S. 777

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

An Act

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

system to enable farmers and other persons to file paperwork electronically with

selected agencies of the Department of Agriculture and to access public information

regarding the programs administered by these agencies.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND RETRIEVAL.

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

enactment of this Act, in accordance with subsection (c), the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

shall, to the maximum extent practicable, establish an Internetbased system that enables agricultural producers to access all forms

of the agencies of the Department of Agriculture (referred to in

this Act as the ‘‘Department’’) specified in subsection (b).

(b) APPLICABILITY.—The agencies referred to in subsection (a)

are the following:

(1) The Farm Service Agency.

(2) The Natural Resources Conservation Service.

(3) The rural development components of the Department

included in the Secretary’s service center initiative regarding

State and field office collocation implemented pursuant to section 215 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act

of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6915).

(4) The agricultural producer programs component of the

Commodity Credit Corporation administered by the Farm

Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation

Service.

(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

(1) provide a method by which agricultural producers may—

(A) download from the Internet the forms of the agencies specified in subsection (b); and

(B) submit completed forms via electronic facsimile,

mail, or similar means;

(2) redesign the forms by incorporating into the forms

user-friendly formats and self-help guidance materials; and

(3) ensure that the agencies specified in subsection (b)—

(A) use computer hardware and software that is

compatible among the agencies and will operate in a

common computing environment; and
S. 777—2

(B) develop common Internet user-interface locations

and applications to consolidate the agencies’ news, information, and program materials.

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

date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress

a report that describes the progress made toward implementing

the Internet-based system required under this section.

SEC. 3. ACCESSING INFORMATION AND FILING OVER THE INTERNET.

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

enactment of this Act, in accordance with subsection (b), the Secretary shall expand implementation of the Internet-based system

established under section 2 by enabling agricultural producers to

access and file all forms and, at the option of the Secretary, selected

records and information of the agencies of the Department specified

in section 2(b).

(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that an agricultural producer is able—

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

of the agricultural producer, all forms required by agencies

of the Department specified in section 2(b);

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

of the agricultural producer, all documentation required by

agencies of the Department specified in section 2(b) and determined appropriate by the Secretary; and

(3) to access information of the Department concerning

farm programs, quarterly trade, economic, and production

reports, and other similar production agriculture information

that is readily available to the public in paper form.

SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

FUNDS.

(a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From funds made available for

agencies of the Department specified in section 2(b) for information

technology or information resource management, the Secretary shall

reserve from those agencies’ applicable accounts a total amount

equal to not more than the following:

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

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

(b) TIME FOR RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall notify Congress of the amount to be reserved under subsection (a) for a

fiscal year not later than December 1 of that fiscal year.

(c) USE OF FUNDS.—

(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Funds reserved under subsection (a)

shall be used to establish the Internet-based system required

under section 2 and to expand the system as required by

section 3.

(2) MAINTENANCE.—Once the system is established and

operational, reserved amounts shall be used for maintenance

and improvement of the system.

(d) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Funds reserved under subsection (a)

and unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall be returned

to the agency from which the funds were reserved, to remain

available until expended.
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SEC. 5. FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION AND RISK

MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

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

Crop Insurance Corporation and the Risk Management Agency

shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of

Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

Forestry of the Senate a plan, that is consistent with this Act,

to allow agricultural producers to—

(1) obtain, over the Internet, from approved insurance providers all forms and other information concerning the program

under the jurisdiction of the Corporation and Agency in which

the agricultural producer is a participant; and

(2) file electronically all paperwork required for participation in the program.

(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The plan shall—

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

(2) prescribe—

(A) the location and type of data to be made available

to agricultural producers;

(B) the location where agricultural producers can electronically file their paperwork; and

(C) the responsibilities of the applicable parties,

including agricultural producers, the Risk Management

Agency, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, approved

insurance providers, crop insurance agents, and brokers.

(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than December 1, 2001, the

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and the Risk Management

Agency shall complete implementation of the plan submitted under

subsection (a).

SEC. 6. CONFIDENTIALITY.

In carrying out this Act, the Secretary—

(1) may not make available any information over the Internet that would otherwise not be available for release under

section 552 or 552a of title 5, United States Code; and

(2) shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that

the confidentiality of persons is maintained.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.