[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1798 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1798

  To amend the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 to clarify the acreage 
 limitations and incorporate a means test for certain farm operations, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 1996

 Mr. Feingold introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 to clarify the acreage 
 limitations and incorporate a means test for certain farm operations, 
                        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 ``Irrigation Subsidy Reduction Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Federal reclamation program has been in existence 
        for over 90 years, with an estimated taxpayer investment of 
        over $70,000,000,000;
            (2) the program has had and continues to have an enormous 
        effect on the water resources and aquatic environments of the 
        western States;
            (3) irrigation water made available from Federal water 
        projects in the West is a very valuable resource for which 
        there are increasing and competing demands;
            (4) the justification for providing water at less than full 
        cost was to benefit and promote the development of small family 
        farms and exclude large corporate farms, but this purpose has 
        been frustrated over the years due to inadequate implementation 
        of subsidy and acreage limits;
            (5) below-cost water prices tend to encourage excessive use 
        of scarce water supplies in the arid regions of the West, and 
        reasonable price increases to the wealthiest western farmers 
        would provide an economic incentive for greater water 
        conservation;
            (6) the Federal Government has increasingly applied 
        eligibility tests based on income for Federal entitlement and 
        subsidy programs, measures that are consistent with the 
        historic approach of the reclamation program's acreage 
        limitations that seek to limit water subsidies to smaller 
        farms; and
            (7) including a means test based on gross income in the 
        reclamation program will increase the effectiveness of carrying 
        out the family farm goals of the Federal reclamation laws.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 202 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 
(43 U.S.C. 390bb) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), (9), (10), and 
        (11) as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13), 
        respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (6) by striking ``owned or operated under 
        a lease which'' and inserting ``owned, leased, or operated by 
        an individual or legal entity and which'';
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
            ``(7) Legal entity.--The term `legal entity' includes a 
        corporation, association, partnership, trust, joint tenancy, or 
        tenancy in common, or any other entity that owns, leases, or 
        operates a farm operation for the benefit of more than 1 
        individual under any form of agreement or arrangement.
            ``(8) Operator.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `operator'--
                            ``(i) means an individual or legal entity 
                        that operates a single farm operation on a 
                        parcel (or parcels) of land that is owned or 
                        leased by another person (or persons) under any 
                        form of agreement or arrangement (or agreements 
                        or arrangements); and
                            ``(ii) if the individual or legal entity--
                                    ``(I) is an employee of an 
                                individual or legal entity, includes 
                                the individual or legal entity; or
                                    ``(II) is a legal entity that 
                                controls, is controlled by, or is under 
                                common control with another legal 
                                entity, includes each such other legal 
                                entity.
                    ``(B) Operation of a farm operation.--For the 
                purposes of subparagraph (A), an individual or legal 
                entity shall be considered to operate a farm operation 
                if the individual or legal entity is the person that 
                performs the greatest proportion of the decisionmaking 
                for and supervision of the agricultural enterprise on 
                land served with irrigation water.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(14) Single farm operation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `single farm operation' 
                means the total acreage of land served with irrigation 
                water for which an individual or legal entity is the 
                operator.
                    ``(B) Rules for determining whether separate 
                parcels are operated as a single farm operation.--
                            ``(i) Equipment- and labor-sharing 
                        activities.--The conduct of equipment- and 
                        labor-sharing activities on separate parcels of 
                        land by separate individuals or legal entities 
                        shall not by itself serve as a basis for 
                        concluding that the farming operations of the 
                        individuals or legal entities constitute a 
                        single farm operation.
                            ``(ii) Performance of certain services.--
                        The performance by an individual or legal 
                        entity of an agricultural chemical application, 
                        pruning, or harvesting for a farm operation on 
                        a parcel of land shall not by itself serve as a 
                        basis for concluding that the farm operation on 
                        that parcel of land is part of a single farm 
                        operation operated by the individual or entity 
                        on other parcels of land.''.
    (b) Identification of Owners, Lessees, and Operators and of Single 
Farm Operations.--The Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 39aa et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 201 the following:

``SEC. 201A. IDENTIFICATION OF OWNERS, LESSEES, AND OPERATORS AND OF 
              SINGLE FARM OPERATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), for each parcel of 
land to which irrigation water is delivered or proposed to be 
delivered, the Secretary shall identify a single individual or legal 
entity as the owner, lessee, or operator.
    ``(b) Shared Decisionmaking and Supervision.--If the Secretary 
determines that no single individual or legal entity is the owner, 
lessee, or other individual that performs the greatest proportion of 
decisionmaking for and supervision of the agricultural enterprise on a 
parcel of land--
            ``(1) all individuals and legal entities that own, lease, 
        or perform a proportion of decisionmaking and supervision that 
        is equal as among themselves but greater than the proportion 
        performed by any other individual or legal entity shall be 
        considered jointly to be the owner, lessee, or operator; and
            ``(2) all parcels of land of which any such individual or 
        legal entity is the owner, lessee, or operator shall be 
        considered to be part of the single farm operation of the 
        owner, lessee, or operator identified under subsection (1).
    (c) Pricing.--Section 205 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 
U.S.C. 390ee) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Single Farm Operations Generating More Than $500,000 in Gross 
Farm Income.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), 
        and (c), in the case of--
                    ``(A) a qualified recipient that reports gross farm 
                income from a single farm operation in excess of 
                $500,000 for a taxable year; or
                    ``(B) a limited recipient that received irrigation 
                water on or before October 1, 1981, and that reports 
                gross farm income from a single farm operation in 
                excess of $500,000 for a taxable year;
        irrigation water may be delivered to the single farm operation 
        of the qualified recipient or limited recipient at less than 
        full cost to a number of acres that does not exceed the number 
        of acres determined under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Maximum number of acres to which irrigation water may 
        be delivered at less than full cost.--The number of acres 
        determined under this subparagraph is the number equal to the 
        number of acres of the single farm operation multiplied by a 
        fraction, the numerator of which is $500,000 and the 
        denominator of which is the amount of gross farm income 
        reported by the qualified recipient or limited recipient in the 
        most recent taxable year.
            ``(3) Inflation adjustment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The $500,000 amount under 
                paragraphs (1) and (2) for any taxable year beginning 
                in a calendar year after 1997 shall be equal to the 
                product of--
                            ``(i) $500,000, multiplied by
                            ``(ii) the inflation adjustment factor for 
                        the taxable year.
                    ``(B) Inflation adjustment factor.--The term 
                `inflation adjustment factor' means, with respect to 
                any calendar year, a fraction the numerator of which is 
                the GDP implicit price deflator for the preceding 
                calendar year and the denominator of which is the GDP 
implicit price deflator for 1996. Not later than April 1 of any 
calendar year, the Secretary shall publish the inflation adjustment 
factor for the preceding calendar year.
                    ``(C) GDP implicit price deflator.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (B), the term `GDP implicit price 
                deflator' means the first revision of the implicit 
                price deflator for the gross domestic product as 
                computed and published by the Secretary of Commerce.
                    ``(D) Rounding.--If any increase determined under 
                subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $100, the 
                increase shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple 
                of $100.''.
    (d) Certification of Compliance.--Section 206 of the Reclamation 
Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390ff) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 206. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.

    ``(a) In General.--As a condition to the receipt of irrigation 
water for land in a district that has a contract described in section 
203, each owner, lessee, or operator in the district shall furnish the 
district, in a form prescribed by the Secretary, a certificate that the 
owner, lessee, or operator is in compliance with this title, including 
a statement of the number of acres owned, leased, or operated, the 
terms of any lease or agreement pertaining to the operation of a farm 
operation, and, in the case of a lessee or operator, a certification 
that the rent or other fees paid reflect the reasonable value of the 
irrigation water to the productivity of the land.
    ``(b) Documentation.--The Secretary may require a lessee or 
operator to submit for the Secretary's examination--
            ``(1) a complete copy of any lease or other agreement 
        executed by each of the parties to the lease or other 
        agreement; and
            ``(2) a copy of the return of income tax imposed by chapter 
        1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for any taxable year in 
        which the single farm operation of the lessee or operator 
        received irrigation water at less than full cost.''.
    (e) Trusts.--Section 214 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 
U.S.C. 390nn) is repealed.
    (f) Administrative Provisions.--
            (1) Penalties.--Section 224(c) of the Reclamation Reform 
        Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390ww(c)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``(c) The Secretary'' and inserting 
                the following:
    ``(c) Regulations; Data Collection; Penalties.--
            ``(1) Regulations; data collection.--The Secretary''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Penalties.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the Secretary shall establish appropriate and effective 
        penalties for failure to comply with any provision of this Act 
        or any regulation issued under this Act.''.
            (2) Interest.--Section 224(i) of the Reclamation Reform Act 
        of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390ww(i)) is amended by striking the last 
        sentence and inserting the following: ``The interest rate 
        applicable to underpayments shall be equal to the rate 
        applicable to expenditures under section 202(3)(C).''.
    (g) Reporting.--Section 228 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 
(43 U.S.C. 390zz) is amended by inserting ``operator or'' before 
``contracting entity'' each place it appears.
    (h) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Reclamation Reform Act of 
1982 (43 U.S.C. 390aa et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 229 and 230 as sections 230 
        and 231; and
            (2) by inserting after section 228 the following:

``SEC. 229. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.

    ``The Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall enter into a memorandum of understanding or other 
appropriate instrument to permit the Secretary, notwithstanding section 
6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, to have access to and use of 
available information collected or maintained by the Department of the 
Treasury and the Department of Agriculture that would aid enforcement 
of the ownership and pricing limitations of Federal reclamation law.''.
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