Calendar No. 492

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3603

[Report No. 104–317]

AN ACT

Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Deposes. ending September 30, 1997, and for other pur- Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year velopment, Food and Drug Administration, and

JULY 11, 1996

Reported with amendments
II

Calendar No. 492

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3603

[Report No. 104–317]

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 13, 1996

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations

JULY 11, 1996

Reported by Mr. Cochran, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

AN ACT

Making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development,

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997,

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 That the following sums are appropriated, out of any

4 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for Ag5 riculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administra6 tion, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year
2

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1 ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes,

2 namely:

3 TITLE I

4 AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMS

5 PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, AND MARKETING

6 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

7 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

8 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary

9 of Agriculture, and not to exceed $75,000 for employment

10 under 5 U.S.C. 3109, $2,836,000: Provided, That not to

11 exceed $11,000 of this amount, along with any unobli12 gated balances of representation funds in the Foreign Ag13 ricultural Service shall be available for official reception

14 and representation expenses, not otherwise provided for,

15 as determined by the Secretary:–Provided further, That

16 none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made avail17 able by this Act may be used to detail an individual from

18 an agency funded in this Act to any Under Secretary office

19 or Assistant Secretary office for more than 30 days: Pro20 vided further, That none of the funds made available by

21 this Act may be used to enforce section 793(d) of Public

22 Law 104–127.
3

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1 EXECUTIVE OPERATIONS

2 CHIEF ECONOMIST

3 For necessary expenses of the Chief Economist, in4 cluding economic analysis, risk assessment, cost-benefit

5 analysis, and the functions of the World Agricultural Out6 look Board, as authorized by the Agricultural Marketing

7 Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1622g), and including employment

8 pursuant to the second sentence of section 706(a) of the

9 Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to

10 exceed $5,000 is for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109,

11 $4,231,000.

12 NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION

13 For necessary expenses of the National Appeals Divi14 sion, including employment pursuant to the second sen15 tence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7

16 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $25,000 is for em17 ployment under 5 U.S.C. 3109, $11,718,000.

18 OFFICE OF BUDGET AND PROGRAM ANALYSIS

19 For necessary expenses of the Office of Budget and

20 Program Analysis, including employment pursuant to the

21 second sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of

22 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $5,000 is

23 for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109, $5,986,000.

24 CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

25 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Chief Fi26 nancial Officer, including employment pursuant to the sec-
4

HR 3603 RS

1 ond sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944

2 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $10,000 is for

3 employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109, $4,283,000: Provided,

4 That the Chief Financial Officer shall actively market

5 cross-servicing activities of the National Finance Center.

6 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

7 ADMINISTRATION

8 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

9 the Assistant Secretary for Administration to carry out

10 the programs funded in this Act, $613,000.

11 AGRICULTURE BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES AND RENTAL

12 PAYMENTS

13 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

14 For payment of space rental and related costs pursu15 ant to Public Law 92–313, including authorities pursuant

16 to the 1984 delegation of authority from the Adminis17 trator of General Services to the Department of Agri18 culture under 40 U.S.C. 486, for programs and activities

19 of the Department which are included in this Act, and for

20 the operation, maintenance, and repair of Agriculture

21 buildings, $120,548,000: Provided, That in the event an

22 agency within the Department should require modification

23 of space needs, the Secretary of Agriculture may transfer

24 a share of that agency’s appropriation made available by

25 this Act to this appropriation, or may transfer a share
5

HR 3603 RS

1 of this appropriation to that agency’s appropriation, but

2 such transfers shall not exceed 5 percent of the funds

3 made available for space rental and related costs to or

4 from this account. In addition, for construction, repair,

5 improvement, extension, alteration, and purchase of fixed

6 equipment or facilities as necessary to carry out the pro7 grams of the Department, where not otherwise provided,

8 $5,000,000, $25,587,000 to remain available until ex9 pended; making a total appropriation of $125,548,000

10 $146,135,000.

11 HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT

12 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

13 For necessary expenses of the Department of Agri14 culture, to comply with the requirement of section 107(g)

15 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com16 pensation, and Liability Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

17 9607(g), and section 6001 of the Resource Conservation

18 and Recovery Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961,

19 $15,700,000, to remain available until expended: Pro20 vided, That appropriations and funds available herein to

21 the Department for Hazardous Waste Management may

22 be transferred to any agency of the Department for its

23 use in meeting all requirements pursuant to the above

24 Acts on Federal and non-Federal lands.
6

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1 DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION

2 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

3 For Departmental Administration, $28,304,000

4 $30,529,000, to provide for necessary expenses for man5 agement support services to offices of the Department and

6 for general administration and disaster management of

7 the Department, repairs and alterations, and other mis8 cellaneous supplies and expenses not otherwise provided

9 for and necessary for the practical and efficient work of

10 the Department, including employment pursuant to the

11 second sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of

12 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $10,000

13 is for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided, That

14 this appropriation shall be reimbursed from applicable ap15 propriations in this Act for travel expenses incident to the

16 holding of hearings as required by 5 U.S.C. 551–558: Pro17 vided further, That of the total amount appropriated, not

18 less than $11,774,000 shall be made available for civil rights

19 enforcement.

20 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

21 CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS

22 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

23 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

24 the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations to

25 carry out the programs funded in this Act, including pro-
7

HR 3603 RS

1 grams involving intergovernmental affairs and liaison

2 within the executive branch, $3,728,000 $3,668,000: Pro3 vided, That no other funds appropriated to the Depart4 ment in this Act shall be available to the Department for

5 support of activities of congressional relations: Provided

6 further, That not less than $2,241,000 shall be transferred

7 to agencies funded in this Act to maintain personnel at

8 the agency level.

9 OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

10 For necessary expenses to carry on services relating

11 to the coordination of programs involving public affairs,

12 for the dissemination of agricultural information, and the

13 coordination of information, work, and programs author14 ized by Congress in the Department, $8,138,000, includ15 ing employment pursuant to the second sentence of section

16 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of

17 which not to exceed $10,000 shall be available for employ18 ment under 5 U.S.C. 3109, and not to exceed $2,000,000

19 may be used for farmers’ bulletins.

20 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

21 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

22 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Inspector

23 General, including employment pursuant to the second

24 sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7

25 U.S.C. 2225), and the Inspector General Act of 1978, as
8

HR 3603 RS

1 amended, $63,028,000, including such sums as may be

2 necessary for contracting and other arrangements with

3 public agencies and private persons pursuant to section

4 6(a)(9) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended,

5 including a sum not to exceed $50,000 for employment

6 under 5 U.S.C. 3109; and including a sum not to exceed

7 $95,000 for certain confidential operational expenses in8 cluding the payment of informants, to be expended under

9 the direction of the Inspector General pursuant to Public

10 Law 95–452 and section 1337 of Public Law 97–98: Pro11 vided, That funds transferred to the Office of the Inspec12 tor General through forfeiture proceedings or from the De13 partment of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund or the De14 partment of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, as a partici15 pating agency, as an equitable share from the forfeiture

16 of property in investigations in which the Office of the In17 spector General participates, or through the granting of

18 a Petition for Remission or Mitigation, shall be deposited

19 to the credit of this account for law enforcement activities

20 authorized under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as

21 amended, to remain available until expended.

22 OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL

23 For necessary expenses of the Office of the General

24 Counsel, $27,749,000.
9

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1 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH,

2 EDUCATION AND ECONOMICS

3 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

4 the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Eco5 nomics to administer the laws enacted by the Congress

6 for the Economic Research Service, the National Agricul7 tural Statistics Service, the Agricultural Research Service,

8 and the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Ex9 tension Service, $540,000.

10 ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

11 For necessary expenses of the Economic Research

12 Service in conducting economic research and analysis, as

13 authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7

14 U.S.C. 1621–1627) and other laws, $54,176,000

15 $53,109,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

16 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

17 of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.

18 2225).

19 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

20 For necessary expenses of the National Agricultural

21 Statistics Service in conducting statistical reporting and

22 service work, including crop and livestock estimates, sta23 tistical coordination and improvements, marketing sur24 veys, and the Census of Agriculture notwithstanding 13

25 U.S.C. 142(a–b), as authorized by the Agricultural Mar-
10

HR 3603 RS

1 keting Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–1627) and other laws,

2 $100,221,000 $98,121,000, of which up to $17,500,000

3 shall be available until expended for the Census of Agri4 culture: Provided, That this appropriation shall be avail5 able for employment pursuant to the second sentence of

6 section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.

7 2225), and not to exceed $40,000 shall be available for

8 employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

9 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

10 For necessary expenses to enable the Agricultural Re11 search Service to perform agricultural research and dem12 onstration relating to production, utilization, marketing,

13 and distribution (not otherwise provided for); home eco14 nomics or nutrition and consumer use including the acqui15 sition, preservation, and dissemination of agricultural in16 formation; and for acquisition of lands by donation, ex17 change, or purchase at a nominal cost not to exceed $100,

18 $702,831,000 $721,758,000: Provided, That appropria19 tions hereunder shall be available for temporary employ20 ment pursuant to the second sentence of section 706(a)

21 of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and not to

22 exceed $115,000 shall be available for employment under

23 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided further, That appropriations

24 hereunder shall be available for the operation and mainte25 nance of aircraft and the purchase of not to exceed one
11

HR 3603 RS

1 for replacement only: Provided further, That appropria2 tions hereunder shall be available pursuant to 7 U.S.C.

3 2250 for the construction, alteration, and repair of build4 ings and improvements, but unless otherwise provided the

5 cost of constructing any one building shall not exceed

6 $250,000, except for headhouses or greenhouses which

7 shall each be limited to $1,000,000, and except for ten

8 buildings to be constructed or improved at a cost not to

9 exceed $500,000 each, and the cost of altering any one

10 building during the fiscal year shall not exceed 10 percent

11 of the current replacement value of the building or

12 $250,000, whichever is greater: Provided further, That the

13 limitations on alterations contained in this Act shall not

14 apply to modernization or replacement of existing facilities

15 at Beltsville, Maryland: Provided further, That the fore16 going limitations shall not apply to replacement of build17 ings needed to carry out the Act of April 24, 1948 (21

18 U.S.C. 113a): Provided further, That funds may be re19 ceived from any State, other political subdivision, organi20 zation, or individual for the purpose of establishing or op21 erating any research facility or research project of the Ag22 ricultural Research Service, as authorized by law.

23 None of the funds in the foregoing paragraph shall

24 be available to carry out research related to the produc-
12

HR 3603 RS

1 tion, processing or marketing of tobacco or tobacco prod2 ucts.

3 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

4 For acquisition of land, construction, repair, improve5 ment, extension, alteration, and purchase of fixed equip6 ment or facilities as necessary to carry out the agricultural

7 research programs of the Department of Agriculture,

8 where not otherwise provided, $59,600,000 $59,200,000,

9 to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b): Pro10 vided, That funds may be received from any State, other

11 political subdivision, organization, or individual for the

12 purpose of establishing any research facility of the Agri13 cultural Research Service, as authorized by law.

14 COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND

15 EXTENSION SERVICE

16 RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

17 For payments to agricultural experiment stations, for

18 cooperative forestry and other research, for facilities, and

19 for other expenses, including $163,671,000 $168,734,000

20 to carry into effect the provisions of the Hatch Act (7

21 U.S.C. 361a–361i); $19,882,000 $20,497,000 for grants

22 for cooperative forestry research (16 U.S.C. 582a–582–

23 a7); $26,902,000 $27,735,000 for payments to the 1890

24 land-grant colleges, including Tuskegee University (7

25 U.S.C. 3222); $44,235,000 $46,068,000 for special grants
13

HR 3603 RS

1 for agricultural research (7 U.S.C. 450i(c)); $11,769,000

2 for special grants for agricultural research on improved

3 pest control (7 U.S.C. 450i(c)); $96,735,000 $93,935,000

4 for competitive research grants (7 U.S.C. 450i(b));

5 $4,775,000 $5,051,000 for the support of animal health

6 and disease programs (7 U.S.C. 3195); $650,000

7 $500,000 for supplemental and alternative crops and prod8 ucts (7 U.S.C. 3319d); $500,000 $700,000 for grants for

9 research pursuant to the Critical Agricultural Materials

10 Act of 1984 (7 U.S.C. 178) and section 1472 of the Food

11 and Agriculture Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3318),

12 to remain available until expended; $475,000 for range13 land research grants (7 U.S.C. 3331–3336); $3,000,000

14 for higher education graduate fellowships grants (7 U.S.C.

15 3152(b)(6)), to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

16 2209b); $4,000,000 for higher education challenge grants

17 (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(1)); $1,000,000 for a higher education

18 minority scholars program (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(5)), to re19 main available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b);

20 $2,000,000 $1,500,000 for an education grants program

21 for Hispanic-serving Institutions (7 U.S.C. 3241);

22 $4,000,000 for aquaculture grants (7 U.S.C. 3322);

23 $8,000,000 $8,100,000 for sustainable agriculture re24 search and education (7 U.S.C. 5811); $9,200,000 for a

25 program of capacity building grants (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(4))
14

HR 3603 RS

1 to colleges eligible to receive funds under the Act of Au2 gust 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321–326 and 328), including

3 Tuskegee University 7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(4), to remain avail4 able until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b); $1,450,000 for pay5 ments to the 1994 Institutions pursuant to section

6 534(a)(1) of Public Law 103–382; and $9,605,000

7 $10,644,000 for necessary expenses of Research and Edu8 cation Activities, of which not to exceed $100,000 shall

9 be for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109; in all,

10 $411,849,000 $418,358,000.

11 None of the funds in the foregoing paragraph shall

12 be available to carry out research related to the produc13 tion, processing or marketing of tobacco or tobacco prod14 ucts.

15 NATIVE AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS ENDOWMENT FUND

16 For establishment of a Native American institutions

17 endowment fund, as authorized by Public Law 130–382

18 (7 U.S.C. 301 note), $4,600,000.

19 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

20 For acquisition of land, construction, repair, improve21 ment, extension, alteration, and purchase of fixed equip22 ment or facilities and for grants to States and other eligi23 ble recipients for such purposes, as necessary to carry out

24 the agricultural research, extension, and teaching pro25 grams of the Department of Agriculture, where not other-
15

HR 3603 RS

1 wise provided, $30,449,000 $55,668,000 (7 U.S.C. 390 et

2 seq.), to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b).

3 EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

4 Payments to States, the District of Columbia, Puerto

5 Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Micronesia, Northern

6 Marianas, and American Samoa: For payments for coop7 erative extension work under the Smith-Lever Act, as

8 amended, to be distributed under sections 3(b) and 3(c)

9 of said Act, and under section 208(c) of Public Law 93–

10 471, for retirement and employees’ compensation costs for

11 extension agents and for costs of penalty mail for coopera12 tive extension agents and State extension directors,

13 $260,438,000 $268,493,000; $2,500,000 for extension work

14 at the 1994 Institutions under the Smith-Lever Act (7

15 U.S.C. 343(b)(3)); payments for the nutrition and family

16 education program for low-income areas under section

17 3(d) of the Act, $58,695,000 $60,510,000; payments for

18 the pest management program under section 3(d) of the

19 Act, $10,783,000; payments for the farm safety program

20 under section 3(d) of the Act, $2,855,000 $2,943,000; pay21 ments for the pesticide impact assessment program under

22 section 3(d) of the Act, $3,214,000 $3,313,000; payments

23 to upgrade 1890 land-grant college research, extension,

24 and teaching facilities as authorized by section 1447 of

25 Public Law 95–113, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3222b),
16

HR 3603 RS

1 $7,549,000 $7,782,000, to remain available until ex2 pended; $1,700,000 for institutional capacity building

3 grants at the 1994 Institutions (7 U.S.C. 301 note), to re4 main available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b); payments

5 for the rural development centers under section 3(d) of

6 the Act, $908,000 $936,000; payments for a groundwater

7 quality program under section 3(d) of the Act,

8 $10,733,000 $11,065,000; payments for the agricultural

9 telecommunications program, as authorized by Public Law

10 101–624 (7 U.S.C. 5926), $1,167,000 $1,203,000; pay11 ments for youth-at-risk programs under section 3(d) of the

12 Act, $9,554,000 $9,850,000; payments for a food safety

13 program under section 3(d) of the Act, $2,365,000

14 $2,438,000; payments for carrying out the provisions of

15 the Renewable Resources Extension Act of 1978,

16 $3,192,000 $3,291,000; payments for Indian reservation

17 agents under section 3(d) of the Act, $1,672,000

18 $1,724,000; payments for sustainable agriculture programs

19 under section 3(d) of the Act, $3,309,000 $3,411,000; pay20 ments for rural health and safety education as authorized

21 by section 2390 of Public Law 101–624 (7 U.S.C. 2661

22 note, 2662), $2,628,000 $2,709,000; payments for cooper23 ative extension work by the colleges receiving the benefits

24 of the second Morrill Act (7 U.S.C. 321–326, 328) and

25 Tuskegee University, $24,337,000 $25,090,000; and for
17

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1 Federal administration and coordination including admin2 istration of the Smith-Lever Act, as amended, and the Act

3 of September 29, 1977 (7 U.S.C. 341–349), as amended,

4 and section 1361(c) of the Act of October 3, 1980 (7

5 U.S.C. 301 note), and to coordinate and provide program

6 leadership for the extension work of the Department and

7 the several States and insular possessions, $6,271,000

8 $11,331,000; in all, $409,670,000 $431,072,000: Provided,

9 That funds hereby appropriated pursuant to section 3(c)

10 of the Act of June 26, 1953, and section 506 of the Act

11 of June 23, 1972, as amended, shall not be paid to any

12 State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, or

13 the Virgin Islands, Micronesia, Northern Marianas, and

14 American Samoa prior to availability of an equal sum from

15 non-Federal sources for expenditure during the current

16 fiscal year.

17 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

18 MARKETING AND REGULATORY PROGRAMS

19 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

20 the Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory

21 Programs to administer programs under the laws enacted

22 by the Congress for the Animal and Plant Health Inspec23 tion Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, and the

24 Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration,

25 $618,000.
18

HR 3603 RS

1 ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE

2 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

3 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

4 For expenses, not otherwise provided for, including

5 those pursuant to the Act of February 28, 1947, as

6 amended (21 U.S.C. 114b–c), necessary to prevent, con7 trol, and eradicate pests and plant and animal diseases;

8 to carry out inspection, quarantine, and regulatory activi9 ties; to discharge the authorities of the Secretary of Agri10 culture under the Act of March 2, 1931 (46 Stat. 1468;

11 7 U.S.C. 426–426b); and to protect the environment, as

12 authorized by law, $435,428,000 $432,103,000, of which

13 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 shall be available for the control

14 of outbreaks of insects, plant diseases, animal diseases and

15 for control of pest animals and birds to the extent nec16 essary to meet emergency conditions: Provided, That no

17 funds shall be used to formulate or administer a brucel18 losis eradication program for the current fiscal year that

19 does not require minimum matching by the States of at

20 least 40 percent: Provided further, That this appropriation

21 shall be available for field employment pursuant to the sec22 ond sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944

23 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and not to exceed $40,000 shall be avail24 able for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided fur25 ther, That this appropriation shall be available for the op-
19

HR 3603 RS

1 eration and maintenance of aircraft and the purchase of

2 not to exceed four, of which two shall be for replacement

3 only: Provided further, That, in addition, in emergencies

4 which threaten any segment of the agricultural production

5 industry of this country, the Secretary may transfer from

6 other appropriations or funds available to the agencies or

7 corporations of the Department such sums as he may

8 deem necessary, to be available only in such emergencies

9 for the arrest and eradication of contagious or infectious

10 disease or pests of animals, poultry, or plants, and for ex11 penses in accordance with the Act of February 28, 1947,

12 as amended, and section 102 of the Act of September 21,

13 1944, as amended, and any unexpended balances of funds

14 transferred for such emergency purposes in the next pre15 ceding fiscal year shall be merged with such transferred

16 amounts: Provided further, That appropriations hereunder

17 shall be available pursuant to law (7 U.S.C. 2250) for the

18 repair and alteration of leased buildings and improve19 ments, but unless otherwise provided the cost of altering

20 any one building during the fiscal year shall not exceed

21 10 percent of the current replacement value of the build22 ing.

23 In fiscal year 1997 the agency is authorized to collect

24 fees to cover the total costs of providing technical assist25 ance, goods, or services requested by States, other political
20

HR 3603 RS

1 subdivisions, domestic and international organizations,

2 foreign governments, or individuals, provided that such

3 fees are structured such that any entity’s liability for such

4 fees is reasonably based on the technical assistance, goods,

5 or services provided to the entity by the agency, and such

6 fees shall be credited to this account, to remain available

7 until expended, without further appropriation, for provid8 ing such assistance, goods, or services.

9 Of the total amount available under this heading in

10 fiscal year 1997, $98,000,000 shall be derived from user

11 fees deposited in the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection

12 User Fee Account.

13 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

14 For plans, construction, repair, preventive mainte15 nance, environmental support, improvement, extension, al16 teration, and purchase of fixed equipment or facilities, as

17 authorized by 7 U.S.C. 2250, and acquisition of land as

18 authorized by 7 U.S.C. 428a, $3,200,000, to remain avail19 able until expended.

20 AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE

21 MARKETING SERVICES

22 For necessary expenses to carry on services related

23 to consumer protection, agricultural marketing and dis24 tribution, transportation, and regulatory programs, as au25 thorized by law, and for administration and coordination
21

HR 3603 RS

1 of payments to States; including field employment pursu2 ant to section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.

3 2225), and not to exceed $90,000 for employment under

4 5 U.S.C. 3109, $37,592,000 $47,829,000, including funds

5 for the wholesale market development program for the de6 sign and development of wholesale and farmer market fa7 cilities for the major metropolitan areas of the country:

8 Provided, That this appropriation shall be available pursu9 ant to law (7 U.S.C. 2250) for the alteration and repair

10 of buildings and improvements, but the cost of altering

11 any one building during the fiscal year shall not exceed

12 10 percent of the current replacement value of the build13 ing.

14 Fees may be collected for the cost of standardization

15 activities, as established by regulation pursuant to law (31

16 U.S.C. 9701).

17 LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

18 Not to exceed $59,012,000 (from fees collected) shall

19 be obligated during the current fiscal year for administra20 tive expenses: Provided, That if crop size is understated

21 and/or other uncontrollable events occur, the agency may

22 exceed this limitation by up to 10 percent with notification

23 to the Appropriations Committees.
22

HR 3603 RS

1 FUNDS FOR STRENGTHENING MARKETS, INCOME, AND

2 SUPPLY (SECTION 32)

3 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

4 Funds available under section 32 of the Act of Au5 gust 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c) shall be used only for com6 modity program expenses as authorized therein, and other

7 related operating expenses, except for: (1) transfers to the

8 Department of Commerce as authorized by the Fish and

9 Wildlife Act of August 8, 1956; (2) transfers otherwise

10 provided in this Act; and (3) not more than $10,576,000

11 for formulation and administration of marketing agree12 ments and orders pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing

13 Agreement Act of 1937, as amended, and the Agricultural

14 Act of 1961.

15 PAYMENTS TO STATES AND POSSESSIONS

16 For payments to departments of agriculture, bureaus

17 and departments of markets, and similar agencies for

18 marketing activities under section 204(b) of the Agricul19 tural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1623(b)),

20 $1,200,000.

21 GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS

22 ADMINISTRATION

23 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

24 For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions

25 of the United States Grain Standards Act, as amended,
23

HR 3603 RS

1 for the administration of the Packers and Stockyards Act,

2 for certifying procedures used to protect purchasers of

3 farm products, and the standardization activities related

4 to grain under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946,

5 as amended, including field employment pursuant to sec6 tion 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225),

7 and not to exceed $25,000 for employment under 5 U.S.C.

8 3109, $22,728,000: Provided, That this appropriation

9 shall be available pursuant to law (7 U.S.C. 2250) for the

10 alteration and repair of buildings and improvements, but

11 the cost of altering any one building during the fiscal year

12 shall not exceed 10 percent of the current replacement

13 value of the building.

14 INSPECTION AND WEIGHING SERVICES

15 LIMITATION ON INSPECTION AND WEIGHING SERVICE

16 EXPENSES

17 Not to exceed $43,207,000 (from fees collected) shall

18 be obligated during the current fiscal year for inspection

19 and weighing services: Provided, That if grain export ac20 tivities require additional supervision and oversight, or

21 other uncontrollable factors occur, this limitation may be

22 exceeded by up to 10 percent with notification to the Ap23 propriations Committees.
24

HR 3603 RS

1 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD SAFETY

2 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

3 the Under Secretary for Food Safety to administer the

4 laws enacted by the Congress for the Food Safety and In5 spection Service, $446,000.

6 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE

7 For necessary expenses to carry on services author8 ized by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as amended, the

9 Poultry Products Inspection Act, as amended, and the

10 Egg Products Inspection Act, as amended, $574,000,000

11 $557,697,000, and in addition, $1,000,000 may be credited

12 to this account from fees collected for the cost of labora13 tory accreditation as authorized by section 1017 of Public

14 Law 102–237: Provided, That this appropriation shall not

15 be available for shell egg surveillance under section 5(d)

16 of the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1034(d)):

17 Provided further, That this appropriation shall be available

18 for field employment pursuant to section 706(a) of the Or19 ganic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and not to exceed

20 $75,000 shall be available for employment under 5 U.S.C.

21 3109: Provided further, That this appropriation shall be

22 available pursuant to law (7 U.S.C. 2250) for the alter23 ation and repair of buildings and improvements, but the

24 cost of altering any one building during the fiscal year
25

HR 3603 RS

1 shall not exceed 10 percent of the current replacement

2 value of the building.

3 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FARM AND

4 FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES

5 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

6 the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural

7 Services to administer the laws enacted by Congress for

8 the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, Foreign Agricul9 tural Service, and the Commodity Credit Corporation,

10 $572,000.

11 FARM SERVICE AGENCY

12 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

13 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

14 For necessary expenses for carrying out the adminis15 tration and implementation of programs administered by

16 the Farm Service Agency, $746,440,000 $795,000,000:

17 Provided, That the Secretary is authorized to use the serv18 ices, facilities, and authorities (but not the funds) of the

19 Commodity Credit Corporation to make program pay20 ments for all programs administered by the Agency: Pro21 vided further, That other funds made available to the

22 Agency for authorized activities may be advanced to and

23 merged with this account: Provided further, That these

24 funds shall be available for employment pursuant to the

25 second sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of
26

HR 3603 RS

1 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and not to exceed $1,000,000 shall

2 be available for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

3 STATE MEDIATION GRANTS

4 For grants pursuant to section 502(b) of the Agricul5 tural Credit Act of 1987, as amended (7 U.S.C. 5101–5106),

6 $2,000,000.

7 DAIRY INDEMNITY PROGRAM

8 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

9 For necessary expenses involved in making indemnity

10 payments to dairy farmers for milk or cows producing

11 such milk and manufacturers of dairy products who have

12 been directed to remove their milk or dairy products from

13 commercial markets because it contained residues of

14 chemicals registered and approved for use by the Federal

15 Government, and in making indemnity payments for milk,

16 or cows producing such milk, at a fair market value to

17 any dairy farmer who is directed to remove his milk from

18 commercial markets because of (1) the presence of prod19 ucts of nuclear radiation or fallout if such contamination

20 is not due to the fault of the farmer, or (2) residues of

21 chemicals or toxic substances not included under the first

22 sentence of the Act of August 13, 1968, as amended (7

23 U.S.C. 450j), if such chemicals or toxic substances were

24 not used in a manner contrary to applicable regulations

25 or labeling instructions provided at the time of use and

26 the contamination is not due to the fault of the farmer,
27

HR 3603 RS

1 $100,000, to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

2 2209b): Provided, That none of the funds contained in this

3 Act shall be used to make indemnity payments to any

4 farmer whose milk was removed from commercial markets

5 as a result of his willful failure to follow procedures pre6 scribed by the Federal Government: Provided further, That

7 this amount shall be transferred to the Commodity Credit

8 Corporation: Provided further, That the Secretary is au9 thorized to utilize the services, facilities, and authorities

10 of the Commodity Credit Corporation for the purpose of

11 making dairy indemnity disbursements.

12 OUTREACH FOR SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS

13 For grants and contracts pursuant to section 2501

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

15 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279), $1,000,000, to remain available

16 until expended.

17 AGRICULTURAL CREDIT INSURANCE FUND PROGRAM

18 ACCOUNT

19 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

20 For gross obligations for the principal amount of di21 rect and guaranteed loans as authorized by 7 U.S.C.

22 1928–1929, to be available from funds in the Agricultural

23 Credit Insurance Fund, as follows: farm ownership loans,

24 $600,000,000, of which $550,000,000 shall be for guaran25 teed loans; operating loans, $2,345,071,000, of which

26 $1,700,000,000 shall be for unsubsidized guaranteed
28

HR 3603 RS

1 loans and $200,000,000 shall be for subsidized guaranteed

2 loans; Indian tribe land acquisition loans as authorized by

3 25 U.S.C. 488, $1,000,000; for emergency insured loans,

4 $25,000,000 $75,000,000 to meet the needs resulting from

5 natural disasters; for boll weevil eradication program loans

6 as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1989, $15,384,000; and for credit

7 sales of acquired property, $25,000,000.

8 For the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, including

9 the cost of modifying loans as defined in section 502 of

10 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as follows: farm

11 ownership loans, $27,975,000, of which $22,055,000 shall

12 be for guaranteed loans; operating loans, $96,840,000, of

13 which $19,210,000 shall be for unsubsidized guaranteed

14 loans and $18,480,000 shall be for subsidized guaranteed

15 loans; Indian tribe land acquisition loans as authorized by

16 25 U.S.C. 488, $54,000; for emergency insured loans,

17 $6,365,000 $19,095,000 to meet the needs resulting from

18 natural disasters; for boll weevil eradication program loans

19 as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1989, $2,000,000; and for credit

20 sales of acquired property, $2,530,000.

21 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

22 carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs,

23 $221,046,000, of which $208,446,000 shall be transferred

24 to and merged with the ‘‘Farm Service Agency, Salaries

25 and Expenses’’ account.
29

HR 3603 RS

1 OFFICE OF RISK MANAGEMENT

2 For administrative and operating expenses, as au3 thorized by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re4 form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 6933), $62,198,000: Provided,

5 That not to exceed $700 shall be available for official re6 ception and representation expenses, as authorized by 7

7 U.S.C. 1506(i).

8 CORPORATIONS

9 The following corporations and agencies are hereby

10 authorized to make expenditures, within the limits of

11 funds and borrowing authority available to each such cor12 poration or agency and in accord with law, and to make

13 contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal year

14 limitations as provided by section 104 of the Government

15 Corporation Control Act, as amended, as may be necessary

16 in carrying out the programs set forth in the budget for

17 the current fiscal year for such corporation or agency, ex18 cept as hereinafter provided.

19 FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION FUND

20 For payments as authorized by section 516 of the

21 Federal Crop Insurance Act, as amended, such sums as

22 may be necessary, to remain available until expended (7

23 U.S.C. 2209b).
30

HR 3603 RS

1 COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION FUND

2 REIMBURSEMENT FOR NET REALIZED LOSSES

3 For fiscal year 1997, such sums as may be necessary

4 to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for net

5 realized losses sustained, but not previously reimbursed

6 (estimated to be $1,500,000,000 in the President’s fiscal

7 year 1997 Budget Request (H. Doc. 104–162)), but not

8 to exceed $1,500,000,000, pursuant to section 2 of the

9 Act of August 17, 1961, as amended (15 U.S.C. 713a–

10 11).

11 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE

12 MANAGEMENT

13 For fiscal year 1997, the Commodity Credit Corpora14 tion shall not expend more than $5,000,000 for expenses

15 to comply with the requirement of section 107(g) of the

16 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

17 and Liability Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9607(g), and

18 section 6001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery

19 Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961: Provided, That ex20 penses shall be for operations and maintenance costs only

21 and that other hazardous waste management costs shall

22 be paid for by the USDA Hazardous Waste Management

23 appropriation in this Act.
31

HR 3603 RS

1 TITLE II

2 CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

3 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR NATURAL

4 RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

5 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

6 the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environ7 ment to administer the laws enacted by the Congress for

8 the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conserva9 tion Service, $693,000.

10 NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE

11 CONSERVATION OPERATIONS

12 For necessary expenses for carrying out the provi13 sions of the Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–590f)

14 including preparation of conservation plans and establish15 ment of measures to conserve soil and water (including

16 farm irrigation and land drainage and such special meas17 ures for soil and water management as may be necessary

18 to prevent floods and the siltation of reservoirs and to con19 trol agricultural related pollutants); operation of conserva20 tion plant materials centers; classification and mapping of

21 soil; dissemination of information; acquisition of lands,

22 water, and interests therein for use in the plant materials

23 program by donation, exchange, or purchase at a nominal

24 cost not to exceed $100 pursuant to the Act of August

25 3, 1956 (7 U.S.C. 428a); purchase and erection or alter-
32

HR 3603 RS

1 ation or improvement of permanent and temporary build2 ings; and operation and maintenance of aircraft,

3 $619,392,000 $638,954,000, to remain available until ex4 pended (7 U.S.C. 2209b), of which not less than

5 $5,835,000 is for snow survey and water forecasting and

6 not less than $8,825,000 is for operation and establish7 ment of the plant materials centers: Provided, That appro8 priations hereunder shall be available pursuant to 7

9 U.S.C. 2250 for construction and improvement of build10 ings and public improvements at plant materials centers,

11 except that the cost of alterations and improvements to

12 other buildings and other public improvements shall not

13 exceed $250,000: Provided further, That when buildings

14 or other structures are erected on non-Federal land, that

15 the right to use such land is obtained as provided in 7

16 U.S.C. 2250a: Provided further, That this appropriation

17 shall be available for technical assistance and related ex18 penses to carry out programs authorized by section 202(c)

19 of title II of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control

20 Act of 1974, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1592(c)): Provided

21 further, That no part of this appropriation may be ex22 pended for soil and water conservation operations under

23 the Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–590f) in dem24 onstration projects: Provided further, That this appropria25 tion shall be available for employment pursuant to the sec-
33

HR 3603 RS

1 ond sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944

2 (7 U.S.C. 2225) and not to exceed $25,000 shall be avail3 able for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided fur4 ther, That qualified local engineers may be temporarily

5 employed at per diem rates to perform the technical plan6 ning work of the Service (16 U.S.C. 590e–2): Provided

7 further, That of the total amount appropriated, no more

8 than $250,000 may be available for purposes authorized

9 under sections 351–360 of Public Law 104–127.

10 WATERSHED SURVEYS AND PLANNING

11 For necessary expenses to conduct research, inves12 tigation, and surveys of watersheds of rivers and other wa13 terways, and for small watershed investigations and plan14 ning, in accordance with the Watershed Protection and

15 Flood Prevention Act approved August 4, 1954, as

16 amended (16 U.S.C. 1001–1009), $10,762,000

17 $14,000,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

18 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

19 of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.

20 2225), and not to exceed $110,000 shall be available for

21 employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

22 WATERSHED AND FLOOD PREVENTION OPERATIONS

23 For necessary expenses to carry out preventive meas24 ures, including but not limited to research, engineering op25 erations, methods of cultivation, the growing of vegetation,
34

HR 3603 RS

1 rehabilitation of existing works and changes in use of land,

2 in accordance with the Watershed Protection and Flood

3 Prevention Act approved August 4, 1954, as amended (16

4 U.S.C. 1001–1005, 1007–1009), the provisions of the Act

5 of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–f), and in accordance

6 with the provisions of laws relating to the activities of the

7 Department, $101,036,000, to remain available until ex8 pended (7 U.S.C. 2209b) (of which up to $15,000,000

9 may be available for the watersheds authorized under the

10 Flood Control Act approved June 22, 1936 (33 U.S.C.

11 701, 16 U.S.C. 1006a), as amended and supplemented:

12 Provided, That this appropriation shall be available for

13 employment pursuant to the second sentence of section

14 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and

15 not to exceed $200,000 shall be available for employment

16 under 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided further, That not to exceed

17 $1,000,000 of this appropriation is available to carry out

18 the purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Pub19 lic Law 93–205), as amended, including cooperative ef20 forts as contemplated by that Act to relocate endangered

21 or threatened species to other suitable habitats as may be

22 necessary to expedite project construction.

23 RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT

24 For necessary expenses in planning and carrying out

25 projects for resource conservation and development and
35

HR 3603 RS

1 for sound land use pursuant to the provisions of section

2 32(e) of title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant

3 Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1010–1011; 76 Stat. 607), the

4 Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–f), and the Agri5 culture and Food Act of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3451–3461),

6 $29,377,000, to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

7 2209b): Provided, That this appropriation shall be avail8 able for employment pursuant to the second sentence of

9 section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.

10 2225), and not to exceed $50,000 shall be available for

11 employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

12 FORESTRY INCENTIVES PROGRAM

13 For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for,

14 to carry out the program of forestry incentives, as author15 ized in the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978

16 (16 U.S.C. 2101), including technical assistance and relat17 ed expenses, $6,325,000, to remain available until ex18 pended, as authorized by that Act.

19 TITLE III

20 RURAL ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY

21 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

22 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR RURAL

23 DEVELOPMENT

24 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

25 the Under Secretary for Rural Development to administer
36

HR 3603 RS

1 programs under the laws enacted by the Congress for the

2 Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Serv3 ice, and the Rural Utilities Service of the Department of

4 Agriculture, $588,000.

5 RURAL HOUSING SERVICE

6 RURAL HOUSING INSURANCE FUND PROGRAM ACCOUNT

7 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

8 For gross obligations for the principal amount of di9 rect and guaranteed loans as authorized by title V of the

10 Housing Act of 1949, as amended, to be available from

11 funds in the rural housing insurance fund, as follows:

12 $3,300,000,000 for loans to section 502 borrowers, as de13 termined by the Secretary, of which $2,300,000,000 shall

14 be for unsubsidized guaranteed loans; $35,000,000 for

15 section 504 housing repair loans; $15,000,000 for section

16 514 farm labor housing; $58,654,000 for section 515 rent17 al housing; $600,000 for section 524 site loans;

18 $50,000,000 for credit sales of acquired property; and

19 $600,000 for section 523 self-help housing land develop20 ment loans.

21 For the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, including

22 the cost of modifying loans, as defined in section 502 of

23 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as follows: section

24 502 loans, $89,210,000, of which $6,210,000 shall be for

25 unsubsidized guaranteed loans; section 504 housing repair

26 loans, $11,081,000; section 514 farm labor housing,
37

HR 3603 RS

1 $6,885,000; section 515 rental housing, $28,987,000:–

2 Provided, That no funds for new construction for section

3 515 rental housing may be available for fiscal year 1997;

4 credit sales of acquired property, $4,050,000; and section

5 523 self-help housing land development loans, $17,000.

6 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

7 carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs,

8 $366,205,000, which shall be transferred to and merged

9 with the appropriation for ‘‘Rural Housing Service, Sala10 ries and Expenses’’.

11 RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

12 For rental assistance agreements entered into or re13 newed pursuant to the authority under section 521(a)(2)

14 or agreements entered into in lieu of debt forgiveness or

15 payments for eligible households as authorized by section

16 502(c)(5)(D) of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended,

17 $493,870,000; and in addition such sums as may be nec18 essary, as authorized by section 521(c) of the Act, to liq19 uidate debt incurred prior to fiscal year 1992 to carry out

20 the rental assistance program under section 521(a)(2) of

21 the Act: Provided, That of this amount not more than

22 $5,900,000 shall be available for debt forgiveness or pay23 ments for eligible households as authorized by section

24 502(c)(5)(D) of the Act, and not to exceed $10,000 per

25 project for advances to nonprofit organizations or public

26 agencies to cover direct costs (other than purchase price)
38

HR 3603 RS

1 incurred in purchasing projects pursuant to section

2 502(c)(5)(C) of the Act: Provided further, That agree3 ments entered into or renewed during fiscal year 1997

4 shall be funded for a five-year period, although the life

5 of any such agreement may be extended to fully utilize

6 amounts obligated.

7 MUTUAL AND SELF-HELP HOUSING GRANTS

8 For grants and contracts pursuant to section

9 523(b)(1)(A) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.

10 1490c), $26,000,000, to remain available until expended

11 (7 U.S.C. 2209b).

12 RURAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

13 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

14 For the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, agree15 ments, and grants, as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1926, 42

16 U.S.C. 1472, 1474, 1479, 1485, 1486, and 1490(a), ex17 cept for sections 381E, 381H, 381N of the Consolidated

18 Farm and Rural Development Act, $73,190,000

19 $136,435,000, to remain available until expended, for di20 rect loans and loan guarantees for community facilities,

21 community facilities grant program, rental assistance asso22 ciated with and direct loans for new construction of section

23 515 rental housing, rural housing for domestic farm labor

24 grants, supervisory and technical assistance grants, very

25 low-income housing repair grants, rural community fire

26 protection grants, rural housing preservation grants, and
39

HR 3603 RS

1 compensation for construction defects of the Rural Hous2 ing Service: Provided, That the cost of direct loans and

3 loan guarantees shall be as defined in section 502 of the

4 Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended: Provided

5 further, That the amounts appropriated shall be trans6 ferred to loan program and grant accounts as determined

7 by the Secretary:–Provided further, That no funds for new

8 construction relating to 515 rental housing may be avail9 able for fiscal year 1997: Provided further, That of the

10 funds made available in this paragraph not more than

11 $1,200,000 shall be available for the multi-family rural

12 housing loan guarantee program as authorized by section

13 5 of Public Law 104–120: Provided further, That if such

14 funds are not obligated for multi-family rural housing loan

15 guarantees by June 30, 1997, they remain available for

16 other authorized purposes under this head: Provided fur17 ther, That of the total amount appropriated, not to exceed

18 $1,200,000 shall be available for the cost of direct loans,

19 loan guarantees, and grants to be made available for

20 empowerment zones and enterprise communities as au21 thorized by Public Law 103–66: Provided further, That

22 if such funds are not obligated for empowerment zones

23 and enterprise communities by June 30, 1997, they re24 main available for other authorized purposes under this

25 head.
40

HR 3603 RS

1 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

2 For necessary expenses of the Rural Housing Service,

3 including administering the programs authorized by the

4 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as

5 amended, title V of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended,

6 and cooperative agreements, $53,889,000 $66,354,000:

7 Provided, That this appropriation shall be available for

8 employment pursuant to the second sentence of 706(a) of

9 the Organic Act of 1944, and not to exceed $520,000 may

10 be used for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

11 RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE

12 RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOAN FUND PROGRAM ACCOUNT

13 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

14 For the cost of direct loans, $18,400,000

15 $17,270,000, as authorized by the Rural Development

16 Loan Fund (42 U.S.C. 9812(a)): Provided, That such

17 costs, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall be

18 as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act

19 of 1974: Provided further, That these funds are available

20 to subsidize gross obligations for the principal amount of

21 direct loans of $40,000,000 $37,544,000: Provided further,

22 That through June 30, 1997, of the total amount appro23 priated $3,345,000 shall be available for the cost of direct

24 loans, for empowerment zones and enterprise commu25 nities, as authorized by title XIII of the Omnibus Budget
41

HR 3603 RS

1 Reconciliation Act of 1993, to subsidize gross obligations

2 for the principal amount of direct loans, $7,246,000.

3 RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LOANS PROGRAM

4 ACCOUNT

5 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

6 For the principal amount of direct loans, as author7 ized under section 313 of the Rural Electrification Act,

8 for the purpose of promoting rural economic development

9 and job creation projects, $12,865,000.

10 For the cost of direct loans, including the cost of

11 modifying loans as defined in section 502 of the Congres12 sional Budget Act of 1974, $2,830,000. In addition, for

13 administrative expenses necessary to carry out the direct

14 loan program, $654,000, which shall be transferred to and

15 merged with the appropriation for ‘‘Salaries and Ex16 penses.’’

17 ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND

18 COMMERCIALIZATION REVOLVING FUND

19 For necessary expenses to carry out the Alternative

20 Agricultural Research and Commercialization Act of 1990

21 (7 U.S.C. 5901–5908), $6,000,000 $10,000,000 is appro22 priated to the alternative agricultural research and com23 mercialization revolving fund.
42

HR 3603 RS

1 RURAL BUSINESS—COOPERATIVE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

2 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

3 For the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, and

4 grants, as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1926, 1928, and 1932,

5 except for 381E, 381H, 381N of the Consolidated Farm

6 and Rural Development Act, $51,400,000 $53,750,000, to

7 remain available until expended, for direct loans and loan

8 guarantees for business and industry assistance, rural

9 business grants, rural cooperative development grants,

10 and rural business opportunity grants of the Rural Busi11 ness—Cooperative Service: Provided, That the cost of di12 rect loans and loan guarantees shall be as defined in sec13 tion 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as

14 amended: Provided further, That $500,000 shall be avail15 able for grants to qualified nonprofit organizations as au16 thorized under section 310B(c)(2) of the Consolidated

17 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932): Pro18 vided further, That the amounts appropriated shall be

19 transferred to loan program and grant accounts as deter20 mined by the Secretary: Provided further, That, of the

21 total amount appropriated, not to exceed $3,000,000 shall

22 be available for cooperative development: Provided further,

23 That of the total amount appropriated, not to exceed

24 $1,300,000 may be available through a cooperative agree25 ment for the appropriate technology transfer for rural areas

26 program: Provided further, That, of the total amount ap-
43

HR 3603 RS

1 propriated, not to exceed $148,000 shall be available for

2 the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, and grants to

3 be made available for business and industry loans for

4 empowerment zones and enterprise communities as au5 thorized by Public Law 103–66 and rural development

6 loans for empowerment zones and enterprise communities

7 as authorized by title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Rec8 onciliation Act of 1993: Provided further, That if such

9 funds are not obligated for empowerment zones and enter10 prise communities by June 30, 1997, they remain avail11 able for other authorized purposes under this head.

12 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

13 For necessary expenses of the Rural Business-Coop14 erative Service, including administering the programs au15 thorized by the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop16 ment Act, as amended; section 1323 of the Food Security

17 Act of 1985; the Cooperative Marketing Act of 1926; for

18 activities relating to the marketing aspects of cooperatives,

19 including economic research findings, as authorized by the

20 Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946; for activities with in21 stitutions concerning the development and operation of ag22 ricultural cooperatives; and cooperative agreements;

23 $25,680,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

24 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

25 of 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944, and not to exceed
44

HR 3603 RS

1 $260,000 may be used for employment under 5 U.S.C.

2 3109.

3 RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE

4 RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

5 LOANS PROGRAM ACCOUNT

6 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

7 Insured loans pursuant to the authority of section

8 305 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended

9 (7 U.S.C. 935), shall be made as follows: 5 percent rural

10 electrification loans, $125,000,000, 5 percent rural tele11 communications loans, $75,000,000; cost of money rural

12 telecommunications loans, $300,000,000; municipal rate

13 rural electric loans, $525,000,000; and loans made pursu14 ant to section 306 of that Act, rural electric,

15 $300,000,000, and rural telecommunications,

16 $120,000,000, to remain available until expended.

17 For the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Con18 gressional Budget Act of 1974, including the cost of modi19 fying loans, of direct and guaranteed loans authorized by

20 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended (7

21 U.S.C. 935), as follows: cost of direct loans, $4,818,000;

22 cost of municipal rate loans, $28,245,000; cost of money

23 rural telecommunications loans, $60,000; cost of loans

24 guaranteed pursuant to section 306, $2,790,000: Pro25 vided, That notwithstanding section 305(d)(2) of the
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1 Rural Electrification Act of 1936, borrower interest rates

2 may exceed 7 percent per year.

3 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

4 carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs,

5 $29,982,000, which shall be transferred to and merged

6 with the appropriation for ‘‘Salaries and Expenses.’’

7 RURAL TELEPHONE BANK PROGRAM ACCOUNT

8 The Rural Telephone Bank is hereby authorized to

9 make such expenditures, within the limits of funds avail10 able to such corporation in accord with law, and to make

11 such contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal

12 year limitations as provided by section 104 of the Govern13 ment Corporation Control Act, as amended, as may be

14 necessary in carrying out its authorized programs for the

15 current fiscal year. During fiscal year 1997 and within

16 the resources and authority available, gross obligations for

17 the principal amount of direct loans shall be

18 $175,000,000.

19 For the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Con20 gressional Budget Act of 1974, including the cost of modi21 fying loans, of direct loans authorized by the Rural Elec22 trification Act of 1936, as amended (7 U.S.C. 935),

23 $2,328,000.

24 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

25 carry out the loan programs, $3,500,000.
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1 DISTANCE LEARNING AND MEDICAL LINK PROGRAM

2 For the cost of direct loans and grants, as authorized

3 by 7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq., as amended, $7,500,000

4 $10,000,000, to remain available until expended, to be

5 available for loans and grants for telemedicine and dis6 tance learning services in rural areas: Provided, That the

7 costs of direct loans shall be as defined in section 502 of

8 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

9 RURAL UTILITIES ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

10 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

11 For the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, and

12 grants, as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1926, 1928, and 1932,

13 except for 381E, 381H, 381N of the Consolidated Farm

14 and Rural Development Act, $496,868,000 $657,942,000,

15 to remain available until expended, for direct loans and

16 loan guarantees and grants for rural water and waste dis17 posal, and solid waste management grants of the Rural

18 Utilities Service: Provided, That the cost of direct loans

19 and loan guarantees shall be as defined in section 502 of

20 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended: Pro21 vided further, That the amounts appropriated shall be

22 transferred to loan program and grant accounts as deter23 mined by the Secretary: Provided further, That, through

24 June 30, 1997, of the total amount appropriated,

25 $18,700,000 shall be available for the costs of direct loans,

26 loan guarantees, and grants to be made available for
47

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1 empowerment zones and enterprise communities, as au2 thorized by Public Law 103–66: Provided further, That,

3 of the total amount appropriated, not to exceed

4 $18,700,000 shall be for water and waste disposal systems

5 to benefit the Colonias along the United States/Mexico

6 border, including grants pursuant to section 306C of the

7 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as

8 amended: Provided further, That, of the total amount ap9 propriated, not to exceed $5,000,000 $5,400,000 shall be

10 available for contracting with qualified national organiza11 tions for a circuit rider program to provide technical as12 sistance for rural water systems: Provided further, That

13 an amount not less than that available in fiscal year 1996

14 be set aside and made available for ongoing technical as15 sistance under sections 306(a)(14) (7 U.S.C. 1926) and

16 310(B)(b) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop17 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1932).

18 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

19 For necessary expenses of the Rural Utilities Service,

20 including administering the programs authorized by the

21 Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended, and the

22 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as

23 amended, and cooperative agreements, $33,195,000: Pro24 vided, That this appropriation shall be available for em25 ployment pursuant to the second sentence of 706(a) of the
48

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1 Organic Act of 1944, and not to exceed $105,000 may

2 be used for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

3 TITLE IV

4 DOMESTIC FOOD PROGRAMS

5 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD,

6 NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SERVICES

7 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

8 the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer

9 Services to administer the laws enacted by the Congress

10 for the Food and Consumer Service, $454,000 $554,000.

11 CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS

12 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

13 For necessary expenses to carry out the National

14 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751–1769b), except section

15 21, and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772–

16 1785, and 1789); except sections 17 and 19;

17 $8,652,597,000 $8,654,797,000, to remain available

18 through September 30, 1998, of which $3,218,844,000

19 $3,221,044,000 is hereby appropriated and $5,433,753,000

20 shall be derived by transfer from funds available under

21 section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C.

22 612c):–Provided, That none of the funds made available

23 under this heading shall be used for new studies and eval24 uations: Provided, That not to exceed $2,000,000 of the

25 funds made available under this heading shall be used for

26 studies and evaluations: Provided further, That up to
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1 $4,031,000 shall be available for independent verification

2 of school food service claims.

3 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR

4 WOMEN, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN (WIC)

5 For necessary expenses to carry out the special sup6 plemental nutrition program as authorized by section 17

7 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786),

8 $3,729,807,000, to remain available through September

9 30, 1998: Provided, That none of the funds made available

10 under this heading may be used to begin more than two

11 studies and evaluations: Provided further, That up to

12 $6,750,000 may be used to carry out the farmers’ market

13 nutrition program from any funds not needed to maintain

14 current caseload levels:–Provided further, That, of the

15 total amount of fiscal year 1996 carryover funds that can16 not be spent in fiscal year 1997, any funds in excess of

17 $100,000,000 may be transferred by the Secretary to

18 other programs in the Department of Agriculture, exclud19 ing the Forest Service, with prior notification to the House

20 and Senate Appropriations Committees: Provided further,

21 That once the amount for fiscal year 1996 carryover funds

22 has been determined by the Secretary, any funds in excess

23 of $100,000,000 may be transferred by the Secretary of Ag24 riculture to any loan program of the Department and/or

25 to make available up to $10,000,000 for the WIC farmers’

26 market nutrition program: Provided further, That none of
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1 the funds in this Act shall be available to pay administra2 tive expenses of WIC clinics except those that have an an3 nounced policy of prohibiting smoking within the space

4 used to carry out the program: Provided further, That

5 none of the funds provided in this account shall be avail6 able for the purchase of infant formula except in accord7 ance with the cost containment and competitive bidding

8 requirements specified in section 17 of the Child Nutrition

9 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786): Provided further, That

10 State agencies required to procure infant formula using a

11 competitive bidding system may use funds appropriated by

12 this Act to purchase infant formula under a cost contain13 ment contract entered into after September 30, 1996 only

14 if the contract was awarded to the bidder offering the lowest

15 net price, as defined by section 17(b)(20) of the Child Nutri16 tion Act of 1966, unless the State agency demonstrates to

17 the satisfaction of the Secretary that the weighted average

18 retail price for different brands of infant formula in the

19 State does not vary by more than five percent.

20 FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

21 For necessary expenses to carry out the Food Stamp

22 Act (7 U.S.C. 2011–2029 2011 et seq.), $27,615,029,000

23 $28,521,029,000: Provided, That funds provided herein

24 shall remain available through September 30, 1997, in ac25 cordance with section 18(a) of the Food Stamp Act: Pro-
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1 vided further, That $100,000,000 $1,000,000,000 of the

2 foregoing amount shall be placed in reserve for use only

3 in such amounts and at such times as may become nec4 essary to carry out program operations:–Provided further,

5 That none of the funds made available under this heading

6 shall be used for new studies and evaluations: Provided

7 further, That not to exceed $6,000,000 of the funds made

8 available under this heading shall be used for studies and

9 evaluations: Provided further, That funds provided herein

10 shall be expended in accordance with section 16 of the

11 Food Stamp Act: Provided further, That this appropria12 tion shall be subject to any work registration or workfare

13 requirements as may be required by law: Provided further,

14 That $1,174,000,000 of the foregoing amount shall be

15 available for nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico as au16 thorized by 7 U.S.C. 2028.

17 COMMODITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

18 For necessary expenses to carry out the commodity

19 supplemental food program as authorized by section 4(a)

20 of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973

21 (7 U.S.C. 612c (note)), the Emergency Food Assistance

22 Act of 1983, as amended, and section 110 of the Hunger

23 Prevention Act of 1988, $166,000,000, to remain avail24 able through September 30, 1998: Provided, That none

25 of these funds shall be available to reimburse the Com-
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1 modity Credit Corporation for commodities donated to the

2 program.

3 FOOD DONATIONS PROGRAMS FOR SELECTED GROUPS

4 For necessary expenses to carry out section 4(a) of

5 the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7

6 U.S.C. 612c (note)), section 4(b) of the Food Stamp Act

7 (7 U.S.C. 2013(b)), and section 311 of the Older Ameri8 cans Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3030a),

9 $205,000,000 $141,250,000, to remain available through

10 September 30, 1998.

11 FOOD PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

12 For necessary administrative expenses of the domes13 tic food programs funded under this Act, $104,487,000

14 $107,769,000, of which $5,000,000 shall be available only

15 for simplifying procedures, reducing overhead costs, tight16 ening regulations, improving food stamp coupon handling,

17 and assistance in the prevention, identification, and pros18 ecution of fraud and other violations of law: Provided,

19 That this appropriation shall be available for employment

20 pursuant to the second sentence of section 706(a) of the

21 Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and not to exceed

22 $150,000 shall be available for employment under 5

23 U.S.C. 3109.
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1 TITLE V

2 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AND RELATED

3 PROGRAMS

4 FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE AND GENERAL SALES

5 MANAGER

6 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

7 For necessary expenses of the Foreign Agricultural

8 Service, including carrying out title VI of the Agricultural

9 Act of 1954, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1761–1768), market

10 development activities abroad, and for enabling the Sec11 retary to coordinate and integrate activities of the Depart12 ment in connection with foreign agricultural work, includ13 ing not to exceed $128,000 for representation allowances

14 and for expenses pursuant to section 8 of the Act approved

15 August 3, 1956 (7 U.S.C. 1766), $128,005,000

16 $138,561,000, of which $2,792,000 $3,231,000 may be

17 transferred from the Export Loan Program account in

18 this Act, and $1,005,000 $1,035,000 may be transferred

19 from the Public Law 480 program account in this Act:

20 Provided, That the Service may utilize advances of funds,

21 or reimburse this appropriation for expenditures made on

22 behalf of Federal agencies, public and private organiza23 tions and institutions under agreements executed pursu24 ant to the agricultural food production assistance pro25 grams (7 U.S.C. 1736) and the foreign assistance pro-
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1 grams of the International Development Cooperation Ad2 ministration (22 U.S.C. 2392):–Provided further, That

3 funds provided for foreign market development to trade

4 associations, cooperatives and small businesses shall be al5 located only after a competitive bidding process to target

6 funds to those entities most likely to generate additional

7 U.S. exports as a result of the expenditure.

8 None of the funds in the foregoing paragraph shall

9 be available to promote the sale or export of tobacco or

10 tobacco products.

11 PUBLIC LAW 480 PROGRAM AND GRANT ACCOUNTS

12 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

13 For expenses during the current fiscal year, not oth14 erwise recoverable, and unrecovered prior years’ costs, in15 cluding interest thereon, under the Agricultural Trade De16 velopment and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended (7

17 U.S.C. 1691, 1701–1715, 1721–1726, 1727–1727f,

18 1731–1736g), as follows: (1) $216,400,000 $218,944,000

19 for Public Law 480 title I credit, including Food for

20 Progress programs; (2) $13,905,000 is hereby appro21 priated for ocean freight differential costs for the ship22 ment of agricultural commodities pursuant to title I of

23 said Act and the Food for Progress Act of 1985, as

24 amended; (3) $837,000,000 is hereby appropriated for

25 commodities supplied in connection with dispositions
55

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1 abroad pursuant to title II of said Act; and (4)

2 $29,500,000 $40,000,000 is hereby appropriated for com3 modities supplied in connection with dispositions abroad

4 pursuant to title III of said Act: Provided, That not to

5 exceed 15 percent of the funds made available to carry

6 out any title of said Act may be used to carry out any

7 other title of said Act: Provided further, That such sums

8 shall remain available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b).

9 For the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Con10 gressional Budget Act of 1974, of direct credit agreements

11 as authorized by the Agricultural Trade Development and

12 Assistance Act of 1954, as amended, and the Food for

13 Progress Act of 1985, as amended, including the cost of

14 modifying credit agreements under said Act,

15 $177,000,000 $179,082,000.

16 In addition, for administrative expenses to carry out

17 the Public Law 480 title I credit program, and the Food

18 for Progress Act of 1985, as amended, to the extent funds

19 appropriated for Public Law 480 are utilized, $1,750,000

20 $1,818,000.

21 COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION EXPORT LOANS

22 PROGRAM ACCOUNT

23 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

24 For administrative expenses to carry out the Com25 modity Credit Corporation’s export guarantee program,
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1 GSM 102 and GSM 103, $3,381,000 $3,820,000; to cover

2 common overhead expenses as permitted by section 11 of

3 the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and in

4 conformity with the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990,

5 of which not to exceed $2,792,000 $3,231,000 may be

6 transferred to and merged with the appropriation for the

7 salaries and expenses of the Foreign Agricultural Service,

8 and of which not to exceed $589,000 may be transferred

9 to and merged with the appropriation for the salaries and

10 expenses of the Farm Service Agency.

11 EXPORT CREDIT

12 The Commodity Credit Corporation shall make avail13 able not less than $5,500,000,000 in credit guarantees

14 under its export credit guarantee program extended to fi15 nance the export sales of United States agricultural com16 modities and the products thereof, as authorized by sec17 tion 202 (a) and (b) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978

18 (7 U.S.C. 5641).
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1 TITLE VI

2 RELATED AGENCIES AND FOOD AND DRUG

3 ADMINISTRATION

4 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN

5 SERVICES

6 FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

7 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

8 For necessary expenses of the Food and Drug Ad9 ministration, including hire and purchase of passenger

10 motor vehicles; for rental of special purpose space in the

11 District of Columbia or elsewhere; and for miscellaneous

12 and emergency expenses of enforcement activities, author13 ized and approved by the Secretary and to be accounted

14 for solely on the Secretary’s certificate, not to exceed

15 $25,000; $907,499,000, of which not to exceed

16 $87,528,000 in fees pursuant to section 736 of the Fed17 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act may be credited to

18 this appropriation and remain available until expended:

19 Provided, That fees derived from applications received

20 during fiscal year 1997 shall be subject to the fiscal year

21 1997 limitation: Provided further, That none of these

22 funds shall be used to develop, establish, or operate any

23 program of user fees authorized by 31 U.S.C. 9701.
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1 In addition, fees pursuant to section 354 of the Pub2 lic Health Service Act may be credited to this account,

3 to remain available until expended.

4 In addition, fees pursuant to section 801 of the Fed5 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act may be credited to

6 this account, to remain available until expended.

7 None of the funds appropriated or made available to

8 the Federal Food and Drug Administration shall be used

9 to implement any rule finalizing the August 25, 1995 pro10 posed rule entitled ‘‘The Prescription Drug Product La11 beling; Medication Guide Requirements,’’ except as to any

12 specific drug or biological product where the FDA deter13 mines that without approved patient information there

14 would be a serious and significant public health risk.

15 GENERAL PROVISIONS

16 SECTION 601. EFFECTIVE MEDICATION GUIDES.—

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the

19 Department of Health and Human Services shall re20 quest that national organizations representing health

21 care professionals, consumer organizations, voluntary

22 health agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, drug

23 wholesalers, patient drug information database com24 panies, and other relevant parties collaborate to de25 velop a long-range comprehensive action plan to
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1 achieve goals consistent with the goals of the proposed

2 rule of the Food and Drug Administration on ‘‘Pre3 scription Drug Product Labeling: Medication Guide

4 Requirements’’ (60 Fed. Reg. 44182; relating to the

5 provision of oral and written prescription informa6 tion to consumers).

7 (b) PLAN.—The plan described in subsection (a)

8 shall—

9 (1) identify the plan goals;

10 (2) assess the effectiveness of the current pri11 vate-sector approaches used to provide oral and

12 written prescription information to consumers;

13 (3) develop guidelines for providing effective

14 oral and written prescription information con15 sistent with the findings of any such assessment;

16 (4) develop a mechanism to assess periodi17 cally the quality of the oral and written pre18 scription information and the frequency with

19 which the information is provided to consumers;

20 and

21 (5) provide for compliance with relevant

22 State board regulations.

23 (c) LIMITATION ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE SEC24 RETARY.—The Secretary of the Department of Health

25 and Human Services shall have no authority to im-
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1 plement the proposed rule described in subsection (a),

2 or to develop any similar regulation, policy state3 ment, or other guideline specifying a uniform content

4 or format for written information voluntarily pro5 vided to consumers about prescription drugs if, not

6 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this

7 Act, the national organizations described in sub8 section (a) develop and begin to implement a com9 prehensive, long-range action plan (as described in

10 subsection (a)) regarding the provision of oral and

11 written prescription information.

12 (d) SECRETARY REVIEW.—Not later than Janu13 ary 1, 2001, the Secretary of the Department of

14 Health and Human Services shall review the status

15 of private-sector initiatives designed to achieve the

16 goals of the plan described in subsection (a), and if

17 such goals are not achieved, the limitation in sub18 section (c) shall not apply, and the Secretary shall

19 seek public comment on other initiatives that may be

20 carried out to meet such goals. The Secretary shall

21 not delegate such review authority to the Commis22 sioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

23 SEC. 602. Section 3 of the Saccharin Study and La24 beling Act (21 U.S.C 348 nt.) is amended by striking out
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1 ‘‘May 1, 1997’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘May 1, 2002

2 1998’’.

3 SEC. 603. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FOOD,

4 DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT.—

5 (a) IMPORTS FOR EXPORT.—Section 801(d)(3) of

6 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amend7 ed—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘accessory of a device which

9 is ready’’ and inserting ‘‘accessory of a device, or

10 other article of device requiring further process11 ing, which is ready’’;

12 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘is in13 tended to be’’ and inserting ‘‘is intended to be

14 further processed by the initial owner or con15 signee, or’’; and

16 (3) in subparagraph (C)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘part,’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘part, article,’’; and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘incorporated’’ and in20 serting ‘‘incorporated or further processed’’.

21 (b) LABELING OF EXPORTED DRUGS.—Section

22 801(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

23 is amended—

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘If a

25 drug’’ and inserting ‘‘If a drug (other than insu-
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1 lin, an antibiotic drug, an animal drug, or a

2 drug exported under section 802)’’; and

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end

4 the following new sentence: ‘‘A drug exported

5 under section 802 is exempt from this section.’’.

6 (c) EXPORT OF CERTAIN UNAPPROVED DRUGS

7 AND DEVICES.—Section 802(f)(5) of the Federal Food,

8 Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amended by striking ‘‘if

9 the drug or device is not labeled’’ and inserting ‘‘if

10 the labeling of the drug or device is not’’.

11 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

12 For plans, construction, repair, improvement, exten13 sion, alteration, and purchase of fixed equipment or facili14 ties of or used by the Food and Drug Administration,

15 where not otherwise provided, $21,350,000, to remain

16 available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b).

17 RENTAL PAYMENTS (FDA)

18 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

19 For payment of space rental and related costs pursu20 ant to Public Law 92–313 for programs and activities of

21 the Food and Drug Administration which are included in

22 this Act, $46,294,000: Provided, That in the event the

23 Food and Drug Administration should require modifica24 tion of space needs, a share of the salaries and expenses

25 appropriation may be transferred to this appropriation, or
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1 a share of this appropriation may be transferred to the

2 salaries and expenses appropriation, but such transfers

3 shall not exceed 5 percent of the funds made available for

4 rental payments (FDA) to or from this account.

5 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

6 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE

7 PAYMENTS TO THE FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FINANCIAL

8 ASSISTANCE CORPORATION

9 For necessary payments to the Farm Credit System

10 Financial Assistance Corporation by the Secretary of the

11 Treasury, as authorized by section 6.28(c) of the Farm

12 Credit Act of 1971, as amended, for reimbursement of in13 terest expenses incurred by the Financial Assistance Cor14 poration on obligations issued through 1994, as author15 ized $10,290,000.

16 INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

17 COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

18 For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions

19 of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (7 U.S.C.

20 1 et seq.), including the purchase and hire of passenger

21 motor vehicles; the rental of space (to include multiple

22 year leases) in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; and

23 not to exceed $25,000 for employment under 5 U.S.C.

24 3109; $55,101,000 $56,601,000, including not to exceed

25 $1,000 for official reception and representation expenses:
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1 Provided, That the Commission is authorized to charge

2 reasonable fees to attendees of Commission sponsored edu3 cational events and symposia to cover the Commission’s

4 costs of providing those events and symposia, and notwith5 standing 31 U.S.C. 3302, said fees shall be credited to

6 this account, to be available without further appropriation.

7 FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

8 LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

9 Not to exceed $37,478,000 (from assessments col10 lected from farm credit institutions and from the Federal

11 Agricultural Mortgage Corporation) shall be obligated

12 during the current fiscal year for administrative expenses

13 as authorized under 12 U.S.C. 2249.

14 TITLE VII—GENERAL PROVISIONS

15 SEC. 701. Within the unit limit of cost fixed by law,

16 appropriations and authorizations made for the Depart17 ment of Agriculture for the fiscal year 1997 under this

18 Act shall be available for the purchase, in addition to those

19 specifically provided for, of not to exceed 667 passenger

20 motor vehicles, of which 643 shall be for replacement only,

21 and for the hire of such vehicles.

22 SEC. 702. Funds in this Act available to the Depart23 ment of Agriculture shall be available for uniforms or al24 lowances therefor as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5901–

25 5902).
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1 SEC. 703. Not less than $1,500,000 of the appropria2 tions of the Department of Agriculture in this Act for re3 search and service work authorized by the Acts of August

4 14, 1946, and July 28, 1954 (7 U.S.C. 427, 1621–1629),

5 and by chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code, shall

6 be available for contracting in accordance with said Acts

7 and chapter.

8 SEC. 704. The cumulative total of transfers to the

9 Working Capital Fund for the purpose of accumulating

10 growth capital for data services and National Finance

11 Center operations shall not exceed $2,000,000: Provided,

12 That no funds in this Act appropriated to an agency of

13 the Department shall be transferred to the Working Cap14 ital Fund without the approval of the agency adminis15 trator.

16 SEC. 705. New obligational authority provided for the

17 following appropriation items in this Act shall remain

18 available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b): Animal and

19 Plant Health Inspection Service, the contingency fund to

20 meet emergency conditions, fruit fly program, and inte21 grated systems acquisition project; Farm Service Agency,

22 salaries and expenses funds made available to county com23 mittees; and Foreign Agricultural Service, middle-income

24 country training program.
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1 New obligational authority for the boll weevil pro2 gram; up to 10 percent of the screwworm program of the

3 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Food Safety

4 and Inspection Service, field automation and information

5 management project; funds appropriated for rental pay6 ments; funds for the Native American institutions endow7 ment fund in the Cooperative State Research, Education,

8 and Extension Service, and funds for the competitive re9 search grants (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)), shall remain available

10 until expended.

11 SEC. 706. No part of any appropriation contained in

12 this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the

13 current fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.

14 SEC. 707. Not to exceed $50,000 of the appropria15 tions available to the Department of Agriculture in this

16 Act shall be available to provide appropriate orientation

17 and language training pursuant to Public Law 94–449.

18 SEC. 708. No funds appropriated by this Act may be

19 used to pay negotiated indirect cost rates on cooperative

20 agreements or similar arrangements between the United

21 States Department of Agriculture and nonprofit institu22 tions in excess of 10 percent of the total direct cost of

23 the agreement when the purpose of such cooperative ar24 rangements is to carry out programs of mutual interest

25 between the two parties. This does not preclude appro-
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1 priate payment of indirect costs on grants and contracts

2 with such institutions when such indirect costs are com3 puted on a similar basis for all agencies for which appro4 priations are provided in this Act.

5 SEC. 709. Notwithstanding any other provision of

6 this Act, commodities acquired by the Department in con7 nection with Commodity Credit Corporation and section

8 32 price support operations may be used, as authorized

9 by law (15 U.S.C. 714c and 7 U.S.C. 612c), to provide

10 commodities to individuals in cases of hardship as deter11 mined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

12 SEC. 710. None of the funds in this Act shall be avail13 able to reimburse the General Services Administration for

14 payment of space rental and related costs in excess of the

15 amounts specified in this Act; nor shall this or any other

16 provision of law require a reduction in the level of rental

17 space or services below that of fiscal year 1996 or prohibit

18 an expansion of rental space or services with the use of

19 funds otherwise appropriated in this Act. Further, no

20 agency of the Department of Agriculture, from funds oth21 erwise available, shall reimburse the General Services Ad22 ministration for payment of space rental and related costs

23 provided to such agency at a percentage rate which is

24 greater than is available in the case of funds appropriated

25 in this Act.
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1 SEC. 711. None of the funds in this Act shall be avail2 able to restrict the authority of the Commodity Credit

3 Corporation to lease space for its own use or to lease space

4 on behalf of other agencies of the Department of Agri5 culture when such space will be jointly occupied.

6 SEC. 712. With the exception of grants awarded

7 under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of

8 1982, Public Law 97–219, as amended (15 U.S.C. 638),

9 none of the funds in this Act shall be available to pay

10 indirect costs on research grants awarded competitively by

11 the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension

12 Service that exceed 14 percent of total Federal funds pro13 vided under each award.

14 SEC. 713. Notwithstanding any other provisions of

15 this Act, all loan levels provided in this Act shall be consid16 ered estimates, not limitations.

17 SEC. 714. Appropriations to the Department of Agri18 culture for the cost of direct and guaranteed loans made

19 available in fiscal year 1997 shall remain available until

20 expended to cover obligations made in fiscal year 1997 for

21 the following accounts: the rural development loan fund

22 program account; the Rural Telephone Bank program ac23 count; the rural electrification and telecommunications

24 loans program account; and the rural economic develop25 ment loans program account.
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1 SEC. 715. Such sums as may be necessary for fiscal

2 year 1997 pay raises for programs funded by this Act shall

3 be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this Act.

4 SEC. 716. (a) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN

5 ACT.—None of the funds made available in this Act may

6 be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in

7 expending the funds the entity will comply with sections

8 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a–

9 10c; popularly known as the ‘‘Buy American Act’’).

10 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS; REQUIREMENT REGARD11 ING NOTICE.—

12 (1) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT

13 AND PRODUCTS.—In the case of any equipment or

14 product that may be authorized to be purchased

15 with financial assistance provided using funds made

16 available in this Act, it is the sense of the Congress

17 that entities receiving the assistance should, in ex18 pending the assistance, purchase only American19 made equipment and products.

20 (2) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—

21 In providing financial assistance using funds made

22 available in this Act, the head of each Federal agen23 cy shall provide to each recipient of the assistance

24 a notice describing the statement made in paragraph

25 (1) by the Congress.
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1 (c) PROHIBITION OF CONTRACTS WITH PERSONS

2 FALSELY LABELING PRODUCTS AS MADE IN AMERICA.—

3 If it has been finally determined by a court or Federal

4 agency that any person intentionally affixed a label bear5 ing a ‘‘Made in America’’ inscription, or any inscription

6 with the same meaning, to any product sold in or shipped

7 to the United States that is not made in the United

8 States, the person shall be ineligible to receive any con9 tract or subcontract made with funds made available in

10 this Act, pursuant to the debarment, suspension, and ineli11 gibility procedures described in sections 9.400 through

12 9.409 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.

13 SEC. 717. Notwithstanding the Federal Grant and

14 Cooperative Agreement Act, marketing services of the Ag15 ricultural Marketing Service and the Animal and Plant

16 Health Inspection Service may use cooperative agreements

17 to reflect a relationship between Agricultural Marketing

18 Service or the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

19 and a State or Cooperator to carry out agricultural mar20 keting programs or to carry out programs to protect the

21 Nation’s animal and plant resources.

22 SEC. 718. None of the funds in this Act may be used

23 to retire more than 5% of the Class A stock of the Rural

24 Telephone Bank or to maintain any account or subaccount

25 within the accounting records of the Rural Telephone
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1 Bank the creation of which has not specifically been au2 thorized by statute: Provided, That notwithstanding any

3 other provision of law, none of the funds appropriated or

4 otherwise made available in this Act may be used to trans5 fer to the Treasury or to the Federal Financing Bank any

6 unobligated balance of the Rural Telephone Bank telephone

7 liquidating account which is in excess of current require8 ments and such balance shall receive interest as set forth

9 for financial accounts in section 505(c) of the Federal Cred10 it Reform Act of 1990.

11 SEC. 719. None of the funds appropriated or other12 wise made available by this Act may be used to provide

13 food stamp benefits to households whose benefits are cal14 culated using a standard deduction greater than the

15 standard deduction in effect for fiscal year 1995.

16 SEC. 720. None of the funds made available in this

17 Act may be used to provide assistance to, or to pay the

18 salaries of personnel who carry out a market promotion/

19 market access program pursuant to section 203 of the Ag20 ricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623) that pro21 vides assistance to the U.S. Mink Export Development

22 Council or any mink industry trade association.

23 SEC. 721. None of the funds appropriated or other24 wise made available by this Act shall be used to enroll
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1 in excess of 130,000 acres in the fiscal year 1997 wetlands

2 reserve program, as authorized by 16 U.S.C. 3837.

3 SEC. 722. Of the funds made available by this Act,

4 not more than $1,000,000 shall be used to cover necessary

5 expenses of activities related to all advisory committees,

6 panels, commissions, and task forces of the Department

7 of Agriculture except for panels used to comply with nego8 tiated rule makings and panels used to evaluate competi9 tively awarded grants.

10 SEC. 723. None of the funds appropriated or other11 wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the

12 salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out an export

13 enhancement program if the aggregate amount of funds

14 and/or commodities under such program exceeds

15 $100,000,000.

16 SEC. 724. None of the funds appropriated or other17 wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the

18 salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a farm19 land protection program in excess of $2,000,000 author20 ized by section 388 of Public Law 104–127.

21 SEC. 725. None of the funds appropriated or other22 wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the

23 salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a wildlife

24 habitat incentives program authorized by section 387 of

25 Public Law 104–127.
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1 SEC. 726. None of the funds appropriated or other2 wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the

3 salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a con4 servation farm option program in excess of $2,000,000 au5 thorized by section 335 of Public Law 104–127.

6 SEC. 727. None of the funds made available in this

7 Act may be used to pay the salaries of employees of the

8 Department of Agriculture who make payments pursuant

9 to a production flexibility contract entered into under sec10 tion 111 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re11 form Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–127; 7 U.S.C. 7211)

12 when it is made known to the Federal official having au13 thority to obligate or expend such funds that the land cov14 ered by that production flexibility contract is not being

15 used for the production of an agricultural commodity or

16 is not devoted to a conserving use, unless it is also made

17 known to that Federal official that the lack of agricultural

18 production or the lack of a conserving use is a consequence

19 of drought, flood, or other natural disaster used for an

20 agricultural or related activity, including conserving use,

21 as determined by the Secretary.

22 SEC. 728. None of the funds appropriated or other23 wise made available by this Act shall be used to extend

24 any existing or expiring contract in the Conservation Re25 serve Program authorized by 16 U.S.C. 3831–3845.
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1 SEC. 729. None of the funds made available in this

2 Act may be used to maintain the price of raw cane sugar

3 (as reported for an appropriate preceding month for appli4 cable sugar futures contracts of the Coffee, Sugar, and

Cocoa Exchange, New York) at more than 1171 5 ⁄2 percent

6 of the statutory loan rate under section 158 of the Federal

7 Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (title 1 of Pub8 lic Law 104–127).

9 SEC. 730. None of the funds appropriated in this Act

10 may be used to carry out the provisions of section 918

11 of Public Law 104–127, the Federal Agriculture Improve12 ment and Reform Act.

13 SEC. 731. (a) IN GENERAL.—Any owner on the date

14 of enactment of this Act of the right to market a non15 steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that—

16 (1) contains a patented active agent;

17 (2) has been reviewed by the Federal Food and

18 Drug Administration for a period of more than 96

19 months as a new drug application; and

20 (3) was approved as safe and effective by the

21 Federal Food and Drug Administration on January

22 31, 1991, shall be entitled, for the 2-year period be23 ginning on February 28, 1997, to exclude others

24 from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or im25 porting into the United States such active agent, in
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1 accordance with section 154(a)(1) of title 35, United

2 States Code.

3 (b) INFRINGEMENT.—Section 271 of title 35, United

4 States Code shall apply to the infringement of the entitle5 ment provide under subsection (a).

6 (c) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days after the

7 date of the enactment of this section, any owner granted

8 an entitlement under subsection (a) shall notify the Com9 missioner of Patents and Trademarks and the Secretary

10 for Health and Human Services of such entitlement. Not

11 later than 7 days after the receipt of such notice, the Com12 mission and the Secretary shall publish an appropriate no13 tice of the receipt of such notice.

14 SEC. 732. Funds Hereafter, funds appropriated to the

15 Department of Agriculture may be used for incidental ex16 penses such as transportation, uniforms, lodging, and sub17 sistence for volunteers serving under the authority of 7

18 U.S.C. 2272, when such volunteers are engaged in the

19 work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and for pro20 motional items of nominal value relating to the U.S. De21 partment of Agriculture Volunteer Programs.

22 SEC. 733. It is the sense of Congress that, not later

23 than the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

24 of Agriculture should—
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1 (1) release a detailed plan for compensating

2 wheat farmers and handlers adversely affected by

3 the karnal bunt quarantine in Riverside and Impe4 rial Counties of California, which should include—

5 (A) an explanation of the factors to be

6 used to determine the compensation amount for

7 wheat farmers and handlers, including how con8 tract and spot market prices will be handled;

9 and

10 (B) compensation for farmers who have

11 crops positive for karnal bunt and compensation

12 for farmers who have crops which are negative

13 for karnal bunt, but which cannot go to market

14 due to the lack of Department action on match15 ing restrictions on the negative wheat with the

16 latest risk assessments; and

17 (2) review the risk assessments developed by

18 the University of California at Riverside and submit

19 a report to Congress describing how these risk as20 sessments will impact the Department of Agriculture

21 policy on the quarantine area for the 1997 wheat

22 crop.

23 SEC. 734. Not to exceed 10 percent of the amounts ap24 propriated or otherwise made available by this Act for the

25 Rural Housing Assistance Program, the Rural Business-Co-
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1 operative Assistance Program, and the Rural Utilities As2 sistance Program may be transferred between these pro3 grams for authorized purposes.

4 SEC. 735. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise

5 made available to the Department of Agriculture by this

6 Act may be used to detail or assign an individual from

7 an agency or office funded in this Act to any other agency

8 or office for more than 60 days, unless the Secretary pro9 vides notification to the House and Senate Committees on

10 Appropriations that an employee detail or assignment in

11 excess of 60 days is required.

12 SEC. 736. Section 747(e) of the Federal Agriculture

13 Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 is amended by insert14 ing, ‘‘effective October 1, 1996’’ following ‘‘The Secretary

15 shall make grants’’ in Section 747(e)(2).

16 SEC. 737. LABELING OF RAW POULTRY PRODUCTS.—

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

18 provision of law, none of the funds appropriated or

19 otherwise made available by this Act may be used to

20 implement or enforce the final rule related to the la21 beling of raw poultry products promulgated by the

22 Food Safety and Inspection Service on August 25,

23 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 44395), and the final rule shall

24 not be effective during fiscal year 1997.
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1 (b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 90 days after

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Ag3 riculture shall issue a revised final rule related to the

4 labeling of raw poultry products that—

5 (1) maintains the standard that the term

6 ‘‘fresh’’ may be used only for raw poultry prod7 ucts the internal core temperature of which has

8 not fallen below 26° Fahrenheit;

9 (2) deletes the requirement that poultry

10 products the internal core temperature of which

11 has ever been less than 26° Fahrenheit, but more

12 than 0° Fahrenheit, be labeled as ‘‘hard chilled’’

13 or ‘‘previously hard chilled’’, except that—

14 (A) the products shall be prohibited

15 under the rule from being labeled as ‘‘fresh’’

16 but shall not be required to bear any spe17 cific alternative labeling; and

18 (B) nothing in this section shall be in19 terpreted as modifying the requirements for

20 labeling of all poultry products the internal

21 core temperature of which has ever fallen to

22 0° Fahrenheit as ‘‘frozen’’;

23 (3) provides for a tolerance from the 26°

24 Fahrenheit standard established by the rule of—
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1 (A) 1° Fahrenheit for poultry products

2 within an official processing establishment;

3 (B) 2° Fahrenheit for poultry products

4 in commerce;

5 (4) exempts from temperature testing wings,

6 tenders, hearts, livers, gizzards, necks, and prod7 ucts that undergo special processing, such as

8 sliced poultry products; and

9 (5) in all other terms and conditions (in10 cluding the period of time permitted for imple11 mentation) is substantively identical to the rule

12 referred to in subsection (a).

13 (c) REVISED LABELING STANDARDS.—Not later

14 than 60 days after the issuance of a revised final rule

15 under subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture,

16 acting through the Administrator of the Food Safety

17 and Inspection Service, shall issue a compliance di18 rective for the enforcement of the revised labeling

19 standards established by the rule, including standards

20 for—

21 (1) temperature testing that are based on

22 measurements at the center of the deepest muscle;

23 and

24 (2) sampling methods that ensure that the

25 average of individual temperatures within poul-
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1 try product lots of each specific product type

2 (such as whole birds, whole muscle leg products,

3 and whole muscle breast products) meet the

4 standards.

5 (d) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this sec6 tion or the application thereof to any person or cir7 cumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remain8 der of this section and of the application of the provi9 sion to any other persons or circumstances shall not

10 be affected.

11 SEC. 738. Section 7 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977

12 (7 U.S.C. 2016) is amended by adding at the end the follow13 ing:

14 ‘‘(j) ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFERS.—

15 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELECTRONIC BENEFIT

16 TRANSFER SYSTEM.—In this subsection, the term

17 ‘electronic benefit transfer system’ means a system

18 under which a governmental entity distributes bene19 fits pursuant to this Act by establishing an account

20 that may be accessed electronically by a recipient of

21 the benefits or payments.

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE LAW.—Disclosures, protections,

23 responsibilities, and remedies established by the Fed24 eral Reserve Board under section 904 of the Elec25 tronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1692b) shall not
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1 apply to benefits under this Act delivered through any

2 electronic benefit transfer system.

3 ‘‘(3) REPLACEMENT OF BENEFITS.—Regulations

4 issued by the Secretary regarding the replacement of

5 benefits and liability for replacement of benefits under

6 an electronic benefit transfer system shall be similar

7 to the regulations in effect for a paper-based food

8 stamp issuance system.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 12, 1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.