[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1177 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1177

  To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to permit the harvesting of 
crops on land subject to conservation reserve contracts for recovery of 
                   biomass used in energy production.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 27, 1999

 Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Kerrey, and Mr. Grassley) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to permit the harvesting of 
crops on land subject to conservation reserve contracts for recovery of 
                   biomass used in energy production.

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

SECTION 1. USE OF CONSERVATION RESERVE LAND FOR RECOVERY OF BIOMASS 
              USED IN ENERGY PRODUCTION.

    Section 1232(a)(7) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3832(a)(7)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``except that the Secretary may permit 
        harvesting'' and inserting ``except that the Secretary may 
        permit--
                    ``(A) harvesting'';
            (2) by striking ``emergency, and the Secretary may permit 
        limited'' and inserting ``emergency;
                    ``(B) limited'';
            (3) by inserting ``and'' after the semicolon at the end; 
        and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) harvesting of crops on land subject to the 
                contract for recovery of biomass used in energy 
                production if--
                            ``(i) the land is harvested not more than 
                        once annually;
                            ``(ii) no portion of the crop is used for 
                        any commercial purpose other than energy 
                        production from biomass;
                            ``(iii) the owner or operator agrees to a 
                        payment reduction under this section in an 
                        amount determined by the Secretary, except that 
                        the payment reduction shall not be in an amount 
                        that prevents the owner or operator from 
                        realizing a reasonable economic return; and
                            ``(iv) the owner or operator agrees to such 
                        other terms and conditions as the Secretary, in 
                        consultation with the State technical committee 
                        for the State, may establish to ensure that the 
                        harvesting minimizes disturbance of wildlife 
                        habitat and is otherwise consistent with the 
                        purposes of the program established under this 
                        subchapter.''.
                                 <all>