I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4031 
To provide assistance to nursery crop and tropical fruit producers whose 
agricultural operations were severely damaged by Hurricane Dennis, Hur-
ricane Katrina, or Hurricane Rita in 2005. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 7, 2005 
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida (for himself, Mr. PUTNAM, Ms. HARRIS, 
Mr. FOLEY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of 
Florida, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. MEEK of Florida, and Ms. ROS- 
LEHTINEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide assistance to nursery crop and tropical fruit pro-
ducers whose agricultural operations were severely dam-
aged by Hurricane Dennis, Hurricane Katrina, or Hurri-
cane Rita in 2005. 
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 ‘‘Nursery and Tropical 
Fruit Producer Hurricane Relief Act’’.
SEC. 2. CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR NURSERY CROP 
AND TROPICAL FRUIT PRODUCERS. 
(a) EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Notwith-
standing section 508(b)(7) of the Federal Crop Insurance 
Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(b)(7)), the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Com-
modity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial 
assistance available to— 
(1) commercial ornamental nursery and fernery 
producers in a disaster county for eligible inventory 
losses due to Hurricane Dennis, Hurricane Katrina, 
or Hurricane Rita; and 
(2) tropical fruit producers in a disaster county 
who have suffered a loss of 35 percent or more rel-
ative to their expected production, as defined in part 
1480.3 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, due 
to Hurricane Dennis, Hurricane Katrina, or Hurri-
cane Rita. 
(b) ADMINISTRATION.— 
(1) DETERMINATION
OF
COMMERCIAL
OPER-
ATIONS.—For a nursery or fernery producer to be 
considered a commercial operation for purposes of 
subsection (a)(1) or (d)(1), the producer must be 
registered in the State in which the producer con-
ducts business.
(2) DETERMINATION
OF
ELIGIBLE
INVEN-
TORY.—For purposes of subsection (a)(1), eligible 
nursery and fernery inventory includes foliage, flori-
culture, and woody ornamental crops, including 
stock used for propagation, and fruit or nut seed-
lings grown for sale as seed stock for commercial or-
chard operations growing fruit or nuts. Eligible in-
ventory does not include edible varieties or plants 
produced for reforestation purposes or for the pur-
pose of producing a crop that is neither an insurable 
commodity nor a noninsurable commodity. 
(c) CALCULATION OF LOSSES AND PAYMENTS.— 
(1) NURSERY AND FERNERY PRODUCERS.—For 
purposes of subsection (a)(1), inventory losses for a 
nursery or fernery producer shall be determined on 
an individual-nursery or fernery basis, and the Sec-
retary shall not offset inventory losses at one nurs-
ery or fernery location by salvaged inventory at an-
other nursery or fernery operated by the same pro-
ducer. Payment amounts shall be equal to the prod-
uct obtained by multiplying— 
(A) the difference between the pre-disaster 
and post-disaster inventory value, as deter-
mined by the Secretary using the producer’s 
wholesale price list, less the maximum customer
discount provided by the producer, and not to 
exceed the prices in the Department of Agri-
culture publication entitled ‘‘Eligible Plant List 
and Price Schedule’’; 
(B) 25 percent; and 
(C) the producer’s share of the loss. 
(2) TROPICAL
FRUIT
PRODUCERS.—For pur-
poses of subsection (a)(2), payment amounts for a 
tropical fruit producer shall be equal to the product 
obtained by multiplying— 
(A) the number of acres affected; 
(B) the payment rate; and 
(C) the producer’s share of the crop. 
(3) PAYMENT LIMITATION.—The total amount 
of payments to a person (defined as provided in sec-
tion 1001(e) of Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 
1308)) under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) 
may not exceed $80,000. 
(d) DEBRIS-REMOVAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Sec-
retary shall use such sums as are necessary of funds 
of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make emer-
gency financial assistance available to commercial 
ornamental nursery and fernery producers in a dis-
aster county to help cover costs incurred for debris
removal and associated cleanup due to Hurricane 
Dennis, Hurricane Katrina, or Hurricane Rita. 
(2) 
AMOUNT
OF
ASSISTANCE.—Assistance 
under this subsection may not exceed the actual 
costs incurred by the producer or $250 per acre, 
whichever is less. The Secretary shall not impose 
any limitation on the maximum amount of payments 
that a producer may receive under this subsection. 
(e) NONDISCRIMINATION.—In carrying out this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall not discriminate against or penal-
ize producers who did not purchase crop insurance under 
the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) 
with respect to an insurable commodity or did not file the 
required paperwork, and pay the administrative fee by the 
applicable State filing deadline, for assistance under sec-
tion 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re-
form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) with respect to a non-
insurable commodity, except that payment rates under 
this section shall be five percent less for such producers 
and the producers must comply with subsection (f). 
(f) CONTRACT TO PROCURE CROP INSURANCE OR 
NAP.—In the case of a producer described in subsection 
(e) who receives any assistance under this section, the pro-
ducer shall be required to enter into a contract with the 
Secretary under which the producer agrees—