103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2689

AN ACT

To amend the United States Grain Standards Act

other purposes.improve administration of such Act, and forthorization of appropriations for such Act, and totrative and supervisory costs, to extend the auspection Service to collect fees to cover administo extend the authority of the Federal Grain In-
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2689

AN ACT

To amend the United States Grain Standards Act to extend

the authority of the Federal Grain Inspection Service

to collect fees to cover administrative and supervisory

costs, to extend the authorization of appropriations for

such Act, and to improve administration of such Act,

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘United States Grain Standards Act Amendments of

6 1993’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

Sec. 2. Limitation on administrative and supervisory costs.

Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 4. Inspection and weighing fees; inspection and weighing in Canadian

ports.

Sec. 5. Inspection and weighing pilot program.

Sec. 6. Licensing of inspectors.

Sec. 7. Prohibited acts.

Sec. 8. Criminal penalties.

Sec. 9. Equipment testing and other services.

Sec. 10. Violation of subpoena.

Sec. 11. Standardizing commercial inspections.

Sec. 12. Elimination of gender references.

Sec. 13. Repeal of temporary amendment language; technical amendments.

Sec. 14. Authority to collect fees; termination of advisory committee.

Sec. 15. Effective dates.

3 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPER4 VISORY COSTS.

5 Section 7D of the United States Grain Standards Act

6 (7 U.S.C. 79d) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘inspection and weighing’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘services performed’’; and

9 (2) by striking ‘‘1993’’ and inserting ‘‘1998’’.

10 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 (a) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 19 of the United

12 States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 87h) is amended

13 by striking ‘‘during the period beginning October 1, 1988,

14 and ending September 30, 1993’’ and inserting ‘‘1988

15 through 1998’’.

16 (b) LIMITATION.—Such section is further amended

17 by striking ‘‘and 17A of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘7B, 16,

18 and 17A’’.
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1 SEC. 4. INSPECTION AND WEIGHING FEES; INSPECTION

2 AND WEIGHING IN CANADIAN PORTS.

3 (a) INSPECTION AUTHORITY.—Section 7 of the

4 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 79) is

5 amended—

6 (1) in subsection (f)(1)(A)(vi), by striking ‘‘or

7 other agricultural programs operated by’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘of’’; and

9 (2) in the second sentence of subsection (i), by

10 inserting before the period at the end ‘‘or as other11 wise provided by agreement with the Canadian Gov12 ernment’’.

13 (b) WEIGHING AUTHORITY.—Section 7A of such Act

14 (7 U.S.C. 79a) is amended—

15 (1) in the second sentence of subsection (c)(2),

16 by inserting after ‘‘shall be deemed to refer to’’ the

17 following: ‘‘ ‘official weighing’ or’’;

18 (2) in the second sentence of subsection (d), by

19 inserting before the period at the end ‘‘or as other20 wise provided by agreement with the Canadian Gov21 ernment’’; and

22 (3) in the first sentence of subsection (i), by in23 serting before the period at the end ‘‘or as otherwise

24 provided in section 7(i) and subsection (d)’’.
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1 SEC. 5. INSPECTION AND WEIGHING PILOT PROGRAM.

2 (a) INSPECTION AUTHORITY.—Section 7(f)(2) of the

3 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 79(f)(2))

4 is amended by inserting before the period at the end the

5 following: ‘‘, except that the Administrator may conduct

6 pilot programs to allow more than one official agency to

7 carry out inspections within a single geographical area

8 without undermining such objectives’’.

9 (b) WEIGHING AUTHORITY.—The second sentence of

10 section 7A(i) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 79a(i)) is amended

11 by inserting before the period at the end the following:

12 ‘‘, except that the Administrator may conduct pilot pro13 grams to allow more than one official agency to carry out

14 the weighing provisions within a single geographic area

15 without undermining such objectives’’.

16 SEC. 6. LICENSING OF INSPECTORS.

17 Section 8 of the United States Grain Standards Act

18 (7 U.S.C. 84) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a)—

20 (A) in paragraph (1) of the first sentence,

21 by inserting after ‘‘and is employed’’ the follow22 ing: ‘‘(or is supervised under a contractual ar23 rangement)’’; and

24 (B) in the second sentence, by striking

25 ‘‘No person’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as other-
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1 wise provided in sections 7(i) and 7A(d), no

2 person’’;

3 (2) in the first proviso of subsection (b), by

4 striking ‘‘independently under the terms of a con5 tract for the conduct of any functions involved in of6 ficial inspection’’ and inserting ‘‘under the terms of

7 a contract for the conduct of any functions’’; and

8 (3) in subsection (d)—

9 (A) by inserting after ‘‘Persons employed’’

10 the following: ‘‘or supervised under a contrac11 tual arrangement’’; and

12 (B) by inserting after ‘‘including persons

13 employed’’ the following: ‘‘or supervised under a

14 contractual arrangement’’.

15 SEC. 7. PROHIBITED ACTS.

16 Section 13(a)(11) of the United States Grain Stand17 ards Act (7 U.S.C. 87b(a)) is amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(11) violate section 5, 6, 7, 7A, 7B, 8, 11, 12, 16,

19 or 17A;’’.

20 SEC. 8. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

21 Section 14(a) of the United States Grain Standards

22 Act (7 U.S.C. 87c(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall be

23 guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction thereof,

24 be subject to imprisonment for not more than twelve

25 months, or a fine of not more than $10,000, or both such
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1 imprisonment and fine; but, for each subsequent offense

2 subject to this subsection, such person’’.

3 SEC. 9. EQUIPMENT TESTING AND OTHER SERVICES.

4 Section 16 of the United States Grain Standards Act

5 (7 U.S.C. 87e) is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (b), by striking the third sen7 tence; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections:

10 ‘‘(g) TESTING OF CERTAIN WEIGHING EQUIP11 MENT.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Administrator

12 may provide for the testing of weighing equipment used

13 for purposes other than weighing grain. The testing shall

14 be performed—

15 ‘‘(A) in accordance with such regulations as the

16 Administrator may prescribe; and

17 ‘‘(B) for a reasonable fee established by regula18 tion or contractual agreement and sufficient to

19 cover, as nearly as practicable, the estimated costs

20 of the testing performed.

21 ‘‘(2) Testing performed under paragraph (1) may not

22 conflict with or impede the objectives specified in section

23 2.

24 ‘‘(h) TESTING OF GRAIN INSPECTION INSTRU25 MENTS.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Administrator
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1 may provide for the testing of grain inspection instru2 ments used for commercial inspection. The testing shall

3 be performed—

4 ‘‘(A) in accordance with such regulations as the

5 Administrator may prescribe; and

6 ‘‘(B) for a reasonable fee that is established by

7 regulation or contractual agreement and is sufficient

8 to cover, as nearly as practicable, the estimated

9 costs of the testing performed.

10 ‘‘(2) Testing performed under paragraph (1) may not

11 conflict with or impede the objectives specified in section

12 2.

13 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL FOR FEE SERVICES.—(1) In ac14 cordance with such regulations as the Administrator may

15 provide, the Administrator may perform such other serv16 ices as the Administrator considers to be appropriate.

17 ‘‘(2) In addition to the fees authorized by sections

18 7, 7A, 7B, 17A, and this section, the Administrator shall

19 collect reasonable fees to cover the estimated costs of serv20 ices performed under paragraph (1) other than standard21 ization, compliance, and foreign monitoring activities.

22 ‘‘(3) To the extent practicable, the fees collected

23 under paragraph (2), together with any proceeds from the

24 sale of any samples, shall cover the costs, including admin-
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1 istrative and supervisory costs, of services performed

2 under paragraph (1).

3 ‘‘(j) DEPOSIT OF FEES.—Fees collected under sub4 sections (g), (h), and (i) shall be deposited into the fund

5 created under section 7(j).

6 ‘‘(k) OFFICIAL COURTESIES.—The Administrator

7 may extend appropriate courtesies to official representa8 tives of foreign countries in order to establish and main9 tain relationships to carry out the policy stated in section

10 2. No gift offered pursuant to this subsection shall exceed

11 20 dollars in value.’’.

12 SEC. 10. VIOLATION OF SUBPOENA.

13 Section 17(e) of the United States Grain Standards

14 Act (7 U.S.C. 87f(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘the pen15 alties set forth in subsection (a) of section 14 of this Act’’

16 and inserting ‘‘imprisonment for not more than 1 year or

17 a fine of not more than $10,000 or both the imprisonment

18 and fine’’.

19 SEC. 11. STANDARDIZING COMMERCIAL INSPECTIONS.

20 Section 22(a) of the United States Grain Standards

21 Act (7 U.S.C. 87k(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘and the

22 National Conference on Weights and Measures’’ and in23 serting ‘‘, the National Conference on Weights and Meas24 ures, or other appropriate governmental, scientific, or

25 technical organizations’’.
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1 SEC. 12. ELIMINATION OF GENDER REFERENCES.

2 (a) REFERENCES TO HIS.—(1) Section 3 of the

3 United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 75) is

4 amended—

5 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘his dele6 gates’’ and inserting ‘‘a delegate of the Secretary’’;

7 and

8 (B) in subsection (z), by striking ‘‘his dele9 gates’’ and inserting ‘‘a delegate of the Adminis10 trator’’.

11 (2) Sections 4(a), 7(b), 7(e)(2), 12(b), and 13(a)(2)

12 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 76(a), 79(b), 79(e)(2), 87a(b), and

13 87b(a)(2)) are each amended by striking ‘‘his’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘the Administrator’s’’.

15 (3) Section 5(a)(1) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 77(a)(1))

16 is amended by striking ‘‘his agent’’ and inserting ‘‘the

17 shipper’s agent’’.

18 (4) Section 9 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 85) is amended

19 in the first sentence by striking ‘‘his license’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘the license’’.

21 (5) Sections 13(a)(7), 15, and 17(e) of such Act (7

22 U.S.C. 87b(a)(7), 87d, and 87f(e)) are each amended by

23 striking ‘‘his’’ and inserting ‘‘the person’s’’.

24 (6) Section 13(a)(8) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 87b(a)(8))

25 is amended by striking ‘‘his duties’’ and inserting ‘‘the du26 ties of the officer, employee, or inspection personnel’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCES TO HIM.—(1) Section 8(a) of such

2 Act (7 U.S.C. 84(a)) is amended in the first sentence by

3 striking ‘‘him’’ and inserting ‘‘the Administrator’’.

4 (2) Section 9 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 85) is amended

5 by striking ‘‘him’’ and inserting ‘‘the licensee’’.

6 (c) REFERENCES TO HE.—(1) Sections 5(b), 7(a),

7 7(b), 7(e)(2), 7A(e), 7B(a), 8(c), 8(f), 10(a), 11(a),

8 11(b)(5), 12(c), and 14(b) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 77(b),

9 79(a), 79(b), 79(e)(2), 79a(e), 79b(a), 84(c), 84(f), 86(a),

10 87(a), 87(b)(5), 87a(c), and 87c(b)), are each amended

11 by striking ‘‘he’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘the

12 Administrator’’.

13 (2) Sections 10(b), 13(a)(9), 14(a), and 17A(c) of

14 such Act (7 U.S.C. 86(b), 87b(a)(9), 87c(a), and 87f–

15 1(c)) are each amended by striking ‘‘he’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘the person’’.

17 (3) Sections 11(B)(1) and 17A(a)(2) of such Act (7

18 U.S.C. 87(b)(1) and 87f–1(a)(2)) are each amended by

19 striking ‘‘he’’ and inserting ‘‘the producer’’.

20 SEC. 13. REPEAL OF TEMPORARY AMENDMENT LANGUAGE;

21 TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

22 (a) REPEAL.—Section 2 of the United States Grain

23 Standards Act Amendments of 1988 (Public Law 100–

24 518; 102 Stat. 2584) is amended, in the matter preceding

25 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Effective for the period Octo-
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1 ber 1, 1988, through September 30, 1993, inclusive, the’’

2 and inserting ‘‘The’’.

3 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 21(a) of

4 the United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 87j(a))

5 is amended—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘(1)’’, and

7 (B) by striking paragraph (2).

8 (2) Section 22(c) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 87k(c), is

9 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (a) and (b)’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’.

11 SEC. 14. AUTHORITY TO COLLECT FEES; TERMINATION OF

12 ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

13 (a) INSPECTION AND SUPERVISORY FEES.—Section

14 7(j) of the United States Grain Standards Act (7 U.S.C.

15 79(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following new

16 paragraph:

17 ‘‘(4) The duties imposed by paragraph (2) on des18 ignated official agencies and State agencies described in

19 such paragraph and the investment authority provided by

20 paragraph (3) shall expire on September 30, 1998. After

21 that date, the fees established by the Administrator pursu22 ant to paragraph (1) shall not cover administrative and

23 supervisory costs related to the official inspection of

24 grain.’’.
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1 (b) WEIGHING AND SUPERVISORY FEES.—Section

2 7A(l) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 79a(l)) is amended by adding

3 at the end the following new paragraph:

4 ‘‘(3) The authority provided to the Administrator by

5 paragraph (1) and the duties imposed by paragraph (2)

6 on agencies and other persons described in such paragraph

7 shall expire on September 30, 1998. After that date, the

8 Administrator shall, under such regulations as the Admin9 istrator may prescribe, charge and collect reasonable fees

10 to cover the estimated costs of official weighing and super11 vision of weighing except when the official weighing or su12 pervision of weighing is performed by a designated official

13 agency or by a State under a delegation of authority. The

14 fees authorized by this paragraph shall, as nearly as prac15 ticable, cover the costs of the Service incident to its per16 formance of official weighing and supervision of weighing

17 services in the United States and on United States grain

18 in Canadian ports, excluding administrative and super19 visory costs. The fees authorized by this paragraph shall

20 be deposited into a fund which shall be available without

21 fiscal year limitation for the expenses of the Service inci22 dent to providing services under this Act.’’.

23 (c) TERMINATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Sec24 tion 21 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 87j) is amended by adding

25 at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—The advisory committee shall

2 terminate on September 30, 1998.’’.

3 SEC. 15. EFFECTIVE DATES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

5 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect

6 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

7 (b) SPECIAL EFFECTIVE DATE FOR CERTAIN PROVI8 SIONS.—The amendments made by sections 2, 3, and

9 13(a) shall take effect as of the earlier of—

10 (1) September 30, 1993; or

11 (2) the date of the enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives September 28,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.