II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1905 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to support crop insurance for 

specialty crops, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2011 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to support crop 

insurance for specialty crops, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Specialty Crop Insur5 ance Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCE PAYMENTS FOR UNDERSERVED REGIONS 

7 AND CROPS. 

8 Section 522(b)(2) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act 

9 (7 U.S.C. 1522(b)(2)) is amended by striking subpara10 graph (E) and inserting the following: 


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•S 1905 IS

1 ‘‘(E) APPROVAL.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Board may 

3 approve up to 50 percent of the projected 

4 total research and development costs to be 

5 paid in advance to an applicant, in accord6 ance with the procedures developed by the 

7 Board for the making of the payments, if, 

8 after consideration of the reviewer reports 

9 described in subparagraph (D) and such 

10 other information as the Board determines 

11 appropriate, the Board determines— 

12 ‘‘(I) the concept, in good faith, 

13 will likely result in a viable and mar14 ketable policy consistent with section 

15 508(h); 

16 ‘‘(II) in the sole opinion of the 

17 Board, the concept, if developed into a 

18 policy and approved by the Board, 

19 would provide crop insurance cov20 erage— 

21 ‘‘(aa) in a significantly im22 proved form; 

23 ‘‘(bb) to a crop or region not 

24 traditionally served by the Fed25 eral crop insurance program; or 


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•S 1905 IS

1 ‘‘(cc) in a form that ad2 dresses a recognized flaw or 

3 problem in the program; 

4 ‘‘(III) the applicant agrees to 

5 provide such reports as the Corpora6 tion determines are necessary to mon7 itor the development effort; 

8 ‘‘(IV) the proposed budget and 

9 timetable are reasonable; and 

10 ‘‘(V) the concept proposal meets 

11 any other requirements that the 

12 Board determines appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER.—The Board may waive 

14 the 50-percent cap on costs paid under 

15 clause (i) if, in the sole discretion of the 

16 Board, the Board determines that— 

17 ‘‘(I) the concept proposal pro18 vides coverage for a region or crop 

19 that is underserved by the Federal 

20 crop insurance program, including 

21 specialty crops; and 

22 ‘‘(II) the submitter of the con23 cept proposal does not have sufficient 

24 financial resources to fund the develVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:01 Nov 21, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1905.IS S1905

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1 opment of the concept or the submis2 sion.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVEL4 OPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 522(c) of the Federal 

6 Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended— 

7 (1) in the subsection heading by striking ‘‘CON8 TRACTING’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

10 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘may enter into con11 tracts to carry out research and development to’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘may conduct activities or enter into 

13 contracts to carry out research and development to 

14 maintain or improve existing policies or develop new 

15 policies to’’; 

16 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

18 ‘‘conduct research and development or’’ after 

19 ‘‘The Corporation may’’; and 

20 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

21 ‘‘conducting research and development or’’ after 

22 ‘‘Before’’; 

23 (4) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘after expert 

24 review in accordance with section 505(e)’’ after ‘‘ap25 proved by the Board’’; and 


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1 (5) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘a pasture, 

2 range, and forage program’’ and inserting ‘‘policies 

3 that increase participation by producers of under4 served agricultural commodities, including specialty 

5 crops’’. 

6 (b) FUNDING.—Section 522(e) of the Federal Crop 

7 Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(e)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘(A) CONDUCTING AND CONTRACTING

11 FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—’’; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

13 ‘‘conduct research and development and’’ after 

14 ‘‘the Corporation may use to’’; and 

15 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

16 ‘‘conduct research and development and’’ after 

17 ‘‘for the fiscal year to’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘to provide ei19 ther reimbursement payments or contract pay20 ments’’; and 

21 (3) by striking paragraph (4). 

Æ 


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