| S 2086 IS
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2086
To provide emergency
agriculture assistance.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED
STATES
April 10, 2002
Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To provide emergency
agriculture assistance.
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 `Emergency Agriculture Assistance Act of 2002'.
SEC. 2. INCOME LOSS ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary
of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the `Secretary') shall use $1,800,000,000
of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial
assistance available to producers on a farm that have incurred qualifying
income losses in calendar year 2001, including losses due to army worms.
(b) ADMINISTRATION- The
Secretary shall make assistance available under this section in the same
manner as provided under section 815 of the Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2001 (Public Law 106-387; 114 Stat. 1549A-55), including using the same
loss thresholds for the quantity and economic losses as were used in administering
that section.
(c) USE OF FUNDS FOR CASH
PAYMENTS- The Secretary may use funds made available under this section
to make, in a manner consistent with this section, cash payments not for
crop disasters, but for income loss to carry out the purposes of this section.
SEC. 3. LIVESTOCK ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary
shall use $500,000,000 of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation
to make and administer payments for livestock losses to producers for 2001
losses in a county that has received an emergency designation by the President
or the Secretary after January 1, 2001, of which $12,000,000 shall be made
available for the American Indian livestock program under section 806 of
the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-387; 114 Stat. 1549A-51).
(b) ADMINISTRATION- The
Secretary shall make assistance available under this section in the same
manner as provided under section 806 of the Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2001 (Public Law 105-277; 114 Stat. 1549A-51).
SEC. 4. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE
FOR APPLE PRODUCERS.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary
of Agriculture shall use $100,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit
Corporation for fiscal year 2002 to make payments to apple producers, as
soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, for the loss
of markets during the 2000 crop year.
(b) PAYMENT QUANTITY- A
payment to the producers on a farm for the 2000 crop year under this section
shall be made on the lesser of--
(1) the quantity of apples
produced by the producers on the farm during the 2000 crop year; or
(2) 5,000,000 pounds of
apples.
(c) LIMITATIONS- The Secretary
shall not establish a payment limitation, or income eligibility limitation,
with respect to payments made under this section.
SEC. 5. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.
The Secretary shall use
the funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation
to carry out this Act.
SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.
(a) IN GENERAL- In addition
to funds otherwise available, not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture
to pay the salaries and expenses of the Department of Agriculture in carrying
out this Act $50,000,000, to remain available until expended.
(b) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE-
The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use
to carry out this Act the funds transferred under subsection (a), without
further appropriation.
SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary
may promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement this Act.
(b) PROCEDURE- The promulgation
of the regulations and administration of this Act shall be made without
regard to--
(1) the notice and comment
provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code;
(2) the Statement of Policy
of the Secretary of Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804),
relating to notices of proposed rulemaking and public participation in
rulemaking; and
(3) chapter 35 of title
44, United States Code (commonly known as the `Paperwork Reduction Act').
(c) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW
OF AGENCY RULEMAKING- In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall
use the authority provided under section 808 of title 5, United States
Code.
SEC. 8. EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.
The entire amount necessary
to carry out this Act is designated by Congress as an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(e)).
END
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