 


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1 (2) any proceeds received by the Secretary as 

2 reimbursement for services provided by the Sec3 retary using amounts in the Fund. 

4 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Fund shall re5 main available until expended. 

6 (c) USE OF FUND.—On request by the Secretary, the 

7 Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the Fund 

8 to the Secretary of Agriculture such amounts as the Sec9 retary determines are necessary to support emergency 

10 eradication and research activities of the Animal and 

11 Plant Health Inspection Service in response to economic 

12 and health threats posed by invasive pests and disease to 

13 agricultural commodities. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund such funds 

16 as may be necessary to achieve a balance in the Fund of 

17 $75,000,000 on October 1 of each fiscal year. 

18 SEC. 503. INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC ADVICE FOR ANIMAL 

19 AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE. 

20 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the decision proc21 ess at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

22 with respect to requests to import specialty crops into the 

23 United States, or export specialty crops from the United 

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1 ysis underlying the requests was subject to independent 

2 scientific peer review. 

3 (b) PEER REVIEW PROCESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

5 through the Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

6 Health Inspection Service, shall establish a process 

7 to obtain independent advice and peer review on the 

8 scientific and technical aspects of requests to import 

9 specialty crops into the United States or export spe10 cialty crops from the United States, including the 

11 preparation of risk assessments and the design of 

12 mitigation measures. 

13 (2) INITIATION.—The independent review proc14 ess shall be initiated at the request of the Adminis15 trator. 

16 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each person who participates 

17 in an independent scientific review panel under this sec18 tion shall be qualified by education, training, and experi19 ence to evaluate scientific and technical information on 

20 matters subject to review. 

21 (d) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Administrator shall 

22 request an independent review of the scientific and tech23 nical work product data that are used in connection with 

24 policy guidance on, or in support of, a decision on— 


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1 (1) any situation in which there has been a re2 quest to export a specialty crop grown in the United 

3 States to another country; 

4 (2) establishment of the appropriate level of 

5 protection or level of negligible risk that will be ap6 plicable to the consideration of a request for ap7 proval to import a specialty crop from another coun8 try; 

9 (3) consideration of the type (qualitative or 

10 quantitative) of risk assessment to conduct with re11 spect to a request for approval for the importation 

12 of a specialty crop into the United States; 

13 (4)(A) the sufficiency, type, and quality of data 

14 that should be submitted to the Administrator in 

15 conjunction with a request to import a specialty crop 

16 into the United States and to merit preparation of 

17 a risk assessment; and 

18 (B) following preparation of a risk assessment, 

19 a review of— 

20 (i) the risk assessment, including the as21 sumptions and interpretation of the data used; 

22 and 

23 (ii) the mitigation measures designed to 

24 address the plant pest and disease issues rel25 evant to the request; or 


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1 (5) situations in which the Animal and Plant 

2 Health Inspection Service is considering permitting 

3 an import from a country where— 

4 (A) multiple plant pests are present in the 

5 growing regions; 

6 (B) both plant pests and plant diseases are 

7 present in the growing regions; or 

8 (C) new information or developments have 

9 become known which cast doubt on the sci10 entific basis of previous decisions. 

11 (e) REVIEW PROCESS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate review under 

13 this section, the Administrator shall make available 

14 to the review panel all of the scientific and technical 

15 information in the possession of the Animal and 

16 Plant Health Inspection Service that is relevant to 

17 the matter to be reviewed. 

18 (2) ADVICE AND COMMENTS.—Not later than a 

19 date specified by the Administrator, the panel shall 

20 make available to the Administrator— 

21 (A) advice and comments on the adequacy 

22 of the scientific and technical basis of the pro23 posed action; and 

24 (B) any pertinent information in the pos25 session of the panel. 


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1 (f) USE OF TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CAPABILI2 TIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In preparing advice and 

3 comments under subsection (e)(2)(A), a review panel may 

4 make use of the technical and scientific capabilities of any 

5 Federal agency having relevant expertise. 

6 (g) COMMITTEES AND INVESTIGATIVE PANELS.— 

7 The Administrator may establish such committees and 

8 panels as are necessary to carry out this section. 

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated such funds as are nec11 essary to carry out this section. 

12 SEC. 504. FOOD SAFETY INITIATIVES. 

13 (a) INITIATIVE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

14 carry out a food safety education program to educate the 

15 public and persons in the fresh produce industry about— 

16 (1) scientifically proven practices for reducing 

17 microbial pathogens on fresh produce; and 

18 (2) methods of reducing the threat of cross-con19 tamination of fresh produce through unsanitary han20 dling practices. 

21 (b) COOPERATION.—The Secretary may carry out the 

22 education program in cooperation with public and private 

23 partners. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

3 out this section $1,000,000. 

4 SEC. 505. CLEAN PLANT NETWORK. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

6 program to be known as the ‘‘National Clean Plant Net7 work’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’). 

8 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Under the Program, the Sec9 retary shall establish a network of clean plant centers for 

10 diagnostic and pathogen elimination services to— 

11 (1) produce clean propagative plant material; 

12 and 

13 (2) maintain blocks of pathogen-tested plant 

14 material in sites located throughout the United 

15 States. 

16 (c) AVAILABILITY OF CLEAN PLANT SOURCE MATE17 RIAL.—Clean plant source material may be made available 

18 to— 

19 (1) a State for a certified plant program of the 

20 State; and 

21 (2) private nurseries and growers. 

22 (d) CONSULTATION AND COLLABORATION.—In car23 rying out the Program, the Secretary shall— 

24 (1) consult with State departments of agri25 culture and land grant universities; and 


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1 (2) to the extent practicable and with input 

2 from the appropriate State officials and industry 

3 representatives, use existing Federal or State facili4 ties to serve as clean plant centers. 

5 (e) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use $5,000,000 

6 each year of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation 

7 to carry out the Program. 

8 TITLE VI—CONSERVATION 

9 SEC. 601. ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION ON ADJUSTED 

10 GROSS INCOME FROM ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE11 MENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN12 CENTIVES PROGRAM. 

13 Section 1001D(b)(2)(C) of the Food Security Act of 

14 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308–3a(b)(2)(C)) is amended by insert15 ing ‘‘(other than the program under chapter 4 of subtitle 

16 D of that title)’’ after ‘‘of this Act’’. 

17 SEC. 602. SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES. 

18 (a) ENCOURAGEMENT OF VOLUNTARY SUSTAIN19 ABILITY PRACTICES GUIDELINES.—In administering this 

20 Act and the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary 

21 shall encourage the development of voluntary sustainable 

22 practices guidelines for producers and processors of spe23 cialty crops, including provisions that— 

24 (1) enhance producer-to-producer and proc25 essor-to-processor education about— 


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1 (A) the importance of sustainable prac2 tices; and 

3 (B) how self-governance will enhance the 

4 economic viability and future of the specialty 

5 crop community; and 

6 (2) demonstrate that working closely with 

7 neighbors, communities, and other stakeholders to 

8 maintain an open dialogue can address concerns, en9 hance mutual respect, and accelerate results. 

10 (b) PRIORITY IN ELIGIBILITY FOR CONSERVATION

11 PROGRAMS.—In establishing eligibility for participation in 

12 conservation programs administered by the Secretary, the 

13 Secretary may give priority to specialty crop producers 

14 that follow the sustainability guidelines. 

Æ 


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