II 

Calendar No. 90 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1417 

To reauthorize the United States Grain Standards Act, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 1, 2015 

Mr. ROBERTS, from the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, 

reported the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on 

the calendar 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the United States Grain Standards Act, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Grain 

5 Standards Act Reauthorization Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF UNITED STATES GRAIN 

2 STANDARDS ACT. 

3 (a) OFFICIAL INSPECTION AND WEIGHING REQUIRE4 MENTS.— 

5 (1) WEIGHING REQUIREMENTS AT EXPORT

6 ELEVATORS.—Section 5(a)(2) of the United States 

7 Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 77(a)(2)) is amend8 ed in the proviso by striking ‘‘intracompany ship9 ments of grain into an export elevator by any mode 

10 of transportation, grain transferred into an export 

11 elevator by transportation modes other than barge,’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘shipments of grain into an export ele13 vator by any mode of transportation’’. 

14 (2) DISRUPTION IN GRAIN INSPECTION OR

15 WEIGHING.—Section 5 of the United States Grain 

16 Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 77) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(d) DISRUPTION IN GRAIN INSPECTION OR WEIGH19 ING.—In the case of a disruption in official grain inspec20 tions or weighings, including if the Secretary waives the 

21 requirement for official inspection due to an emergency 

22 under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) immediately take such actions as are nec24 essary to address the disruption and resume inspec25 tions or weighings; 


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1 ‘‘(2) not later than 24 hours after the start of 

2 the disruption in inspection or weighing, submit to 

3 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep4 resentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nu5 trition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that de6 scribes— 

7 ‘‘(A) the disruption; and 

8 ‘‘(B) any actions necessary to address the 

9 concerns of the Secretary relating to the disrup10 tion so that inspections or weighings may re11 sume; and 

12 ‘‘(3) once the initial report in paragraph (2) 

13 has been made, provide daily updates until official 

14 inspection or weighing services at the site of disrup15 tion have resumed.’’. 

16 (b) OFFICIAL INSPECTION AUTHORITY AND FUND17 ING.— 

18 (1) DELEGATION OF OFFICIAL INSPECTION AU19 THORITY.—Section 7(e)(2) of the United States 

20 Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 79(e)(2)) is amend21 ed— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘(2) If the Secretary’’ and 

23 inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO STATE

25 AGENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary’’; 

2 (B) in the first sentence— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘and (A)’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘and (i)’’; 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘or (B)(i)’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘or (ii)(I)’’; 

7 (iii) by striking ‘‘(ii)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘(II)’’; and 

9 (iv) by striking ‘‘(iii)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘(III)’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Every 5 years, the 

14 Secretary shall certify that each State 

15 agency with a delegation of authority is 

16 meeting the criteria described in subsection 

17 (f)(1)(A). 

18 ‘‘(ii) PROCESS.—Not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of enactment of the United 

20 States Grain Standards Act Reauthoriza21 tion Act of 2015, the Secretary shall estab22 lish a process for certification under which 

23 the Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(I) publish in the Federal Reg25 ister notice of intent to certify a State 


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1 agency and provide a 30-day period 

2 for public comment; 

3 ‘‘(II) evaluate the public com4 ments received and, in accordance 

5 with paragraph (3), conduct an inves6 tigation to determine whether the 

7 State agency is qualified; 

8 ‘‘(III) make findings based on 

9 the public comments received and in10 vestigation conducted; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) publish in the Federal Reg12 ister a notice announcing whether the 

13 certification has been granted and de14 scribing the basis on which the Sec15 retary made the decision. 

16 ‘‘(C) STATE AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a State agency 

18 that has been delegated authority under 

19 this paragraph intends to temporarily dis20 continue official inspection or weighing 

21 services for any reason, except in the case 

22 of a major disaster, the State agency shall 

23 notify the Secretary in writing of the in24 tention of the State agency to do so at 


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1 least 72 hours in advance of the dis2 continuation date. 

3 ‘‘(ii) SECRETARIAL CONSIDER4 ATION.—The Secretary shall consider re5 ceipt of a notice described in clause (i) as 

6 a factor in administering the delegation of 

7 authority under this paragraph.’’. 

8 (2) CONSULTATION.—Section 7(f)(1) of the 

9 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 

10 79(f)(1)) is amended— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (A)(xi), by striking 

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) the Secretary— 

17 ‘‘(i) periodically conducts a consulta18 tion with the customers of the applicant, in 

19 a manner that provides opportunity for 

20 protection of the identity of the customer 

21 if desired by the customer, to review the 

22 performance of the applicant with regard 

23 to the provision of official inspection serv24 ices and other requirements of this Act; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) works with the applicant to ad2 dress any concerns identified during the 

3 consultation process.’’. 

4 (3) DURATION OF DESIGNATION AUTHORITY.— 

5 Section 7(g)(1) of the United States Grain Stand6 ards Act (7 U.S.C. 79(g)(1)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘triennially’’ and inserting ‘‘every 5 years’’. 

8 (4) FEES.—Section 7(j) of the United States 

9 Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 79(j)(1)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(j)(1) The Secretary’’ and 

12 inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(j) FEES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) INSPECTION FEES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) the second sentence, by striking 

18 ‘‘The fees’’ and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF FEES.—The fees’’; 

20 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

21 ‘‘Such fees’’ and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) USE OF FEES.—Fees described in 

23 this paragraph’’; and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(D) EXPORT TONNAGE FEES.—For an of2 ficial inspection at an export facility performed 

3 by the Secretary, the portion of the fees based 

4 on export tonnage shall be based on the rolling 

5 5-year average of export tonnage volumes.’’; 

6 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

7 paragraph (5); 

8 (D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENT OF FEES.—In order to 

11 maintain an operating reserve of not less than 3 and 

12 not more than 6 months, the Secretary shall adjust 

13 the fees described in paragraphs (1) and (2) not less 

14 frequently than annually.’’; and 

15 (E) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated by 

16 subparagraph (C)), in the first sentence, by 

17 striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

18 (c) WEIGHING AUTHORITY.—Section 7A of the 

19 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 79a) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (c)(2), in the last sentence, by 

22 striking ‘‘subsection (g) of section 7’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘subsections (e) and (g) of section 7’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (l)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(l)(1) The Secretary’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(l) FEES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) WEIGHING FEES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 

6 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (i) the second sentence, by striking 

8 ‘‘The fees’’ and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF FEES.—The fees’’; 

10 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

11 ‘‘Such fees’’ and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(C) USE OF FEES.—Fees described in 

13 this paragraph’’; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(D) EXPORT TONNAGE FEES.—For an of17 ficial weighing at an export facility performed 

18 by the Secretary, the portion of the fees based 

19 on export tonnage shall be based on the rolling 

20 5-year average of export tonnage volumes.’’; 

21 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

22 paragraph (4); 

23 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT OF FEES.—In order to 

2 maintain an operating reserve of not less than 3 and 

3 not more than 6 months, the Secretary shall adjust 

4 the fees described in paragraphs (1) and (2) not less 

5 frequently than annually.’’; and 

6 (E) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by 

7 subparagraph (C)), in the first sentence, by 

8 striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

9 (d) LIMITATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPER10 VISORY COSTS.—Section 7D of the United States Grain 

11 Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 79d) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

13 (e) ISSUANCE OF AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8(b) of 

14 the United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 84(b)) 

15 is amended by striking ‘‘triennially’’ and inserting ‘‘every 

16 5 years’’. 

17 (f) APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 19 of the United 

18 States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 87h) is amended 

19 by striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

20 (g) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 21(e) of the 

21 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 87j(e)) is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON DISRUPTION IN FEDERAL INSPECTION 

2 OF GRAIN EXPORTS. 

3 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to 

5 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 

6 the Senate, the Committee on Agriculture of the House 

7 of Representatives, the Subcommittee on Agriculture, 

8 Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and 

9 Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of 

10 the Senate, and the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 

11 Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Re12 lated Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

13 House of Representatives a report that describes— 

14 (1) the specific factors that led to disruption in 

15 Federal inspection of grain exports at the Port of 

16 Vancouver in the summer of 2014; 

17 (2) any factors that contributed to the disrup18 tion referred to in paragraph (1) that were unique 

19 to the Port of Vancouver, including a description of 

20 the port facility, security needs and available re21 sources for that purpose, and any other significant 

22 factors as determined by the Secretary; and 

23 (3) any changes in policy that the Secretary has 

24 implemented to ensure that a similar disruption in 

25 Federal inspection of grain exports at the Port of 


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1 Vancouver or any other location does not occur in 

2 the future. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORT ON POLICY BARRIERS TO GRAIN PRO4 DUCERS. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 

7 with the United States Trade Representative, shall submit 

8 to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

9 of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the 

10 House of Representatives a report that describes— 

11 (1) the policy barriers to United States grain 

12 producers in countries the grain of which receives of13 ficial grading in the United States but which do not 

14 offer official grading for United States grain or pro15 vide only the lowest designation for United States 

16 grain, including an analysis of possible inconsist17 encies with trade obligations; and 

18 (2) any actions the Executive Branch is taking 

19 to remedy the policy barriers so as to put United 

20 States grain producers on equal footing with grain 

21 producers in countries imposing the barriers. 


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Calendar No. 90 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1417 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the United States Grain Standards 

Act, and for other purposes. 

MAY 21, 2015 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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