To provide emergency disaster assistance to agricultural producers to respond to severe crop losses and livestock losses incurred in 2001 and 2002, and for other purposes.

January 8, 2003

Mr. MORAN of Kansas (for himself, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. GOODE, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. MOORE, Mr. WELLER, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. REHBERG, and Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

To provide emergency disaster assistance to agricultural producers to respond to severe crop losses and livestock losses incurred in 2001 and 2002, and for other purposes.

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 `Farm Disaster Emergency Assistance Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) Due in large part to weather-related disasters in 2001 and 2002, increases in commodity prices will result in cost savings under title I of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) of approximately $5,600,000,000 in fiscal year 2003.

(2) The amount of funds made available by this Act to compensate producers adversely impacted by weather-related disasters that occurred in 2001 and 2002, together with actual expenditures under title I of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, will still be less than the amount allocated for agriculture in the budget baseline for fiscal year 2002.

SEC. 3. CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

(a) ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE- The Secretary of Agriculture (in this Act referred to as the `Secretary') shall use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial assistance available to producers on a farm that have incurred qualifying losses for the 2001 or 2002 crop of an agricultural commodity due to damaging weather or related condition, as determined by the Secretary.

(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 (as enacted into law by Public Law 106-387; 114 Stat. 1549A-55), including using the same loss thresholds for quantity and quality losses as were used in administering that section.

(c) ELECTION OF CROP YEAR- If a producer incurred qualifying crop losses in both the 2001 and 2002 crop years, the producer shall elect to receive assistance under this section for losses incurred in either the 2001 crop year or the 2002 crop year, but not both.

(d) PAYMENT LIMITATION-

(1) LIMITATION- Assistance provided under this section to a producer for losses to a crop, together with the amounts specified in paragraph (2) applicable to the same crop, may not exceed what the value of the crop would have been in the absence of the losses, as estimated by the Secretary.

(2) OTHER PAYMENTS- In applying the limitation in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include the following:

(A) Any crop insurance payment or payment under section 196 of the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) that the producer receives for losses to the same crop.

(B) The value of the crop that was not lost (if any), as estimated by the Secretary.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE FOR LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS.

(a) ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE- The Secretary shall use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make emergency financial assistance, as authorized in section 10104 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-171; 7 U.S.C. 1472), available to livestock producers that have incurred losses in a county that received an emergency designation by the President or the Secretary in calendar year 2001 or 2002. The Secretary may reserve a portion of the funds available to carry out this section for the American Indian Livestock Feed Program.

(b) ELECTION OF DISASTER YEARS- If a producer incurred livestock losses in a county that received an emergency designation by the President or Secretary in both calendar year 2001 and 2002, the producer shall elect to receive assistance under this section for losses incurred in either 2001 or 2002, but not both.

(c) RELATION TO OTHER PAYMENTS- Assistance provided under this section to a producer for livestock losses shall be reduced (but not below zero) by any amount received by the producer for the same losses under the livestock loss compensation program announced by the Secretary on September 19, 2002.

(d) ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME LIMITATION- The Secretary shall apply the adjusted gross income limitation under section 1001D of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-3a) to the provision of assistance under this section in lieu of any other income limitation that the Secretary would otherwise apply to the provision of such assistance.

SEC. 5. INELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.

(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

(1) INSURABLE COMMODITY- The term `insurable commodity' means an agricultural commodity (excluding livestock) for which the producers on a farm are eligible to obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

(2) NONINSURABLE COMMODITY- The term `noninsurable commodity' means an eligible crop for which the producers on a farm are eligible to obtain assistance under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333).

(b) INELIGIBILITY- Except as provided in subsection (c), the producers on a farm shall not be eligible for assistance under section 3 with respect to losses to an insurable commodity or noninsurable commodity if the producers on the farm--

(1) in the case of an insurable commodity, did not obtain a policy or plan of insurance for the insurable commodity under the Federal Crop Insurance Act for the crop incurring the losses; and

(2) in the case of a noninsurable commodity, did not file the required paperwork, and pay the administrative fee by the applicable State filing deadline, for the noninsurable commodity under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 for the crop incurring the losses.

(c) CONTRACT WAIVER- The Secretary may waive the application of subsection (b) to the producers on a farm if the producers on the farm enter into a contract with the Secretary under which the producers on the farm agree--

(1) in the case of an insurable commodity, to obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act for the insurable commodity for each of the next three crops that provides a level of coverage at least equal to the level available under catastrophic risk protection; and

(2) in the case of a noninsurable commodity, to file the required paperwork, and pay the administrative fee by the applicable State filing deadline, for the noninsurable commodity for each of the next three crops under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996.

(d) EFFECT OF VIOLATION- On violation of a contract under subsection (c) by a producer, the producer shall reimburse the Secretary for the full amount of the assistance provided to the producer under section 3. In the case of an insurable commodity, the Secretary shall also impose a civil money penalty for the violation in an amount equal to the producer-cost of a 65/100 crop insurance policy on each crop for which the producer agreed to purchase crop insurance, but did not, in the three-year period.

SEC. 6. REPLENISHMENT OF SECTION 32 FUNDS.

The Secretary shall transfer $250,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to the account available to the Secretary under section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c).

SEC. 7. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.

The Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out this Act.

SEC. 8. REGULATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Agriculture 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