HR 301 IH

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to make emergency loans under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act and provide emergency assistance under the Livestock Assistance Program to poultry farmers whose energy costs have escalated sharply.

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to make emergency loans under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act and provide emergency assistance under the Livestock Assistance Program to poultry farmers whose energy costs have escalated sharply.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Poultry Farmers' Emergency Energy Assistance Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that--

(1) sudden and dramatic increases in energy prices have caused an economic disaster in the poultry farming industry; and

(2) such an economic disaster is as devastating to a community as a natural disaster and should be regarded as such.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY LOANS FOR POULTRY FARMERS WHOSE ENERGY COSTS HAVE ESCALATED SHARPLY.

A qualified energy price increase found by the Secretary of Agriculture to have been experienced by a poultry farming operation shall be considered a natural disaster for purposes of subtitle C of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, but only with respect to such an operation.

SEC. 4. IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR POULTRY FARMERS WHOSE ENERGY COSTS HAVE ESCALATED SHARPLY.

(a) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE- As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide financial assistance directly to poultry farming operations that the Secretary finds had a qualified energy price increase to assist the operations in covering all or a portion of the higher operating costs incurred as a result of the increase in energy prices.

(b) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION- The eligibility of a poultry farming operation for assistance under this section does not require either the existence of a natural disaster in the county in which the poultry farming operation is located or an emergency designation by the President or the Secretary.

(c) FUNDING- The Secretary shall use funds made available under section 806 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted by Public Law 106-387; 114 Stat. 1549A-51), for the Livestock Assistance Program to provide assistance to poultry farming operations under this section.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) POULTRY FARMING OPERATION- The term `poultry farming operation' means a farming operation used for the production of poultry for commercial purposes. The term includes a poultry farming operation in which the operator raises poultry owned by another person under a contractual agreement, but has a financial interest and risk in the production.

(2) POULTRY- The term `poultry' includes poultry used for the production of eggs and poultry raised for slaughter.

(3) QUALIFIED ENERGY PRICE INCREASE- The term `qualified energy price increase' means, with respect to a poultry farming operation, that the average price paid for energy for the operation during the period that began on January 1, 2000, and ended on the date of the enactment of this Act is at least 25 percent greater than the average price paid for energy for the operation during the period that began on January 1, 1997, and ended on December 31, 1999.