II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3991 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 

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

BURNS, Mr. HARKIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Mr. INOUYE, Mr. THUNE, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. OBAMA, and Mr. REID) 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 of 

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—SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC LOSS GRANT PROGRAM 

Sec. 201. Small business economic loss grant program. 

TITLE III—CONSERVATION 

Sec. 301. Emergency conservation program. 

Sec. 302. Emergency watershed protection program. 

Sec. 303. Environmental quality incentives program. 

TITLE IV—FARM SERVICE AGENCY 

Sec. 401. Funding for additional personnel. 

TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 501. Funding. 

Sec. 502. Regulations. 

TITLE VI—EMERGENCY DESIGNATION 

Sec. 601. 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 

12 (B) each county contiguous to a county de13 scribed in subparagraph (A). 


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

2 ‘‘hurricane-affected county’’ means— 

3 (A) a county included in the geographic 

4 area covered by a natural disaster declaration 

5 related to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, 

6 Hurricane Wilma, or a related condition; and 

7 (B) each county contiguous to a county de8 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

9 (4) INSURABLE COMMODITY.—The term ‘‘insur10 able commodity’’ means an agricultural commodity 

11 (excluding livestock) for which the producers on a 

12 farm are eligible to obtain a policy or plan of insur13 ance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

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

15 (5) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’ in16 cludes— 

17 (A) cattle (including dairy cattle); 

18 (B) bison; 

19 (C) sheep; 

20 (D) swine; and 

21 (E) other livestock, as determined by the 

22 Secretary. 

23 (6) NATURAL DISASTER DECLARATION.—The 

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

25 disaster declared by the Secretary during calendar 


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1 year 2005 or 2006 under section 321(a) of the Con2 solidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 

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

4 (7) NONINSURABLE COMMODITY.—The term 

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

6 the producers on a farm are eligible to obtain assist7 ance under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture 

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

9 7333). 

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

11 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 TITLE I—AGRICULTURAL 

13 PRODUCTION LOSSES 

14 SEC. 101. CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 

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

16 sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity Credit 

17 Corporation to make emergency financial assistance au18 thorized under this section available to producers on a 

19 farm that have incurred qualifying losses described in sub20 section (c). 

21 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the Secretary shall make assistance avail24 able under this section in the same manner as pro25 vided under section 815 of the Agriculture, Rural 


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1 Development, Food and Drug Administration and 

2 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public 

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

4 using the same loss thresholds for quantity and eco5 nomic losses as were used in administering that sec6 tion, except that the payment rate shall be 50 per7 cent of the established price, instead of 65 percent. 

8 (2) NONINSURED PRODUCERS.—For producers 

9 on a farm that were eligible to acquire crop insur10 ance for the applicable production loss and failed to 

11 do so or failed to submit an application for the non12 insured assistance program for the loss, the Sec13 retary shall make assistance in accordance with 

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

15 35 percent of the established price, instead of 50 

16 percent. 

17 (c) QUALIFYING LOSSES.—Assistance under this sec18 tion shall be made available to producers on farms, other 

19 than producers of sugar beets, that incurred qualifying 

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

21 to damaging weather or any related condition (including 

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

23 as determined by the Secretary. 

24 (d) QUALITY LOSSES.— 


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

2 received under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

3 use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Com4 modity Credit Corporation to make payments to pro5 ducers on a farm described in subsection (a) that in6 curred a quality loss for the 2005 or 2006 crop, or 

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

8 product obtained by multiplying— 

9 (A) the payment quantity determined 

10 under paragraph (2); 

11 (B)(i) in the case of an insurable com12 modity, the coverage level elected by the insured 

13 under the policy or plan of insurance under the 

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

15 seq.); or 

16 (ii) in the case of a noninsurable com17 modity, the applicable coverage level for the 

18 payment quantity determined under paragraph 

19 (2); by 

20 (C) 50 percent of the payment rate deter21 mined under paragraph (3). 

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

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

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

25 equal the lesser of— 


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1 (A) the actual production of the crop af2 fected by a quality loss of the commodity on the 

3 farm; or 

4 (B)(i) in the case of an insurable com5 modity, the actual production history for the 

6 commodity by the producers on the farm under 

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

8 et seq.); or 

9 (ii) in the case of a noninsurable com10 modity, the established yield for the crop for 

11 the producers on the farm under section 196 of 

12 the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re13 form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333). 

14 (3) PAYMENT RATE.— 

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

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

17 losses for a crop of a commodity on a farm 

18 shall be equal to the difference between (as de19 termined by the applicable State committee of 

20 the Farm Service Agency)— 

21 (i) the per unit market value that the 

22 units of the crop affected by the quality 

23 loss would have had if the crop had not 

24 suffered a quality loss; and 


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1 (ii) the per unit market value of the 

2 units of the crop affected by the quality 

3 loss. 

4 (B) FACTORS.—In determining the pay5 ment rate for quality losses for a crop of a com6 modity on a farm, the applicable State com7 mittee of the Farm Service Agency shall take 

8 into account— 

9 (i) the average local market quality 

10 discounts that purchasers applied to the 

11 commodity during the first 2 months fol12 lowing the normal harvest period for the 

13 commodity; 

14 (ii) the loan rate and repayment rate 

15 established for the commodity under the 

16 marketing loan program established for the 

17 commodity under subtitle B of title I of 

18 the Farm Security and Rural Investment 

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

20 (iii) the market value of the com21 modity if sold into a secondary market; 

22 and 

23 (iv) other factors determined appro24 priate by the committee. 

25 (4) ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—For producers on a 

2 farm to be eligible to obtain a payment for a 

3 quality loss for a crop under this subsection— 

4 (i) the amount obtained by multi5 plying the per unit loss determined under 

6 paragraph (1) by the number of units af7 fected by the quality loss shall be reduced 

8 by the amount of any indemnification re9 ceived by the producers on the farm for 

10 quality loss adjustment for the commodity 

11 under a policy or plan of insurance under 

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

13 1501 et seq.); and 

14 (ii) the remainder shall be at least 25 

15 percent of the value that all affected pro16 duction of the crop would have had if the 

17 crop had not suffered a quality loss. 

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

19 quality loss payment for a commodity for the 

20 producers on a farm determined under this 

21 paragraph is equal to or less than zero, the pro22 ducers on the farm shall be ineligible for assist23 ance for the commodity under this subsection. 

24 (5) ELIGIBLE PRODUCTION.—The Secretary 

25 shall carry out this subsection in a fair and equitable 


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1 manner for all eligible production, including the pro2 duction of fruits and vegetables, other specialty 

3 crops, and field crops. 

4 (e) TIMING.— 

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

6 the Secretary shall make payments to producers on 

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

8 60 days after the date the producers on the farm 

9 submit to the Secretary a completed application for 

10 the payments. 

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

12 payments to the producers on a farm by the date de13 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall pay to 

14 the producers on a farm interest on the payments at 

15 a rate equal to the current (as of the sign-up dead16 line established by the Secretary) market yield on 

17 outstanding, marketable obligations of the United 

18 States with maturities of 30 years. 

19 SEC. 102. LIVESTOCK ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) LIVESTOCK COMPENSATION PROGRAM.— 

21 (1) USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION

22 FUNDS.—Effective beginning on the date of enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall use funds of 

24 the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out the 

25 2002 Livestock Compensation Program announced 


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

2 63070), to provide compensation for livestock losses 

3 during calendar years 2005 and 2006 for losses due 

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

5 that the payment rate shall be 75 percent of the 

6 payment rate established for the 2002 Livestock 

7 Compensation Program. 

8 (2) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—In carrying out 

9 the program described in paragraph (1), the Sec10 retary shall provide assistance to any applicant for 

11 livestock losses during calendar year 2005 or 2006, 

12 or both, that— 

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

14 is located in a disaster county, including any 

15 applicant conducting a livestock operation with 

16 eligible livestock (within the meaning of the 

17 livestock assistance program under section 

18 101(b) of division B of Public Law 108–324 

19 (118 Stat. 1234)); or 

20 (ii) produces an animal described in sec21 tion 10806(a)(1) of the Farm Security and 

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

23 321d(a)(1)); 

24 (B) demonstrates to the Secretary that the 

25 applicant suffered a material loss of pasture or 


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1 hay production, or experienced substantially in2 creased feed costs, due to damaging weather or 

3 a related condition during the calendar year, as 

4 determined by the Secretary; and 

5 (C) meets all other eligibility requirements 

6 established by the Secretary for the program. 

7 (3) MITIGATION.—In determining the eligibility 

8 for or amount of payments for which a producer is 

9 eligible under the livestock compensation program, 

10 the Secretary shall not penalize a producer that 

11 takes actions (recognizing disaster conditions) that 

12 reduce the average number of livestock the producer 

13 owned for grazing during the production year for 

14 which assistance is being provided. 

15 (b) LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PAYMENTS.— 

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

17 sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity 

18 Credit Corporation to make livestock indemnity pay19 ments to producers on farms that have incurred live20 stock losses during calendar years 2005 and 2006 

21 for losses that occurred prior to the date of enact22 ment of this Act (including wildfire disaster losses in 

23 the State of Texas and other States) due to a dis24 aster, as determined by the Secretary, including 


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1 losses due to hurricanes, floods, anthrax, and 

2 wildfires. 

3 (2) PAYMENT RATES.—Indemnity payments to 

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

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

6 market value of the applicable livestock on the day 

7 before the date of death of the livestock, as deter8 mined by the Secretary. 

9 (c) EWE LAMB REPLACEMENT AND RETENTION.— 

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

11 $13,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor12 poration to make payments under the Ewe Lamb 

13 Replacement and Retention Payment Program 

14 under part 784 of title 7, Code of Federal Regula15 tions (or a successor regulation) for each qualifying 

16 ewe lamb retained or purchased during the period 

17 beginning on January 1, 2006, and ending on De18 cember 31, 2006. 

19 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER ASSISTANCE.—A 

20 producer that receives assistance under this sub21 section shall not be eligible to receive assistance 

22 under subsection (a). 

23 SEC. 103. FLOODED CROP AND GRAZING LAND. 

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

25 eligible owners of flooded crop and grazing land in— 


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1 (1) the Devils Lake basin; and 

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

3 closed drainage areas of the State of North Dakota. 

4 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

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

6 compensation under this section, an owner shall own 

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

8 crop years preceding receipt of compensation, was 

9 rendered incapable of use for the production of an 

10 agricultural commodity or for grazing purposes (in 

11 a manner consistent with the historical use of the 

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

13 Secretary. 

14 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Land described in paragraph 

15 (1) shall include— 

16 (A) land that has been flooded; 

17 (B) land that has been rendered inacces18 sible due to flooding; and 

19 (C) a reasonable buffer strip adjoining the 

20 flooded land, as determined by the Secretary. 

21 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may es22 tablish— 

23 (A) reasonable minimum acreage levels for 

24 individual parcels of land for which owners may 

25 receive compensation under this section; and 


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1 (B) the location and area of adjoining 

2 flooded land for which owners may receive com3 pensation under this section. 

4 (c) SIGN-UP.—The Secretary shall establish a sign5 up program for eligible owners to apply for compensation 

6 from the Secretary under this section. 

7 (d) COMPENSATION PAYMENTS.— 

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

9 and (3), the rate of an annual compensation pay10 ment under this section shall be equal to 90 percent 

11 of the average annual per acre rental payment rate 

12 (at the time of entry into the contract) for com13 parable crop or grazing land that has not been flood14 ed and remains in production in the county where 

15 the flooded land is located, as determined by the 

16 Secretary. 

17 (2) REDUCTION.—An annual compensation 

18 payment under this section shall be reduced by the 

19 amount of any conservation program rental pay20 ments or Federal agricultural commodity program 

21 payments received by the owner for the land during 

22 any crop year for which compensation is received 

23 under this section. 

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

25 owner receives compensation for flooded land under 


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1 this section, the owner shall not be eligible to par2 ticipate in or receive benefits for the flooded land 

3 under— 

4 (A) the Federal crop insurance program 

5 established under the Federal Crop Insurance 

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

7 (B) the noninsured crop assistance pro8 gram established under section 196 of the Fed9 eral Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act 

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

11 (C) any Federal agricultural crop disaster 

12 assistance program. 

13 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY

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

15 for the preservation of cropland base, allotment history, 

16 and payment yields applicable to land described in sub17 section (a) that was rendered incapable of use for the pro18 duction of an agricultural commodity or for grazing pur19 poses as the result of flooding. 

20 (f) USE OF LAND.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An owner that receives com22 pensation under this section for flooded land shall 

23 take such actions as are necessary to not degrade 

24 any wildlife habitat on the land that has naturally 

25 developed as a result of the flooding. 


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1 (2) RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—To encourage 

2 owners that receive compensation for flooded land to 

3 allow public access to and use of the land for rec4 reational activities, as determined by the Secretary, 

5 the Secretary may— 

6 (A) offer an eligible owner additional com7 pensation; and 

8 (B) provide compensation for additional 

9 acreage under this section. 

10 (g) FUNDING.— 

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

12 $6,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Cor13 poration to carry out this section. 

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

15 the amount made available under paragraph (1) for 

16 a fiscal year is insufficient to compensate all eligible 

17 owners under this section, the Secretary shall pro18 rate payments for that fiscal year on a per acre 

19 basis. 

20 SEC. 104. SUGAR BEET DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 

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

22 $24,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corpora23 tion to provide assistance to sugar beet producers that suf24 fered production losses (including quality losses) for the 

25 2005 crop year. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall make pay2 ments under subsection (a) in the same manner as pay3 ments were made under section 208 of the Agricultural 

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

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

6 used in carrying out that section. 

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

8 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to assist sug9 arcane growers in Hawaii by making a payment in that 

10 amount to an agricultural transportation cooperative in 

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

12 under section 156(a) of the Federal Agriculture Improve13 ment and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7272(a)). 

14 SEC. 105. BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS HERD INDEMNIFICA15 TION. 

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

17 Commodity Credit Corporation to indemnify producers 

18 that suffered losses to herds of cattle due to bovine tuber19 culosis during calendar year 2005. 

20 SEC. 106. REDUCTION IN PAYMENTS. 

21 The amount of any payment for which a producer is 

22 eligible under this title shall be reduced by any amount 

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

24 loss under— 


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1 (1) the Department of Defense, Emergency 

2 Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes 

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

4 2006 (Public Law 109–148; 119 Stat. 2680); 

5 (2) an agricultural disaster assistance provision 

6 contained in the announcement of the Secretary on 

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

8 (3) the Emergency Supplemental Appropria9 tions Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, 

10 and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public Law 109- 

11 234; 120 Stat. 418); or 

12 (4) the Livestock Assistance Grant Program 

13 announced by the Secretary on August 29, 2006. 

14 TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS ECO15 NOMIC LOSS GRANT PRO16 GRAM 

17 SEC. 201. SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC LOSS GRANT PRO18 GRAM. 

19 (a) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED STATE.—In this sec20 tion, the term ‘‘qualified State’’ means a State in which 

21 at least 50 percent of the counties of the State were de22 clared to be primary agricultural disaster areas by the 

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

24 2006. 

25 (b) GRANTS TO QUALIFIED STATES.— 


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

2 $300,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit 

3 Corporation to make grants to State departments of 

4 agriculture or comparable State agencies in qualified 

5 States. 

6 (2) AMOUNT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B), the Secretary shall allocate grants 

9 among qualified States described in paragraph 

10 (1) based on the average value of agricultural 

11 sector production in the qualified State, deter12 mined as a percentage of the gross domestic 

13 product of the qualified State. 

14 (B) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The minimum 

15 amount of a grant under this subsection shall 

16 be $3,000,000. 

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

18 grant under this subsection, a qualified State shall 

19 agree to carry out an expedited disaster assistance 

20 program to provide direct payments to qualified 

21 small businesses in accordance with subsection (c). 

22 (c) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO QUALIFIED SMALL BUSI23 NESSES.— 

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

25 disaster assistance program described in subsection 


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1 (b)(3), a qualified State shall provide direct pay2 ments to eligible small businesses in the qualified 

3 State that suffered material economic losses in at 

4 least 2 of crop years 2004, 2005, and 2006 as a di5 rect result of weather-related agricultural losses to 

6 the crop or livestock production sectors of the quali7 fied State, as determined by the Secretary. 

8 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 

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

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

11 business shall— 

12 (i) have less than $5,000,000 in aver13 age annual gross income from all business 

14 activities, at least 75 percent of which shall 

15 be directly related to production agri16 culture or agriculture support industries, 

17 as determined by the Secretary; 

18 (ii) verify the amount of economic loss 

19 attributable to weather-related agricultural 

20 losses using such documentation as the 

21 Secretary and the head of the qualified 

22 State agency may require; 

23 (iii) have suffered losses attributable 

24 to weather-related agricultural disasters 

25 that equal at least 50 percent of the total 


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1 economic loss of the small business for 

2 each year a grant is requested; and 

3 (iv) demonstrate that the grant will 

4 materially improve the likelihood the busi5 ness will— 

6 (I) recover from the disaster; and 

7 (II) continue to service and sup8 port production agriculture. 

9 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—A direct payment to 

10 small business under this subsection shall— 

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

12 documented losses; 

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

14 percent of the documented average economic 

15 loss attributable to weather-related agriculture 

16 disasters for each eligible year in the qualified 

17 State; and 

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

19 (4) INSUFFICIENT FUNDING.—If the grant 

20 funds received by a qualified State agency under 

21 subsection (b) are insufficient to fund the direct 

22 payments of the qualified State agency under this 

23 subsection, the qualified State agency may apply a 

24 proportional reduction to all of the direct payments. 


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1 TITLE III—CONSERVATION 

2 SEC. 301. EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 

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

4 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out 

5 emergency measures, including wildfire recovery efforts in 

6 Montana and other States, identified by the Administrator 

7 of the Farm Service Agency as of the date of enactment 

8 of this Act through the emergency conservation program 

9 established under title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act 

10 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.). 

11 SEC. 302. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROTECTION PRO12 GRAM. 

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

14 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out 

15 emergency measures identified by the Chief of the Natural 

16 Resources Conservation Service as of the date of enact17 ment of this Act through the emergency watershed protec18 tion program established under section 403 of the Agricul19 tural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203). 

20 SEC. 303. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO21 GRAM. 

22 The Secretary shall use an additional $200,000,000 

23 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry 

24 out emergency measures identified by the Secretary 

25 through the environmental quality incentives program esVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:18 Oct 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3991.IS S3991

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1 tablished under chapter 4 of subtitle D of title XII of the 

2 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa et seq.), 

3 of which not less than $50,000,000 shall be used to carry 

4 out wildfire recovery efforts (including in Montana and 

5 other States). 

6 TITLE IV—FARM SERVICE 

7 AGENCY 

8 SEC. 401. FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL. 

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

10 Commodity Credit Corporation to hire additional County 

11 Farm Service Agency personnel— 

12 (1) to expedite the implementation of, and de13 livery under, the agricultural disaster and economic 

14 assistance programs under this Act; and 

15 (2) as the Secretary determines to be necessary 

16 to carry out other agriculture and disaster assist17 ance programs. 

18 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

19 SEC. 501. FUNDING. 

20 The Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and au21 thorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry 

22 out this Act, to remain available until expended. 

23 SEC. 502. REGULATIONS. 

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

25 such regulations as are necessary to implement this Act. 


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1 (b) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the regula2 tions and administration of this Act shall be made without 

3 regard to— 

4 (1) the notice and comment provisions of sec5 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 

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

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

8 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking 

9 and public participation in rulemaking; and 

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

11 (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

12 Act’’). 

13 (c) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE14 MAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 

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

16 United States Code. 

17 TITLE VI—EMERGENCY 

18 DESIGNATION 

19 SEC. 601. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

20 The amounts provided under this Act are designated 

21 as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of 

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

Æ 


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