H. R. 2559—47
‘‘(1) PRODUCER REPORTS.—Each person that owns a farm
for which a Burley tobacco marketing quota is established
under this Act shall annually file with the Secretary a report
describing the acreage planted to Burley tobacco on the farm.
‘‘(2) COMPUTERIZED
RECORDKEEPING
SYSTEM.—Not later
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection,
the Secretary shall establish a computerized recordkeeping
system that contains all information reported under paragraph
(1) and related records, as determined by the Secretary.
‘‘(n) SALE OF BURLEY TOBACCO QUOTA.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of this section, if a person that owns a farm for
which a Burley tobacco marketing quota is established under this
Act sells all or part of the acreage on the farm to a buyer, the
Secretary shall permit the seller and buyer of the acreage to deter-
mine the percentage of the quota that is transferred with the
acreage sold.’’.
(c) HONEY.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use funds of the
Commodity Credit Corporation to make available recourse loans
to producers of the 2000 crop of honey on fair and reasonable
terms and conditions, as determined by the Secretary.
(2) LOAN RATE.—The loan rate for a loan under paragraph
(1) shall be equal to 85 percent of the average price of honey
during the 5-crop year period preceding the 2000 crop year,
excluding the crop year in which the average price of honey
was the highest and the crop year in which the average price
of honey was the lowest in the period.
(d) WOOL AND MOHAIR.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use funds of the
Commodity Credit Corporation to make payments to producers
of wool, and producers of mohair, for the 1999 marketing year.
(2) PAYMENT RATE.—The payment rate for payments made
to producers under paragraph (1) shall be equal to—
(A) in the case of wool, 20 cents per pound; and
(B) in the case of mohair, 40 cents per pound.
(e) COTTONSEED.—The Secretary shall use $100,000,000 of
funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide assistance
to producers and first-handlers of the 2000 crop of cottonseed.
SEC. 205. PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF LOAN DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS.
(a) ELIGIBLE PRODUCERS.—Effective for the 2001 crop year,
in the case of a producer that would be eligible for a loan deficiency
payment under section 135 of the Agricultural Market Transition
Act (7 U.S.C. 7235) for wheat, barley, or oats, but that elects
to use acreage planted to the wheat, barley, or oats for the grazing
of livestock, the Secretary shall make a payment to the producer
under this section if the producer enters into an agreement with
the Secretary to forgo any other harvesting of the wheat, barley,
or oats on that acreage.
(b) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of a payment made to
a producer on a farm under this section shall be equal to the
amount determined by multiplying—
(1) the loan deficiency payment rate determined under
section 135(c) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7
U.S.C. 7235(c)) in effect, as of the date of the agreement,
for the county in which the farm is located; by
(2) the payment quantity determined by multiplying—
H. R. 2559—48
(A) the quantity of the grazed acreage on the farm
with respect to which the producer elects to forgo har-
vesting of wheat, barley, or oats; and
(B) the greater of—
(i) the established yield for the crop on the
farm; or
(ii) the average county yield per harvested acre
of the crop, as determined by the Secretary.
(c) TIME, MANNER, AND AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENT.—
(1) TIME AND MANNER.—A payment under this section shall
be made at the same time and in the same manner as loan
deficiency payments are made under section 135 of the Agricul-
tural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7235), except that the
payment shall be made not later than September 30, 2001.
(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall establish an avail-
ability period for the payment authorized by this section that
is consistent with the availability period for wheat, barley,
and oats established by the Secretary for marketing assistance
loans authorized by subtitle C of the Agricultural Market
Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7231 et seq.).
(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate under sec-
tion 263 such regulations as are necessary to administer the pay-
ments authorized by this section in a fair and equitable manner
with respect to producers of wheat and feed grains that do not
receive a payment under this section.
(e) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use funds of the Commodity
Credit Corporation to carry out this section.
SEC. 206. EXPANSION OF PRODUCERS ELIGIBLE FOR LOAN DEFI-
CIENCY PAYMENTS.
(a) ELIGIBLE PRODUCERS.—Section 135(a) of the Agricultural
Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7235(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘to producers’’ and inserting ‘‘to—
‘‘(1) producers’’;
(2) by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) effective only for the 2000 crop year, producers that,
although not eligible to obtain such a marketing assistance
loan under section 131, produce a contract commodity.’’.
(b) CALCULATION.—Section 135(b)(2) of the Agricultural Market
Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7235(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘that
the producers’’ and all that follows through the period at the end
and inserting the following: ‘‘produced by the eligible producers,
excluding any quantity for which the producers obtain a loan under
section 131.’’.
(c) TRANSITION; BENEFICIAL INTEREST.—Section 135 of the Agri-
cultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7235) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) TRANSITION.—A payment to a producer eligible for a pay-
ment under subsection (a)(2) that harvested a commodity on or
before the date that is 30 days after the promulgation of the
regulations implementing subsection (a)(2) shall be determined as
the date the producer lost beneficial interest in the commodity,
as determined by the Secretary.
‘‘(f ) BENEFICIAL INTEREST.—Subject to subsection (e), a producer
shall be eligible for a payment under this section only if the producer
H. R. 2559—49
has a beneficial interest in the commodity, as determined by the
Secretary.’’.
Subtitle B—Conservation
SEC. 211. CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE.
(a) FARMLAND PROTECTION.—For the purposes described in sec-
tion 388 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act
of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 3830 note; Public Law 104–127), the Secretary
shall use $10,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation
to make payments to—
(1) any agency of any State or local government, or federally
recognized Indian tribe, including farmland protection boards
and land resource councils established under State law; and
(2) any organization that—
(A) is organized for, and at all times since the formation
of the organization has been operated principally for, one
or more of the conservation purposes specified in clause
(i), (ii), or (iii) of section 170(h)(4)(A) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986;
(B) is an organization described in section 501(c)(3)
of that Code that is exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of that Code;
(C) is described in section 509(a)(2) of that Code; or
(D) is described in section 509(a)(3) of that Code and
is controlled by an organization described in section
509(a)(2) of that Code.
(b) SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall use $40,000,000
of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide finan-
cial assistance to farmers and ranchers to—
(A) address threats to soil, water, and related natural
resources, including grazing land, wetland, and wildlife
habitat;
(B) comply with Federal and State environmental laws;
and
(C) make beneficial, cost-effective changes to cropping
systems, grazing management, manure, nutrient, pest, or
irrigation management, land uses, or other measures
needed to conserve and improve soil, water, and related
natural resources.
(2) TYPE OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under this subsection
may be made in the form of cost share payments or incentive
payments, as determined by the Secretary.
(3) AREAS.—The Secretary shall provide assistance under
this subsection to areas that are not designated under section
1230(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830(c)).
SEC. 212. CONDITION ON DEVELOPMENT OF LITTLE DARBY NATIONAL
WILDLIFE REFUGE, OHIO.
The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall prepare an
environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) before proceeding
with any further development of the Little Darby National Wildlife
Refuge in Madison and Union Counties, Ohio.
H. R. 2559—50
Subtitle C—Research
SEC. 221. CARBON CYCLE RESEARCH.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made available under section
261(a)(2), the Secretary shall use $15,000,000 to provide a grant
to the Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse
Gases, acting through Kansas State University, to develop, analyze,
and implement, through the land grant universities described in
subsection (b), carbon cycle research at the national, regional, and
local levels.
(b) LAND GRANT UNIVERSITIES.—The land grant universities
referred to in subsection (a) are the following:
(1) Colorado State University.
(2) Iowa State University.
(3) Kansas State University.
(4) Michigan State University.
(5) Montana State University.
(6) Purdue University.
(7) Ohio State University.
(8) Texas A&M University.
(9) University of Nebraska.
(c) USE.—Land grant universities described in subsection (b)
shall use funds made available under this section—
(1) to conduct research to improve the scientific basis of
using land management practices to increase soil carbon seques-
tration, including research on the use of new technologies to
increase carbon cycle effectiveness, such as biotechnology and
nanotechnology;
(2) to enter into partnerships to identify, develop, and
evaluate agricultural best practices, including partnerships
between—
(A) Federal, State, or private entities; and
(B) the Department of Agriculture;
(3) to develop necessary computer models to predict and
assess the carbon cycle;
(4) to estimate and develop mechanisms to measure carbon
levels made available as a result of—
(A) voluntary Federal conservation programs;
(B) private and Federal forests; and
(C) other land uses;
(5) to develop outreach programs, in coordination with
Extension Services, to share information on carbon cycle and
agricultural best practices that is useful to agricultural pro-
ducers; and
(6) to collaborate with the Great Plains Regional Earth
Science Application Center to develop a space-based carbon
cycle remote sensing technology program to—
(A) provide, on a near-continual basis, a real-time and
comprehensive view of vegetation conditions;
(B) assess and model agricultural carbon sequestration;
and
(C) develop commercial products.
(d) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 3 percent of the
funds made available under subsection (a) may be used by the
Secretary to pay administrative costs incurred in carrying out this
section.