IB

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3603

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 25, 1996

Ordered to be printed with the amendments of the Senate numbered

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

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

8 namely:
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1 TITLE I

2 AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMS

3 PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, AND MARKETING

4 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

5 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

6 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary

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

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

9 exceed $11,000 of this amount, along with any unobli10 gated balances of representation funds in the Foreign Ag11 ricultural Service shall be available for official reception

12 and representation expenses, not otherwise provided for,

13 as determined by the SecretaryΩ1æ:–Provided further,

14 That none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made

15 available by this Act may be used to detail an individual

16 from an agency funded in this Act to any Under Secretary

17 office or Assistant Secretary office for more than 30 days:

18 Provided further, That none of the funds made available

19 by this Act may be used to enforce section 793(d) of Pub20 lic Law 104–127.

21 EXECUTIVE OPERATIONS

22 CHIEF ECONOMIST

23 For necessary expenses of the Chief Economist, in24 cluding economic analysis, risk assessment, cost-benefit

25 analysis, and the functions of the World Agricultural Out-
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1 look Board, as authorized by the Agricultural Marketing

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

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

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

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

6 $4,231,000.

7 NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION

8 For necessary expenses of the National Appeals Divi9 sion, including employment pursuant to the second sen10 tence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7

11 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $25,000 is for em12 ployment under 5 U.S.C. 3109, $11,718,000.

13 OFFICE OF BUDGET AND PROGRAM ANALYSIS

14 For necessary expenses of the Office of Budget and

15 Program Analysis, including employment pursuant to the

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

17 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $5,000 is

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

19 CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

20 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Chief Fi21 nancial Officer, including employment pursuant to the sec22 ond sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944

23 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $10,000 is for

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

25 That the Chief Financial Officer shall actively market

26 cross-servicing activities of the National Finance Center.
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1 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

2 ADMINISTRATION

3 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

4 the Assistant Secretary for Administration to carry out

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

6 AGRICULTURE BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES AND RENTAL

7 PAYMENTS

8 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

9 For payment of space rental and related costs pursu10 ant to Public Law 92–313, including authorities pursuant

11 to the 1984 delegation of authority from the Adminis12 trator of General Services to the Department of Agri13 culture under 40 U.S.C. 486, for programs and activities

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

15 the operation, maintenance, and repair of Agriculture

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

17 agency within the Department should require modification

18 of space needs, the Secretary of Agriculture may transfer

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

20 this Act to this appropriation, or may transfer a share

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

22 such transfers shall not exceed 5 percent of the funds

23 made available for space rental and related costs to or

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

25 improvement, extension, alteration, and purchase of fixed
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1 equipment or facilities as necessary to carry out the pro2 grams of the Department, where not otherwise provided,

3 Ω2æ$5,000,000, $23,505,400 to remain available until ex4 pended; making a total appropriation of Ω3æ$125,548,000

5 $144,053,400.

6 HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT

7 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

8 For necessary expenses of the Department of Agri9 culture, to comply with the requirement of section 107(g)

10 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com11 pensation, and Liability Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

12 9607(g), and section 6001 of the Resource Conservation

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

14 $15,700,000, to remain available until expended: Pro15 vided, That appropriations and funds available herein to

16 the Department for Hazardous Waste Management may

17 be transferred to any agency of the Department for its

18 use in meeting all requirements pursuant to the above

19 Acts on Federal and non-Federal lands.

20 DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION

21 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

22 For Departmental Administration, Ω4æ$28,304,000

23 $30,529,000, to provide for necessary expenses for man24 agement support services to offices of the Department and

25 for general administration and disaster management of
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1 the Department, repairs and alterations, and other mis2 cellaneous supplies and expenses not otherwise provided

3 for and necessary for the practical and efficient work of

4 the Department, including employment pursuant to the

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

6 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of which not to exceed $10,000

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

8 this appropriation shall be reimbursed from applicable ap9 propriations in this Act for travel expenses incident to the

10 holding of hearings as required by 5 U.S.C. 551–558Ω5æ:

11 Provided further, That of the total amount appropriated,

12 not less than $11,774,000 shall be made available for civil

13 rights enforcement.

14 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

15 CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS

16 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

17 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

18 the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations to

19 carry out the programs funded in this Act, including pro20 grams involving intergovernmental affairs and liaison

21 within the executive branch, Ω6æ$3,728,000 $3,668,000:

22 Provided, That no other funds appropriated to the Depart23 ment in this Act shall be available to the Department for

24 support of activities of congressional relations: Provided

25 further, That not less than $2,241,000 shall be transferred
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1 to agencies funded in this Act to maintain personnel at

2 the agency level.

3 OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

4 For necessary expenses to carry on services relating

5 to the coordination of programs involving public affairs,

6 for the dissemination of agricultural information, and the

7 coordination of information, work, and programs author8 ized by Congress in the Department, $8,138,000, includ9 ing employment pursuant to the second sentence of section

10 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), of

11 which not to exceed $10,000 shall be available for employ12 ment under 5 U.S.C. 3109, and not to exceed $2,000,000

13 may be used for farmers’ bulletins.

14 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

15 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

16 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Inspector

17 General, including employment pursuant to the second

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

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

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

21 necessary for contracting and other arrangements with

22 public agencies and private persons pursuant to section

23 6(a)(9) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended,

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

25 under 5 U.S.C. 3109; and including a sum not to exceed
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1 $95,000 for certain confidential operational expenses in2 cluding the payment of informants, to be expended under

3 the direction of the Inspector General pursuant to Public

4 Law 95–452 and section 1337 of Public Law 97–98: Pro5 vided, That funds transferred to the Office of the Inspec6 tor General through forfeiture proceedings or from the De7 partment of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund or the De8 partment of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, as a partici9 pating agency, as an equitable share from the forfeiture

10 of property in investigations in which the Office of the In11 spector General participates, or through the granting of

12 a Petition for Remission or Mitigation, shall be deposited

13 to the credit of this account for law enforcement activities

14 authorized under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as

15 amended, to remain available until expended.

16 OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL

17 For necessary expenses of the Office of the General

18 Counsel, $27,749,000.

19 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH,

20 EDUCATION AND ECONOMICS

21 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

22 the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Eco23 nomics to administer the laws enacted by the Congress

24 for the Economic Research Service, the National Agricul25 tural Statistics Service, the Agricultural Research Service,
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1 and the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Ex2 tension Service, $540,000.

3 ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

4 For necessary expenses of the Economic Research

5 Service in conducting economic research and analysis, as

6 authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7

7 U.S.C. 1621–1627) and other laws, Ω7æ$54,176,000

8 $53,109,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

9 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

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

11 2225).

12 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE

13 For necessary expenses of the National Agricultural

14 Statistics Service in conducting statistical reporting and

15 service work, including crop and livestock estimates, sta16 tistical coordination and improvements, marketing sur17 veys, and the Census of Agriculture notwithstanding 13

18 U.S.C. 142(a–b), as authorized by the Agricultural Mar19 keting Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–1627) and other laws,

20 Ω8æ$100,221,000 $98,121,000, of which up to

21 $17,500,000 shall be available until expended for the Cen22 sus of Agriculture: Provided, That this appropriation shall

23 be available for employment pursuant to the second sen24 tence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7
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1 U.S.C. 2225), and not to exceed $40,000 shall be available

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

3 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

4 For necessary expenses to enable the Agricultural Re5 search Service to perform agricultural research and dem6 onstration relating to production, utilization, marketing,

7 and distribution (not otherwise provided for); home eco8 nomics or nutrition and consumer use including the acqui9 sition, preservation, and dissemination of agricultural in10 formation; and for acquisition of lands by donation, ex11 change, or purchase at a nominal cost not to exceed $100,

12 Ω9æ$702,831,000 $722,839,600: Provided, That appro13 priations hereunder shall be available for temporary em14 ployment pursuant to the second sentence of section

15 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and

16 not to exceed $115,000 shall be available for employment

17 under 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided further, That appropria18 tions hereunder shall be available for the operation and

19 maintenance of aircraft and the purchase of not to exceed

20 one for replacement only: Provided further, That appro21 priations hereunder shall be available pursuant to 7

22 U.S.C. 2250 for the construction, alteration, and repair

23 of buildings and improvements, but unless otherwise pro24 vided the cost of constructing any one building shall not

25 exceed $250,000, except for headhouses or greenhouses
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1 which shall each be limited to $1,000,000, and except for

2 ten buildings to be constructed or improved at a cost not

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

4 building during the fiscal year shall not exceed 10 percent

5 of the current replacement value of the building or

6 $250,000, whichever is greater: Provided further, That the

7 limitations on alterations contained in this Act shall not

8 apply to modernization or replacement of existing facilities

9 at Beltsville, Maryland: Provided further, That the fore10 going limitations shall not apply to replacement of build11 ings needed to carry out the Act of April 24, 1948 (21

12 U.S.C. 113a): Provided further, That funds may be re13 ceived from any State, other political subdivision, organi14 zation, or individual for the purpose of establishing or op15 erating any research facility or research project of the Ag16 ricultural Research Service, as authorized by law Ω10æ:

17 Provided further, That all rights and title of the United

18 States in the property known as the National Agricultural

19 Water Quality Laboratory of the United States Department

20 of Agriculture, consisting of approximately 9.161 acres in

21 the city of Durant, Oklahoma, including facilities and fixed

22 equipment, shall be conveyed to Southeastern Oklahoma

23 State University.

24 None of the funds in the foregoing paragraph shall

25 be available to carry out research related to the produc-
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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, Ω11æ$59,600,000

9 $59,200,000, to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

10 2209b): Provided, That funds may be received from any

11 State, other political subdivision, organization, or individ12 ual for the purpose of establishing any research facility

13 of the Agricultural 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 Ω12æ$163,671,000

20 $168,734,000 to carry into effect the provisions of the

21 Hatch Act (7 U.S.C. 361a–361i); Ω13æ$19,882,000

22 $20,497,000 for grants for cooperative forestry research

23 (16 U.S.C. 582a–582–a7); Ω14æ$26,902,000 $27,735,000

24 for payments to the 1890 land-grant colleges, including

25 Tuskegee University (7 U.S.C. 3222); Ω15æ$44,235,000
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1 $47,080,000 for special grants for agricultural research (7

2 U.S.C. 450i(c)); $11,769,000 for special grants for agri3 cultural research on improved pest control (7 U.S.C.

4 450i(c)); Ω16æ$96,735,000 $93,935,000 for competitive re5 search grants (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)); Ω17æ$4,775,000

6 $5,051,000 for the support of animal health and disease

7 programs (7 U.S.C. 3195); Ω18æ$650,000 $500,000 for

8 supplemental and alternative crops and products (7

9 U.S.C. 3319d); Ω19æ$500,000 $700,000 for grants for re10 search pursuant to the Critical Agricultural Materials Act

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

12 Agriculture Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3318), to

13 remain available until expended; $475,000 for rangeland

14 research grants (7 U.S.C. 3331–3336); $3,000,000 for

15 higher education graduate fellowships grants (7 U.S.C.

16 3152(b)(6)), to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

17 2209b); $4,000,000 for higher education challenge grants

18 (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(1)); $1,000,000 for a higher education

19 minority scholars program (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(5)), to re20 main available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b);

21 Ω20æ$2,000,000 $1,500,000 for an education grants pro22 gram for Hispanic-serving Institutions (7 U.S.C. 3241);

23 $4,000,000 for aquaculture grants (7 U.S.C. 3322);

24 Ω21æ$8,000,000 $8,100,000 for sustainable agriculture re25 search and education (7 U.S.C. 5811); $9,200,000 for a
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1 program of capacity building grants Ω22æ(7 U.S.C.

2 3152(b)(4)) to colleges eligible to receive funds under the

3 Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321–326 and 328), in4 cluding Tuskegee University Ω23æ7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(4), to

5 remain available until expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b);

6 $1,450,000 for payments to the 1994 Institutions pursu7 ant to section 534(a)(1) of Public Law 103–382; and

8 Ω24æ$9,605,000 $10,644,000 for necessary expenses of

9 Research and Education Activities, of which not to exceed

10 $100,000 shall be for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109;

11 in all, Ω25æ$411,849,000 $419,370,000.

12 None of the funds in the foregoing paragraph shall

13 be available to carry out research related to the produc14 tion, processing or marketing of tobacco or tobacco prod15 ucts.

16 NATIVE AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS ENDOWMENT FUND

17 For establishment of a Native American institutions

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

19 (7 U.S.C. 301 note), $4,600,000.

20 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

21 For acquisition of land, construction, repair, improve22 ment, extension, alteration, and purchase of fixed equip23 ment or facilities and for grants to States and other eligi24 ble recipients for such purposes, as necessary to carry out

25 the agricultural research, extension, and teaching pro26 grams of the Department of Agriculture, where not other-
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1 wise provided, Ω26æ$30,449,000 $55,668,000 (7 U.S.C.

2 390 et seq.), to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

3 2209b).

4 EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

5 Payments to States, the District of Columbia, Puerto

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

7 Marianas, and American Samoa: For payments for coop8 erative extension work under the Smith-Lever Act, as

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

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

11 471, for retirement and employees’ compensation costs for

12 extension agents and for costs of penalty mail for coopera13 tive extension agents and State extension directors,

14 Ω27æ$260,438,000 $268,493,000; ∆28«$2,500,000 for ex15 tension work at the 1994 Institutions under the Smith16 Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(b)(3)); payments for the nutrition

17 and family education program for low-income areas under

18 section 3(d) of the Act, Ω29æ$58,695,000 $60,510,000;

19 payments for the pest management program under section

20 3(d) of the Act, $10,783,000; payments for the farm safe21 ty program under section 3(d) of the Act, Ω30æ$2,855,000

22 $2,943,000; payments for the pesticide impact assessment

23 program under section 3(d) of the Act, Ω31æ$3,214,000

24 $3,313,000; payments to upgrade 1890 land-grant college

25 research, extension, and teaching facilities as authorized
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1 by section 1447 of Public Law 95–113, as amended (7

2 U.S.C. 3222b), Ω32æ$7,549,000 $7,782,000, to remain

3 available until expended; Ω33æ$1,700,000 for institutional

4 capacity building grants at the 1994 Institutions (7 U.S.C.

5 301 note), to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

6 2209b); payments for the rural development centers under

7 section 3(d) of the Act, Ω34æ$908,000 $936,000; pay8 ments for a groundwater quality program under section

9 3(d) of the Act, Ω35æ$10,733,000 $11,065,000; payments

10 for the agricultural telecommunications program, as au11 thorized by Public Law 101–624 (7 U.S.C. 5926),

12 Ω36æ$1,167,000 $1,203,000; payments for youth-at-risk

13 programs under section 3(d) of the Act, Ω37æ$9,554,000

14 $9,850,000; payments for a food safety program under sec15 tion 3(d) of the Act, Ω38æ$2,365,000 $2,438,000; pay16 ments for carrying out the provisions of the Renewable

17 Resources Extension Act of 1978, Ω39æ$3,192,000

18 $3,291,000; payments for Indian reservation agents under

19 section 3(d) of the Act, Ω40æ$1,672,000 $1,724,000; pay20 ments for sustainable agriculture programs under section

21 3(d) of the Act, Ω41æ$3,309,000 $3,411,000; payments for

22 rural health and safety education as authorized by section

23 2390 of Public Law 101–624 (7 U.S.C. 2661 note, 2662),

24 Ω42æ$2,628,000 $2,709,000; payments for cooperative ex25 tension work by the colleges receiving the benefits of the
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1 second Morrill Act (7 U.S.C. 321–326, 328) and Tuskegee

2 University, Ω43æ$24,337,000 $25,090,000; and for Fed3 eral administration and coordination including administra4 tion of the Smith-Lever Act, as amended, and the Act of

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

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

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

8 leadership for the extension work of the Department and

9 the several States and insular possessions,

10 Ω44æ$6,271,000 $11,331,000; in all, Ω45æ$409,670,000

11 $431,072,000: Provided, That funds hereby appropriated

12 pursuant to section 3(c) of the Act of June 26, 1953, and

13 section 506 of the Act of June 23, 1972, as amended, shall

14 not be paid to any State, the District of Columbia, Puerto

15 Rico, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, Micronesia, Northern

16 Marianas, and American Samoa prior to availability of an

17 equal sum from non-Federal sources for expenditure dur18 ing the current fiscal year.

19 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

20 MARKETING AND REGULATORY PROGRAMS

21 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

22 the Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory

23 Programs to administer programs under the laws enacted

24 by the Congress for the Animal and Plant Health Inspec25 tion Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, and the
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1 Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration,

2 $618,000.

3 ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE

4 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

5 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

6 For expenses, not otherwise provided for, including

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

8 amended (21 U.S.C. 114b–c), necessary to prevent, con9 trol, and eradicate pests and plant and animal diseases;

10 to carry out inspection, quarantine, and regulatory activi11 ties; to discharge the authorities of the Secretary of Agri12 culture under the Act of March 2, 1931 (46 Stat. 1468;

13 7 U.S.C. 426–426b); and to protect the environment, as

14 authorized by law, Ω46æ$435,428,000 $432,103,000, of

15 which Ω47æ$4,500,000 $5,000,000 shall be available for

16 the control of outbreaks of insects, plant diseases, animal

17 diseases and for control of pest animals and birds to the

18 extent necessary to meet emergency conditions: Provided,

19 That no funds shall be used to formulate or administer

20 a brucellosis eradication program for the current fiscal

21 year that does not require minimum matching by the

22 States of at least 40 percent: Provided further, That this

23 appropriation shall be available for field employment pur24 suant to the second sentence of section 706(a) of the Or25 ganic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and not to exceed
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1 $40,000 shall be available for employment under 5 U.S.C.

2 3109: Provided further, That this appropriation shall be

3 available for the operation and maintenance of aircraft

4 and the purchase of not to exceed four, of which two shall

5 be for replacement only: Provided further, That, in addi6 tion, in emergencies which threaten any segment of the

7 agricultural production industry of this country, the Sec8 retary may transfer from other appropriations or funds

9 available to the agencies or corporations of the Depart10 ment such sums as he may deem necessary, to be available

11 only in such emergencies for the arrest and eradication

12 of contagious or infectious disease or pests of animals,

13 poultry, or plants, and for expenses in accordance with

14 the Act of February 28, 1947, as amended, and section

15 102 of the Act of September 21, 1944, as amended, and

16 any unexpended balances of funds transferred for such

17 emergency purposes in the next preceding fiscal year shall

18 be merged with such transferred amounts: Provided fur19 ther, That appropriations hereunder shall be available pur20 suant to law (7 U.S.C. 2250) for the repair and alteration

21 of leased buildings and improvements, but unless other22 wise provided the cost of altering any one building during

23 the fiscal year shall not exceed 10 percent of the current

24 replacement value of the building.
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1 In fiscal year 1997 the agency is authorized to collect

2 fees to cover the total costs of providing technical assist3 ance, goods, or services requested by States, other political

4 subdivisions, domestic and international organizations,

5 foreign governments, or individuals, provided that such

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

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

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

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

10 until expended, without further appropriation, for provid11 ing such assistance, goods, or services.

12 Of the total amount available under this heading in

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

14 fees deposited in the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection

15 User Fee Account.

16 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

17 For plans, construction, repair, preventive mainte18 nance, environmental support, improvement, extension, al19 teration, and purchase of fixed equipment or facilities, as

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

21 authorized by 7 U.S.C. 428a, $3,200,000, to remain avail22 able until expended.
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1 AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE

2 MARKETING SERVICES

3 For necessary expenses to carry on services related

4 to consumer protection, agricultural marketing and dis5 tribution, transportation, and regulatory programs, as au6 thorized by law, and for administration and coordination

7 of payments to States; including field employment pursu8 ant to section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.

9 2225), and not to exceed $90,000 for employment under

10 5 U.S.C. 3109, Ω48æ$37,592,000 $46,767,000, including

11 funds for the wholesale market development program for

12 the design and development of wholesale and farmer mar13 ket facilities for the major metropolitan areas of the coun14 try: Provided, That this appropriation shall be available

15 pursuant to law (7 U.S.C. 2250) for the alteration and

16 repair of buildings and improvements, but the cost of al17 tering any one building during the fiscal year shall not

18 exceed 10 percent of the current replacement value of the

19 building.

20 Fees may be collected for the cost of standardization

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

22 U.S.C. 9701).

23 LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

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

25 be obligated during the current fiscal year for administra26 tive expenses: Provided, That if crop size is understated
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1 and/or other uncontrollable events occur, the agency may

2 exceed this limitation by up to 10 percent with notification

3 to the Appropriations Committees.

4 FUNDS FOR STRENGTHENING MARKETS, INCOME, AND

5 SUPPLY (SECTION 32)

6 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

7 Funds available under section 32 of the Act of Au8 gust 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c) shall be used only for com9 modity program expenses as authorized therein, and other

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

11 Department of Commerce as authorized by the Fish and

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

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

14 for formulation and administration of marketing agree15 ments and orders pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing

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

17 Act of 1961.

18 PAYMENTS TO STATES AND POSSESSIONS

19 For payments to departments of agriculture, bureaus

20 and departments of markets, and similar agencies for

21 marketing activities under section 204(b) of the Agricul22 tural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1623(b)),

23 $1,200,000.
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1 GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS

2 ADMINISTRATION

3 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

4 For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions

5 of the United States Grain Standards Act, as amended,

6 for the administration of the Packers and Stockyards Act,

7 for certifying procedures used to protect purchasers of

8 farm products, and the standardization activities related

9 to grain under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946,

10 as amended, including field employment pursuant to sec11 tion 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225),

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

13 3109, Ω49æ$22,728,000 $23,928,000: Provided, That this

14 appropriation shall be available pursuant to law (7 U.S.C.

15 2250) for the alteration and repair of buildings and im16 provements, but the cost of altering any one building dur17 ing the fiscal year shall not exceed 10 percent of the cur18 rent replacement value of the building.

19 INSPECTION AND WEIGHING SERVICES

20 LIMITATION ON INSPECTION AND WEIGHING SERVICE

21 EXPENSES

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

23 be obligated during the current fiscal year for inspection

24 and weighing services: Provided, That if grain export ac25 tivities require additional supervision and oversight, or
24

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1 other uncontrollable factors occur, this limitation may be

2 exceeded by up to 10 percent with notification to the Ap3 propriations Committees.

4 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD SAFETY

5 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

6 the Under Secretary for Food Safety to administer the

7 laws enacted by the Congress for the Food Safety and In8 spection Service, $446,000.

9 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE

10 For necessary expenses to carry on services author11 ized by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as amended, the

12 Poultry Products Inspection Act, as amended, and the

13 Egg Products Inspection Act, as amended,

14 Ω50æ$574,000,000 $557,697,000, and in addition,

15 $1,000,000 may be credited to this account from fees col16 lected for the cost of laboratory accreditation as author17 ized by section 1017 of Public Law 102–237: Provided,

18 That this appropriation shall not be available for shell egg

19 surveillance under section 5(d) of the Egg Products In20 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 1034(d))Ω51æ: Provided further,

21 That not to exceed $1,500,000 of this appropriation shall

22 be made available to establish a joint FSIS/APHIS Na23 tional Farm Animal Identification Pilot Program for dairy

24 cows: Provided further, That this appropriation shall be

25 available for field employment pursuant to section 706(a)
25

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

2 exceed $75,000 shall be available for employment under

3 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided further, That this appropriation

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

5 alteration and repair of buildings and improvements, but

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

7 shall not exceed 10 percent of the current replacement

8 value of the building.

9 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FARM AND

10 FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES

11 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

12 the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural

13 Services to administer the laws enacted by Congress for

14 the Ω52æConsolidated Farm Service Agency, Foreign Ag15 ricultural Service, and the Commodity Credit Corporation,

16 $572,000.

17 FARM SERVICE AGENCY

18 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

19 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

20 For necessary expenses for carrying out the adminis21 tration and implementation of programs administered by

22 the Farm Service Agency, Ω53æ$746,440,000

23 $725,000,000: Provided, That the Secretary is authorized

24 to use the services, facilities, and authorities (but not the

25 funds) of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make pro-
26

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1 gram payments for all programs administered by the

2 Agency: Provided further, That other funds made available

3 to the Agency for authorized activities may be advanced

4 to and merged with this account: Provided further, That

5 these funds shall be available for employment pursuant to

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

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

8 shall be available for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109.

9 Ω54æSTATE MEDIATION GRANTS

10 For grants pursuant to section 502(b) of the Agricul11 tural Credit Act of 1987, as amended (7 U.S.C. 5101–5106),

12 $2,000,000.

13 DAIRY INDEMNITY PROGRAM

14 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

15 For necessary expenses involved in making indemnity

16 payments to dairy farmers for milk or cows producing

17 such milk and manufacturers of dairy products who have

18 been directed to remove their milk or dairy products from

19 commercial markets because it contained residues of

20 chemicals registered and approved for use by the Federal

21 Government, and in making indemnity payments for milk,

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

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

24 commercial markets because of (1) the presence of prod25 ucts of nuclear radiation or fallout if such contamination

26 is not due to the fault of the farmer, or (2) residues of
27

HR 3603 PP

1 chemicals or toxic substances not included under the first

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

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

4 not used in a manner contrary to applicable regulations

5 or labeling instructions provided at the time of use and

6 the contamination is not due to the fault of the farmer,

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

8 2209b): Provided, That none of the funds contained in this

9 Act shall be used to make indemnity payments to any

10 farmer whose milk was removed from commercial markets

11 as a result of his willful failure to follow procedures pre12 scribed by the Federal Government: Provided further, That

13 this amount shall be transferred to the Commodity Credit

14 Corporation: Provided further, That the Secretary is au15 thorized to utilize the services, facilities, and authorities

16 of the Commodity Credit Corporation for the purpose of

17 making dairy indemnity disbursements.

18 OUTREACH FOR SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS

19 For grants and contracts pursuant to section 2501

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

21 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279), $1,000,000, to remain available

22 until expended.
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1 AGRICULTURAL CREDIT INSURANCE FUND PROGRAM

2 ACCOUNT

3 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

4 For gross obligations for the principal amount of di5 rect and guaranteed loans as authorized by 7 U.S.C.

6 1928–1929, to be available from funds in the Agricultural

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

8 $600,000,000, of which $550,000,000 shall be for guaran9 teed loans; operating loans, $2,345,071,000, of which

10 $1,700,000,000 shall be for unsubsidized guaranteed

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

12 loans; Indian tribe land acquisition loans as authorized by

13 25 U.S.C. 488, $1,000,000; for emergency insured loans,

14 Ω55æ$25,000,000 $75,000,000 to meet the needs resulting

15 from natural disasters; Ω56æfor boll weevil eradication

16 program loans as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1989,

17 $15,384,000; and for credit sales of acquired property,

18 $25,000,000.

19 For the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, including

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

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

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

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

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

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

26 loans; Indian tribe land acquisition loans as authorized by
29

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1 25 U.S.C. 488, $54,000; for emergency insured loans,

2 Ω57æ$6,365,000 $19,095,000 to meet the needs resulting

3 from natural disasters; Ω58æfor boll weevil eradication

4 program loans as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1989, $2,000,000;

5 and for credit sales of acquired property, $2,530,000.

6 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

7 carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs,

8 $221,046,000, of which $208,446,000 shall be transferred

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

10 and Expenses’’ account.

11 Ω59æOFFICE OF RISK MANAGEMENT

12 For administrative and operating expenses, as au13 thorized by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re14 form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 6933), $62,198,000: Provided,

15 That not to exceed $700 shall be available for official re16 ception and representation expenses, as authorized by 7

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

18 RISK MANAGEMENT

19 For administrative and operating expenses, as author20 ized by section 226A of the Department of Agriculture Reor21 ganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6933), $70,000,000, of

22 which not to exceed $700 shall be available for official recep23 tion and representation expenses, as authorized by section

24 506(i) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C.

25 1506(i)): Provided, That this appropriation shall be avail-
30

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1 able only to the extent that an official budget request for

2 a specific dollar amount is submitted by the President to

3 Congress.

4 CORPORATIONS

5 The following corporations and agencies are hereby

6 authorized to make expenditures, within the limits of

7 funds and borrowing authority available to each such cor8 poration or agency and in accord with law, and to make

9 contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal year

10 limitations as provided by section 104 of the Government

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

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

13 the current fiscal year for such corporation or agency, ex14 cept as hereinafter provided.

15 FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION FUND

16 For payments as authorized by section 516 of the

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

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

19 U.S.C. 2209b).

20 COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION FUND

21 REIMBURSEMENT FOR NET REALIZED LOSSES

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

23 to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for net

24 realized losses sustained, but not previously reimbursed

25 (estimated to be $1,500,000,000 in the President’s fiscal
31

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

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

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

4 11).

5 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE

6 MANAGEMENT

7 For fiscal year 1997, the Commodity Credit Corpora8 tion shall not expend more than $5,000,000 for expenses

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

10 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

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

12 section 6001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery

13 Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961: Provided, That ex14 penses shall be for operations and maintenance costs only

15 and that other hazardous waste management costs shall

16 be paid for by the USDA Hazardous Waste Management

17 appropriation in this Act.

18 TITLE II

19 CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

20 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR NATURAL

21 RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

22 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

23 the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environ24 ment to administer the laws enacted by the Congress for

25 the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conserva26 tion Service, $693,000.
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1 NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE

2 CONSERVATION OPERATIONS

3 For necessary expenses for carrying out the provi4 sions of the Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–590f)

5 including preparation of conservation plans and establish6 ment of measures to conserve soil and water (including

7 farm irrigation and land drainage and such special meas8 ures for soil and water management as may be necessary

9 to prevent floods and the siltation of reservoirs and to con10 trol agricultural related pollutants); operation of conserva11 tion plant materials centers; classification and mapping of

12 soil; dissemination of information; acquisition of lands,

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

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

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

16 3, 1956 (7 U.S.C. 428a); purchase and erection or alter17 ation or improvement of permanent and temporary build18 ings; and operation and maintenance of aircraft,

19 Ω60æ$619,392,000 $638,954,000, to remain available until

20 expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b), of which not less than

21 $5,835,000 is for snow survey and water forecasting and

22 not less than $8,825,000 is for operation and establish23 ment of the plant materials centers: Provided, That appro24 priations hereunder shall be available pursuant to 7

25 U.S.C. 2250 for construction and improvement of build-
33

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1 ings and public improvements at plant materials centers,

2 except that the cost of alterations and improvements to

3 other buildings and other public improvements shall not

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

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

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

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

8 shall be available for technical assistance and related ex9 penses to carry out programs authorized by section 202(c)

10 of title II of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control

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

12 further, That no part of this appropriation may be ex13 pended for soil and water conservation operations under

14 the Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–590f) in dem15 onstration projects: Provided further, That this appropria16 tion shall be available for employment pursuant to the sec17 ond sentence of section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944

18 (7 U.S.C. 2225) and not to exceed $25,000 shall be avail19 able for employment under 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided fur20 ther, That qualified local engineers may be temporarily

21 employed at per diem rates to perform the technical plan22 ning work of the Service (16 U.S.C. 590e–2)Ω61æ: Pro23 vided further, That of the total amount appropriated, no

24 more than $250,000 may be available for purposes author25 ized under sections 351–360 of Public Law 104–127.
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HR 3603 PP

1 WATERSHED SURVEYS AND PLANNING

2 For necessary expenses to conduct research, inves3 tigation, and surveys of watersheds of rivers and other wa4 terways, and for small watershed investigations and plan5 ning, in accordance with the Watershed Protection and

6 Flood Prevention Act approved August 4, 1954, as

7 amended (16 U.S.C. 1001–1009), Ω62æ$10,762,000

8 $14,000,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

9 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

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

11 2225), and not to exceed $110,000 shall be available for

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

13 WATERSHED AND FLOOD PREVENTION OPERATIONS

14 For necessary expenses to carry out preventive meas15 ures, including but not limited to research, engineering op16 erations, methods of cultivation, the growing of vegetation,

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

18 in accordance with the Watershed Protection and Flood

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

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

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

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

23 Department, $101,036,000, to remain available until ex24 pended (7 U.S.C. 2209b) (of which up to $15,000,000

25 may be available for the watersheds authorized under the
35

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

2 701, 16 U.S.C. 1006a), as amended and supplemented:

3 Provided, That this appropriation shall be available for

4 employment pursuant to the second sentence of section

5 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2225), and

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

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

8 $1,000,000 of this appropriation is available to carry out

9 the purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Pub10 lic Law 93–205), as amended, including cooperative ef11 forts as contemplated by that Act to relocate endangered

12 or threatened species to other suitable habitats as may be

13 necessary to expedite project construction.

14 RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT

15 For necessary expenses in planning and carrying out

16 projects for resource conservation and development and

17 for sound land use pursuant to the provisions of section

18 32(e) of title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant

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

20 Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a–f), and the Agri21 culture and Food Act of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3451–3461),

22 $29,377,000, to remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

23 2209b): Provided, That this appropriation shall be avail24 able for employment pursuant to the second sentence of

25 section 706(a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C.
36

HR 3603 PP

1 2225), and not to exceed $50,000 shall be available for

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

3 FORESTRY INCENTIVES PROGRAM

4 For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for,

5 to carry out the program of forestry incentives, as author6 ized in the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978

7 (16 U.S.C. 2101), including technical assistance and relat8 ed expenses, $6,325,000, to remain available until ex9 pended, as authorized by that Act.

10 TITLE III

11 RURAL ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY

12 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

13 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR RURAL

14 DEVELOPMENT

15 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

16 the Under Secretary for Rural Development to administer

17 programs under the laws enacted by the Congress for the

18 Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Serv19 ice, and the Rural Utilities Service of the Department of

20 Agriculture, $588,000.

21 RURAL HOUSING SERVICE

22 RURAL HOUSING INSURANCE FUND PROGRAM ACCOUNT

23 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

24 For gross obligations for the principal amount of di25 rect and guaranteed loans as authorized by title V of the

26 Housing Act of 1949, as amended, to be available from
37

HR 3603 PP

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

2 $3,300,000,000 for loans to section 502 borrowers, as de3 termined by the Secretary, of which $2,300,000,000 shall

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

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

6 514 farm labor housing; $58,654,000 for section 515 rent7 al housing; $600,000 for section 524 site loans;

8 $50,000,000 for credit sales of acquired property; and

9 $600,000 for section 523 self-help housing land develop10 ment loans.

11 For the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, including

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

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

14 502 loans, $89,210,000, of which $6,210,000 shall be for

15 unsubsidized guaranteed loans; section 504 housing repair

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

17 $6,885,000; section 515 rental housing, $28,987,000

18 Ω63æ:–Provided, That no funds for new construction for

19 section 515 rental housing may be available for fiscal year

20 1997; credit sales of acquired property, $4,050,000; and

21 section 523 self-help housing land development loans,

22 $17,000.

23 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

24 carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs,

25 $366,205,000, which shall be transferred to and merged
38

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1 with the appropriation for ‘‘Rural Housing Service, Sala2 ries and Expenses’’.

3 RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

4 For rental assistance agreements entered into or re5 newed pursuant to the authority under section 521(a)(2)

6 or agreements entered into in lieu of debt forgiveness or

7 payments for eligible households as authorized by section

8 502(c)(5)(D) of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended,

9 $493,870,000; and in addition such sums as may be nec10 essary, as authorized by section 521(c) of the Act, to liq11 uidate debt incurred prior to fiscal year 1992 to carry out

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

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

14 $5,900,000 shall be available for debt forgiveness or pay15 ments for eligible households as authorized by section

16 502(c)(5)(D) of the Act, and not to exceed $10,000 per

17 project for advances to nonprofit organizations or public

18 agencies to cover direct costs (other than purchase price)

19 incurred in purchasing projects pursuant to section

20 502(c)(5)(C) of the Act: Provided further, That agree21 ments entered into or renewed during fiscal year 1997

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

23 of any such agreement may be extended to fully utilize

24 amounts obligated.
39

HR 3603 PP

1 MUTUAL AND SELF-HELP HOUSING GRANTS

2 For grants and contracts pursuant to section

3 523(b)(1)(A) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.

4 1490c), $26,000,000, to remain available until expended

5 (7 U.S.C. 2209b).

6 RURAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

7 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

8 For the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, agree9 ments, and grants, as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1926, 42

10 U.S.C. 1472, 1474, 1479, 1485, 1486, and 1490(a), ex11 cept for sections 381E, 381H, 381N of the Consolidated

12 Farm and Rural Development Act, Ω64æ$73,190,000

13 $136,435,000, to remain available until expended, for di14 rect loans and loan guarantees for community facilities,

15 community facilities grant program, Ω65ærental assistance

16 associated with and direct loans for new construction of sec17 tion 515 rental housing, rural housing for domestic farm

18 labor grants, supervisory and technical assistance grants,

19 very low-income housing repair grants, rural community

20 fire protection grants, rural housing preservation grants,

21 and compensation for construction defects of the Rural

22 Housing Service: Provided, That the cost of direct loans

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

24 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended: Pro25 vided further, That the amounts appropriated shall be

26 transferred to loan program and grant accounts as deter-
40

HR 3603 PP

1 mined by the Secretary Ω66æ:–Provided further, That no

2 funds for new construction relating to 515 rental housing

3 may be available for fiscal year 1997: Provided further,

4 That of the funds made available in this paragraph not

5 more than $1,200,000 shall be available for the multi-fam6 ily rural housing loan guarantee program as authorized

7 by section 5 of Public Law 104–120: Provided further,

8 That if such funds are not obligated for multi-family rural

9 housing loan guarantees by June 30, 1997, they remain

10 available for other authorized purposes under this head:

11 Provided further, That of the total amount appropriated,

12 not to exceed $1,200,000 shall be available for the cost

13 of direct loans, loan guarantees, and grants to be made

14 available for empowerment zones and enterprise commu15 nities as authorized by Public Law 103–66: Provided fur16 ther, That if such funds are not obligated for

17 empowerment zones and enterprise communities by June

18 30, 1997, they remain available for other authorized pur19 poses under this head.

20 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

21 For necessary expenses of the Rural Housing Service,

22 including administering the programs authorized by the

23 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as

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

25 and cooperative agreements, Ω67æ$53,889,000
41

HR 3603 PP

1 $66,354,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

2 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

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

4 $520,000 may be used for employment under 5 U.S.C.

5 3109.

6 RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE

7 RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOAN FUND PROGRAM ACCOUNT

8 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

9 For the cost of direct loans, Ω68æ$18,400,000

10 $17,270,000, as authorized by the Rural Development

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

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

13 as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act

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

15 to subsidize gross obligations for the principal amount of

16 direct loans of Ω69æ$40,000,000 $37,544,000: Provided

17 further, That through June 30, 1997, of the total amount

18 appropriated $3,345,000 shall be available for the cost of

19 direct loans, for empowerment zones and enterprise com20 munities, as authorized by title XIII of the Omnibus

21 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, to subsidize gross obli22 gations for the principal amount of direct loans,

23 $7,246,000.
42

HR 3603 PP

1 RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LOANS PROGRAM

2 ACCOUNT

3 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

4 For the principal amount of direct loans, as author5 ized under section 313 of the Rural Electrification Act,

6 for the purpose of promoting rural economic development

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

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

9 modifying loans as defined in section 502 of the Congres10 sional Budget Act of 1974, $2,830,000. In addition, for

11 administrative expenses necessary to carry out the direct

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

13 merged with the appropriation for ‘‘Salaries and Ex14 penses.’’

15 ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND

16 COMMERCIALIZATION REVOLVING FUND

17 For necessary expenses to carry out the Alternative

18 Agricultural Research and Commercialization Act of 1990

19 (7 U.S.C. 5901–5908), Ω70æ$6,000,000 $10,000,000 is

20 appropriated to the alternative agricultural research and

21 commercialization revolving fund.

22 RURAL BUSINESS—COOPERATIVE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

23 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

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

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

26 except for 381E, 381H, 381N of the Consolidated Farm
43

HR 3603 PP

1 and Rural Development Act, Ω71æ$51,400,000

2 $53,750,000, to remain available until expended, for direct

3 loans and loan guarantees for business and industry as4 sistance, rural business grants, rural cooperative develop5 ment grants, and rural business opportunity grants of the

6 Rural Business—Cooperative Service: Provided, That the

7 cost of direct loans and loan guarantees shall be as defined

8 in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974,

9 as amended: Provided further, That $500,000 shall be

10 available for grants to qualified nonprofit organizations as

11 authorized under section 310B(c)(2) of the Consolidated

12 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932): Pro13 vided further, That the amounts appropriated shall be

14 transferred to loan program and grant accounts as deter15 mined by the Secretary: Provided further, That, of the

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

17 be available for cooperative development Ω72æ as provided

18 under section 747(e) of Public Law 104–127∆73«: Provided

19 further, That of the total amount appropriated, not to ex20 ceed $1,300,000 may be available through a cooperative

21 agreement for the appropriate technology transfer for rural

22 areas program: Provided further, That of the total amount

23 appropriated, not less than $2,000,000 shall be available

24 for grants in accordance with section 310B(f) of the Con25 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.
44

HR 3603 PP

1 1932(f)): That, of the total amount appropriated, not to

2 exceed $148,000 shall be available for the cost of direct

3 loans, loan guarantees, and grants to be made available

4 for business and industry loans for empowerment zones

5 and enterprise communities as authorized by Public Law

6 103–66 and rural development loans for empowerment

7 zones and enterprise communities as authorized by title

8 XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993:

9 Provided further, That if such funds are not obligated for

10 empowerment zones and enterprise communities by June

11 30, 1997, they remain available for other authorized pur12 poses under this head.

13 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

14 For necessary expenses of the Rural Business-Coop15 erative Service, including administering the programs au16 thorized by the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop17 ment Act, as amended; section 1323 of the Food Security

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

19 activities relating to the marketing aspects of cooperatives,

20 including economic research findings, as authorized by the

21 Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946; for activities with in22 stitutions concerning the development and operation of ag23 ricultural cooperatives; and cooperative agreements;

24 $25,680,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

25 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence
45

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

2 $260,000 may be used for employment under 5 U.S.C.

3 3109.

4 RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE

5 RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

6 LOANS PROGRAM ACCOUNT

7 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

8 Insured loans pursuant to the authority of section

9 305 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended

10 (7 U.S.C. 935), shall be made as follows: 5 percent rural

11 electrification loans, $125,000,000, 5 percent rural tele12 communications loans, $75,000,000; cost of money rural

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

14 rural electric loans, $525,000,000; and loans made pursu15 ant to section 306 of that Act, rural electric,

16 $300,000,000, and rural telecommunications,

17 $120,000,000, to remain available until expended.

18 For the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Con19 gressional Budget Act of 1974, including the cost of modi20 fying loans, of direct and guaranteed loans authorized by

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

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

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

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

25 guaranteed pursuant to section 306, $2,790,000: Pro-
46

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1 vided, That notwithstanding section 305(d)(2) of the

2 Rural Electrification Act of 1936, borrower interest rates

3 may exceed 7 percent per year.

4 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

5 carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs,

6 $29,982,000, which shall be transferred to and merged

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

8 RURAL TELEPHONE BANK PROGRAM ACCOUNT

9 The Rural Telephone Bank is hereby authorized to

10 make such expenditures, within the limits of funds avail11 able to such corporation in accord with law, and to make

12 such contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal

13 year limitations as provided by section 104 of the Govern14 ment Corporation Control Act, as amended, as may be

15 necessary in carrying out its authorized programs for the

16 current fiscal year. During fiscal year 1997 and within

17 the resources and authority available, gross obligations for

18 the principal amount of direct loans shall be

19 $175,000,000.

20 For the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Con21 gressional Budget Act of 1974, including the cost of modi22 fying loans, of direct loans authorized by the Rural Elec23 trification Act of 1936, as amended (7 U.S.C. 935),

24 $2,328,000.
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1 In addition, for administrative expenses necessary to

2 carry out the loan programs, $3,500,000.

3 DISTANCE LEARNING AND MEDICAL LINK PROGRAM

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

5 by 7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq., as amended, Ω74æ$7,500,000

6 $10,000,000, to remain available until expended, to be

7 available for loans and grants for telemedicine and dis8 tance learning services in rural areas: Provided, That the

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

10 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

11 RURAL UTILITIES ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

12 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

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

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

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

16 and Rural Development Act, Ω75æ$496,868,000

17 $656,742,000, to remain available until expended, for di18 rect loans and loan guarantees and grants for rural water

19 and waste disposal, and solid waste management grants

20 of the Rural Utilities Service: Provided, That the cost of

21 direct loans and loan guarantees shall be as defined in

22 section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as

23 amended: Provided further, That the amounts appro24 priated shall be transferred to loan program and grant ac25 counts as determined by the Secretary: Provided further,

26 That, through June 30, 1997, of the total amount appro-
48

HR 3603 PP

1 priated, $18,700,000 shall be available for the costs of di2 rect loans, loan guarantees, and grants to be made avail3 able for empowerment zones and enterprise communities,

4 as authorized by Public Law 103–66: Provided further,

5 That, of the total amount appropriated, not to exceed

6 $18,700,000 shall be for water and waste disposal systems

7 to benefit the Colonias along the United States/Mexico

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

9 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as

10 amended: Provided further, That, of the total amount ap11 propriated, not to exceed Ω76æ$5,000,000 $5,400,000 shall

12 be available for contracting with qualified national organi13 zations for a circuit rider program to provide technical as14 sistance for rural water systems: Provided further, That

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

16 be set aside and made available for ongoing technical as17 sistance under sections 306(a)(14) (7 U.S.C. 1926) and

18 310(B)(b) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop19 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1932)Ω77æ: Provided further, That of

20 the total amount appropriated, not to exceed $10,000,000

21 shall be for water and waste disposal systems pursuant to

22 section 757 of Public Law 104–127∆78«: Provided further,

23 That notwithstanding section 306(a)(7) of the Consolidated

24 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(7)),

25 the town of Berlin, New Hampshire, shall be eligible during
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1 fiscal year 1997 for a grant under the rural utilities assist2 ance program.

3 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

4 For necessary expenses of the Rural Utilities Service,

5 including administering the programs authorized by the

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

7 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as

8 amended, and cooperative agreements, $33,195,000: Pro9 vided, That this appropriation shall be available for em10 ployment pursuant to the second sentence of 706(a) of the

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

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

13 TITLE IV

14 DOMESTIC FOOD PROGRAMS

15 OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD,

16 NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SERVICES

17 For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of

18 the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer

19 Services to administer the laws enacted by the Congress

20 for the Food and Consumer Service, Ω79æ$454,000

21 $554,000.

22 CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS

23 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

24 For necessary expenses to carry out the National

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

26 21, and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772–
50

HR 3603 PP

1 1785, and 1789); except sections 17 and 19;

2 Ω80æ$8,652,597,000 $8,654,797,000, to remain available

3 through September 30, 1998, of which

4 Ω81æ$3,218,844,000 $3,221,044,000 is hereby appro5 priated and $5,433,753,000 shall be derived by transfer

6 from funds available under section 32 of the Act of August

7 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c) Ω82æ:–Provided, That none of

8 the funds made available under this heading shall be used

9 for new studies and evaluations: Provided, That not to ex10 ceed $2,000,000 of the funds made available under this

11 heading shall be used for studies and evaluations: Provided

12 further, That up to $4,031,000 shall be available for inde13 pendent verification of school food service claims.

14 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR

15 WOMEN, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN (WIC)

16 For necessary expenses to carry out the special sup17 plemental nutrition program as authorized by section 17

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

19 $3,729,807,000, to remain available through September

20 30, 1998: Provided, That none of the funds made available

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

22 studies and evaluations: Provided further, That up to

23 $6,750,000 may be used to carry out the farmers’ market

24 nutrition program from any funds not needed to maintain

25 current caseload levels Ω83æ:–Provided further, That, of

26 the total amount of fiscal year 1996 carryover funds that
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HR 3603 PP

1 cannot be spent in fiscal year 1997, any funds in excess

2 of $100,000,000 may be transferred by the Secretary to

3 other programs in the Department of Agriculture, exclud4 ing the Forest Service, with prior notification to the House

5 and Senate Appropriations Committees: Provided further,

6 That once the amount for fiscal year 1996 carryover funds

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

8 of $100,000,000 may be transferred by the Secretary of Ag9 riculture to any loan program of the Department and/or

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

11 market nutrition program: Provided further, That none of

12 the funds in this Act shall be available to pay administra13 tive expenses of WIC clinics except those that have an an14 nounced policy of prohibiting smoking within the space

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

16 none of the funds provided in this account shall be avail17 able for the purchase of infant formula except in accord18 ance with the cost containment and competitive bidding

19 requirements specified in section 17 of the Child Nutrition

20 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786)Ω84æ: Provided further, That

21 State agencies required to procure infant formula using a

22 competitive bidding system may use funds appropriated by

23 this Act to purchase infant formula under a cost contain24 ment contract entered into after September 30, 1996 only

25 if the contract was awarded to the bidder offering the lowest
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1 net price, as defined by section 17(b)(20) of the Child Nutri2 tion Act of 1966, unless the State agency demonstrates to

3 the satisfaction of the Secretary that the weighted average

4 retail price for different brands of infant formula in the

5 State does not vary by more than five percent.

6 FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

7 For necessary expenses to carry out the Food Stamp

8 Act (7 U.S.C. Ω85æ2011–2029 2011 et seq.),

9 Ω86æ$27,615,029,000 $28,521,029,000: Provided, That

10 funds provided herein shall remain available through Sep11 tember 30, 1997, in accordance with section 18(a) of the

12 Food Stamp Act: Provided further, That

13 Ω87æ$100,000,000 $1,000,000,000 of the foregoing

14 amount shall be placed in reserve for use only in such

15 amounts and at such times as may become necessary to

16 carry out program operations Ω88æ:–Provided further,

17 That none of the funds made available under this heading

18 shall be used for new studies and evaluations: Provided

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

20 available under this heading shall be used for studies and

21 evaluations: Provided further, That funds provided herein

22 shall be expended in accordance with section 16 of the

23 Food Stamp Act: Provided further, That this appropria24 tion shall be subject to any work registration or workfare

25 requirements as may be required by law: Provided further,
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1 That $1,174,000,000 of the foregoing amount shall be

2 available for nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico as au3 thorized by 7 U.S.C. 2028.

4 COMMODITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

5 For necessary expenses to carry out the commodity

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

7 of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973

8 (7 U.S.C. 612c (note)), the Emergency Food Assistance

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

10 Prevention Act of 1988, $166,000,000, to remain avail11 able through September 30, 1998: Provided, That none

12 of these funds shall be available to reimburse the Com13 modity Credit Corporation for commodities donated to the

14 program.

15 FOOD DONATIONS PROGRAMS FOR SELECTED GROUPS

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

17 the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7

18 U.S.C. 612c (note)), Ω89æ section 4(b) of the Food Stamp

19 Act (7 U.S.C. 2013(b)), and section 311 of the Older

20 Americans Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3030a),

21 Ω90æ$205,000,000 $141,250,000, to remain available

22 through September 30, 1998.

23 FOOD PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

24 For necessary administrative expenses of the domes25 tic food programs funded under this Act,

26 Ω91æ$104,487,000 $107,769,000, of which $5,000,000
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1 shall be available only for simplifying procedures, reducing

2 overhead costs, tightening regulations, improving food

3 stamp coupon handling, and assistance in the prevention,

4 identification, and prosecution of fraud and other viola5 tions of law: Provided, That this appropriation shall be

6 available for employment pursuant to the second sentence

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

8 2225), and not to exceed $150,000 shall be available for

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

10 TITLE V

11 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AND RELATED

12 PROGRAMS

13 FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE AND GENERAL SALES

14 MANAGER

15 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

16 For necessary expenses of the Foreign Agricultural

17 Service, including carrying out title VI of the Agricultural

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

19 development activities abroad, and for enabling the Sec20 retary to coordinate and integrate activities of the Depart21 ment in connection with foreign agricultural work, includ22 ing not to exceed $128,000 for representation allowances

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

24 August 3, 1956 (7 U.S.C. 1766), Ω92æ$128,005,000

25 $138,561,000, of which Ω93æ$2,792,000 $3,231,000 may
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1 be transferred from the Export Loan Program account in

2 this Act, and Ω94æ$1,005,000 $1,035,000 may be trans3 ferred from the Public Law 480 program account in this

4 Act: Provided, That the Service may utilize advances of

5 funds, or reimburse this appropriation for expenditures

6 made on behalf of Federal agencies, public and private or7 ganizations and institutions under agreements executed

8 pursuant to the agricultural food production assistance

9 programs (7 U.S.C. 1736) and the foreign assistance pro10 grams of the International Development Cooperation Ad11 ministration (22 U.S.C. 2392) Ω95æ:–Provided further,

12 That funds provided for foreign market development to

13 trade associations, cooperatives and small businesses shall

14 be allocated only after a competitive bidding process to

15 target funds to those entities most likely to generate addi16 tional U.S. exports as a result of the expenditure.

17 None of the funds in the foregoing paragraph shall

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

19 tobacco products.

20 PUBLIC LAW 480 PROGRAM AND GRANT ACCOUNTS

21 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

22 For expenses during the current fiscal year, not oth23 erwise recoverable, and unrecovered prior years’ costs, in24 cluding interest thereon, under the Agricultural Trade De25 velopment and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended (7
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1 U.S.C. 1691, 1701–1715, 1721–1726, 1727–1727f,

2 1731–1736g), as follows: (1) Ω96æ$216,400,000

3 $218,944,000 for Public Law 480 title I credit, including

4 Food for Progress programs; (2) $13,905,000 is hereby

5 appropriated for ocean freight differential costs for the

6 shipment of agricultural commodities pursuant to title I

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

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

9 commodities supplied in connection with dispositions

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

11 Ω97æ$29,500,000 $40,000,000 is hereby appropriated for

12 commodities supplied in connection with dispositions

13 abroad pursuant to title III of said Act: Provided, That

14 not to exceed 15 percent of the funds made available to

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

16 any other title of said Act: Provided further, That such

17 sums shall remain available until expended (7 U.S.C.

18 2209b).

19 For the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Con20 gressional Budget Act of 1974, of direct credit agreements

21 as authorized by the Agricultural Trade Development and

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

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

24 modifying credit agreements under said Act,

25 Ω98æ$177,000,000 $179,082,000.
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1 In addition, for administrative expenses to carry out

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

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

4 appropriated for Public Law 480 are utilized,

5 Ω99æ$1,750,000 $1,818,000.

6 COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION EXPORT LOANS

7 PROGRAM ACCOUNT

8 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

9 For administrative expenses to carry out the Com10 modity Credit Corporation’s export guarantee program,

11 GSM 102 and GSM 103, Ω100æ$3,381,000 $3,820,000; to

12 cover common overhead expenses as permitted by section

13 11 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and

14 in conformity with the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990,

15 of which not to exceed Ω101æ$2,792,000 $3,231,000 may

16 be transferred to and merged with the appropriation for

17 the salaries and expenses of the Foreign Agricultural

18 Service, and of which not to exceed $589,000 may be

19 transferred to and merged with the appropriation for the

20 salaries and expenses of the Farm Service Agency.

21 EXPORT CREDIT

22 The Commodity Credit Corporation shall make avail23 able not less than $5,500,000,000 in credit guarantees

24 under its export credit guarantee program extended to fi25 nance the export sales of United States agricultural com26 modities and the products thereof, as authorized by sec-
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1 tion 202 (a) and (b) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978

2 (7 U.S.C. 5641).

3 TITLE VI

4 RELATED AGENCIES AND FOOD AND DRUG

5 ADMINISTRATION

6 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN

7 SERVICES

8 FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

9 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

10 For necessary expenses of the Food and Drug Ad11 ministration, including hire and purchase of passenger

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

13 District of Columbia or elsewhere; and for miscellaneous

14 and emergency expenses of enforcement activities, author15 ized and approved by the Secretary and to be accounted

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

17 $25,000; $907,499,000, of which not to exceed

18 $87,528,000 in fees pursuant to section 736 of the Fed19 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act may be credited to

20 this appropriation and remain available until expended:

21 Provided, That fees derived from applications received

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

23 1997 limitation: Provided further, That none of these

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

25 program of user fees authorized by 31 U.S.C. 9701Ω102æ:
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1 Provided further, That a sufficient amount of these funds

2 shall be used to ensure compliance with the statutory dead3 lines set forth in section 505(j)(4)(A) of the Federal Food,

4 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(j)(4)(A)).

5 In addition, fees pursuant to section 354 of the Pub6 lic Health Service Act may be credited to this account,

7 to remain available until expended.

8 In addition, fees pursuant to section 801 of the Fed9 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act may be credited to

10 this account, to remain available until expended.

11 Ω103æNone of the funds appropriated or made avail12 able to the Federal Food and Drug Administration shall

13 be used to implement any rule finalizing the August 25,

14 1995 proposed rule entitled ‘‘The Prescription Drug Prod15 uct Labeling; Medication Guide Requirements,’’ except as

16 to any specific drug or biological product where the FDA

17 determines that without approved patient information

18 there would be a serious and significant public health risk.

19 Ω104æGENERAL PROVISIONS

20 Ω105æSEC. 601. EFFECTIVE MEDICATION GUIDES.—

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

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

23 Department of Health and Human Services shall re24 quest that national organizations representing health

25 care professionals, consumer organizations, voluntary
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1 health agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, drug

2 wholesalers, patient drug information database com3 panies, and other relevant parties collaborate to de4 velop a long-range comprehensive action plan to

5 achieve goals consistent with the goals of the proposed

6 rule of the Food and Drug Administration on ‘‘Pre7 scription Drug Product Labeling: Medication Guide

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

9 provision of oral and written prescription informa10 tion to consumers).

11 (b) GOALS.—Goals consistent with the proposed

12 rule described in subsection (a) are the distribution of

13 useful written information to 75 percent of individ14 uals receiving new precriptions by the year 2000 and

15 to 95 percent by the year 2006.

16 (c) PLAN.—The plan described in subsection (a)

17 shall—

18 (1) identify the plan goals;

19 (2) assess the effectiveness of the current pri20 vate-sector approaches used to provide oral and

21 written prescription information to consumers;

22 (3) develop guidelines for providing effective

23 oral and written prescription information con24 sistent with the findings of any such assessment;
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1 (4) contain elements necessary to ensure the

2 transmittal of useful information to the consum3 ing public, including being scientifically accu4 rate, non-promotional in tone and content, suffi5 ciently specific and comprehensive as to ade6 quately inform consumers about the use of the

7 product, and in an understandable, legible for8 mat that is readily comprehensible and not con9 fusing to consumers expected to use the product.

10 (5) develop a mechanism to assess periodi11 cally the quality of the oral and written pre12 scription information and the frequency with

13 which the information is provided to consumers;

14 and

15 (6) provide for compliance with relevant

16 State board regulations.

17 (d) LIMITATION ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE

18 SECRETARY.—The Secretary of the Department of

19 Health and Human Services shall have no authority

20 to implement the proposed rule described in sub21 section (a), or to develop any similar regulation, pol22 icy statement, or other guideline specifying a uniform

23 content or format for written information voluntarily

24 provided to consumers about prescription drugs if, (1)

25 not later than 120 days after the date of enactment
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1 of this Act, the national organizations described in

2 subsection (a) develop and submit to the Secretary for

3 Health and Human Services a comprehensive, long4 range action plan (as described in subsection (a))

5 which shall be acceptable to the Secretary of Health

6 and Human Services; (2) the aforementioned plan is

7 submitted to the Secretary of Health and Human

8 Services for review and acceptance: Provided, That

9 the Secretary shall give due consideration to the sub10 mitted plan and that any such acceptance shall not

11 be arbitrarily withheld; and (3) the implementation

12 of (a) a plan accepted by the Secretary commences

13 within 30 days of the Secretary’s acceptance of such

14 plan, or (b) the plan submitted to the Secretary com15 mences within 60 days of the submission of such plan

16 if the Secretary fails to take any action on the plan

17 within 30 days of the submission of the plan. The

18 Secretary shall accept, reject or suggest modifications

19 to the plan submitted within 30 days of its submis20 sion. The Secretary may confer with and assist pri21 vate parties in the development of the plan described

22 in subsections (a) and (b).

23 (e) SECRETARY REVIEW.—Not later than Janu24 ary 1, 2001, the Secretary of the Department of

25 Health and Human Services shall review the status
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1 of private-sector initiatives designed to achieve the

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

3 such goals are not achieved, the limitation in sub4 section (d) shall not apply, and the Secretary shall

5 seek public comment on other initiatives that may be

6 carried out to meet such goals.

7 Ω106æSEC. 602. Section 3 of the Saccharin Study and

8 Labeling Act (21 U.S.C 348 nt.) is amended by striking

9 out ‘‘May 1, 1997’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘May 1,

10 Ω107æ2002 1998’’.

11 Ω108æSEC. 603. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL

12 FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT.—

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

14 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amend15 ed—

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

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

18 other article of device requiring further process19 ing, which is ready’’;

20 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘is in21 tended to be’’ and inserting ‘‘is intended to be

22 further processed by the initial owner or con23 signee, or’’; and

24 (3) in subparagraph (C)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘part,’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘part, article,’’; and

3 (B) by striking ‘‘incorporated’’ and in4 serting ‘‘incorporated or further processed’’.

5 (b) LABELING OF EXPORTED DRUGS.—Section

6 801(f) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

7 is amended—

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

9 drug’’ and inserting ‘‘If a drug (other than insu10 lin, an antibiotic drug, an animal drug, or a

11 drug exported under section 802)’’; and

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

13 the following new sentence: ‘‘A drug exported

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

15 (c) EXPORT OF CERTAIN UNAPPROVED DRUGS

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

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

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

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

20 Ω109æSEC. 604. Not later than 180 days after enact21 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Food and Drug

22 Administration, in consultation with the States and other

23 appropriate Federal agencies shall report to the Chairman

24 and Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations

25 of the House and Senate on the feasibility of applying DNA
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1 testing or other testing procedures to determine the adulter2 ation, blending, mixing or substitution of crab meat other

3 than Callinectes Sapidus offered for sale in the United

4 States. The Administrator also shall report on the feasibil5 ity of developing a database of imported crab meat ship6 ments from port of entry to final wholesaler to be made

7 available to State agencies to aid enforcement and public

8 health protection.

9 BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

10 For plans, construction, repair, improvement, exten11 sion, alteration, and purchase of fixed equipment or facili12 ties of or used by the Food and Drug Administration,

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

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

15 RENTAL PAYMENTS (FDA)

16 (INCLUDING TRANSFERS OF FUNDS)

17 For payment of space rental and related costs pursu18 ant to Public Law 92–313 for programs and activities of

19 the Food and Drug Administration which are included in

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

21 Food and Drug Administration should require modifica22 tion of space needs, a share of the salaries and expenses

23 appropriation may be transferred to this appropriation, or

24 a share of this appropriation may be transferred to the

25 salaries and expenses appropriation, but such transfers
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1 shall not exceed 5 percent of the funds made available for

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

3 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

4 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE

5 PAYMENTS TO THE FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FINANCIAL

6 ASSISTANCE CORPORATION

7 For necessary payments to the Farm Credit System

8 Financial Assistance Corporation by the Secretary of the

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

10 Credit Act of 1971, as amended, for reimbursement of in11 terest expenses incurred by the Financial Assistance Cor12 poration on obligations issued through 1994, as author13 ized $10,290,000.

14 INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

15 COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

16 For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions

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

18 1 et seq.), including the purchase and hire of passenger

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

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

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

22 3109; Ω110æ$55,101,000 $56,601,000, including not to ex23 ceed $1,000 for official reception and representation ex24 penses: Provided, That the Commission is authorized to

25 charge reasonable fees to attendees of Commission spon-
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1 sored educational events and symposia to cover the Com2 mission’s costs of providing those events and symposia,

3 and notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, said fees shall be

4 credited to this account, to be available without further

5 appropriation.

6 Ω111æFARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

7 LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

8 Not to exceed $37,478,000 (from assessments col9 lected from farm credit institutions and from the Federal

10 Agricultural Mortgage Corporation) shall be obligated

11 during the current fiscal year for administrative expenses

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

13 TITLE VII—GENERAL PROVISIONS

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

15 appropriations and authorizations made for the Depart16 ment of Agriculture for the fiscal year 1997 under this

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

18 specifically provided for, of not to exceed 667 passenger

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

20 and for the hire of such vehicles.

21 SEC. 702. Funds in this Act available to the Depart22 ment of Agriculture shall be available for uniforms or al23 lowances therefor as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5901–

24 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; Ω112æFood

4 Safety and Inspection Service, field automation and infor5 mation management project; funds appropriated for rental

6 payments; funds for the Native American institutions en7 dowment fund in the Cooperative State Research, Edu8 cation, and Extension Service, and funds for the competi9 tive research grants (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)), shall remain avail10 able 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 Ω113æ: Provided, That notwithstanding

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

4 or otherwise made available in this Act may be used to

5 transfer to the Treasury or to the Federal Financing Bank

6 any unobligated balance of the Rural Telephone Bank tele7 phone liquidating account which is in excess of current re8 quirements and such balance shall receive interest as set

9 forth for financial accounts in section 505(c) of the Federal

10 Credit 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 Ω114æSEC. 721. None of the funds appropriated or

24 otherwise 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. 721. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise

4 made available by this Act, or made available through the

5 commodity Credit Corporation, shall be used to enroll in

6 excess of 130,000 acres in the fiscal year 1997 wetlands re7 serve program, as authorized by section 3837 of title 16,

8 United States Code: Provided, That additional acreage may

9 be enrolled in the program to the extent that non-Federal

10 funds available to the Secretary are used to fully com11 pensate for the cost of additional enrollments: Provided fur12 ther, That the condition on enrollments provided in section

13 1237(b)(2)(B) of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended

14 (16 U.S.C. 3837(b)(2)(B)) shall be deemed met upon the

15 enrollment of 43,333 acres through the use of temporary

16 easements: Provided further That the Secretary shall not en17 roll acres in the wetlands reserve program through the use

18 of new permanent easements in fiscal year 1998 until the

19 Secretary has enrolled at least 31,667 acres in the program

20 through the use of temporary easements.

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

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

23 expenses of activities related to all advisory committees,

24 panels, commissions, and task forces of the Department

25 of Agriculture except for panels used to comply with nego-
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1 tiated rule makings Ω115æ and panels used to evaluate

2 competitively awarded grants.

3 SEC. 723. None of the funds appropriated or other4 wise made available by this Act shall be used to pay the

5 salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out an export

6 enhancement program if the aggregate amount of funds

7 and/or commodities under such program exceeds

8 $100,000,000.

9 Ω116æSEC. 724. None of the funds appropriated or

10 otherwise made available by this Act shall be used to pay

11 the salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a

12 farmland protection program in excess of $2,000,000 au13 thorized by section 388 of Public Law 104–127.

14 Ω117æSEC. 725. None of the funds appropriated or

15 otherwise made available by this Act shall be used to pay

16 the salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a

17 wildlife habitat incentives program authorized by section

18 387 of Public Law 104–127.

19 Ω118æSEC. 726. None of the funds appropriated or

20 otherwise made available by this Act shall be used to pay

21 the salaries and expenses of personnel who carry out a

22 conservation farm option program in excess of $2,000,000

23 authorized by section 335 of Public Law 104–127.

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

25 Act may be used to pay the salaries of employees of the
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1 Department of Agriculture who make payments pursuant

2 to a production flexibility contract entered into under sec3 tion 111 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re4 form Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–127; 7 U.S.C. 7211)

5 when it is made known to the Federal official having au6 thority to obligate or expend such funds that the land cov7 ered by that production flexibility contract is not being

8 Ω119æused for the production of an agricultural commod9 ity or is not devoted to a conserving use, unless it is also

10 made known to that Federal official that the lack of agri11 cultural production or the lack of a conserving use is a

12 consequence of drought, flood, or other natural disaster

13 used for an agricultural or related activity, including con14 serving use, as determined by the Secretary.

15 SEC. 728. None of the funds appropriated or other16 wise made available by this Act shall be used to extend

17 any existing or expiring contract in the Conservation Re18 serve Program authorized by 16 U.S.C. 3831–3845.

19 Ω120æSEC. 729. None of the funds made available

20 in this Act may be used to maintain the price of raw cane

21 sugar (as reported for an appropriate preceding month for

22 applicable sugar futures contracts of the Coffee, Sugar,

and Cocoa Exchange, New York) at more than 1171 23 ⁄2 per24 cent of the statutory loan rate under section 158 of the
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1 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (title

2 1 of Public Law 104–127).

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

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

5 of Public Law 104–127, the Federal Agriculture Improve6 ment and Reform Act.

7 Ω121æSEC. 731. (a) IN GENERAL.—Any owner on

8 the date of enactment of this Act of the right to market

9 a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that—

10 (1) contains a patented active agent;

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

12 Drug Administration for a period of more than 96

13 months as a new drug application; and

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

15 Federal Food and Drug Administration on January

16 31, 1991, shall be entitled, for the 2-year period be17 ginning on February 28, 1997, to exclude others

18 from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or im19 porting into the United States such active agent, in

20 accordance with section 154(a)(1) of title 35, United

21 States Code.

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

23 States Code shall apply to the infringement of the entitle24 ment provide under subsection (a).
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1 (c) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days after the

2 date of the enactment of this section, any owner granted

3 an entitlement under subsection (a) shall notify the Com4 missioner of Patents and Trademarks and the Secretary

5 for Health and Human Services of such entitlement. Not

6 later than 7 days after the receipt of such notice, the Com7 mission and the Secretary shall publish an appropriate no8 tice of the receipt of such notice.

9 SEC. 732. Ω122æFunds Hereafter, funds appropriated

10 to the Department of Agriculture may be used for inciden11 tal expenses such as transportation, uniforms, lodging,

12 and subsistence for volunteers serving under the authority

13 of 7 U.S.C. 2272, when such volunteers are engaged in

14 the work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and for

15 promotional items of nominal value relating to the U.S.

16 Department of Agriculture Volunteer Programs.

17 Ω123æSEC. 733. It is the sense of Congress that, not

18 later than the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary of Agriculture should—

20 (1) release a detailed plan for compensating

21 wheat farmers and handlers adversely affected by

22 the karnal bunt quarantine in Riverside and Impe23 rial Counties of California, which should include—

24 (A) an explanation of the factors to be

25 used to determine the compensation amount for
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1 wheat farmers and handlers, including how con2 tract and spot market prices will be handled;

3 and

4 (B) compensation for farmers who have

5 crops positive for karnal bunt and compensation

6 for farmers who have crops which are negative

7 for karnal bunt, but which cannot go to market

8 due to the lack of Department action on match9 ing restrictions on the negative wheat with the

10 latest risk assessments; and

11 (2) review the risk assessments developed by

12 the University of California at Riverside and submit

13 a report to Congress describing how these risk as14 sessments will impact the Department of Agriculture

15 policy on the quarantine area for the 1997 wheat

16 crop.

17 Ω124æSEC. 734. Not to exceed 10 percent of the

18 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this

19 Act for the Rural Housing Assistance Program, the Rural

20 Business-Cooperative Assistance Program, and the Rural

21 Utilities Assistance Program may be transferred between

22 these programs for authorized purposes.

23 Ω125æSEC. 735. None of the funds appropriated or

24 otherwise made available to the Department of Agriculture

25 by this Act may be used to detail or assign an individual
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1 from an agency or office funded in this Act to any other

2 agency or office for more than 60 days, unless the Secretary

3 provides notification to the House and Senate Committees

4 on Appropriations that an employee detail or assignment

5 in excess of 60 days is required.

6 Ω126æSEC. 736. Section 747(e) of the Federal Agri7 culture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 is amended

8 by inserting, ‘‘effective October 1, 1996’’ following ‘‘The Sec9 retary shall make grants’’ in Section 747(e)(2).

10 Ω127æSEC. 737. LABELING OF RAW POULTRY PROD11 UCTS.—

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

13 provision of law, none of the funds appropriated or

14 otherwise made available by this Act may be used to

15 implement or enforce the final rule related to the la16 beling of raw poultry products promulgated by the

17 Food Safety and Inspection Service on August 25,

18 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 44395), and the final rule shall

19 not be effective during fiscal year 1997.

20 (b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 90 days after

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Ag22 riculture shall issue a revised final rule related to the

23 labeling of raw poultry products that—

24 (1) maintains the standard that the term

25 ‘‘fresh’’ may be used only for raw poultry prod-
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1 ucts the internal core temperature of which has

2 not fallen below 26° Fahrenheit;

3 (2) deletes the requirement that poultry

4 products the internal core temperature of which

5 has ever been less than 26° Fahrenheit, but more

6 than 0° Fahrenheit, be labeled as ‘‘hard chilled’’

7 or ‘‘previously hard chilled’’, except that—

8 (A) the products shall be prohibited

9 under the rule from being labeled as ‘‘fresh’’

10 but shall not be required to bear any spe11 cific alternative labeling; and

12 (B) nothing in this section shall be in13 terpreted as modifying the requirements for

14 labeling of all poultry products the internal

15 core temperature of which has ever fallen to

16 0° Fahrenheit as ‘‘frozen’’;

17 (3) provides for a tolerance from the 26°

18 Fahrenheit standard established by the rule of—

19 (A) 1° Fahrenheit for poultry products

20 within an official processing establishment;

21 (B) 2° Fahrenheit for poultry products

22 in commerce;

23 (4) exempts from temperature testing wings,

24 tenders, hearts, livers, gizzards, necks, and prod-
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1 ucts that undergo special processing, such as

2 sliced poultry products; and

3 (5) in all other terms and conditions (in4 cluding the period of time permitted for imple5 mentation) is substantively identical to the rule

6 referred to in subsection (a).

7 (c) REVISED LABELING STANDARDS.—Not later

8 than 60 days after the issuance of a revised final rule

9 under subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture,

10 acting through the Administrator of the Food Safety

11 and Inspection Service, shall issue a compliance di12 rective for the enforcement of the revised labeling

13 standards established by the rule, including standards

14 for—

15 (1) temperature testing that are based on

16 measurements at the center of the deepest muscle;

17 and

18 (2) sampling methods that ensure that the

19 average of individual temperatures within poul20 try product lots of each specific product type

21 (such as whole birds, whole muscle leg products,

22 and whole muscle breast products) meet the

23 standards.

24 (d) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this sec25 tion or the application thereof to any person or cir-
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1 cumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remain2 der of this section and of the application of the provi3 sion to any other persons or circumstances shall not

4 be affected.

5 Ω128æSEC. 738. Section 7 of the Food Stamp Act of

6 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2016) is amended by adding at the end the

7 following:

8 ‘‘(j) ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFERS.—

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELECTRONIC BENEFIT

10 TRANSFER SYSTEM.—In this subsection, the term

11 ‘electronic benefit transfer system’ means a system

12 under which a governmental entity distributes bene13 fits pursuant to this Act by establishing an account

14 that may be accessed electronically by a recipient of

15 the benefits or payments.

16 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE LAW.—Disclosures, protections,

17 responsibilities, and remedies established by the Fed18 eral Reserve Board under section 904 of the Elec19 tronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1692b) shall not

20 apply to benefits under this Act delivered through any

21 electronic benefit transfer system.

22 ‘‘(3) REPLACEMENT OF BENEFITS.—Regulations

23 issued by the Secretary regarding the replacement of

24 benefits and liability for replacement of benefits under

25 an electronic benefit transfer system shall be similar
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1 to the regulations in effect for a paper-based food

2 stamp issuance system.’’.

3 Ω129æSEC. 739. (a) ELECTRONIC WAREHOUSE RE4 CEIPTS.—Section 17(c) of the United States Warehouse Act

5 (7 U.S.C. 259(c)) is amended—

6 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘cotton’’

7 and inserting ‘‘any agricultural product’’;

8 (2) by striking ‘‘the cotton’’ each place it appears

9 and inserting ‘‘the agricultural product’’; and

10 (3) in paragraph (2)—

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

12 cotton’’ and inserting ‘‘in the agricultural prod13 uct’’; and

14 (B) in the last sentence of subparagraph

15 (B)—

16 (i) by striking ‘‘electronic cotton’’ and

17 inserting ‘‘electronic’’; and

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘cotton stored in a cot19 ton warehouse’’ and inserting ‘‘any agricul20 tural product stored in a warehouse’’.

21 (b) WRITTEN RECEIPTS.—Section 18(c) of the United

22 States Warehouse Act (7 U.S.C. 260(c)) is amended by

23 striking ‘‘consecutive’’.

24 Ω130æSEC. 740. Hereafter, notwithstanding any other

25 provision of law, any domestic fish or fish product produced
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1 in compliance with food safety standards or procedures ac2 cepted by the Food and Drug Administration as satisfying

3 the requirements of the ‘‘Procedures for the Safe and Sani4 tary Processing and Importing of Fish and Fish Products’’

5 (published by the Food and Drug Administration as a final

6 regulation in the Federal Register of December 18, 1995),

7 shall be deemed to have met any inspection requirements

8 of the Department of Agriculture or other Federal agency

9 for any Federal commodity purchase program, including

10 the program authorized under section 32 of the Act of Au11 gust 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c) except that the Department

12 of Agriculture or other Federal agency may utilize lot in13 spection to establish a reasonable degree of certainty that

14 fish or fish products purchased under a Federal commodity

15 purchase program, including the program authorized under

16 section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c),

17 meet Federal product specifications.

18 Ω131æSEC. 741. (a) EXTENSION OF MULTIFAMILY

19 RURAL HOUSING LOAN PROGRAM.—

20 (1) AUTHORITY TO MAKE LOANS.—Section

21 515(b)(4) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.

22 1485(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘September 30,

23 1996’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 1997’’.

24 (2) SET-ASIDE FOR NONPROFIT ENTITIES.—The

25 first sentence of section 515(w)(1) of the Housing Act
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1 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485(w)(1)) is amended by strik2 ing ‘‘fiscal year 1996’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year

3 1997’’.

4 (b) EXTENSION OF HOUSING IN UNDERSERVED AREAS

5 PROGRAM.—The first sentence of section 509(f)(4)(A) of the

6 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1479(f)(4)(A)) is amended

7 by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1996’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year

8 1997’’.

9 (c) REFORMS FOR MULTIFAMILY RURAL HOUSING

10 LOAN PROGRAM.—

11 (1) LIMITATION ON PROJECT TRANSFERS.—Sec12 tion 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485)

13 is amended by inserting after subsection (g) the fol14 lowing new subsection:

15 ‘‘(h) PROJECT TRANSFERS.—After the date of the en16 actment of the Act entitled ‘An Act making appropriations

17 for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Ad18 ministration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal

19 year ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes’,

20 the ownership or control of a project for which a loan is

21 made or insured under this section may be transferred only

22 if the Secretary determines that such transfer would further

23 the provision of housing and related facilities for low-in24 come families or persons and would be in the best interests

25 of residents and the Federal Government.’’.
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1 (2) EQUITY LOANS.—Section 515(t) of the Hous2 ing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485(t)) is amended—

3 (A) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5); and

4 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (6)

5 through (8) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re6 spectively.

7 (3) EQUITY TAKEOUT LOANS TO EXTEND LOW-IN8 COME USE.—

9 (A) AUTHORITY AND LIMITATION.—Section

10 502(c)(4)(B)(iv) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42

11 U.S.C. 1472(c)(4)(B)(iv)) is amended by insert12 ing before the period at the end the following: ‘‘or

13 under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 514(j),

14 except that an equity loan referred to in this

15 clause may not be made available after the date

16 of the enactment of the Act entitled ‘An Act mak17 ing appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Devel18 opment, Food and Drug Administration, and

19 Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year

20 ending September 30, 1997, and for other pur21 poses’, unless the Secretary determines that the

22 other incentives available under this subpara23 graph are not adequate to provide a fair return

24 on the investment of the borrower, to prevent

25 prepayment of the loan insured under section
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1 514 or 515, or to prevent the displacement of

2 tenants of the housing for which the loan was

3 made’’.

4 (B) APPROVAL OF ASSISTANCE.—Section

5 502(c)(4)(C) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42

6 U.S.C. 1472(c)(4)(C)) is amended by striking

7 ‘‘(C)’’ and all that follows through ‘‘pro

8 vided—’’ and inserting the following:

9 ‘‘(C) APPROVAL OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may

10 approve assistance under subparagraph (B) for assisted

11 housing only if the restrictive period has expired for any

12 loan for the housing made or insured under section 514 or

13 515 pursuant to a contract entered into after December 21,

14 1979, but before the date of the enactment of the Department

15 of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989,

16 and the Secretary determines that the combination of assist17 ance provided—’’.

18 (C) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section

19 515(c)(1) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.

20 1485(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘December

21 21, 1979’’ and inserting ‘‘December 15, 1989’’.

22 (d) EQUITY SKIMMING PENALTIES.—

23 (1) INSURANCE OF LOANS FOR THE PROVISION OF

24 HOUSING AND RELATED FACILITIES FOR DOMESTIC FARM

25 LABOR.—Section 514 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.
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1 1484) is amended by adding at the end the following new

2 subsection:

3 ‘‘(j) EQUITY SKIMMING PENALTY.—Whoever, as an

4 owner, agent, or manager, or who is otherwise in custody,

5 control, or possession of property that is security for a loan

6 made or insured under this section willfully uses, or author7 izes the use, of any part of the rents, assets, proceeds, in8 come, or other funds derived from such property, for any

9 purpose other than to meet actual or necessary expenses of

10 the property, or for any other purpose not authorized by

11 this title or the regulations adopted pursuant to this title,

12 shall be fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned not

13 more than 5 years, or both.’’.

14 (2) DIRECT AND INSURED LOANS TO PROVIDE

15 HOUSING AND RELATED FACILITIES FOR ELDERLY

16 PERSONS AND FAMILIES IN RURAL AREAS.—Section

17 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485) is

18 amended by adding at the end the following new sub19 section:

20 ‘‘(aa) EQUITY SKIMMING PENALTY.—Whoever, as an

21 owner, agent, or manager, or who is otherwise in custody,

22 control, or possession of property that is security for a loan

23 made or insured under this section willfully uses, or author24 izes the use, of any part of the rents, assets, proceeds, in25 come, or other funds derived from such property, for any
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1 purpose other than to meet actual or necessary expenses of

2 the property, or for any other purpose not authorized by

3 this title or the regulations adopted pursuant to this title,

4 shall be fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned not

5 more than 5 years, or both.’’.

6 Ω132æSEC. 742. REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL

7 AQUACULTURE ACT OF 1980.—Section 10 of the National

8 Aquaculture Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 2809) is amended by

9 striking ‘‘1991, 1992, and 1993’’ each place it appears and

10 inserting ‘‘1991 through 1997’’.

11 Ω133æSEC. 743. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE VOL12 UNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec14 tion—

15 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means the Depart16 ment of Agriculture;

17 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee

18 (as defined by section 2105 of title 5, United

19 States Code) who is employed by the agency (or

20 an individual employed by a county committee

21 established under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Con22 servation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.

23 590h(b)(5))), is serving under an appointment

24 without time limitation, and has been currently
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1 employed for a continuous period of at least 3

2 years, but does not include—

3 (A) a reemployed annuitant under sub4 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of

5 title 5, United States Code, or another re6 tirement system for employees of the agency;

7 (B) an employee having a disability on

8 the basis of which such employee is or

9 would be eligible for disability retirement

10 under the applicable retirement system re11 ferred to in subparagraph (A);

12 (C) an employee who is in receipt of a

13 specific notice of involuntary separation for

14 misconduct or unacceptable performance;

15 (D) an employee who, upon completing

16 an additional period of service as referred

17 to in section 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Federal

18 Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994 (5

19 U.S.C. 5597 note), would qualify for a vol20 untary separation incentive payment under

21 section 3 of such Act;

22 (E) an employee who has previously

23 received any voluntary separation incentive

24 payment by the Federal Government under
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1 this section or any other authority and has

2 not repaid such payment;

3 (F) an employee covered by statutory

4 reemployment rights who is on transfer to

5 another organization; or

6 (G) any employee who, during the

7 twenty four month period preceding the

8 date of separation, has received a recruit9 ment or relocation bonus under section 5753

10 of title 5, United States Code, or who, with11 in the twelve month period preceding the

12 date of separation, received a retention al13 lowance under section 5754 of title 5, Unit14 ed States Code.

15 (b) AGENCY STRATEGIC PLAN.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the agency,

17 prior to obligating any resources for voluntary

18 separation incentive payments, shall submit to

19 the House and Senate Committees on Appropria20 tions and the Committee on Governmental Af21 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Gov22 ernment Reform and Oversight of the House of

23 Representatives a strategic plan outlining the in24 tended use of such incentive payments and a

25 proposed organizational chart for the agency
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1 once such incentive payments have been com2 pleted.

3 (2) CONTENTS.—The agency’s plan shall in4 clude—

5 (A) the positions and functions to be

6 reduced or eliminated, identified by organi7 zational unit, geographic location, occupa8 tional category and grade level;

9 (B) the number and amounts of vol10 untary separation incentive payments to be

11 offered; and

12 (C) a description of how the agency

13 will operate without the eliminated posi14 tions and functions.

15 (c) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE VOLUNTARY SEPARA16 TION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A voluntary separation

18 incentive payment under this section may be

19 paid by an agency to any employee only to the

20 extent necessary to eliminate the positions and

21 functions identified by the strategic plan.

22 (2) AMOUNT AND TREATMENT OF PAY23 MENTS.—A voluntary separation incentive pay24 ment—
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1 (A) shall be paid in a lump sum after

2 the employee’s separation;

3 (B) shall be paid from appropriations

4 or funds available for the payment of the

5 basic pay of the employees;

6 (C) shall be equal to the lesser of—

7 (i) an amount equal to the

8 amount the employee would be entitled

9 to receive under section 5595(c) of title

10 5, United States Code; or

11 (ii) an amount determined by the

12 agency head not to exceed $25,000 in

13 fiscal year 1997, $20,000 in fiscal year

14 1998, $15,000 in fiscal year 1999, or

15 $10,000 in fiscal year 2000;

16 (D) shall not be a basis for payment,

17 and shall not be included in the computa18 tion, of any other type of Government bene19 fit; and

20 (E) shall not be taken into account in

21 determining the amount of any severance

22 pay to which the employee may be entitled

23 under section 5595 of title 5, United States

24 Code, based on any other separation.
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1 (3) LIMITATION.—No amount shall be pay2 able under this section based on any separation

3 occurring before the date of the enactment of this

4 Act, or after September 30, 2000.

5 (d) ADDITIONAL AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE

6 RETIREMENT FUND.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other

8 payments which it is required to make under

9 subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United

10 States Code, the agency shall remit to the Office

11 of Personnel Management for deposit in the

12 Treasury of the United States to the credit of the

13 Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund

14 an amount equal to 15 percent of the final basic

15 pay of each employee of the agency who is cov16 ered under subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap17 ter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to whom a

18 voluntary separation incentive has been paid

19 under this section.

20 (2) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of para21 graph (1), the term ‘‘final basic pay’’, with re22 spect to an employee, means the total amount of

23 basic pay which would be payable for a year of

24 service by such employee, computed using the

25 employee’s final rate of basic pay, and, if last
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1 serving on other than a full-time basis, with ap2 propriate adjustment therefor.

3 (e) EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT WITH

4 THE GOVERNMENT.—An individual who has received

5 a voluntary separation incentive payment under this

6 section and accepts any employment for compensation

7 with the Government of the United States, or who

8 works for any agency of the United States Govern9 ment through a personal services contract, within 5

10 years after the date of the separation on which the

11 payment is based shall be required to pay, prior to

12 the individual’s first day of employment, the entire

13 amount of the incentive payment to the agency that

14 paid the incentive payment.

15 (f) REDUCTION OF AGENCY EMPLOYMENT LEV16 ELS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The total number of

18 funded employee positions in the agency shall be

19 reduced by one position for each vacancy created

20 by the separation of any employee who has re21 ceived, or is due to receive, a voluntary separa22 tion incentive payment under this section. For

23 the purposes of this subsection, positions shall be

24 counted on a full-time-equivalent basis.
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1 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The President, through

2 the Office of Management and Budget, shall

3 monitor the agency and take any action nec4 essary to ensure that the requirements of this

5 subsection are met.

6 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take ef7 fect October 1, 1996.

8 Ω134æSEC. 744. Section 101(b) of the Agriculture and

9 Food Act of 1981 (Public Law 97–98; 7 U.S.C. 608c note)

10 is amended by striking ‘‘1996’’ and inserting ‘‘2002’’.

11 Ω135æSEC. 745. REVIEW AND REPORT ON H–2A NON12 IMMIGRANT WORKERS PROGRAM.—

13 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense

14 of the Congress that the enactment of this Act may

15 impact the future availability of an adequate work

16 force for the producers of our Nation’s labor intensive

17 agricultural commodities and livestock.

18 (b) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General shall re19 view the effectiveness of the H–2A nonimmigrant

20 worker program to ensure that the program provides

21 a workable safety valve in the event of future short22 ages of domestic workers after the enactment of this

23 Act. Among other things, the Comptroller General

24 shall review the program to determine—
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1 (1) that the program ensures that an ade2 quate supply of qualified United States workers

3 is available at the time and place needed for em4 ployers seeking such workers after the date of en5 actment of this Act;

6 (2) that the program ensures that there is

7 timely approval of applications for temporary

8 foreign workers under the H–2A nonimmigrant

9 worker program in the event of shortages of

10 United States workers after the date of enact11 ment of this Act;

12 (3) that the program ensures that imple13 mentation of the H–2A nonimmigrant worker

14 program is not displacing United States agricul15 tural workers or diminishing the terms and con16 ditions of employment of United States agricul17 tural workers; and

18 (4) if and to what extent the H–2A non19 immigrant worker program is contributing to

20 the problem of illegal immigration.

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 1996,

22 or three months after the date of enactment of this

23 Act, whichever is sooner, the Comptroller General

24 shall submit a report to Congress setting forth the

25 findings of the review conducted under subsection (b).
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1 (d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

2 (1) the term ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means

3 the Comptroller General of the United States;

4 and

5 (2) the term ‘‘H–2A nonimmigrant worker

6 program’’ means the program for the admission

7 of nonimmigrant aliens described in section

8 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(A) of the Immigration and

9 Nationality Act.

10 Ω136æSEC. 746. NORTHERN FOREST STEWARD11 SHIP.—

12 (a) FINDINGS.—With respect to the Northern

13 Forest in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, New

14 York, and Vermont, Congress finds that—

15 (1) the current land ownership and man16 agement patterns have served the people and for17 ests of the region well; public policies relating to

18 the Northern Forest should seek to reinforce rath19 er than replace the patterns of ownership and

20 use that have characterized lands in the Northern

21 Forest for decades;

22 (2) people have a right to participate in de23 cisions that affect them;

24 (3) the rights of private property owners

25 must be respected;
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1 (4) natural systems must be sustained over

2 the long term, including air, soil, water, and the

3 diversity of plant and animal species;

4 (5) the history and culture of the Northern

5 Forest and the connections between people and

6 the land must be respected;

7 (6) States should work in partnership with

8 local governments and the Federal Government;

9 (7) differences among the 4 Northern Forest

10 States must be recognized;

11 (8) people must appreciate that the North12 ern Forest has values that are important beyond

13 the boundaries of the Northern Forest;

14 (9) because public funds are scarce, the

15 greatest public benefit must be secured for any

16 additional investment;

17 (10) proposals must be judged by their long18 term benefits, looking at least 50 years into the

19 future;

20 (11) programs and regulations in existence

21 on the date of enactment of this Act should be

22 continually evaluated, built upon, and improved

23 before new ones are created;

24 (12) the actions described in this section are

25 most appropriately directed by the States, with
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1 assistance from the Federal Government, as re2 quested by the States;

3 (13) certain Federal tax policies work

4 against the long-term ownership, management,

5 and conservation of forest land in the Northern

6 Forest region, and Congress and the President

7 should enact additional legislation to address

8 those tax policies as soon as possible; and

9 (14) this section effectuates certain rec10 ommendations of the Northern Forest Lands

11 Council that were developed with broad public

12 input and the involvement of Federal, State, and

13 local governments.

14 (b) PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri16 culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest

17 Service, is authorized, at the request of the State

18 of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, or Ver19 mont, to provide technical assistance for a State20 based initiative directed by the State, to define

21 the appropriate benchmarks of sustainable forest

22 management that address the principles of sus23 tainability, as recommended by the Northern

24 Forest Lands Council.
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1 (2) PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY.—It is

2 the sense of Congress that for the purposes of

3 paragraph (1), principles of sustainability

4 should include—

5 (A) maintenance of soil productivity;

6 (B) conservation of water quality, wet7 lands, and riparian zones;

8 (C) maintenance or creation of a

9 healthy balance of forest age classes;

10 (D) continuous flow of timber, pulp11 wood, and other forest products;

12 (E) improvement of the overall quality

13 of the timber resource as a foundation for

14 more value-added opportunities;

15 (F) addressing scenic quality by limit16 ing adverse aesthetic impacts of forest har17 vesting, particularly in high-elevation areas

18 and vistas;

19 (G) conservation and enhancement of

20 habitats that support a full range of native

21 flora and fauna;

22 (H) protection of unique or fragile nat23 ural areas; and

24 (I) continuation of opportunities for

25 traditional recreation.
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1 (c) NORTHERN FOREST RESEARCH COOPERA2 TIVE.—The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through

3 the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station and the

4 Chief of the Forest Service, is authorized, at the re5 quest of the State of Maine, New Hampshire, New

6 York, or Vermont, to cooperate with the State, the

7 land grant universities of the State, natural resource

8 and forestry schools, other Federal agencies, and other

9 interested parties in coordinating ecological and eco10 nomic research, including—

11 (1) research at those universities on eco12 system health, forest management, product devel13 opment, economics, and related fields;

14 (2) development of specific forest manage15 ment guidelines to achieve principles of sustain16 ability described in subsection (b) as rec17 ommended by the Northern Forest Lands Coun18 cil;

19 (3) technology transfer to the wood products

20 industry on efficient processing, pollution pre21 vention, and energy conservation;

22 (4) dissemination of existing and new infor23 mation to landowners, public and private re24 source managers, State forest citizen advisory

25 committees, and the general public through pro-
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1 fessional associations, publications, and other in2 formation clearinghouse activities; and

3 (5) analysis of strategies for the protection

4 of areas of outstanding ecological significance,

5 high biodiversity, and the provision of important

6 recreational opportunities, including strategies

7 for areas identified through State land acquisi8 tion planning processes.

9 (d) INTERSTATE COORDINATION STRATEGY.—At

10 the request of the States of Maine, New Hampshire,

11 New York, and Vermont, the Chief of the Forest Serv12 ice is authorized to make a representative of the State

13 and Private Forest Program available to meet with

14 representatives of the States to coordinate the imple15 mentation of Federal and State policy recommenda16 tions issued by the Northern Forest Lands Council

17 and other policies agreed to by the States.

18 (e) LAND CONSERVATION.—.

19 (1) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary

20 of Agriculture (acting through the Chief of the

21 Forest Service) and the Secretary of the Interior

22 (acting through the Director of the National

23 Park Service and Director of the United States

24 Fish and Wildlife Service) at the request of the

25 State of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, or
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1 New York, is authorized to provide technical and

2 financial assistance for a State-managed public

3 land acquisition planning process and land ac4 quisition initiatives directed by the State.

5 (2) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—A goal-ori6 ented planning process for a State described in

7 paragraph (1) to establish a land conservation

8 program shall include—

9 (A) identification of, and setting of

10 priorities for the acquisition of, fee or less11 than-fee interests in exceptional and impor12 tant lands, in accordance with criteria that

13 include—

14 (i) places offering outstanding rec15 reational opportunities, including loca16 tions for hunting, fishing, trapping,

17 hiking, camping, and other forms of

18 back-country recreation;

19 (ii) recreational access to river

20 and lake shorelines;

21 (iii) land supporting vital ecologi22 cal functions and values;

23 (iv) habitats for rare, threatened,

24 or endangered natural communities,

25 plants, and wildlife;
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1 (v) areas of outstanding scenic

2 value and significant geological fea3 tures; and

4 (vi) working private forest lands

5 that are of such significance or so

6 threatened by conversion that conserva7 tion easements should be purchased;

8 (B) acquisition of land and interests

9 in land only from willing sellers;

10 (C) involvement of local governments

11 and landowners in the planning process in

12 a meaningful way that acknowledges their

13 concerns about public land acquisition;

14 (D) recognition that zoning, while an

15 important land use mechanism, is not an

16 appropriate substitution for acquisition;

17 (E) assurances that unilateral eminent

18 domain will only be used with the consent

19 of the landowner to clear title and establish

20 purchase prices;

21 (F) efficient use of public funds by

22 purchasing only the rights necessary to best

23 identify and protect exceptional values;
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1 (G) consideration of the potential im2 pacts and benefits of land and easement ac3 quisition on local and regional economies;

4 (H) consideration of the necessity of

5 including costs of future public land man6 agement in the assessment of overall costs of

7 acquisition;

8 (I) minimization of adverse tax con9 sequences to municipalities by making

10 funds available to continue to pay property

11 taxes based at least on current use valu12 ation of parcels acquired, payments in lieu

13 of taxes, user fee revenues, or other benefits,

14 where appropriate;

15 (J) identification of the potential for

16 exchanging public land for privately held

17 land of greater public value; and

18 (K) assurances that any land or inter19 ests inland that are acquired are used and

20 managed for their intended purposes.

21 (3) WILLING SELLER.—No Federal funds

22 made available to carry out this section may be

23 expended for acquisition of private or public

24 property unless the owner of the property will25 ingly offers the property for sale.
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1 (4) LAND ACQUISITION.—

2 (A) FUNDING.—After completion of the

3 planning process under paragraph (2), a

4 Federal and State cooperative land acquisi5 tion project under this section may be car6 ried out with funding provided exclusively

7 by the Federal Government or with funding

8 provided by both the Federal Government

9 and a State government.

10 (B) OBJECTIVES.—A cooperative land

11 acquisition project funded under this section

12 shall promote State land conservation objec13 tives that correspond with Federal goals

14 and the recommendations of the Northern

15 Forest Lands Council.

16 (5) COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAM.—The Sec17 retary of the Interior shall conduct activities

18 under this subsection—

19 (A) as a complement to the State Com20 prehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan for

21 each Northern Forest State in existence on

22 the date of enactment of this section; and

23 (B) with a landscape perspective.

24 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are author2 ized to be appropriated, out of any funds

3 made available for State purposes under

4 section 6 of the Land and Water Conserva5 tion Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–8),

6 such sums as are necessary to carry out this

7 subsection.

8 (B) EFFECT ON APPORTIONMENT.—Ap9 portionment among the States under section

10 6(b) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–8(b)) shall

11 be from funds not appropriated under sub12 paragraph (A).

13 (f) LANDOWNER LIABILITY EXEMPTION.—

14 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

15 (A) many landowners keep their land

16 open and available for responsible recre17 ation; and

18 (B) private lands help provide impor19 tant forest-based recreation opportunities

20 for the public in the Northern Forest region.

21 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

22 Congress that States and other interested persons

23 should pursue initiatives that—
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1 (A) strengthen relief-from-liability laws

2 to protect landowners that allow responsible

3 public recreational use of their lands;

4 (B) update relief-from-liability laws to

5 establish hold-harmless mechanisms for

6 landowners that open their land to public

7 use, including provision for payment by the

8 State of the costs of a landowner’s defense

9 against personal injury suits and of the

10 costs of repairing property damage and re11 moving litter;

12 (C) private additional reductions in

13 property taxes for landowners that allow re14 sponsible public recreational use of their

15 lands;

16 (D) provide for purchases by the State

17 of land in fee and of temporary and perma18 nent recreation easements and leases, in19 cluding rights of access;

20 (E) foster State and private coopera21 tive recreation agreements;

22 (F) create recreation coordinator and

23 landowner liaison and remote ranger posi24 tions in State government to assist in the

25 management of public use of private lands
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1 and provide recreation opportunities and

2 other similar services;

3 (G) strengthen enforcement of trespass,

4 antilittering, and antidumping laws;

5 (H) improve recreation user education

6 programs; and

7 (I) improve capacity in State park

8 and recreation agencies to measure rec9 reational use (including types, amounts, lo10 cations, and concentrations of use) and

11 identify and address trends in use before the

12 trends create problems.

13 (g) NONGAME CONSERVATION.—

14 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

15 (A) private landowners often manage

16 their lands in ways that produce a variety

17 of public benefits, including wildlife habitat;

18 and

19 (B) there should be more incentives for

20 private landowners to exceed current forest

21 management standards and responsibilities

22 under Federal laws.

23 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

24 Congress that Congress should make it a priority

25 to consider legislation that creates a funding
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1 mechanism to support the conservation of

2 nongame fish and wildlife and associated recre3 ation activities on public and private lands and

4 does not replace, substitute, or duplicate existing

5 laws that support game fish and wildlife.

6 (h) WATER QUALITY.—The Administrator of the

7 Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation

8 with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary

9 of the Interior, is authorized, at the request of the

10 State of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, or Ver11 mont, to provide technical and financial assistance to

12 assess water quality trends within the Northern For13 est region.

14 (i) RURAL COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri16 culture is authorized, at the request of the State

17 of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, or Ver18 mont, to provide technical and financial assist19 ance to the State, working in partnership with

20 the forest products industry, local communities,

21 and other interests to develop technical and mar22 keting capacity within rural communities for re23 alizing value-added opportunities in the forest

24 products sector.
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1 (2) RURAL COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE PRO2 GRAM.—Sufficient funds from the rural commu3 nity assistance program under paragraph (1)

4 shall be directed to support State-based public

5 and private initiatives to—

6 (A) strengthen partnerships between

7 the public and private sectors and enhance

8 the viability of rural communities;

9 (B) develop technical capacity in the

10 utilization and marketing of value-added

11 forest products; and

12 (C) develop extension capacity in de13 livering utilization and marketing informa14 tion to forest-based businesses.

15 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

17 are necessary to carry out subsections (b), (c), (d), (e),

18 (h), and (i) of this section and section 2371 of the

19 Rural Economic Development Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

20 6601) in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, New

21 York, and Vermont.

22 (k) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall be in ef23 fect during fiscal year 1997 and each fiscal year

24 thereafter.
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1 Ω137æSEC. 747. BARLEY PAYMENTS.—Section 113 of

2 Public Law 104–127 is amended by inserting a new sub3 section (g) that reads:

4 ‘‘(g) ADJUSTMENT IN BARLEY ALLOCATION.—In addi5 tion to the adjustments required under subsection (c), the

6 amount allocated under subsection (b) for barley contract

7 payments shall be increased by $20,000,000 in fiscal year

8 1998, and shall be reduced by $5,000,000 in each of fiscal

9 years 1999–2002.’’.

10 Ω138æSEC. 748. INTERIM MORATORIUM ON BYPASS

11 FLOWS.—

12 (a) MORATORIUM.—Section 389(a) of Public

13 Law 104–127 is amended by striking ‘‘an 18-month’’

14 after the word ‘‘be’’ and inserting ‘‘a 20-month’’.

15 (b) REPORT.—Section 389(d)(4) of Public Law

16 104–127 is amended by striking ‘‘1 year’’ after the

17 word ‘‘than’’ and inserting ‘‘14 months’’.

18 (c) EXTENSION FOR DELAY.—Section 389 of

19 public law 104–127 is amended by adding at the end

20 the following new subsection—

21 ‘‘(e) EXTENSION FOR DELAY.—There shall be a

22 day-for-day extension to the 20-month moratorium re23 quired by subsection (a) and a day-for-day extension

24 to the report required by subsection (d)(4)—
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1 ‘‘(1) for every day of delay in implementing

2 or establishing the Water Rights Task Force

3 caused by a failure to nominate Task Force

4 members by the Administration or by the Con5 gress; or

6 ‘‘(2) for every day of delay caused by a fail7 ure by the Secretary of Agriculture to identify

8 adequate resources as determined by the Sec9 retary of Agriculture to carry out the purposes

10 of the task force.’’.

11 Ω139æSEC. 749. EASEMENTS ON INVENTORIED PROP12 ERTY.—None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made

13 available by this Act may be used by the Secretary of Agri14 culture to establish a wetland conservation easement under

15 section 335(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Devel16 opment Act (7 U.S.C. 1985(g)) on an inventoried property

17 that was used for farming (including haying and grazing)

18 at any time during the period beginning on the date 5 years

19 before the property entered the inventory of the Secretary

20 and ending on the date the property entered the inventory

21 of the Secretary, to the extent that land would otherwise

22 be eligible for an easement haying and grazing must be

23 done, according to a plan approved by the Natural Re24 sources Conservation Service.
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1 Ω140æSEC. 750. GRANTS FOR PRECISION AGRICUL2 TURAL TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 793(c)(2)(A) of the Fed3 eral Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7

4 U.S.C. 2204f(c)(2)(A)) is amended—

5 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;

6 (2) in clause (viii), by striking the period at the

7 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

8 (3) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(ix) develop and apply precision agri10 cultural technologies.’’.

11 Ω141æSEC. 751. SENSE OF SENATE ON CANADIAN

12 WHEAT AND BARLEY EXPORTS.—It is the sense of the Sen13 ate that—

14 (1) the United States Trade Representative

15 should continue to carefully monitor the export of

16 wheat and barley from western Canada to the United

17 States;

18 (2) the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding

19 with Canada clearly states that the United States—

20 (A) will not accept market disruptions from

21 imports of Canadian grains; and

22 (B) will use its trade laws if it appears

23 likely that market disruptions will occur;

24 (3) the United States Trade Representative

25 should monitor any policy changes by the Canadian
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1 Government, acting through the Canadian Wheat

2 Board, that have the potential for increasing the ex3 ports of Canadian grains to the United States;

4 (4) family farmers of the United States should

5 not be subjected to increases in the 1-way channel of

6 Canadian grain exports to the United States that un7 fairly disrupt the grain transportation systems and

8 depress the prices received by farmers; and

9 (5) the United States Trade Representative

10 should be prepared to support the use of antidumping

11 laws, countervailing duty laws, section 301 of the

12 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411), and other Unit13 ed States laws consistent with the international obli14 gations of the United States, if—

15 (A) the Canadian Government implements

16 the changes described in paragraph (3) without

17 a resolution of the underlying cross-border grain

18 trading issues between the United States and

19 Canada; and

20 (B) the changes lead to unfair and injuri21 ous exports of Canadian grain to the United

22 States.

23 Ω142æSEC. 752. No funds appropriated or otherwise

24 made available to the Secretary of Agriculture may be used

25 to administer section 118(b)(2)(A) of the Agricultural Mar-
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1 keting Transition Act unless the planting of a fruit or vege2 table on contract acreage, if planted subsequent to the fail3 ure of a contract commodity on the same acreage within

4 the same crop year is permitted on contract acreage: Pro5 vided, That this provision shall take effect upon the date

6 of enactment of this Act into law.

7 Ω143æSEC. 753. PLANTING OF WILD RICE ON CON8 TRACT ACREAGE.—None of the funds appropriated in this

9 Act may be used to administer the provision of contract

10 payments to a producer under the Agricultural Market

11 Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) for contract acreage

12 on which wild rice is planted unless the contract payment

13 is reduced by an acre for each contract acre planted to wild

14 rice.

15 Ω144æTITLE VIII—SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIA16 TIONS AND RESCISSION FOR THE FISCAL

17 YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1996

18 Ω145æDEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

19 FARM SERVICE AGENCY

20 AGRICULTURAL CREDIT INSURANCE FUND PROGRAM

21 ACCOUNT

22 For an additional amount for the Agricultural Credit

23 Insurance Fund Program Account for the additional cost

24 of emergency insured loans authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1928–
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1 1929, including the cost of modifying such loans as defined

2 in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, re3 sulting from droughts in the Western United States, Hurri4 cane Bertha, and other natural disasters, to remain avail5 able until expended, $25,000,000: Provided, That these

6 funds are available to subsidize additional gross obligations

7 for the principal amount of direct loans of $85,208,000:

8 Provided further, That the entire amount is designated by

9 Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section

10 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency

11 Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended: Provided further,

12 That the amount shall be available to the extent that the

13 President notifies Congress of his designation of any or all

14 of these amounts as an emergency requirement under sec15 tion 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emer16 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

17 Ω146æDEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

18 BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND FIREARMS

19 SALARIES AND EXPENSES

20 For an additional amount for ‘‘Salaries and Ex21 penses’’, to be used in connection with investigations of

22 arson or violence against religious institutions,

23 $12,011,000, to remain available until expended.
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1 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

2 INFORMATION SYSTEMS

3 (RESCISSION)

4 Of the funds made available under this heading in

5 Public Law 104–52, $16,500,000 are rescinded.

6 Ω147æThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agriculture,

7 Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and

8 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 12, 1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.

Passed the Senate July 24, 1996.

Attest: KELLY D. JOHNSTON,

Secretary.