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Union Calendar No. 310

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 852

[Report No. 106–565]

To require the Department of Agriculture to establish an electronic filing

and retrieval system to enable the public to file all required paperwork

electronically with the Department and to have access to public information on farm programs, quarterly trade, economic, and production reports, and other similar information.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 25, 1999

Mr. LAHOOD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

APRIL 10, 2000

Additional sponsors: Mr. SHOWS, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. LEWIS of

Kentucky, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.

ENGLISH, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. EWING, Mr.

BEREUTER, Mr. QUINN, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr.

MOORE, Mr. COBURN, Mr. POMBO, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. THUNE, Mr. HOBSON, Mr.

WELLER, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.

ROEMER, Mr. GANSKE, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, Mr. EHLERS,

Mr. PASTOR, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. CRANE, Ms. DANNER, Mr.

INSLEE, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr.

DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. COOK, Mr.

NETHERCUTT, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. JOHN, Mr.

BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. MINGE, and Mr. SMITH of Texas

APRIL 10, 2000

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To require the Department of Agriculture to establish an

electronic filing and retrieval system to enable the public

to file all required paperwork electronically with the Department and to have access to public information on

farm programs, quarterly trade, economic, and production reports, and other similar information.

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom to E-File

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND RETRIEVAL.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture

9 shall establish an electronic filing and retrieval system to

10 enable the public to file all required paperwork electroni11 cally with the Department of Agriculture and to have ac12 cess to public information on farm programs, quarterly

13 trade, economic, and production reports, and other similar

14 information.

15 (b) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
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1 report to Congress the progress made toward imple2 menting subsection (a).

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom to E-File Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND RETRIEVAL.

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNET-BASED SYSTEM.—

7 The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an electronic

8 filing and retrieval system that uses the telecommunications

9 medium known as the Internet to enable farmers and other

10 persons—

11 (1) to file electronically all paperwork required

12 by the agencies of the Department of Agriculture spec13 ified in subsection (b); and

14 (2) to have access electronically to information,

15 readily available to the public in published form, re16 garding farm programs, quarterly trade, economic,

17 and production reports, price and supply informa18 tion, and other similar information related to produc19 tion agriculture.

20 (b) COVERED AGENCIES.—Subsection (a) shall apply

21 to the following agencies of the Department of Agriculture:

22 (1) The Farm Service Agency.

23 (2) The Risk Management Agency.

24 (3) The Natural Resources Conservation Service.
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1 (4) The rural development components of the De2 partment included in the Secretary’s service center

3 initiative regarding State and field office collocation

4 implemented pursuant to section 215 of the Depart5 ment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7

6 U.S.C. 6915).

7 (c) TIME-TABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later

8 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

9 the Secretary shall—

10 (1) to the maximum extent practicable, complete

11 the establishment of the electronic filing and retrieval

12 system required by subsection (a) to the extent nec13 essary to permit the electronic information access re14 quired by paragraph (2) of such subsection;

15 (2) initiate implementation of the electronic fil16 ing required by paragraph (1) of such subsection by

17 allowing farmers and other persons to download

18 forms from the Internet and submit completed forms

19 via facsimile, mail, or related means; and

20 (3) modify forms used by the agencies specified

21 in subsection (b) into a more user-friendly format,

22 with self-help guidance materials.

23 (d) INTEROPERABILITY.—In carrying out this section,

24 the Secretary shall ensure that the agencies specified in sub25 section (b)—
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1 (1) use computer hardware and software that is

2 compatible among the agencies and will operate in a

3 common computing environment; and

4 (2) develop common Internet user-interface loca5 tions and applications to consolidate the agencies’

6 news, information, and program materials.

7 (e) COMPLETION OF IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later

8 than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act,

9 the Secretary shall complete the establishment of the elec10 tronic filing and retrieval system required by subsection (a)

11 to permit the electronic filing required by paragraph (1)

12 of such subsection.

13 (f) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

15 submit to Congress a report describing the progress made

16 toward establishing the electronic filing and retrieval sys17 tem required by subsection (a).

18 SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECH19 NOLOGY FUNDS.

20 (a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From funds made

21 available for each agency of the Department of Agriculture

22 specified in section 2(b) for information technology or infor23 mation resource management, the Secretary of Agriculture

24 shall reserve an amount equal to not more than the fol25 lowing:
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1 (1) For fiscal year 2001, $3,000,000.

2 (2) For each subsequent fiscal year, $2,000,000.

3 (b) TIME FOR RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall no4 tify Congress of the amount to be reserved under subsection

5 (a) for a fiscal year not later than December 1 of that fiscal

6 year.

7 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds reserved under subsection

8 (a) shall be used to establish the electronic filing and re9 trieval system required by section 2(a). Once the system is

10 established and operational, reserved amounts shall be used

11 for maintenance and improvement of the system.

12 (d) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Funds reserved under sub13 section (a) and unobligated at the end of the fiscal year

14 shall be returned to the agency from which the funds were

15 reserved, and such funds shall remain available until ex16 pended.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the

Secretary of Agriculture to establish an electronic filing

and retrieval system to enable farmers and other persons

to file paperwork electronically with selected agencies of

the Department of Agriculture and to access public information regarding the programs administered by these

agencies.’’.
Union Calendar No. 310

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 852

[Report No. 106–565]

A BILL

To require the Department of Agriculture to establish an electronic filing and retrieval system to

enable the public to file all required paperworkelectronically with the Department and to haveaccess to public information on farm programs,quarterly trade, economic, and production reports, and other similar information.

APRIL 10, 2000

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed