170 
(except on a reimbursable basis) from any agen-
cy other than the Office of the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON DELEGATION.—The 
Secretary may not delegate to any other officer 
or employee of the Department, other than the 
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture or the Direc-
tor, the authority of the Secretary with respect 
to the Division. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Assistant Secretary for 
Administration is authorized to investigate, enforce, 
and implement the provisions in law, Executive 
order, or regulations that relate in general to com-
petitive and excepted service positions and employ-
ment within the Division, including the position of 
Director, and such authority may be further dele-
gated to subordinate officials.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 296(b) of 
the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 
1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 
striking ‘‘affect—’’ and inserting ‘‘affect:’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘the authority’’ each place it ap-
pears in paragraphs (1) through (7) and inserting 
‘‘The authority’’; 
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171 
(3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each 
of paragraphs (1) through (5) and inserting a pe-
riod; 
(4) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking ‘‘; or’’ at 
the end and inserting a period; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) The authority of the Secretary to carry out 
amendments made by the Agriculture Reform, Food, 
and Jobs Act of 2013.’’. 
SEC. 1610. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 
(a) Section 359f(c)(1)(B) of the Agricultural Adjust-
ment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359ff(c)(1)(B)) is amended 
by adding a period at the end. 
(b)(1) Section 1603(g) of the Food, Conservation, 
and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–246; 122 Stat. 
1739) is amended in paragraphs (2) through (6) and the 
amendments made by those paragraphs by striking 
‘‘1703(a)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘1603(a)’’. 
(2) This subsection and the amendments made by 
this subsection take effect as if included in the Food, Con-
servation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–246; 
122 Stat. 1651). 
SEC. 1611. ASSIGNMENT OF PAYMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of section 8(g) of 
the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 
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172 
U.S.C. 590h(g)), relating to assignment of payments, shall 
apply to payments made under this title. 
(b) NOTICE.—The producer making the assignment, 
or the assignee, shall provide the Secretary with notice, 
in such manner as the Secretary may require, of any as-
signment made under this section. 
SEC. 1612. TRACKING OF BENEFITS. 
As soon as practicable after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary may track the benefits provided, 
directly or indirectly, to individuals and entities under ti-
tles I and II and the amendments made by those titles. 
SEC. 1613. SIGNATURE AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this title and title 
II and amendments made by those titles, if the Secretary 
approves a document, the Secretary shall not subsequently 
determine the document is inadequate or invalid because 
of the lack of authority of any person signing the docu-
ment on behalf of the applicant or any other individual, 
entity, general partnership, or joint venture, or the docu-
ments relied upon were determined inadequate or invalid, 
unless the person signing the program document know-
ingly and willfully falsified the evidence of signature au-
thority or a signature. 
(b) AFFIRMATION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section pro-
hibits the Secretary from asking a proper party to 
affirm any document that otherwise would be consid-
ered approved under subsection (a). 
(2) NO
RETROACTIVE
EFFECT.—A denial of 
benefits based on a lack of affirmation under para-
graph (1) shall not be retroactive with respect to 
third-party producers who were not the subject of 
the erroneous representation of authority, if the 
third-party producers— 
(A) relied on the prior approval by the Sec-
retary of the documents in good faith; and 
(B) substantively complied with all pro-
gram requirements. 
SEC. 1614. IMPLEMENTATION. 
(a) STREAMLINING.—In implementing this title, the 
Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable— 
(1) seek to reduce administrative burdens and 
costs to producers by streamlining and reducing pa-
perwork, forms, and other administrative require-
ments; 
(2) improve coordination, information sharing, 
and administrative work with the Risk Management 
Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation 
Service; and 
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