I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 92
To provide emergency disaster assistance to agricultural producers to respond 
to severe crop losses incurred in 2001 and 2002. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. GRAVES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To provide emergency disaster assistance to agricultural pro-
ducers to respond to severe crop losses incurred in 2001 
and 2002.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Companion Disaster 
Assistance Program Act of 2002’’. 
SEC. 2. COMPANION DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 
(a) ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 
shall use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Com-
modity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial
assistance available to producers that have incurred quali-
fying losses for the 2001 or 2002 crop of an agricultural 
commodity due to damaging weather or related condition, 
as determined by the Secretary. 
(b) ELECTION OF CROP YEAR.—If a producer in-
curred qualifying crop losses in both the 2001 and 2002 
crop years, the producer shall elect to receive assistance 
under this section for losses incurred in either the 2001 
crop year or the 2002 crop year, but not both. 
(c) QUALIFYING LOSSES.—Assistance under this sec-
tion shall be provided for losses associated with crops that 
are quantity losses or quality losses, as determined by the 
Secretary. 
(d) DEDUCTIBLE.—The Secretary shall make assist-
ance available to a producer with qualifying losses for 
losses exceeding 15 percent of the producer’s historical 
yield, as determined by the Secretary. 
(e) ASSISTANCE AMOUNT.—The amount of assist-
ance made available to a producer shall be equal to the 
lesser of the following: 
(1) 40 percent of the product obtained by mul-
tiplying—
(A) 65 percent of the producer’s historical 
yield, as determined by the Secretary;
(B) the producer’s acreage of the crop for 
the relevant crop year; and 
(C) 65 percent of the expected market 
price for the crop, as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
(2) 4 times the product obtained by multi-
plying—
(A) the percentage of qualifying losses of 
the producer exceeding 15 percent of the pro-
ducer’s historical yield, as determined by the 
Secretary; and 
(B) the amount determined under para-
graph (1). 
(f) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (e), a 
producer may not receive assistance under this section for 
losses to more than one 2001 crop or 2002 crop on the 
same acreage unless there is an established practice of 
planting two or more crops for harvest on such acreage 
in the same crop year, as determined by the Secretary. 
The Secretary shall give a producer that is not covered 
by the exception in the previous sentence an opportunity 
to designate the 2001 or 2002 crop for which the producer 
requests assistance under this section.
(g) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.—The Sec-
retary shall use the funds, facilities, and authorities of the 
Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out this title. 
(h) REGULATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may promul-
gate such regulations as are necessary to implement 
this section. 
(2) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the reg-
ulations and administration of this section shall be 
made without regard to—
(A) the notice and comment provisions of 
section 553 of title 5, United States Code; 
(B) the Statement of Policy of the Sec-
retary effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 
13804), relating to notices of proposed rule-
making and public participation in rulemaking; 
and 
(C) chapter 35 of title 44, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Re-
duction Act’’). 
(3) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE-
MAKING.—In carrying out this subsection, the Sec-
retary shall use the authority provided under section 
808 of title 5, United States Code.
Æ