Agriculture Hurricane Recovery Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-2009
Sponsor: Sen. Martinez, Mel [R-FL]
Introduced: 2005-11-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Administrative fees
Administrative procedure
Agricultural conservation
Agricultural credit
Agricultural labor
Agricultural machinery
Alabama
Animals
Aquaculture
Building construction
Capital gains tax
Citrus fruits
Commerce
Crop insurance
Department of Agriculture
Depreciation and amortization
Disaster loans
Disaster relief
Economics and Public Finance
Energy
Environmental Protection
Farms
Finance and Financial Sector
Fines (Penalties)
Fisheries
Floods
Florida
Food relief
Food safety
Forestry
Fruit
Gasoline
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Grazing
Home repair and improvement
Horticulture
Housing and Community Development
Housing subsidies
Hurricane aftermath legislation
Hurricanes
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Law
Livestock
Losses
Louisiana
Lumber trade
Maintenance and repair
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marketing
Migrant labor
Mississippi
Nuts
Off-budget expenditures
Poultry
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Red tide
Reforestation
Refuse and refuse disposal
Residential rehabilitation
Seafood
Seasonal labor
Seeds
Shellfish
Small business
Soil erosion
Sugar
Tax deductions
Taxation
Texas
Transportation and Public Works
Trees
Tropical agriculture
Vegetables
Water Resources Development
Water quality
Wetlands

Summary:
action_date: 2005-11-15
text: 
Agriculture Hurricane Recovery Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency assistance to farm or aquacultural producers (other than sugarcane producers) in a disaster county who incurred qualifying crop or quality losses with respect to the 2004, 2005, or 2006 crop due to damaging weather or related condition. Limits: (1) assistance to only one crop year; and (2) 2006 crop losses to only those losses caused by a 2005 hurricane or tropical storm.
 
 Directs the Secretary to make emergency financial assistance to: (1) commercial ornamental nursery and fernery producers in a disaster county for eligible inventory losses due to a 2005 hurricane; (2) tropical fruit producers in a disaster county who have suffered a qualifying loss due to a 2005 hurricane; (3) citrus and vegetable producers in a disaster county for losses caused by a 2005 hurricane or tropical storm; (4) certain sugar processors in Florida and Louisiana to compensate first processors and producers for crop and other losses related to 2005 hurricanes, tropical storms, excessive rains, and floods; (5) livestock producers in a disaster county for 2005 or 2006 losses (as elected by a producer); and (6) producers in a disaster county for specified infrastructure losses caused by a 2005 hurricane.
 
Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to include nursery trees, Christmas trees, pecan trees, timber, and forest products in the tree assistance program. Waives specified cost-sharing requirements related to 2005 hurricane assistance.
 
Amends the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to include nursery or fernery crop producers in the emergency conservation program. Provides assistance for farm producers in a disaster county for repairing structures, barns, storage facilities, poultry houses, beehives, greenhouses, and shade houses due to 2005 hurricane damage.
 
Provides emergency grants for low-income migrant and seasonal farmworker assistance.
 
Provides assistance for: (1) reseeding, rehabilitation, and restoration of oyster reefs in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, or Mississippi; (2) fisheries disaster assistance; and (3) lump sum payments to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida for assistance to persons in a disaster county who have experienced significant economic hardship due to the loss of fisheries, oysters, lobsters, stone crabs, or clams, destroyed or damaged processing facilities, or closures due to red tide or other water quality issues. 
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to timber losses resulting from Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, or Wilma to: (1) increase allowable reforestation expenses; and (2) exempt such losses from capital loss limits.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-11-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S12844-12847)
action_date: 2005-11-15
text: Introduced in Senate