[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 92 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 92

 To provide emergency disaster assistance to agricultural producers to 
        respond to severe crop losses incurred in 2001 and 2002.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

  Mr. Graves introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide emergency disaster assistance to agricultural producers to 
        respond to severe crop losses incurred in 2001 and 2002.

    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 ``Companion Disaster Assistance 
Program Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. COMPANION DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Assistance Available.--The Secretary of Agriculture (in this 
section 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 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) 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.
    (c) Qualifying Losses.--Assistance under this section shall be 
provided for losses associated with crops that are quantity losses or 
quality losses, as determined by the Secretary.
    (d) Deductible.--The Secretary shall make assistance available to a 
producer with qualifying losses for losses exceeding 15 percent of the 
producer's historical yield, as determined by the Secretary.
    (e) Assistance Amount.--The amount of assistance made available to 
a producer shall be equal to the lesser of the following:
            (1) 40 percent of the product obtained by multiplying--
                    (A) 65 percent of the producer's historical yield, 
                as determined by the Secretary;
                    (B) the producer's acreage of the crop for the 
                relevant crop year; and
                    (C) 65 percent of the expected market price for the 
                crop, as determined by the Secretary.
            (2) 4 times the product obtained by multiplying--
                    (A) the percentage of qualifying losses of the 
                producer exceeding 15 percent of the producer's 
                historical yield, as determined by the Secretary; and
                    (B) the amount determined under paragraph (1).
    (f) Limitation.--Notwithstanding subsection (e), a producer may not 
receive assistance under this section for losses to more than one 2001 
crop or 2002 crop on the same acreage unless there is an established 
practice of planting two or more crops for harvest on such acreage in 
the same crop year, as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall 
give a producer that is not covered by the exception in the previous 
sentence an opportunity to designate the 2001 or 2002 crop for which 
the producer requests assistance under this section.
    (g) Commodity Credit Corporation.--The Secretary shall use the 
funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation 
to carry out this title.
    (h) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may promulgate such 
        regulations as are necessary to implement this section.
            (2) Procedure.--The promulgation of the regulations and 
        administration of this section shall be made without regard 
        to--
                    (A) the notice and comment provisions of section 
                553 of title 5, United States Code;
                    (B) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary 
                effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating 
                to notices of proposed rulemaking and public 
                participation in rulemaking; and
                    (C) chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 
                (commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'').
            (3) Congressional review of agency rulemaking.--In carrying 
        out this subsection, the Secretary shall use the authority 
        provided under section 808 of title 5, United States Code.
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