H. R. 4101—26
reception and representation expenses: Provided, That the Commis-
sion is authorized to charge reasonable fees to attendees of Commis-
sion sponsored educational events and symposia to cover the
Commission’s costs of providing those events and symposia, and
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, said fees shall be credited to
this account, to be available without further appropriation.
FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION
LIMITATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
Not to exceed $35,800,000 (from assessments collected from
farm credit institutions and from the Federal Agricultural Mortgage
Corporation) shall be obligated during the current fiscal year for
administrative expenses as authorized under 12 U.S.C. 2249: Pro-
vided, That this limitation shall not apply to expenses associated
with receiverships.
TITLE VII—GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 701. Within the unit limit of cost fixed by law, appropria-
tions and authorizations made for the Department of Agriculture
for fiscal year 1999 under this Act shall be available for the pur-
chase, in addition to those specifically provided for, of not to exceed
440 passenger motor vehicles, of which 437 shall be for replacement
only, and for the hire of such vehicles.
SEC. 702. Funds in this Act available to the Department of
Agriculture shall be available for uniforms or allowances therefor
as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5901–5902).
SEC. 703. Not less than $1,500,000 of the appropriations of
the Department of Agriculture in this Act for research and service
work authorized by the Acts of August 14, 1946, and July 28,
1954 (7 U.S.C. 427 and 1621–1629), and by chapter 63 of title
31, United States Code, shall be available for contracting in accord-
ance with said Acts and chapter.
SEC. 704. The cumulative total of transfers to the Working
Capital Fund for the purpose of accumulating growth capital for
data services and National Finance Center operations shall not
exceed $2,000,000: Provided, That no funds in this Act appropriated
to an agency of the Department shall be transferred to the Working
Capital Fund without the approval of the agency administrator.
SEC. 705. New obligational authority provided for the following
appropriation items in this Act shall remain available until
expended (7 U.S.C. 2209b): Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, the contingency fund to meet emergency conditions, fruit
fly program, integrated systems acquisition project, and up to
$2,000,000 for costs associated with collocating regional offices;
Farm Service Agency, salaries and expenses funds made available
to county committees; and Foreign Agricultural Service, middle-
income country training program.
New obligational authority for the boll weevil program; up
to 10 percent of the screwworm program of the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service; Food Safety and Inspection Service, field
automation and information management project; funds appro-
priated for rental payments; funds for the Native American Institu-
tions Endowment Fund in the Cooperative State Research, Edu-
cation, and Extension Service; and funds for the competitive
H. R. 4101—27
research grants (7 U.S.C. 450i(b)), shall remain available until
expended.
SEC. 706. No part of any appropriation contained in this Act
shall remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year
unless expressly so provided herein.
SEC. 707. Not to exceed $50,000 of the appropriations available
to the Department of Agriculture in this Act shall be available
to provide appropriate orientation and language training pursuant
to Public Law 94–449.
SEC. 708. No funds appropriated by this Act may be used
to pay negotiated indirect cost rates on cooperative agreements
or similar arrangements between the United States Department
of Agriculture and nonprofit institutions in excess of 10 percent
of the total direct cost of the agreement when the purpose of
such cooperative arrangements is to carry out programs of mutual
interest between the two parties. This does not preclude appropriate
payment of indirect costs on grants and contracts with such institu-
tions when such indirect costs are computed on a similar basis
for all agencies for which appropriations are provided in this Act.
SEC. 709. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
commodities acquired by the Department in connection with
Commodity Credit Corporation and section 32 price support oper-
ations may be used, as authorized by law (15 U.S.C. 714c and
7 U.S.C. 612c), to provide commodities to individuals in cases of
hardship as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
SEC. 710. None of the funds in this Act shall be available
to restrict the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation to
lease space for its own use or to lease space on behalf of other
agencies of the Department of Agriculture when such space will
be jointly occupied.
SEC. 711. None of the funds in this Act shall be available
to pay indirect costs on research grants awarded competitively
by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Serv-
ice that exceed 14 percent of total Federal funds provided under
each award: Provided, That notwithstanding section 1462 of the
National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy
Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310), funds provided by this Act for grants
awarded competitively by the Cooperative State Research, Edu-
cation, and Extension Service shall be available to pay full allowable
indirect costs for each grant awarded under the Small Business
Innovation Development Act of 1982 (Public Law 97–219; 15 U.S.C.
638).
SEC. 712. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act,
all loan levels provided in this Act shall be considered estimates,
not limitations.
SEC. 713. Appropriations to the Department of Agriculture for
the cost of direct and guaranteed loans made available in fiscal
year 1999 shall remain available until expended to cover obligations
made in fiscal year 1999 for the following accounts: the rural
development loan fund program account; the Rural Telephone Bank
program account; the rural electrification and telecommunications
loans program account; and the rural economic development loans
program account.
SEC. 714. Such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999
pay raises for programs funded by this Act shall be absorbed within
the levels appropriated by this Act.
H. R. 4101—28
SEC. 715. Notwithstanding the Federal Grant and Cooperative
Agreement Act, marketing services of the Agricultural Marketing
Service; Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration;
and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service may use
cooperative agreements to reflect a relationship between the Agri-
cultural Marketing Service, the Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration or the Animal and Plant Health Inspec-
tion Service and a State or Cooperator to carry out agricultural
marketing programs or to carry out programs to protect the Nation’s
animal and plant resources.
SEC. 716. Notwithstanding the Federal Grant and Cooperative
Agreement Act, the Natural Resources Conservation Service may
enter into contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements with a State
agency or subdivision, or a public or private organization, for the
acquisition of goods or services, including personal services, to carry
out natural resources conservation activities: Provided, That
Commodity Credit Corporation funds obligated for such purposes
shall not exceed the level obligated by the Commodity Credit Cor-
poration for such purposes in fiscal year 1998.
SEC. 717. None of the funds in this Act may be used to retire
more than 5 percent of the Class A stock of the Rural Telephone
Bank or to maintain any account or subaccount within the account-
ing records of the Rural Telephone Bank the creation of which
has not specifically been authorized by statute: Provided, That
notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used
to transfer to the Treasury or to the Federal Financing Bank
any unobligated balance of the Rural Telephone Bank telephone
liquidating account which is in excess of current requirements and
such balance shall receive interest as set forth for financial accounts
in section 505(c) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990.
SEC. 718. Hereafter, none of the funds made available in this
Act may be used to provide assistance to, or to pay the salaries
of personnel to carry out a market promotion/market access program
pursuant to section 203 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978
(7 U.S.C. 5623) that provides assistance to the United States Mink
Export Development Council or any mink industry trade associa-
tion.
SEC. 719. Of the funds made available by this Act, not more
than $1,800,000 shall be used to cover necessary expenses of activi-
ties related to all advisory committees, panels, commissions, and
task forces of the Department of Agriculture, except for panels
used to comply with negotiated rule makings and panels used
to evaluate competitively awarded grants: Provided, That inter-
agency funding is authorized to carry out the purposes of the
National Drought Policy Commission.
SEC. 720. None of the funds appropriated in this Act may
be used to carry out the provisions of section 918 of Public Law
104–127, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act.
SEC. 721. No employee of the Department of Agriculture may
be detailed or assigned from an agency or office funded by this
Act to any other agency or office of the Department for more
than 30 days unless the individual’s employing agency or office
is fully reimbursed by the receiving agency or office for the salary
and expenses of the employee for the period of assignment.
SEC. 722. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available to the Department of Agriculture shall be used to transmit
H. R. 4101—29
or otherwise make available to any non-Department of Agriculture
employee questions or responses to questions that are a result
of information requested for the appropriations hearing process.
SEC. 723. None of the funds made available to the Department
of Agriculture by this Act may be used to acquire new information
technology systems or significant upgrades, as determined by the
Office of the Chief Information Officer, without the approval of
the Chief Information Officer and the concurrence of the Executive
Information Technology Investment Review Board: Provided, That
notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be trans-
ferred to the Office of the Chief Information Officer without the
prior approval of the Committee on Appropriations of both Houses
of Congress.
SEC. 724. (a) None of the funds provided by this Act, or provided
by previous Appropriations Acts to the agencies funded by this
Act that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal
year 1999, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the
United States derived by the collection of fees available to the
agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or
expenditure through a reprogramming of funds which: (1) creates
new programs; (2) eliminates a program, project, or activity; (3)
increases funds or personnel by any means for any project or
activity for which funds have been denied or restricted; (4) relocates
an office or employees; (5) reorganizes offices, programs, or activi-
ties; or (6) contracts out or privatizes any functions or activities
presently performed by Federal employees; unless the Committee
on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress are notified 15 days
in advance of such reprogramming of funds.
(b) None of the funds provided by this Act, or provided by
previous Appropriations Acts to the agencies funded by this Act
that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year
1999, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the United
States derived by the collection of fees available to the agencies
funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditure
for activities, programs, or projects through a reprogramming of
funds in excess of $500,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less, that:
(1) augments existing programs, projects, or activities; (2) reduces
by 10 percent funding for any existing program, project, or activity,
or numbers of personnel by 10 percent as approved by Congress;
or (3) results from any general savings from a reduction in personnel
which would result in a change in existing programs, activities,
or projects as approved by Congress; unless the Committee on
Appropriations of both Houses of Congress are notified 15 days
in advance of such reprogramming of funds.
SEC. 725. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act or any other Act may be used to pay the
salaries and expenses of personnel to carry out section 793 of
Public Law 104–127, with the exception of funds made available
under that section on January 1, 1997.
SEC. 726. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act shall be used to pay the salaries and expenses
of personnel who carry out an environmental quality incentives
program authorized by sections 334–341 of Public Law 104–127
in excess of $174,000,000.
SEC. 727. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise available
to the Department of Agriculture may be used to administer the