IV

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 559

Concurring in the Senate amendment to H.R. 4217 with an amendment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Mr. DE LA GARZA submitted the following resolution; which was considered

under suspension of the rules and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Concurring in the Senate amendment to H.R. 4217 with

an amendment.

1 Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution, the

2 House shall be considered to have taken from the Speak3 er’s table the bill (H.R. 4217) to reform the Federal crop

4 insurance program, and for other purposes, with the Sen5 ate amendment thereto, and to have concurred in the Sen6 ate amendment with an amendment as follows:

7 In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the

8 Senate amendment, insert the following:
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

3 ‘‘Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Ag4 riculture Reorganization Act of 1994’’.

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

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE REFORM

Sec. 101. Short title; references.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Members of Board of Directors of Corporation.

Sec. 104. General powers.

Sec. 105. Personnel.

Sec. 106. Crop insurance.

Sec. 107. Crop insurance yield coverage.

Sec. 108. Preemption.

Sec. 109. Advisory Committee.

Sec. 110. Funding.

Sec. 111. Noninsured crop disaster assistance.

Sec. 112. Payment and income limitations.

Sec. 113. Producer eligibility.

Sec. 114. Ineligibility for catastrophic risk and noninsured assistance payments.

Sec. 115. Elimination of gender references.

Sec. 116. Prevented planting.

Sec. 117. Report on improving dissemination of crop insurance information.

Sec. 118. Crop insurance provider evaluation.

Sec. 119. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 120. Effective date.

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

REORGANIZATION

Sec. 201. Short title.

Sec. 202. Purpose.

Sec. 203. Definitions.

Subtitle A—General Reorganization Authorities

Sec. 211. Transfer of Department functions to Secretary of Agriculture.

Sec. 212. Authority of Secretary to delegate transferred functions.

Sec. 213. Reductions in number of department personnel.

Sec. 214. Consolidation of headquarters offices.

Sec. 215. Combination of field offices.

Sec. 216. Improvement of information sharing.

Sec. 217. Reports by the Secretary.

Sec. 218. Assistant Secretaries of Agriculture.

Sec. 219. Pay increases prohibited.
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Subtitle B—Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services

Sec. 225. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural

Services.

Sec. 226. Consolidated Farm Service Agency.

Sec. 227. State, county, and area committees.

Subtitle C—Rural Economic and Community Development

Sec. 231. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Economic and Community

Development.

Sec. 232. Rural Utilities Service.

Sec. 233. Rural Housing and Community Development Service.

Sec. 234. Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service.

Sec. 235. Conforming amendments regarding Rural Electrification Administration.

Subtitle D—Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services

Sec. 241. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer

Services.

Subtitle E—Natural Resources and Environment

Sec. 245. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment.

Sec. 246. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Sec. 247. Reorganization of Forest Service.

Subtitle F—Research, Education, and Economics

Sec. 251. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics.

Sec. 252. Program staff.

Subtitle G—Food Safety

Sec. 261. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety.

Sec. 262. Conditions for implementation of alterations in the level of additives

allowed in animal diets.

Subtitle H—National Appeals Division

Sec. 271. Definitions.

Sec. 272. National Appeals Division and Director.

Sec. 273. Transfer of functions.

Sec. 274. Notice and opportunity for hearing.

Sec. 275. Informal hearings.

Sec. 276. Right of participants to Division hearing.

Sec. 277. Division hearings.

Sec. 278. Director review of determinations of hearing officers.

Sec. 279. Judicial review.

Sec. 280. Implementation of final determinations of Division.

Sec. 281. Conforming amendments relating to National Appeals Division.

Sec. 282. Expansion of issues covered by State mediation programs.

Sec. 283. Authorization of appropriations.

Subtitle I—Miscellaneous Reorganization Provisions
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Sec. 291. Successorship provisions relating to bargaining units and exclusive

representatives.

Sec. 292. Purchase of American-made equipment and products.

Sec. 293. Miscellaneous conforming amendments.

Sec. 294. Removal of obsolete administrative provisions.

Sec. 295. Proposed conforming amendments.

Sec. 296. Termination of authority.

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 301. Poultry labeling.

Sec. 302. First Amendment rights of employees of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Sec. 303. Adjusted cost of thrifty food plan.

Sec. 304. Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis.

Sec. 305. Fair and equitable treatment of socially disadvantaged producers.

Sec. 306. Aviation inspections.

1 TITLE I—FEDERAL CROP

2 INSURANCE REFORM

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.

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

5 ‘‘Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994’’.

6 (b) REFERENCES TO FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE

7 ACT.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever

8 in this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

9 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi10 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

11 section or other provision of the Federal Crop Insurance

12 Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

13 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 502 (7 U.S.C. 1502) is

15 amended—

16 (1) by striking the section heading and ‘‘SEC.

17 502.’’ and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 502. PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS.

2 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—’’; and

3 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section:

5 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this title:

6 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.—The term ‘addi7 tional coverage’ means a plan of crop insurance cov8 erage providing a level of coverage greater than the

9 level available under catastrophic risk protection.

10 ‘‘(2) APPROVED INSURANCE PROVIDER.—The

11 term ‘approved insurance provider’ means a private

12 insurance provider that has been approved by the

13 Corporation to provide insurance coverage to produc14 ers participating in the Federal crop insurance pro15 gram established under this title.

16 ‘‘(3) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the

17 Board of Directors of the Corporation established

18 under section 505(a).

19 ‘‘(4) CORPORATION.—The term ‘Corporation’

20 means the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation es21 tablished under section 503.

22 ‘‘(5) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’

23 means the United States Department of Agriculture.

24 ‘‘(6) LOSS RATIO.—The term ‘loss ratio’ means

25 the ratio of all sums paid by the Corporation as in26 demnities under any eligible crop insurance policy to
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1 that portion of the premium designated for antici2 pated losses and a reasonable reserve, other than

3 that portion of the premium designated for operat4 ing and administrative expenses.

5 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

6 the Secretary of Agriculture.

7 ‘‘(8) TRANSITIONAL YIELD.—The term ‘transi8 tional yield’ means the maximum average production

9 per acre or equivalent measure that is assigned to

10 acreage for a crop year by the Corporation in ac11 cordance with the regulations of the Corporation

12 whenever the producer fails—

13 ‘‘(A) to certify that acceptable documenta14 tion of production and acreage for the crop year

15 is in the possession of the producer; or

16 ‘‘(B) to present the acceptable documenta17 tion on the demand of the Corporation or an in18 surance company reinsured by the Corpora19 tion.’’.

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

21 (1) The first sentence of section 503 (7 U.S.C.

22 1503) is amended by striking ‘‘(herein called the

23 Corporation)’’.

24 (2) Section 504 (7 U.S.C. 1504) is amended—
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1 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Board

2 of Directors of the Corporation’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘Board’’; and

4 (B) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Federal

5 Crop Insurance Corporation’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘Corporation’’.

7 (3) The first sentence of section 505(a) (7

8 U.S.C. 1505(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘(herein9 after called the ‘Board’)’’.

10 (4) Except in section 502, the Act is amend11 ed—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘Board of Directors’’ each

13 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Board’’;

14 (B) by striking ‘‘Department of Agri15 culture’’ each place it appears and inserting

16 ‘‘Department’’; and

17 (C) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’

18 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

19 SEC. 103. MEMBERS OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF COR20 PORATION.

21 The second sentence of section 505(a) (7 U.S.C.

22 1505(a)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘or Assistant Secretary’’ the

24 first place it appears; and
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘the Under Secretary or Assist2 ant Secretary of Agriculture responsible for the farm

3 credit programs of the Department of Agriculture’’

4 and inserting ‘‘one additional Under Secretary of

5 Agriculture (as designated by the Secretary of Agri6 culture)’’.

7 SEC. 104. GENERAL POWERS.

8 Section 506 (7 U.S.C. 1506) is amended—

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

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

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the follow12 ing new subsection:

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

14 the authority to make final and conclusive settlement and

15 adjustment of any claim by or against the Corporation or

16 a fiscal officer of the Corporation.’’;

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

18 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘,

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

20 (B) in the second sentence, by striking

21 ‘‘contracts or agreements’’ each place it appears

22 and inserting ‘‘contracts, agreements, or regula23 tions’’;
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1 (4) in subsection (n)(1) (as so redesignated), by

2 striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the follow3 ing 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 bene8 fit under this title for a period of not to exceed

9 10 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

22 1, 1995.—The Corporation’’;

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

24 by subparagraph (A)), by striking ‘‘from ob25 taining adequate Federal crop insurance, as de-
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1 termined by the Corporation’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘(as defined by the Secretary) from obtaining

3 Federal 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

10 adjusters’’ after ‘‘identify insured produc11 ers’’; and

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

13 paragraphs:

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

15 1, 1998.—The Corporation shall take such actions,

16 including the establishment of adequate premiums,

17 as are necessary to improve the actuarial soundness

18 of 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 1.075.

22 ‘‘(3) NONSTANDARD CLASSIFICATION SYS23 TEM.—To the extent that the Corporation uses the

24 nonstandard classification system, the Corporation
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1 shall apply the system to all insured producers in a

2 fair and consistent manner.’’; and

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

5 ‘‘(p) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary and the Cor6 poration are each authorized to issue such regulations as

7 are necessary to carry out this title.

8 ‘‘(q) PROGRAM COMPLIANCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) TIMELINESS.—The Corporation shall work

10 actively with approved insurance providers to ad11 dress program compliance and integrity issues as the

12 issues develop.

13 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE PROB14 LEMS.—The Corporation shall notify in writing any

15 approved insurance provider with whom the Cor16 poration has an agreement under this title of any

17 error, omission, or failure to follow Corporation reg18 ulations or procedures for which the approved insur19 ance provider may be responsible and which may re20 sult in a debt owed the Corporation. The notice shall

21 be given within 3 years of the end of the insurance

22 period during which the error, omission, or failure is

23 alleged to have occurred, except that this time limit

24 shall not apply with respect to errors, omissions, or

25 procedural violations that are willful or intentional.
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1 The failure to timely provide the notice required

2 under this subsection shall relieve the approved in3 surance provider from the debt owed the Corpora4 tion.

5 ‘‘(r) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT

6 AND PRODUCTS.—

7 ‘‘(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

8 Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all

9 equipment and products purchased by the Corpora10 tion using funds made available to the Corporation

11 should be American-made.

12 ‘‘(2) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—In providing fi13 nancial assistance to, or entering into any contract

14 with, any entity for the purchase of equipment and

15 products to carry out this title, the Corporation, to

16 the greatest extent practicable, shall provide to the

17 entity a notice describing the statement made in

18 paragraph (1).’’.

19 SEC. 105. PERSONNEL.

20 Section 507 (7 U.S.C. 1507) is amended—

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

22 crop insurance committeemen’’;

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

24 and all that follows through ‘‘agency’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section:

3 ‘‘(g)(1) The Corporation shall establish a manage4 ment-level position to be known as the Specialty Crops Co5 ordinator.

6 ‘‘(2) The Specialty Crops Coordinator shall have pri7 mary responsibility for addressing the needs of specialty

8 crop producers, and for providing information and advice,

9 in connection with the activities of the Corporation to im10 prove and expand the insurance program for specialty

11 crops. In carrying out this paragraph, the Specialty Crops

12 Coordinator shall act as the liaison of the Corporation

13 with representatives of specialty crop producers and assist

14 the Corporation with the knowledge, expertise, and famili15 arity of the producers with risk management and produc16 tion issues pertaining to specialty crops.

17 ‘‘(3) The Specialty Crops Coordinator shall use infor18 mation collected from Corporation field office directors in

19 States in which specialty crops have a significant economic

20 effect and from other sources, including the extension

21 service and colleges and universities.’’.

22 SEC. 106. CROP INSURANCE.

23 Section 508 (7 U.S.C. 1508) is amended to read as

24 follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 508. CROP INSURANCE.

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

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

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

5 Corporation may insure, or provide reinsurance for

6 insurers of, producers of agricultural commodities

7 grown in the United States under 1 or more plans

8 of insurance determined by the Corporation to be

9 adapted to the agricultural commodity concerned. To

10 qualify for coverage under a plan of insurance, the

11 losses of the insured commodity must be due to

12 drought, flood, or other natural disaster (as deter13 mined by the Secretary).

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

15 and potatoes, insurance shall not extend beyond the

16 period during which the insured commodity is in the

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

18 of an aquacultural species, the term ‘field’ means

19 the environment in which the commodity is pro20 duced.

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

22 this subsection shall not cover losses due to—

23 ‘‘(A) the neglect or malfeasance of the pro24 ducer;
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1 ‘‘(B) the failure of the producer to reseed

2 to the same crop in such areas and under such

3 circumstances as it is customary to reseed; or

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

5 good farming practices (as determined by the

6 Secretary).

7 ‘‘(4) EXPANSION TO OTHER AREAS OR SINGLE

8 PRODUCERS.—

9 ‘‘(A) AREA EXPANSION.—The Corporation

10 may offer plans of insurance or reinsurance for

11 production of agricultural commodities in the

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is13 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common14 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the

15 Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated

16 States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau

17 in the same manner as provided in this section

18 for production of agricultural commodities in

19 the United States.

20 ‘‘(B) PRODUCER EXPANSION.—In an area

21 in the United States or specified in subpara22 graph (A) where crop insurance is not available

23 for a particular agricultural commodity, the

24 Corporation may offer to enter into a written

25 agreement with an individual producer operat-
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1 ing in the area for insurance coverage under

2 this title if the producer has actuarially sound

3 data relating to the production by the producer

4 of the commodity and the data is acceptable to

5 the Corporation.

6 ‘‘(5) DISSEMINATION OF CROP INSURANCE IN7 FORMATION.—The Corporation shall make available

8 to producers through local offices of the Depart9 ment—

10 ‘‘(A) current and complete information on

11 all aspects of Federal crop insurance; and

12 ‘‘(B) a listing of insurance agents and

13 companies offering to sell crop insurance in the

14 area of the producers.

15 ‘‘(6) ADDITION OF NEW AND SPECIALTY

16 CROPS.—

17 ‘‘(A) DATA COLLECTION.—Not later than

18 180 days after the date of enactment of this

19 paragraph, the Secretary shall issue guidelines

20 for publication in the Federal Register for data

21 collection to assist the Corporation in formulat22 ing crop insurance policies for new and spe23 cialty crops.

24 ‘‘(B) ADDITION OF NEW CROPS.—Not later

25 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
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1 paragraph, and annually thereafter, the Cor2 poration shall report to Congress on the

3 progress and expected timetable for expanding

4 crop insurance coverage under this title to new

5 and specialty crops.

6 ‘‘(C) ADDITION OF DIRECT SALE PERISH7 ABLE CROPS.—Not later than 1 year after the

8 date of enactment of this paragraph, the Cor9 poration shall report to Congress on the fea10 sibility of offering a crop insurance program de11 signed to meet the needs of specialized produc12 ers of vegetables and other perishable crops who

13 market through direct marketing channels.

14 ‘‘(b) CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION.—

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

16 a catastrophic risk protection plan to indemnify pro17 ducers for crop loss due to loss of yield or prevented

18 planting, if provided by the Corporation, when the

19 producer is unable, because of drought, flood, or

20 other natural disaster (as determined by the Sec21 retary), to plant other crops for harvest on the acre22 age for the crop year.

23 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF COVERAGE.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B)—
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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of each of the 1995

2 through 1998 crop years, catastrophic risk

3 protection shall offer a producer coverage

4 for a 50 percent loss in yield, on an indi5 vidual yield or area yield basis, indemnified

6 at 60 percent of the expected market price,

7 or a comparable coverage (as determined

8 by the Corporation); and

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of each of the 1999

10 and subsequent crop years, catastrophic

11 risk protection shall offer a producer cov12 erage for a 50 percent loss in yield, on an

13 individual yield or area yield basis, indem14 nified at 55 percent of the expected market

15 price, or a comparable coverage (as deter16 mined by the Corporation).

17 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION IN ACTUAL PAYMENT.—

18 The amount paid to a producer on a claim

19 under catastrophic risk protection may reflect a

20 reduction that is proportional to the out-of21 pocket expenses that are not incurred by the

22 producer as a result of not planting, growing,

23 or harvesting the crop for which the claim is

24 made, as determined by the Corporation.
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1 ‘‘(3) YIELD AND LOSS BASIS.—A producer shall

2 have the option of basing the catastrophic coverage

3 of the producer on an individual yield and loss basis

4 or on an area yield and loss basis, if both options

5 are offered by the Corporation.

6 ‘‘(4) SALE OF CATASTROPHIC RISK COV7 ERAGE.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Catastrophic risk cov9 erage may be offered by—

10 ‘‘(i) approved insurance providers, if

11 available in an area; and

12 ‘‘(ii) at the option of the Secretary

13 that is based on considerations of need,

14 local offices of the Department.

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

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

17 may take into account the most efficient and

18 cost-effective use of resources, the availability of

19 personnel, fairness to local producers, the needs

20 and convenience of local producers, and the

21 availability of private insurance carriers.

22 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATIVE FEE.—

23 ‘‘(A) FEE REQUIRED.—Producers shall

24 pay an administrative fee for catastrophic risk

25 protection. The administrative fee for each pro-
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1 ducer shall be $50 per crop per county, but not

2 to exceed $200 per producer per county up to

3 a maximum of $600 per producer for all coun4 ties in which a producer has insured crops. The

5 administrative fee shall be paid by the producer

6 at the time the producer applies for cata7 strophic risk protection.

8 ‘‘(B) USE OF FEES.—

9 ‘‘(i) FEES UP TO $100.—

10 ‘‘(I) FEES COLLECTED BY USDA

11 OFFICES.—Not more than $100 of the

12 administrative fees paid by a producer

13 for catastrophic risk coverage that are

14 collected by an office of the Depart15 ment shall be credited to the appro16 priations account providing funds for

17 the payment of operating and admin18 istrative expenses incurred for the de19 livery of catastrophic risk protection

20 under this section. The fees shall be

21 collected in accordance with appro22 priation Acts and shall be available

23 until expended without fiscal year lim24 itation for the payment of the ex25 penses.
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1 ‘‘(II) FEES COLLECTED BY AP2 PROVED INSURANCE PROVIDERS.—

3 Not more than $100 of the adminis4 trative fees paid by a producer for

5 catastrophic risk coverage that are

6 collected by an approved insurance

7 provider shall be retained by the pro8 vider as payment for operating and

9 administrative expenses incurred for

10 the delivery of catastrophic risk pro11 tection.

12 ‘‘(ii) FEES IN EXCESS OF $100.—Not13 withstanding the authority granted to the

14 Secretary under the Federal Crop Insur15 ance Corporation account provisions of the

16 Agricultural, Rural Development, Food

17 and Drug Administration, and Related

18 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995, all fees

19 collected under this subsection in excess of

20 $100 per producer per county shall be de21 posited in the crop insurance fund estab22 lished under section 516(c), to be available

23 for the programs and activities of the Cor24 poration.
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1 ‘‘(C) WAIVER OF FEE.—The Corporation

2 shall waive the administrative fee for limited re3 source farmers, as defined by the Corporation.

4 ‘‘(6) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT.—A pro5 ducer may obtain catastrophic risk coverage for a

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

7 the producer obtains the coverage for the crop on all

8 insurable land of the producer in the county.

9 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT PRO10 GRAMS.—

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

12 price support or production adjustment pro13 gram, the conservation reserve program, or any

14 benefit described in section 371 of the Consoli15 dated Farm and Rural Development Act, the

16 producer must obtain at least the catastrophic

17 level of insurance for each crop of economic sig18 nificance grown on each farm in the county in

19 which the producer has an interest, if insurance

20 is available in the county for the crop.

21 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF CROP OF ECONOMIC

22 SIGNIFICANCE.—As used in this paragraph, the

23 term ‘crop of economic significance’ means a

24 crop that has contributed, or is expected to con-
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1 tribute, 10 percent or more of the total ex2 pected value of all crops grown by the producer.

3 ‘‘(8) LIMITATION DUE TO RISK.—The Corpora4 tion may limit catastrophic risk coverage in any

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

6 insurance risk concerned.

7 ‘‘(9) TRANSITIONAL COVERAGE FOR 1995

8 CROPS.—Effective only for a 1995 crop planted or

9 for which insurance attached prior to January 1,

10 1995, the Corporation shall allow producers of the

11 crops until not later than the end of the 180-day pe12 riod beginning on the date of enactment of the Fed13 eral Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 to obtain

14 catastrophic risk protection for the crop. On enact15 ment of such Act, a producer who made timely pur16 chases of a crop insurance policy before the date of

17 enactment of such Act, under the provisions of this

18 title then in effect, shall be eligible for the same ben19 efits to which a producer would be entitled under

20 comparable additional coverage under subsection (c).

21 ‘‘(10) SIMPLIFICATION.—

22 ‘‘(A) CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION

23 PLANS.—In developing and carrying out the

24 policies and procedures for a catastrophic risk

25 protection plan under this title, the Corporation
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1 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, mini2 mize the paperwork required and the complexity

3 and costs of procedures governing applications

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

5 parties involved.

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

7 the policies and procedures developed under

8 subparagraph (A) may be applied to other plans

9 of insurance offered under this title without

10 jeopardizing the actuarial soundness or integ11 rity of the crop insurance program, the Cor12 poration shall apply the policies and procedures

13 to the other plans of insurance within a reason14 able period of time (as determined by the Cor15 poration) after the effective date of this para16 graph.

17 ‘‘(c) GENERAL COVERAGE LEVELS.—

18 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL COVERAGE GENERALLY.—

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

20 offer to producers of agricultural commodities

21 grown in the United States plans of crop insur22 ance that provide additional coverage.

23 ‘‘(B) PURCHASE.—To be eligible for addi24 tional coverage, a producer must apply to an

25 approved insurance provider for purchase of ad-
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1 ditional coverage if the coverage is available

2 from an approved insurance provider. If addi3 tional coverage is unavailable privately, the Cor4 poration may offer additional coverage plans of

5 insurance directly to producers.

6 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF RELEVANT INFORMATION.—

7 If a producer has already applied for catastrophic

8 risk protection at the local office of the Department

9 and elects to purchase additional coverage, the rel10 evant information for the crop of the producer shall

11 be transferred to the approved insurance provider

12 servicing the additional 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 cov19 erage shall be dollar denominated and may be pur20 chased at any level not to exceed 85 percent of the

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

22 determined by the Corporation). Not later than the

23 beginning of the 1996 crop year, the Corporation

24 shall provide producers with information on cata25 strophic risk and additional coverage in terms of dol-
26

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1 lar coverage (within the allowable limits of coverage

2 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 a producer on the basis of any price

17 election that equals or is less than the price

18 election established by the Corporation. The

19 coverage shall be quoted in terms of dollars per

20 acre.

21 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM PRICE ELECTIONS.—The

22 Corporation may establish minimum price elec23 tions below which levels of insurance shall not

24 be offered.
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1 ‘‘(C) WHEAT CLASSES AND MALTING BAR2 LEY.—The Corporation shall, as the Corpora3 tion determines practicable, offer producers dif4 ferent price elections for classes of wheat and

5 malting barley (including contract prices in the

6 case of malting barley), in addition to the

7 standard price election, that reflect different

8 market prices, as determined by the Corpora9 tion. The Corporation shall, as the Corporation

10 determines practicable, offer additional coverage

11 for each class determined under this subpara12 graph and charge a premium for each class that

13 is actuarially sound.

14 ‘‘(7) FIRE AND HAIL COVERAGE.—For levels of

15 additional coverage equal to 65 percent or more of

16 the recorded or appraised average yield indemnified

17 at 100 percent of the expected market price, or an

18 equivalent coverage, a producer may elect to delete

19 from the additional coverage any coverage against

20 damage caused by fire and hail if the producer ob21 tains an equivalent or greater dollar amount of cov22 erage for damage caused by fire and hail from an

23 approved insurance provider. On written notice of

24 the election to the company issuing the policy pro25 viding additional coverage and submission of evi-
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 dence of substitute coverage on the commodity in2 sured, the premium of the producer shall be reduced

3 by an amount determined by the Corporation to be

4 actuarially appropriate, taking into account the ac5 tuarial value of the remaining coverage provided by

6 the Corporation. In no event shall the producer be

7 given credit for an amount of premium determined

8 to be greater than the actuarial value of the protec9 tion against losses caused by fire and hail that is in10 cluded in the additional coverage for the crop.

11 ‘‘(8) STATE PREMIUM SUBSIDIES.—The Cor12 poration may enter into an agreement with any

13 State or agency of a State under which the State or

14 agency may pay to the approved insurance provider

15 an additional premium subsidy to further reduce the

16 portion of the premium paid by producers in the

17 State.

18 ‘‘(9) LIMITATIONS ON ADDITIONAL COV19 ERAGE.—The Board may limit the availability of ad20 ditional coverage under this subsection in any county

21 or area, or on any farm, on the basis of the insur22 ance risk involved. The Board shall not offer addi23 tional coverage equal to less than 50 percent of the

24 recorded or appraised average yield indemnified at
29

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1 100 percent of the expected market price, or an

2 equivalent coverage.

3 ‘‘(10) ADMINISTRATIVE FEE.—

4 ‘‘(A) FEE REQUIRED.—Except as other5 wise provided in this paragraph, if a producer

6 elects to purchase additional coverage for a crop

7 at a level that is less than 65 percent of the re8 corded or appraised average yield indemnified

9 at 100 percent of the expected market price, or

10 an equivalent coverage, the producer shall pay

11 an administrative fee for the additional cov12 erage. Subsection (b)(5) shall apply in deter13 mining the amount and use of the administra14 tive fee or in determining whether to waive the

15 administrative fee.

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a producer elects to

17 purchase additional coverage for a crop equal to

18 65 percent or more of the recorded or appraised

19 average yield indemnified at 100 percent of the

20 expected market price, or an equivalent cov21 erage, the producer shall not be subject to the

22 administrative fee required by this paragraph or

23 subsection (b)(5). If the producer has already

24 paid the administrative fee for a lower level of

25 coverage for the crop, the administrative fee
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 shall be refunded to the producer unless the re2 fund would reduce to less than $200 the total

3 amount of the administrative fees paid by the

4 producer for 2 or more crops in the same coun5 ty for which a lower level of coverage is ob6 tained.

7 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL FEE.—If a producer

8 elects to purchase additional coverage for a crop

9 equal to or exceeding 65 percent of the recorded

10 or appraised average yield and 100 percent of

11 the expected market price or an equivalent cov12 erage, the producer shall pay an administrative

13 fee of $10 for the coverage. If a producer has

14 already paid an administrative fee for lesser

15 coverage for the crop, the fee for lesser cov16 erage shall be refunded to the producer unless

17 the producer has paid the maximum fee for

18 lesser coverage and refund of the fee will not

19 reduce the amount to be paid below the maxi20 mum amount.

21 ‘‘(D) DEPOSIT OF FEES.—Notwithstanding

22 the authority granted to the Secretary under

23 the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation ac24 count provisions of the Agricultural, Rural De25 velopment, Food and Drug Administration, and
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995, ad2 ministrative fees collected under subparagraph

3 (B) in excess of $100 per producer per county

4 and under subparagraph (C) shall be deposited

5 in the insurance fund established under section

6 516(c) to be available for the programs and ac7 tivities of the Corporation.

8 ‘‘(d) PREMIUMS.—

9 ‘‘(1) PREMIUMS REQUIRED.—The Corporation

10 shall fix adequate premiums for all the plans of in11 surance of the Corporation at such rates as the

12 Board determines are actuarially sufficient to attain

13 an expected loss ratio of not greater than 1.1

14 through September 30, 1998, and not greater than

15 1.075 after October 1, 1998.

16 ‘‘(2) PREMIUM AMOUNTS.—The premium

17 amounts for catastrophic risk protection under sub18 section (b) and additional coverage under subsection

19 (c) shall be fixed as follows:

20 ‘‘(A) In the case of catastrophic risk pro21 tection, the amount of the premium shall be

22 sufficient to cover anticipated losses and a rea23 sonable reserve.

24 ‘‘(B) In the case of additional coverage

25 below 65 percent of the recorded or appraised
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 average yield indemnified at 100 percent of the

2 expected market price, or an equivalent cov3 erage, but greater than 50 percent of the re4 corded or appraised average yield indemnified

5 at 100 percent of the expected market price, or

6 an equivalent coverage, the amount of the pre7 mium shall—

8 ‘‘(i) be sufficient to cover anticipated

9 losses and a reasonable reserve; and

10 ‘‘(ii) include an amount for operating

11 and administrative expenses, as determined

12 by the Corporation.

13 ‘‘(C) In the case of additional coverage

14 equal to or greater than 65 percent of the re15 corded or appraised average yield indemnified

16 at 100 percent of the expected market price, or

17 an equivalent coverage, the amount of the pre18 mium shall—

19 ‘‘(i) be sufficient to cover anticipated

20 losses and a reasonable reserve; and

21 ‘‘(ii) include an amount for operating

22 and administrative expenses, as determined

23 by the Corporation, on an industry-wide

24 basis as a percentage of the amount of the

25 premium used to define loss ratio.
33

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1 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT OF PORTION OF PREMIUM BY COR2 PORATION.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of encour4 aging the broadest possible participation of produc5 ers in the catastrophic risk protection provided

6 under subsection (b) and the additional coverage

7 provided under subsection (c), the Corporation shall

8 pay a part of the premium in the amounts provided

9 in accordance with this subsection.

10 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of

11 the premium to be paid by the Corporation shall be

12 as follows:

13 ‘‘(A) In the case of catastrophic risk pro14 tection, the amount shall be equivalent to the

15 premium established for catastrophic risk pro16 tection under subsection (d)(2)(A).

17 ‘‘(B) In the case of coverage below 65 per18 cent of the recorded or appraised average yield

19 indemnified at 100 percent of the expected mar20 ket price, or an equivalent coverage, but greater

21 than 50 percent of the recorded or appraised

22 average yield indemnified at 100 percent of the

23 expected market price, or an equivalent cov24 erage, the amount shall be equivalent to the

25 amount of premium established for catastrophic
34

•HRES 559 ATH

1 risk protection coverage and the amount of op2 erating and administrative expenses established

3 under subsection (d)(2)(B).

4 ‘‘(C) In the case of coverage equal to or

5 greater than 65 percent of the recorded or ap6 praised average yield indemnified at 100 per7 cent of the expected market price, or an equiva8 lent coverage, on an individual or area basis,

9 the amount shall be equivalent to an amount

10 equal to the premium established for 50 percent

11 loss in yield indemnified at 75 percent of the

12 expected market price and the amount of oper13 ating and administrative expenses established

14 under subsection (d)(2)(C).

15 ‘‘(3) PREMIUM REDUCTION.—If an approved in16 surance provider determines that the provider may

17 provide insurance more efficiently than the expense

18 reimbursement amount established by the Corpora19 tion, the approved insurance provider may reduce,

20 subject to the approval of the Corporation, the pre21 mium charged the insured by an amount correspond22 ing to the efficiency. The approved insurance pro23 vider shall apply to the Corporation for authority to

24 reduce the premium before making such a reduction,

25 and the reduction shall be subject to the rules, limi-
35

•HRES 559 ATH

1 tations, and procedures established by the Corpora2 tion.

3 ‘‘(4) INDIVIDUAL AND AREA CROP INSURANCE

4 COVERAGE.—The Corporation shall allow approved

5 insurance providers to offer a plan of insurance to

6 producers that combines both individual yield cov7 erage and area yield coverage at a premium rate de8 termined by the provider under the following condi9 tions:

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

11 equal to or greater than catastrophic risk pro12 tection as described in subsection (b).

13 ‘‘(B) The combined policy shall include

14 area yield coverage that is offered by the Cor15 poration or similar area coverage, as deter16 mined by the Corporation.

17 ‘‘(C) The Corporation shall provide rein18 surance on the area yield portion of the com19 bined policy at the request of the provider, ex20 cept that the provider shall agree to pay to the

21 producer any portion of the area yield and loss

22 indemnity payment received from the Corpora23 tion or a commercial reinsurer that exceeds the

24 individual indemnity payment made by the pro25 vider to the producer.
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1 ‘‘(D) The Corporation shall pay a part of

2 the premium equivalent to—

3 ‘‘(i) the amount authorized under

4 paragraph (2) (except provisions regarding

5 operating and administrative expenses);

6 and

7 ‘‘(ii) the amount of operating and ad8 ministrative expenses authorized by the

9 Corporation for the area yield coverage

10 portion of the combined policy.

11 ‘‘(E) The provider shall provide all under12 writing services for the combined policy, includ13 ing the determination of individual yield cov14 erage premium rates, the terms and conditions

15 of the policy, and the acceptance and classifica16 tion of applicants into risk categories, subject to

17 subparagraph (F).

18 ‘‘(F) The Corporation shall approve the

19 combined policy unless the Corporation deter20 mines that the policy is not actuarially sound or

21 that the interests of producers are not ade22 quately protected.

23 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBILITY.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To participate in cata25 strophic risk protection coverage under this section,
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 a producer shall submit an application at the local

2 office of the Department or to an approved insur3 ance provider.

4 ‘‘(2) SALES CLOSING DATE.—For coverage

5 under this title, each producer shall purchase crop

6 insurance on or before the sales closing date for the

7 crop by providing the required information and exe8 cuting the required documents. Subject to the goal

9 of ensuring actuarial soundness for the crop insur10 ance program, the sales closing date shall be estab11 lished by the Corporation to maximize convenience

12 to producers in obtaining benefits under price and

13 production adjustment programs of the Department.

14 Beginning with the 1995 crop year, the Corporation

15 shall establish, for an insurance policy for each in16 surable crop that is planted in the spring, a sales

17 closing date that is 30 days earlier than the cor18 responding sales closing date that was established

19 for the 1994 crop year.

20 ‘‘(3) RECORDS AND REPORTING.—To obtain

21 catastrophic risk protection under subsection (b) or

22 additional coverage under subsection (c), a producer

23 shall—

24 ‘‘(A) provide, to the extent required by the

25 Corporation, records acceptable to the Corpora-
38

•HRES 559 ATH

1 tion of historical acreage and production of the

2 crops for which the insurance is sought or ac3 cept a yield determined by the Corporation; and

4 ‘‘(B) report acreage planted and prevented

5 from planting by the designated acreage report6 ing date for the crop and location as established

7 by the Corporation.

8 ‘‘(g) YIELD DETERMINATIONS.—

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

10 the Corporation shall establish crop insurance un11 derwriting rules that ensure that yield coverage, as

12 specified in this subsection, is provided to eligible

13 producers obtaining catastrophic risk protection

14 under subsection (b) or additional coverage under

15 subsection (c).

16 ‘‘(2) YIELD COVERAGE PLANS.—

17 ‘‘(A) ACTUAL PRODUCTION HISTORY.—

18 Subject to subparagraph (B), the yield for a

19 crop shall be based on the actual production

20 history for the crop, if the crop was produced

21 on the farm without penalty during each of the

22 4 crop years immediately preceding the crop

23 year for which actual production history is

24 being established, building up to a production

25 data base for each of the 10 consecutive crop
39

•HRES 559 ATH

1 years preceding the crop year for which actual

2 production history is being established.

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

4 does not provide satisfactory evidence of the

5 yield of a commodity under subparagraph (A),

6 the producer shall be assigned a yield that is

7 not less than 65 percent of the transitional

8 yield of the producer (adjusted to reflect actual

9 production reflected in the records acceptable to

10 the Corporation for continuous years), as speci11 fied in regulations issued by the Corporation

12 based on production history requirements.

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

14 offer a crop insurance plan based on an area

15 yield that allows an insured producer to qualify

16 for an indemnity if a loss has occurred in an

17 area (as specified by the Corporation) in which

18 the farm of the producer is located. Under an

19 area yield plan, an insured producer shall be al20 lowed to select the level of area production at

21 which an indemnity will be paid consistent with

22 such terms and conditions as are established by

23 the Corporation.

24 ‘‘(D) COMMODITY-BY-COMMODITY BASIS.—

25 A producer may choose between individual yield
40

•HRES 559 ATH

1 or area yield coverage or combined coverage (as

2 provided in subsection (e)(4)), if available, on a

3 commodity-by-commodity basis.

4 ‘‘(3) TRANSITIONAL YIELDS FOR PRODUCERS

5 OF FEED OR FORAGE.—

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

7 provide satisfactory evidence of a yield under

8 paragraph (2)(A), the producer shall be as9 signed a yield that is at least 80 percent of the

10 transitional yield established by the Corporation

11 (adjusted to reflect the actual production his12 tory of the producer) if the Secretary deter13 mines that—

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

15 primarily for on-farm use in a livestock,

16 dairy, or poultry operation; and

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

18 income of the producer is derived from the

19 operation.

20 ‘‘(B) YIELD CALCULATION.—The Corpora21 tion shall—

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

23 of a producer, provide the assigned yield

24 under this paragraph to the producer of

25 feed or forage; and
41

•HRES 559 ATH

1 ‘‘(ii) for the second year of participa2 tion of the producer, apply the actual pro3 duction history or assigned yield require4 ment, as provided in this subsection.

5 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The

6 authority provided by this paragraph shall ter7 minate on the date that is 3 years after the ef8 fective date of this paragraph.

9 ‘‘(h) SUBMISSION OF POLICIES AND MATERIALS TO

10 BOARD.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any standard

12 forms or policies that the Board may require be

13 made available to producers under subsection (c), a

14 person may prepare for submission or propose to the

15 Board—

16 ‘‘(A) other crop insurance policies and pro17 visions of policies; and

18 ‘‘(B) rates of premiums for multiple peril

19 crop insurance pertaining to wheat, soybeans,

20 field corn, and any other crops determined by

21 the Secretary.

22 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF POLICIES.—A policy or

23 other material submitted to the Board under this

24 subsection may be prepared without regard to the

25 limitations contained in this title, including the re-
42

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1 quirements concerning the levels of coverage and

2 rates and the requirement that a price level for each

3 commodity insured must equal the expected market

4 price for the commodity as established by the Board.

5 In the case of such a policy, the payment by the

6 Corporation of a portion of the premium of the pol7 icy may not exceed the amount that would otherwise

8 be authorized under subsection (e).

9 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND APPROVAL BY THE BOARD.—

10 A policy or other material submitted to the Board

11 under this subsection shall be reviewed by the Board

12 and, if the Board finds that the interests of produc13 ers are adequately protected and that any premiums

14 charged to the producers are actuarially appropriate,

15 shall be approved by the Board for reinsurance and

16 for sale to producers as an additional choice at actu17 arially appropriate rates and under appropriate

18 terms and conditions. The Corporation may enter

19 into more than 1 reinsurance agreement with the ap20 proved insurance provider simultaneously to facili21 tate the offering of the new policies.

22 ‘‘(4) GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION AND RE23 VIEW.—The Corporation shall issue regulations to

24 establish guidelines for the submission, and Board

25 review, of policies or other material submitted to the
43

•HRES 559 ATH

1 Board under this subsection. At a minimum, the

2 guidelines shall ensure the following:

3 ‘‘(A) A proposal submitted to the Board

4 under this subsection shall be considered as

5 confidential commercial or financial information

6 for purposes of section 552(b)(4) of title 5,

7 United States Code, until approved by the

8 Board. A proposal disapproved by the Board

9 shall remain confidential commercial or finan10 cial information.

11 ‘‘(B) The Board shall provide an applicant

12 with the opportunity to present the proposal to

13 the Board in person if the applicant so desires.

14 ‘‘(C) The Board shall provide an applicant

15 with notification of intent to disapprove a pro16 posal not later than 30 days prior to making

17 the disapproval. An applicant that receives the

18 notification may modify the application of the

19 applicant. Any modification shall be considered

20 an original application for purposes of this

21 paragraph.

22 ‘‘(D) Specific guidelines shall prescribe the

23 timing of submission of proposals under this

24 subsection and timely consideration by the

25 Board so that any approved proposal may be
44

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1 made available to all persons reinsured by the

2 Corporation in a manner permitting the persons

3 to participate, if the persons so desire, in offer4 ing such a proposal in the first crop year in

5 which the proposal is approved by the Board for

6 reinsurance, premium subsidy, or other support

7 offered by this title.

8 ‘‘(5) REQUIRED PUBLICATION.—Any policy,

9 provision of a policy, or rate approved under this

10 subsection shall be published as a notice in the Fed11 eral Register and made available to all persons con12 tracting with or reinsured by the Corporation under

13 the terms and conditions of the contract between the

14 Corporation and the person originally submitting the

15 policy or other material.

16 ‘‘(6) PILOT COST OF PRODUCTION RISK PRO17 TECTION PLAN.—

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

19 offer, to the extent practicable, a cost of pro20 duction risk protection plan of insurance that

21 indemnifies producers (including new produc22 ers) for insurable losses as provided in this

23 paragraph.

24 ‘‘(B) PILOT BASIS.—The cost of produc25 tion risk protection plan shall—
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 ‘‘(i) be established as a pilot project

2 for each of the 1996 and 1997 crop years;

3 and

4 ‘‘(ii) be carried out in a number of

5 counties that is determined by the Cor6 poration to be adequate to provide a com7 prehensive evaluation of the feasibility, ef8 fectiveness, and demand among producers

9 for the plan.

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

11 shall be incurred by a producer if the gross in12 come of the producer (as determined by the

13 Corporation) is less than an amount determined

14 by the Corporation, as a result of a reduction

15 in yield or price resulting from an insured

16 cause.

17 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION OF NEW PRODUCER.—

18 As used in this paragraph, the term ‘new pro19 ducer’ means a person that has not been ac20 tively engaged in farming for a share of the

21 production of the insured crop for more than 2

22 crop years, as determined by the Secretary.

23 ‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL PREVENTED PLANTING POL24 ICY COVERAGE.—
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•HRES 559 ATH

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

2 1995 crop year, the Corporation shall offer to

3 producers additional prevented planting cov4 erage that insures producers against losses in

5 accordance with this paragraph.

6 ‘‘(B) APPROVED INSURANCE PROVIDERS.—

7 Additional prevented planting coverage shall be

8 offered by the Corporation through approved in9 surance providers.

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

11 be covered by the additional prevented planting

12 coverage if—

13 ‘‘(i) crop insurance policies were ob14 tained for—

15 ‘‘(I) the crop year the loss was

16 experienced; and

17 ‘‘(II) the crop year immediately

18 preceding the year of the prevented

19 planting loss; and

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

21 ‘‘(I) after the sales closing date

22 for the crop in the crop year imme23 diately preceding the loss; and
47

•HRES 559 ATH

1 ‘‘(II) before the sales closing date

2 for the crop in the year in which the

3 loss is experienced.

4 ‘‘(8) PILOT PROGRAM OF ASSIGNED YIELDS FOR

5 NEW PRODUCERS.—

6 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—For each of

7 the 1995 and 1996 crop years, the Corporation

8 shall carry out a pilot program to assign to eli9 gible new producers higher assigned yields than

10 would otherwise be assigned to the producers

11 under subsection (g). The Corporation shall in12 clude in the pilot program 30 counties that are

13 determined by the Corporation to be adequate

14 to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the

15 feasibility, effectiveness, and demand among

16 new producers for increased assigned yields.

17 ‘‘(B) INCREASED ASSIGNED YIELDS.—In

18 the case of an eligible new producer participat19 ing in the pilot program, the Corporation shall

20 assign to the new producer a yield that is equal

21 to not less than 110 percent of the transitional

22 yield otherwise established by the Corporation.

23 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE NEW PRODUCER.—The

24 Secretary shall establish a definition of new
48

•HRES 559 ATH

1 producer for purposes of determining eligibility

2 to participate in the pilot program.

3 ‘‘(i) ADOPTION OF RATES AND COVERAGES.—The

4 Corporation shall adopt, as soon as practicable, rates and

5 coverages that will improve the actuarial soundness of the

6 insurance operations of the Corporation for those crops

7 that are determined to be insured at rates that are not

8 actuarially sound, except that no rate may be increased

9 by an amount of more than 20 percent over the com10 parable rate of the preceding crop year.

11 ‘‘(j) CLAIMS FOR LOSSES.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under rules prescribed by

13 the Corporation, the Corporation may provide for

14 adjustment and payment of claims for losses. The

15 rules prescribed by the Corporation shall establish

16 standards to ensure that all claims for losses are ad17 justed, to the extent practicable, in a uniform and

18 timely manner.

19 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF CLAIMS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara21 graph (B), if a claim for indemnity is denied by

22 the Corporation or an approved provider, an ac23 tion on the claim may be brought against the

24 Corporation or Secretary only in the United
49

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1 States district court for the district in which

2 the insured farm is located.

3 ‘‘(B) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—A suit

4 on the claim may be brought not later than 1

5 year after the date on which final notice of de6 nial of the claim is provided to the claimant.

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

8 provide approved insurance providers with indem9 nification, including costs and reasonable attorney

10 fees incurred by the approved insurance provider,

11 due to errors or omissions on the part of the Cor12 poration.

13 ‘‘(k) REINSURANCE.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

15 provision of this title, the Corporation shall, to the

16 maximum extent practicable, provide reinsurance to

17 insurers approved by the Corporation that insure

18 producers of any agricultural commodity under 1 or

19 more plans acceptable to the Corporation.

20 ‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The reinsur21 ance shall be provided on such terms and conditions

22 as the Board may determine to be consistent with

23 subsections (b) and (c) and sound reinsurance prin24 ciples.
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1 ‘‘(3) SHARE OF RISK.—The reinsurance agree2 ments of the Corporation with the reinsured compa3 nies shall require the reinsured companies to bear a

4 sufficient share of any potential loss under the

5 agreement so as to ensure that the reinsured com6 pany will sell and service policies of insurance in a

7 sound and prudent manner, taking into consider8 ation the financial condition of the reinsured compa9 nies and the availability of private reinsurance.

10 ‘‘(4) RATE.—The rate established by the Board

11 to reimburse approved insurance providers and

12 agents for the administrative and operating costs of

13 the providers and agents shall not exceed—

14 ‘‘(A) for the 1997 reinsurance year, 29

15 percent of the premium used to define loss

16 ratio;

17 ‘‘(B) for the 1998 reinsurance year, 28

18 percent of the premium used to define loss

19 ratio; and

20 ‘‘(C) for the 1999 reinsurance year, 27.5

21 percent of the premium used to define loss

22 ratio.

23 ‘‘(5) COST AND REGULATORY REDUCTION.—

24 Consistent with section 118 of the Federal Crop In25 surance Reform Act of 1994, and consistent with
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•HRES 559 ATH

1 maintenance of program integrity, prevention of

2 fraud and abuse, the need for program expansion,

3 and improvement of quality of service to customers,

4 the Board shall alter program procedures and ad5 ministrative requirements in order to reduce the ad6 ministrative and operating costs of approved insur7 ance providers and agents in an amount that cor8 responds to any reduction in the reimbursement rate

9 required under paragraph (4) during the 5-year pe10 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this

11 paragraph.

12 ‘‘(6) AGENCY DISCRETION.—The determination

13 of whether the Corporation is achieving, or has

14 achieved, corresponding administrative cost savings

15 shall not be subject to administrative review, and is

16 wholly committed to agency discretion within the

17 meaning of section 701(a)(2) of title 5, United

18 States Code.

19 ‘‘(7) PLAN.—The Corporation shall submit to

20 Congress a plan outlining the measures that will be

21 used to achieve the reduction required under para22 graph (5). If the Corporation can identify additional

23 cost reduction measures, the Corporation shall de24 scribe the measures in the plan.
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1 ‘‘(l) OPTIONAL COVERAGES.—The Corporation may

2 offer specific risk protection programs, including protec3 tion against prevented planting, wildlife depredation, tree

4 damage and disease, and insect infestation, under such

5 terms and conditions as the Board may determine, except

6 that no program may be undertaken if insurance for the

7 specific risk involved is generally available from private

8 companies.

9 ‘‘(m) RESEARCH.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), the Corporation may conduct research,

12 surveys, pilot programs, and investigations relating

13 to crop insurance and agriculture-related risks and

14 losses including insurance on losses involving re15 duced forage on rangeland caused by drought and by

16 insect infestation, livestock poisoning and disease,

17 destruction of bees due to the use of pesticides, and

18 other unique special risks related to fruits, nuts,

19 vegetables, aquacultural species, forest industry

20 needs (including appreciation), and other agricul21 tural products as determined by the Board.

22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—No action may be under23 taken with respect to a risk under paragraph (1) if

24 insurance protection against the risk is generally

25 available from private companies.
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1 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—After the completion of

2 any pilot program under this subsection, the Cor3 poration shall evaluate the pilot program and submit

4 to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of

5 Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture,

6 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, a report of

7 the operations of the pilot program, including the

8 evaluation by the Corporation of the pilot program

9 and the recommendations of the Corporation with

10 respect to implementing the program on a national

11 basis.’’.

12 SEC. 107. CROP INSURANCE YIELD COVERAGE.

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

14 SEC. 108. PREEMPTION.

15 Section 511 (7 U.S.C. 1511) is amended by adding

16 at the end the following sentence: ‘‘A contract of insurance

17 of the Corporation, and a contract of insurance reinsured

18 by the Corporation, shall be exempt from taxation imposed

19 by any State, municipality, or local taxing authority.’’.

20 SEC. 109. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

21 The Act is amended by inserting after section 514

22 (7 U.S.C. 1514) the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 515. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR FEDERAL CROP

2 INSURANCE.

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

4 within the Department an advisory committee to be known

5 as the ‘Advisory Committee for Federal Crop Insurance’.

6 ‘‘(b) PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY.—The primary re7 sponsibility of the Advisory Committee shall be to advise

8 the Secretary on the implementation of this title and on

9 other issues related to crop insurance, as determined by

10 the Manager of the Corporation.

11 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall

12 be composed of the Manager of the Corporation, the Sec13 retary (or a designee of the Secretary), and not fewer than

14 12 members representing organizations and agencies in15 volved in the provision of crop insurance under this title.

16 Not fewer than 3 of the members of the Advisory Commit17 tee shall be representatives of the specialty crops industry.

18 The organizations or agencies represented by members on

19 the Advisory Committee may include insurance companies,

20 insurance agents, farm producer organizations, experts on

21 agronomic practices, and banking and lending institutions.

22 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) TERMS.—Members of the Advisory Com24 mittee (other than the Manager of the Corporation

25 and the Secretary) shall be appointed by the Sec26 retary for a term of up to 2 years from nominations
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1 made by the organizations and agencies specified in

2 subsection (c). The terms of the members (other

3 than the Manager of the Corporation and the Sec4 retary) shall be staggered.

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

6 shall be chaired by the Manager of the Corporation.

7 ‘‘(3) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee

8 shall meet at least annually. The meetings of the

9 Advisory Committee shall be publicly announced in

10 advance and shall be open to the public. Appropriate

11 records of the activities of the Advisory Committee

12 shall be kept and made available to the public on re13 quest.

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

15 the Advisory Committee shall submit to the Secretary a

16 report specifying the conclusions and recommendations of

17 the Advisory Committee regarding—

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

19 title;

20 ‘‘(2) the actuarial soundness of the Federal

21 crop insurance program;

22 ‘‘(3) the rate of producer participation in both

23 catastrophic risk protection under section 508(b)

24 and additional coverage under section 508(c); and
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1 ‘‘(4) the progress toward improved crop insur2 ance coverage for new and specialty crops.

3 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority

4 provided by this section shall terminate on September 30,

5 1998.’’.

6 SEC. 110. FUNDING.

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

8 follows:

9 ‘‘SEC. 516. FUNDING.

10 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(1) DISCRETIONARY EXPENSES.—There are

12 authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years

13 1995 through 2001 such sums as are necessary to

14 cover—

15 ‘‘(A) the salaries and expenses of the Cor16 poration; and

17 ‘‘(B) the administrative and operating ex18 penses of the Corporation for the sales commis19 sions of agents.

20 ‘‘(2) MANDATORY EXPENSES.—There are au21 thorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec22 essary to cover—

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of each of the 1995

24 through 1997 reinsurance years, the adminis25 trative and operating expenses of the Corpora-
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1 tion for the sales commissions of agents, con2 sistent with subsection (b)(1);

3 ‘‘(B) premium subsidies, including the ad4 ministrative and operating expenses of an ap5 proved insurance provider for the delivery of

6 policies with additional coverage; and

7 ‘‘(C) payments for noninsured assistance

8 losses under section 519.

9 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.—

10 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATING EX11 PENSES.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

13 subparagraph (B), in the case of each of the

14 1995 through 1997 reinsurance years, the Cor15 poration is authorized to pay from the insur16 ance fund established under subsection (c), the

17 administrative and operating expenses of an ap18 proved insurance provider, including expenses

19 covered by subsection (a)(1)(B).

20 ‘‘(B) SALES COMMISSIONS FOR 1997 REIN21 SURANCE YEAR.—In the case of the 1997 rein22 surance year, the amount of the payments from

23 the insurance fund established under subsection

24 (c) for the expenses of the Corporation for the

25 sales commissions of agents may not exceed 8.5
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1 percent of the total amount of premiums paid

2 for additional coverage for the 1997 reinsurance

3 year.

4 ‘‘(2) OTHER EXPENSES.—The Corporation is

5 authorized to pay from the insurance fund estab6 lished under subsection (c)—

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

8 (other than expenses covered by subsection

9 (a)(1)), including all premium subsidies,

10 noninsured assistance benefits, and indemnities;

11 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (1)(B), in the

12 case of each of the 1995 through 1997 reinsur13 ance years, all administrative and expense reim14 bursements due under a reinsurance agreement

15 with an approved insurance provider; and

16 ‘‘(C) to the extent necessary, expenses in17 curred by the Corporation to carry out research

18 and development.

19 ‘‘(c) INSURANCE FUND.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an in21 surance fund, for the deposit of premium income

22 and amounts made available under subsection (a)(2),

23 to be available without fiscal year limitation.

24 ‘‘(2) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION

25 FUNDS.—If at any time the amounts in the insur-
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1 ance fund are insufficient to enable the Corporation

2 to carry out subsection (b), to the extent the funds

3 of the Commodity Credit Corporation are avail4 able—

5 ‘‘(A) the Corporation may request the Sec6 retary to use the funds of the Commodity Cred7 it Corporation to carry out subsection (b); and

8 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may use the funds of

9 the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out

10 subsection (b).’’.

11 SEC. 111. NONINSURED CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

12 Section 519 (7 U.S.C. 1519) is amended to read as

13 follows:

14 ‘‘SEC. 519. NONINSURED CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE

15 PROGRAM.

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—

17 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In the case of an eligi18 ble crop described in paragraph (2), the Corporation

19 shall establish a noninsured crop disaster assistance

20 program to provide coverage equivalent to the cata21 strophic risk protection otherwise available under

22 section 508(b).

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE CROPS.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As used in this sec25 tion, the term ‘eligible crop’ means each com-
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1 mercial crop or other agricultural commodity

2 (except livestock)—

3 ‘‘(i) for which catastrophic risk pro4 tection under section 508(b) is not avail5 able; and

6 ‘‘(ii) that is produced for food or

7 fiber.

8 ‘‘(B) CROPS SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED.—

9 The term ‘eligible crop’ shall include floricul10 tural, ornamental nursery, and Christmas tree

11 crops, turfgrass sod, and industrial crops.

12 ‘‘(3) CAUSE OF LOSS.—To qualify for assist13 ance under this section, the losses of the noninsured

14 commodity shall be due to drought, flood, or other

15 natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary.

16 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR NONINSURED CROP DISAS17 TER ASSISTANCE.—

18 ‘‘(1) TIMELY APPLICATION.—To be eligible for

19 assistance under this section, a producer shall sub20 mit an application for noninsured crop disaster as21 sistance at a local office of the Department. The ap22 plication shall be in such form, contain such infor23 mation, and be submitted at such time as the Cor24 poration may require.
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1 ‘‘(2) RECORDS.—A producer shall annually pro2 vide records, as required by the Corporation, of pre3 vious crop acreage, acreage yields, and production,

4 or the producer shall accept a yield under subsection

5 (e)(3) determined by the Corporation.

6 ‘‘(3) ACREAGE REPORTS.—A producer shall

7 provide reports on acreage planted or prevented

8 from being planted, as required by the Corporation,

9 by the designated acreage reporting date for the

10 crop and location as established by the Corporation.

11 ‘‘(c) LOSS REQUIREMENTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED AREA LOSS.—A producer of an

13 eligible crop shall not receive noninsured crop disas14 ter assistance unless the average yield for that crop,

15 or an equivalent measure in the event yield data are

16 not available, in an area falls below 65 percent of

17 the expected area yield, as established by the Cor18 poration.

19 ‘‘(2) PREVENTED PLANTING.—Subject to para20 graph (1), the Corporation shall make a prevented

21 planting noninsured crop disaster assistance pay22 ment if the producer is prevented from planting

23 more than 35 percent of the acreage intended for

24 the eligible crop because of drought, flood, or other

25 natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary.
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1 ‘‘(3) REDUCED YIELDS.—Subject to paragraph

2 (1), the Corporation shall make a reduced yield

3 noninsured crop disaster assistance payment to a

4 producer if the total quantity of the eligible crop

5 that the producer is able to harvest on any farm is,

6 because of drought, flood, or other natural disaster

7 as determined by the Secretary, less than 50 percent

8 of the expected individual yield for the crop, as de9 termined by the Corporation, factored for the inter10 est of the producer for the crop.

11 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT.—The Corporation shall make avail12 able to a producer eligible for noninsured assistance under

13 this section a payment computed by multiplying—

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

15 of the established yield for the crop; by

16 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of each of the 1995 through

17 1998 crop years, 60 percent of the average market

18 price for the crop (or any comparable coverage de19 termined by the Corporation); or

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of each of the 1999 and subse21 quent crop years, 55 percent of the average market

22 price for the crop (or any comparable coverage de23 termined by the Corporation); by

24 ‘‘(3) a payment rate for the type of crop (as de25 termined by the Corporation) that—
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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a crop that is produced

2 with a significant and variable harvesting ex3 pense, reflects the decreasing cost incurred in

4 the production cycle for the crop that is—

5 ‘‘(i) harvested;

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

7 ‘‘(iii) prevented from being planted

8 because of drought, flood, or other natural

9 disaster (as determined by the Secretary);

10 and

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of a crop that is not pro12 duced with a significant and variable harvesting

13 expense, is determined by the Corporation.

14 ‘‘(e) YIELD DETERMINATIONS.—

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Corporation shall

16 establish farm yields for purposes of providing

17 noninsured crop disaster assistance under this sec18 tion.

19 ‘‘(2) ACTUAL PRODUCTION HISTORY.—The Cor20 poration shall determine yield coverage using the ac21 tual production history of the producer over a period

22 of not less than the 4 previous consecutive crop

23 years and not more than 10 consecutive crop years.

24 Subject to paragraph (3), the yield for the year in

25 which noninsured crop disaster assistance is sought
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1 shall be equal to the average of the actual produc2 tion history of the producer during the period con3 sidered.

4 ‘‘(3) ASSIGNMENT OF YIELD.—If a producer

5 does not submit adequate documentation of produc6 tion history to determine a crop yield under para7 graph (2), the Corporation shall assign to the pro8 ducer a yield equal to not less than 65 percent of

9 the transitional yield of the producer (adjusted to re10 flect actual production reflected in the records ac11 ceptable to the Corporation for continuous years), as

12 specified in regulations issued by the Corporation

13 based on production history requirements.

14 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION ON ASSIGNED YIELDS IN

15 CERTAIN COUNTIES.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

17 ‘‘(i) DOCUMENTATION.—If sufficient

18 data are available to demonstrate that the

19 acreage of a crop in a county for the crop

20 year has increased by more than 100 per21 cent over any year in the preceding 7 crop

22 years or, if data are not available, if the

23 acreage of the crop in the county has in24 creased significantly from the previous

25 crop years, a producer must provide such
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1 detailed documentation of production costs,

2 acres planted, and yield for the crop year

3 for which benefits are being claimed as is

4 required by the Corporation. If the Cor5 poration determines that the documenta6 tion provided is not sufficient, the Corpora7 tion may require documenting proof that

8 the crop, had the crop been harvested,

9 could have been marketed at a reasonable

10 price.

11 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION.—Except as pro12 vided in subparagraph (B), a producer who

13 produces a crop on a farm located in a

14 county described in clause (i) may not ob15 tain an assigned yield.

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A crop or a producer

17 shall not be subject to this subsection if—

18 ‘‘(i) the planted acreage of the pro19 ducer for the crop has been inspected by a

20 third party acceptable to the Secretary; or

21 ‘‘(ii)(I) the County Executive Director

22 and the State Executive Director rec23 ommend an exemption from the require24 ment to the Deputy Administrator for

25 State and County Operations of the Agri-
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1 cultural Stabilization and Conservation

2 Service; and

3 ‘‘(II) the Deputy Administrator ap4 proves the recommendation.

5 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON RECEIPT OF SUBSEQUENT

6 ASSIGNED YIELD.—A producer who receives an as7 signed yield for the current year of a natural disas8 ter because required production records were not

9 submitted to the local office of the Department shall

10 not be eligible for an assigned yield for the year of

11 the next natural disaster unless the required produc12 tion records of the previous 1 or more years (as ap13 plicable) are provided to the local office.

14 ‘‘(6) YIELD VARIATIONS DUE TO DIFFERENT

15 FARMING PRACTICES.—The Corporation shall ensure

16 that noninsured crop disaster assistance accurately

17 reflects significant yield variations due to different

18 farming practices, such as between irrigated and

19 nonirrigated acreage.

20 ‘‘(f) CONTRACT PAYMENTS.—A producer who has re21 ceived a guaranteed payment for production, as opposed

22 to delivery, of a crop pursuant to a contract shall have

23 the production of the producer adjusted upward by the

24 amount of the production equal to the amount of the con25 tract payment received.
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1 ‘‘(g) PAYMENT OF LOSSES.—Payments for

2 noninsured crop disaster assistance losses under this sec3 tion shall be made from the insurance fund established

4 under section 516. The losses shall not be included in cal5 culating the premiums charged to producers for insurance

6 under section 508.

7 ‘‘(h) EXCLUSIONS.—Noninsured crop disaster assist8 ance under this section shall not cover losses due to—

9 ‘‘(A) the neglect or malfeasance of the pro10 ducer;

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

12 same crop in those areas and under such cir13 cumstances where it is customary to reseed; or

14 ‘‘(C) the failure of the producer to follow good

15 farming practices, as determined by the Corpora16 tion.’’.

17 SEC. 112. PAYMENT AND INCOME LIMITATIONS.

18 Section 519 (7 U.S.C. 1519) (as amended by section

19 111) is further amended by adding at the end the follow20 ing new subsection:

21 ‘‘(h) PAYMENT AND INCOME LIMITATIONS.—

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

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

24 meaning provided the term in regulations issued

25 by the Secretary. The regulations shall conform,
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1 to the extent practicable, to the regulations de2 fining the term ‘person’ issued under section

3 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7

4 U.S.C. 1308).

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

6 term ‘qualifying gross revenues’ means—

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

8 of the person is received from farming,

9 ranching, and forestry operations, the

10 gross revenue from the farming, ranching,

11 and forestry operations of the person; and

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

13 gross revenue of the person is received

14 from farming, ranching, and forestry oper15 ations, the gross revenue of the person

16 from all sources.

17 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT LIMITATION.—The total amount

18 of payments that a person shall be entitled to receive

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

20 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON MULTIPLE BENEFITS FOR

21 SAME LOSS.—If a producer who is eligible to receive

22 benefits under catastrophic risk protection under

23 section 508(b) or noninsured crop disaster assist24 ance under this section is also eligible to receive as25 sistance for the same loss under any other program
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1 administered by the Secretary, the producer shall be

2 required to elect whether to receive benefits under

3 this title or under the other program, but not both.

4 A producer who purchases additional coverage under

5 section 508(c) may also receive assistance for the

6 same loss under other programs administered by the

7 Secretary, except that the amount received for the

8 loss under the additional coverage together with the

9 amount received under the other programs may not

10 exceed the amount of the actual loss of the producer.

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

12 qualifying gross revenues in excess of the amount

13 specified in section 2266(a) of the Food, Agri14 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7

15 U.S.C. 1421 note) (as in effect on November 28,

16 1990) during the taxable year (as determined by the

17 Secretary) shall not be eligible to receive any

18 noninsured assistance payment under this section.

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

20 regulations prescribing such rules as the Secretary

21 determines necessary to ensure a fair and equitable

22 application of section 1001 of the Food Security Act

23 of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308), the general payment limi24 tation regulations of the Secretary, and the limita25 tions established under this subsection.’’.
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1 SEC. 113. PRODUCER ELIGIBILITY.

2 Section 520 (7 U.S.C. 1520) is amended to read as

3 follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 520. PRODUCER ELIGIBILITY.

5 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this title, a pro6 ducer shall not be denied insurance under this title if—

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

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

9 the Secretary); and

10 ‘‘(2) for purposes of any other plan of insur11 ance, the producer is 18 years of age and has a bona

12 fide insurable interest in a crop as an owner-opera13 tor, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper.’’.

14 SEC. 114. INELIGIBILITY FOR CATASTROPHIC RISK AND

15 NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.

16 The Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) is amended by add17 ing at the end the following new section:

18 ‘‘SEC. 521. INELIGIBILITY FOR CATASTROPHIC RISK AND

19 NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.

20 ‘‘If the Secretary determines that a person has know21 ingly adopted a material scheme or device to obtain cata22 strophic risk, additional coverage, or noninsured assist23 ance benefits under this title to which the person is not

24 entitled, has evaded this title, or has acted with the pur25 poses of evading this title, the person shall be ineligible

26 to receive all benefits applicable to the crop year for which
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1 the scheme or device was adopted. The authority provided

2 by this section shall be in addition to, and shall not sup3 plant, the authority provided by section 506(n).’’.

4 SEC. 115. ELIMINATION OF GENDER REFERENCES.

5 (a) MANAGEMENT OF CORPORATION.—Section 505

6 (7 U.S.C. 1505) is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking the third sen8 tence and inserting ‘‘The Board shall be appointed

9 by, and hold office at the pleasure of, the Secretary.

10 The Secretary shall not be a member of the Board.’’;

11 and

12 (2) in subsection (d)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘upon him’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘He shall be appointed

15 by,’’ and inserting ‘‘The manager shall be ap16 pointed by,’’.

17 (b) PERSONNEL.—Section 507 (7 U.S.C. 1507) is

18 amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘as he may

20 determine: Provided, That’’ and inserting ‘‘as the

21 Secretary may determine appropriate. However,’’;

22 and

23 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘as he may re24 quest’’ and inserting ‘‘that the Secretary requests’’.
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1 (c) INDEMNITIES EXEMPT FROM LEVY.—Section

2 509 (7 U.S.C. 1509) is amended by striking ‘‘or his es3 tate’’ and inserting ‘‘or the estate of the insured’’.

4 SEC. 116. PREVENTED PLANTING.

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

6 a producer described in subsection (b) shall receive com7 pensation under the prevented planting coverage policy

8 provision described in subsection (b)(1) by—

9 (1) obtaining from the Secretary of Agriculture

10 the applicable amount that is payable under the con11 serving use program described in subsection (b)(4);

12 and

13 (2) obtaining from the Federal Crop Insurance

14 Corporation the amount that is equal to the dif15 ference between—

16 (A) the amount that is payable under the

17 conserving use program; and

18 (B) the amount that is payable under the

19 prevented planting coverage policy.

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

21 apply to a producer who—

22 (1) purchased a prevented planting policy for

23 the 1994 crop year from the Federal Crop Insurance

24 Corporation prior to the spring sales closing date for

25 the 1994 crop year;
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1 (2) is unable to plant a crop due to major,

2 widespread flooding in the Midwest, or excessive

3 ground moisture, that occurred prior to the spring

4 sales closing date for the 1994 crop year;

5 (3) had a reasonable expectation of planting a

6 crop on the prevented planting acreage for the 1994

7 crop year; and

8 (4) participates in a conserving use program es9 tablished for the 1994 crop of wheat, feed grains,

10 upland cotton, or rice established under section

11 107B(c)(1)(E), 105B(c)(1)(E), 103B(c)(1)(D), or

12 101B(c)(1)(D), respectively, of the Agricultural Act

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

14 1444f(c)(1)(E), 1444–2(c)(1)(D), or 1441–

15 2(c)(1)(D)).

16 (c) OILSEED PREVENTED PLANTING PAYMENTS.—

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

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

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

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

21 payment for the crop if the requirements of para22 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (b) are satis23 fied.
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1 (2) SOURCE OF PAYMENT.—The total amount

2 of payments required under this subsection shall be

3 made by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.

4 (d) PAYMENT.—A payment under this section may

5 not be made before October 1, 1994.

6 SEC. 117. REPORT ON IMPROVING DISSEMINATION OF

7 CROP INSURANCE INFORMATION.

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

9 of this Act and at the end of each of the 2 1-year periods

10 thereafter, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation shall

11 submit a report to Congress containing a plan to imple12 ment a sound program for producer education regarding

13 the crop insurance program and for the dissemination of

14 crop insurance information to producers, as required by

15 section 508(a)(5) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (as

16 amended by section 106).

17 SEC. 118. CROP INSURANCE PROVIDER EVALUATION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the

19 United States and the Federal Crop Insurance Corpora20 tion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Corporation’’) shall

21 jointly evaluate the financial arrangement between the

22 Corporation and approved insurance providers to deter23 mine the quality, costs, and efficiencies of providing the

24 benefits of multiple peril crop insurance to producers of
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1 agricultural commodities covered under the Federal Crop

2 Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

3 (b) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION AND PROPOS4 ALS.—The Corporation shall require private insurance

5 providers and agents to supply, and the private insurance

6 providers and agents shall supply, records and information

7 necessary to make the determinations and evaluations re8 quired under this section. The Corporation shall solicit

9 from the approved insurance providers and agents propos10 als for modifying or altering the requirements, regulations,

11 procedures, and processes related to implementing the

12 Federal Crop Insurance Act to reduce the operating and

13 administrative costs of the providers and agents.

14 (c) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after

15 receipt of information and cost-reduction proposals under

16 subsection (b), the Corporation shall evaluate the informa17 tion and proposals obtained and report the results of the

18 evaluation to the Committee on Agriculture of the House

19 of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nu20 trition, and Forestry of the Senate.

21 (d) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General

23 and the Corporation shall submit a final report that pro24 vides the evaluation required under subsection (a) to the

25 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives
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1 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For2 estry of the Senate. In making the evaluation, the Comp3 troller General and the Corporation shall—

4 (1) consider the changes made by the Corpora5 tion in response to increased program participation

6 resulting from the enactment of this Act;

7 (2) include an evaluation and opinion of the ac8 curacy and reasonableness of—

9 (A) the average actual costs for approved

10 insurance providers to deliver multiple peril

11 crop insurance;

12 (B) the cost per policy of complying with

13 the requirements, regulations, procedures, and

14 processes of the Federal Crop Insurance Act;

15 (C) the cost differences for various pro16 vider firm sizes and any business delivered by

17 the Federal Government;

18 (D) the adequacy of the standard reim19 bursement for potential new providers; and

20 (E) the identification of any new costs re21 lated to the enactment of this Act not pre22 viously identified in the information reported by

23 the providers;

24 (3) compare delivery costs of multiple peril crop

25 insurance to other insurance coverages that the pro-
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1 vider may sell and determine the extent, if any, to

2 which any funds provided to carry out the Federal

3 Crop Insurance Act are being used to fund any

4 other business enterprise operated by the provider;

5 (4)(A) assess alternative methods for reimburs6 ing providers for reasonable and necessary expenses

7 associated with delivery of multiple peril crop insur8 ance;

9 (B) recommend changes under this paragraph

10 that reasonably demonstrate the need to achieve the

11 greatest operating efficiencies on the part of the pro12 vider and the Corporation has been recognized; and

13 (C) identify areas for improved operating effi14 ciencies, if any, in the requirements made by the

15 Corporation for compliance and program integrity;

16 (5) assess the potential for alternative forms of

17 reinsurance arrangements for providers of different

18 firm sizes, taking into consideration—

19 (A) the need to achieve a reasonable return

20 on the capital of the provider compared to other

21 lines of insurance;

22 (B) the relative risk borne by the provider

23 for the different lines of insurance;

24 (C) the availability and price of commercial

25 reinsurance; and
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1 (D) any additional costs that may be in2 curred by the Federal Government in carrying

3 out the Federal Crop Insurance Act; and

4 (6) include an analysis of the effect of the cur5 rent or proposed reinsurance arrangements on pro6 viders having different business levels.

7 (e) INFORMATION.—

8 (1) PRIVACY.—In conducting the evaluation re9 quired by this section, the Comptroller General and

10 the Corporation shall maintain the privacy of propri11 etary information.

12 (2) SUBPOENAS.—The Comptroller General

13 shall have the power to subpoena information rel14 evant to the evaluation required by this section from

15 any private insurance provider. The Comptroller

16 General shall allow the Corporation access to the in17 formation subpoenaed taking into consideration the

18 necessity of preserving the privacy of proprietary in19 formation.

20 SEC. 119. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

21 (a) PRICE SUPPORT PROGRAMS.—

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

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

24 adding at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 427. CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.

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

3 payments) under title I or II for each of the 1995 and

4 subsequent crops of tobacco, rice, extra long staple cotton,

5 upland cotton, feed grains, wheat, peanuts, oilseeds, and

6 sugar, a producer must obtain at least catastrophic risk

7 protection insurance coverage under section 508 of the

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

9 and crop year for which the benefit is sought, if the cov10 erage is offered by the Corporation.’’.

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

12 U.S.C. 1441–2(c)) is amended—

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara14 graph (F); and

15 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert16 ing the following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro18 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur19 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

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

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

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara23 graph (F); and

24 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert25 ing the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro2 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur3 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

4 (4) FEED GRAINS.—Section 105B(c) of such

5 Act (7 U.S.C. 1444f(c)) is amended—

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara7 graph (G); and

8 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert9 ing the following new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro11 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur12 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

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

14 U.S.C. 1445b–3a(c)) is amended—

15 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara16 graph (G); and

17 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert18 ing the following new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(2) CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.—A pro20 ducer shall obtain catastrophic risk protection insur21 ance coverage in accordance with section 427.’’.

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

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

24 (b) FARMERS HOME ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS.—

25 The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7
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1 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

2 the following new section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 371. CROP INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.

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

5 benefit (including a direct loan, loan guarantee, or pay6 ment) described in subsection (b), a borrower must obtain

7 at least catastrophic risk protection insurance coverage

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

9 U.S.C. 1508) for the crop and crop year for which the

10 benefit is sought, if the coverage is offered by the Corpora11 tion.

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

13 apply to—

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

15 303;

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

17 and

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

19 321.’’.

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

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

22 of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note) is amended by striking

23 chapter 3.

24 (d) EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective January 1, 1995,

2 section 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and

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

4 901(b)(2)(D)(i)) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following new sentence: ‘‘This subparagraph

6 shall not apply to appropriations to cover agricul7 tural crop disaster assistance.’’.

8 (2) EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.—Effective Jan9 uary 1, 1995, section 252(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

10 902(e)) is amended by adding at the end the follow11 ing new sentence: ‘‘This subsection shall not apply

12 to direct spending provisions to cover agricultural

13 crop disaster assistance.’’.

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

15 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or a com16 pany the Corporation reinsures’’ after ‘‘Federal Crop In17 surance Corporation’’.

18 (f) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) The first sentence of section 506(d) (7

20 U.S.C. 1506(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘508(f)’’

21 and inserting ‘‘508(j)’’.

22 (2) The last sentence of section 507(c) (7

23 U.S.C. 1507(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘508(b)’’

24 and inserting ‘‘508(h)’’.
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1 (3) Section 518 (7 U.S.C. 1518) is amended by

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

3 SEC. 120. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 Except as otherwise provided in this title, this title

5 and the amendments made by this title shall become effec6 tive on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply

7 to the provision of crop insurance under the Federal Crop

8 Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) beginning with the

9 1995 crop year. With respect to the 1994 crop year, the

10 Federal Crop Insurance Act (as in effect on the day before

11 the date of enactment of this Act) shall continue to apply.

12 TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF AG13 RICULTURE REORGANIZA14 TION

15 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

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

17 ‘‘Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994’’.

18 SEC. 202. PURPOSE.

19 The purpose of this title is to provide the Secretary

20 of Agriculture with the necessary authority to streamline

21 and reorganize the Department of Agriculture to achieve

22 greater efficiency, effectiveness, and economies in the or23 ganization and management of the programs and activities

24 carried out by the Department.
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1 SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.

2 Except where the context requires otherwise, for pur3 poses of this title:

4 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

5 means the Department of Agriculture.

6 (2) NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION.—The term

7 ‘‘National Appeals Division’’ means the National

8 Appeals Division of the Department established

9 under section 272.

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

11 the Secretary of Agriculture.

12 (4) FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘function’’ means

13 an administrative, financial, or regulatory activity of

14 an agency, office, officer, or employee of the Depart15 ment.

16 Subtitle A—General

17 Reorganization Authorities

18 SEC. 211. TRANSFER OF DEPARTMENT FUNCTIONS TO SEC19 RETARY OF AGRICULTURE.

20 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—Except as provided

21 in subsection (b), there are transferred to the Secretary

22 of Agriculture all functions of all agencies, offices, officers,

23 and employees of the Department that are not already

24 vested in the Secretary on the date of the enactment of

25 this Act.
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1 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

2 the following functions:

3 (1) Functions vested by subchapter II of chap4 ter 5 of title 5, United States Code, in administra5 tive law judges employed by the Department.

6 (2) Functions vested by the Inspector General

7 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) in the Inspector Gen8 eral of the Department.

9 (3) Functions vested by chapter 9 of title 31,

10 United States Code, in the Chief Financial Officer

11 of the Department.

12 (4) Functions vested in the corporations of the

13 Department or the boards of directors and officers

14 of such corporations.

15 (5) Functions vested in the Alternative Agricul16 tural Research and Commercialization Board by the

17 Alternative Agricultural Research and Commer18 cialization Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.).

19 SEC. 212. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO DELEGATE

20 TRANSFERRED FUNCTIONS.

21 (a) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—

22 (1) DELEGATION AUTHORIZED.—Subject to

23 paragraph (2), the Secretary may delegate to any

24 agency, office, officer, or employee of the Depart25 ment the authority to perform any function trans-
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1 ferred to the Secretary under section 211(a) or any

2 other function vested in the Secretary as of the date

3 of the enactment of this Act. The authority provided

4 in the preceding sentence includes the authority to

5 establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue any agen6 cy, office, or other administrative unit of the Depart7 ment.

8 (2) CONDITION ON AUTHORITY.—The delega9 tion authority provided by paragraph (1) shall be

10 subject to—

11 (A) sections 232, 251(d), 273, and 304

12 and subsections (a) and (b)(1) of section 261;

13 (B) sections 502 and 503 of the Agricul14 tural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5692 and

15 5693); and

16 (C) section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conserva17 tion and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.

18 590h(b)(5)).

19 (b) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS REQUIRED FOR NAME

20 CHANGE.—

21 (1) ANALYSIS REQUIRED.—Except as provided

22 in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall conduct a cost23 benefit analysis before changing the name of any

24 agency, office, division, or other unit of the Depart25 ment to ensure that the benefits to be derived from
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1 changing the name of the agency, office, division, or

2 other unit outweigh the expense of executing the

3 name change.

4 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

5 apply with respect to any name change required or

6 authorized by this title.

7 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT ON PROPOSED REORGANIZA8 TION.—To the extent that the implementation of the au9 thority provided to the Secretary by this title to reorganize

10 the Department involves the creation of new agencies or

11 offices within the Department or the delegation of major

12 functions or major groups of functions to any agency or

13 office of the Department (or the officers or employees of

14 such agency or office), the Secretary shall, to the extent

15 considered practicable by the Secretary—

16 (1) give appropriate advance public notice of

17 the proposed reorganization action or delegation;

18 and

19 (2) afford appropriate opportunity for inter20 ested parties to comment on the proposed reorga21 nization action or delegation.

22 (d) INTERAGENCY TRANSFER OF RECORDS, PROP23 ERTY, PERSONNEL, AND FUNDS.—

24 (1) RELATED TRANSFERS.—Subject to para25 graph (2), as part of the transfer or delegation of
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1 a function of the Department made or authorized by

2 this title, the Secretary may transfer within the De3 partment—

4 (A) any of the records, property, or per5 sonnel affected by the transfer or delegation of

6 the function; and

7 (B) unexpended balances (available or to

8 be made available for use in connection with the

9 transferred or delegated function) of appropria10 tions, allocations, or other funds of the Depart11 ment.

12 (2) APPLICABLE LAW RELATING TO FUNDS

13 TRANSFER.—Section 1531 of title 31, United States

14 Code, shall apply to any transfer of funds under

15 paragraph (1).

16 (e) EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.—

17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall

18 exhaust all administrative appeal procedures established

19 by the Secretary or required by law before the person may

20 bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction

21 against—

22 (1) the Secretary;

23 (2) the Department; or

24 (3) an agency, office, officer, or employee of the

25 Department.
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1 SEC. 213. REDUCTIONS IN NUMBER OF DEPARTMENT PER2 SONNEL.

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

4 (1) HEADQUARTERS OFFICES.—The term

5 ‘‘headquarters offices’’, with respect to agencies, of6 fices, or other administrative units of the Depart7 ment, means the offices, functions, and employee po8 sitions that are located or performed—

9 (A) in Washington, District of Columbia;

10 or

11 (B) in such other locations as are identi12 fied by the Secretary for purposes of this sec13 tion.

14 (2) FIELD STRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘field struc15 ture’’ means the offices, functions, and employee po16 sitions of all agencies, offices, or other administra17 tive units of the Department, other than the head18 quarters offices, except that the term does not in19 clude State, county, or area committees established

20 under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and

21 Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)).

22 The term includes the physical and geographic loca23 tions of such agencies, offices, or other administra24 tive units.

25 (b) NUMBER OF REDUCTIONS REQUIRED.—The Sec26 retary shall achieve Federal employee reductions of at
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1 least 7,500 staff years within the Department by the end

2 of fiscal year 1999. Reductions in the number of full-time

3 equivalent positions within the Department achieved

4 under section 5 of the Federal Workforce Restructuring

5 Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–226; 108 Stat. 115; 5

6 U.S.C. 3101 note) shall be counted toward the employee

7 reductions required under this section.

8 (c) EMPHASIS ON HEADQUARTERS OFFICES REDUC9 TIONS.—In achieving the employee reductions required by

10 subsection (b), the Secretary shall pursue a goal so that

11 the percentage of the total number of employee staff years

12 reduced in headquarters offices is at least twice the per13 centage of the total number of employee staff years re14 duced in the field structure.

15 (d) SCHEDULE.—The personnel reductions in head16 quarters offices and in the field structure should be accom17 plished concurrently in a manner determined by the Sec18 retary.

19 SEC. 214. CONSOLIDATION OF HEADQUARTERS OFFICES.

20 Subject to the availability of appropriated funds for

21 this purpose, the Secretary shall develop and carry out a

22 plan to consolidate offices located in Washington, District

23 of Columbia, of agencies, offices, and other administrative

24 units of the Department.
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1 SEC. 215. COMBINATION OF FIELD OFFICES.

2 (a) COMBINATION OF OFFICES REQUIRED.—Where

3 practicable and to the extent consistent with efficient, ef4 fective, and improved service, the Secretary shall combine

5 field offices of agencies within the Department to reduce

6 personnel and duplicative overhead expenses.

7 (b) JOINT USE OF RESOURCES AND OFFICES RE8 QUIRED.—When two or more agencies of the Department

9 share a common field office, the Secretary shall require

10 the agencies to jointly use office space, equipment, office

11 supplies, administrative personnel, and clerical personnel

12 associated with that field office.

13 SEC. 216. IMPROVEMENT OF INFORMATION SHARING.

14 Whenever the Secretary procures or uses computer

15 systems, as may be provided for in advance in appropria16 tions Acts, the Secretary shall do so in a manner that en17 hances efficiency, productivity, and client services and is

18 consistent with the goal of promoting computer informa19 tion sharing among agencies of the Department.

20 SEC. 217. REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), not22 withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary

23 may, but shall not be required to, prepare and submit any

24 report solely to the Committee on Agriculture of the

25 House of Representatives and the Committee on Agri26 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.
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1 (b) LIMITATION.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary

2 may not prepare and submit more than 30 reports re3 ferred to in subsection (a).

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

5 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa6 tives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

7 Forestry of the Senate, the Secretary shall determine

8 which reports, if any, the Secretary will prepare and sub9 mit in accordance with subsection (b).

10 SEC. 218. ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF AGRICULTURE.

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

12 establish in the Department the positions of—

13 (1) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Con14 gressional Relations;

15 (2) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Ad16 ministration; and

17 (3) Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Mar18 keting and Regulatory Programs.

19 (b) CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary es20 tablishes any position of Assistant Secretary authorized

21 under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall be ap22 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con23 sent of the Senate.

24 (c) SUCCESSION.—Any official who is serving as As25 sistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration or As-
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1 sistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Rela2 tions on the date of the enactment of this Act and who

3 was appointed as such Assistant Secretary by the Presi4 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,

5 shall not be required to be reappointed under subsection

6 (b) to the successor position authorized under subsection

7 (a) if the Secretary establishes the position, and the offi8 cial occupies the new position, within 180 days after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act (or such later date set

10 by the Secretary if litigation delays rapid succession).

11 (d) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5315 of title 5,

12 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Assistant

13 Secretaries of Agriculture (7).’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant

14 Secretaries of Agriculture (3).’’.

15 (e) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED PROVISIONS REGARD16 ING ASSISTANT SECRETARIES.—The following provisions

17 of law are repealed:

18 (1) Section 2 of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of

19 1953 (5 U.S.C. App; 7 U.S.C. 2201 note).

20 (2) Section 2 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to en21 large the powers and duties of the Department of

22 Agriculture and to create an Executive Department

23 to be known as the Department of Agriculture.’’, ap24 proved February 9, 1889 (7 U.S.C. 2212).
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1 (3) The first paragraph designated ‘‘OFFICE OF

2 THE SECRETARY:’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPART3 MENT OF AGRICULTURE’’ of the Act entitled

4 ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department

5 of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirti6 eth, nineteen hundred and seven.’’, approved June

7 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 670; 7 U.S.C. 2212).

8 (4) Section 604(a) of the Rural Development

9 Act of 1972 (7 U.S.C. 2212a).

10 (5) Section 2 of Public Law 94–561 (7 U.S.C.

11 2212b).

12 (6) Section 8(a) of Public Law 97–325 (7

13 U.S.C. 2212c).

14 (7) Section 1413(d) of the National Agricul15 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act

16 of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3128(d)).

17 SEC. 219. PAY INCREASES PROHIBITED.

18 The compensation of any officer or employee of the

19 Department on the date of the enactment of this Act shall

20 not be increased as a result of the enactment of this title.
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1 Subtitle B—Farm and Foreign

2 Agricultural Services

3 SEC. 225. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR FARM

4 AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES.

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

6 establish in the Department the position of Under Sec7 retary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural

8 Services.

9 (b) CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary es10 tablishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture

11 for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services authorized

12 under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall be ap13 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con14 sent of the Senate.

15 (c) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARY.—

16 (1) PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS.—Upon establish17 ment, the Secretary shall delegate to the Under Sec18 retary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricul19 tural Services those functions under the jurisdiction

20 of the Department that are related to farm and for21 eign agricultural services.

22 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Under Sec23 retary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricul24 tural Services shall perform such other functions as
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1 may be required by law or prescribed by the Sec2 retary.

3 (d) SUCCESSION.—Any official who is serving as

4 Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs

5 and Commodity Programs on the date of the enactment

6 of this Act and who was appointed by the President, by

7 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall not

8 be required to be reappointed under subsection (b) to the

9 successor position authorized under subsection (a) if the

10 Secretary establishes the position, and the official occupies

11 the new position, within 180 days after the date of the

12 enactment of this Act (or such later date set by the Sec13 retary if litigation delays rapid succession).

14 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

15 (1) EXISTING POSITION.—Section 501 of the

16 Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5691), re17 lating to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for

18 International Affairs and Commodity Programs, is

19 repealed.

20 (2) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5314 of

21 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking

22 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for International

23 Affairs and Commodity Programs.’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and For25 eign Agricultural Services.’’.
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1 SEC. 226. CONSOLIDATED FARM SERVICE AGENCY.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized

3 to establish and maintain in the Department a Consoli4 dated Farm Service Agency.

5 (b) FUNCTIONS OF CONSOLIDATED FARM SERVICE

6 AGENCY.—If the Secretary establishes the Consolidated

7 Farm Service Agency under subsection (a), the Secretary

8 is authorized to assign to the Agency jurisdiction over the

9 following functions:

10 (1) Agricultural price and income support pro11 grams, production adjustment programs, and related

12 programs.

13 (2) General supervision of the Federal Crop In14 surance Corporation.

15 (3) Agricultural credit programs assigned be16 fore the date of the enactment of this Act by law to

17 the Farmers Home Administration (including farm

18 ownership and operating, emergency, and disaster

19 loan programs) and other lending programs for agri20 cultural producers and others engaged in the pro21 duction of agricultural commodities.

22 (4) Subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of

23 title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

24 U.S.C. 3831–3836) and the agricultural conserva25 tion program under the Soil Conservation and Do26 mestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590g et seq.).
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1 (5) Such other functions as the Secretary con2 siders appropriate, except for those programs as3 signed by the Secretary to the Natural Resources

4 Conservation Service or another agency of the De5 partment under section 246(b).

6 (c) SPECIAL CONCURRENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR

7 CERTAIN FUNCTIONS.—In carrying out the programs

8 specified in subsection (b)(4), the Secretary shall—

9 (1) acting on the recommendations of the Con10 solidated Farm Service Agency, with the concurrence

11 of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, issue

12 regulations to carry out such programs;

13 (2) ensure that the Consolidated Farm Service

14 Agency, in establishing policies, priorities, and

15 guidelines for such programs, does so with the con16 currence of the Natural Resources Conservation

17 Service at national, State, and local levels;

18 (3) ensure that, in reaching such concurrence

19 at the local level, the Natural Resources Conserva20 tion Service works in cooperation with Soil and

21 Water Conservation Districts or similar organiza22 tions established under State law;

23 (4) ensure that officials of county and area

24 committees established under section 8(b)(5) of the

25 Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16
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1 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)) meet annually with officials of

2 such Districts or similar organizations to consider

3 local conservation priorities and guidelines; and

4 (5) take steps to ensure that the concurrence

5 process does not interfere with the effective delivery

6 of such programs.

7 (d) JURISDICTION OVER CONSERVATION PROGRAM

8 APPEALS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Until such time as an ad10 verse decision described in this paragraph is referred

11 to the National Appeals Division for consideration,

12 the Consolidated Farm Service Agency shall have

13 initial jurisdiction over any administrative appeal re14 sulting from an adverse decision made under title

15 XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.

16 3801 et seq.), including an adverse decision involv17 ing technical determinations made by the Natural

18 Resources Conservation Service.

19 (2) TREATMENT OF TECHNICAL DETERMINA20 TION.—With respect to administrative appeals in21 volving a technical determination made by the Natu22 ral Resources Conservation Service, the Consolidated

23 Farm Service Agency, by rule with the concurrence

24 of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall

25 establish procedures for obtaining review by the Nat-
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1 ural Resources Conservation Service of the technical

2 determinations involved. Such rules shall ensure that

3 technical criteria established by the Natural Re4 sources Conservation Service shall be used by the

5 Consolidated Farm Service Agency as the basis for

6 any decisions regarding technical determinations. If

7 no review is requested, the technical determination

8 of the Natural Resources Conservation Service shall

9 be the technical basis for any decision rendered by

10 a county or area committee established under section

11 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allot12 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)). If the committee

13 requests a review by the Natural Resources Con14 servation Service of a wetlands determination of the

15 Service, the Consolidated Farm Service Agency shall

16 consult with other Federal agencies whenever re17 quired by law or under a memorandum of agreement

18 in existence on the date of the enactment of this

19 Act.

20 (3) REINSTATEMENT OF PROGRAM BENE21 FITS.—Rules issued to carry out this subsection

22 shall provide for the prompt reinstatement of bene23 fits to a producer who is determined in an adminis24 trative appeal to meet the requirements of title XII
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1 of the Food Security Act of 1985 applicable to the

2 producer.

3 (e) USE OF FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL EMPLOY4 EES.—

5 (1) USE AUTHORIZED.—In the implementation

6 of programs and activities assigned to the Consoli7 dated Farm Service Agency, the Secretary may use

8 interchangeably in local offices of the Agency both

9 Federal employees of the Department and non-Fed10 eral employees of county and area committees estab11 lished under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation

12 and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.

13 590h(b)(5)).

14 (2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph

15 (1), no personnel action (as defined in section

16 2302(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code) may

17 be taken with respect to a Federal employee unless

18 such action is taken by another Federal employee.

19 (f) COLLOCATION.—To the maximum extent prac20 ticable, the Secretary shall collocate county offices of the

21 Consolidated Farm Service Agency with county offices of

22 the Natural Resources Conservation Service in order to—

23 (1) maximize savings from shared equipment,

24 office space, and administrative support;
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1 (2) simplify paperwork and regulatory require2 ments;

3 (3) provide improved services to agricultural

4 producers and landowners affected by programs ad5 ministered by the Agency and the Service; and

6 (4) achieve computer compatibility between the

7 Agency and the Service to maximize efficiency and

8 savings.

9 (g) SAVINGS PROVISION.—For purposes of sub10 sections (c) through (f) of this section:

11 (1) A reference to the ‘‘Consolidated Farm

12 Service Agency’’ includes any other office, agency, or

13 administrative unit of the Department assigned the

14 functions authorized for the Consolidated Farm

15 Service Agency under this section.

16 (2) A reference to the ‘‘Natural Resources Con17 servation Service’’ includes any other office, agency,

18 or administrative unit of the Department assigned

19 the functions authorized for the Natural Resources

20 Conservation Service under section 246(b).

21 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 331(a) of

22 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

23 U.S.C. 1981(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘assets to the

24 Farmers Home Administration’’ and all that follows

25 through the period at the end of the subsection and insert-
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1 ing ‘‘assets to such officers or agencies of the Department

2 of Agriculture as the Secretary considers appropriate.’’.

3 SEC. 227. STATE, COUNTY, AND AREA COMMITTEES.

4 (a) COMMITTEES UNDER THE SOIL CONSERVATION

5 AND DOMESTIC ALLOTMENT ACT.—Section 8(b) of the

6 Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.

7 590h(b)) is amended—

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’;

9 (2) by designating the second through eighth

10 undesignated paragraphs as paragraphs (2) through

11 (8), respectively; and

12 (3) by striking paragraph (5) (as so designated)

13 and inserting the following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(5) STATE, COUNTY, AND AREA COMMITTEES.—

15 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT OF STATE COMMITTEES.—

16 The Secretary shall appoint in each State a State

17 committee composed of not fewer than 3 nor more

18 than 5 members who are fairly representative of the

19 farmers in the State. The members of a State com20 mittee shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary

21 for such term as the Secretary may establish.

22 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNTY, AREA, OR

23 LOCAL COMMITTEES.—(i) In each county or area in

24 which activities are carried out under this section,
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1 the Secretary shall establish a county or area com2 mittee.

3 ‘‘(ii) Any such committee shall consist of not

4 fewer than 3 nor more than 5 members who are

5 fairly representative of the agricultural producers in

6 the county or area and who shall be elected by the

7 agricultural producers in such county or area under

8 such procedures as the Secretary may prescribe.

9 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary may designate local admin10 istrative areas within the county or larger area cov11 ered by a committee established under clause (i).

12 Only agricultural producers within a local adminis13 trative area who participate or cooperate in pro14 grams administered within their area shall be eligi15 ble for nomination and election to the local commit16 tee for that area, under such regulations as the Sec17 retary may prescribe.

18 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall solicit and accept

19 nominations from organizations representing the in20 terests of socially disadvantaged groups (as defined

21 in section 355(e)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and

22 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e)(1)).

23 ‘‘(v) Members of each county, area, or local

24 committee shall serve for terms not to exceed 3

25 years.
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1 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OR COMBINATION OF COM2 MITTEES.—The Secretary may not terminate a

3 county or area committee or combine or consolidate

4 two or more county or area committees unless—

5 ‘‘(i) the Secretary first notifies the commit6 tee or committees involved of the proposed ac7 tion; and

8 ‘‘(ii) the State committee of the State in

9 which the affected counties are located approves

10 of such action in a vote taken after the end of

11 the 60-day period beginning on the date the no12 tification is received.

13 ‘‘(D) USE OF COMMITTEES.—The Secretary

14 shall use the services of such committees in carrying

15 out programs under this section and the agricultural

16 credit programs under the Consolidated Farm and

17 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.) and

18 in considering administrative appeals as provided by

19 section 226(d) of the Department of Agriculture Re20 organization Act of 1994. The Secretary may use

21 the services of such committees in carrying out pro22 grams under other authorities administered by the

23 Secretary .

24 ‘‘(E) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue

25 such regulations as the Secretary considers nec-
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1 essary relating to the selection and exercise of the

2 functions of the respective committees, and to the

3 administration through such committees of the pro4 grams described in subparagraph (D). Pursuant to

5 such regulations, each county and area committee

6 shall select an executive director for the area or

7 county. Such selection shall be made in the same

8 manner as provided for the selection of the county

9 executive director under section 7.21(b)(2) of title 7,

10 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on January

11 1, 1994. Regulations governing payments or grants

12 under this subsection shall be as simple and direct

13 as possible, and, whenever practicable, they shall be

14 classified on the following two bases:

15 ‘‘(i) Soil-depleting practices.

16 ‘‘(ii) Soil-building practices.

17 ‘‘(F) MANDATORY DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—In

18 carrying out this section, the Secretary shall—

19 ‘‘(i) insofar as practicable, protect the in20 terests of tenants and sharecroppers;

21 ‘‘(ii) accord such encouragement to pro22 ducer-owned and producer-controlled coopera23 tive associations as will be in harmony with the

24 policy toward cooperative associations set forth
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1 in Federal laws and as will tend to promote ef2 ficient methods of marketing and distribution;

3 ‘‘(iii) in every practicable manner, protect

4 the interests of small producers; and

5 ‘‘(iv) in every practical way, encourage and

6 provide for soil-conserving and soil-rebuilding

7 practices.

8 ‘‘(G) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITIES OF SEC9 RETARY.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

10 may use other approved agencies.

11 ‘‘(H) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out this sec12 tion, the Secretary shall not have the authority to

13 acquire any land or any right or interest in land.’’.

14 (b) ELIMINATION OF FMHA COUNTY COMMIT15 TEES.—The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development

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

17 (1) by striking section 332 (7 U.S.C. 1982);

18 and

19 (2) in section 333 (7 U.S.C. 1983)—

20 (A) by striking paragraph (2); and

21 (B) redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and

22 (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respec23 tively.
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1 Subtitle C—Rural Economic and

2 Community Development

3 SEC. 231. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR

4 RURAL ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVEL5 OPMENT.

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

7 establish in the Department the position of Under Sec8 retary of Agriculture for Rural Economic and Community

9 Development.

10 (b) CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary es11 tablishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture

12 for Rural Economic and Community Development author13 ized under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall be

14 appointed by the President, by and with the advice and

15 consent of the Senate.

16 (c) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARY.—

17 (1) PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS.—Upon establish18 ment, the Secretary shall delegate to the Under Sec19 retary of Agriculture for Rural Economic and Com20 munity Development those functions under the juris21 diction of the Department that are related to rural

22 economic and community development.

23 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Under Sec24 retary of Agriculture for Rural Economic and Com25 munity Development shall perform such other func-
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1 tions as may be required by law or prescribed by the

2 Secretary.

3 (d) SUCCESSION.—Any official who is serving as

4 Under Secretary of Agriculture for Small Community and

5 Rural Development on the date of the enactment of this

6 Act and who was appointed by the President, by and with

7 the advice and consent of the Senate, shall not be required

8 to be reappointed under subsection (b) to the successor

9 position authorized under subsection (a) if the Secretary

10 establishes the position, and the official occupies the new

11 position, within 180 days after the date of the enactment

12 of this Act (or such later date set by the Secretary if litiga13 tion delays rapid succession).

14 (e) LOAN APPROVAL AUTHORITY.—Approval author15 ity for loans and loan guarantees in connection with the

16 electric and telephone loan and loan guarantee programs

17 authorized by the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7

18 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) shall not be transferred to, or condi19 tioned on review of, a State director or other employee

20 whose primary duty is not the review and approval of such

21 loans or the provision of assistance to such borrowers.

22 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

23 (1) EXISTING POSITION.—Section 3 of the

24 Rural Development Policy Act of 1980 (7 U.S.C.

25 2211b) is amended by striking subsection (a).
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1 (2) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5314 of

2 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking

3 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Small Commu4 nity and Rural Development.’’ and inserting ‘‘Under

5 Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Economic and

6 Community Development.’’.

7 (3) REPEAL OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT ADMIN8 ISTRATION.—Section 364 of the Consolidated Farm

9 and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2006f) is re10 pealed.

11 SEC. 232. RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT REQUIRED.—The Secretary

13 shall establish and maintain within the Department the

14 Rural Utilities Service and assign to the Service such

15 functions as the Secretary considers appropriate.

16 (b) ADMINISTRATOR.—

17 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Rural Utilities Service

18 shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be

19 appointed by the President, by and with the advice

20 and consent of the Senate.

21 (2) SUCCESSION.—Any official who is serving

22 as Administrator of the Rural Electrification Admin23 istration on the date of the enactment of this Act

24 and who was appointed by the President, by and

25 with the advice and consent of the Senate—
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1 (A) may be considered to be serving in the

2 successor position established under paragraph

3 (1); and

4 (B) shall not be required to be reappointed

5 to that position by reason of the enactment of

6 this Act.

7 (3) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5315 of

8 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding

9 at the end the following:

10 ‘‘Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, Depart11 ment of Agriculture.’’.

12 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary shall carry out

13 through the Rural Utilities Service the following functions

14 that are under the jurisdiction of the Department:

15 (1) Electric and telephone loan programs and

16 water and waste facility activities authorized by law,

17 including—

18 (A) the Rural Electrification Act of 1936

19 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.); and

20 (B) section 2322 of the Food, Agriculture,

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

22 1926–1); and

23 (2) Water and waste facility programs and ac24 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 relat3 ing to assets, terms, and conditions of water

4 and sewer programs, section 310B(b)(2), and

5 the amendment made by section 342 of the

6 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act

7 (7 U.S.C. 1926, 1926a, 1926b, 1926c, 1929,

8 1929a, 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 SEC. 233. RURAL HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOP13 MENT SERVICE.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstand15 ing any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized

16 to establish and maintain within the Department the

17 Rural Housing and Community Development Service and

18 to assign to the Service such functions as the Secretary

19 considers appropriate.

20 (b) FUNCTIONS.—If the Secretary establishes the

21 Rural Housing and Community Development Service

22 under subsection (a), the Secretary is authorized to assign

23 to the Service jurisdiction over the following:

24 (1) Programs and activities under title V of the

25 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.).
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1 (2) Programs and activities authorized under

2 section 310B(i) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural

3 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(i)) and related

4 provisions of law.

5 (3) Programs and activities that relate to rural

6 community lending programs, including programs

7 authorized by sections 365 through 369 of the Con8 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

9 U.S.C. 2008–2008d).

10 SEC. 234. RURAL BUSINESS AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOP11 MENT SERVICE.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstand13 ing any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized

14 to establish and maintain within the Department the

15 Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service and

16 to assign to the Service such functions as the Secretary

17 considers appropriate.

18 (b) FUNCTIONS.—If the Secretary establishes the

19 Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service

20 under subsection (a), the Secretary is authorized to assign

21 to the Service jurisdiction over the following:

22 (1) Section 313 and title V of the Rural Elec23 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 940c and 950aa et

24 seq.).
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1 (2) subtitle G of title XVI of the Food, Agri2 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7

3 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.).

4 (3) Sections 306(a)(1) and 310B of the Con5 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7

6 U.S.C. 1926(a)(1) and 1932).

7 (4) Section 1323 of the Food Security Act of

8 1985 (Public Law 99–198; 7 U.S.C. 1932 note).

9 (5) The Act of July 2, 1926 (44 Stat. 802,

10 chapter 725; 7 U.S.C. 451 et seq.).

11 SEC. 235. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS REGARDING RURAL

12 ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION.

13 (a) AMENDMENTS TO RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACT

14 OF 1936.—The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7

15 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended—

16 (1) by striking the first section (7 U.S.C. 901)

17 and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

19 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Rural Electrification

20 Act of 1936’.’’;

21 (2) in section 2(a) (7 U.S.C. 902(a)), by strik22 ing ‘‘Administrator’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Ag23 riculture’’;

24 (3) in section 3(a) (7 U.S.C. 903(a))—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Administrator, upon the

2 request and approval of the Secretary of Agri3 culture,’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘Administrator appointed

5 pursuant to the provisions of this Act or from

6 the Administrator of the Rural Electrification

7 Administration established by Executive Order

8 Numbered 7037’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’;

9 (4) in section 8 (7 U.S.C. 908)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘Administrator authorized

11 to be appointed by this Act’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘Secretary’’; and

13 (B) by striking ‘‘Rural Electrification Ad14 ministration created by this Act’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘Secretary’’;

16 (5) by striking section 11A (7 U.S.C. 911a);

17 (6) in section 13 (7 U.S.C. 913), by inserting

18 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘; and the

19 term ‘Secretary’ shall be deemed to mean the Sec20 retary of Agriculture’’;

21 (7) in sections 206(b)(2), 306A(b), 311, and

22 405(b)(1)(A) (7 U.S.C. 927(b)(2), 936a(b), 940a,

23 and 945(b)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘Rural Electrification

24 Administration’’ each place it appears and inserting

25 ‘‘Secretary’’;
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1 (8) in sections 305(c)(2)(C)(ii)(II) and 306E(d)

2 (7 U.S.C. 935(c)(2)(C)(ii)(II) and 936e(d)), by

3 striking ‘‘ADMINISTRATOR’’ and inserting ‘‘SEC4 RETARY’’;

5 (9) in section 403(b) (7 U.S.C. 943(b)), by

6 striking ‘‘Rural Electrification Administration or of

7 any other agency of the Department of Agriculture,’’

8 and inserting ‘‘Secretary,’’;

9 (10) in section 404 (7 U.S.C. 944), by striking

10 ‘‘the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Ad11 ministration’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary shall des12 ignate an official of the Department of Agriculture

13 who’’;

14 (11) in sections 406(c) and 410 (7 U.S.C.

15 946(c) and 950), by striking ‘‘Administrator of the

16 Rural Electrification Administration’’ each place it

17 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’;

18 (12) in the heading of section 501 (7 U.S.C.

19 950aa), by striking ‘‘OF REA ADMINISTRATOR’’;

20 and

21 (13) except as otherwise provided in this sub22 section, by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ each place it

23 appears in such Act and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

24 (b) MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section

25 236(a) of the Disaster Relief Act of 1970 (7 U.S.C. 912a)
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1 is amended by striking ‘‘Rural Electrification Administra2 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary under the Rural Elec3 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.)’’.

4 (2) Section 505 of the Department of Agriculture Or5 ganic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 915) is amended—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘Rural Electrification Ad7 ministration’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Agri8 culture’’; and

9 (B) by striking ‘‘its’’ and inserting ‘‘the

10 Secretary’s’’.

11 (3) Section 401 of the Rural Electrification Act of

12 1938 (7 U.S.C. 903 note) is amended in the second para13 graph by striking ‘‘Administrator of the Rural Electrifica14 tion Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Agri15 culture’’.

16 (4) Chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXIII of the

17 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990

18 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq.), relating to Distance Learning

19 and Medical Link Programs, is amended—

20 (A) in section 2333—

21 (i) by striking paragraph (1); and

22 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2)

23 through (11) as paragraphs (1) through (10),

24 respectively;
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1 (B) in section 2334(h)(2), by striking ‘‘section

2 2333(3)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2333(2)(F)’’;

3 and

4 (C) by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ each place it

5 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

6 (5) Section 306(a)(15) of the Consolidated Farm and

7 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(15)) is amend8 ed—

9 (A) by striking subparagraph (C); and

10 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub11 paragraph (C).

12 (6) Section 2322(d) of the Food, Agriculture, Con13 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1926–1(d))

14 is amended—

15 (A) by striking paragraph (2); and

16 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para17 graph (2).

18 Subtitle D—Food, Nutrition, and

19 Consumer Services

20 SEC. 241. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD,

21 NUTRITION, AND CONSUMER SERVICES.

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

23 establish in the Department the position of Under Sec24 retary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer

25 Services.
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1 (b) CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary es2 tablishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture

3 for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services authorized

4 under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall be ap5 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con6 sent of the Senate.

7 (c) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARY.—

8 (1) PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS.—Upon establish9 ment, the Secretary shall delegate to the Under Sec10 retary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and

11 Consumer Services those functions under the juris12 diction of the Department that are related to food,

13 nutrition, and consumer services (except as provided

14 in section 261(b)(1)).

15 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Under Sec16 retary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and

17 Consumer Services shall perform such other func18 tions as may be required by law or prescribed by the

19 Secretary.

20 (d) SUCCESSION.—Any official who is serving as As21 sistant Secretary of Agriculture for Food and Consumer

22 Services on the date of the enactment of this Act and who

23 was appointed by the President, by and with the advice

24 and consent of the Senate, shall not be required to be

25 reappointed under subsection (b) to the successor position
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1 authorized under subsection (a) if the Secretary estab2 lishes the position, and the official occupies the new posi3 tion, within 180 days after the date of the enactment of

4 this Act (or such later date set by the Secretary if litiga5 tion delays rapid succession).

6 (e) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5314 of title 5,

7 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the

8 item relating to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for

9 Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (as added by sec10 tion 225(e)(2)) the following:

11 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nu12 trition, and Consumer Services.’’.

13 Subtitle E—Natural Resources and

14 Environment

15 SEC. 245. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR NATU16 RAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT.

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

18 establish in the Department the position of Under Sec19 retary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environ20 ment.

21 (b) CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary es22 tablishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture

23 for Natural Resources and Environment authorized under

24 subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall be appointed by
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1 the President, by and with the advice and consent of the

2 Senate.

3 (c) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARY.—

4 (1) PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS.—Upon establish5 ment, the Secretary shall delegate to the Under Sec6 retary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and En7 vironment those functions under the jurisdiction of

8 the Department that are related to natural resources

9 and environment (except to the extent those func10 tions are delegated under section 226).

11 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Under Sec12 retary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and En13 vironment shall perform such other functions and

14 duties as may be required by law or prescribed by

15 the Secretary.

16 (d) SUCCESSION.—Any official who is serving as As17 sistant Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources

18 and Environment on the date of the enactment of this Act

19 and who was appointed by the President, by and with the

20 advice and consent of the Senate, shall not be required

21 to be reappointed under subsection (b) to the successor

22 position authorized under subsection (a) if the Secretary

23 establishes the position, and the official occupies the new

24 position, within 180 days after the date of the enactment
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1 of this Act (or such later date set by the Secretary if litiga2 tion delays rapid succession).

3 (e) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5314 of title 5,

4 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the

5 item relating to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for

6 Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (as added by sec7 tion 241(e)) the following:

8 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural

9 Resources and Environment.’’.

10 SEC. 246. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE.

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized

12 to establish and maintain within the Department a Natu13 ral Resources Conservation Service.

14 (b) FUNCTIONS.—If the Secretary establishes the

15 Natural Resources Conservation Service under subsection

16 (a), the Secretary is authorized to assign to the Service

17 jurisdiction over the following:

18 (1) The rural environmental conservation pro19 gram under title X of the Agricultural Act of 1970

20 (16 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

21 (2) The Great Plains Conservation Program

22 under section 16(b) of the Soil Conservation and

23 Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590p(b)).

24 (3) The Water Bank Act (16 U.S.C. 1301 et

25 seq.);
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1 (4) The forestry incentive program under sec2 tion 4 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of

3 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103).

4 (5) Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985

5 (16 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.), except subchapter B of

6 chapter 1 of subtitle D of such title.

7 (6) Salinity control program under section

8 202(c) of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control

9 Act (43 U.S.C. 1592(c)).

10 (7) The Farms for the Future Act of 1990 (7

11 U.S.C. 4201 note).

12 (8) Such other functions as the Secretary con13 siders appropriate, except functions under sub14 chapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of

15 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831–

16 3836) and the agricultural conservation program

17 under the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment

18 Act (16 U.S.C. 590g et seq.).

19 (c) SPECIAL CONCURRENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR

20 CERTAIN FUNCTIONS.—In carrying out the programs

21 specified in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (6) of subsection

22 (b) and the program under subchapter C of chapter 1 of

23 subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985

24 (16 U.S.C. 3837–3837f), the Secretary shall—
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1 (1) acting on the recommendations of the Natu2 ral Resources Conservation Service, with the concur3 rence of the Consolidated Farm Service Agency,

4 issue regulations to carry out such programs;

5 (2) ensure that the Natural Resources Con6 servation Service, in establishing policies, priorities,

7 and guidelines for each such program, does so with

8 the concurrence of the Consolidated Farm Service

9 Agency at national, State, and local levels;

10 (3) ensure that, in reaching such concurrence

11 at the local level, the Natural Resources Conserva12 tion Service works in cooperation with Soil and

13 Water Conservation Districts or similar organiza14 tions established under State law;

15 (4) ensure that officials of county and area

16 committees established under section 8(b)(5) of the

17 Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16

18 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)) meet annually with officials of

19 such Districts or similar organizations to consider

20 local conservation priorities and guidelines; and

21 (5) take steps to ensure that the concurrence

22 process does not interfere with the effective delivery

23 of such programs.

24 (d) USE OF FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL

25 EMPLOYEES.—
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1 (1) USE AUTHORIZED.—In the implementation

2 of functions assigned to the Natural Resources Con3 servation Service, the Secretary may use inter4 changeably in local offices of the Service both Fed5 eral employees of the Department and non-Federal

6 employees of county and area committees established

7 under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and

8 Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)).

9 (2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph

10 (1), no personnel action (as defined in section

11 2302(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code) may

12 be taken with respect to a Federal employee unless

13 such action is taken by another Federal employee.

14 (e) SAVINGS PROVISION.—For purposes of sub15 sections (c) and (d) of this section:

16 (1) A reference to the ‘‘Natural Resources Con17 servation Service’’ includes any other office, agency,

18 or administrative unit of the Department assigned

19 the functions authorized for the Natural Resources

20 Conservation Service under this section.

21 (2) A reference to the ‘‘Consolidated Farm

22 Service Agency’’ includes any other office, agency, or

23 administrative unit of the Department assigned the

24 functions authorized for the Consolidated Farm

25 Service Agency under section 226.
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1 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

2 (1) SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE.—Section 5

3 of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment

4 Act (16 U.S.C. 590e) is repealed.

5 (2) SOIL AND WATER RESOURCES CONSERVA6 TION.—The Soil and Water Resources Conservation

7 Act of 1977 (16 U.S.C. 2001) is amended—

8 (A) in section 2(2) (16 U.S.C. 2001(2))—

9 (i) by striking ‘‘created the Soil Con10 servation Service’’; and

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘Department of Agri12 culture which’’ and inserting ‘‘, has en13 sured that the Department of Agri14 culture’’;

15 (B) in section 3(2) (16 U.S.C. 2002(2)),

16 by striking ‘‘through the Soil Conservation

17 Service’’; and

18 (C) in section 6(a) (16 U.S.C. 2005(a)), by

19 striking ‘‘Soil Conservation Service’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘Secretary’’.

21 (3) STATE TECHNICAL COMMITTEES.—Section

22 1262 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.

23 3862) is amended by adding at the end the following

24 new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(e) FACA REQUIREMENTS.—The committees estab2 lished under section 1261 shall be exempt from the Fed3 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).’’.

4 SEC. 247. REORGANIZATION OF FOREST SERVICE.

5 (a) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF REORGANIZATION

6 PROPOSALS.—Reorganization proposals that are devel7 oped by the Secretary to carry out the designation by the

8 President of the Forest Service as a Reinvention Lab pur9 suant to the National Performance Review, dated Septem10 ber 1993, shall include proposals for—

11 (1) reorganizing the Service in a manner that

12 is consistent with the principles of interdisciplinary

13 planning;

14 (2) redefining and consolidating the mission

15 and roles of, and research conducted by, employees

16 of the Service in connection with the National For17 est System and State and private forestry to facili18 tate interdisciplinary planning and to eliminate func19 tionalism;

20 (3) reforming the budget structure of the Serv21 ice to support interdisciplinary planning, including

22 reducing the number of budget line items;

23 (4) defining new measures of accountability so

24 that Congress may meet the constitutional obligation

25 of Congress to oversee the Service;
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1 (5) achieving structural and organizational con2 solidations;

3 (6) to the extent practicable, sharing office

4 space, equipment, vehicles, and electronic systems

5 with other administrative units of the Department

6 and other Federal field offices, including proposals

7 for using an on-line system by all administrative

8 units of the Department to maximize administrative

9 efficiency; and

10 (7) reorganizing the Service in a manner that

11 will result in a larger percentage of employees of the

12 Service being retained at organizational levels below

13 regional offices, research stations, and the area of14 fice of the Service.

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than March 31, 1995, the

16 Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Agri17 culture of the House of Representatives and the Commit18 tee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate

19 that describes actions taken to carry out subsection (a),

20 identifies any disparities in regional funding patterns, and

21 contains the rationale behind the disparities.
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1 Subtitle F—Research, Education,

2 and Economics

3 SEC. 251. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR RE4 SEARCH, EDUCATION, AND ECONOMICS.

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

6 establish in the Department the position of Under Sec7 retary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Eco8 nomics.

9 (b) CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary es10 tablishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture

11 for Research, Education, and Economics authorized under

12 subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall be appointed by

13 the President, by and with the advice and consent of the

14 Senate.

15 (c) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARY.—

16 (1) PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS.—Upon establish17 ment, the Secretary shall delegate to the Under Sec18 retary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and

19 Economics those functions and duties under the ju20 risdiction of the Department that are related to re21 search, education, and economics.

22 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Under Sec23 retary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and

24 Economics shall perform such other functions and
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1 duties as may be required by law or prescribed by

2 the Secretary.

3 (d) COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION,

4 AND EXTENSION SERVICE.—

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

6 the Department a Cooperative State Research, Edu7 cation, and Extension Service.

8 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary shall delegate

9 to the Cooperative State Research, Education, and

10 Extension Service functions related to cooperative

11 State research programs and cooperative extension

12 and education programs that are under the jurisdic13 tion of the Department.

14 (3) OFFICER-IN-CHARGE.—If the Secretary es15 tablishes the position of Under Secretary of Agri16 culture for Research, Education, and Economics, the

17 officer in charge of the Cooperative State Research,

18 Education, and Extension Service shall report di19 rectly to the Under Secretary.

20 (e) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5314 of title 5,

21 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the

22 item relating to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for

23 Natural Resources and Environment (as added by section

24 245(e)) the following:
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1 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research,

2 Education, and Economics.’’.

3 SEC. 252. PROGRAM STAFF.

4 In making the personnel reductions required under

5 section 213, the Secretary shall reduce the number of Fed6 eral research and education personnel of the Department

7 by a percentage equal to at least the percentage of overall

8 Department personnel reductions. The Secretary shall

9 achieve such reduction in research and education person10 nel in a manner that minimizes duplication and maximizes

11 coordination between Federal and State research and ex12 tension activities.

13 Subtitle G—Food Safety

14 SEC. 261. UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD

15 SAFETY.

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

17 Department of Agriculture the position of Under Sec18 retary of Agriculture for Food Safety. The Under Sec19 retary shall be appointed by the President, by and with

20 the advice and consent of the Senate, from among individ21 uals with specialized training or significant experience in

22 food safety or public health programs.

23 (b) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARY.—

24 (1) PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary

25 shall delegate to the Under Secretary of Agriculture
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1 for Food Safety those functions and duties under

2 the jurisdiction of the Department that are primarily

3 related to food safety.

4 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—The Under Sec5 retary of Agriculture for Food Safety shall perform

6 such other functions and duties as may be required

7 by law or prescribed by the Secretary.

8 (c) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE.—Section 5314 of title 5,

9 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the

10 item relating to the Under Secretary of Agriculture for

11 Research, Education, and Economics (as added by section

12 251(e)) the following:

13 ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safe14 ty.’’.

15 (d) TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC REVIEW GROUPS.—

16 The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for

17 Research, Education, and Economics, may, without regard

18 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

19 appointment in the competitive service, and without re20 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III

21 of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to

22 classification and General Schedule pay rates—

23 (1) establish such technical and scientific review

24 groups as are needed to carry out the functions of

25 the Department; and
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1 (2) appoint and pay the members of the groups,

2 except that officers and employees of the United

3 States shall not receive additional compensation for

4 service as a member of a group.

5 SEC. 262. CONDITIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTER6 ATIONS IN THE LEVEL OF ADDITIVES AL7 LOWED IN ANIMAL DIETS.

8 (a) CONDITIONS.—The Food and Drug Administra9 tion shall not implement or enforce the final rule described

10 in subsection (b) to alter the level of selenium allowed to

11 be used as a supplement in animal diets unless the Com12 missioner of the Food and Drug Administration makes a

13 determination that—

14 (1) selenium additives are not essential, at lev15 els authorized in the absence of such final rule, to

16 maintain animal nutrition and protect animal health;

17 (2) selenium at such levels is not safe to the

18 animals consuming the additive;

19 (3) selenium at such levels is not safe to indi20 viduals consuming edible portions of animals that re21 ceive the additive;

22 (4) selenium at such levels does not achieve its

23 intended effect of promoting normal growth and re24 production of livestock and poultry; and
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1 (5) the manufacture and use of selenium at

2 such levels cannot reasonably be controlled by adher3 ence to current good manufacturing practice require4 ments.

5 (b) FINAL RULE DESCRIBED.—The final rule re6 ferred to in subsection (a) is the final rule issued by the

7 Food and Drug Administration and published in the Fed8 eral Register on September 13, 1993 (58 Fed. Reg.

9 47962), in which the Administration stayed 1987 amend10 ments to the selenium food additive regulations, and any

11 modification of such rule issued after the date of the en12 actment of this Act.

13 Subtitle H—National Appeals

14 Division

15 SEC. 271. DEFINITIONS.

16 For purposes of this subtitle:

17 (1) ADVERSE DECISION.—The term ‘‘adverse

18 decision’’ means an administrative decision made by

19 an officer, employee, or committee of an agency that

20 is adverse to a participant. The term includes a de21 nial of equitable relief by an agency or the failure

22 of an agency to issue a decision or otherwise act on

23 the request or right of the participant. The term

24 does not include a decision over which the Board of

25 Contract Appeals has jurisdiction.
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1 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any

2 agency of the Department designated by the Sec3 retary or a successor agency of the Department, ex4 cept that the term shall include the following (and

5 any successor to the following):

6 (A) The Consolidated Farm Service Agen7 cy (or other office, agency, or administrative

8 unit of the Department assigned the functions

9 authorized for the Consolidated Farm Service

10 Agency under section 226).

11 (B) The Commodity Credit Corporation,

12 with respect to domestic programs.

13 (C) The Farmers Home Administration.

14 (D) The Federal Crop Insurance Corpora15 tion.

16 (E) The Rural Development Administra17 tion.

18 (F) The Natural Resources Conservation

19 Service (or other office, agency, or administra20 tive unit of the Department assigned the func21 tions authorized for the Natural Resources Con22 servation Service under section 246(b)).

23 (G) A State, county, or area committee es24 tablished under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Con-
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1 servation and Domestic Allotment Act (16

2 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)).

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

4 a participant who appeals an adverse decision in ac5 cordance with this subtitle.

6 (4) CASE RECORD.—The term ‘‘case record’’

7 means all the materials maintained by the Secretary

8 related to an adverse decision.

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

10 the Director of the Division.

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

12 National Appeals Division established by this title.

13 (7) HEARING OFFICER.—The term ‘‘hearing of14 ficer’’ means an individual employed by the Division

15 who hears and determines appeals of adverse deci16 sions by any agency.

17 (8) IMPLEMENT.—The term ‘‘implement’’ refers

18 to those actions necessary to effectuate fully and

19 promptly a final determination of the Division not

20 later than 30 calendar days after the effective date

21 of the final determination.

22 (9) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’

23 shall have the meaning given that term by the Sec24 retary by regulation.
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1 SEC. 272. NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION AND DIRECTOR.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DIVISION.—The Secretary

3 shall establish and maintain an independent National Ap4 peals Division within the Department to carry out this

5 subtitle.

6 (b) DIRECTOR.—

7 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Division shall be

8 headed by a Director, appointed by the Secretary

9 from among persons who have substantial experience

10 in practicing administrative law. In considering ap11 plicants for the position of Director, the Secretary

12 shall consider persons currently employed outside

13 Government as well as Government employees.

14 (2) TERM AND REMOVAL.—The Director shall

15 serve for a 6-year term of office, and shall be eligible

16 for reappointment. The Director shall not be subject

17 to removal during the term of office, except for

18 cause established in accordance with law.

19 (3) POSITION CLASSIFICATION.—The position

20 of the Director may not be a position in the excepted

21 service or filled by a noncareer appointee.

22 (c) DIRECTION, CONTROL, AND SUPPORT.—The Di23 rector shall be free from the direction and control of any

24 person other than the Secretary. The Division shall not

25 receive administrative support (except on a reimbursable

26 basis) from any agency other than the Office of the Sec-
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1 retary. The Secretary may not delegate to any other offi2 cer or employee of the Department, other than the Direc3 tor, the authority of the Secretary with respect to the Divi4 sion.

5 (d) DETERMINATION OF APPEALABILITY OF AGENCY

6 DECISIONS.—If an officer, employee, or committee of an

7 agency determines that a decision is not appealable and

8 a participant appeals the decision to the Director, the Di9 rector shall determine whether the decision is adverse to

10 the individual participant and thus appealable or is a mat11 ter of general applicability and thus not subject to appeal.

12 The determination of the Director as to whether a decision

13 is appealable shall be administratively final.

14 (e) DIVISION PERSONNEL.—The Director shall ap15 point such hearing officers and other employees as are

16 necessary for the administration of the Division. A hearing

17 officer or other employee of the Division shall have no du18 ties other than those that are necessary to carry out this

19 subtitle.

20 SEC. 273. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.

21 There are transferred to the Division all functions ex22 ercised and all administrative appeals pending before the

23 effective date of this subtitle (including all related func24 tions of any officer or employee) of or relating to—
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1 (1) the National Appeals Division established

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

3 U.S.C. 1433e(c)) (as in effect on the day before the

4 date of the enactment of this Act);

5 (2) the National Appeals Division established

6 by subsections (d) through (g) of section 333B of

7 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act

8 (7 U.S.C. 1983b) (as in effect on the day before the

9 date of the enactment of this Act);

10 (3) appeals of decisions made by the Federal

11 Crop Insurance Corporation; and

12 (4) appeals of decisions made by the Soil Con13 servation Service (as in effect on the day before the

14 date of the enactment of this Act).

15 SEC. 274. NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.

16 Not later than 10 working days after an adverse deci17 sion is made that affects the participant, the Secretary

18 shall provide the participant with written notice of such

19 adverse decision and the rights available to the participant

20 under this subtitle or other law for the review of such ad21 verse decision.

22 SEC. 275. INFORMAL HEARINGS.

23 If an officer, employee, or committee of an agency

24 makes an adverse decision, the agency shall hold, at the

25 request of the participant, an informal hearing on the de-
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1 cision. With respect to programs carried out through the

2 Consolidated Farm Service Agency (or other office, agen3 cy, or administrative unit of the Department assigned to

4 carry out the programs authorized for the Consolidated

5 Farm Service Agency under section 226), the Secretary

6 shall maintain the informal appeals process applicable to

7 such programs, as in effect on the date of the enactment

8 of the subtitle. If a mediation program is available under

9 title V of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (7 U.S.C.

10 5101 et seq.) as a part of the informal hearing process,

11 the participant shall be offered the right to choose such

12 mediation.

13 SEC. 276. RIGHT OF PARTICIPANTS TO DIVISION HEARING.

14 (a) APPEAL TO DIVISION FOR HEARING.—Subject to

15 subsection (b), a participant shall have the right to appeal

16 an adverse decision to the Division for an evidentiary hear17 ing by a hearing officer consistent with section 277.

18 (b) TIME FOR APPEAL.—To be entitled to a hearing

19 under section 277, a participant shall request the hearing

20 not later than 30 days after the date on which the partici21 pant first received notice of the adverse decision.

22 SEC. 277. DIVISION HEARINGS.

23 (a) GENERAL POWERS OF DIRECTOR AND HEARING

24 OFFICERS.—
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1 (1) ACCESS TO CASE RECORD.—The Director

2 and hearing officer shall have access to the case

3 record of any adverse decision appealed to the Divi4 sion for a hearing.

5 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Di6 rector and hearing officer shall have the authority to

7 require the attendance of witnesses, and the produc8 tion of evidence, by subpoena and to administer

9 oaths and affirmations. Except to the extent re10 quired for the disposition of ex parte matters as au11 thorized by law—

12 (A) an interested person outside the Divi13 sion shall not make or knowingly cause to be

14 made to the Director or a hearing officer who

15 is or may reasonably be expected to be involved

16 in the evidentiary hearing or review of an ad17 verse decision, an ex parte communication (as

18 defined in section 551(14) of title 5, United

19 States Code) relevant to the merits of the pro20 ceeding;

21 (B) the Director and such hearing officer

22 shall not make or knowingly cause to be made

23 to any interested person outside the Division an

24 ex parte communication relevant to the merits

25 of the proceeding.
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1 (b) TIME FOR HEARING.—Upon a timely request for

2 a hearing under section 276(b), an appellant shall have

3 the right to have a hearing by the Division on the adverse

4 decision within 45 days after the date of the receipt of

5 the request for the hearing.

6 (c) LOCATION AND ELEMENTS OF HEARING.—

7 (1) LOCATION.—A hearing on an adverse deci8 sion shall be held in the State of residence of the ap9 pellant or at a location that is otherwise convenient

10 to the appellant and the Division.

11 (2) EVIDENTIARY HEARING.—The evidentiary

12 hearing before a hearing officer shall be in person,

13 unless the appellant agrees to a hearing by telephone

14 or by a review of the case record. The hearing offi15 cer shall not be bound by previous findings of fact

16 by the agency in making a determination.

17 (3) INFORMATION AT HEARING.—The hearing

18 officer shall consider information presented at the

19 hearing without regard to whether the evidence was

20 known to the agency officer, employee, or committee

21 making the adverse decision at the time the adverse

22 decision was made. The hearing officer shall leave

23 the record open after the hearing for a reasonable

24 period of time to allow the submission of information

25 by the appellant or the agency after the hearing to
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1 the extent necessary to respond to new facts, infor2 mation, arguments, or evidence presented or raised

3 by the agency or appellant.

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

5 bear the burden of proving that the adverse decision

6 of the agency was erroneous.

7 (d) DETERMINATION NOTICE.—The hearing officer

8 shall issue a notice of the determination on the appeal not

9 later than 30 days after a hearing or after receipt of the

10 request of the appellant to waive a hearing, except that

11 the Director may establish an earlier or later deadline. If

12 the determination is not appealed to the Director for re13 view under section 278, the notice provided by the hearing

14 officer shall be considered to be a notice of an administra15 tively final determination.

16 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The final determination shall

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

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

19 of the original adverse decision, whichever is applicable.

20 SEC. 278. DIRECTOR REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS OF

21 HEARING OFFICERS.

22 (a) REQUESTS FOR DIRECTOR REVIEW.—

23 (1) TIME FOR REQUEST BY APPELLANT.—Not

24 later than 30 days after the date on which an appel25 lant receives the determination of a hearing officer
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1 under section 277, the appellant shall submit a writ2 ten request to the Director for review of the deter3 mination in order to be entitled to a review by the

4 Director of the determination.

5 (2) TIME FOR REQUEST BY AGENCY HEAD.—

6 Not later than 15 business days after the date on

7 which an agency receives the determination of a

8 hearing officer under section 277, the head of the

9 agency may make a written request that the Direc10 tor review the determination.

11 (b) DETERMINATION OF DIRECTOR.—The Director

12 shall conduct a review of the determination of the hearing

13 officer using the case record, the record from the evi14 dentiary hearing under section 277, the request for review,

15 and such other arguments or information as may be ac16 cepted by the Director. Based on such review, the Director

17 shall issue a final determination notice that upholds, re18 verses, or modifies the determination of the hearing offi19 cer. However, if the Director determines that the hearing

20 record is inadequate, the Director may remand all or a

21 portion of the determination for further proceedings to

22 complete the hearing record or, at the option of the Direc23 tor, to hold a new hearing. The Director shall complete

24 the review and either issue a final determination or re25 mand the determination not later than—
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1 (1) 10 business days after receipt of the request

2 for review, in the case of a request by the head of

3 an agency for review; or

4 (2) 30 business days after receipt of the request

5 for review, in the case of a request by an appellant

6 for review.

7 (c) BASIS FOR DETERMINATION.—The determination

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

9 information from the case record, laws applicable to the

10 matter at issue, and applicable regulations published in

11 the Federal Register and in effect on the date of the ad12 verse decision or the date on which the acts that gave rise

13 to the adverse decision occurred, whichever date is appro14 priate.

15 (d) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—Subject to regulations is16 sued by the Secretary, the Director shall have the author17 ity to grant equitable relief under this section in the same

18 manner and to the same extent as such authority is pro19 vided to the Secretary under section 326 of the Food and

20 Agriculture Act of 1962 (7 U.S.C. 1339a) and other laws.

21 Notwithstanding the administrative finality of a final de22 termination of an appeal by the Division, the Secretary

23 shall have the authority to grant equitable or other types

24 of relief to the appellant after an administratively final

25 determination is issued by the Division.
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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A final determination issued

2 by the Director shall be effective as of the date of filing

3 of an application, the date of the transaction or event in

4 question, or the date of the original adverse decision,

5 whichever is applicable.

6 SEC. 279. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

7 A final determination of the Division shall be

8 reviewable and enforceable by any United States district

9 court of competent jurisdiction in accordance with chapter

10 7 of title 5, United States Code.

11 SEC. 280. IMPLEMENTATION OF FINAL DETERMINATIONS

12 OF DIVISION.

13 On the return of a case to an agency pursuant to

14 the final determination of the Division, the head of the

15 agency shall implement the final determination not later

16 than 30 days after the effective date of the notice of the

17 final determination.

18 SEC. 281. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO NA19 TIONAL APPEALS DIVISION.

20 (a) DECISIONS OF STATE, COUNTY, AND AREA COM21 MITTEES.—

22 (1) APPLICATION OF SUBSECTION.—This sub23 section shall apply only with respect to functions of

24 the Consolidated Farm Service Agency or the Com25 modity Credit Corporation that are under the juris-
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1 diction of a State, county, or area committee estab2 lished under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation

3 and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5))

4 or an employee of such a committee.

5 (2) FINALITY.—Each decision of a State, coun6 ty, or area committee (or an employee of such a

7 committee) covered by paragraph (1) that is made in

8 good faith in the absence of misrepresentation, false

9 statement, fraud, or willful misconduct shall be final

10 not later than 90 days after the date of filing of the

11 application for benefits, unless the decision is—

12 (A) appealed under this subtitle; or

13 (B) modified by the Administrator of the

14 Consolidated Farm Service Agency or the Exec15 utive Vice President of the Commodity Credit

16 Corporation.

17 (3) RECOVERY OF AMOUNTS.—If the decision of

18 the State, county, or area committee has become

19 final under paragraph (2), no action may be taken

20 by the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, the Com21 modity Credit Corporation, or a State, county, or

22 area committee to recover amounts found to have

23 been disbursed as a result of a decision in error un24 less the participant had reason to believe that the

25 decision was erroneous.
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1 (4) SAVINGS PROVISION.—For purposes of this

2 subsection, a reference to the ‘‘Consolidated Farm

3 Service Agency’’ includes any other office, agency, or

4 administrative unit of the Department assigned the

5 functions authorized for the Consolidated Farm

6 Service Agency under section 226.

7 (b) AGRICULTURAL STABILIZATION AND CONSERVA8 TION SERVICE.—Section 426 of the Agricultural Act of

9 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1433e) is repealed.

10 (c) FARMERS HOME ADMINISTRATION.—Section

11 333B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development

12 Act (7 U.S.C. 1983b) is repealed.

13 SEC. 282. EXPANSION OF ISSUES COVERED BY STATE MEDI14 ATION PROGRAMS.

15 (a) EXPANSION OF MEDIATION PROGRAMS.—Section

16 501 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (7 U.S.C.

17 5101) is amended—

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘an agricul19 tural loan mediation program’’ and inserting ‘‘a me20 diation program’’;

21 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘agricultural

22 loan’’; and

23 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the

24 following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS OF STATE MEDIATION PRO2 GRAMS.—

3 ‘‘(1) ISSUES COVERED.—To be certified as a

4 qualifying State, the mediation program of the State

5 must provide mediation services for the persons de6 scribed in paragraph (2) who are involved in agricul7 tural loans or agricultural loans and one or more of

8 the following issues under the jurisdiction of the De9 partment of Agriculture:

10 ‘‘(A) Wetlands determinations.

11 ‘‘(B) Compliance with farm programs, in12 cluding conservation programs.

13 ‘‘(C) Agricultural credit.

14 ‘‘(D) Rural water loan programs.

15 ‘‘(E) Grazing on National Forest System

16 lands.

17 ‘‘(F) Pesticides.

18 ‘‘(G) Such other issues as the Secretary

19 considers appropriate.

20 ‘‘(2) PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR MEDIATION.—The

21 persons referred to in paragraph (1) are producers,

22 their creditors (if applicable), and other persons di23 rectly affected by actions of the Department of Agri24 culture.
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1 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION CONDITIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall certify a State as a qualifying State with

3 respect to the issues proposed to be covered by the

4 mediation program of the State if the mediation pro5 gram—

6 ‘‘(A) provides for mediation services that,

7 if decisions are reached, result in mediated, mu8 tually agreeable decisions between the parties to

9 the mediation;

10 ‘‘(B) is authorized or administered by an

11 agency of the State government or by the Gov12 ernor of the State;

13 ‘‘(C) provides for the training of medi14 ators;

15 ‘‘(D) provides that the mediation sessions

16 shall be confidential;

17 ‘‘(E) ensures, in the case of agricultural

18 loans, that all lenders and borrowers of agricul19 tural loans receive adequate notification of the

20 mediation program; and

21 ‘‘(F) ensures, in the case of other issues

22 covered by the mediation program, that persons

23 directly affected by actions of the Department

24 of Agriculture receive adequate notification of

25 the mediation program.’’.
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1 (b) PARTICIPATION OF DEPARTMENT.—Section 503

2 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 5103) is amended—

3 (1) by striking ‘‘agricultural loan’’ each place it

4 appears;

5 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)

6 of subsection (a)(1)—

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘or agency’’ after ‘‘pro8 gram’’; and

9 (B) by striking ‘‘that makes, guarantees,

10 or insures agricultural loans’’;

11 (3) in subsection (a)(1)(A)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘or agency’’ after ‘‘such

13 program’’; and

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘certified under section

15 501’’ after ‘‘mediation program’’;

16 (4) in subsection (a)(1)(B)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘, effective beginning on

18 the date of the enactment of this Act,’’; and

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘certified under section

20 501’’ after ‘‘mediation programs’’; and

21 (5) in subsection (a)(1)(C)—

22 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘described in’’

23 and inserting ‘‘certified under’’; and

24 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘if applica25 ble,’’ before ‘‘present’’.
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1 (c) REGULATIONS.—Section 504 of such Act (7

2 U.S.C. 5104) is amended—

3 (1) by striking ‘‘Within 150 days after the date

4 of the enactment of this Act, the’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘The’’; and

6 (2) by adding at the end the following new sen7 tence: ‘‘The regulations prescribed by the Secretary

8 shall require qualifying States to adequately train

9 mediators to address all of the issues covered by the

10 mediation program of the State.’’.

11 (d) REPORT.—Section 505 of such Act (7 U.S.C.

12 5105) is amended by striking ‘‘1990’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘1998’’.

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

15 506 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 5106) is amended by striking

16 ‘‘1995’’ and inserting ‘‘2000’’.

17 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

18 (1) REFERENCES TO AGRICULTURAL LOANS.—

19 Subtitle A of title V of such Act is amended—

20 (A) in sections 502 and 505(1) (7 U.S.C.

21 5102, 5105(1)), by striking ‘‘agricultural loan’’

22 each place it appears; and

23 (B) in section 505(3) (7 U.S.C. 5105(3)),

24 by striking ‘‘an agricultural loan mediation’’

25 and inserting ‘‘a mediation’’.
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1 (2) WAIVER OF FARM CREDIT SYSTEM MEDI2 ATION RIGHTS BY BORROWERS.—Section 4.14E of

3 the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 2202e) is

4 amended by striking ‘‘agricultural loan’’.

5 (3) WAIVER OF FMHA MEDIATION RIGHTS BY

6 BORROWERS.—Section 358 of the Consolidated

7 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2006)

8 is amended by striking ‘‘agricultural loan’’.

9 SEC. 283. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

11 as may be necessary to carry out the activities of the Divi12 sion.

13 Subtitle I—Miscellaneous

14 Reorganization Provisions

15 SEC. 291. SUCCESSORSHIP PROVISIONS RELATING TO BAR16 GAINING UNITS AND EXCLUSIVE REPRESENT17 ATIVES.

18 (a) VOLUNTARY AGREEMENT.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the exercise of the Sec20 retary’s authority under this title results in changes

21 to an existing bargaining unit that has been certified

22 under chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, the

23 affected parties shall attempt to reach a voluntary

24 agreement on a new bargaining unit and an exclu25 sive representative for such unit.
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1 (2) CRITERIA.—In carrying out the require2 ments of this subsection, the affected parties shall

3 use criteria set forth in—

4 (A) sections 7103(a)(4), 7111(e),

5 7111(f)(1), and 7120 of title 5, United States

6 Code, relating to determining an exclusive rep7 resentative; and

8 (B) section 7112 of title 5, United States

9 Code (disregarding subsections (b)(5) and (d)

10 thereof), relating to determining appropriate

11 units.

12 (b) EFFECT OF AN AGREEMENT.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the affected parties reach

14 agreement on the appropriate unit and the exclusive

15 representative for such unit under subsection (a),

16 the Federal Labor Relations Authority shall certify

17 the terms of such agreement, subject to paragraph

18 (2)(A). Nothing in this subsection shall be consid19 ered to require the holding of any hearing or election

20 as a condition for certification.

21 (2) RESTRICTIONS.—

22 (A) CONDITIONS REQUIRING NONCER23 TIFICATION.—The Federal Labor Relations Au24 thority may not certify the terms of an agree25 ment under paragraph (1) if—
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1 (i) it determines that any of the cri2 teria referred to in subsection (a)(2) (dis3 regarding section 7112(a) of title 5, Unit4 ed States Code) have not been met; or

5 (ii) after the Secretary’s exercise of

6 authority and before certification under

7 this section, a valid election under section

8 7111(b) of title 5, United States Code, is

9 held covering any employees who would be

10 included in the unit proposed for certifi11 cation.

12 (B) TEMPORARY WAIVER OF PROVISION

13 THAT WOULD BAR AN ELECTION AFTER A COL14 LECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT IS

15 REACHED.—Nothing in section 7111(f)(3) of

16 title 5, United States Code, shall prevent the

17 holding of an election under section 7111(b) of

18 such title that covers employees within a unit

19 certified under paragraph (1), or giving effect

20 to the results of such an election (including a

21 decision not to be represented by any labor or22 ganization), if the election is held before the

23 end of the 12-month period beginning on the

24 date such unit is so certified.
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1 (C) CLARIFICATION.—The certification of

2 a unit under paragraph (1) shall not, for pur3 poses of the last sentence of section 7111(b) of

4 title 5, United States Code, or section

5 7111(f)(4) of such title, be treated as if it had

6 occurred pursuant to an election.

7 (3) DELEGATION.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Labor Re9 lations Authority may delegate to any regional

10 director (as referred to in section 7105(e) of

11 title 5, United States Code) its authority under

12 the preceding provisions of this subsection.

13 (B) REVIEW.—Any action taken by a re14 gional director under subparagraph (A) shall be

15 subject to review under the provisions of section

16 7105(f) of title 5, United States Code, in the

17 same manner as if such action had been taken

18 under section 7105(e) of such title, except that

19 in the case of a decision not to certify, such re20 view shall be required if application therefor is

21 filed by an affected party within the time speci22 fied in such provisions.

23 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

24 term ‘‘affected party’’ means—
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1 (1) with respect to an exercise of authority by

2 the Secretary under this title, any labor organization

3 affected thereby; and

4 (2) the Department of Agriculture.

5 SEC. 292. PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT AND

6 PRODUCTS.

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con8 gress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equip9 ment and products purchased using funds made available

10 pursuant to this title should be American-made.

11 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—In providing financial

12 assistance to, or entering into any contract with, any en13 tity using funds made available pursuant to this title, the

14 Secretary, to the greatest extent practicable, shall provide

15 to such entity a notice describing the statement made in

16 subsection (a) by the Congress.

17 SEC. 293. MISCELLANEOUS CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

18 (a) UNITED STATES GRAIN STANDARDS ACT.—The

19 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 71 et seq.)

20 is amended—

21 (1) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 75)—

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub23 section (y);

24 (B) by striking subsections (z) and (aa);

25 and
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1 (C) by redesignating subsection (bb) as

2 subsection (z);

3 (2) by striking section 3A (7 U.S.C. 75a);

4 (3) in section 5(b) (7 U.S.C. 77(b)), by striking

5 ‘‘Service employees’’ and inserting ‘‘employees of the

6 Secretary’’;

7 (4) in sections 7(j)(2) and 7A(l)(2) (7 U.S.C.

8 79(j)(2) and 79a(l)(2)), by striking ‘‘supervision by

9 Service personnel of its field office personnel’’ in the

10 first sentence of both sections and inserting ‘‘super11 vision by the Secretary of the Secretary’s field office

12 personnel’’;

13 (5) in section 12(c) (7 U.S.C. 87a(c)), by strik14 ing ‘‘or Administrator’’;

15 (6) in section 12(d) (7 U.S.C. 87a(d)), by strik16 ing ‘‘or the Administrator’’;

17 (7) except as otherwise provided in this sub18 section, by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ each place it

19 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and

20 (8) except as otherwise provided in this sub21 section, by striking ‘‘Service’’ each place it appears

22 and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

23 (b) PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS ACT, 1921.—Section

24 407 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C.

25 228), is amended—
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1 (1) by striking subsection (b);

2 (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e),

3 and (f), as subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), respec4 tively; and

5 (3) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated), by

6 striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

7 (d)’’.

8 SEC. 294. REMOVAL OF OBSOLETE ADMINISTRATIVE PROVI9 SIONS.

10 Section 5316 of title 5, United States Code, is

11 amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Agricultural

13 Marketing Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

14 (2) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Agricultural Re15 search Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

16 (3) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Agricultural

17 Stabilization and Conservation Service, Department

18 of Agriculture.’’;

19 (4) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Farmers Home

20 Administration.’’;

21 (5) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Foreign Agri22 cultural Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

23 (6) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Rural Elec24 trification Administration, Department of Agri25 culture.’’;
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1 (7) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Soil Conserva2 tion Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

3 (8) by striking ‘‘Chief Forester of the Forest

4 Service, Department of Agriculture.’’;

5 (9) by striking ‘‘Director of Science and Edu6 cation, Department of Agriculture.’’;

7 (10) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Animal and

8 Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Ag9 riculture.’’; and

10 (11) by striking ‘‘Administrator, Federal Grain

11 Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture.’’.

12 SEC. 295. PROPOSED CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress

15 recommended legislation containing additional technical

16 and conforming amendments to Federal laws that are re17 quired as a result of the enactment of this title.

18 SEC. 296. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the au20 thority delegated to the Secretary by this title to reorga21 nize the Department shall terminate on the date that is

22 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not affect—

24 (1) the authority of the Secretary to continue to

25 carry out a function that the Secretary performs on
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1 the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment

2 of this Act;

3 (2) the authority delegated to the Secretary

4 under Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1953 (5 U.S.C.

5 App; 7 U.S.C. 2201 note); or

6 (3) the authority of an agency, office, officer, or

7 employee of the Department to continue to perform

8 all functions delegated or assigned to the entity or

9 person as of that termination date.

10 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS

11 SEC. 301. POULTRY LABELING.

12 It is the sense of Congress that—

13 (1) the United States Department of Agri14 culture should—

15 (A) carry out the plans of the Department

16 to hold public hearings for the purpose of re17 ceiving public input on issues related to the

18 conditions under which poultry sold in the Unit19 ed States may be labeled ‘‘fresh’’; and

20 (B) finalize and publish a decision on the

21 issues as expeditiously as possible after holding

22 the hearings; and

23 (2) no person serving on the expert advisory

24 committee established to advise the Secretary of Ag25 riculture on the issues should stand to profit, or rep-
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1 resent any interest that would stand to profit, from

2 the decision of the Department on the issues.

3 SEC. 302. FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES OF

4 THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRI5 CULTURE.

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no em7 ployee of the United States Department of Agriculture

8 shall be peremptorily removed, on or after February 15,

9 1994, from the position of the employee without an oppor10 tunity for a public or nonpublic hearing, at the option of

11 the employee, because of remarks made during personal

12 time in opposition to policies, or proposed policies, of the

13 Department, including policies or proposed policies re14 garding homosexuals. Any employee removed on or after

15 February 15, 1994, without the opportunity for such a

16 hearing shall be reinstated to the position of the employee

17 pending such a hearing.

18 SEC. 303. ADJUSTED COST OF THRIFTY FOOD PLAN.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(o)(11) of the Food

20 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(o)(11)) is amended

21 by inserting ‘‘and (in the case of households residing in

22 Alaska) on October 1, 1994,’’ after ‘‘1992,’’.

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

24 subsection (a) shall be effective beginning on September

25 30, 1994.
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1 SEC. 304. OFFICE OF RISK ASSESSMENT AND COST-BENEFIT

2 ANALYSIS.

3 (a) OFFICE OF RISK ASSESSMENT AND COST-BENE4 FIT ANALYSIS.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall estab5 lish in the Department of Agriculture an Office of Risk

6 Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis, which shall be

7 under the direction of a Director appointed by the Sec8 retary.

9 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Director shall ensure that any

10 regulatory analysis that is conducted under this section

11 includes a risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis that

12 is performed consistently and uses reasonably obtainable

13 and sound scientific, technical, economic, and other data.

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective six months after

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

16 Agriculture shall publish in the Federal Register, for

17 each proposed major regulation the primary purpose

18 of which is to regulate issues of human health,

19 human safety, or the environment that is promul20 gated by the Department after the enactment of this

21 Act, an analysis with as much specificity as prac22 ticable, of—

23 (A) the risk, including the effect of the

24 risk, to human health, human safety, or the en25 vironment, and any combination thereof, ad26 dressed by the regulation, including, where ap-
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1 plicable and practicable, the health and safety

2 risks to persons who are disproportionately ex3 posed or particularly sensitive;

4 (B) the costs associated with the imple5 mentation of, and compliance with, the regula6 tion;

7 (C) where appropriate and meaningful, a

8 comparison of that risk relative to other similar

9 risks regulated by the Department or other

10 Federal Agency, resulting from comparable ac11 tivities and exposure pathways (such compari12 sons should consider relevant distinctions

13 among risks, such as the voluntary or involun14 tary nature of risks and the preventability or

15 nonpreventability of risks); and

16 (D) the quantitative and qualitative bene17 fits of the regulation, including the reduction or

18 prevention of risk expected from the regulation.

19 Where such a regulatory analysis is not practicable be20 cause of compelling circumstances, the Director shall pro21 vide an explanation in lieu of conducting an analysis under

22 this section.

23 (2) EVALUATION.—The regulatory analysis re24 ferred to in paragraph (1) should also contain a
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1 statement that the Secretary of Agriculture evalu2 ated—

3 (A) whether the regulation will advance the

4 purpose of protecting against the risk referred

5 to in paragraph (1)(A); and

6 (B) whether the regulation will produce

7 benefits and reduce risks to human health,

8 human safety, or the environment, and any

9 combination thereof, in a cost-effective manner

10 as a result of the implementation of and compli11 ance with the regulation, by local, State, and

12 Federal Government and other public and pri13 vate entities, as estimated in paragraph (1)(B).

14 (3) This section shall not be construed to

15 amend, modify, or alter any statute and shall not be

16 subject to judicial review. This section shall not be

17 construed to grant a cause of action to any person.

18 The Secretary of Agriculture shall perform the anal19 yses required in this section in such a manner that

20 does not delay the promulgation or implementation

21 of regulations mandated by statute or judicial order.

22 (c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

23 ‘‘major regulation’’ means any regulation that the Sec24 retary of Agriculture estimates is likely to have an annual
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1 impact on the economy of the United States of

2 $100,000,000 in 1994 dollars.

3 SEC. 305. FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF SOCIALLY

4 DISADVANTAGED PRODUCERS.

5 (a) FAIR CROP ACREAGE BASES AND FARM PRO6 GRAM PAYMENT YIELDS.—If the Secretary of Agriculture

7 determines that crop acreage bases or farm program pay8 ment yields established for farms owned or operated by

9 socially disadvantaged producers are not established in ac10 cordance with title V of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7

11 U.S.C. 1461 et seq.), the Secretary shall adjust the bases

12 and yields to conform to the requirements of such title

13 and make available any appropriate commodity program

14 benefits.

15 (b) FAIR APPLICATION OF CONSOLIDATED FARM

16 AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT.—If the Secretary of Ag17 riculture determines that application of the Consolidated

18 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.)

19 with respect to socially disadvantaged producers is not

20 consistent with the requirements of such Act, the Sec21 retary shall make such changes in the administration of

22 such Act as the Secretary considers necessary to provide

23 for the fair and equitable treatment of socially disadvan24 taged producers under such Act.
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1 (c) REPORT ON TREATMENT OF SOCIALLY DIS2 ADVANTAGED PRODUCERS.—

3 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller Gen4 eral of the United States shall prepare a report to

5 determine—

6 (A) whether socially disadvantaged produc7 ers are underrepresented on State, county,

8 area, or local committees established under sec9 tion 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and Do10 mestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)) or

11 local review committees established under sec12 tion 363 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of

13 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1363) because of racial, ethnic,

14 or gender prejudice; and

15 (B) if such underrepresentation exists,

16 whether it inhibits or interferes with the partici17 pation of socially disadvantaged producers in

18 programs of the Department of Agriculture.

19 (2) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than

20 February 1, 1995, the Comptroller General shall

21 submit the report required by this subsection to the

22 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep23 resentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nu24 trition, and Forestry of the Senate.
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1 (d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

2 term ‘‘socially disadvantaged producer’’ means a producer

3 who is a member of a group whose members have been

4 subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of

5 their identity as members of a group without regard to

6 their individual qualities.

7 SEC. 306. AVIATION INSPECTIONS.

8 (a) STUDY REGARDING ACCEPTANCE OF FEDERAL

9 AVIATION ADMINISTRATION AIRCRAFT INSPECTIONS.—

10 (1) INTENT OF STUDY.—The intent of the

11 study required by this subsection is to examine the

12 cost efficiencies of conducting inspections of aircraft

13 and pilots by one Federal agency without reducing

14 aircraft, passenger, or pilot safety standards or low15 ering mission preparedness.

16 (2) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Agri17 culture and the Secretary of Transportation shall

18 jointly conduct a study of the inspection specifica19 tions and procedures by which aircraft and pilots

20 contracted by the Department are certified to deter21 mine the cost efficiencies of eliminating duplicative

22 Department inspection requirements and transfer23 ring some or all inspection requirements to the Fed24 eral Aviation Administration, while ensuring that
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1 neither aircraft, passenger, nor pilot safety is re2 duced and that mission preparedness is maintained.

3 (3) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting

4 the study, the Secretaries shall evaluate current in5 spection specifications and procedures mandated by

6 the Department and the Forest Service, taking into

7 consideration the unique requirements and risks of

8 particular Department and Forest Service missions

9 that may require special inspection specifications

10 and procedures to ensure the safety of Department

11 and Forest Service personnel and their contractees.

12 (4) MAINTENANCE OF STANDARDS AND PRE13 PAREDNESS.—In making recommendations to trans14 fer inspection authority or otherwise change Depart15 ment inspection specifications and procedures, the

16 Secretaries shall ensure that the implementation of

17 any such recommendations does not lower aircraft or

18 pilot standards or preparedness for Department or

19 Forest Service missions.

20 (5) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later than

21 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

22 the Secretaries shall submit to Congress the results

23 of the study, including any recommendations to

24 transfer inspection authority or otherwise change
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1 Department inspection specifications and procedures

2 and a cost-benefit analysis of such recommendations.

3 (b) REVIEW OF RECENTLY ADOPTED AIRCRAFT POL4 ICY.—

5 (1) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Ag6 riculture shall review the policy initiated by the Sec7 retary on July 1, 1994, to accept Federal Aviation

8 Administration inspections on aircraft and pilots

9 that provide ‘‘airport to airport’’ service for the For10 est Service. The policy is currently being coopera11 tively developed by the Department and the Federal

12 Aviation Administration and is intended to reduce

13 duplicative inspections and to reduce Government

14 costs, while maintaining aircraft, passenger, and

15 pilot safety standards, specifications and procedures

16 currently required by the Department and the For17 est Service.

18 (2) EXPANSION OF POLICY.—As part of the re19 view, the Secretary of Agriculture shall examine the

20 feasibility and desirability of applying this policy on

21 a Government-wide basis.

22 (3) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later than

23 one year after the date of the implementation of the

24 policy, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to

25 Congress the results of the review, including any
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