| S 1309 IS
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1309
To provide emergency
assistance to producers that have suffered crop losses due to disasters.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED
STATES
June 20, 2003
Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself and
Mr. PRYOR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To provide emergency
assistance to producers that have suffered crop losses due to disasters.
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 Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2003'.
SEC. 2. CROP LOSS ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary
of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the `Secretary') shall use such
sums as are necessary of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation
to make emergency financial assistance available to producers on a farm
that have incurred losses in a 2003 crop due to a disaster, as determined
by the Secretary.
(b) ADMINISTRATION- Subject
to subsection (a), the Secretary shall make assistance available under
this section in the same manner as provided under section 1102 of the Agriculture,
Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1999 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note; Public Law 105-277), including using the
same loss thresholds as were used in administering that section.
(c) QUALIFYING LOSSES- Assistance
under this section may be made for losses associated with crops that are,
as determined by the Secretary--
(3) severe economic losses
due to damaging weather or related condition.
(d) CROPS COVERED- Assistance
under this section shall be applicable to losses for all crops (including
losses of trees from which a crop is harvested, livestock, and fisheries),
as determined by the Secretary, due to disasters.
(e) CROP INSURANCE- In carrying
out this section, the Secretary shall not discriminate against or penalize
producers on a farm that have purchased crop insurance under the Federal
Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
SEC. 3. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.
The Secretary shall use
the funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation
to carry out this Act.
SEC. 4. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.
(a) IN GENERAL- The entire
amount made available under this Act shall be available only to the extent
that the President submits to Congress an official budget request for a
specific dollar amount that includes designation of the entire amount of
the request as an emergency requirement for the purposes of the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.).
(b) DESIGNATION- The entire
amount made available under this Act is designated by Congress as an emergency
requirement under sections 251(b)(2)(A) and 252(e) of that Act (2 U.S.C.
901(b)(2)(A), 902(e)).
SEC. 5. 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.
END
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