| S 1626 IS
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1626
To provide emergency
disaster assistance to agricultural producers.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED
STATES
September 17, 2003
Mr. DAYTON introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To provide emergency
disaster assistance to agricultural producers.
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 DISASTER ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL- Subject
to subsections (b) through (d), the Secretary of Agriculture (referred
to in this Act as the `Secretary') shall use such sums as are necessary
of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial
assistance authorized under this section available to producers on a farm
that have incurred qualifying crop losses for the 2001, 2002, or 2003 crop,
or any combination of those crops, due to damaging weather or related condition,
as determined by the Secretary.
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as
provided in paragraph (2), 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 quality losses
as were used in administering that section.
(2) PAYMENT RATES- The Secretary
shall make a disaster payment available to producers on a farm for a crop
under this section at a rate equal to--
(A) 40 percent of the established
price for the crop for any deficiency in production greater than 20 percent,
but less than 35 percent, for the crop; and
(B) 65 percent of the established
price for the crop for any deficiency in production of 35 percent or more
for the crop.
(c) 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.).
(d) OTHER ASSISTANCE- Subject
to subsection (c), the amount of assistance that producers on a farm would
otherwise receive under this section shall be reduced by the amount of
assistance provided to the producers on the farm for crop losses described
in subsection (a) under any other Federal law.
SEC. 3. LIVESTOCK ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL- Subject
to subsections (b) through (c), the Secretary shall use such sums as are
necessary of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation as are necessary
to make and administer payments for livestock losses to producers for 2001,
2002, or 2003, or any combination of those years, in a county that has
received a corresponding emergency designation by the President or the
Secretary, of which an amount determined by the Secretary 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. 1549,
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 106-387; 114 Stat. 1549, 1549A-51).
(c) OTHER ASSISTANCE- The
amount of assistance that a producer would otherwise receive under this
section shall be reduced by the amount of assistance provided to the producer
for losses described in subsection (a) under any other Federal law.
SEC. 4. FUNDING.
Of the funds of the Commodity
Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use such sums as are necessary
to carry out this Act, to remain available until expended.
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.
SEC. 6. 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 section 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. 7. BUDGETARY TREATMENT.
Notwithstanding Rule 3 of
the Budget Scorekeeping Guidelines set forth in the Joint Explanatory Statement
of the Committee of Conference accompanying Conference Report No. 105-217,
the provisions of this Act that would have been estimated by the Office
of Management and Budget as changing direct spending or receipts under
section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985 (2 U.S.C. 902) were it included in an Act other than an appropriation
Act shall be treated as direct spending or receipts legislation, as appropriate,
under section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 902).
END
|