I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4675
To improve the representation and accountability of county and area commit-
tees established under the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment
Act and to ensure equitable service and improved access for farmers,
ranchers, and other customers of programs of the Department of Agri-
culture.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 15, 2000
Mrs. CLAYTON (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr.
HILLIARD, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CONYERS, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. LEE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. MCKIN-
NEY, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. DIXON, Mr. CLAY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FROST,
Mr. BISHOP, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. WATERS, Ms. CARSON, Ms.
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. SCOTT, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. DAVIS
of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr.
WYNN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. FORD, Mr. OWENS,
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr.
FATTAH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Government
Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To improve the representation and accountability of county
and area committees established under the Soil Con-
servation and Domestic Allotment Act and to ensure
equitable service and improved access for farmers, ranch-
ers, and other customers of programs of the Department
of Agriculture.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘USDA Accountability and Equity Act of 2000’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—IMPROVED ACCOUNTABILITY OF COUNTY AND AREA
COMMITTEES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES
Sec. 101. Membership requirements for county and area committees.
Sec. 102. Improved oversight of county, area, and community committee elec-
tions.
Sec. 103. Federal civil service status of county and area committee employees.
TITLE II—IMPROVED PROGRAM EQUITY
Sec. 201. Participation of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and
other similarly situated farmers and ranchers in environmental
quality incentives program.
Sec. 202. Grants to upgrade agricultural and food sciences facilities at 1890
land-grant colleges, including Tuskegee University.
Sec. 203. Funding of program of outreach and technical assistance to socially
disadvantaged farmers.
Sec. 204. Funding of extension Indian reservation program.
Sec. 205. Funding of farm ownership and operating loan programs.
TITLE I—IMPROVED ACCOUNT-
ABILITY 
OF 
COUNTY 
AND
AREA 
COMMITTEES 
AND
THEIR EMPLOYEES
SEC. 101. MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTY AND
AREA COMMITTEES.
Effective 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, section 8(a)(5)(B) of the Soil Conservation and
Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(a)(5)(B)) is
amended by striking clause (ii) and inserting the following:
‘‘(ii)(I) A county or area committee shall con-
sist of not fewer than 5 nor more than 7 members
who are fairly representative of the agricultural pro-
ducers in the county or area.
‘‘(II) Except as provided in subclause (III), the
members of a county or area committee shall be
elected by the agricultural producers in such county
or area under such procedures as the Secretary may
prescribe.
‘‘(III) 2 members shall be demographically rep-
resentative of groups of agricultural producers in the
county or area who, in the absence of appointment
under this subclause, would be under-represented on
the committee. The Secretary shall appoint these
members based on recommendations made by the
under-represented groups. If the Secretary makes
such an appointment from among persons not so
recommended, the Secretary shall provide the rea-
sons therefor upon request.’’.
SEC. 102. IMPROVED OVERSIGHT OF COUNTY, AREA, AND
COMMUNITY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS.
(a) UNIFORM GUIDELINES.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture shall prescribe uniform guidelines for conducting
elections for members and alternates of county and area
committees established pursuant to section 8(b)(5) of the
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C.
590h(b)(5)), members and alternates of community com-
mittees so established, and delegates to local administra-
tive area conventions and county conventions.
(b) CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION RESULTS.—Effec-
tive 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
section 8(a)(5)(B) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic
Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(a)(5)(B)) is amended by
adding at the end the following new clause:
‘‘(vi) Members elected pursuant to an election con-
ducted under this subparagraph shall not commence their
term of service unless and until the Secretary determines
that—
‘‘(I) the election fully complied with the laws,
regulations, and guidlines applicable to the conduct
of the election; and
‘‘(II) the members-elect satisfy the eligibility re-
quirements for committee membership.’’.
SEC. 103. FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE STATUS OF COUNTY
AND AREA COMMITTEE EMPLOYEES.
(a) COUNTY COMMITTEE EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—In
this section, the term ‘‘county committee employee’’ means
an employee of a county or area committee employed pur-
suant to section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and Do-
mestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)).
(b) FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE STATUS.—On and after
the effective date of this section, the civil service laws shall
apply to all county committee employees, subject to such
regulations as the Secretary may prescribe and the conver-
sion options for existing county committee employees pro-
vided by this section.
(c) CONVERSION
OF PERMANENT COUNTY COM-
MITTEE EMPLOYEES.—Subject to regulations of the Of-
fice of Personnel Management, a county committee em-
ployee who is so employed on the effective date of this
section under an appointment not limited to one year or
less shall be converted to Federal civil service appoint-
ments, as follows:
(1) A county committee employee who has com-
pleted 3 years of service shall be given a career civil
service appointment.
(2) A county committee employee who has com-
pleted less than 3 years of service shall be given a
career-conditional civil service appointment. The pe-
riod of permanent service as a county committee em-
ployee shall be counted when calculating the 3 years
of service necessary for conversion to career civil
service status.
(d) CONVERSION
OF TEMPORARY COUNTY COM-
MITTEE EMPLOYEES.—Subject to regulations of the Of-
fice of Personnel Management, a county committee em-
ployee who is so employed on the effective date of this
section under an appointment of less than one year shall
be converted to a temporary Federal civil service appoint-
ment.
(e) CREDITING SERVICE
AS COUNTY COMMITTEE
EMPLOYEE.—Service as a county committee employee
performed before the effective date of this section shall
be counted as creditable Federal service when determining
tenure, time-in-grade eligibility, within-grade increases,
and probationary periods.
(f) REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS.—Subject to regulations
of the Office of Personnel Management, a former perma-
nent county committee employee who, before the effective
date of this section, was provided reemployment priority
rights as a county committee employee due to being sepa-
rated through reduction-in-force procedures established by
the Secretary of Agriculture, may receive special selection
priority for civil service positions in the Farm Service
Agency for a period of 2 years after the date of the em-
ployee’s separation.
(g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 226 of
the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of
1994 (7 U.S.C. 6932) is amended by striking subsection
(e).
(2) Title 5, United States Code, is amended—
(A) in section 3502(a)(4)(C)(i), by striking
‘‘Soil Conservation and Allotment Act’’ and inserting
‘‘Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16
U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of section
102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity Act of
2000,’’;
(B) in section 5306(a)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 590h(b) of title 16’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8(b)
of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment
Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of
section 102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity
Act of 2000’’;
(C) in section 5334(e), by striking ‘‘section
590h(b) of title 16’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8(b) of
the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
(16 U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of sec-
tion 102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity
Act of 2000’’;
(D) in section 6312(a)(1), by striking ‘‘Soil
Conservation and Allotment Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Soil
Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16
U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of section
102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity Act of
2000,’’;
(E) in section 8331(1)(F), by striking ‘‘section
590h(b) of title 16’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8(b) of
the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
(16 U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of sec-
tion 102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity
Act of 2000’’;
(F) in section 8701(a)(8), by striking ‘‘section
590h(b) of title 16’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8(b) of
the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
(16 U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of sec-
tion 102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity
Act of 2000’’; and
(G) in section 8901(1)(G), by striking ‘‘section
590h(b) of title 16’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8(b) of
the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
(16 U.S.C. 590h(b)), before the effective date of sec-
tion 102 of the USDA Accountability and Equity
Act of 2000’’.
(3) Section 8(b)(5)(E) of the Soil Conservation and
Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)(E)) is
amended by striking the second and third sentences.
(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section shall take effect 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE II—IMPROVED PROGRAM
EQUITY
SEC. 201. PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED
FARMERS AND RANCHERS AND OTHER SIMI-
LARLY SITUATED FARMERS AND RANCHERS
IN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES
PROGRAM.
(a) INCLUSION OF DEFINITION.—Section 1201(a) of
the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801(a)) is
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (16), (17), and
(18) as paragraphs (17), (18), and (19), respec-
tively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(16) 
SOCIALLY
DISADVANTAGED
FARMER
OR
RANCHER.—The term ‘socially disadvantaged farmer or
rancher’ means a farmer or rancher who is a member of
a socially disadvantaged group (as that term is defined
in section 355(e) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De-
velopment Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e))), a farmer or rancher
who has limited resources, or a farmer or rancher who
is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe.’’.
(b) 
INCREASED
FUNDING; 
AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—Section 1241(b) of the Food Security Act of
1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and
$200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1997 through
2002’’ and inserting ‘‘$200,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 1997 through 2000, and $300,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002’’;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘50 percent’’
and inserting ‘‘one-third’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE
FOR
SOCIALLY
DISADVAN-
TAGED FARMERS AND RANCHERS.—For each of fis-
cal years 2001 and 2002, one-third of the funding
available for technical assistance, cost-share pay-
ments, incentives payments, and education under the
environmental quality incentives program shall be
targeted to increase assistance to socially disadvan-
taged farmers and ranchers.
‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds made
available to the environmental quality incentives pro-
gram through the Commodity Credit Corporation
shall remain available until expended.’’.
(c) PRIORITY FOR ASSISTANCE.—Section 1240C of
the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(4) are for operations owned or operated by a
socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.’’.
(d) TIMING
OF PAYMENTS; COST-SHARE LIMITA-
TIONS.—Section 1240G of the Food Security Act of 1985
(16 U.S.C. 3839aa–7) is amended—
(1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘may not be
made by the Secretary until the subsequent fiscal
year’’ and inserting ‘‘may be made by the Secretary
during that fiscal year’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(d) WAIVER OF COST-SHARE REQUIREMENTS.—In
addition to subsection (b), the Secretary may waive or ad-
just the maximum rate of cost-share and incentive pay-
ments under subsection (a) in the case of a producer who
is a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.’’.
(e) CALCULATING
PRODUCER
CONTRIBUTIONS.—
Section 1240B(e)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16
U.S.C. 3839aa–2(e)(1)) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(D) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—For pur-
poses of calculating the producer’s share of the
cost of a structural practice, the Secretary may
count contributions in labor, materials, or
equipment when the producer is a socially dis-
advantaged farmer or rancher.’’.
SEC. 202. GRANTS TO UPGRADE AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD
SCIENCES FACILITIES AT 1890 LAND-GRANT
COLLEGES, INCLUDING TUSKEGEE UNIVER-
SITY.
Section 1447(b) of the National Agricultural Re-
search, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 3222b(b)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) APPROPRIATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money in the
Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro-
priated, there are appropriated to the Secretary of
Agriculture $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and for
each succeeding fiscal year to carry out this section.
‘‘(2) 
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 
appropriated
under paragraph (1) shall remain available until ex-
pended.’’.
SEC. 203. FUNDING OF PROGRAM OF OUTREACH AND
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SOCIALLY DIS-
ADVANTAGED FARMERS.
Section 2501(a)(3) of the Food, Agriculture, Con-
servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)(3))
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(3) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in
the Treasury of the United States not otherwise ap-
propriated, there are appropriated to the Secretary
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and for each suc-
ceeding fiscal year to carry out this section.’’.
SEC. 204. FUNDING OF EXTENSION INDIAN RESERVATION
PROGRAM.
Section 1677(g) of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva-
tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5930(g)) is amend-
ed to read as follows:
‘‘(g) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the
Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated,
there are appropriated to the Secretary $8,000,000 for fis-
cal year 2001 and for each succeeding fiscal year to carry
out this section.’’.
SEC. 205. FUNDING OF FARM OWNERSHIP AND OPERATING
LOAN PROGRAMS.
Section 346(b)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1994(b)(1)) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(H) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—Out of any
money in the Treasury of the United States not
otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated
to the Secretary for fiscal year 2001 and for
each succeeding fiscal year $585,000,000 for
direct loans, of which—
‘‘(i) $85,000,000 shall be for farm
ownership loans under subtitle A; and
‘‘(ii) $500,000,000 shall be for oper-
ating loans under subtitle B.’’.
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