H. R. 2673—36
(b) The Secretary shall publish a proposed rule to carry out
section 313A of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 within 60
days of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 751. Any unobligated balances in the Alternative Agricul-
tural Research and Commercialization Revolving Fund are hereby
rescinded.
SEC. 752. Not more than $41,443,000 for fiscal year 2004 of
the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this or
any other Act shall be used to carry out the conservation security
program established under subchapter A of chapter 2 of subtitle
D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3838
et seq.).
SEC. 753. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this or any other Act shall be used to pay the salaries
and expenses of personnel to carry out a ground and surface water
conservation program authorized by section 2301 of Public Law
107–171, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002,
in excess of $51,000,000.
SEC. 754. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this or any other Act shall be used to pay the salaries
and expenses of personnel to carry out section 2502 of Public
Law 107–171, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of
2002, in excess of $42,000,000.
SEC. 755. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this or any other Act shall be used to pay the salaries
and expenses of personnel to carry out section 2503 of Public
Law 107–171, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of
2002, in excess of $112,044,000.
SEC. 756. (a) ASSISTANCE FOR COMMERCIAL TREE LOSSES.—
The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $5,000,000 of the funds
of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide assistance under
the Tree Assistance Program, subtitle C of title X of the Farm
Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8201 et seq.),
to tree-fruit growers located in a federally declared disaster area
in the State of New York who suffered tree losses in 2003 as
a result of an April 4–6, 2003, icestorm.
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall use $10,000,000 of the
funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, to remain available
until expended, to compensate commercial citrus and lime growers
in the State of Florida for tree replacement and for lost production
with respect to trees removed to control citrus canker, and with
respect to certified citrus nursery stocks within the citrus canker
quarantine areas, as determined by the Secretary. For a grower
to receive assistance for a tree under this section, the tree must
have been removed after September 30, 2001.
SEC. 757. There is hereby appropriated $1,500,000 to carry
out section 6028 of Public Law 107–171, the Farm Security and
Rural Investment Act of 2002: Provided, That notwithstanding sec-
tion 383B(g)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act (7 U.S.C. 2009bb–1(g)(1)), the Federal share of the administra-
tive expenses of the Northern Great Plains Regional Authority
for fiscal year 2004 shall be 100 percent.
SEC. 758. Section 204(a)(3) of the Agricultural Trade Develop-
ment and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1724(a)(3)) is amended
H. R. 2673—37
by striking ‘‘the Committee on Foreign Affairs’’ through ‘‘the Com-
mittee on’’ and inserting ‘‘the Committees on International Rela-
tions, Agriculture and Appropriations of the House of Representa-
tives, and the Committees on Appropriations and’’.
SEC. 759. None of the funds appropriated or made available
by this or any other Act may be used to pay the salaries and
expenses of personnel to carry out section 6029 of Public Law
107–171, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002:
Provided, That this section shall not apply to activities related
to the promulgation of regulations or the receipt and review of
applications for the Rural Business Investment Program.
SEC. 760. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available in this Act shall be expended to violate Public Law 105–
264.
SEC. 761. COST-SHARING FOR ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH EMER-
GENCY PROGRAMS. None of the funds made available by this Act
may be used to issue a final rule in furtherance of, or otherwise
implement, the proposed rule on cost-sharing for animal and plant
health emergency programs of the Animal and Plant Health Inspec-
tion Service published on July 8, 2003 (Docket No. 02–062–1; 68
Fed. Reg. 40541).
SEC. 762. Agencies and offices of the Department of Agriculture
may utilize any available discretionary funds to cover the costs
of preparing, or contracting for the preparation of, final agency
decisions regarding complaints of discrimination in employment
or program activities arising within such agencies and offices.
SEC. 763. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for any
fiscal year, in the case of a high cost isolated rural area in Alaska
that is not connected to a road system, the maximum level for
the single family housing assistance shall be 150 percent of the
average income level in the metropolitan areas of the State and
115 percent of all other eligible areas of the State.
SEC. 764. There is hereby appropriated $1,000,000, to remain
available until expended, for the Denali Commission to address
deficiencies in solid waste disposal sites which threaten to contami-
nate rural drinking water supplies.
SEC. 765. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary shall consider the City of Vicksburg, Mississippi; the
City of Aberdeen, South Dakota; and the City of Starkville, Mis-
sissippi as meeting the requirements of a rural area contained
in section 520 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490) until
receipt of the decennial Census for the year 2010.
SEC. 766. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary shall consider the City of Berlin, New Hampshire; the
City of Guymon, Oklahoma; the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma; and
the City of Altus, Oklahoma, to be eligible for loans and grants
provided through the Rural Community Advancement Program
until receipt of the decennial Census in the year 2010.
SEC. 767. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to study, complete a study of, or enter into a contract
with a private party to carry out, without specific authorization
in a subsequent Act of Congress, a competitive sourcing activity
of the Secretary of Agriculture, including support personnel of the
Department of Agriculture, relating to rural development or farm
loan programs.
H. R. 2673—38
SEC. 768. Section 501(b)(5)(B) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42
U.S.C. 1471(b)(5)(B) is amended by striking ‘‘for fiscal years 2002
and 2003,’’.
SEC. 769. AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE. Section
524(b)(4)(B) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C.
1524(b)(4)(B)) is amended—
(1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘clause (ii)’’ and inserting
‘‘clauses (ii) and (iii)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(iii) CERTAIN USES.—Of the amounts made avail-
able to carry out this subsection for each of fiscal
years 2004 through 2007 the Commodity Credit Cor-
poration shall use not less than—
‘‘(I) $14,000,000 to carry out subparagraphs
(A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (2) through the
Natural Resources Conservation Service;
‘‘(II) $1,000,000 to provide organic certification
cost share assistance through the Agricultural
Marketing Service; and
‘‘(III) $5,000,000 to conduct activities to carry
out subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2) through
the Risk Management Agency.’’.
SEC. 770. Hereafter, no funds provided in this or any other
Act shall be available to the Secretary of Agriculture acting through
the Foreign Agricultural Service to promote the sale or export
of tobacco or tobacco products.
SEC. 771. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(o)(4) of the Food Stamp
Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 2012(o)(4), is amended by
inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and except
that on October 1, 2003, in the case of households residing in
Alaska and Hawaii the Secretary may not reduce the cost of such
diet in effect on September 30, 2002’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall be effective beginning on September 30, 2003.
SEC. 772. Section 601(b)(2) of the Rural Electrification Act
of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY.—The term ‘eligible rural
community’ means any area of the United States that is not
contained in an incorporated city or town with a population
in excess of 20,000 inhabitants.’’.
SEC. 773. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for all
activities under programs of the Rural Development Mission Area
within the County of Honolulu, Hawaii, the Secretary may designate
any portion of the county as a rural area or eligible rural community
that the Secretary determines is not urban in character: Provided,
That the Secretary shall not include in any such rural area or
eligible rural community any area included in the Honolulu Census
Designated Place as determined by the Secretary of Commerce.
SEC. 774. The first sentence of section 306(g)(1) of the National
Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1721(g)(1)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or title V of the Housing Act of 1949’’;
and
(2) by inserting after ‘‘1944’’ the following: ‘‘, title V of
the Housing Act of 1949,’’.
SEC. 775. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Consolidated
Farm and Rural Development Act (including the associated regula-
tions) governing the Community Facilities Program, the Secretary
H. R. 2673—39
may allow all Community Facility Program facility borrowers and
grantees to enter into contracts with not-for-profit third parties
for services consistent with the requirements of the Program, grant,
and/or loan: Provided, That the contracts protect the interests of
the Government regarding cost, liability, maintenance, and adminis-
trative fees.
SEC. 776. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary of Agriculture may use appropriations available to the
Secretary for activities authorized under sections 426–426c of title
7, United States Code, under this or any other Act, to enter into
cooperative agreements, with a State, political subdivision, or
agency thereof, a public or private agency, organization, or any
other person, to lease aircraft if the Secretary determines that
the objectives of the agreement will: (1) serve a mutual interest
of the parties to the agreement in carrying out the programs
administered by the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Wild-
life Service; and (2) all parties will contribute resources to the
accomplishment of these objectives; award of a cooperative agree-
ment authorized by the Secretary may be made for an initial
term not to exceed 5 years.
SEC. 777. CITRUS CANKER ASSISTANCE. Section 211 of the Agri-
cultural Assistance Act of 2003 (117 Stat. 545) is amended—
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘TREE REPLACE-
MENT AND’’ after ‘‘FOR’’; and
(2) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘tree replacement and’’
after ‘‘Florida for’’.
SEC. 778. SUN GRANT RESEARCH INITIATIVE. (a) SHORT TITLE.—
This section may be cited as the ‘‘Sun Grant Research Initiative
Act of 2003’’.
(b) RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ON
BIOBASED ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCTS.—Title IX of the
Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 9011. RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
ON BIOBASED ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCTS.
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the programs established
under this section are—
‘‘(1) to enhance national energy security through the
development, distribution, and implementation of biobased
energy technologies;
‘‘(2) to promote diversification in, and the environmental
sustainability of, agricultural production in the United States
through biobased energy and product technologies;
‘‘(3) to promote economic diversification in rural areas of
the United States through biobased energy and product tech-
nologies; and
‘‘(4) to enhance the efficiency of bioenergy and biomass
research 
and 
development 
programs 
through 
improved
coordination and collaboration between the Department of Agri-
culture, the Department of Energy, and the land-grant colleges
and universities.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) LAND-GRANT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.—The term
‘land-grant colleges and universities’ means—