I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4149 
To require the prompt issuance by the Secretary of Agriculture of regulations 
to restore integrity to the payment limitation requirements applicable 
to commodity payments and benefits, to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse 
related to the receipt of commodity payments and benefits, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 26, 2005 
Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself and Ms. HERSETH) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To require the prompt issuance by the Secretary of Agri-
culture of regulations to restore integrity to the payment 
limitation requirements applicable to commodity pay-
ments and benefits, to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse 
related to the receipt of commodity payments and bene-
fits, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Payment Limitation 
Integrity Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS TO ESTABLISH MEAS-
URABLE STANDARDS TO PREVENT USE OF 
SEPARATE ENTITIES TO EXCEED PAYMENT 
LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO COMMODITY 
PAYMENTS AND TO LIMIT PAYMENTS TO AC-
TIVE FARMERS. 
(a) STANDARDS
REGARDING
ACTIVE
PERSONAL 
MANAGEMENT AND EVASION SCHEMES AND DEVICES.— 
The Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to 
as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall promulgate regulations to estab-
lish measurable standards of— 
(1) what constitutes a significant contribution 
of active personal management with respect to a 
farm operation for purposes of applying the payment 
limitations specified in section 1001 of the Food Se-
curity of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308); and 
(2) what constitutes a scheme or device to ef-
fectively evade such payment limits or to evade sec-
tion 1001A or 1001C of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1308– 
1, 1308–3). 
(b) ENFORCEMENT OF MULTIPLE ENTITY LIMITA-
TIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to en-
sure that total payments and gains described in section 
1001 of the Food Security of 1985 made to or through 
joint operations or multiple entities under the primary 
control of a person, in combination with the payments and
gains received directly by the person, do not exceed twice 
the applicable dollar amounts specified in subsections (b), 
(c), and (d) of such section. 
(c) ATTRIBUTION OF PAYMENTS AND GAINS DE-
RIVED FROM CERTAIN FARMING OPERATIONS.—In the 
case of a person that in the aggregate owns, conducts 
farming operations, or provides custom farming services 
on land with respect to which the aggregate commodity 
payments exceed the applicable dollar amounts specified 
in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 1001 of the Food 
Security of 1985, the Secretary shall promulgate regula-
tions to ensure that all payments and gains made on crops 
produced on the land are attributed as follows: 
(1) To a person that rents land as lessee or les-
sor through a crop share lease and receives a share 
of the payments that is less than the usual and cus-
tomary share of the crop received by the lessee or 
lessor, as determined by the Secretary. 
(2) To a person that provides custom farming 
services through arrangements under which— 
(A) all or part of the compensation for the 
services is at risk; 
(B) farm management services are pro-
vided by— 
(i) the same person;
(ii) an immediate family member; or 
(iii) an entity or individual that has a 
business relationship that is not an arm’s 
length relationship, as determined by the 
Secretary; or 
(C) more than 2/3 of the farming oper-
ations are conducted as custom farming services 
provided by— 
(i) the same person; 
(ii) an immediate family member; or 
(iii) an entity or individual that has a 
business relationship that is not an arm’s 
length relationship, as determined by the 
Secretary. 
(3) To a person under such other arrangements 
as the Secretary determines are established to trans-
fer payments from persons that would otherwise ex-
ceed the applicable dollar amounts specified in sub-
sections (b), (c), and (d) of such section. 
(4) To the direct recipient of the commodity 
payments as well as to the person to whom the pay-
ments are attributed under paragraph (1), (2), or 
(3). 
(d) PRIMARY CONTROL.—In the regulations required 
by this section, the Secretary shall define ‘‘primary con-
trol’’ to include a joint operation or multiple entity in 
which a person owns an interest that is equal to or greater 
than the interest of any other one or more persons that 
materially participate on a regular, substantial, and con-
tinuous basis in the management of the operation or enti-
ty. 
(e) MATERIAL PARTICIPATION.—In the regulations 
required by this section, the Secretary shall ensure that 
the standards for active personal management require no 
less involvement than the standard for materially partici-
pating on a regular, substantial, and continuous basis in 
the management of the operation or entity as defined by 
Treasury regulation section 1.469–5T(a)(1), as in effect 
on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(f) TIME FOR ISSUANCE; PROCEDURE.—The regula-
tions required by this section shall be issued in final form 
not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. To ensure compliance with this deadline, the 
Secretary shall issue the regulations without regard to— 
(1) the notice and comment provisions of sec-
tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 
(2) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary of 
Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 
13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking 
and public participation in rulemaking; and