[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 124 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 124

   To require the prompt issuance by the Secretary of Agriculture of 
regulations to restore integrity to the payment limitation requirements 
applicable to commodity payments and benefits, to reduce waste, fraud, 
 and abuse related to the receipt of commodity payments and benefits, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2007

Mr. Fortenberry (for himself and Ms. Herseth) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the prompt issuance by the Secretary of Agriculture of 
regulations to restore integrity to the payment limitation requirements 
applicable to commodity payments and benefits, to reduce waste, fraud, 
 and abuse related to the receipt of commodity payments and benefits, 
                        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 ``Farm Programs Payment Limitation 
Integrity Act''.

SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS TO ESTABLISH MEASURABLE STANDARDS TO 
              PREVENT USE OF SEPARATE ENTITIES TO EXCEED PAYMENT 
              LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO COMMODITY PAYMENTS AND TO LIMIT 
              PAYMENTS TO ACTIVE FARMERS.

    (a) Standards Regarding Active Personal Management and Evasion 
Schemes and Devices.--The Secretary of Agriculture (in this section 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall promulgate regulations to 
establish measurable standards of--
            (1) what constitutes a significant contribution of active 
        personal management with respect to a farm operation for 
        purposes of applying the payment limitations specified in 
        section 1001 of the Food Security of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308); and
            (2) what constitutes a scheme or device to effectively 
        evade such payment limits or to evade section 1001A or 1001C of 
        such Act (7 U.S.C. 1308-1, 1308-3).
    (b) Enforcement of Multiple Entity Limitations.--The Secretary 
shall promulgate regulations to ensure that total payments and gains 
described in section 1001 of the Food Security of 1985 made to or 
through joint operations or multiple entities under the primary control 
of a person, in combination with the payments and gains received 
directly by the person, do not exceed twice the applicable dollar 
amounts specified in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of such section.
    (c) Attribution of Payments and Gains Derived From Certain Farming 
Operations.--In the case of a person that in the aggregate owns, 
conducts farming operations, or provides custom farming services on 
land with respect to which the aggregate commodity payments exceed the 
applicable dollar amounts specified in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of 
section 1001 of the Food Security of 1985, the Secretary shall 
promulgate regulations to ensure that all payments and gains made on 
crops produced on the land are attributed as follows:
            (1) To a person that rents land as lessee or lessor through 
        a crop share lease and receives a share of the payments that is 
        less than the usual and customary share of the crop received by 
        the lessee or lessor, as determined by the Secretary.
            (2) To a person that provides custom farming services 
        through arrangements under which--
                    (A) all or part of the compensation for the 
                services is at risk;
                    (B) farm management services are provided by--
                            (i) the same person;
                            (ii) an immediate family member; or
                            (iii) an entity or individual that has a 
                        business relationship that is not an arm's 
                        length relationship, as determined by the 
                        Secretary; or
                    (C) more than 2/3 of the farming operations are 
                conducted as custom farming services provided by--
                            (i) the same person;
                            (ii) an immediate family member; or
                            (iii) an entity or individual that has a 
                        business relationship that is not an arm's 
                        length relationship, as determined by the 
                        Secretary.
            (3) To a person under such other arrangements as the 
        Secretary determines are established to transfer payments from 
        persons that would otherwise exceed the applicable dollar 
        amounts specified in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of such 
        section.
            (4) To the direct recipient of the commodity payments as 
        well as to the person to whom the payments are attributed under 
        paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
    (d) Primary Control.--In the regulations required by this section, 
the Secretary shall define ``primary control'' to include a joint 
operation or multiple entity in which a person owns an interest that is 
equal to or greater than the interest of any other one or more persons 
that materially participate on a regular, substantial, and continuous 
basis in the management of the operation or entity.
    (e) Material Participation.--In the regulations required by this 
section, the Secretary shall ensure that the standards for active 
personal management require no less involvement than the standard for 
materially participating on a regular, substantial, and continuous 
basis in the management of the operation or entity as defined by 
Treasury regulation section 1.469-5T(a)(1), as in effect on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
    (f) Time for Issuance; Procedure.--The regulations required by this 
section shall be issued in final form not later than 270 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. To ensure compliance with this 
deadline, the Secretary shall issue the regulations without regard to--
            (1) the notice and comment provisions of section 553 of 
        title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary of Agriculture 
        effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating to 
        notices of proposed rulemaking and public participation in 
        rulemaking; and
            (3) chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly 
        known as the Paperwork Reduction Act).
    (g) Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking.--In carrying out 
this section, the Secretary shall use the authority provided under 
section 808 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 3. PREVENTION OF SCHEMES OR DEVICES TO EVADE PAYMENT LIMITATIONS.

    Section 1001B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-2) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``If'' and inserting ``(a) Basic Penalty 
        for Evasion of Payment Limitations.--Subject to subsection (b), 
        if''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Effect of Fraud.--If the Secretary determines that a person 
has committed fraud in connection with the adoption of a scheme or 
device to evade, or that has the purpose of evading, section 1001, 
1001A, or 1001C, the person shall be ineligible to receive farm program 
payments (as described in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 1001 
as being subject to limitation) applicable to the crop year for which 
the scheme or device was adopted and the succeeding five crop years.''.
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