I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5226

To respond to recent natural disasters adversely affecting agricultural 

producers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2004

Mr. NEUGEBAUER (for himself, Mr. BURNS, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. ROGERS of 

Alabama, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. 

REHBERG, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. BOEHNER, 

Mr. TERRY, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. SIMPSON, and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL

To respond to recent natural disasters adversely affecting 

agricultural producers.

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

3 SECTION 1. CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.—The term ‘‘addi6 tional coverage’’ has the meaning given the term in 

7 section 502(b) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

8 U.S.C. 1502(b)). 
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1 (2) INSURABLE COMMODITY.—The term ‘‘insur2 able commodity’’ means an agricultural commodity 

3 (excluding livestock) for which the producers on a 

4 farm are eligible to obtain a policy or plan of insur5 ance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

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

7 (3) NONINSURABLE COMMODITY.—The term 

8 ‘‘noninsurable commodity’’ means an agricultural 

9 commodity for which the producers on a farm are el10 igible to obtain assistance under section 196 of the 

11 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 

12 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333). 

13 (b) EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Notwith14 standing section 508(b)(7) of the Federal Crop Insurance 

15 Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(b)(7)), the Secretary of Agriculture 

16 shall use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Com17 modity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial 

18 assistance authorized under this section available to pro19 ducers on a farm that have incurred qualifying crop or 

20 quality losses for the 2003 or 2004 crop (as elected by 

21 a producer), but not both crops, due to damaging weather 

22 or related condition, as determined by the Secretary. 

23 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall make as24 sistance available under this section in the same manner 

25 as provided under section 815 of the Agriculture, Rural 
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1 Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Re2 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 

3 106–387; 114 Stat. 1549A–55), including using the same 

4 loss thresholds for the quantity and quality losses as were 

5 used in administering that section. 

6 (d) INELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.—Except as pro7 vided in subsection (e), the producers on a farm shall not 

8 be eligible for assistance under this section with respect 

9 to losses to an insurable commodity or noninsurable com10 modity if the producers on the farm—

11 (1) in the case of an insurable commodity, did 

12 not obtain a policy or plan of insurance for the in13 surable commodity under the Federal Crop Insur14 ance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) for the crop incur15 ring the losses; and 

16 (2) in the case of a noninsurable commodity, 

17 did not file the required paperwork, and pay the ad18 ministrative fee by the applicable State filing dead19 line, for the noninsurable commodity under section 

20 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and 

21 Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) for the crop 

22 incurring the losses. 

23 (e) CONTRACT WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive 

24 subsection (d) with respect to the producers on a farm 
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1 if the producers enter into a contract with the Secretary 

2 under which the producers agree—

3 (1) in the case of an insurable commodity, to 

4 obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the Fed5 eral Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) 

6 providing additional coverage for the insurable com7 modity for each of the next 2 crops; and 

8 (2) in the case of a noninsurable commodity, to 

9 file the required paperwork and pay the administra10 tive fee by the applicable State filing deadline, for 

11 the noninsurable commodity for each of the next 2 

12 crops under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture 

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

14 7333). 

15 (f) EFFECT OF VIOLATION.—In the event of the vio16 lation of a contract under subsection (e) by a producer, 

17 the producer shall reimburse the Secretary for the full 

18 amount of the assistance provided to the producer under 

19 this section. 

20 (g) PAYMENT LIMITATIONS.—

21 (1) LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—As22 sistance provided under this section to a producer 

23 for losses to a crop, together with the amounts speci24 fied in paragraph (2) applicable to the same crop, 

25 may not exceed 95 percent of what the value of the 
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1 crop would have been in the absence of the losses, 

2 as estimated by the Secretary. 

3 (2) OTHER PAYMENTS.—In applying the limita4 tion in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include the 

5 following: 

6 (A) Any crop insurance payment made 

7 under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

8 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) or payment under section 

9 196 of the Federal Agricultural Improvement 

10 and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) that 

11 the producer receives for losses to the same 

12 crop. 

13 (B) The value of the crop that was not lost 

14 (if any), as estimated by the Secretary. 

15 (3) EFFECT OF FLORIDA DISASTER PRO16 GRAMS.—The amount of assistance that a producer 

17 would otherwise receive under this section shall be 

18 reduced by the amount of assistance that the pro19 ducer receives for the same loss under the Florida 

20 Disaster Programs carried out pursuant to the 

21 Farm Service Agency notice (DAP–203) released 

22 October 4, 2004. 

23 SEC. 2. LIVESTOCK ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

24 (a) EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec25 retary of Agriculture shall use such sums as are necessary 
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1 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make 

2 and administer payments for livestock losses to producers 

3 for 2003 or 2004 losses (as elected by a producer), but 

4 not both, in a county that has received an emergency des5 ignation by the President or the Secretary after January 

6 1, 2003, of which an amount determined by the Secretary 

7 shall be made available for the American Indian livestock 

8 program under section 806 of the Agriculture, Rural De9 velopment, Food and Drug Administration, and Related 

10 Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–387; 

11 114 Stat. 1549A–51). 

12 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall make as13 sistance available under this section in the same manner 

14 as provided under section 806 of the Agriculture, Rural 

15 Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Re16 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 

17 106–387; 114 Stat. 1549A–51). 

18 (c) MITIGATION.—In determining the eligibility for or 

19 amount of payments for which a producer is eligible under 

20 the livestock assistance program, the Secretary shall not 

21 penalize a producer that takes actions (recognizing dis22 aster conditions) that reduce the average number of live23 stock the producer owned for grazing during the produc24 tion year for which assistance is being provided. 
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1 SEC. 3. TREE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

2 (a) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Ag3 riculture shall use such sums as are necessary of the funds 

4 of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide assist5 ance under the tree assistance program established under 

6 sections 10201 through 10204 of the Farm Security and 

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

8 to producers who suffered tree losses during the period 

9 beginning on December 1, 2003, and ending on December 

10 31, 2004. 

11 (b) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.—In addition to pro12 viding assistance to eligible orchardists under the tree as13 sistance program, the Secretary shall use an additional 

14 $15,000,000 of the funds of the Commodity Credit Cor15 poration to provide reimbursement under section 10203 

16 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 

17 (7 U.S.C. 8203) to eligible forest land owners who produce 

18 periodic crops of timber from trees for commercial pur19 poses and who have suffered tree losses during the period 

20 specified in subsection (a). 

21 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 

22 The Secretary of Agriculture shall use an additional 

23 $50,000,000 of the funds of the Commodity Credit Cor24 poration to provide assistance under the Emergency Con25 servation Program under title IV of the Agriculture Credit 

26 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.). Participants in the 
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1 Emergency Conservation Program shall receive the max2 imum cost share percentage allowed under section 701.26 

3 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations. 

4 SEC. 5. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION. 

5 The Secretary of Agriculture shall use the funds, fa6 cilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corpora7 tion to carry out this Act. 

8 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 

10 promulgate such regulations as are necessary to imple11 ment this Act. 

12 (b) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the regula13 tions and administration of this Act shall be made without 

14 regard to—

15 (1) the notice and comment provisions of sec16 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 

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

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

19 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking 

20 and public participation in rulemaking; and 

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

22 (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

23 Act’’). 

24 (c) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE25 MAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 
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1 use the authority provided under section 808 of title 5, 

2 United States Code. 

3 SEC. 7. OFFSET. 

4 Section 1241(a)(3) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

5 (16 U.S.C. 3841(a)(3)) is amended by inserting before the 

6 period at the end the following: ‘‘, using not more than 

7 $6,037,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2005 

8 through 2014’’.

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