[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2496 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2496

 To amend the wetland conservation provisions of the Food Security Act 
 of 1985 to assist agricultural producers in receiving prompt and fair 
     resolution of complaints alleging producer violations of such 
 provisions and to limit the application of the program ineligibility 
  sanction to the farm on which a violation of such provisions occurs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 18, 1995

   Mr. Buyer (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. 
   Jacobs, Mr. Bereuter, and Mr. Bryant of Tennessee) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the wetland conservation provisions of the Food Security Act 
 of 1985 to assist agricultural producers in receiving prompt and fair 
     resolution of complaints alleging producer violations of such 
 provisions and to limit the application of the program ineligibility 
  sanction to the farm on which a violation of such provisions occurs.

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

SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF WETLAND CONSERVATION PROVISIONS.

    (a) Authority of State Director To Waive Fines and Penalties.--
Section 1222 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3822) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as subsection 
        (j) and (k), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(i) Additional Good Faith Exemption.--The executive director of a 
State committee appointed by the Secretary under section 8(b)(5) of the 
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(d)) may 
waive or reduce the extent of a person's ineligibility for program 
benefits proposed or imposed under section 1221, or any fine or 
reduction in program benefits proposed or imposed in lieu of program 
ineligibility, in connection with a violation of section 1221 in that 
State if the executive director determines that the violation involves 
not more than five acres and the person acted in good faith without the 
intention to violate such section. An executive director shall make a 
determination under this subsection in consultation with the county or 
area committee established for the county or area in which the alleged 
violation occurred.''.
    (b) Continuation of Farming Practices Pending Appeal.--Section 1221 
of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3821) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(c) Continuation of Farming Practices Pending Appeal.--During the 
course of making a determination regarding the violation of this 
subtitle, and during the course of any review of such a determination, 
the Secretary may not prohibit or seek to prevent the person accused of 
the violation from raising an agricultural commodity on, or otherwise 
manipulating, the land that is the subject of the determination unless 
the person deviates from previous farming practices used with respect 
to the land.''.
    (c) Use of Certified Mail To Provide Notice of Violations.--Section 
1221 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3821) is further amended by inserting after 
subsection (c), as added by subsection (b) of this section, the 
following new subsection:
    ``(d) Notice of Violations.--The Secretary shall use certified mail 
to promptly notify a person who is alleged to be in violation of this 
section.''.
    (d) Program Ineligibility Limited to Violating Farm.--
            (1) Production on converted wetland.--Subsection (a) of 
        section 1221 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3821) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``on the farm 
                containing such converted wetland'' after ``crop year'' 
                in the matter preceding the subparagraphs;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``produced on 
                the farm containing such converted wetland and'' after 
                ``agricultural commodity''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``with respect 
                to the farm containing such converted wetland'' after 
                ``crop year'' in the matter preceding the 
                subparagraphs.
            (2) Conversion of wetland.--Subsection (b) of such section 
        is amended by inserting ``with respect to the farm on which the 
        wetland conversion occurs'' before the period at the end.
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