An act to provide for the development of State plans for the construction and improvement of subterminal storage and transportation facilities for certain types of agricultural commodities within the State or within a group of States acting together on a regional basis, and to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize loans for the construction and improvement of such facilities, and for other purposes.
PL 96-358 (S.261), enacted 09/25/1980

94 STAT. 1184 
PUBLIC LAW 96-358—SEPT. 25, 1980 
Public Law 96-358 
96th Congress 
An Act 
Sept. 25,1980 
fo provide for the development of State plans for the construction and improvement 
[S. 261] 
of subterminal storage and transportation facilities for certain types of agricul-
tural commodities within the State or within a group of States acting together on 
a regional basis, and to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
Act to authorize loans for the construction and improvement of such facilities, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
Agricultural 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be 
FacmS^Aitof 
*^i*®^ ^ *^® "^Agricultural Subterminal Facilities Act of 1980". 
1980. 
7 use 3701 note. 
FINDINGS 
7 use 3701. 
SEC. 2. Congress finds and declares that— 
(1) an adequate system for the efficient transient storage and 
movement of bulk agricultural commodities is essential to the 
overall success of the agricultural industry of the Nation, the 
development of rural areas of the Nation, and the economic 
stability of the Nation; 
(2) the movement and storage of bulk agricultural commodities 
has been seriously and repeatedly impeded by shortages of 
transient storage facilities, adequate rail rolling stock, and the 
deterioration of many railroad track beds and rural highways 
throughout the United States; 
(3) the efficient movement and storage of bulk agricultural 
commodities may be achieved and facilitated by the joint location 
at strategic points throughout the United States of transient 
storage facilities and multimodal terminal facilities constructed 
especially for the efficient shipment and receipt of agricultural 
commodities; and 
(4) the location of such facilities must be carefully planned to 
assure maximum benefits to producers of agricultural commod-
ities and unprocessed agricultural products and utilization of the 
most efficient means of transporting bulk agricultural commod-
ities for domestic and export markets. 
DEFINITIONS 
7 use 3702. 
ggQ 3 ^g ygg(j ijj ^jjig p^^^ jTj^Q term— 
(1) "bulk agricultural commodity" means any agricultural 
commodity that can be transported in bulk and can be temporar-
ily stored in bulk quantities without undergoing processing or 
packaging. Such term also includes any commodity or product 
that is used by producers in the production of agricultural 
commodities and that can be stored or shipped in bulk, such as 
fertilizer and fuel; 
(2) "unprocessed agricultural products" means food, fiber, and 
other agricultural products that have not been packaged or 
otherwise prepared for retail sale, including animal products and 
PUBLIC LAW 96-358—SEPT. 25, 1980 
94 STAT. 1185 
unfinished cotton, wool, leather, or any other unfinished natural 
material; 
(3) "Secretary" means Secretary of Agriculture; 
(4) "subterminal facility" means any facility that is located in 
the area of production or consumption of agricultural commod-
ities or any major storage or major export point for such 
commodities and is located at a place that conveniently serves 
the needs of producers, purchsisers, and consumers of bulk 
agricultural commodities, and is— 
(A) used for the transient storage of bulk agricultural 
commodities and may include equipment or structures nec-
essary for the transportation, upgrading, receiving, drying, 
or loading out of such commodities; or 
(B) any rail siding, loading, or unloading facility that can 
accommodate unit railroad trains or multiple car trains and 
other appropriate transportation modes designed for the 
transport of bulk agricultural commodities and production 
materials; and 
(5) "region" means two or more States acting together to 
develop a coordinated regional subterminal facilities plan. 
STATE AND REGIONAL PLANS; PLANNING GRANTS 
SEC. 4. (a)(1) The Secretary shall, beginning not more than one '
^ ^^^ ^'^^^ 
hundred and eighty days after the effective date of this Act, make 
financial assistance available to any State that makes application 
therefor, and that otherwise meets the requirements of this section, 
for the purpose of assisting such State in the development of a 
subterminal facilities plan (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 
"State plan") for such State. Assistance under this section shall be 
made available in the form of a grant. No grant may be made to any 
State unless the Governor of such State or the appropriate agency of 
such State makes an application therefor as provided in this section. 
To the maximum extent practicable, the personnel and resources of 
the colleges or universities in the State which are eligible to receive 
funds under the Act of July 2,1862 (7 U.S.C. 301-305,307, and 308), or 
the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321-326 and 328), including 
Tuskegee Institute, shall be utilized in developing the subtermin^ 
facilities plan for that State pursuant to this section. 
(2) The Secretary may also make grants under this section availa-
ble to two or more States acting together to develop a coordinated 
regional subterminal facilities plan (hereinafter in this Act referred 
to as the "regional plan") for such region. 
(3) Grants made under this section to any State or region may not 
exceed 80 per centum of the cost of preparing the State or regional 
plan. 
(4) The State or regional plan shall prescribe in detail the actions 
such State or region proposes to take in order to (A) facilitate the 
efficient and competitive movement of bulk agricultural commodities 
from the points of production within such State or region to major 
market or export points, (B) provide adequate storage facilities for 
such commodities between points of production and market, (C) 
provide adequate receiving, storage, and loading facilities for any 
bulk agricultural commodity, and (D) assure that such facilities will 
be located at sites that will result in maximum benefits to local 
producers. 
(5) Each State or regional plan shall include the following: 
94 STAT. 1186 
PUBLIC LAW 96-358—SEPT. 25, 1980 
(A) an analysis of the marketing, shipping, storage, and pro-
duction of bulk agricultural commodities produced in that State 
or region and the short- and long-range projections with respect 
to the marketing, shipping, storage, and production of such 
commodities in that State or region; 
(B) a determination, on the basis of the analysis and projections 
required under clause (A) of this paragraph, of the needs of the 
State or region for subterminal facilities; 
(C) an assessment of the use of existing on-farm storage 
facilities located within the State or region and an assessment of 
the ways in which subterminal facilities can benefit the contin-
ued use of on-farm storage facilities; 
(D) an evaluation of the effect of the development of new 
subterminal facilities on small capacity rural shipping and 
storage facilities within the State or region; 
(E) an evaluation of ways to ensure adequate rail service for 
subterminal facilities described in clause (D) of this paragraph, 
including an evaluation of the use and feasibility of contract 
rates; 
(F) an assessment of the ways that subterminal facilities can 
enhance the operation of small capacity shipping and storage 
facilities within the State or region; 
(G) an assessment of other actions being taken or considered in 
such State or region for the improvement of agricultural trans-
portation, including an evaluation of the use being made of 
shuttle or collector trains and combinations of rail and barge 
service; 
(H) an evaluation of the potential benefits of subterminal 
ownership and leasing arrangements for rail rolling stock 
(including locomotive power), motor trucks, barge equipment, 
and other bulk agricultural commodity transport equipment 
that may help achieve maximum benefits from the operation of 
subterminal facilities within the State or region; 
(I) an assessment of the overall transportation system in the 
State or region and future plans for that overall system, includ-
ing the adequacy of 
highways and bridges; and 
(J) consideration of the feasibility and advisability of the 
ownership and operation of rail branch lines by farmer-owned 
cooperatives, and the role that such cooperatives might play in 
any overall planning for the restructuring and rehabilitation of 
rail service and marketing facilities within the State or region. 
Plan review 
(b) Funds made available to a State or region under this Act for the 
commission. 
purposes of assisting such State or region to develop a plan shall be 
subject to the condition that the State or region establish a plan 
review commission composed of local producers, local elevator opera-
tors, representatives of affected motor and rail carriers, other inter-
ested individuals, and, when appropriate in the judgment of the 
Secretary, consumers of bulk agricultural commodities used in the 
production of unprocessed agricultural products. A majority of the 
members of any plan review commission must be local producers or, 
when appropriate in the judgment of the Secretary, consumers of 
bulk agricultural commodities used in the production of unprocessed 
agricultural products. The plan review commission shall consider the 
information and analyses developed by the State or region in the 
development of a State or regional plan and make appropriate 
recommendations regarding the State or regional plan. The plan 
review commission shall also make recommendations, based on 
PUBLIC LAW 96-358—SEPT. 25, 1980 
94 STAT. 1187 
Grants. 
information developed in the plan, for the most beneficial location of 
subterminal facilities. 
(c) No application for planning assistance authorized pursuant to Applications, 
this section may be submitted by a State or region until the appropri-
ate plan review commission established in accordance with this Act 
has had the opportunity to make recommendations to the Governor 
or Governors that a need exists for the development of a State or 
regional plan, and a majority of the members of such plan review 
commission concur that such application should be submitted. 
(d) No State or region may receive a grant under this section 
unless— 
(1) an application therefor has been submitted that complies 
with the provisions of this Act; 
(2) the average annual production of bulk agricultural com-
modities produced within such State or region, or shipments of 
such commodities transported into such State or region, meets 
minimum levels established by the Secretary for a period the 
Secretary considers appropriate preceding the year in which 
application for such grant is made; 
(3) the Governor of such State or the Governors of the States in 
such region certify to the Secretary that producers of agricul-
tural commodities have experienced serious storage and trans-
portation problems within such State or region during the three 
years preceding the year in which application for such grant is 
made; and 
(4) such State or each State within such region has established 
an adequate plan, as described in section 5(j) of the Department 
of Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 1654(j)), for rail service in such 
State or States, or such State or each State in such region is 
actively developing such a plan. 
(e) Whenever any State or region has submitted a State or regional 
plan under this section, the Secretary shall approve such plan only if 
it has been approved by a majority of the members of the appropriate 
plan review commission established pursuant to this Act, and it 
meets the other conditions specified in this Act and those prescribed 
in regulations issued by the Secretary to carry out this Act. When 
a plan is approved by the Secretary, such plan shall be known 
as an "approved State plan" or an "approved regional plan", as 
appropriate. 
(f) To carry out the purposes of this section, there are authorized to 
be appropriated not to exceed $3,300,000 for each of the fiscal years 
ending September 30, 1981, September 30, 1982, and September 30, 
1983. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
LOANS UNDER THE CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT 
SEC. 5. Section 310B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop-
ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1932) is amended by adding at the end thereof a 
new subsection (e) as follows: 
"(e)(1) The Secretary may also insure and guarantee loans under 
this section to public, private, or cooperative organizations organized 
for profit or nonprofit, or to individuals for the purpose of construct-
ing or improving subterminal facilities i
f
— 
"(A) the construction or improvement of such facilities is 
consistent with the appropriate approved State or regional plans 
and the recommendations of the local plan review commission 
established pursuant to the Agricultural Subterminal Facilities 
Act of 1980; 
Ante, p. 1184. 
94 STAT. 1188 
PUBLIC LAW 96-358—SEPT. 25, 1980 
Stock purchase. 
Allocations. 
Ante, p. 1184. 
"Subterminal 
facility." 
"(B) the Secretary determines that the ownership and oper-
ation of such subterminal facilities will result in the efficient and 
competitive movement of bulk agricultural commodities and will 
return increased benefits to the local producers served by such 
facilities; and 
"(C) the Secretary determines that the rail carrier designated 
to provide service to any such facility will be able to provide 
adequate service. 
Such loans may be made available for purchase of rail rolling stock 
(including locomotives), motor trucks, barges, and other bulk agricul-
tural commodities transport equipment to be used in conjunction 
with the operation of subterminal facilities. 
"(2) The Secretary may only insure or guarantee loans under this 
subsection if the Secretary finds that applicants are unable to obtain 
credit from commercial lending institutions (including specialized 
lending institutions established to provide credit to agricultural 
producers) on reasonable terms and conditions. 
"(3) In order to preserve local ownership and control of agricultural 
transportation facilities, the Secretary shall give preference under 
this subsection to existing agricultural elevator operators and local 
producers in areas in which subterminal facilities are proposed to be 
located. 
"(4)(A) The total amount of loan authority made available for use 
for the purpose of this subsection for any fiscal year shall be allocated 
by the Secretary on the basis of need among those States that have 
approved State or regional plans as defined in the Agricultural 
Subterminal Facilities Act of 1980. Such allocation shall be based on 
such formula as the Secretary shall prescribe by regulation. 
"(B) Any loan authority available for use in any State in any fiscal 
year that is not used by such State shall be reallocated, to the extent 
practicable, among other States eligible for the assistance provided 
under this section, in accordance with the same formula developed by 
the Secretary for the initial allocation of loan authority under th& 
subsection. 
"(5) As used in this subsection, the term 'subterminal facility' has 
the same meaning as provided in the Agricultural Subterminal 
Facilities Act of 1980. 
PUBLIC LAW 96-358—SEPT. 25, 1980 
94 STAT. 1189 
"(6) Within one hundred and eighty days after the effective date of Regulations. 
the Agricultural Subterminal Facilities Act of 1980, the Secretary ^"^«' P II84. 
shall establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary to 
implement the provisions of this subsection.". 
EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 6. The provisions of this Act shall become effective October 1, 7 use 3701 note. 
1980. 
Approved September 25, 1980. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 96-995 accompanying H.R. 7141 (Ck)mm. on Agriculture). 
SENATE REPORT No. 96-159 (Comm. on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 125 (1979): 
May 23, considered and passed Senate. 
June 3, H.R. 7141 considered and passed House; passage vacated and S. 261, 
amended, passed in lieu. 
Sept. 11, Senate concurred in House amendments.