II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3855 

To provide emergency agricultural disaster assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 

Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. TALENT, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. JOHNSON, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. THUNE, Mrs. 

LINCOLN, and Mr. BURNS) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To provide emergency agricultural disaster assistance, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2006’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION LOSSES 


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Sec. 101. Crop disaster assistance. 

Sec. 102. Livestock assistance. 

Sec. 103. Flooded crop and grazing land. 

Sec. 104. Sugar beet disaster assistance. 

Sec. 105. Bovine tuberculosis herd indemnification. 

Sec. 106. Reduction in payments. 

TITLE II—SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION AND AGRICULTURAL 

ECONOMIC DISASTER ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 121. Replenishment of Section 32. 

Sec. 122. Supplemental economic loss payments. 

Sec. 123. Small business economic loss grant program. 

TITLE III—CONSERVATION 

Sec. 131. Emergency conservation program. 

Sec. 132. Emergency watershed protection program. 

TITLE IV—FARM SERVICE AGENCY 

Sec. 141. Funding for additional personnel. 

TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 151. Funding. 

Sec. 152. Regulations. 

TITLE VI—EMERGENCY DESIGNATION 

Sec. 161. Emergency designation. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.—The term ‘‘addi4 tional coverage’’ has the meaning given the term in 

5 section 502(b)(1) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act 

6 (7 U.S.C. 1502(b)(1)). 

7 (2) DISASTER COUNTY.—The term ‘‘disaster 

8 county’’ means— 

9 (A) a county included in the geographic 

10 area covered by a natural disaster declaration; 

11 and 


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1 (B) each county contiguous to a county de2 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

3 (3) HURRICANE-AFFECTED COUNTY.—The term 

4 ‘‘hurricane-affected county’’ means— 

5 (A) a county included in the geographic 

6 area covered by a natural disaster declaration 

7 related to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, 

8 Hurricane Wilma, or a related condition; and 

9 (B) each county contiguous to a county de10 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

11 (4) INSURABLE COMMODITY.—The term ‘‘insur12 able commodity’’ means an agricultural commodity 

13 (excluding livestock) for which the producers on a 

14 farm are eligible to obtain a policy or plan of insur15 ance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

16 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). 

17 (5) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’ in18 cludes— 

19 (A) cattle (including dairy cattle); 

20 (B) bison; 

21 (C) sheep; 

22 (D) swine; and 

23 (E) other livestock, as determined by the 

24 Secretary. 


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1 (6) NATURAL DISASTER DECLARATION.—The 

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

3 disaster declared by the Secretary during calendar 

4 year 2005 or 2006 under section 321(a) of the Con5 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 

6 U.S.C. 1961(a)). 

7 (7) NONINSURABLE COMMODITY.—The term 

8 ‘‘noninsurable commodity’’ means a crop for which 

9 the producers on a farm are eligible to obtain assist10 ance under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture 

11 Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 

12 7333). 

13 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

15 TITLE I—AGRICULTURAL 

16 PRODUCTION LOSSES 

17 SEC. 101. CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use such 

19 sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity Credit 

20 Corporation to make emergency financial assistance au21 thorized under this section available to producers on a 

22 farm that have incurred qualifying losses described in sub23 section (c). 

24 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the Secretary shall make assistance avail3 able under this section in the same manner as pro4 vided under section 815 of the Agriculture, Rural 

5 Development, Food and Drug Administration and 

6 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public 

7 Law 106–387; 114 Stat. 1549A–55), including 

8 using the same loss thresholds for quantity and eco9 nomic losses as were used in administering that sec10 tion, except that the payment rate shall be 50 per11 cent of the established price, instead of 65 percent. 

12 (2) NONINSURED PRODUCERS.—For producers 

13 on a farm that were eligible to acquire crop insur14 ance for the applicable production loss and failed to 

15 do so or failed to submit an application for the non16 insured assistance program for the loss, the Sec17 retary shall make assistance in accordance with 

18 paragraph (1), except that the payment rate shall be 

19 35 percent of the established price, instead of 50 

20 percent. 

21 (c) QUALIFYING LOSSES.—Assistance under this sec22 tion shall be made available to producers on farms, other 

23 than producers of sugar beets, that incurred qualifying 

24 quantity or quality losses for the 2005 or 2006 crop due 

25 to damaging weather or any related condition (including 


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1 losses due to crop diseases, insects, and delayed harvest), 

2 as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (d) QUALITY LOSSES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any payment 

5 received under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

6 use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Com7 modity Credit Corporation to make payments to pro8 ducers on a farm described in subsection (a) that in9 curred a quality loss for the 2005 or 2006 crop, or 

10 both, of a commodity in an amount equal to the 

11 product obtained by multiplying— 

12 (A) the payment quantity determined 

13 under paragraph (2); 

14 (B)(i) in the case of an insurable com15 modity, the coverage level elected by the insured 

16 under the policy or plan of insurance under the 

17 Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et 

18 seq.); or 

19 (ii) in the case of a noninsurable com20 modity, the applicable coverage level for the 

21 payment quantity determined under paragraph 

22 (2); by 

23 (C) 50 percent of the payment rate deter24 mined under paragraph (3). 


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1 (2) PAYMENT QUANTITY.—For the purpose of 

2 paragraph (1)(A), the payment quantity for quality 

3 losses for a crop of a commodity on a farm shall 

4 equal the lesser of— 

5 (A) the actual production of the crop af6 fected by a quality loss of the commodity on the 

7 farm; or 

8 (B)(i) in the case of an insurable com9 modity, the actual production history for the 

10 commodity by the producers on the farm under 

11 the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 

12 et seq.); or 

13 (ii) in the case of a noninsurable com14 modity, the established yield for the crop for 

15 the producers on the farm under section 196 of 

16 the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re17 form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333). 

18 (3) PAYMENT RATE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of 

20 paragraph (1)(B), the payment rate for quality 

21 losses for a crop of a commodity on a farm 

22 shall be equal to the difference between (as de23 termined by the applicable State committee of 

24 the Farm Service Agency)— 


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1 (i) the per unit market value that the 

2 units of the crop affected by the quality 

3 loss would have had if the crop had not 

4 suffered a quality loss; and 

5 (ii) the per unit market value of the 

6 units of the crop affected by the quality 

7 loss. 

8 (B) FACTORS.—In determining the pay9 ment rate for quality losses for a crop of a com10 modity on a farm, the applicable State com11 mittee of the Farm Service Agency shall take 

12 into account— 

13 (i) the average local market quality 

14 discounts that purchasers applied to the 

15 commodity during the first 2 months fol16 lowing the normal harvest period for the 

17 commodity; 

18 (ii) the loan rate and repayment rate 

19 established for the commodity under the 

20 marketing loan program established for the 

21 commodity under subtitle B of title I of 

22 the Farm Security and Rural Investment 

23 Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7931 et seq.); 


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1 (iii) the market value of the com2 modity if sold into a secondary market; 

3 and 

4 (iv) other factors determined appro5 priate by the committee. 

6 (4) ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—For producers on a 

8 farm to be eligible to obtain a payment for a 

9 quality loss for a crop under this subsection— 

10 (i) the amount obtained by multi11 plying the per unit loss determined under 

12 paragraph (1) by the number of units af13 fected by the quality loss shall be reduced 

14 by the amount of any indemnification re15 ceived by the producers on the farm for 

16 quality loss adjustment for the commodity 

17 under a policy or plan of insurance under 

18 the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 

19 1501 et seq.); and 

20 (ii) the remainder shall be at least 25 

21 percent of the value that all affected pro22 duction of the crop would have had if the 

23 crop had not suffered a quality loss. 

24 (B) INELIGIBILITY.—If the amount of a 

25 quality loss payment for a commodity for the 


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1 producers on a farm determined under this 

2 paragraph is equal to or less than zero, the pro3 ducers on the farm shall be ineligible for assist4 ance for the commodity under this subsection. 

5 (5) ELIGIBLE PRODUCTION.—The Secretary 

6 shall carry out this subsection in a fair and equitable 

7 manner for all eligible production, including the pro8 duction of fruits and vegetables, other specialty 

9 crops, and field crops. 

10 (e) TIMING.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

12 the Secretary shall make payments to producers on 

13 a farm for a crop under this section not later than 

14 60 days after the date the producers on the farm 

15 submit to the Secretary a completed application for 

16 the payments. 

17 (2) INTEREST.—If the Secretary does not make 

18 payments to the producers on a farm by the date de19 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall pay to 

20 the producers on a farm interest on the payments at 

21 a rate equal to the current (as of the sign-up dead22 line established by the Secretary) market yield on 

23 outstanding, marketable obligations of the United 

24 States with maturities of 30 years. 


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1 SEC. 102. LIVESTOCK ASSISTANCE. 

2 (a) LIVESTOCK COMPENSATION PROGRAM.— 

3 (1) USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION

4 FUNDS.—Effective beginning on the date of enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall use funds of 

6 the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out the 

7 2002 Livestock Compensation Program announced 

8 by the Secretary on October 10, 2002 (67 Fed. Reg. 

9 63070), to provide compensation for livestock losses 

10 during calendar years 2005 and 2006 for losses due 

11 to a disaster, as determined by the Secretary, except 

12 that the payment rate shall be 75 percent of the 

13 payment rate established for the 2002 Livestock 

14 Compensation Program. 

15 (2) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—In carrying out 

16 the program described in paragraph (1), the Sec17 retary shall provide assistance to any applicant for 

18 livestock losses during calendar year 2005 or 2006, 

19 or both, that— 

20 (A)(i) conducts a livestock operation that 

21 is located in a disaster county, including any 

22 applicant conducting a livestock operation with 

23 eligible livestock (within the meaning of the 

24 livestock assistance program under section 

25 101(b) of division B of Public Law 108–324 

26 (118 Stat. 1234)); or 


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1 (ii) produces an animal described in sec2 tion 10806(a)(1) of the Farm Security and 

3 Rural Investment Act of 2002 (21 U.S.C. 

4 321d(a)(1)); 

5 (B) demonstrates to the Secretary that the 

6 applicant suffered a material loss of pasture or 

7 hay production, or experienced substantially in8 creased feed costs, due to damaging weather or 

9 a related condition during the calendar year, as 

10 determined by the Secretary; and 

11 (C) meets all other eligibility requirements 

12 established by the Secretary for the program. 

13 (3) MITIGATION.—In determining the eligibility 

14 for or amount of payments for which a producer is 

15 eligible under the livestock compensation program, 

16 the Secretary shall not penalize a producer that 

17 takes actions (recognizing disaster conditions) that 

18 reduce the average number of livestock the producer 

19 owned for grazing during the production year for 

20 which assistance is being provided. 

21 (b) LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PAYMENTS.— 

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

23 sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity 

24 Credit Corporation to make livestock indemnity pay25 ments to producers on farms that have incurred liveVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:13 Sep 09, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855

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1 stock losses during calendar years 2005 and 2006 

2 for losses that occurred prior to the date of enact3 ment of this Act (including wildfire disaster losses in 

4 the State of Texas and other States) due to a dis5 aster, as determined by the Secretary, including 

6 losses due to hurricanes, floods, anthrax, and 

7 wildfires. 

8 (2) PAYMENT RATES.—Indemnity payments to 

9 a producer on a farm under paragraph (1) shall be 

10 made at a rate of not less than 30 percent of the 

11 market value of the applicable livestock on the day 

12 before the date of death of the livestock, as deter13 mined by the Secretary. 

14 (c) EWE LAMB REPLACEMENT AND RETENTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

16 $13,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor17 poration to make payments under the Ewe Lamb 

18 Replacement and Retention Payment Program 

19 under part 784 of title 7, Code of Federal Regula20 tions (or a successor regulation) for each qualifying 

21 ewe lamb retained or purchased during the period 

22 beginning on January 1, 2006, and ending on De23 cember 31, 2006. 

24 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER ASSISTANCE.—A 

25 producer that receives assistance under this subVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:13 Sep 09, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855

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1 section shall not be eligible to receive assistance 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 103. FLOODED CROP AND GRAZING LAND. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall compensate 

5 eligible owners of flooded crop and grazing land in— 

6 (1) the Devils Lake basin; and 

7 (2) the McHugh, Lake Laretta, and Rose Lake 

8 closed drainage areas of the State of North Dakota. 

9 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

11 compensation under this section, an owner shall own 

12 land described in subsection (a) that, during the 2 

13 crop years preceding receipt of compensation, was 

14 rendered incapable of use for the production of an 

15 agricultural commodity or for grazing purposes (in 

16 a manner consistent with the historical use of the 

17 land) as the result of flooding, as determined by the 

18 Secretary. 

19 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Land described in paragraph 

20 (1) shall include— 

21 (A) land that has been flooded; 

22 (B) land that has been rendered inacces23 sible due to flooding; and 

24 (C) a reasonable buffer strip adjoining the 

25 flooded land, as determined by the Secretary. 


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1 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may es2 tablish— 

3 (A) reasonable minimum acreage levels for 

4 individual parcels of land for which owners may 

5 receive compensation under this section; and 

6 (B) the location and area of adjoining 

7 flooded land for which owners may receive com8 pensation under this section. 

9 (c) SIGN-UP.—The Secretary shall establish a sign10 up program for eligible owners to apply for compensation 

11 from the Secretary under this section. 

12 (d) COMPENSATION PAYMENTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

14 and (3), the rate of an annual compensation pay15 ment under this section shall be equal to 90 percent 

16 of the average annual per acre rental payment rate 

17 (at the time of entry into the contract) for com18 parable crop or grazing land that has not been flood19 ed and remains in production in the county where 

20 the flooded land is located, as determined by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 (2) REDUCTION.—An annual compensation 

23 payment under this section shall be reduced by the 

24 amount of any conservation program rental pay25 ments or Federal agricultural commodity program 


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1 payments received by the owner for the land during 

2 any crop year for which compensation is received 

3 under this section. 

4 (3) EXCLUSION.—During any year in which an 

5 owner receives compensation for flooded land under 

6 this section, the owner shall not be eligible to par7 ticipate in or receive benefits for the flooded land 

8 under— 

9 (A) the Federal crop insurance program 

10 established under the Federal Crop Insurance 

11 Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.); 

12 (B) the noninsured crop assistance pro13 gram established under section 196 of the Fed14 eral Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act 

15 of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333); or 

16 (C) any Federal agricultural crop disaster 

17 assistance program. 

18 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY

19 PROGRAMS.—The Secretary, by regulation, shall provide 

20 for the preservation of cropland base, allotment history, 

21 and payment yields applicable to land described in sub22 section (a) that was rendered incapable of use for the pro23 duction of an agricultural commodity or for grazing pur24 poses as the result of flooding. 

25 (f) USE OF LAND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An owner that receives com2 pensation under this section for flooded land shall 

3 take such actions as are necessary to not degrade 

4 any wildlife habitat on the land that has naturally 

5 developed as a result of the flooding. 

6 (2) RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—To encourage 

7 owners that receive compensation for flooded land to 

8 allow public access to and use of the land for rec9 reational activities, as determined by the Secretary, 

10 the Secretary may— 

11 (A) offer an eligible owner additional com12 pensation; and 

13 (B) provide compensation for additional 

14 acreage under this section. 

15 (g) FUNDING.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

17 $6,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor18 poration to carry out this section. 

19 (2) PRO-RATED PAYMENTS.—In a case in which 

20 the amount made available under paragraph (1) for 

21 a fiscal year is insufficient to compensate all eligible 

22 owners under this section, the Secretary shall pro23 rate payments for that fiscal year on a per acre 

24 basis. 


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1 SEC. 104. SUGAR BEET DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 

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

3 $24,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corpora4 tion to provide assistance to sugar beet producers that suf5 fered production losses (including quality losses) for the 

6 2005 crop year. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall make pay8 ments under subsection (a) in the same manner as pay9 ments were made under section 208 of the Agricultural 

10 Assistance Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–7; 117 Stat. 

11 544), including using the same indemnity benefits as were 

12 used in carrying out that section. 

13 (c) HAWAII.—The Secretary shall use $6,000,000 of 

14 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to assist sug15 arcane growers in Hawaii by making a payment in that 

16 amount to an agricultural transportation cooperative in 

17 Hawaii, the members of which are eligible to obtain a loan 

18 under section 156(a) of the Federal Agriculture Improve19 ment and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7272(a)). 

20 SEC. 105. BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS HERD INDEMNIFICA21 TION. 

22 The Secretary shall use $2,000,000 of funds of the 

23 Commodity Credit Corporation to indemnify producers 

24 that suffered losses to herds of cattle due to bovine tuber25 culosis during calendar year 2005. 


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1 SEC. 106. REDUCTION IN PAYMENTS. 

2 The amount of any payment for which a producer is 

3 eligible under this title shall be reduced by any amount 

4 received by the producer for the same loss or any similar 

5 loss under— 

6 (1) the Department of Defense, Emergency 

7 Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes 

8 in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 

9 2006 (Public Law 109–148; 119 Stat. 2680); 

10 (2) an agricultural disaster assistance provision 

11 contained in the announcement of the Secretary on 

12 January 26, 2006, or August 29, 2006; 

13 (3) the Emergency Supplemental Appropria14 tions Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, 

15 and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public Law 109- 

16 234; 120 Stat. 418); or 

17 (4) the Livestock Assistance Grant Program 

18 announced by the Secretary on August 29, 2006. 

19 TITLE II—SUPPLEMENTAL NU20 TRITION AND AGRICULTURAL 

21 ECONOMIC DISASTER ASSIST22 ANCE 

23 SEC. 121. REPLENISHMENT OF SECTION 32. 

24 (a) DEFINITION OF SPECIALTY CROP.—In this sec25 tion: 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘specialty crop’’ 

2 means any agricultural crop. 

3 (2) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘specialty crop’’ 

4 does not include— 

5 (A) wheat; 

6 (B) feed grains; 

7 (C) oilseeds; 

8 (D) cotton; 

9 (E) rice; 

10 (F) peanuts; or 

11 (G) milk. 

12 (b) BASE STATE GRANTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

14 $25,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor15 poration to make grants to the several States to be 

16 used to support activities that promote agriculture. 

17 (2) AMOUNTS.—The amount of the grants shall 

18 be $500,000 to each of the several States. 

19 (c) GRANTS FOR VALUE OF PRODUCTION.—The Sec20 retary shall use $74,500,000 of funds of the Commodity 

21 Credit Corporation to make a grant to each of the several 

22 States in an amount equal to the product obtained by mul23 tiplying— 

24 (1) the share of the State of the total value of 

25 specialty crop and livestock of the United States for 


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1 the 2004 crop year, as determined by the Secretary; 

2 by 

3 (2) $74,500,000. 

4 (d) SPECIAL CROP AND LIVESTOCK PRIORITY.—As 

5 a condition on the receipt of a grant under this section, 

6 a State shall agree to give priority to the support of spe7 cialty crops and livestock in the use of the grant funds. 

8 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A State may use funds from 

9 a grant awarded under this section— 

10 (1) to supplement State food bank programs or 

11 other nutrition assistance programs; 

12 (2) to promote the purchase, sale, or consump13 tion of agricultural products; 

14 (3) to provide economic assistance to agricul15 tural producers, giving a priority to the support of 

16 specialty crops and livestock; or 

17 (4) for other purposes as determined by the 

18 Secretary. 

19 SEC. 122. SUPPLEMENTAL ECONOMIC LOSS PAYMENTS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Sec21 retary shall make a supplemental economic loss payment 

22 to— 

23 (1) any producers on a farm that received a di24 rect payment for crop year 2005 under title I of the 


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1 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 

2 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.); and 

3 (2) any dairy producer that was eligible to re4 ceive a payment during the 2005 calendar year 

5 under section 1502 of the Farm Security and Rural 

6 Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7982). 

7 (b) AMOUNT.— 

8 (1) COVERED COMMODITIES.—Subject to para9 graph (3), the amount of a supplemental economic 

10 loss payment made to the producers on a farm 

11 under subsection (a)(1) shall be equal to the product 

12 obtained by multiplying— 

13 (A) 30 percent of the direct payment rate 

14 in effect for the covered commodity of the pro15 ducers on the farm; 

16 (B) 85 percent of the base acres of the 

17 covered commodity of the producers on the 

18 farm; and 

19 (C) the payment yield for each covered 

20 commodity of the producers on the farm. 

21 (2) DAIRY PAYMENTS.— 

22 (A) DISTRIBUTION.—Supplemental eco23 nomic loss payments under subsection (a)(2) 

24 shall be distributed in a manner that is conVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:13 Sep 09, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3855.IS S3855

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1 sistent with section 1502 of the Farm and 

2 Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7982). 

3 (B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—Subject to para4 graph (3), the total amount available for sup5 plemental economic loss payments under sub6 section (a)(2) shall not exceed $147,000,000. 

7 (3) LIMITATIONS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), the Secretary shall ensure that no 

10 person receives supplemental economic loss pay11 ments under— 

12 (i) subsection (a)(1) in excess of the 

13 per person limitations applicable to a per14 son that receives payments described in 

15 subsection (a)(1); and 

16 (ii) subsection (a)(2) in excess of the 

17 per dairy operation limitation applicable to 

18 producers on a dairy farm described in 

19 subsection (a)(2). 

20 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out 

21 subparagraph (A), the Secretary— 

22 (i) shall establish separate limitations 

23 for supplemental economic loss payments 

24 received under this section; and 


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1 (ii) shall not include the supplemental 

2 economic loss payments in applying pay3 ment limitations under section 1001 of the 

4 Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 

5 1001) for payments made pursuant to the 

6 underlying normal operation of the pro7 gram described in subsection (a)(1) or sec8 tion 1502 of the Farm and Rural Invest9 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7982). 

10 SEC. 123. SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC LOSS GRANT PRO11 GRAM. 

12 (a) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED STATE.—In this sec13 tion, the term ‘‘qualified State’’ means a State in which 

14 at least 50 percent of the counties of the State were de15 clared to be primary agricultural disaster areas by the 

16 Secretary in at least 2 of crop years 2004, 2005, and 

17 2006. 

18 (b) GRANTS TO QUALIFIED STATES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

20 $300,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit 

21 Corporation to make grants to State departments of 

22 agriculture or comparable State agencies in qualified 

23 States. 

24 (2) AMOUNT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the Secretary shall allocate grants 

3 among qualified States described in paragraph 

4 (1) based on the average value of agricultural 

5 sector production in the qualified State, deter6 mined as a percentage of the gross domestic 

7 product of the qualified State. 

8 (B) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The minimum 

9 amount of a grant under this subsection shall 

10 be $3,000,000. 

11 (3) REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to receive a 

12 grant under this subsection, a qualified State shall 

13 agree to carry out an expedited disaster assistance 

14 program to provide direct payments to qualified 

15 small businesses in accordance with subsection (c). 

16 (c) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO QUALIFIED SMALL BUSI17 NESSES.— 

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

19 disaster assistance program described in subsection 

20 (b)(3), a qualified State shall provide direct pay21 ments to eligible small businesses in the qualified 

22 State that suffered material economic losses in at 

23 least 2 of crop years 2004, 2005, and 2006 as a di24 rect result of weather-related agricultural losses to 


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1 the crop or livestock production sectors of the quali2 fied State, as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 

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

5 a direct payment under paragraph (1), a small 

6 business shall— 

7 (i) have less than $5,000,000 in aver8 age annual gross income from all business 

9 activities, at least 75 percent of which shall 

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

12 as determined by the Secretary; 

13 (ii) verify the amount of economic loss 

14 attributable to weather-related agricultural 

15 losses using such documentation as the 

16 Secretary and the head of the qualified 

17 State agency may require; 

18 (iii) have suffered losses attributable 

19 to weather-related agricultural disasters 

20 that equal at least 50 percent of the total 

21 economic loss of the small business for 

22 each year a grant is requested; and 

23 (iv) demonstrate that the grant will 

24 materially improve the likelihood the busi25 ness will— 


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1 (I) recover from the disaster; and 

2 (II) continue to service and sup3 port production agriculture. 

4 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—A direct payment to 

5 small business under this subsection shall— 

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

7 documented losses; 

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

9 percent of the documented average economic 

10 loss attributable to weather-related agriculture 

11 disasters for each eligible year in the qualified 

12 State; and 

13 (C) not exceed $80,000 per grant per year. 

14 (4) INSUFFICIENT FUNDING.—If the grant 

15 funds received by a qualified State agency under 

16 subsection (b) are insufficient to fund the direct 

17 payments of the qualified State agency under this 

18 subsection, the qualified State agency may apply a 

19 proportional reduction to all of the direct payments. 

20 TITLE III—CONSERVATION 

21 SEC. 131. EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 

22 The Secretary shall use an additional $30,000,000 of 

23 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out 

24 emergency measures identified by the Administrator of the 

25 Farm Service Agency as of the date of enactment of this 


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1 Act through the emergency conservation program estab2 lished under title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 

3 (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.). 

4 SEC. 132. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROTECTION PRO5 GRAM. 

6 The Secretary shall use an additional $70,000,000 of 

7 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out 

8 emergency measures identified by the Chief of the Natural 

9 Resources Conservation Service as of the date of enact10 ment of this Act through the emergency watershed protec11 tion program established under section 403 of the Agricul12 tural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203). 

13 TITLE IV—FARM SERVICE 

14 AGENCY 

15 SEC. 141. FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL. 

16 The Secretary shall use $20,000,000 of funds of the 

17 Commodity Credit Corporation to hire additional County 

18 Farm Service Agency personnel— 

19 (1) to expedite the implementation of, and de20 livery under, the agricultural disaster and economic 

21 assistance programs under this Act; and 

22 (2) as the Secretary determines to be necessary 

23 to carry out other agriculture and disaster assist24 ance programs. 


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1 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 SEC. 151. FUNDING. 

3 The Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and au4 thorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry 

5 out this Act, to remain available until expended. 

6 SEC. 152. REGULATIONS. 

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

8 such regulations as are necessary to implement this Act. 

9 (b) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the regula10 tions and administration of this Act shall be made without 

11 regard to— 

12 (1) the notice and comment provisions of sec13 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 

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

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

16 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking 

17 and public participation in rulemaking; and 

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

19 (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

20 Act’’). 

21 (c) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE22 MAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 

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

24 United States Code. 


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1 TITLE VI—EMERGENCY 

2 DESIGNATION 

3 SEC. 161. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

4 The amounts provided under this Act are designated 

5 as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of 

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

Æ 


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