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‘‘(B) not less than 105 percent of the loan
value of quota peanuts if the additional peanuts
are sold after delivery by the producer but not
later than December 31 of the marketing year;
or
‘‘(C) not less than 107 percent of the loan
value of quota peanuts if the additional peanuts
are sold later than December 31 of the market-
ing year.
‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE OF BIDS BY AREA MARKET-
ING ASSOCIATIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), for the period from the date
additional peanuts are delivered for loan to
March 1 of the calendar year following the year
in which the additional peanuts were harvested,
the area marketing association designated pur-
suant to section 108B(c)(1) of the Agricultural
Act of 1949 shall have sole authority to accept
or reject lot list bids when the sales price, as
determined under this subsection, equals or ex-
ceeds the minimum price at which the Commu-
nity Credit Corporation may sell its stocks of
additional peanuts.
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‘‘(B) MODIFICATION.—The area marketing
association and the Community Credit Corpora-
tion may agree to modify the authority granted
by subparagraph (A) to facilitate the orderly
marketing of additional peanuts.
‘‘(3) PRODUCER MARKETING AND EXPENSES.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the
Secretary shall, in any determination required under
subsections (a)(2) and (b)(1) of section 108B of the
Agricultural Act of 1949, include any additional
marketing expenses required by law, excluding the
amount of any assessment required under the Omni-
bus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990.
‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATION.—
‘‘(1) INTEREST.—The person liable for payment
or collection of any penalty provided for in this sec-
tion shall be liable also for interest thereon at a rate
per annum equal to the rate per annum of interest
that was charged the Commodity Credit Corporation
by the Treasury of the United States on the date the
penalty became due.
‘‘(2) DE MINIMIS QUANTITY.—This section shall
not apply to peanuts produced on any farm on which
the acreage harvested for nuts is one acre or less if
the producers who share in the peanuts produced on
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the farm do not share in the peanuts produced on
any other farm.
‘‘(3) LIENS.—Until the amount of the penalty
provided by this section is paid, a lien on the crop
of peanuts with respect to which the penalty is in-
curred, and on any subsequent crop of peanuts sub-
ject to farm poundage quotas in which the person
liable for payment of the penalty has an interest,
shall be in effect in favor of the United States.
‘‘(4) PENALTIES.—
‘‘(A) PROCEDURES.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the liability for and the
amount of any penalty assessed under this sec-
tion shall be determined in accordance with
such procedures as the Secretary by regulation
may prescribe. The facts constituting the basis
for determining the liability for or amount of
any penalty assessed under this section, when
officially determined in conformity with the ap-
plicable regulations prescribed by the Secretary,
shall be final and conclusive and shall not be
reviewable by any other officer or agency of the
Government.
‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Nothing in this
section shall be construed as prohibiting any
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court of competent jurisdiction from reviewing
any determination made by the Secretary with
respect to whether the determination was made
in conformity with the applicable law and regu-
lations.
‘‘(C) CIVIL PENALTIES.—All penalties im-
posed under this section shall for all purposes
be considered civil penalties.
‘‘(5) REDUCTION OF PENALTIES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law and except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the Secretary may reduce
the amount of any penalty assessed against
handlers under this section by any appropriate
amount, including, in an appropriate case,
eliminating the penalty entirely, if the Secretary
finds that the violation on which the penalty is
based was minor or inadvertent, and that the
reduction of the penalty will not impair the op-
eration of the peanut program.
‘‘(B) FAILURE
TO
EXPORT
CONTRACTED
ADDITIONAL
PEANUTS.—The amount of any
penalty imposed on a handler under this section
that resulted from the failure to export or crush
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contracted additional peanuts shall not be re-
duced by the Secretary.
‘‘(i) CROPS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, this section shall be effective only for the 1996
through 2000 crops of peanuts.’’.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF EXPERIMENTAL AND RESEARCH
PROGRAMS FOR PEANUTS.
Subsection 358c(d) of the Agricultural Adjustment
Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1358c(d)) is amended by striking
‘‘1991 through 1995’’ and inserting ‘‘1996 through
2000’’.
SEC. 5. PRICE SUPPORT PROGRAM.
Section 108B of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7
U.S.C. 1445c–3) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 108B. PRICE SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR PEANUTS.
‘‘(a) QUOTA PEANUTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make
price support available to producers through loans,
purchases, and other operations on quota peanuts
for each crop.
‘‘(2) SUPPORT
RATES.—The national average
quota support rate for each crop of quota peanuts
shall be the national average quota support rate for
the immediately preceding crop adjusted to reflect
any increase or decrease during the calendar year
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immediately preceding the marketing year for the
crop for which a level of support is being deter-
mined, in the national average cost of peanut pro-
duction, excluding any change in the cost of land,
and the cost of any assessments required under sub-
section (g), except that in no event shall the national
average quota support rate be increased by more
than 5 percent of the national average quota support
rate for the preceding crop, nor be decreased by
more than 5 percent of the national average quota
support rate for the preceding crop.
‘‘(3) INSPECTION, HANDLING, OR STORAGE.—
The levels of support so announced shall not be re-
duced by any deductions for inspection, handling, or
storage.
‘‘(4) LOCATION
AND
OTHER
FACTORS.—The
Secretary may make adjustments for location of pea-
nuts and such other factors as are authorized by
section 403.
‘‘(5) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Secretary shall
announce the level of support for quota peanuts of
each crop not later than February 15 preceding the
marketing year for the crop for which the level of
support is being determined.
‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL PEANUTS.—