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ing ‘‘beginning farmers, as determined by the Sec-
retary, from obtaining Federal crop insurance’’;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end of the paragraph;
(3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(4) establishing a database that contains social
security numbers or employee identification numbers
of insurance agents and adjusters and using the
numbers to identify agents and adjusters who are
high risk for actuarial purposes, and for other pur-
poses permitted by law; and’’.
(f) REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—
Such section is further amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(p) REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—
‘‘(1) CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION.—In de-
veloping and carrying out the policies and proce-
dures for catastrophic risk protection under section
508(b), the Corporation shall minimize, to the maxi-
mum extent practicable, the paperwork required and
the complexity and costs of procedures governing the
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application for, and the processing and servicing of,
catastrophic risk protection.
‘‘(2) OTHER PLANS.—To the extent that the
policies and procedures developed under paragraph
(1) may be applied to other plans of insurance of-
fered under this title without jeopardizing the actu-
arial soundness or integrity of the crop insurance
program under this title, the Corporation shall apply
the policies and procedures to the other plans of in-
surance within a reasonable period of time (as deter-
mined by the Corporation) after the effective date of
this paragraph.
‘‘(3) SOLICITATION OF COST INFORMATION AND
COST-REDUCTION PROPOSALS.—
‘‘(A) COST INFORMATION.—The Corpora-
tion shall solicit from private insurance provid-
ers and agents information regarding—
‘‘(i) their average cost per policy of
complying with requirements, regulations,
procedures, and processes under this title;
and
‘‘(ii) the data upon which such costs
are determined.
‘‘(B) COST-REDUCTION PROPOSALS.—The
Corporation shall also solicit from private insur-
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ance providers and agents proposals for modify-
ing or altering the requirements, regulations,
procedures, and processes under this title to re-
duce their total average cost per policy.
‘‘(C) REPORT.—By June 1, 1995, the Cor-
poration shall submit a report to Congress con-
taining the information received under subpara-
graph (A) and an evaluation of the cost-reduc-
tion proposals received under subparagraph
(B).
‘‘(4) COST REDUCTION PLAN.—
‘‘(A) PLAN
REQUIRED.—Subject to the
condition that the Corporation maintain the in-
tegrity of the crop insurance program under
this title, the Corporation shall include in the
report required under paragraph (3) a plan to
reduce the average cost per policy incurred by
private insurance providers and agents to com-
ply with requirements, regulations, procedures,
and processes under this title. To the extent
practicable, the Corporation shall set a target
percentage by which such costs should be re-
duced.
‘‘(B) IMPLEMENTATION
OF
PLAN.—Not
later than 60 days after submitting the report
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required under paragraph (3), and in accord-
ance with the plan contained in the report, the
Corporation shall adopt such measures consist-
ent with maintaining the integrity of the crop
insurance program under this title as the Cor-
poration determines are appropriate—
‘‘(i) to improve Corporation liaison
with policyholders and private insurance
providers; and
‘‘(ii) to reduce the average cost per
policy to meet the target percentage set by
the Corporation.’’.
(g) IMPROVED PROGRAM COMPLIANCE.—Such sec-
tion is further amended by inserting after subsection (p)
(as added by subsection (f)) the following new subsection:
‘‘(q) PROGRAM COMPLIANCE.—
‘‘(1) TIMELINESS.—The Corporation shall work
actively with private insurance providers to address
program compliance and integrity issues as such is-
sues develop.
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION
OF
COMPLIANCE
PROB-
LEMS.—The Corporation shall notify in writing any
private insurance provider with whom the Corpora-
tion has an agreement under this title of any error,
omission, or failure to follow Corporation regulations
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or procedures for which the private insurance pro-
vider may be responsible and which may result in a
debt owed the Corporation. Such notice shall be
given within 3 years of the end of the insurance pe-
riod during which the error, omission, or failure is
alleged to have occurred, except that such time limit
shall not apply with respect to errors, omissions, or
procedural violations that are willful or intentional.
The failure to timely provide the notice required
under this subsection shall relieve the private insur-
ance provider from the debt owed the Corporation.’’.
SEC. 4. PERSONNEL.
Section 507 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7
U.S.C. 1507) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘, and county
crop insurance committeemen’’;
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘, in which
case the agent or broker’’ in the first sentence and
all that follows through the period at the end of the
second sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘, ex-
cept that the rate established by the Board to reim-
burse approved insurance providers and agents for
their administrative and operating costs shall not ex-
ceed, for the 1997 crop year, 29 percent of the pre-
mium used to define loss ratio under section 502,
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and for the 1998 and 1999 crops, such reimburse-
ment rate shall not exceed 28 percent of the pre-
mium used to define loss ratio under section 502.
Consistent with the provisions of section 506(p), the
Board shall provide regulatory relief to such ap-
proved insurance providers and agents in an amount
proportional to the reduction in the reimbursement
rate established by the Board for the 1997, 1998,
and 1999 crop years. No action shall be taken which
would jeopardize program integrity, enhance oppor-
tunities for fraud or abuse, hinder program expan-
sion or diminish quality of service to customers.’’;
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘, except
that’’ and all that follows through the period at the
end of the subsection and inserting a period; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(g) SPECIALTY CROPS COORDINATOR.—The Cor-
poration shall establish a senior-level position to be known
as the Specialty Crops Coordinator. The Specialty Crops
Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for address-
ing the needs of specialty crop producers and for providing
information and advice in connection with the Corpora-
tion’s activities to improve and expand the insurance pro-
gram for specialty crops. In carrying out such responsibil-