103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4217

AMENDMENT
In the Senate of the United States,

August 25 (legislative day, August 18), 1994.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 4217) entitled ‘‘An Act to reform the Federal

crop insurance program, and for other purposes’’, do pass

with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION. 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Table of contents.

TITLE I—FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE REFORM

SUBTITLE A—CATASTROPHIC RISK AND ADDITIONAL COVERAGE INSURANCE

Sec. 1100. Short title; references.

Sec. 1101. Authority to offer insurance.

Sec. 1102. Catastrophic risk protection.

Sec. 1103. General coverage levels.

Sec. 1104. Premiums.

Sec. 1105. Eligibility.

Sec. 1106. Yield determinations.

Sec. 1107. Insurance policies.

Sec. 1108. Claims for losses.

Sec. 1109. Reinsurance.

Sec. 1110. Funding.

Sec. 1111. Advisory Committee for Federal Crop Insurance.

Sec. 1112. Management of Corporation.
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SUBTITLE B——NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Sec. 1201. Noninsured assistance program.

Sec. 1202. Payment and income limitations.

SUBTITLE C—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 1301. Ineligibility for catastrophic risk and noninsured assistance payments.

Sec. 1302. Prevented planting.

Sec. 1303. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 1304. Disaster assistance.

Sec. 1305. Use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to cover certain costs for

fall-planted 1995 crops.

Sec. 1306. Poultry labeling, public hearings.

Sec. 1307. Agriculture employees first amendment rights.

Sec. 1308. Adjusted cost of thrifty food plan.

Sec. 1309. Effective dates.

Sec. 1310. Termination of authority.

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE REORGANIZATION

SUBTITLE A—SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS

Sec. 2101. Short title.

Sec. 2102. Purpose.

Sec. 2103. Definitions.

SUBTITLE B—GENERAL AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRTETARY

Sec. 2201. Delegation of functions to the Secretary.

Sec. 2202. Reorganization.

Sec. 2203. Personnel reductions.

Sec. 2204. Consolidation of headquarters offices.

Sec. 2205. Reports by the Secretary.

SUBTITLE C—NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION

Sec. 2301. Definitions.

Sec. 2302. National Appeals Division and Director.

Sec. 2303. Transfer of functions.

Sec. 2304. Personnel of the Division.

Sec. 2305. Notice and opportunity for hearing.

Sec. 2306. Informal hearings.

Sec. 2307. Rights of participants.

Sec. 2308. Division hearings and Director review.

Sec. 2309. Judicial review.

Sec. 2310. Implementation of final determinations of Division.

Sec. 2311. Decisions of State and county committees.

Sec. 2312. Prohibition on adverse action while appeal is pending.

Sec. 2313. Relationship to other laws.

Sec. 2314. Evaluation of agency decisionmakers and other employees.

Sec. 2315. Conforming amendments.

SUBTITLE D—FARM AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE SERVICES

Sec. 2401. Under Secretary for Farm and International Trade Services.

Sec. 2402. Farm Service Agency.

Sec. 2403. State and county committees.
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Sec. 2404. International Trade Service.

SUBTITLE E—RURAL ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Sec. 2501. Under Secretary for Rural Economic and Community Development.

Sec. 2502. Rural Utilities Service.

Sec. 2503. Rural Housing and Community Development Service.

Sec. 2504. Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service.

SUBTITLE F—FOOD, NUTRITION, AND CONSUMER SERVICES

Sec. 2601. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer

Services.

Sec. 2602. Food and Consumer Service.

Sec. 2603. Nutrition Research and Education Service.

SUBTITLE G—NATIONAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

Sec. 2701. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Sec. 2702. Reorganization of Forest Service.

SUBTITLE H—MARKETING AND INSPECTION SERVICES

Sec. 2801. Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

SUBTITLE I—RESEARCH, ECONOMICS, AND EDUCATION

Sec. 2901. Federal Research and Information Service.

Sec. 2902. Cooperative State Research and Education Service.

Sec. 2903. Agricultural Economics and Statistics Service.

Sec. 2904. Program Policy and Coordination Staff.

SUBTITLE J—FOOD SAFETY

Sec. 2951. Food Safety Service.

SUBTITLE K—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 2981. Assistant Secretaries of Agriculture.

Sec. 2982. Removal of obsolete provisions.

Sec. 2983. Additional conforming amendments.

Sec. 2984. Termination of authority.

Sec. 2985. Elimination of duplicative inspection requirements.

1 TITLE I—FEDERAL CROP

2 INSURANCE REFORM

3 Subtitle A—Catastrophic Risk and

4 Additional Coverage Insurance

5 SEC. 1100. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the

7 ‘‘Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCES TO FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE

2 ACT.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

3 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of

4 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,

5 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or

6 other provision of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C.

7 1501 et seq.).

8 SEC. 1101. AUTHORITY TO OFFER INSURANCE.

9 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) is amended—

10 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

11 following new subsection:

12 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO OFFER INSURANCE.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If sufficient actuarial data

14 are available (as determined by the Corporation), the

15 Corporation may insure, or provide reinsurance for

16 insurers of, producers of agricultural commodities

17 grown in the United States under 1 or more plans of

18 insurance determined by the Corporation to be adapt19 ed to the agricultural commodity concerned. To qual20 ify for coverage under a plan of insurance, the losses

21 of the insured commodity shall be due to drought,

22 flood, or other natural disaster (as determined by the

23 Secretary).

24 ‘‘(2) PERIOD.—Except in the cases of tobacco

25 and potatoes, insurance shall not extend beyond the
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1 period during which the insured commodity is in the

2 field. As used in the preceding sentence, in the case

3 of aquacultural species, the term ‘field’ means the en4 vironment in which the commodity is produced.

5 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSIONS.—Insurance provided under

6 this subsection shall not cover losses due to—

7 ‘‘(A) the neglect or malfeasance of the pro8 ducer;

9 ‘‘(B) the failure of the producer to reseed to

10 the same crop in such areas and under such cir11 cumstances as it is customary to so reseed; or

12 ‘‘(C) the failure of the producer to follow

13 good farming practices (as determined by the

14 Secretary).’’;

15 (2) by striking subsections (c), (e), (g), (l), and

16 (n); and

17 (3) by redesignating subsections (b), (d), (f), (h),

18 (i), (j), (k), and (m) as subsections (g) through (n),

19 respectively.
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1 SEC. 1102. CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION.

2 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as amended by section

3 1101) is further amended by inserting after subsection (a)

4 the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(b) CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall offer a

7 catastrophic risk protection plan to indemnify pro8 ducers for crop loss due to loss of yield or prevented

9 planting when the producer is unable, because of

10 drought, flood, or other natural disaster (as deter11 mined by the Secretary), to plant crops for harvest on

12 the acreage for that crop year.

13 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF COVERAGE.—Catastrophic risk

14 protection shall offer a producer 50 percent loss in

15 yield coverage, on an individual yield or area yield

16 basis, indemnified at 60 percent of the expected mar17 ket price, or a comparable coverage (as determined by

18 the Corporation).

19 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT.—A catastrophic risk payment

20 may reflect a reduction that is proportionate to the

21 lack of out-of-pocket expenses associated with the fail22 ure to plant, grow, or harvest the crop, as determined

23 by the Corporation.

24 ‘‘(4) YIELD AND LOSS BASIS.—A producer shall

25 have the option of basing the catastrophic coverage of

26 the producer on an individual yield and loss basis or
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1 on an area yield and loss basis, if both options are

2 offered by the Corporation.

3 ‘‘(5) SALE OF CATASTROPHIC RISK COVERAGE.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Catastrophic risk cov5 erage may be offered by—

6 ‘‘(i) private insurance providers, if

7 available in an area; and

8 ‘‘(ii) at the option of the Secretary that

9 is based on considerations of need, local of10 fices of the United States Department of Ag11 riculture (referred to in this title as the ‘De12 partment’).

13 ‘‘(B) NEED.—For purposes of considering

14 need under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary

15 may take into account the most efficient and

16 cost-effective use of resources, the availability of

17 personnel, fairness to local producers, the needs

18 and convenience of local producers, and the

19 availability of private insurance carriers.

20 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATIVE FEE.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of cata22 strophic risk protection, a producer shall pay an

23 administrative fee. The administrative fee shall

24 be $50 per crop per county, but not to exceed

25 $100 per producer per county. The administra-
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1 tive fee shall be paid at the service point, at the

2 local office of the Department, or to the approved

3 insurance provider, at the time of application.

4 ‘‘(B) FEE WAIVERS.—The administrative

5 fee shall be waived—

6 ‘‘(i) for farmers of limited resources (as

7 defined by the Corporation); or

8 ‘‘(ii) if the producer elects to purchase

9 additional protection at 65 percent or more

10 of the recorded or appraised average yield

11 and 100 percent of the expected market

12 price, or an equivalent coverage, offered by

13 an approved insurance provider.

14 ‘‘(C) USE OF FEES COLLECTED.—Funds

15 collected as administrative fees shall be retained

16 by the Department or the approved insurance

17 provider for operating and administrative ex18 penses for the delivery of catastrophic risk pro19 tection policies.

20 ‘‘(7) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT.—A pro21 ducer may obtain catastrophic risk coverage for a

22 crop of the producer on land in the county only if the

23 producer obtains such coverage for the crop on all in24 surable land of the producer in that county.
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1 ‘‘(8) ELIGIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT PRO2 GRAMS.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for any

4 price support or production adjustment program

5 or any benefit described in section 371 of the

6 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act,

7 the producer must obtain at least the cata8 strophic level of insurance for each crop of eco9 nomic significance grown on each farm in the

10 county in which the producer has an interest, if

11 insurance is available in the county for the crop.

12 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF CROP OF ECONOMIC

13 SIGNIFICANCE.—As used in this paragraph, the

14 term ‘crop of economic significance’ means a

15 crop that has contributed, or is expected to con16 tribute, 10 percent or more of the total expected

17 value of all crops grown by the producer.

18 ‘‘(9) LIMITATION DUE TO RISK.—The Corpora19 tion may limit catastrophic risk coverage in any

20 county or area, or on any farm, on the basis of the

21 insurance risk concerned.

22 ‘‘(10) SIMPLIFICATION.—

23 ‘‘(A) CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION

24 PLANS.—In developing and carrying out the

25 policies and procedures for a catastrophic risk
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1 protection plan under this title, the Corporation

2 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, mini3 mize the paperwork required and the complexity

4 and costs of procedures governing applications

5 for, processing, and servicing of the plan for all

6 parties involved.

7 ‘‘(B) OTHER PLANS.—To the extent that the

8 policies and procedures developed under subpara9 graph (A) may be applied to other plans of in10 surance offered under this title without jeopard11 izing the actuarial soundness or integrity of the

12 crop insurance program, the Corporation shall

13 apply the policies and procedures to the other

14 plans of insurance within a reasonable period of

15 time (as determined by the Corporation) after

16 the effective date of this paragraph.’’.

17 SEC. 1103. GENERAL COVERAGE LEVELS.

18 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as amended by section

19 1102) is further amended by inserting after subsection (b)

20 the following new subsection:

21 ‘‘(c) GENERAL COVERAGE LEVELS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall offer

23 plans of insurance that provide levels of coverage that

24 are greater than the level available under catastrophic

25 risk protection under subsection (b). A producer may
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1 purchase such a plan only from an approved insur2 ance provider, if the private insurance is available.

3 Nothing in this paragraph restricts the Corporation

4 from offering insurance plans if coverage from private

5 insurance providers is unavailable.

6 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF INSURANCE FILES.—If a pro7 ducer has already applied for catastrophic risk pro8 tection at the local office of the Department and elects

9 to purchase additional coverage, the insurance file for

10 the crop of the producer shall be transferred to the ap11 proved insurance provider servicing the additional

12 coverage crop policy.

13 ‘‘(3) YIELD AND LOSS BASIS.—A producer shall

14 have the option of purchasing additional coverage

15 based on an individual yield and loss basis or on an

16 area yield and loss basis, if both options are offered

17 by the Corporation.

18 ‘‘(4) LEVEL OF COVERAGE.—The level of coverage

19 shall be dollar denominated and may be purchased at

20 any level not to exceed 85 percent of the individual

21 yield or 95 percent of the area yield (as determined

22 by the Corporation). By the beginning of the 1996

23 crop year, the Corporation shall provide producers

24 with information on catastrophic risk and additional
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1 coverage in terms of dollar coverage (within the allow2 able limits of coverage provided in this paragraph).

3 ‘‘(5) PRICE LEVEL.—The Corporation shall es4 tablish a price level for each commodity on which in5 surance is offered that—

6 ‘‘(A) shall not be less than the projected

7 market price for the commodity (as determined

8 by the Corporation); or

9 ‘‘(B) at the discretion of the Corporation,

10 may be based on the actual market price at the

11 time of harvest (as determined by the Corpora12 tion).

13 ‘‘(6) PRICE ELECTIONS.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara15 graph (B), insurance coverage shall be made

16 available to the producer on the basis of any

17 price election that equals or is less than the price

18 election established by the Corporation. The cov19 erage shall be quoted in terms of dollars per acre.

20 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM PRICE ELECTIONS.—The

21 Corporation may establish minimum price elec22 tions below which levels of insurance shall not be

23 offered.

24 ‘‘(C) WHEAT VARIETIES.—The Corporation

25 shall, over a period of time as determined prac-
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1 ticable by the Corporation, offer producers dif2 ferent price elections for varieties of wheat, in

3 addition to the standard price election, that re4 flect different market prices, as determined by

5 the Corporation. The Corporation shall offer ad6 ditional coverage for each variety determined

7 under this subparagraph and charge a premium

8 for each variety that is actuarially sound.

9 ‘‘(7) SUBSTITUTE COVERAGE FOR FIRE AND

10 HAIL.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For levels of coverage

12 65 percent or more of the recorded or appraised

13 average yield and 100 percent of the expected

14 market price, or an equivalent coverage, the pro15 ducer may elect to delete from the insurance cov16 erage provided under this title coverage against

17 damage caused by fire or hail, if an equivalent

18 or greater dollar amount of coverage for damage

19 caused by fire or hail is obtained from a private

20 fire or hail insurance provider.

21 ‘‘(B) CREDIT FOR SUBSTITUTE COV22 ERAGE.—On written notice of an election under

23 subparagraph (A) to the company issuing the

24 policy providing coverage under this title and

25 submission of evidence of substitute coverage on
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1 the commodity insured, the premium of the pro2 ducer shall be reduced by an amount determined

3 by the Corporation to be actuarially appro4 priate, taking into account the actuarial value of

5 the remaining coverage provided by the Corpora6 tion. The producer shall not be given a reduction

7 for an amount of premium determined to be

8 greater than the actuarial value of the protection

9 against losses caused by fire or hail that is in10 cluded in the coverage under this title for the

11 crop.

12 ‘‘(8) STATE PREMIUM SUBSIDIES.—The Corpora13 tion may enter into agreements with any State or

14 agency of a State under which the State or agency

15 may pay to the approved insurance provider an addi16 tional premium subsidy to further reduce the portion

17 of the premium paid by the producers in the State.

18 ‘‘(9) LIMITATION DUE TO RISK.—The Corpora19 tion may limit or refuse insurance in any county or

20 area, or on any farm, on the basis of the insurance

21 risk concerned.

22 ‘‘(10) ADMINISTRATIVE FEE.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of cov24 erage that is in addition to catastrophic risk

25 protection but less than 65 percent of the re-
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1 corded or appraised average yield and 100 per2 cent of the expected market price, or an equiva3 lent coverage, a producer shall pay an adminis4 trative fee. The administrative fee shall be $50

5 per crop per county, but not to exceed $100 per

6 producer per county. The administrative fee

7 shall be paid to the approved insurance provider

8 or the Department, as applicable, at the time of

9 application.

10 ‘‘(B) FEE WAIVERS.—The administrative

11 fee shall be waived—

12 ‘‘(i) for farmers of limited resources (as

13 defined by the Corporation); or

14 ‘‘(ii) if the producer elects to purchase

15 additional protection at 65 percent or more

16 of the recorded or appraised average yield

17 and 100 percent of the expected market

18 price, or an equivalent coverage, offered by

19 an approved insurance provider.

20 ‘‘(C) USE OF FEES COLLECTED.—Funds

21 collected as administrative fees shall be retained

22 by the approved insurance provider or the De23 partment, as applicable, for operating and ad24 ministrative expenses.’’.
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1 SEC. 1104. PREMIUMS.

2 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as amended by section

3 1103) is further amended by inserting after subsection (c)

4 the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(d) PREMIUMS.—

6 ‘‘(1) LEVELS.—

7 ‘‘(A) CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION.—

8 For catastrophic risk protection coverage, the

9 amount of premium shall be sufficient to cover

10 anticipated losses and a reasonable reserve.

11 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.—For levels of

12 coverage below 65 percent of the recorded or ap13 praised average yield and 100 percent of the ex14 pected market price, or an equivalent coverage,

15 but greater than catastrophic risk protection cov16 erage, the amount of premium shall be sufficient

17 to cover anticipated losses, a reasonable reserve,

18 and an amount for operating and administra19 tive expenses (as determined by the Corporation)

20 that is less than the amount established for cov21 erage at 65 percent of the recorded or appraised

22 average yield and 100 percent of the expected

23 market price, or an equivalent coverage.

24 ‘‘(C) HIGH COVERAGE.—For levels of cov25 erage of at least 65 percent of the recorded or ap26 praised average yield and 100 percent of the ex-
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1 pected market price, or an equivalent coverage,

2 the amount of premium shall be sufficient to

3 cover anticipated losses, a reasonable reserve,

4 and an amount to pay the operating and admin5 istrative expenses (as determined by the Corpora6 tion) on an industry-wide basis as a percentage

7 of the total premium.

8 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT OF PART OF PREMIUM.—For the

9 purpose of encouraging the broadest possible partici10 pation, the Corporation shall pay a part of the pre11 mium equivalent to—

12 ‘‘(A) for catastrophic risk protection cov13 erage, an amount equal to the premium estab14 lished under paragraph (1)(A);

15 ‘‘(B) for levels of coverage below 65 percent

16 of the recorded and appraised average yield and

17 100 percent of the expected market price, or an

18 equivalent coverage, but greater than cata19 strophic risk protection, an amount equal to the

20 sum of the amount of premium established for

21 catastrophic risk protection coverage and the

22 amount for operating and administrative ex23 penses established under paragraph (1)(B); and

24 ‘‘(C) for levels of coverage at or greater than

25 65 percent of the recorded and appraised yield
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1 and 100 percent of the expected market price, or

2 an equivalent coverage, on an individual or area

3 basis, an amount equal to the sum of—

4 ‘‘(i) the premium established for—

5 ‘‘(I) in the case of each of the

6 1995 and 1996 crop years, 50 percent

7 loss in yield indemnified at 80 percent

8 of the expected market price;

9 ‘‘(II) in the case of the 1997 crop

10 year, 50 percent loss in yield indem11 nified at 77.5 percent of the expected

12 market price; and

13 ‘‘(III) in the case of the 1998 and

14 each subsequent crop year, 50 percent

15 loss in yield indemnified at 75 percent

16 of the expected market price; and

17 ‘‘(ii) the amount for operating and ad18 ministrative expenses established under

19 paragraph (1)(C).

20 ‘‘(3) REDUCTIONS BY PRIVATE PROVIDERS.—If a

21 private insurance provider determines that the pro22 vider may provide insurance more efficiently than the

23 expense reimbursement amount set by the Corpora24 tion, the private insurance provider may, with the

25 approval of the Corporation, reduce the premium
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1 charged the insured by the amount of the efficiency.

2 A reduction pursuant to the preceding sentence shall

3 be subject to such rules, limitations, and procedures

4 as are established by the Corporation.

5 ‘‘(4) INDIVIDUAL AND AREA CROP INSURANCE

6 COVERAGE.—The Corporation shall allow approved

7 insurance providers to offer a plan of insurance to

8 producers that combines both individual yield cov9 erage and area yield coverage at a premium rate de10 termined by the provider under the following condi11 tions:

12 ‘‘(A) The individual yield coverage shall be

13 equal to or greater than catastrophic risk protec14 tion as described in subsection (b).

15 ‘‘(B) The combined policy shall include area

16 yield coverage that is offered by the Corporation

17 or similar area coverage, as determined by the

18 Corporation.

19 ‘‘(C) The Corporation shall provide reinsur20 ance on the area yield portion of the combined

21 policy at the request of the provider, except that

22 the provider shall agree to pay to the producer

23 any portion of the area yield and loss indemnity

24 payment received from the Corporation or a

25 commercial reinsurer that exceeds the individual
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1 indemnity payment made by the provider to the

2 producer.

3 ‘‘(D) The Corporation shall pay a part of

4 the premium equivalent to—

5 ‘‘(i) the amount authorized under

6 paragraph (2) (except provisions regarding

7 operating and administrative expenses);

8 and

9 ‘‘(ii) the amount of operating and ad10 ministrative expenses authorized by the Cor11 poration for the area yield coverage portion

12 of the combined policy.

13 ‘‘(E) The provider shall provide all under14 writing services for the combined policy, includ15 ing the determination of individual yield cov16 erage premium rates, the terms and conditions of

17 the policy, and the acceptance and classification

18 of applicants into risk categories, subject to sub19 paragraph (F).

20 ‘‘(F) The Corporation shall approve the

21 combined policy unless the Corporation deter22 mines that the policy is not actuarially sound or

23 that the interests of producers are not adequately

24 protected.’’.
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1 SEC. 1105. ELIGIBILITY.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as

3 amended by section 1104) is further amended by inserting

4 after subsection (d) the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To participate in cata7 strophic risk protection coverage under this section, a

8 producer shall submit an application at the local of9 fice of the Department or to an approved insurance

10 provider.

11 ‘‘(2) SALES CLOSING DATE.—For coverage under

12 this title, each producer shall purchase crop insurance

13 on or before the sales closing date for the crop by pro14 viding the required information and executing the re15 quired documents. Subject to the goal of ensuring ac16 tuarial soundness for the crop insurance program, the

17 sales closing date shall be established by the Corpora18 tion to maximize convenience to producers in obtain19 ing benefits under price and production adjustment

20 programs of the Department. Beginning with the

21 1995 crop year, the Corporation shall establish, for an

22 insurance policy for each insurable crop that is plant23 ed in the spring, a sales closing date that is 30 days

24 earlier than the corresponding sales closing date that

25 was established for the 1994 crop year.
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1 ‘‘(3) RECORDS.—For coverage under this title,

2 each producer shall provide records, acceptable to the

3 Corporation, of previous acreage and production or

4 accept a yield determined by the Corporation.

5 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—For coverage under this title,

6 each producer shall report acreage planted and pre7 vented from planting by the designated acreage re8 porting date for the crop and location as established

9 by the Corporation.’’.

10 (b) PRODUCER ELIGIBILITY.—Section 520 (7 U.S.C.

11 1520) is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘SEC. 520. PRODUCER ELIGIBILITY.

13 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this title, a producer

14 shall not be denied insurance under this title if—

15 ‘‘(1) for purposes of catastrophic risk protection

16 coverage, the producer is a ‘person’ (as defined by the

17 Secretary); and

18 ‘‘(2) for purposes of any other plan of insurance,

19 the producer is 18 years of age and has a bona fide

20 insurable interest in a crop as an owner-operator,

21 landlord, tenant, or sharecropper.’’.

22 SEC. 1106. YIELD DETERMINATIONS.

23 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as amended by section

24 1105(a)) is further amended by inserting after subsection

25 (e) the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(f) YIELD DETERMINATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the

3 Corporation shall implement crop insurance under4 writing rules that ensure that yield coverage is pro5 vided to eligible producers participating in the Fed6 eral crop insurance program.

7 ‘‘(2) YIELD COVERAGE PLANS.—

8 ‘‘(A) ACTUAL PRODUCTION HISTORY.—Sub9 ject to subparagraph (B), the yield for a crop

10 shall be based on the actual production history

11 for the crop, if the crop was produced on the

12 farm without penalty during each of the 4 crop

13 years immediately preceding the crop year for

14 which actual production history is being estab15 lished, building up to a production data base for

16 each of the 10 consecutive crop years preceding

17 the crop year for which actual production his18 tory is being established.

19 ‘‘(B) ASSIGNED YIELD.—If the producer

20 does not provide satisfactory evidence of the yield

21 of a commodity under subparagraph (A), the

22 producer shall be assigned a yield that is not less

23 than 65 percent of the transitional yield of the

24 producer (adjusted to reflect actual production

25 reflected in the records acceptable to the Corpora-
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1 tion for continuous years), as specified in regula2 tions issued by the Corporation based on produc3 tion history requirements.

4 ‘‘(C) AREA YIELD.—The Corporation may

5 offer a crop insurance plan based on an area

6 yield that allows an insured producer to qualify

7 for an indemnity if a loss has occurred in an

8 area (as specified by the Corporation) in which

9 the farm of the producer is located. Under an

10 area yield plan, an insured producer shall be al11 lowed to select the level of area production at

12 which an indemnity will be paid consistent with

13 such terms and conditions as are established by

14 the Corporation.

15 ‘‘(D) COMMODITY-BY-COMMODITY BASIS.—A

16 producer may choose between individual yield or

17 area yield coverage or combined coverage (as

18 provided in subsection (d)(4)), if available, on a

19 commodity-by-commodity basis.

20 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—The Corporation shall ensure that

21 producers are given adequate notice of the applicable

22 yield coverage provisions of this section in advance of

23 the crop insurance application period for the crops to

24 which the provisions first will apply.
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1 ‘‘(4) TRANSITIONAL YIELDS FOR PRODUCERS OF

2 FEED OR FORAGE.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a producer does not

4 provide satisfactory evidence of the yield under

5 paragraph (2)(A), the producer shall be assigned

6 a yield that is at least 80 percent of the transi7 tional yield established by the Corporation (ad8 justed to reflect the actual production history of

9 the producer) if the Secretary determines that—

10 ‘‘(i) the producer grows feed or forage

11 primarily for on-farm use in a livestock,

12 dairy, or poultry operation; and

13 ‘‘(ii) over 50 percent of the net farm

14 income of the producer is derived from the

15 livestock, dairy, or poultry operation.

16 ‘‘(B) YIELD CALCULATION.—The Corpora17 tion shall—

18 ‘‘(i) for the first year of participation

19 of a producer, provide the assigned yield

20 under this paragraph to the producer of feed

21 or forage; and

22 ‘‘(ii) for the second year of participa23 tion of the producer, apply the actual pro24 duction history or assigned yield require25 ment, as provided in this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The

2 authority provided by this paragraph shall ter3 minate on the date that is 2 years after the effec4 tive date of this paragraph.’’.

5 SEC. 1107. INSURANCE POLICIES.

6 Subsection (g) of section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as redes7 ignated by section 1101(3)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and in9 serting ‘‘(c)’’;

10 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the

11 following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(2) PREPARATION OF POLICIES.—A policy or

13 other material submitted to the Corporation under

14 this subsection may be prepared without regard to the

15 limitations specified in this title, including the re16 quirements concerning the levels of coverage and rates

17 and the requirement that a price level for each com18 modity insured shall equal the projected market price

19 for the commodity as established by the Corporation.

20 The policy may be subsidized only at an amount

21 equivalent to coverage authorized under this title.’’;

22 (3) in paragraph (3)—

23 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘taking

24 into consideration the risks covered by the policy

25 or other material’’; and
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1 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting

2 ‘‘with a private insurance provider’’ after ‘‘rein3 surance agreement’’; and

4 (4) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

5 following new paragraphs:

6 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED PUBLICATION.—Any policy, pro7 vision of a policy, or rate approved under this sub8 section shall be published as a notice in the Federal

9 Register and made available to each person who con10 tracts with or is reinsured by the Corporation under

11 the same terms and conditions as are applicable be12 tween the Corporation and the submitting person.

13 ‘‘(5) PILOT COST OF PRODUCTION RISK PROTEC14 TION PLAN.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall

16 offer, to the extent practicable, a cost of produc17 tion risk protection plan of insurance that would

18 indemnify producers (including new producers)

19 for insurable losses as provided in this para20 graph.

21 ‘‘(B) PILOT BASIS.—The cost of production

22 risk protection plan shall—

23 ‘‘(i) be established as a pilot project for

24 each of the 1996 and 1997 crop years; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) be carried out in a number of

2 counties that is determined by the Corpora3 tion to be adequate to provide a comprehen4 sive evaluation of the feasibility, effective5 ness, and demand among producers for the

6 plan.

7 ‘‘(C) INSURABLE LOSS.—An insurable loss

8 shall be incurred by a producer if the gross in9 come of the producer (as determined by the Cor10 poration) is less than an amount determined by

11 the Corporation, as a result of a reduction in

12 yield or price resulting from an insured cause.

13 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION OF NEW PRODUCER.—As

14 used in this paragraph, the term ‘new producer’

15 means a person that has not been actively en16 gaged in farming for a share of the production

17 of the insured crop for more than 2 crop years,

18 as determined by the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL PREVENTED PLANTING POLICY

20 COVERAGE.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the

22 1995 crop year, the Corporation shall offer to

23 producers additional prevented planting coverage

24 that insures producers against losses in accord25 ance with this paragraph.
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1 ‘‘(B) APPROVED INSURANCE PROVIDERS.—

2 Additional prevented planting coverage shall be

3 offered by the Corporation through approved in4 surance providers.

5 ‘‘(C) TIMING OF LOSS.—A crop loss shall be

6 covered by the additional prevented planting cov7 erage if—

8 ‘‘(i) crop insurance policies were ob9 tained for—

10 ‘‘(I) the crop year the loss was ex11 perienced; and

12 ‘‘(II) the crop year immediately

13 preceding the year of the prevented

14 planting loss; and

15 ‘‘(ii) the cause of the loss occurred—

16 ‘‘(I) after the sales closing date for

17 the crop in the crop year immediately

18 preceding the loss; and

19 ‘‘(II) before the sales closing date

20 for the crop in the year in which the

21 loss is experienced.

22 ‘‘(7) PILOT TRANSITIONAL YIELD PROGRAM FOR

23 NEW PRODUCERS.—

24 ‘‘(A) INCREASED TRANSITIONAL YIELD.—

25 The Corporation shall offer, to the extent prac-
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1 ticable, a transitional yield program for new

2 producers to provide 110 percent of the transi3 tional yield established by the Corporation.

4 ‘‘(B) PILOT BASIS.—The transitional yield

5 program shall—

6 ‘‘(i) be established as a pilot project for

7 each of the 1995 and 1996 crop years; and

8 ‘‘(ii) be carried out in 30 counties that

9 are determined by the Corporation to be

10 adequate to provide a comprehensive eval11 uation of the feasibility, effectiveness, and

12 demand among new producers for the plan.

13 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF NEW PRODUCER.—As

14 used in this paragraph, the term ‘new producer’

15 means a person that has not been actively en16 gaged in farming for a share of the production

17 of the insured crop for more than 2 crop years,

18 as determined by the Secretary.’’.

19 SEC. 1108. CLAIMS FOR LOSSES.

20 Subsection (i) of section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as redes21 ignated by section 1101(3)) is amended to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(i) CLAIMS FOR LOSSES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation may pro24 vide for adjustment and payment of claims for losses

25 as provided under subsection (a) under rules pre-
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1 scribed by the Corporation. The rules prescribed by

2 the Corporation shall establish standards to ensure

3 that all claims for losses are adjusted, to the extent

4 practicable, in a uniform and timely manner.

5 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF CLAIMS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), if a claim for indemnity is denied by

8 the Corporation or by the private insurance pro9 vider, an action on the claim shall only be

10 brought against the Corporation or Secretary or

11 the insurance provider in the United States Dis12 trict Court for the district in which the insured

13 farm is located.

14 ‘‘(B) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A suit on

15 the claim may be brought not later than 1 year

16 after the date on which written notice of denial

17 of the claim is provided to the claimant.

18 ‘‘(3) INDEMNIFICATION.—The Corporation shall

19 provide insurance companies, agents, and brokers

20 with indemnification, including costs and reasonable

21 attorney fees, from the Corporation for errors or omis22 sions on the part of the Corporation.’’.

23 SEC. 1109. REINSURANCE.

24 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking subsection (j) (as redesignated by

2 section 1101(3)) and inserting the following new sub3 section:

4 ‘‘(j) REINSURANCE.—Notwithstanding any other pro5 vision of this title, the Corporation shall, to the maximum

6 extent practicable, provide reinsurance, on such terms and

7 conditions as the Corporation determines to be consistent

8 with subsections (b) and (c) and sound reinsurance prin9 ciples, to insurers (as defined by the Corporation) that in10 sure producers of any agricultural commodity under 1 or

11 more plans acceptable to the Corporation. Each reinsurance

12 agreement of the Corporation with a reinsured company

13 shall require the reinsured company to bear a sufficient

14 share of any potential loss under the agreement so as to

15 ensure that the reinsured company will sell and service poli16 cies of insurance in a sound and prudent manner, taking

17 into consideration the availability of private reinsurance.’’;

18 and

19 (2) in subsection (k) (as so redesignated), by

20 striking ‘‘provide’’ and inserting ‘‘offer plans of ’’.

21 SEC. 1110. FUNDING.

22 Section 516 (7 U.S.C. 1516) is amended to read as

23 follows:

24 ‘‘SEC. 516. FUNDING.

25 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) EXPENSES OF CORPORATION.—There are

2 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to cover the salaries and expenses of the Cor4 poration and the administrative and operating ex5 penses of the Corporation for the sales commissions of

6 agents.

7 ‘‘(2) EXPENSES OF PROVIDERS.—There are au8 thorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec9 essary to cover the administrative and operating ex10 penses of an approved insurance provider for the de11 livery of policies with coverage that is greater than

12 catastrophic risk protection.

13 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.—

14 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATING EX15 PENSES.—Beginning with the 1996 crop year, the

16 Corporation is authorized to pay, from the insurance

17 fund established under subsection (c), the administra18 tive and operating expenses of an approved insurance

19 provider, other than expenses covered under subsection

20 (a)(1).

21 ‘‘(2) OTHER EXPENSES.—The Corporation is au22 thorized to pay from the insurance fund established

23 under subsection (c)—

24 ‘‘(A) all other expenses of the Corporation

25 (other than expenses covered in subsection
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1 (a)(1)), including all premium subsidies and in2 demnities;

3 ‘‘(B) for the 1995 crop year, all administra4 tive and expense reimbursements due under a re5 insurance agreement with an approved insur6 ance provider; and

7 ‘‘(C) to the extent necessary, expenses in8 curred by the Corporation to carry out research

9 and development.

10 ‘‘(c) INSURANCE FUND.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an in12 surance fund for the deposit of premium income, in13 come from reinsurance operations, and amounts made

14 available under subsection (a)(2).

15 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF FUNDING.—There are appro16 priated, without fiscal year limitation, such sums as

17 may be necessary to carry out subsection (b) through

18 the insurance fund.’’.

19 SEC. 1111. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR FEDERAL CROP IN20 SURANCE.

21 The Act is amended by inserting after section 514 (7

22 U.S.C. 1514) the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 515. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR FEDERAL CROP IN2 SURANCE.

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may establish

4 within the Department a committee to be known as the ‘Ad5 visory Committee for Federal Crop Insurance’ (referred to

6 in this section as the ‘Advisory Committee’), which shall

7 remain in existence until September 30, 1998.

8 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall be

9 composed of—

10 ‘‘(1) the Manager of the Corporation;

11 ‘‘(2) the Secretary or a designee; and

12 ‘‘(3) not fewer than 10 representatives of organi13 zations or agencies involved with the Federal crop in14 surance program, which may include insurance com15 panies, insurance agents, farm producer organiza16 tions, experts on agronomic practices, and banking

17 and lending institutions.

18 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) TERMS.—Members of the Advisory Commit20 tee shall be appointed by the Secretary for a term of

21 not more than 2 years from nominations made by the

22 participating organizations and agencies referred to

23 in subsection (b). The terms of the members shall be

24 staggered.

25 ‘‘(2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Advisory Committee

26 shall be chaired by the Manager of the Corporation.
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1 ‘‘(3) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee shall

2 meet at least annually. The meetings of the Advisory

3 Committee shall be publicly announced in advance

4 and shall be open to the public. Appropriate records

5 of the activities of the Advisory Committee shall be

6 kept and made available to the public on request.

7 ‘‘(d) PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY.—The primary re8 sponsibility of the Advisory Committee shall be to advise

9 the Secretary on the implementation of this title and on

10 other issues related to crop insurance (as determined by the

11 Manager of the Corporation).

12 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—Not later than June 30 of each year,

13 the Advisory Committee shall prepare, and submit to the

14 Secretary, a report specifying the conclusions of the Advi15 sory Committee on—

16 ‘‘(1) the progress toward implementation of this

17 title;

18 ‘‘(2) the actuarial soundness of the Federal crop

19 insurance program; and

20 ‘‘(3) the rate of participation in the catastrophic

21 and the additional coverage programs under this

22 title.’’.

23 SEC. 1112. MANAGEMENT OF CORPORATION.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The second sentence of section

25 505(a) (7 U.S.C. 1505(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘program, the Under Secretary’’

2 and inserting ‘‘program, 1 additional Under Sec3 retary’’; and

4 (2) by striking ‘‘responsible for the farm credit

5 programs of the Department of Agriculture’’ and in6 serting ‘‘, as designated by the Secretary of Agri7 culture (referred to in this title as the ‘Secretary’)’’.

8 (b) GENERAL POWERS.—Section 506 (7 U.S.C. 1506)

9 is amended—

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (j) through (n)

11 as subsections (k) through (o), respectively;

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the following

13 new subsection:

14 ‘‘(j) SETTLING CLAIMS.—The Corporation shall have

15 the authority to make final and conclusive settlement and

16 adjustment of any claim by or against the Corporation or

17 a fiscal officer of the Corporation.’’;

18 (3) in subsection (l) (as so redesignated)—

19 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘, and

20 issue regulations,’’ after ‘‘agreements’’; and

21 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘con22 tracts or agreements’’ each place it appears and

23 inserting ‘‘contracts, agreements, or regulations’’;
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1 (4) in subsection (n)(1) (as so redesignated), by

2 striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following

3 new subparagraph:

4 ‘‘(B) disqualify the person from purchasing

5 catastrophic risk protection or receiving

6 noninsured assistance for a period of not to ex7 ceed 2 years, or from receiving any other benefit

8 under this title for a period of not to exceed 10

9 years.’’;

10 (5) in subsection (o) (as so redesignated)—

11 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1)

12 through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D)

13 and aligning the margins of each subparagraph

14 with the margins of subparagraph (A) of sub15 section (n)(1) (as redesignated by paragraph

16 (1));

17 (B) by striking ‘‘(o) ACTUARIAL SOUND18 NESS.—The Corporation’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(o) ACTUARIAL SOUNDNESS.—

21 ‘‘(1) PROJECTED LOSS RATIO AS OF OCTOBER 1,

22 1995.—The Corporation’’;

23 (C) in subparagraph (A) (as redesignated

24 by subparagraph (A)), by striking ‘‘from obtain25 ing adequate Federal crop insurance, as deter-
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1 mined by the Corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘(as

2 defined by the Secretary) from obtaining Federal

3 crop insurance’’;

4 (D) in subparagraph (C) (as so redesig5 nated)—

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘, agents, and loss ad7 justers’’ after ‘‘participating producers’’;

8 and

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, agents, and loss ad10 justers’’ after ‘‘identify insured producers’’;

11 and

12 (E) by adding at the end the following new

13 paragraphs:

14 ‘‘(2) PROJECTED LOSS RATIO AS OF OCTOBER 1,

15 1998.—The Corporation shall take such actions, in16 cluding the establishment of adequate premiums, as

17 are necessary to improve the actuarial soundness of

18 Federal multiperil crop insurance made available

19 under this title to achieve, on and after October 1,

20 1998, an overall projected loss ratio of not greater

21 than 1.0.

22 ‘‘(3) NONSTANDARD CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.—

23 To the extent that the Corporation uses the non24 standard classification system, the Corporation shall
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1 apply the system to all insured producers in a fair

2 and consistent manner.’’; and

3 (6) by adding at the end the following new sub4 sections:

5 ‘‘(p) LOSS RATIO DEFINED.—As used in this Act, the

6 term ‘loss ratio’ means the ratio of all sums paid by the

7 Corporation as indemnities under any eligible crop insur8 ance policy to that portion of the premium designated for

9 anticipated losses and a reasonable reserve, other than that

10 portion of the premium designated for operating and ad11 ministrative expenses.

12 ‘‘(q) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary and the Corpora13 tion are each authorized to issue such regulations as are

14 necessary to carry out this title.’’.

15 (c) PERSONNEL.—Section 507 (7 U.S.C. 1507) is

16 amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘, and county

18 crop insurance committeemen’’;

19 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘, in which case

20 the agent or broker’’ and all that follows through ‘‘the

21 agent or broker has caused the error or omission’’;

22 and

23 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘of this Act,’’

24 and all that follows through ‘‘agency’’.
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1 (d) INFORMATION COLLECTION ON CROP INSUR2 ANCE.—Subsection (n) of section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) (as

3 redesignated by section 1101(3)) is amended to read as fol4 lows:

5 ‘‘(n) INFORMATION COLLECTION ON CROP INSUR6 ANCE.—The Secretary shall make available to producers

7 through local offices of the Department—

8 ‘‘(1) current and complete information on all as9 pects of Federal crop insurance; and

10 ‘‘(2) a listing of insurance agents.’’.

11 (e) CROP INSURANCE YIELD COVERAGE.—Section

12 508A (7 U.S.C. 1508a) is repealed.

13 (f) PREEMPTION.—Section 511 (7 U.S.C. 1511) is

14 amended by inserting after ‘‘The Corporation, including’’

15 the following: ‘‘the contracts of insurance of the Corporation

16 and premiums on the contracts, whether insured directly

17 or reinsured by the Corporation,’’.

18 (g) FALSE STATEMENTS.—Section 1014 of title 18,

19 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or a company

20 the Corporation reinsures’’ after ‘‘Federal Crop Insurance

21 Corporation’’.
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1 Subtitle B—Noninsured Assistance

2 Program

3 SEC. 1201. NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

4 The Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) is amended by adding

5 at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 521. NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

7 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall estab9 lish a noninsured assistance program to provide cov10 erage equivalent to the catastrophic risk protection in11 surance described in section 508(b) for crops for

12 which catastrophic risk protection insurance is not

13 available. Crops covered shall include all commercial

14 crops and commodities for which catastrophic risk

15 protection coverage is not available and that are pro16 duced for food, fiber, or an industrial crop on a com17 mercial basis but shall not include livestock.

18 Noninsured assistance shall not cover losses due to—

19 ‘‘(A) the neglect or malfeasance of the pro20 ducer;

21 ‘‘(B) the failure of the producer to reseed to

22 the same crop in such areas and under such cir23 cumstances as it is customary to so reseed; or
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1 ‘‘(C) the failure of the producer to follow

2 good farming practices (as determined by the

3 Secretary).

4 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for assist5 ance under this section, a producer shall make a

6 timely application, as required by the Corporation,

7 for noninsured assistance at the local office of the De8 partment.

9 ‘‘(3) RECORDS.—A producer shall annually pro10 vide records, as required by the Corporation, of pre11 vious crop acreage and yields, or the producer shall

12 accept a yield under subsection (c)(2)(B) determined

13 by the Corporation.

14 ‘‘(4) ACREAGE REPORTS.—A producer shall pro15 vide reports on acreage planted or prevented from

16 being planted, as required by the Corporation, by the

17 designated acreage reporting date for the crop and lo18 cation as established by the Corporation.

19 ‘‘(5) AREA YIELD LOSSES.—

20 ‘‘(A) AREA AVERAGE YIELD.—A producer of

21 a noninsurable crop shall not be eligible for

22 noninsured assistance unless the area (as deter23 mined by the Corporation) average yield, or an

24 equivalent measure if yield data are not avail25 able, for the crop is less than 65 percent of the
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1 expected area yield established by the Corpora2 tion.

3 ‘‘(B) PREVENTED PLANTING PAYMENTS.—

4 Subject to subparagraph (A), the Corporation

5 shall make a prevented planting noninsured as6 sistance payment to a producer if the producer

7 is prevented from planting more than 35 percent

8 of the acreage intended for the crop because of

9 drought, flood, or other natural disaster (as de10 termined by the Secretary).

11 ‘‘(C) REDUCED YIELD PAYMENTS.—Subject

12 to subparagraph (A), if, because of drought,

13 flood, or other natural disaster (as determined by

14 the Secretary), the total quantity of the crop that

15 a producer is able to harvest on any farm is less

16 than 50 percent of the expected area yield for the

17 crop (as determined by the Corporation) factored

18 for the interest of the producer for the crop, the

19 Corporation shall make a reduced yield

20 noninsured assistance payment.

21 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT.—The Corporation shall make available

22 to a producer eligible for noninsured assistance under this

23 section a payment computed by multiplying—

24 ‘‘(1) the quantity that is less than 50 percent of

25 the established yield for the crop; by
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1 ‘‘(2) 60 percent of the average market price for

2 the crop (or any comparable coverage determined by

3 the Corporation); by

4 ‘‘(3) a payment rate for the type of crop (as de5 termined by the Corporation) that—

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of a crop that is produced

7 with a significant and variable harvesting ex8 pense, a payment rate that reflects the decreasing

9 cost incurred in the production cycle for the crop

10 that is—

11 ‘‘(i) harvested;

12 ‘‘(ii) planted but not harvested; and

13 ‘‘(iii) prevented from being planted be14 cause of drought, flood, or other natural dis15 aster (as determined by the Secretary); and

16 ‘‘(B) in the case of a crop that is not pro17 duced with a significant and variable harvesting

18 expense, a payment rate determined by the Cor19 poration.

20 ‘‘(c) YIELDS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall estab22 lish noninsured assistance program farm yields for

23 crops for the purposes of this section.

24 ‘‘(2) ACTUAL PRODUCTION HISTORY.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the yield for a crop shall be based on

3 the actual production history for the crop, if the

4 crop was produced on the farm without penalty

5 during each of the 4 crop years immediately pre6 ceding the crop year for which actual production

7 history is being established, building up to a

8 production data base of the 10 crop years imme9 diately preceding the crop year for which pro10 duction history is being established.

11 ‘‘(B) ASSIGNED YIELD.—

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the producer

13 does not provide sufficient evidence of the

14 yield (as required by the Corporation) of a

15 commodity under subparagraph (A), the

16 producer shall be assigned a yield that is

17 not less than 65 percent of the transitional

18 yield of the producer (adjusted to reflect ac19 tual production reflected in the records ac20 ceptable to the Corporation for continuous

21 years), as specified in regulations issued by

22 the Corporation based on production history

23 requirements.

24 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—A producer who re25 ceives an assigned yield for the current year
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1 of a natural disaster because required pro2 duction records were not submitted to the

3 local office of the Department shall not be

4 eligible for an assigned yield for the year of

5 the next natural disaster unless the required

6 production records of the previous 1 or more

7 years (as applicable) are provided to the

8 local office.

9 ‘‘(C) YIELD VARIATIONS DUE TO DIFFERENT

10 FARMING PRACTICES.—The Corporation shall

11 make noninsured payments that accurately re12 flect significant yield variations due to different

13 farming practices, such as between irrigated and

14 nonirrigated acreage.

15 ‘‘(d) INCREASED CROP PLANTINGS.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the acreage of a crop in

17 a county has increased by more than 100 percent

18 since the 1987 crop year, to become eligible for a

19 noninsured assistance payment, a producer must pro20 vide detailed documentation of production costs, acres

21 planted, and yield, as required by the Corporation.

22 Except as provided in paragraph (2), a producer who

23 produces a crop on a farm located in a county de24 scribed in the preceding sentence may not obtain an

25 assigned yield.
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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A crop or a producer shall

2 not be subject to this subsection if—

3 ‘‘(A) the planted acreage of the producer for

4 the crop has been inspected by a third party ac5 ceptable to the Secretary; or

6 ‘‘(B)(i) the County Executive Director, the

7 District Director, and the State Executive Direc8 tor recommend an exemption from the require9 ment to the Deputy Administrator for State and

10 County Operations of the Agricultural Stabiliza11 tion and Conservation Service; and

12 ‘‘(ii) the Deputy Administrator approves

13 the recommendation.

14 ‘‘(e) CONTRACT PAYMENTS.—A producer who has re15 ceived a guaranteed payment for production, as opposed to

16 delivery, of a crop pursuant to a contract shall have the

17 production of the producer adjusted upward by the amount

18 of the production equal to the amount of the contract pay19 ment received.

20 ‘‘(f) PAYMENT OF LOSSES.—Payments for noninsured

21 assistance losses under this section shall be made from the

22 insurance fund established under section 516(b). The losses

23 shall not be included in calculating the premiums charged

24 to producers for insurance.’’.
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1 SEC. 1202. PAYMENT AND INCOME LIMITATIONS.

2 Section 521 (as added by section 1201) is further

3 amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

4 ‘‘(g) PAYMENT AND INCOME LIMITATIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection:

6 ‘‘(A) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the

7 meaning provided the term in regulations issued

8 by the Secretary. The regulations shall conform,

9 to the extent practicable, to the regulations defin10 ing the term ‘person’ issued under section 1001

11 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C.

12 1308).

13 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING GROSS REVENUES.—The

14 term ‘qualifying gross revenues’ means—

15 ‘‘(i) if a majority of the gross revenue

16 of the person is received from farming,

17 ranching, and forestry operations, the gross

18 revenue from the farming, ranching, and

19 forestry operations of the person; and

20 ‘‘(ii) if less than a majority of the

21 gross revenue of the person is received from

22 farming, ranching, and forestry operations,

23 the gross revenue of the person from all

24 sources.
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1 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT LIMITATION.—The total amount

2 of payments that a person shall be entitled to receive

3 annually under this title may not exceed $100,000.

4 ‘‘(3) NO DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No person may re5 ceive a noninsured assistance payment under this

6 title and emergency livestock feed assistance under

7 section 606 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.

8 1471d) for the same livestock feed or forage loss.

9 ‘‘(4) INCOME LIMITATION.—A person who has

10 qualifying gross revenues in excess of the amount

11 specified in section 2266(a) of the Food, Agriculture,

12 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1421

13 note) (as in effect on November 28, 1990) during the

14 taxable year (as determined by the Secretary) shall

15 not be eligible to receive any noninsured assistance

16 payment under this section.

17 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue

18 regulations prescribing such rules as the Secretary de19 termines necessary to ensure a fair and equitable ap20 plication of section 1001 of the Food Security Act of

21 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308), the general payment limitation

22 regulations of the Secretary, and the limitations es23 tablished under this subsection.’’.
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1 Subtitle C—Miscellaneous

2 SEC. 1301. INELIGIBILITY FOR CATASTROPHIC RISK AND

3 NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.

4 The Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) (as amended by section

5 1201) is further amended by adding at the end the following

6 new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 522. INELIGIBILITY FOR CATASTROPHIC RISK AND

8 NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.

9 ‘‘If the Secretary determines that a person has know10 ingly adopted a material scheme or device to obtain cata11 strophic risk, additional coverage, or noninsured assistance

12 benefits under this Act to which the person is not entitled,

13 has evaded this Act, or has acted with the purposes of evad14 ing this Act, the person shall be ineligible to receive all bene15 fits applicable to the crop year for which the scheme or de16 vice was adopted. The authority provided by this section

17 shall be in addition to, and shall not supplant, the author18 ity provided by section 506(m).’’.

19 SEC. 1302. PREVENTED PLANTING.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective for the 1994 crop year,

21 a producer described in subsection (b) shall receive com22 pensation under the prevented planting coverage policy pro23 vision described in subsection (b)(1) by—

24 (1) obtaining from the Secretary of Agriculture

25 the applicable amount that is payable under the con-
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1 servation use program described in subsection (b)(4);

2 and

3 (2) obtaining from the Federal Crop Insurance

4 Corporation the amount that is equal to the difference

5 between—

6 (A) the amount that is payable under the

7 conservation use program; and

8 (B) the amount that is payable under the

9 prevented planting coverage policy.

10 (b) ELIGIBLE PRODUCERS.—Subsection (a) shall

11 apply to a producer who—

12 (1) purchased a prevented planting policy for the

13 1994 crop year from the Federal Crop Insurance Cor14 poration prior to the spring sales closing date for the

15 1994 crop year;

16 (2) is unable to plant a crop due to major, wide17 spread flooding in the Midwest, or excessive ground

18 moisture, that occurred prior to the spring sales clos19 ing date for the 1994 crop year;

20 (3) had a reasonable expectation of planting a

21 crop on the prevented planting acreage for the 1994

22 crop year; and

23 (4) participates in a conservation use program

24 established for the 1994 crop of wheat, feed grains,

25 upland cotton, or rice established under section
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1 107B(c)(1)(E), 105B(c)(1)(E), 103B(c)(1)(D), or

2 101B(c)(1)(D), respectively, of the Agricultural Act of

3 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445b–3a(c)(1)(E), 1444f(c)(1)(E),

4 1444–2(c)(1)(D), or 1441–2(c)(1)(D)).

5 (c) OILSEED PREVENTED PLANTING PAYMENTS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective for the 1994 crop

7 year, a producer of a crop of oilseeds (as defined in

8 section 205(a) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7

9 U.S.C. 1446f(a)) shall receive a prevented planting

10 payment for the crop if the requirements of para11 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (b) are satisfied.

12 (2) SOURCE OF PAYMENT.—The total amount of

13 payments required under this subsection shall be

14 made by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.

15 (d) PAYMENT.—A payment under this section may not

16 be made before October 1, 1994.

17 SEC. 1303. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

18 (a) PRICE SUPPORT PROGRAMS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Agricultural

20 Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) is amended by

21 adding at the end the following new section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 427. CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.

23 ‘‘As a condition of receiving any benefit (including

24 payments) under title I or II for each of the 1995 and subse25 quent crops of tobacco, rice, extra long staple cotton, upland
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1 cotton, feed grains, wheat, peanuts, oilseeds, and sugar and

2 for each of the 1995 and subsequent calendar years with

3 respect to milk, a producer must obtain at least catastrophic

4 risk protection insurance coverage under section 508 of the

5 Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508) for the crop

6 and crop year for which the benefit is sought, if the coverage

7 is offered by the Corporation.’’.

8 (2) RICE.—Section 101B(c) of such Act (7

9 U.S.C. 1441–2(c)) is amended—

10 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara11 graph (F); and

12 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting

13 the following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro15 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur16 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

17 (3) UPLAND COTTON.—Section 103B(c) of such

18 Act (7 U.S.C. 1444–2(c)) is amended—

19 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara20 graph (F); and

21 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting

22 the following new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro24 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur25 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.
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1 (4) FEED GRAINS.—Section 105B(c) of such Act

2 (7 U.S.C. 1444f(c)) is amended—

3 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara4 graph (G); and

5 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting

6 the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro8 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur9 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

10 (5) WHEAT.—Section 107B(c) of such Act (7

11 U.S.C. 1445b–3a(c)) is amended—

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara13 graph (G); and

14 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting

15 the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro17 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur18 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

19 (6) DISASTER PAYMENTS.—Section 208 of such

20 Act (7 U.S.C. 1446i) is repealed.

21 (b) FARMERS HOME ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS.—

22 The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

23 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

24 following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 371. CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of obtaining any

3 benefit (including a direct loan, loan guarantee, or pay4 ment) described in subsection (b), a borrower must obtain

5 at least catastrophic risk protection insurance coverage

6 under section 508 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7

7 U.S.C. 1508) for the crop and crop year for which the bene8 fit is sought, if the coverage is offered by the Corporation.

9 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE BENEFITS.—Subsection (a) shall

10 apply to—

11 ‘‘(1) a farm ownership loan (FO) under section

12 303;

13 ‘‘(2) an operating loan (OL) under section 312;

14 and

15 ‘‘(3) an emergency loan (EM) under section

16 321.’’.

17 (c) DISASTER ASSISTANCE.—Subtitle B of title XXII

18 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of

19 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note) is amended by striking chapter

20 3.

21 (d) EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the

23 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act

24 of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(D)(i)) is amended by

25 adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘This
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1 subparagraph shall not apply to appropriations to

2 cover agricultural crop disaster assistance.’’.

3 (2) EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.—Section 252(e)

4 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 902(e)) is amended by adding

5 at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘This sub6 section shall not apply to direct spending provisions

7 to cover agricultural crop disaster assistance.’’.

8 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

9 (1) The first sentence of section 506(d) (7 U.S.C.

10 1506(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘508(f)’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘508(i)’’.

12 (2) The last sentence of section 507(c) (7 U.S.C.

13 1507(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘508(b)’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘508(g)’’.

15 (3) Section 518 (7 U.S.C. 1518) is amended by

16 striking ‘‘(k)’’ and inserting ‘‘(m)’’.

17 SEC. 1304. DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

18 (a) CROP LOSS ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Agri19 culture may provide assistance to producers for crop losses

20 in 1994 due to natural disasters under the terms and condi21 tions of—

22 (1) chapter 3 of subtitle B of title XXII of the

23 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of

24 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note); and
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1 (2) subsections (a)(4), (b)(3), (d), and (e) of sec2 tion 521 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (as

3 amended by this title).

4 (b) OTHER EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—To provide as5 sistance for losses in 1994 due to natural disasters, the Sec6 retary of Agriculture may provide assistance under—

7 (1) the emergency conservation program estab8 lished under title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act of

9 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.);

10 (2) the emergency watershed protection program

11 of the Soil Conservation Service; and

12 (3) the emergency community water assistance

13 grant program established under section 306A of the

14 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

15 U.S.C. 1926a).

16 (c) FUNDING.—

17 (1) CROP LOSS ASSISTANCE.—Out of available

18 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Com19 modity Credit Corporation is authorized to provide to

20 the Secretary of Agriculture, through July 15, 1995,

21 such sums as are necessary to carry out subsection

22 (a).

23 (2) OTHER EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—There are

24 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec25 essary to carry out subsection (b).
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1 (3) EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.—The amounts

2 made available under paragraphs (1) and (2) are des3 ignated by Congress as an emergency requirement

4 pursuant to section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget

5 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C.

6 902(e)). The amounts shall be available only to the ex7 tent that an official budget request for specific dollar

8 amounts, that includes designation of the entire

9 amount of the request as an emergency requirement

10 pursuant to such Act, is transmitted by the President

11 to Congress.

12 (d) DEFINITION OF NATURAL DISASTERS.—As used in

13 this section, the term ‘‘natural disasters’’ includes weather14 related insect damage to strawberries.

15 SEC. 1305. USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION

16 FUNDS TO COVER CERTAIN COSTS FOR FALL17 PLANTED 1995 CROPS.

18 (a) DEFINITION OF FALL-PLANTED 1995 CROP.—As

19 used in this section, the term ‘‘fall-planted 1995 crop’’

20 means a 1995 crop that is insurable under the Federal Crop

21 Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) with a sales closing

22 date that is prior to January 1, 1995.

23 (b) USE OF FUNDS TO COVER COSTS.—Subject to the

24 other provisions of this section, the Federal Crop Insurance

25 Corporation may use funds of the Commodity Credit Cor-
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1 poration to cover operating and administrative costs of the

2 Corporation referred to in section 516(a)(1) of the Federal

3 Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1516(a)(1)) associated with

4 insurance policies issued for a fall-planted 1995 crop under

5 such Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

6 (c) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS.—The amount

7 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation that may

8 be used under subsection (b) may not exceed $40,000,000.

9 (d) COMBINED LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS

10 AND EMERGENCY CROP LOSS ASSISTANCE.—The amount

11 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation used under

12 subsection (b) and the amount of funds used for fiscal year

13 1995 to provide emergency crop loss assistance for 1995

14 crops shall not exceed $500,000,000.

15 SEC. 1306. POULTRY LABELING, PUBLIC HEARINGS.

16 It is the sense of the Senate that the United States De17 partment of Agriculture should carry out its plans to hold

18 public hearings during the month of September 1994, for

19 the purpose of receiving public input on issues related to

20 the conditions under which poultry sold in the United

21 States may be labeled ‘‘fresh’’ and to finalize and publish

22 a decision on this issue as expeditiously as possible there23 after. It is the further sense of the Senate that no person

24 serving on the expert advisory committee established to ad25 vise the Secretary of Agriculture on this issue should stand
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1 to profit, or represent any interest that would stand to prof2 it, from the Department’s decision on the issue.

3 SEC. 1307. AGRICULTURE EMPLOYEES FIRST AMENDMENT

4 RIGHTS.

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no em6 ployee of the United States Department of Agriculture shall

7 be peremptorily removed without public hearings from his

8 or her position because of remarks made during personal

9 time in opposition to Departmental policies, or proposed

10 policies regarding homosexuals: Provided, That any such

11 individual so removed prior to date of enactment shall be

12 reinstated to his or her previous position.

13 SEC. 1308. ADJUSTED COST OF THRIFTY FOOD PLAN.

14 Section 3(o)(11) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7

15 U.S.C. 2012(o)(11)) is amended by inserting before the pe16 riod at the end the following: ‘‘, except that the Secretary

17 may not reduce the cost of such diet below the allotment

18 in effect for fiscal year 1994.’’.

19 SEC. 1309. EFFECTIVE DATES.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in

21 this title, this title and the amendments made by this title

22 shall become effective beginning with—

23 (1) if this title is enacted before October 1, 1994,

24 the 1995 crop year for the applicable agricultural

25 commodity; or
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1 (2) if this title is enacted on or after October 1,

2 1994, the 1996 crop year for the applicable agricul3 tural commodity.

4 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 1100, 1101(1),

6 1112(e), 1112(f), and 1302, the amendments made by

7 such sections, and this section shall become effective

8 on the date of enactment of this Act.

9 (2) EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS.—The amend10 ments made by section 1303(d) shall become effec11 tive—

12 (A) if this title is enacted before October 1,

13 1994, on the date of enactment of this title; or

14 (B) if this title is enacted on or after Octo15 ber 1, 1994, on June 1, 1995.

16 SEC. 1310. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

17 The authority provided by this title and the amend18 ments made by this title shall terminate on September 30,

19 2000.
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1 TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF AG2 RICULTURE REORGANIZA3 TION

4 Subtitle A—Short Title; Purpose;

5 Definitions

6 SEC. 2101. SHORT TITLE.

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Agri8 culture Reorganization Act of 1994’’.

9 SEC. 2102. PURPOSE.

10 The purpose of this title is to provide the Secretary

11 of Agriculture with the necessary authority to streamline

12 and reorganize the Department of Agriculture to achieve

13 greater efficiency, effectiveness, and economies in the orga14 nization and management of the programs and activities

15 carried out at the Department.

16 SEC. 2103. DEFINITIONS.

17 As used in this title (unless the context clearly requires

18 otherwise):

19 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT.—The term ‘‘adminis20 trative unit’’ includes—

21 (A) any office, administration, agency, in22 stitute, unit, or organizational entity, or compo23 nent thereof, except that the term does not in24 clude a corporation; and
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1 (B) any county, State, or area committee,

2 as established by the Secretary.

3 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

4 means the United States Department of Agriculture.

5 (3) FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘function’’ means an

6 administrative, financial, or regulatory duty of an

7 administrative unit or employee of the Department,

8 including a transfer of funds made available to carry

9 out a function of an administrative unit.

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

11 the Secretary of Agriculture.

12 Subtitle B—General Authorities of

13 the Secretary

14 SEC. 2201. DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS TO THE SEC15 RETARY.

16 (a) DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS.—Except as otherwise

17 provided in this title and notwithstanding any other provi18 sion of law, all functions and all activities, officers, employ19 ees, and administrative units of the Department, not vested

20 in the Secretary on the date of enactment of this Act, are

21 delegated to the Secretary.

22 (b) EXCEPTIONS TO THE DELEGATION.—This section

23 shall not apply to the following functions and administra24 tive units of the Department:
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1 (1) The functions vested in administrative law

2 judges by subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United

3 States Code.

4 (2) The functions vested in the Inspector General

5 by the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.

6 3).

7 (3) The functions vested in the Chief Financial

8 Officer by chapter 9 of subtitle I of title 31, United

9 States Code.

10 (4) Corporations and the boards of directors and

11 officers of the corporations.

12 (5) The functions vested in the Alternative Agri13 cultural Research and Commercialization Board by

14 the Alternative Agricultural Research and Commer15 cialization Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.).

16 SEC. 2202. REORGANIZATION.

17 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.—The

18 Secretary may transfer any function or administrative unit

19 of the Department, including any function or administra20 tive unit delegated to the Secretary by this title, and any

21 officer or employee of the Department, as the Secretary con22 siders appropriate. The authority established in the preced23 ing sentence includes the authority to establish, consolidate,

24 alter, or discontinue any administrative unit of the Depart25 ment.
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1 (b) AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER RECORDS, PROPERTY,

2 AND FUNDS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 1531 of title

4 31, United States Code, the Secretary may transfer

5 any of the records, property, and unexpended balances

6 (available or to be made available for use in connec7 tion with any affected function or administrative

8 unit) of appropriations, allocations, and other funds

9 of the Department, as the Secretary considers nec10 essary to carry out this title, except as otherwise pro11 vided in this section.

12 (2) USE.—Absent prior approval by law, any

13 unexpended balances transferred pursuant to para14 graph (1) shall be used only for the purposes for

15 which the funds were originally made available.

16 (3) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary

17 may make such additional incidental dispositions of

18 personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, contracts, prop19 erty, records, and unexpended balances of appropria20 tions, authorizations, allocations, and other funds

21 held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made

22 available in connection with the functions or admin23 istrative units, as the Secretary considers necessary to

24 carry out this title.
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1 (c) PURPOSE OF THE AUTHORITY.—The Secretary

2 shall carry out subsections (a) and (b) with the goals of

3 simplifying and maximizing the efficiency of the national,

4 State, regional, and local levels of the Department, and of

5 improving the accessibility of farm and other programs at

6 all levels. To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall

7 adapt the administration of the programs to State, re8 gional, and local conditions.

9 (d) EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.—

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall

11 exhaust all administrative appeal procedures established by

12 the Secretary before the person may bring an action in a

13 court of competent jurisdiction against—

14 (1) the Secretary;

15 (2) the Department;

16 (3) an administrative unit of the Department; or

17 (4) an employee or agent of an administrative

18 unit of the Department.

19 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9 of the

20 Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C.

21 714g) is amended—

22 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a)’’; and

23 (2) by striking subsection (b).

24 SEC. 2203. PERSONNEL REDUCTIONS.

25 (a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
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1 (1) FIELD STRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘field struc2 ture’’ means the offices, functions, and employee posi3 tions of all administrative units of the Department,

4 other than the headquarters offices. The term includes

5 the physical and geographic locations of the units.

6 The term shall not include State, county, or area

7 committees established under section 8(b) of the Soil

8 Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.

9 590h(b)).

10 (2) HEADQUARTERS OFFICES.—The term ‘‘head11 quarters offices’’ means the offices, functions, and em12 ployee positions of all administrative units of the De13 partment located or performed in Washington, Dis14 trict of Columbia, or elsewhere, as determined by the

15 Secretary.

16 (b) EMPLOYEE REDUCTIONS.—Subject to subsection

17 (c), the Secretary shall achieve employee reductions of at

18 least 7,500 staff years within the Department by September

19 30, 1999.

20 (c) DISTRIBUTION.—The percentage of employee reduc21 tions in the headquarters offices under subsection (b) shall

22 be substantially higher than the percentage of employee re23 ductions in the field structure, as determined by the Sec24 retary.
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1 (d) SCHEDULE.—The personnel reductions under sub2 sections (b) and (c) should be accomplished concurrently in

3 a manner determined by the Secretary.

4 SEC. 2204. CONSOLIDATION OF HEADQUARTERS OFFICES.

5 The Secretary shall develop and carry out a plan to

6 consolidate offices of administrative units of the Depart7 ment located in Washington, District of Columbia, subject

8 to the availability of appropriations.

9 SEC. 2205. REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), notwith11 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary may,

12 but shall not be required to, prepare and submit any report

13 to Congress or any committee of Congress.

14 (b) LIMITATION.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary

15 may not prepare and submit more than 30 reports referred

16 to in subsection (a).

17 (c) SELECTION OF REPORTS.—In consultation with

18 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa19 tives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

20 Forestry of the Senate, the Secretary shall determine which

21 reports shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with

22 subsection (b).
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1 Subtitle C—National Appeals

2 Division

3 SEC. 2301. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this subtitle:

5 (1) ADVERSE DECISION.—The term ‘‘adverse de6 cision’’ means an administrative decision made by a

7 decisionmaker that is adverse to a participant, in8 cluding a denial of equitable relief, except that the

9 term shall not include a decision over which the

10 Board of Contract Appeals has jurisdiction. The term

11 shall include the failure of a decisionmaker to issue

12 a decision or otherwise act on the request or right of

13 the participant to participate in, or receive pay14 ments, loans, or other benefits under, any of the pro15 grams administered by an agency. Notwithstanding

16 section 701(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, a dis17 cretionary decision of the Secretary or the Division

18 shall be reviewable under section 706(2)(A) of such

19 title unless the decision is generally applicable to all

20 program participants and, as a matter of general ap21 plicability, is committed to agency discretion by law

22 within the meaning of section 701(a)(2) of such title.

23 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any

24 agency of the Department designated by the Secretary
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1 or a successor agency of the Department, except that

2 the term shall include—

3 (A) ASCS;

4 (B) CCC, with respect to domestic pro5 grams;

6 (C) FmHA (including rural housing pro7 grams);

8 (D) FCIC;

9 (E) RDA (including rural housing pro10 grams);

11 (F) SCS; or

12 (G) a State or county committee established

13 under section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and

14 Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)) or

15 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development

16 Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.).

17 (3) APPELLANT.—The term ‘‘appellant’’ means a

18 participant who appeals an adverse decision in ac19 cordance with this subtitle.

20 (4) ASCS.—The term ‘‘ASCS’’ means the Agri21 cultural Stabilization and Conservation Service or a

22 successor agency.

23 (5) CASE RECORD.—The term ‘‘case record’’

24 means all the materials maintained by the Secretary
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1 that concern the participant, including any materials

2 related to the adverse decision.

3 (6) CCC.—The term ‘‘CCC’’ means the Commod4 ity Credit Corporation or a successor agency.

5 (7) DECISIONMAKER.—The term ‘‘decision6 maker’’ means an officer, employee, or committee of

7 an agency who makes an adverse decision that is ap8 pealed by an appellant.

9 (8) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the

10 Director of the Division.

11 (9) DIVISION.—The term ‘‘Division’’ means the

12 National Appeals Division established by this subtitle.

13 (10) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means

14 an individual employed by an agency, including an

15 individual who enters into a contract with an agency

16 to perform services for the agency.

17 (11) FINAL DETERMINATION.—The term ‘‘final

18 determination’’ means a determination of an appeal

19 by the Division that is administratively final, conclu20 sive, and binding.

21 (12) FCIC.—The term ‘‘FCIC’’ means the Fed22 eral Crop Insurance Corporation or a successor agen23 cy.

24 (13) FMHA.—The term ‘‘FmHA’’ means the

25 Farmers Home Administration or a successor agency.
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1 (14) HEARING OFFICER.—The term ‘‘hearing of2 ficer’’ means an individual employed by the Division

3 who hears and determines appeals of adverse decisions

4 by any agency.

5 (15) HEARING RECORD.—The term ‘‘hearing

6 record’’ means the transcript of a hearing, any audio

7 tape or similar recording of a hearing, any informa8 tion from the case record that a hearing officer con9 siders relevant or that is raised by the appellant or

10 agency, and all documents and other evidence pre11 sented to a hearing officer.

12 (16) IMPLEMENT; IMPLEMENTATION.—The terms

13 ‘‘implement’’ and ‘‘implementation’’ refer to those ac14 tions necessary to effectuate fully and promptly a de15 termination of the Division not later than 30 cal16 endar days after the effective date of the determina17 tion.

18 (17) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’

19 means any individual, group of individuals, partner20 ship, corporation, association, cooperative, or other

21 entity whose application for, or right to participate

22 in or receive, payments, loans, or other benefits in ac23 cordance with any of the programs administered by

24 an agency, is affected by an adverse decision made by

25 a decisionmaker.
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1 (18) RDA.—The term ‘‘RDA’’ means the Rural

2 Development Administration or a successor agency.

3 (19) SCS.—The term ‘‘SCS’’ means the Soil

4 Conservation Service or a successor agency.

5 (20) STATE DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘State direc6 tor’’ means the individual who is primarily respon7 sible for carrying out the program of an agency with8 in a State.

9 SEC. 2302. NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION AND DIRECTOR.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DIVISION.—

11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish and maintain a National Appeals Division with13 in the Office of the Secretary to carry out this sub14 title.

15 (2) APA APPLICATION.—The provisions of title

16 5, United States Code, shall apply to all appeals of

17 the Division, including chapters 5 and 7 of such title.

18 (3) PROCEDURAL REGULATIONS AND POLICIES.—

19 The Secretary shall promulgate procedural regula20 tions and policies to govern the conduct of the busi21 ness of the Division. The Secretary shall ensure and

22 enhance the independence, integrity, and efficiency of

23 the Division, the Director, hearing officers, and other

24 employees of the Division.

25 (b) DIRECTOR.—
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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Division shall be head2 ed by a Director.

3 (2) POSITION CLASSIFICATION.—The position of

4 the Director shall be a Senior Executive Service posi5 tion that shall be filled by a career appointee (as de6 fined in section 3132(a)(4) of title 5, United States

7 Code), who shall not be subject to removal except for

8 cause in accordance with law.

9 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be a

10 person who has substantial experience in practicing

11 administrative law. In considering applicants for the

12 position of Director, the Secretary shall consider per13 sons employed outside the Government as well as Gov14 ernment employees.

15 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5316 of

16 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at

17 the end the following:

18 ‘‘Director, National Appeals Division, Depart19 ment of Agriculture.’’.

20 (c) DIRECTION, CONTROL, AND SUPPORT.—The Direc21 tor shall be free from the direction and control of any person

22 other than the Secretary. The Division shall not receive ad23 ministrative support (except on a reimbursable basis) from

24 any agency other than the Office of the Secretary. The Sec25 retary may not delegate to any other officer or employee
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1 of the Department, other than the Director, the authority

2 of the Secretary with respect to the Division.

3 (d) COMMUNICATION WITH SECRETARY AND AGEN4 CIES.—The Director shall inform the Secretary and the ap5 propriate agency of problems regarding the functions of the

6 agency that are identified as a result of the activities of

7 the Division under this subtitle. The information provided

8 by the Director may include proposals to resolve the prob9 lems identified or otherwise to improve the programs of the

10 agency.

11 (e) APPEALABLE DECISIONS.—Subject to section

12 2304(b)(2), if a decisionmaker determines that a decision

13 is not appealable and a participant appeals the decision

14 to the Director, the Director shall determine whether the de15 cision is adverse or of general applicability, and thus ap16 pealable. Except for a legal interpretation that may be re17 versed or modified by the Secretary, the determination of

18 the Director as to whether a decision is appealable shall

19 be administratively final, conclusive, and binding.

20 (f) OTHER POWERS OF THE DIRECTOR.—The Director

21 may enter into contracts and make other arrangements for

22 reporting and other services and make such payments as

23 may be necessary to carry out this subtitle.
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1 SEC. 2303. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.

2 There are transferred to the Division all functions ex3 ercised and all administrative appeals pending before the

4 date of enactment of this Act (including all related func5 tions of any officer or employee) of or relating to—

6 (1) the National Appeals Division established by

7 section 426(c) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7

8 U.S.C. 1433e(c)) (as in effect before the amendment

9 made by section 2315(a)(2));

10 (2) the National Appeals Division established by

11 subsections (d) through (g) of section 333B of the Con12 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.

13 1983b) (as in effect before the amendment made by

14 section 2315(b));

15 (3) appeals of decisions made by FCIC; and

16 (4) appeals of decisions made by SCS.

17 SEC. 2304. PERSONNEL OF THE DIVISION.

18 (a) APPOINTMENT, DIRECTION, AND CONTROL.—The

19 Director shall appoint such hearing officers and other em20 ployees as are necessary for the administration of the Divi21 sion. A hearing officer or other employee of the Division

22 shall have no duties other than those that are necessary to

23 carry out this subtitle. Hearing officers shall be supervised

24 by the Director. All other employees of the Division shall

25 report to the Director.

26 (b) LEGAL COUNSEL.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall employ

2 legal counsel to advise the Director with respect to

3 legal questions affecting the Division. The legal coun4 sel shall not serve as a counsel to any other agency

5 of the Department. This subsection is not intended to

6 affect the role of the Office of General Counsel in rep7 resenting the Department in civil or criminal actions

8 or as a liaison between the Department and any other

9 Federal agency.

10 (2) REVIEW BY THE SECRETARY.—If a hearing

11 officer or the Director disagrees with the General

12 Counsel on a matter of legal interpretation with re13 spect to a program or authority of the Department,

14 the Secretary shall have the authority to make a final

15 determination on the interpretation at the request of

16 the General Counsel. The authority of the Secretary

17 under this paragraph may not be delegated.

18 (c) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.—The Director shall

19 establish policies to provide for the evaluation of the Direc20 tor, hearing officers, and other employees of the Division

21 who are involved in the appeal process under section 2308

22 or the supervision of other employees. The evaluation proc23 ess shall be designed to ensure and enhance the independ24 ence, integrity, and efficiency of the Director and employees

25 of the Division. The actual evaluations shall include evalua-
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1 tions by individuals outside of the Department and may

2 include peer review.

3 SEC. 2305. NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.

4 (a) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Not later than 10 working

5 days after an adverse decision is made that is adverse to

6 the participant, the Secretary shall provide the participant

7 with the written notice described in subsection (b).

8 (b) CONTENT OF NOTICE.—The notice required under

9 subsection (a) shall contain a description of the following:

10 (1) The decision, including all of the reasons,

11 facts, and conclusions underlying the decision.

12 (2) The appeal and implementation process

13 available to the participant, including the rights and

14 responsibilities of the participant provided by this

15 subtitle.

16 (3) An opportunity to request a determination

17 by the Director pursuant to section 2302(e) concern18 ing whether a decision is appealable, if the

19 decisionmaker determines that the decision is not ap20 pealable.

21 (c) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—The Secretary and

22 the Director shall maintain the entire case record and hear23 ing record, respectively, and any additional information

24 from any further appeal proceeding, of the participant at

25 least until the expiration of the period during which the
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1 participant may seek administrative or judicial review of

2 the determination.

3 (d) JOINDER.—

4 (1) GUARANTEED LOANS.—With regard to a

5 guaranteed loan under the Consolidated Farm and

6 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.), a bor7 rower or applicant who is directly and adversely af8 fected by a decision of the Secretary may appeal the

9 decision pursuant to this subtitle without the lender

10 joining in the appeal.

11 (2) RENTAL HOUSING.—A tenant in rental hous12 ing of an agency who is individually, directly, and

13 adversely affected by a decision of the Secretary may

14 appeal the decision pursuant to this subtitle without

15 the landlord joining in the appeal.

16 (3) THIRD PARTIES.—If the Director determines

17 that the receipt of a payment, loan, or other direct

18 benefit by a participant may be directly, substan19 tially, and adversely affected by a determination of

20 the Division, a hearing officer may invite the partici21 pant to participate in a hearing if the final deter22 mination resulting from the hearing would, as a

23 practical matter, foreclose the participant from re24 ceiving the payment, loan, or other direct benefit of

25 the participant. If the participant elects to partici-
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1 pate in the hearing, the participant shall have the

2 same procedural rights as the appellant with regard

3 to the hearing and other procedures described in this

4 subtitle.

5 (e) EFFECT OF REVERSAL OR MODIFICATION OF AD6 VERSE DECISION.—If an adverse decision is reversed or

7 modified by the Division, a decisionmaker may not base

8 any subsequent adverse decision with regard to that appel9 lant on the information that was available to the previous

10 decisionmaker (or could have been available with reasonable

11 diligence on the part of the previous decisionmaker).

12 SEC. 2306. INFORMAL HEARINGS.

13 If a decisionmaker of an agency makes an adverse de14 cision, the decisionmaker shall hold, at the request of the

15 participant, an informal hearing on the decision.

16 SEC. 2307. RIGHTS OF PARTICIPANTS.

17 Among other rights, a participant shall have the right,

18 in accordance with this subtitle, to—

19 (1) appeal any adverse decision;

20 (2) representation by an attorney or nonattorney

21 throughout the informal hearing and appeals process

22 under this subtitle;

23 (3) access to, and a reasonable opportunity to

24 inspect and reproduce, the case record at an office of

25 the agency located in the area of the participant; and
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1 (4) an evidentiary hearing.

2 SEC. 2308. DIVISION HEARINGS AND DIRECTOR REVIEW.

3 (a) POWERS OF DIRECTOR AND HEARING OFFI4 CERS.—To carry out their responsibilities under this sec5 tion, the Director and hearing officers—

6 (1) shall have access to all records, reports, au7 dits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, or

8 other material available that relate to programs and

9 operations with respect to which an appeal has been

10 taken;

11 (2) shall have the authorities that are provided

12 under section 2302(a)(2);

13 (3) may request such information or assistance

14 as may be necessary for carrying out the duties and

15 responsibilities established under this subtitle from

16 any Federal, State, or local governmental agency or

17 unit of the agency;

18 (4) may, or shall at the request of an appellant

19 with good cause shown, require the attendance of wit20 nesses and the production of all information, docu21 ments, reports, answers, records, accounts, papers,

22 and other data and documentary evidence necessary

23 to the proper resolution of appeals;

24 (5) may require the attendance of witnesses, and

25 the production of evidence, by subpoena; and
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1 (6) may administer oaths or affirmations.

2 (b) TIME FOR HEARING.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para4 graph (2), an appellant shall have the right to—

5 (A) request a hearing, not later than 30

6 days after the date an adverse decision is made;

7 and

8 (B) have a hearing by the Division on the

9 adverse decision, not later than 45 days after re10 ceipt of the request for the hearing.

11 (2) REDUCTION OR EXTENSION.—The Director

12 may establish an earlier deadline for a hearing (or

13 request for a hearing) on an appeal relating to a time

14 sensitive decision, or delay a hearing (or request for

15 a hearing), at the request of an appellant for good

16 cause shown.

17 (c) LOCATION AND ELEMENTS OF HEARING.—

18 (1) LOCATION.—A hearing on an adverse deci19 sion shall be held in the State of residence of the ap20 pellant or at a location that is otherwise convenient

21 to the appellant and the Division.

22 (2) EVIDENTIARY HEARING.—The evidentiary

23 hearing before a hearing officer shall be in person,

24 unless the appellant agrees to a hearing by telephone

25 or by a review of the case record and hearing record.
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1 The hearing officer shall conduct and resolve the hear2 ing (regardless of the hearing format) in a fair and

3 impartial manner and free of undue influence. The

4 hearing officer shall not be bound by previous find5 ings of fact by the agency in making a determination.

6 (3) INFORMATION AT HEARING.—The hearing of7 ficer shall consider information, including new infor8 mation, presented at the hearing without regard to

9 whether the evidence was known to the decisionmaker

10 at the time the adverse decision was made. The hear11 ing officer shall leave the record open after the hear12 ing for a reasonable period of time to allow the sub13 mission of information by the appellant or the

14 decisionmaker after the hearing to the extent nec15 essary to prevent the appellant or the decisionmaker

16 from being prejudiced by new facts, information, ar17 guments, or evidence presented or raised by the

18 decisionmaker or appellant. At the hearing, the agen19 cy may not rely on or assert new grounds for the ad20 verse decision, if the grounds were not described in the

21 agency decision notice.

22 (4) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The appellant shall

23 bear the burden of proving that the adverse decision

24 of the agency was erroneous.
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1 (5) PRODUCTION OF RECORD.—An official ver2 batim record shall be provided by the Division for

3 each hearing before a hearing officer. The appellant or

4 agency representative may record an unofficial record

5 of the hearing.

6 (6) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—In any case pend7 ing before a hearing officer, the hearing officer may

8 determine that the adverse decision was in error only

9 if substantial evidence demonstrates that the adverse

10 decision was not correct. For purposes of this para11 graph, the evidentiary threshold for substantial evi12 dence is lower than the evidentiary threshold for pre13 ponderance of the evidence.

14 (7) DETERMINATION NOTICE.—The hearing offi15 cer shall issue a notice of the determination on the

16 appeal not later than 30 days after a hearing or after

17 receipt of the request of the appellant to waive a hear18 ing, except that the Director may establish an earlier

19 or later deadline pursuant to subsection (b)(2). The

20 hearing officer may include recommendations in the

21 determination notice. If the determination is not ap22 pealed to the Director under subsection (d), the notice

23 provided by the hearing officer shall be considered to

24 be a notice of final determination.

25 (d) REVIEW BY DIRECTOR.—
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1 (1) REFERRAL.—At the request of the appellant

2 or the head of the agency affected by a determination

3 of a hearing officer, the determination of the hearing

4 officer shall be referred to the Director for review.

5 (2) APPEAL BY HEAD OF AGENCY TO DIREC6 TOR.—

7 (A) REVIEW OF DETERMINATION OF HEAR8 ING OFFICER AT THE REQUEST OF AN AGENCY

9 HEAD.—In exceptional circumstances, if the head

10 of an agency believes that the determination of a

11 hearing officer is contrary to a statute or regula12 tion, or a finding of fact of a hearing officer is

13 clearly erroneous, only the head of the agency

14 may make a written request, not later than 10

15 business days after receipt of the determination,

16 that the Director review the determination.

17 (B) REQUESTS FOR REVIEW.—A request for

18 review shall—

19 (i) include a full description of—

20 (I) the exceptional circumstances

21 justifying the request for review; and

22 (II) the reasons that the head of

23 the relevant agency believes that the de24 termination is contrary to statute or

25 regulation, or the finding of fact of the
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1 hearing officer is clearly erroneous;

2 and

3 (ii) be provided to the appellant and

4 the hearing officer at the same time the re5 quest is provided to the Director.

6 (C) DETERMINATION OF DIRECTOR.—Not

7 later than 10 business days after receipt of the

8 request for review, the Director shall—

9 (i) conduct a review of the determina10 tion based on the case record and hearing

11 record, the request for review under sub12 section (b), and any additional arguments

13 or information submitted by the appellant

14 or the hearing officer; and

15 (ii)(I) issue a final determination no16 tice that upholds, reverses, or modifies the

17 determination of the hearing officer; or

18 (II) if the Director determines that the

19 hearing record is inadequate, remand the

20 determination for further proceedings to

21 complete the hearing record, or, at the op22 tion of the Director, to hold a new hearing,

23 and notify the appellant, agency, and hear24 ing officer of the remand.
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1 (D) NEW HEARING.—If the Director re2 mands a determination for a new hearing on the

3 adverse decision under subparagraph (C), the

4 hearing officer shall make a new determination

5 with respect to the adverse decision based on the

6 case record and the hearing record.

7 (E) FINALITY.—The head of the relevant

8 agency may not request a second review as to the

9 determination of the hearing officer or the Direc10 tor on the same issue.

11 (3) APPEAL BY HEAD OF AGENCY OR APPELLANT

12 TO DIRECTOR.—

13 (A) USE OF RECORD.—If the determination

14 of a hearing officer is appealed under paragraph

15 (1), the hearing officer shall certify the hearing

16 record and provide the record to the Director.

17 (B) NEW INFORMATION.—The Director may

18 consider, under extraordinary circumstances,

19 new information in reviewing a determination

20 under this section. The appellant, decisionmaker,

21 and hearing officer shall receive and have the op22 portunity to comment on the new information.

23 (C) ACTIONS.—Not later than 30 days after

24 the referral to the Director, the Director shall—
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1 (i) review the hearing record and the

2 determination;

3 (ii) uphold the determination, issue a

4 new determination, require that a new

5 hearing be held on 1 or more of the issues

6 considered at the original hearing, or take

7 any combination of the actions described in

8 this clause; and

9 (iii) issue a notice of—

10 (I) a new evidentiary hearing;

11 (II) a final determination; or

12 (III) a remand on certain issues

13 and a final determination on remain14 ing issues.

15 (D) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Director

16 may include recommendations in a final deter17 mination notice.

18 (E) RELIEF.—The Director shall have the

19 same authority as the Secretary to grant equi20 table relief. Notwithstanding the administrative

21 finality of a final determination, the Secretary

22 shall have the authority to grant equitable or

23 other types of relief to the appellant after a final

24 determination is issued by the Division.
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1 (e) BASIS FOR DETERMINATION.—The determination

2 of the hearing officer and the Director shall be based on

3 information from the hearing record, laws applicable to the

4 matter at issue, and applicable regulations published in the

5 Federal Register and in effect on the date of the adverse

6 decision or the date on which the acts that gave rise to the

7 adverse decision occurred, whichever date is appropriate.

8 The Director shall not reverse the determination of a hear9 ing officer with regard to a finding of fact that is based

10 on oral testimony or inspection of evidence unless the find11 ing of fact is clearly erroneous or the Director is considering

12 new information under subsection (d)(3) with respect to the

13 finding of fact.

14 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The final determination shall

15 be effective as of the date of filing of an application, the

16 date of the transaction or event in question, or the date of

17 the original adverse decision, whichever is applicable.

18 SEC. 2309. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

19 A final determination of the Division under section

20 2308 shall be reviewable and enforceable by any United

21 States district court of competent jurisdiction in accordance

22 with chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. Notwithstand23 ing section 701(a)(2) of such title, a discretionary decision

24 of the Secretary or the Division shall be reviewable under

25 section 706(2)(A) of such title unless the decision is gen-
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1 erally applicable to all program participants and, as a

2 matter of general applicability, is committed to agency dis3 cretion by law within the meaning of section 701(a)(2) of

4 such title.

5 SEC. 2310. IMPLEMENTATION OF FINAL DETERMINATIONS

6 OF DIVISION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—On the return of a case to an agen8 cy pursuant to the final determination of a hearing officer

9 or the Director under section 2308, the agency shall imple10 ment the final determination of the Division not later than

11 30 days after the effective date of the notice of the final

12 determination.

13 (b) ADDITIONAL AND UPDATED INFORMATION.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), after notice of a final determination is re16 ceived by the agency—

17 (A) the agency may not require that addi18 tional and updated information be provided by

19 the appellant or considered by the decisionmaker

20 in implementing the final determination of the

21 hearing officer or the Director; and

22 (B) additional and updated information

23 from any other source may not be used in imple24 menting the final determination.

25 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—
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1 (A) INTRODUCTION BY APPELLANT.—If ad2 ditional information is introduced by the appel3 lant during the appeal process and accepted by

4 the hearing officer or the Director, the agency

5 shall consider the additional information in im6 plementing the final determination.

7 (B) DETERMINATION LETTER.—If the final

8 determination notice specifically states that ad9 ditional and updated information will be consid10 ered in implementing the final determination,

11 the agency shall consider any additional and up12 dated information in implementing the final de13 termination.

14 (C) SUBSEQUENT ADVERSE DECISION.—Ad15 ditional and updated information considered

16 under this paragraph may not be used as a

17 ground for a subsequent adverse decision.

18 (c) IMPLEMENTATION RESPONSIBILITIES.—

19 (1) STATE DIRECTOR.—Each State director shall

20 be—

21 (A) required to implement final determina22 tions of a hearing officer or the Director that af23 fect appellants in the State; and
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1 (B) responsible for monitoring and ensuring

2 the implementation of final determinations that

3 reverse and modify adverse decisions.

4 (2) AGENCY HEADS.—Relevant agency heads

5 shall be responsible for—

6 (A) the performance of State directors under

7 paragraph (1); and

8 (B) the implementation of all final deter9 minations of the Division that reverse or modify

10 adverse decisions of the agency.

11 (d) PROTECTION OF APPELLANTS’ RIGHTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—No officer or employee of the

13 Federal Government shall make or engage in threats

14 or intimidation, or solicit action, to prevent any po15 tential appellant from exercising a right of the appel16 lant under this subtitle or make, solicit, or engage in

17 retaliation or retribution for the exercise of a right of

18 an appellant under this subtitle.

19 (2) CORRECTIVE ACTION.—If an officer or em20 ployee of the Federal Government violates paragraph

21 (1), the Secretary shall take corrective action (includ22 ing the imposition of sanctions, when necessary) in

23 conformance with civil service laws.

24 (e) IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS.—
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1 (1) ACTIONS BY RELEVANT AGENCY HEAD.—The

2 relevant agency head shall promptly correct any prob3 lems that may arise in the implementation of a final

4 determination.

5 (2) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall assign em6 ployees within the Office of the Inspector General

7 whom appellants may contact concerning problems

8 with the implementation of final determinations of

9 the Division. The employees shall investigate and, to

10 the extent practicable, resolve the implementation

11 problems.

12 (3) IDENTITY AND ACTIVITIES OF OVERSIGHT

13 AGENCY.—The Secretary shall notify the Director of

14 the business address and telephone number of employ15 ees assigned under paragraph (2). The Director shall

16 include this information in the final determination

17 notice of the Division to an appellant.

18 SEC. 2311. DECISIONS OF STATE AND COUNTY COMMIT19 TEES.

20 (a) FINALITY.—Each decision of a State or county

21 committee (or an employee of the committee) that admin22 isters functions of CCC, or functions assigned to ASCS on

23 the date of enactment of this Act, made in good faith in

24 the absence of misrepresentation, false statement, fraud, or

25 willful misconduct shall be final not later than 90 days
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1 after the date of filing of the application for benefits, unless

2 the decision is—

3 (1) appealed under this subtitle; or

4 (2) modified by the Administrator of ASCS or

5 the Executive Vice President of CCC.

6 (b) RECOVERY OF AMOUNTS.—No action shall be taken

7 by the CCC, ASCS, or a State or county committee to re8 cover amounts found to have been disbursed as a result of

9 a decision in error if the decision of the State or county

10 committee has become final under subsection (a), unless the

11 participant had reason to believe that the decision was erro12 neous.

13 SEC. 2312. PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTION WHILE AP14 PEAL IS PENDING.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not take any

16 adverse action against an appellant relating to an appeal

17 while any proceeding authorized or required under this sub18 title is pending, including any action that would prevent

19 the implementation of a decision that is favorable to the

20 appellant.

21 (b) WITHHOLDING.—This section shall not preclude

22 the Secretary from withholding a payment if the eligibility

23 for, or amount of, the payment is an issue on appeal, except

24 that ongoing assistance to then current borrowers and
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1 grantees shall not be discontinued pending the outcome of

2 an appeal.

3 SEC. 2313. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

4 (a) OTHER RIGHTS.—This subtitle is not intended to

5 supersede or deprive a recipient of assistance from an agen6 cy of any rights that the recipient may have under any

7 other law, including section 510(g) of the Housing Act of

8 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1480(g)).

9 (b) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—This subtitle is not intended

10 to affect the authority of an agency head to grant equitable

11 relief.

12 (c) EMPLOYEE RIGHTS.—This subtitle shall neither

13 supersede nor interfere with rights granted to employees or

14 their exclusive representatives by applicable civil service

15 laws.

16 SEC. 2314. EVALUATION OF AGENCY DECISIONMAKERS AND

17 OTHER EMPLOYEES.

18 (a) EVALUATION IN ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretary

19 shall promulgate regulations to require the evaluation de20 scribed in subsection (b) as part of the annual review of

21 the performance of decisionmakers, State directors, and

22 agency heads.

23 (b) PERFORMANCE.—In the review, a decisionmaker,

24 a State director, or an agency head shall be considered to
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1 have performed poorly if the decisionmaker, State director,

2 or agency head—

3 (1) takes action that leads to numerous appeals

4 that result in adverse decisions that are reversed or

5 modified;

6 (2) fails to properly implement final determina7 tions of the Division;

8 (3) fails to satisfactorily perform the reviewing

9 and monitoring responsibilities required under sub10 section (c) or (e)(1) of section 2310, whichever ap11 plies; or

12 (4) threatens or intimidates, or engages in retal13 iation or retribution against, an appellant in viola14 tion of section 2310(d).

15 (c) SANCTIONS.—If a decisionmaker, State director, or

16 relevant agency head has performed poorly (as determined

17 under subsection (b)), the Secretary shall issue sanctions

18 against the decisionmaker, State director, or relevant agen19 cy head, as the case may be, which may include a formal

20 reprimand or dismissal consistent with civil service laws.

21 SEC. 2315. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

22 (a) ASCS.—

23 (1) FINALITY OF FARMERS PAYMENTS AND

24 LOANS.—Section 385 of the Agricultural Adjustment

25 Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1385) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking the first sentence and insert2 ing the following new sentence: ‘‘As used in this

3 section, the term ‘payment’ means any payment

4 under the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allot5 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 590a et seq.), any payment

6 under the wheat, feed grain, upland cotton, extra

7 long staple cotton, and rice programs authorized

8 by the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1421

9 et seq.) and this title, or any loan or price sup10 port operation, or the amount of the payment,

11 loan, or price support.’’; and

12 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘any

13 such payment’’ and inserting ‘‘a payment’’.

14 (2) DETERMINATIONS BY SECRETARY; AP15 PEALS.—Sections 412 and 426 of the Agricultural Act

16 of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1429 and 1433e) are repealed.

17 (b) FMHA.—Section 333B of the Consolidated Farm

18 and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1983b) is repealed.

19 (c) FCIC.—The last sentence of section 508(f) of the

20 Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(f)) is amended

21 by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘or

22 within 1 year after the claimant receives a final determina23 tion notice from an administrative appeal made in accord24 ance with title II of the Department of Agriculture Reorga25 nization Act of 1994, whichever is later’’.
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1 Subtitle D—Farm and

2 International Trade Services

3 SEC. 2401. UNDER SECRETARY FOR FARM AND INTER4 NATIONAL TRADE SERVICES.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the De6 partment the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for

7 Farm and International Trade Services (referred to in this

8 section as the ‘‘Under Secretary’’), to be appointed by the

9 President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

10 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary shall exercise such

11 functions and perform such duties related to farm and

12 international trade services, and shall perform such other

13 duties, as may be required by law or prescribed by the Sec14 retary.

15 (c) CONTINUITY OF THE POSITION.—Any official serv16 ing as Under Secretary for International Affairs and Com17 modity Programs on the date of enactment of this Act, who

18 has been appointed by the President and confirmed by the

19 Senate, shall be considered on and after the date of enact20 ment of this Act to be serving in the successor position estab21 lished by subsection (a), and shall not be required to be re22 confirmed by reason of the enactment of this title.

23 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

24 (1) Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code,

25 is amended by striking ‘‘Under Secretary of Agri-
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1 culture for International Affairs and Commodity Pro2 grams.’’ and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary of Agri3 culture for Farm and International Trade Services.’’.

4 (2) Section 501 of the Agricultural Trade Act of

5 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5691) is repealed.

6 SEC. 2402. FARM SERVICE AGENCY.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

8 establish and maintain a Farm Service Agency (referred

9 to in this section as the ‘‘Agency’’) and assign to the Agency

10 such functions as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

11 (b) HEAD.—

12 (1) AGENCY.—If the Secretary establishes the

13 Agency, the Agency or any successor administrative

14 unit shall be headed by an Administrator who shall

15 be appointed by the President, by and with the advice

16 and consent of the Senate.

17 (2) FCIC.—The Secretary may appoint the Ad18 ministrator of the Agency, or any other person, to

19 serve as head of the Federal Crop Insurance Corpora20 tion.

21 (c) FUNCTIONS.—Except as provided in subsection (d),

22 the Secretary is authorized to carry out through the Agen23 cy—

24 (1) price and income support, production adjust25 ment, and other related functions;
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1 (2) functions of the Federal Crop Insurance Cor2 poration;

3 (3) notwithstanding section 331 of the Consoli4 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.

5 1981), agricultural credit functions assigned prior to

6 the date of enactment of this Act to the Farmers

7 Home Administration, including farm ownership, op8 erating, emergency, and disaster loan functions, and

9 other lending programs for producers of agricultural

10 commodities; and

11 (4) any other function or administrative unit

12 that the Secretary considers appropriate.

13 (d) FUNCTIONS NOT ASSIGNABLE TO THE AGENCY.—

14 Except as otherwise determined by the Secretary, functions

15 relating to conservation programs authorized to be assigned

16 to the Natural Resources Conservation Service established

17 under section 2701 may not be assigned to the Agency.

18 (e) USE OF EMPLOYEES.—Notwithstanding any other

19 provision of law, in carrying out in any county or area

20 any functions assigned to the Agency or any successor ad21 ministrative area, the Secretary is authorized to—

22 (1) use interchangeably, in the implementation

23 of functions, Federal employees, and employees of

24 county and State committees established under section
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1 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment

2 Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)); and

3 (2) provide interchangeably for supervision by

4 the employees of the performance of functions assigned

5 to the Agency.

6 (f) COLLOCATION.—The Secretary, to the maximum

7 extent practicable, shall collocate county offices of the Agen8 cy with county offices of the Natural Resources Conserva9 tion Service in order to—

10 (1) maximize savings from shared equipment, of11 fice space, and administrative support;

12 (2) simplify paperwork and regulatory require13 ments;

14 (3) provide improved services to producers and

15 landowners affected by programs administered by the

16 Agency and the Service; and

17 (4) achieve computer compatibility between the

18 Agency and the Service to maximize efficiency and

19 savings.

20 (g) CONTINUITY OF THE POSITION.—Any official serv21 ing on the date of enactment of this Act, who has been ap22 pointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, shall

23 not be required to be reconfirmed by reason of the enactment

24 of this title.

25 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) The second sentence of section 505(a) of the

2 Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1505(a)) is

3 amended by striking ‘‘the Under Secretary or Assist4 ant Secretary of Agriculture responsible for the farm

5 credit programs of the Department of Agriculture,’’

6 and inserting ‘‘one additional Under or Assistant

7 Secretary of Agriculture, as designated by the Sec8 retary,’’.

9 (2) Section 507(d) of the Federal Crop Insurance

10 Act (7 U.S.C. 1507(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec11 tion 516 of this Act,’’ and all that follows through the

12 period at the end of the subsection and inserting ‘‘sec13 tion 516.’’.

14 (3) Section 331(a) of the Consolidated Farm and

15 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1981(a)) is amend16 ed by striking ‘‘assets to the Farmers Home Adminis17 tration’’ and all that follows through the period at the

18 end of the subsection and inserting ‘‘assets to such of19 ficers or administrative units of the Department of

20 Agriculture as the Secretary may consider appro21 priate.’’.

22 SEC. 2403. STATE AND COUNTY COMMITTEES.

23 Section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Al24 lotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)) is amended—
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1 (1) by designating the first through eighth undes2 ignated paragraphs as paragraphs (1) through (8),

3 respectively; and

4 (2) in paragraph (5) (as so designated) by add5 ing at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Sec6 retary is authorized, after consultation with the State

7 committee of the State in which the affected counties

8 are located, to terminate, combine, and consolidate

9 two or more county committees established under this

10 subsection.’’.

11 SEC. 2404. INTERNATIONAL TRADE SERVICE.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

13 establish and maintain an International Trade Service (re14 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to

15 the Service such functions or administrative units as the

16 Secretary may consider appropriate and consistent with

17 this title.

18 (b) HEAD.—If the Secretary establishes the Service, the

19 Service or any successor administrative unit shall be headed

20 by an Administrator who shall be appointed by the Presi21 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

22 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

23 out, through the Service or through such other officers or

24 administrative units as the Secretary may consider appro25 priate, programs and activities involving—
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1 (1) the acquisition of information pertaining to

2 agricultural trade;

3 (2) market promotion and development;

4 (3) promotion of exports of United States agri5 cultural commodities;

6 (4) administration of international food assist7 ance; and

8 (5) international development, technical assist9 ance, and training.

10 (d) CONTINUITY OF THE POSITION.—Any official serv11 ing on the date of enactment of this Act, who has been ap12 pointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, shall

13 not be required to be reconfirmed by reason of the enactment

14 of this title.

15 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sections 502 and

16 503 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5692

17 and 5693) are repealed.

18 Subtitle E—Rural Economic and

19 Community Development

20 SEC. 2501. UNDER SECRETARY FOR RURAL ECONOMIC AND

21 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subsection (a) of section 3 of

23 the Rural Development Policy Act of 1980 (7 U.S.C. 2211b)

24 is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(a)(1) There is established in the Department of Agri2 culture the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for

3 Rural Economic and Community Development to be ap4 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con5 sent of the Senate.

6 ‘‘(2) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural

7 Economic and Community Development shall exercise such

8 functions and perform such duties related to rural economic

9 and community development, and shall perform such other

10 duties, as may be required by law or prescribed by the Sec11 retary of Agriculture.’’.

12 (b) CONTINUITY OF POSITION.—Any official serving as

13 Under Secretary of Agriculture for Small Community and

14 Rural Development on the date of enactment of this Act,

15 after appointment by the President, by and with the advice

16 and consent of the Senate, shall be considered after the date

17 of enactment of this Act to be serving in the successor posi18 tion established by the amendment made by subsection (a),

19 and shall not be required to be reconfirmed by reason of

20 the enactment of this title.

21 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5314 of title

22 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Under Sec23 retary of Agriculture for Small Community and Rural De24 velopment.’’ and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture

25 for Rural Economic and Community Development.’’.
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1 SEC. 2502. RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Notwithstanding section 364 of

3 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

4 U.S.C. 2006f) and any other provision of law, the Secretary

5 is authorized to establish and maintain within the Depart6 ment the Rural Utilities Service (referred to in this section

7 as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service such functions

8 and administrative units as the Secretary may consider ap9 propriate.

10 (b) HEAD.—If the Secretary establishes the Service, the

11 Service or any successor administrative unit shall be headed

12 by an Administrator who shall be appointed by the Presi13 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

14 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary may carry out

15 through the Service, or through any other officer or admin16 istrative unit as the Secretary may consider appropriate—

17 (1) electric and telephone loan programs and

18 water and waste facility activities authorized by law,

19 including—

20 (A) the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7

21 U.S.C. 901 et seq.); and

22 (B) section 2322 of the Food, Agriculture,

23 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

24 1926–1); and

25 (2) water and waste facility programs and ac26 tivities authorized by law, including—
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1 (A) sections 306, 306A, 306B, and 306C,

2 the provisions of sections 309 and 309A relating

3 to assets, terms, and conditions of water and

4 sewer programs, section 310B(b)(2), and the

5 amendment made by section 342 of the Consoli6 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

7 U.S.C. 1926, 1926a, 1926b, 1926c, 1929, 1929a,

8 1932(b)(2), and 1013a); and

9 (B) section 2324 of the Food, Agriculture,

10 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

11 1926 note).

12 (d) CONTINUITY OF THE POSITION.—Any official serv13 ing on the date of enactment of this Act, who has been ap14 pointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, shall

15 not be required to be reconfirmed by reason of the enactment

16 of this title.

17 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO THE RURAL ELEC18 TRIFICATION ACT.—

19 (1) The first section of the Rural Electrification

20 Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901) is amended by striking

21 ‘‘there is’’ and all that follows through ‘‘This Act’’

22 and inserting ‘‘this Act’’.

23 (2) Section 2 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 902) is

24 amended by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’.
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1 (3) Section 3(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C 903(a)) is

2 amended—

3 (A) by striking ‘‘Administrator, upon the

4 request and approval of the Secretary of Agri5 culture,’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary,’’; and

6 (B) by striking ‘‘Administrator appointed

7 pursuant to the provisions of this Act or from

8 the Administrator of the Rural Electrification

9 Administration established by Executive Order

10 Numbered 7037’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

11 (4) Section 8 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 908) is

12 amended—

13 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Ad14 ministrator authorized to be appointed by this

15 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and

16 (B) in the second sentence, by striking

17 ‘‘Rural Electrification Administration created by

18 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

19 (5) Section 11A of such Act (7 U.S.C. 911a) is

20 repealed.

21 (6) Section 13 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 913) is

22 amended by inserting before the period the following:

23 ‘‘; and the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of

24 Agriculture’’.
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1 (7) Sections 206(b)(2), 306A(b), 311, and

2 405(b)(1)(A) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 927(b)(2), 936a(b),

3 940a, and 945(b)(1)(A)) are amended by striking

4 ‘‘Rural Electrification Administration’’ each place it

5 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

6 (8) Section 403(b) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 943(b))

7 is amended by striking ‘‘Rural Electrification Admin8 istration or of any other agency of the Department of

9 Agriculture,’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

10 (9) Section 404 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 944) is

11 amended by striking ‘‘the Administrator of the Rural

12 Electrification Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘the

13 Secretary of Agriculture shall designate an official of

14 the Department of Agriculture who’’.

15 (10) Sections 406(c) and 410(a)(1) of such Act

16 (7 U.S.C. 946(c) and 950) are amended by striking

17 ‘‘Administrator of the Rural Electrification Adminis18 tration’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Sec19 retary’’.

20 (11) Such Act (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended

21 by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ each place it appears

22 and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

23 (f) MISCELLANEOUS CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

24 (1) Section 236(a) of the Disaster Relief Act of

25 1970 (7 U.S.C. 912a) is amended by striking ‘‘Rural
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1 Electrification Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec2 retary pursuant to the Rural Electrification Act of

3 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.)’’.

4 (2) The second undesignated paragraph of sec5 tion 401 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1938 (52

6 Stat. 818; 7 U.S.C. 903 note) is amended by striking

7 ‘‘Administrator of the Rural Electrification Adminis8 tration’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’.

9 (3) Section 15 of the Department of Agriculture

10 Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 915) is amended by

11 striking ‘‘Rural Electrification Administration’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

13 (4)(A) Section 2333 of the Food, Agriculture,

14 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

15 950aaa–2) is amended—

16 (i) by striking paragraph (1); and

17 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2)

18 through (11) as paragraphs (1) through (10), re19 spectively.

20 (B) Chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXIII of such

21 Act (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq.) is amended by striking

22 ‘‘Administrator’’ each place it appears and inserting

23 ‘‘Secretary’’.
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1 SEC. 2503. RURAL HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOP2 MENT SERVICE.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Notwithstanding section 364 of

4 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

5 U.S.C. 2006f) and any other provision of law, the Secretary

6 is authorized to establish and maintain within the Depart7 ment the Rural Housing and Community Development

8 Service (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Service’’) and

9 to assign to the Service such functions as the Secretary may

10 consider appropriate.

11 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

12 out through the Service, or through any other officer or ad13 ministrative unit as the Secretary may consider appro14 priate—

15 (1) programs and activities under title V of the

16 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.);

17 (2) programs and activities authorized under

18 section 310B(i) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural

19 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(i)) and related pro20 visions of law; and

21 (3) programs and activities that relate to rural

22 community lending programs, including programs

23 authorized by sections 365 through 369 of the Consoli24 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.

25 2008 through 2008d).
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1 SEC. 2504. RURAL BUSINESS AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOP2 MENT SERVICE.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Notwithstanding section 364 of

4 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

5 U.S.C. 2006f) and any other provision of law, the Secretary

6 is authorized to establish and maintain within the Depart7 ment the Rural Business and Cooperative Development

8 Service (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Service’’), and

9 to assign to the Service such functions as the Secretary may

10 consider appropriate.

11 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

12 out through the Service, or through any other officer or ad13 ministrative unit as the Secretary may consider appro14 priate, programs and activities, including—

15 (1) section 313 and title V of the Rural Elec16 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 940c and 950aa et

17 seq.);

18 (2) subtitle G of title XVI of the Food, Agri19 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7

20 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.);

21 (3) sections 306(a)(1) and 310B of the Consoli22 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.

23 1926(a)(1) and 1932);

24 (4) section 1323 of the Food Security Act of 1985

25 (Public Law 99–198; 7 U.S.C. 1932 note); and
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1 (5) the Act of July 2, 1926 (44 Stat. 802, chap2 ter 725; 7 U.S.C. 451 et seq.).

3 Subtitle F—Food, Nutrition, and

4 Consumer Services

5 SEC. 2601. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR

6 FOOD, NUTRITION, AND CONSUMER SERV7 ICES.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the De9 partment the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for

10 Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services to be appointed

11 by the President, by and with the advice and consent of

12 the Senate.

13 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary of Agriculture for

14 Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services shall exercise such

15 functions and perform such duties related to food, nutrition,

16 and consumer services, and shall perform such other duties,

17 as may be required by law or prescribed by the Secretary.

18 (c) CONTINUITY OF THE POSITION.—Any official serv19 ing as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Food and

20 Consumer Services on the date of enactment of this Act,

21 after appointment by the President, by and with the advice

22 and consent of the Senate, shall be considered to be serving

23 in the successor position established by subsection (a), and

24 shall not be required to be reconfirmed by reason of the en25 actment of this title.
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1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5314 of title

2 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

3 the following:

4 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutri5 tion, and Consumer Services.’’.

6 SEC. 2602. FOOD AND CONSUMER SERVICE.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

8 establish and maintain within the Department the Food

9 and Consumer Service (referred to in this section as the

10 ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service such functions as

11 the Secretary may consider appropriate.

12 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

13 out through the Service, or through any other officer or ad14 ministrative unit as the Secretary may consider appro15 priate, programs and activities, including—

16 (1) the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011

17 et seq.);

18 (2) the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.

19 1751 et seq.); and

20 (3) the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.

21 1771 et seq).

22 SEC. 2603. NUTRITION RESEARCH AND EDUCATION SERV23 ICE.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

25 establish and maintain within the Department the Nutri-
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1 tion Research and Education Service (referred to in this

2 section as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service such

3 functions as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

4 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

5 out through the Service, or through any other officer or ad6 ministrative unit as the Secretary may consider appro7 priate, programs and activities relating to human nutrition

8 research and education.

9 Subtitle G—National Resources and

10 Environment

11 SEC. 2701. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

13 establish and maintain within the Department the Natural

14 Resources Conservation Service (referred to in this section

15 as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service such functions

16 as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

17 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

18 out through the Service, or through any other officer or ad19 ministrative unit of the Department as the Secretary may

20 consider appropriate, programs and activities, including—

21 (1) title X of the Agricultural Act of 1970 (16

22 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.);

23 (2) the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allot24 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 590a et seq.);

25 (3) the Water Bank Act (16 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.);
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1 (4) section 4 of the Cooperative Forestry Assist2 ance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103);

3 (5) title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

4 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.);

5 (6) title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act of

6 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.);

7 (7) section 202(c) of the Colorado River Basin

8 Salinity Control Act (43 U.S.C. 1592(c)); and

9 (8) the Farms for the Future Act of 1990 (7

10 U.S.C. 4201 note).

11 (c) USE OF EMPLOYEES.—Notwithstanding any other

12 provision of law, in carrying out in any county or area

13 any functions assigned to the Service or any successor ad14 ministrative unit, the Secretary is authorized to—

15 (1) use interchangeably, in the implementation

16 of functions, Federal employees, and employees of

17 county and area committees established under section

18 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment

19 Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)); and

20 (2) provide interchangeably for supervision by

21 the employees of the performance of functions assigned

22 to the Service.

23 (d) AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION PROGRAM.—In

24 carrying out the Agricultural Conservation Program, the

25 Secretary shall—
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1 (1) acting on the recommendations of the Serv2 ice, with the concurrence of the Farm Service Agency,

3 issue regulations to carry out the program; and

4 (2) use a county committee established under sec5 tion 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allot6 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)) to make the final deci7 sion on which applicants are eligible to receive cost

8 share assistance under the program based on prior9 ities and guidelines established at the national and

10 State levels by the Service.

11 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

12 (1) Section 5 of the Soil Conservation and Do13 mestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590e) is repealed.

14 (2)(A) Section 2(2) of the Soil and Water Re15 sources Conservation Act of 1977 (16 U.S.C. 2001(2))

16 is amended by striking ‘‘the Soil Conservation Service

17 of’’.

18 (B) Section 3(2) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 2002(2))

19 is amended by striking ‘‘through the Soil Conserva20 tion Service’’.

21 (C) The first sentence of section 6(a) of such Act

22 (16 U.S.C. 2005(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘Soil

23 Conservation Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.
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1 SEC. 2702. REORGANIZATION OF FOREST SERVICE.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Reorganization proposals that are

3 developed by the Secretary to carry out the designation by

4 the President of the Forest Service as a Reinvention Lab

5 pursuant to the National Performance Review (September

6 1993) shall include proposals for—

7 (1) reorganizing the Service in a manner that is

8 consistent with the principles of interdisciplinary

9 planning;

10 (2) redefining and consolidating the mission and

11 roles of, and research conducted by, employees of the

12 Service in connection with the National Forest Sys13 tem and State and private forestry to facilitate inter14 disciplinary planning and to eliminate functional15 ism;

16 (3) reforming the budget structure of the Service

17 to support interdisciplinary planning, including re18 ducing the number of budget line items;

19 (4) defining new measures of accountability so

20 that Congress may meet the constitutional obligation

21 of Congress to oversee the Service;

22 (5) achieving structural and organizational con23 solidations;

24 (6) to the extent practicable, sharing office space,

25 equipment, vehicles, and electronic systems with other

26 administrative units of the Department and other
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1 Federal field offices, including proposals for using an

2 on-line system by all administrative units of the De3 partment to maximize administrative efficiency; and

4 (7) reorganizing the Service in a manner that

5 will result in a larger percentage of employees of the

6 Service being retained at organizational levels below

7 regional offices, research stations, and the area office

8 of the Service.

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than March 31, 1995, the Sec10 retary shall submit a report to the Committee on Agri11 culture of the House of Representatives and the Committee

12 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate that

13 describes actions taken to carry out subsection (a) and iden14 tifies any disparities in regional funding patterns and the

15 rationale behind the disparities.

16 Subtitle H—Marketing and

17 Inspection Services

18 SEC. 2801. GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS

19 ADMINISTRATION.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

21 establish and maintain within the Department the Grain

22 Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (re23 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administration’’) and to

24 assign to the Administration such functions as the Sec25 retary may consider appropriate.
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1 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

2 out through the Administration, or through any other offi3 cer or administrative unit as the Secretary may consider

4 appropriate, programs and activities authorized under—

5 (1) the United States Grain Standards Act (7

6 U.S.C. 71 et seq.); and

7 (2) the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7

8 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).

9 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1)(A) Section 3 of the United States Grain

11 Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 75) is amended—

12 (i) by striking subsections (z) and (aa); and

13 (ii) by redesignating subsection (bb) as sub14 section (z).

15 (B) Section 3A of such Act (7 U.S.C. 75a) is re16 pealed.

17 (C) Section 5(b) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 77(b)) is

18 amended by striking ‘‘Service employees’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘employees of the Secretary’’.

20 (D) The first sentences of each of sections 7(j)(2)

21 and 7A(l)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 79(j)(2) and

22 79a(l)(2), respectively) are amended by striking ‘‘su23 pervision by Service personnel of its field office per24 sonnel’’ and inserting ‘‘supervision by the Secretary

25 of the field office personnel of the Secretary’’.
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1 (E) Section 12 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 87a) is

2 amended—

3 (i) in the first sentence of subsection (c), by

4 striking ‘‘or Administrator’’; and

5 (ii) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or the

6 Administrator’’.

7 (F) Such Act (7 U.S.C. 71 et seq.) is amended

8 by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ and ‘‘Service’’ each place

9 either term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

10 (2) Section 407 of the Packers and Stockyards

11 Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 228) is amended—

12 (A) by striking subsection (b);

13 (B) by redesignating subsections (c) through

14 (f) as subsections (b) through (e), respectively;

15 and

16 (C) in subsection (e) (as so designated), by

17 striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub18 section (d)’’.

19 Subtitle I—Research, Economics,

20 and Education

21 SEC. 2901. FEDERAL RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SERV22 ICE.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

24 establish and maintain within the Department the Federal

25 Research and Information Service (referred to in this sec-
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1 tion as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service such

2 functions as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

3 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

4 out through the Service, or through any other officer or ad5 ministrative unit as the Secretary may consider appro6 priate, programs and activities, including—

7 (1) agricultural research; and

8 (2) agricultural information and library serv9 ices.

10 SEC. 2902. COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH AND EDU11 CATION SERVICE.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

13 establish and maintain within the Department the Coopera14 tive State Research and Education Service (referred to in

15 this section as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service

16 such functions as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

17 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to carry

18 out through the Service programs and activities, includ19 ing—

20 (1) cooperative research programs; and

21 (2) agricultural extension and education pro22 grams.
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1 SEC. 2903. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS

2 SERVICE.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may establish

4 and maintain within the Department the Agricultural Eco5 nomics and Statistics Service (referred to in this section

6 as the ‘‘Service’’) and to assign to the Service such functions

7 as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

8 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary may carry out

9 through the Service, or through any other officer or admin10 istrative unit as the Secretary may consider appropriate,

11 programs and activities, including—

12 (1) economic analysis and research;

13 (2) energy-related programs;

14 (3) crop and livestock estimates; and

15 (4) agricultural statistics.

16 (c) STATE AND LOCAL STATISTICAL OFFICES AND

17 PERSONNEL.—The authority provided by subsections (a)

18 and (b) shall not authorize a substantial change in the func19 tions or structures of State and local statistical offices and

20 employees of the offices.

21 SEC. 2904. PROGRAM POLICY AND COORDINATION STAFF.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

23 establish and maintain within the Department the Program

24 Policy and Coordination Staff (referred to in this section

25 as the ‘‘Staff’’) and to assign to the Staff such functions

26 as the Secretary may consider appropriate.
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1 (b) FUNCTIONS.—If the Staff is established and main2 tained, the Staff shall provide common program policy de3 velopment for the Federal Research and Information Serv4 ice, the Cooperative State Research and Education Service,

5 and the Agricultural Economics and Statistics Service.

6 (c) COMPOSITION.—Not less than 50 percent of the em7 ployees of the Staff shall be former employees of the Cooper8 ative State Research Service and the Extension Service, as

9 in existence on the date of enactment of this Act.

10 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY PER11 FORMED BY NASS.—The Staff may not—

12 (1) interfere with statistic collection and report13 ing; or

14 (2) compromise the independence or integrity of

15 statistic collection and reporting functions of the Na16 tional Agricultural Statistics Service as in effect on

17 the date of enactment of this Act.

18 Subtitle J—Food Safety

19 SEC. 2951. FOOD SAFETY SERVICE.

20 (a) MEAT INSPECTION.—The Federal Meat Inspection

21 Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

22 end the following new title:
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1 ‘‘TITLE V—FOOD SAFETY

2 SERVICE

3 ‘‘SEC. 501. FOOD SAFETY SERVICE.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and

5 maintain within the United States Department of Agri6 culture the Food Safety Service (referred to in this section

7 as the ‘Service’) and to assign to the Service such functions

8 as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

9 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR FOOD SAFETY.—

10 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—There shall be in the Serv11 ice the position of Assistant Secretary for Food Safety

12 (referred to in this section as the ‘Assistant Sec13 retary’), who shall be appointed by the President, by

14 and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

15 ‘‘(2) CONTINUITY OF THE POSITION.—Any offi16 cial serving on the date of enactment of this section,

17 who has been appointed by the President and con18 firmed by the Senate, shall not be required to be re19 confirmed by reason of the enactment of this Act.

20 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO THE SECRETARY.—The

21 Assistant Secretary shall report directly to the Sec22 retary.

23 ‘‘(4) GENERAL POWERS.—The Secretary is au24 thorized to carry out, through the Service or through

25 such other officers or administrative units as the Sec-
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1 retary may consider appropriate, programs and ac2 tivities involving food safety under this Act and the

3 Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et

4 seq.), including—

5 ‘‘(A) providing overall direction to the Serv6 ice and establishing and implementing general

7 policies concerning the management and oper8 ation of programs and inspection activities of

9 the Service;

10 ‘‘(B) coordinating and overseeing the oper11 ation of all administrative entities within the

12 Service;

13 ‘‘(C) research and inspection relating to

14 meat, meat food products, poultry, and poultry

15 products in carrying out this Act and the Poul16 try Products Inspection Act;

17 ‘‘(D) conducting educational and public in18 formation programs relating to the responsibil19 ities of the Service; and

20 ‘‘(E) performing such other functions relat21 ed to food safety as the Secretary may prescribe,

22 except that only programs and activities related

23 to food safety, as determined by the Secretary,

24 shall be administered through the Service.
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1 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC REVIEW GROUPS.—

2 The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary, may,

3 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

4 Code, governing appointment in the competitive service,

5 and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub6 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code,

7 relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates—

8 ‘‘(1) establish such technical and scientific re9 view groups as are needed to carry out the functions

10 of the Service, including functions under this Act and

11 under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C.

12 451 et seq.); and

13 ‘‘(2) appoint and pay the members of the groups,

14 except that officers and employees of the United States

15 shall not receive additional compensation for service

16 as a member of a group.’’.

17 (b) POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION.—The Poultry

18 Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amend19 ed—

20 (1) by redesignating section 29 as section 30;

21 and

22 (2) by inserting after section 28 the following

23 new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 29. ADMINISTRATION.

2 ‘‘The Secretary shall administer this Act through the

3 Assistant Secretary for Food Safety of the Food Safety

4 Service established under section 501 of the Federal Meat

5 Inspection Act.’’.

6 Subtitle K—Miscellaneous

7 SEC. 2981. ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF AGRICULTURE.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There are established in the

9 Department six positions of Assistant Secretary of Agri10 culture, each to be appointed by the President, by and with

11 the advice and consent of the Senate.

12 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Each Assistant Secretary of Agri13 culture shall exercise such functions and perform such du14 ties as may be required by law or prescribed by the Sec15 retary, and shall receive compensation at the rate pre16 scribed by law for an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.

17 The compensation of any person serving as an Adminis18 trator shall not be raised by this title.

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

20 (1) Section 2 of the Act of February 9, 1889 (25

21 Stat. 659, chapter 122; 7 U.S.C. 2212), is repealed.

22 (2) Section 604 of the Rural Development Act of

23 1972 (7 U.S.C. 2212a) is amended by striking sub24 section (a).

25 (3) Section 2 of Public Law No. 94–561 (7

26 U.S.C. 2212b) is repealed.
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1 (4) Section 1413 of the National Agricultural

2 Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977

3 (7 U.S.C. 3128) is amended by striking subsection

4 (d).

5 (5) Section 8 of the International Carriage of

6 Perishable Foodstuffs Act (7 U.S.C 2212c) is amended

7 by striking subsection (a).

8 (d) CONTINUITY OF POSITIONS.—Notwithstanding

9 subsections (a) and (b) and the amendments made by sub10 section (c), any official serving in any of the positions re11 ferred to in this section on the date of enactment of this

12 Act, after appointment by the President, by and with the

13 advice and consent of the Senate, shall be considered after

14 the date of enactment of this Act to be serving in the succes15 sor positions established by subsection (a) and shall not be

16 required to be reappointed by reason of the enactment of

17 this title.

18 (e) ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section

19 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘Assistant Secretaries of Agri21 culture (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant Secretaries of

22 Agriculture (six)’’; and

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

24 ‘‘Administrator, Farm Service Agency, Depart25 ment of Agriculture.
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1 ‘‘Administrator, International Trade Service,

2 Department of Agriculture.

3 ‘‘Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, Depart4 ment of Agriculture.’’.

5 SEC. 2982. REMOVAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISIONS.

6 Section 5316 of title 5, United States Code, is amend7 ed—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Agricultural

9 Marketing Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

10 (2) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Agricultural Re11 search Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

12 (3) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Agricultural

13 Stabilization and Conservation Service, Department

14 of Agriculture.’’;

15 (4) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Farmers Home

16 Administration.’’;

17 (5) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Foreign Agricul18 tural Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

19 (6) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Rural Elec20 trification Administration, Department of Agri21 culture.’’;

22 (7) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Soil Conserva23 tion Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

24 (8) by striking ‘‘Chief Forester of the Forest

25 Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;
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1 (9) by striking ‘‘Director of Science and Edu2 cation, Department of Agriculture.’’;

3 (10) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Animal and

4 Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Agri5 culture.’’; and

6 (11) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Federal Grain

7 Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture.’’.

8 SEC. 2983. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Con11 gress recommended legislation containing additional tech12 nical and conforming amendments to Federal law that are

13 necessary as a result of the enactment of this title.

14 SEC. 2984. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the au16 thority delegated to the Secretary by this title to reorganize

17 the Department shall terminate on the date that is 2 years

18 after the date of enactment of this Act.

19 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not affect—

20 (1) the authority of the Secretary to continue to

21 carry out a function that the Secretary performs on

22 the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment

23 of this Act; or
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1 (2) the authority delegated to the Secretary

2 under Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1953 (5 U.S.C.

3 App. 1).

4 SEC. 2985. ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATIVE INSPECTION RE5 QUIREMENTS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

7 shall—

8 (1) eliminate inspections of pilots and aircraft

9 by the Department of Agriculture;

10 (2) develop with the Administrator of the Federal

11 Aviation Administration inspection specifications

12 and procedures by which aircraft and pilots con13 tracted by the United States Department of Agri14 culture will be inspected. The Administrator will en15 sure that the inspection specifications and procedures

16 are met; and

17 (3) permit the utilization by the Department of

18 Agriculture of inspections and certifications of pilots

19 and aircraft conducted by the Federal Aviation Ad20 ministration.

21 (b) APPLICABILITY.—An inspection requirement shall

22 be eliminated pursuant to subsection (a)(1) only if the pi23 lots and aircraft are inspected by the Federal Aviation Ad-
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1 ministration for compliance with the safety regulations of

2 the Federal Aviation Regulations.

Attest:

Secretary.
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