II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 524 

To provide emergency agricultural disaster assistance for agricultural 

producers, manufacturers, and workers in the State of California. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2007 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To provide emergency agricultural disaster assistance for agricultural producers, manufacturers, and workers in the 

State of California. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Emergency Farm Assistance Act of 2007’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION LOSSES 

Sec. 101. Specialty crops. 


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Sec. 102. Dairy assistance. 

Sec. 103. Livestock indemnity payments. 

Sec. 104. Payment limitation. 

TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC LOSS GRANT PROGRAM 

Sec. 201. Small business economic loss grant program. 

TITLE III—FORESTRY 

Sec. 301. Tree assistance program. 

TITLE IV—ASSISTANCE FOR UNEMPLOYED AGRICULTURAL 

WORKERS 

Sec. 401. Unemployment assistance. 

Sec. 402. Food coupons and distribution. 

Sec. 403. Emergency grants to assist low-income migrant and seasonal farmworkers. 

Sec. 404. Temporary mortgage rental assistance. 

TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 501. Limit on amount of assistance. 

Sec. 502. Funding. 

Sec. 503. Regulations. 

TITLE VI—EMERGENCY DESIGNATION 

Sec. 601. Emergency designation. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DISASTER COUNTY.—The term ‘‘disaster 

4 county’’ means— 

5 (A) a county included in the geographic 

6 area covered by a natural disaster declaration; 

7 and 

8 (B) each county contiguous to a county de9 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

10 (2) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’ in11 cludes— 

12 (A) cattle (including dairy cattle); 


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1 (B) bison; 

2 (C) sheep; 

3 (D) swine; 

4 (E) poultry; and 

5 (F) other livestock, as determined by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 (3) NATURAL DISASTER DECLARATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘natural disaster declaration’’ means a natural 

9 disaster declared by the Secretary under section 

10 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Devel11 opment Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) during— 

12 (A) calendar year 2005 due to flooding in 

13 the State; 

14 (B) calendar year 2006 due to heat or 

15 flooding in the State; and 

16 (C) calendar year 2007 due to freezing or 

17 extreme low temperatures in the State. 

18 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

20 (5) SPECIALTY CROP.—The term ‘‘specialty 

21 crop’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 

22 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 

23 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Public Law 108–465). 

24 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

25 of California. 


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1 TITLE I—AGRICULTURAL 

2 PRODUCTION LOSSES 

3 SEC. 101. SPECIALTY CROPS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use, of funds 

5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation— 

6 (1) $100,000,000 to provide assistance to pro7 ducers of specialty crops in disaster counties that 

8 suffered losses in calendar year 2005; 

9 (2) $400,000,000 to provide assistance to pro10 ducers of specialty crops in disaster counties that 

11 suffered losses in calendar year 2006; 

12 (3) $420,000,000 to provide assistance to citrus 

13 producers in disaster counties that suffered losses in 

14 calendar year 2007; and 

15 (4) $438,000,000 to provide assistance to pro16 ducers of other specialty crops in disaster counties 

17 that suffered losses in calendar year 2007. 

18 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Except as provided in sub19 section (c), assistance required by subsection (a) shall be 

20 carried out by the Secretary in the State under the same 

21 terms and conditions as the special disaster relief pro22 grams carried out for producers that suffered from crop 

23 damage and tree losses, and carried out related cleanup, 

24 in certain areas of Florida due to Hurricanes Charley, 

25 Frances, and Jeanne during August and September 2004, 


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1 as described in the notice of program implementation re2 lating to Florida citrus, fruit, vegetable, and nursery crop 

3 disaster programs (69 Fed. Reg. 63134 (October 29, 

4 2004)), with vegetable losses treated as citrus losses under 

5 this section for purposes of that program. 

6 (c) UNINSURED CITRUS GROWERS.— 

7 (1) LIMITED ASSISTANCE.—Subject to para8 graph (2), citrus producers on a farm that did not 

9 obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the Fed10 eral Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) for 

11 the crop incurring the losses shall only be eligible for 

12 assistance under this section if the producers agree 

13 to obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the 

14 Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) 

15 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act providing additional coverage for the cit17 rus crop of the producers for each of the next 3 crop 

18 years. 

19 (2) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance 

20 under this section provided for citrus producers on 

21 a farm described in paragraph (1) shall not exceed 

22 35 percent of the total amount of the documented 

23 losses of the producers. 

24 (3) EFFECT OF VIOLATION.—In the event that 

25 citrus producers described in paragraph (1) fail to 


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1 obtain a policy or plan of insurance in accordance 

2 with that paragraph, the producers shall reimburse 

3 the Secretary for the full amount of the assistance 

4 provided to the producers under this section. 

5 SEC. 102. DAIRY ASSISTANCE. 

6 The Secretary shall use $230,000,000 of funds of the 

7 Commodity Credit Corporation to make payments to dairy 

8 producers for dairy production losses during calendar year 

9 2006 in disaster counties. 

10 SEC. 103. LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PAYMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

12 $80,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corpora13 tion to make livestock indemnity payments to producers 

14 on farms located in disaster counties that have incurred 

15 livestock losses during calendar year 2006 or 2007, or 

16 both, due to a disaster, as determined by the Secretary. 

17 (b) PAYMENT RATES.—Indemnity payments to the 

18 producers on a farm under subsection (a) shall be made 

19 at a rate of not less than 30 percent of the market value 

20 of the applicable livestock on the day before the date of 

21 death of the livestock, as determined by the Secretary. 

22 SEC. 104. PAYMENT LIMITATION. 

23 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, assist24 ance provided under this section to the producers on a 

25 farm (as defined by the Secretary) may not exceed 


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1 $125,000 for each farm, ranch, processing plant, or dairy 

2 operation of the producers. 

3 TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS ECO4 NOMIC LOSS GRANT PRO5 GRAM 

6 SEC. 201. SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC LOSS GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) GRANTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use such 

10 funds as are necessary of funds of the Commodity 

11 Credit Corporation to make a grant to the State. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to receive a 

13 grant under this subsection, the State shall agree to 

14 carry out an expedited disaster assistance program 

15 to provide grants to qualified small businesses in ac16 cordance with subsection (b). 

17 (b) GRANTS TO QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESSES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out an expedited 

19 disaster assistance program described in subsection 

20 (a)(2), the State shall provide grants to eligible 

21 small businesses in the State that suffered material 

22 economic losses during the 2005, 2006, or 2007 

23 crop year as a direct result of weather-related agri24 cultural losses to the specialty crop or livestock proVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:16 Feb 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S524.IS S524

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1 duction sectors of the State, as determined by the 

2 Secretary. 

3 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

5 a grant under paragraph (1), a small business 

6 shall— 

7 (i) have less than $15,000,000 in av8 erage annual gross income from all busi9 ness activities, at least 75 percent of which 

10 shall be directly related to production agri11 culture or agriculture support industries, 

12 as determined by the Secretary; 

13 (ii) verify the amount of economic loss 

14 attributable to weather-related agricultural 

15 losses using such documentation as the 

16 Secretary and the State may require; 

17 (iii) have suffered losses attributable 

18 to weather-related agricultural disasters 

19 that equal at least 15 percent of the total 

20 economic loss of the small business for 

21 each year a grant is requested; and 

22 (iv) demonstrate that the grant will 

23 materially improve the likelihood the busi24 ness will— 

25 (I) recover from the disaster; 


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1 (II) continue to service and sup2 port production agriculture; and 

3 (III) replant agricultural produc4 tion fields and groves. 

5 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—A grant to a small busi6 ness under this subsection shall— 

7 (A) be limited to not more than 2 years of 

8 documented losses; 

9 (B) be in an amount of not more than 75 

10 percent of the documented average economic 

11 loss attributable to weather-related agriculture 

12 disasters for each eligible year in the State; and 

13 (C) not exceed a total amount of $250,000 

14 for each small business. 

15 (4) INSUFFICIENT FUNDING.—If the grant 

16 funds received by the State under subsection (a) are 

17 insufficient to fund the grants of the State under 

18 this subsection, the State may apply a proportional 

19 reduction to all of the grants. 

20 TITLE III—FORESTRY 

21 SEC. 301. TREE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

22 (a) DEFINITION OF TREE.—In this section, the term 

23 ‘‘tree’’ includes— 

24 (1) a tree (including a Christmas tree, orna25 mental tree, nursery tree, and potted tree); 


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1 (2) a bush (including a shrub, nursery shrub, 

2 nursery bush, ornamental bush, ornamental shrub, 

3 potted bush, and potted shrub); and 

4 (3) a vine (including a nursery vine and orna5 mental vine). 

6 (b) PROGRAM.—Except as otherwise provided in this 

7 section, the Secretary shall use such sums as are necessary 

8 of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to pro9 vide assistance under the tree assistance program estab10 lished under subtitle C of title X of the Farm Security 

11 and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8201 et seq.) 

12 to— 

13 (1) producers who suffered tree losses in dis14 aster counties; and 

15 (2) fruit and tree nut producers in disaster 

16 counties. 

17 (c) COSTS.—Funds made available under this section 

18 shall also be made available to cover costs associated with 

19 tree pruning, tree rehabilitation, and other appropriate 

20 tree-related activities as determined by the Secretary. 

21 (d) SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under this 

22 section shall compensate for losses resulting from disas23 ters during calendar year 2005, 2006, or 2007, or any 

24 combination of those calendar years. 


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1 TITLE IV—ASSISTANCE FOR UN2 EMPLOYED AGRICULTURAL 

3 WORKERS 

4 SEC. 401. UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE. 

5 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall use such 

6 sums as are necessary to provide unemployment assistance 

7 in accordance with section 410 of the Robert T. Stafford 

8 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 5177) to agricultural workers in the State (including low10 income migrant and seasonal farmworkers) who are unem11 ployed due to disasters occurring in calendar year 2007, 

12 as determined by the Secretary. 

13 SEC. 402. FOOD COUPONS AND DISTRIBUTION. 

14 The Secretary shall use such sums as are necessary 

15 of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to pro16 vide food coupons and surplus commodities in accordance 

17 with section 412 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

18 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5179) to agri19 cultural workers in the State (including low-income mi20 grant and seasonal farmworkers) who are unemployed due 

21 to disasters occurring in calendar year 2007, as deter22 mined by the Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 403. EMERGENCY GRANTS TO ASSIST LOW-INCOME MI2 GRANT AND SEASONAL FARMWORKERS. 

3 The Secretary shall use such sums as are necessary 

4 of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to pro5 vide emergency grants to assist low-income migrant and 

6 seasonal farmworkers in the State who are unemployed 

7 due to disasters occurring in calendar year 2007, as deter8 mined by the Secretary, in accordance with section 2281 

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

10 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5177a). 

11 SEC. 404. TEMPORARY MORTGAGE RENTAL ASSISTANCE. 

12 For the period beginning on the date of enactment 

13 of this Act and ending 180 days after the date of enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

15 use such sums as are necessary to provide temporary 

16 mortgage rental assistance to agricultural workers in the 

17 State (including low-income migrant and seasonal farm18 workers) who are unemployed due to disasters occurring 

19 in calendar year 2007 under the same terms and condi20 tions as the temporary mortgage rental assistance pro21 gram under section 408(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis22 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 5174(b)) (as in effect on the day before the effective date 

24 of the amendment made by section 206(a) of the Disaster 

25 Mitigation Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 5174 note; Public Law 

26 106–390)). 


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1 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 SEC. 501. LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE. 

3 The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent 

4 practicable, that no producers on a farm receive duplica5 tive payments under this Act and any other Federal pro6 gram for the same loss. 

7 SEC. 502. FUNDING. 

8 The Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and au9 thorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry 

10 out this Act (other than sections 401 and 404), to remain 

11 available until expended. 

12 SEC. 503. REGULATIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may promulgate 

14 such regulations as are necessary to implement this Act. 

15 (b) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the regula16 tions and administration of this Act shall be made without 

17 regard to— 

18 (1) the notice and comment provisions of sec19 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 

20 (2) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary of 

21 Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 

22 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking 

23 and public participation in rulemaking; and 


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1 (3) chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 

2 (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

3 Act’’). 

4 (c) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE5 MAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 

6 use the authority provided under section 808 of title 5, 

7 United States Code. 

8 TITLE VI—EMERGENCY 

9 DESIGNATION 

10 SEC. 601. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

11 The amounts provided under this Act are designated 

12 as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of 

13 H. Con. Res. 95 (109th Congress). 

Æ 


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