In the Senate of the United States,

May 18, 2000.

Resolved, That the Senate agree to the amendments of

the House of Representatives to the bill (S. 777, entitled ‘‘An

Act to require the Department of Agriculture to establish an

electronic filing and retrieval system to enable the public to

file all required paperwork electronically with the Department

and to have access to public information on farm programs,

quarterly trade, economic, and production reports, and other

similar information.’’ with the following

SENATE AMENDMENT TO HOUSE AMENDMENTS:

In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the

House amendment to the text of the bill, insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

3 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND RETRIEVAL.

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

5 date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with subsection

6 (c), the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as

7 the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, to the maximum extent practicable,
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1 establish an Internet-based system that enables agricultural

2 producers to access all forms of the agencies of the Depart3 ment of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Depart4 ment’’) specified in subsection (b).

5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The agencies referred to in sub6 section (a) are the following:

7 (1) The Farm Service Agency.

8 (2) The Natural Resources Conservation Service.

9 (3) The rural development components of the De10 partment included in the Secretary’s service center

11 initiative regarding State and field office collocation

12 implemented pursuant to section 215 of the Depart13 ment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7

14 U.S.C. 6915).

15 (4) The agricultural producer programs compo16 nent of the Commodity Credit Corporation adminis17 tered by the Farm Service Agency and the Natural

18 Resources Conservation Service.

19 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a),

20 the Secretary shall—

21 (1) provide a method by which agricultural pro22 ducers may—

23 (A) download from the Internet the forms of

24 the agencies specified in subsection (b); and
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1 (B) submit completed forms via electronic

2 facsimile, mail, or similar means;

3 (2) redesign the forms by incorporating into the

4 forms user-friendly formats and self-help guidance

5 materials; and

6 (3) ensure that the agencies specified in sub7 section (b)—

8 (A) use computer hardware and software

9 that is compatible among the agencies and will

10 operate in a common computing environment;

11 and

12 (B) develop common Internet user-interface

13 locations and applications to consolidate the

14 agencies’ news, information, and program mate15 rials.

16 (d) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

18 submit to Congress a report that describes the progress made

19 toward implementing the Internet-based system required

20 under this section.

21 SEC. 3. ACCESSING INFORMATION AND FILING OVER THE

22 INTERNET.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the

24 date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with subsection

25 (b), the Secretary shall expand implementation of the Inter-
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1 net-based system established under section 2 by enabling ag2 ricultural producers to access and file all forms and, at the

3 option of the Secretary, selected records and information

4 of the agencies of the Department specified in section 2(b).

5 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out subsection

6 (a), the Secretary shall ensure that an agricultural pro7 ducer is able—

8 (1) to file electronically or in paper form, at the

9 option of the agricultural producer, all forms required

10 by agencies of the Department specified in section

11 2(b);

12 (2) to file electronically or in paper form, at the

13 option of the agricultural producer, all documentation

14 required by agencies of the Department specified in

15 section 2(b) and determined appropriate by the Sec16 retary; and

17 (3) to access information of the Department con18 cerning farm programs, quarterly trade, economic,

19 and production reports, and other similar production

20 agriculture information that is readily available to

21 the public in paper form.

22 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECH23 NOLOGY FUNDS.

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

25 available for agencies of the Department specified in section
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1 2(b) for information technology or information resource

2 management, the Secretary shall reserve from those agen3 cies’ applicable accounts a total amount equal to not more

4 than the following:

5 (1) For fiscal year 2001, $3,000,000.

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

7 (b) TIME FOR RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall no8 tify Congress of the amount to be reserved under subsection

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

10 year.

11 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Funds reserved under

13 subsection (a) shall be used to establish the Internet14 based system required under section 2 and to expand

15 the system as required by section 3.

16 (2) MAINTENANCE.—Once the system is estab17 lished and operational, reserved amounts shall be used

18 for maintenance and improvement of the system.

19 (d) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Funds reserved under sub20 section (a) and unobligated at the end of the fiscal year

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

22 reserved, to remain available until expended.
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1 SEC. 5. FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION AND

2 RISK MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 1, 2000,

4 the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and the Risk Man5 agement Agency shall submit to the Committee on Agri6 culture of the House of Representatives and the Committee

7 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a

8 plan, that is consistent with this Act, to allow agricultural

9 producers to—

10 (1) obtain, over the Internet, from approved in11 surance providers all forms and other information

12 concerning the program under the jurisdiction of the

13 Corporation and Agency in which the agricultural

14 producer is a participant; and

15 (2) file electronically all paperwork required for

16 participation in the program.

17 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The plan shall—

18 (1) conform to sections 2(c) and 3(b); and

19 (2) prescribe—

20 (A) the location and type of data to be

21 made available to agricultural producers;

22 (B) the location where agricultural pro23 ducers can electronically file their paperwork;

24 and

25 (C) the responsibilities of the applicable

26 parties, including agricultural producers, the
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1 Risk Management Agency, the Federal Crop In2 surance Corporation, approved insurance pro3 viders, crop insurance agents, and brokers.

4 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than December 1,

5 2001, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and the Risk

6 Management Agency shall complete implementation of the

7 plan submitted under subsection (a).

8 SEC. 6. CONFIDENTIALITY.

9 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary—

10 (1) may not make available any information

11 over the Internet that would otherwise not be avail12 able for release under section 552 or 552a of title 5,

13 United States Code; and

14 (2) shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac15 ticable, that the confidentiality of persons is main16 tained.

Attest:

Secretary.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 777

SENATE AMENDMENT TO

HOUSE AMENDMENTS