I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1247 

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

specialty crops, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2013 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself and Mr. GIBSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to support crop 

insurance for specialty crops, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Reliability 

5 for Our Producers Act’’ or ‘‘CROP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCE PAYMENTS FOR UNDERSERVED REGIONS 

7 AND CROPS. 

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

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


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1 ‘‘(E) APPROVAL.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Board may 

3 approve up to 75 percent of the projected 

4 total research and development costs to be 

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

7 Board for the making of the payments, if, 

8 after consideration of the reviewer reports 

9 described in subparagraph (D) and such 

10 other information as the Board determines 

11 appropriate, the Board determines— 

12 ‘‘(I) the concept, in good faith, 

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

15 508(h); 

16 ‘‘(II) in the sole opinion of the 

17 Board, the concept, if developed into a 

18 policy and approved by the Board, 

19 would provide crop insurance cov20 erage— 

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

23 ‘‘(bb) to a crop or region not 

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


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

3 problem in the program; 

4 ‘‘(III) the applicant agrees to 

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

8 ‘‘(IV) the proposed budget and 

9 timetable are reasonable; and 

10 ‘‘(V) the concept proposal meets 

11 any other requirements that the 

12 Board determines appropriate. 

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

14 the cap specified in clause (i) on the ad15 vance payment of costs and pay more of 

16 the projected total research and develop17 ment costs in advance if, in the sole discre18 tion of the Board, the Board determines 

19 that the concept proposal provides cov20 erage for a region or crop that is under21 served by the Federal crop insurance pro22 gram, including specialty crops.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVEL2 OPMENT. 

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

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

5 (1) in the subsection heading by striking ‘‘CON6 TRACTING’’; 

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

8 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘may enter into con9 tracts to carry out research and development to’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘may conduct activities or enter into 

11 contracts to carry out research and development to 

12 maintain or improve existing policies or develop new 

13 policies to’’; 

14 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

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

16 ‘‘conduct research and development or’’ after 

17 ‘‘The Corporation may’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘conducting research and development or’’ after 

20 ‘‘Before’’; 

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

22 review in accordance with section 505(e)’’ after ‘‘ap23 proved by the Board’’; and 

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

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

26 that increase participation by producers of underVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:30 Mar 23, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247

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1 served agricultural commodities, including specialty 

2 crops’’. 

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

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

5 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

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

7 inserting ‘‘(A) CONDUCTING AND CONTRACTING

8 FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—’’; 

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

10 ‘‘conduct research and development and’’ after 

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

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

13 ‘‘conduct research and development and’’ after 

14 ‘‘for the fiscal year to’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘to provide ei16 ther reimbursement payments or contract pay17 ments’’; and 

18 (3) by striking paragraph (4). 

Æ 


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