[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2552 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2552

 To require the payment of an indemnity to sugar beet producers in the 
State of Minnesota for losses sustained to the 2000 crop of sugar beets 
as a result of a late season freeze when the damage to the sugar beets 
 did not fully manifest itself until after delivery of the crop to the 
                               processor.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2001

   Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the payment of an indemnity to sugar beet producers in the 
State of Minnesota for losses sustained to the 2000 crop of sugar beets 
as a result of a late season freeze when the damage to the sugar beets 
 did not fully manifest itself until after delivery of the crop to the 
                               processor.

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

SECTION 1. INDEMNITY MANDATED FOR CERTAIN SUGAR BEET PRODUCERS FOR 2000 
              CROP YEAR LOSSES.

    (a) Availability of Indemnity.--The Federal Crop Insurance 
Corporation shall administer the sugar beet crop insurance provisions 
contained in section 457.109 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, 
to guarantee the payment of an indemnity to sugar beet producers in 
certain counties in the State of Minnesota that suffered late season 
freeze damage to their 2000 sugar beet crop, as described in Bulletin 
No. MGR-01-010 of the Risk management Agency, dated March 2, 2001.
    (b) Calculation of Indemnity.--Producers covered by the bulletin 
shall receive an indemnity under this section that is calculated in the 
manner prescribed by section 13(e) of the sugar beet crop insurance 
provisions, subject to the following:
            (1) The indemnity shall be calculated on all beets damaged 
        in the freeze, without regard to whether the sugar beets were 
        discarded or processed by the processor.
            (2) All sugar beets of the 2000 crop received by that 
        processor after October 6, 2000, shall be deemed to have failed 
        to meet the minimum acceptable standards of the applicable 
        sugar beet processor contract.
            (3) The ``gross dollar value of all damaged sugar beets on 
        the unit'' (as used in section 13(e)(1) of the sugar beet crop 
        insurance provisions) shall be deemed to mean the value of the 
        payment owed to the producer for such sugar beets from that 
        cooperative.
    (c) Waiver of Certain Requirements.--The indemnity required to be 
paid pursuant to this section shall be paid without regard to the 
requirement for timely notice of damage or loss under the crop 
insurance policy and notwithstanding any other provision of law.
    (d) Protection for Insurance Providers.--Notwithstanding the terms 
of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement in effect for the 2000 crop year 
between the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and participating 
insurance companies, the Corporation shall compensate each private 
insurance provider for any indemnities the provider pays, and 
associated loss adjustment and other expenses the provider incurs, as a 
result of implementation of this section. Claims paid by the 
Corporation under this section shall not be considered as part of any 
reinsurance pool for purposes of the annual settlement under the 
Standard Reinsurance Agreement.
    (e) Review To Avoid Repetition of Situation.--The Federal Crop 
Insurance Corporation shall enter into a contract for a review of the 
operation of the sugar beet policy to recommend changes to the policy 
to ensure that sugar beet producers are effectively covered from the 
peril of late season freezes as occurred with the 2000 crop in 
Minnesota. The Corporation shall amend the policy in time for the 2003 
crop year to implement the recommendations developed in the review.
                                 <all>