[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2698 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2698

   To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to 
  provide payments to producers experiencing certain crop losses as a 
                         result of a disaster.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

 Mrs. Feinstein (for herself and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to 
  provide payments to producers experiencing certain crop losses as a 
                         result of a disaster.

    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 ``Agricultural Emergency Relief Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Average adjusted gross farm income.--The term ``average 
        adjusted gross farm income'', with respect to a producer, means 
        the portion of the average adjusted gross income of the 
        producer that is derived from farming, ranching, or forestry 
        operations.
            (2) Average adjusted gross income.--The term ``average 
        adjusted gross income'', with respect to a producer, means the 
        adjusted gross income (as defined in section 62 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986) of the producer, as averaged over the 3 
        taxable years preceding the most recently completed taxable 
        year.
            (3) Disaster.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``disaster'' includes--
                            (i) a drought;
                            (ii) a wildfire;
                            (iii) a hurricane;
                            (iv) a flood;
                            (v) a derecho;
                            (vi) excessive heat;
                            (vii) excessive moisture;
                            (viii) a winter storm; and
                            (ix) a freeze event (including a polar 
                        vortex).
                    (B) Determination of drought.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A)(i), a county shall be considered to 
                have experienced a drought if any area within the 
                county was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as 
                experiencing--
                            (i) a D2-level drought (commonly known as 
                        ``severe drought'') for 8 or more consecutive 
                        weeks; or
                            (ii) a D3-level drought (commonly known as 
                        ``extreme drought''), or a higher level of 
                        drought intensity, during the applicable 
                        calendar year.
            (4) Federal crop insurance.--The term ``Federal Crop 
        Insurance'' means any crop insurance program under the Federal 
        Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
            (5) Noninsured crop disaster assistance program.--The term 
        ``Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program'' means the 
        program under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture 
        Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333).
            (6) Producer.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``producer'' means an 
                individual or entity that is eligible to receive 
                assistance under a disaster assistance program 
                administered by the Farm Service Agency.
                    (B) Exclusions.--The term ``producer'' does not 
                include--
                            (i) a joint venture; or
                            (ii) a general partnership.
            (7) Qualified loss.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``qualified loss'' means 
                a loss in a crop, trees, bushes, or vines incurred by a 
                producer as a consequence of a disaster.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``qualified loss'' 
                includes--
                            (i) a loss incurred by a producer as a 
                        result of being prevented from planting a crop 
                        due to a disaster;
                            (ii) a loss in the quality of a crop, 
                        trees, bushes, or vines due to a disaster; and
                            (iii) a loss in the quality of a crop 
                        (including wine grapes), trees, bushes, or 
                        vines due to smoke exposure from a wildfire.
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program under 
which the Secretary shall provide payments during each crop year to 
producers that experienced a qualified loss during the crop year.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a payment under 
        this section for a crop year, a producer shall submit to the 
        Secretary an application, at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Secretary may require, 
        including a description of each qualified loss incurred by the 
        producer during the crop year.
            (2) Approval.--The Secretary shall approve an application 
        submitted by a producer under paragraph (1) if the application 
        demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the 
        producer has incurred a qualified loss during the applicable 
        crop year.
    (c) Provision of Payments.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide to each 
        producer the application of whom is approved under subsection 
        (b)(2) a payment for the applicable crop year, in accordance 
        with subsection (d).
            (2) Requirement to purchase insurance.--As a condition of 
        receiving a payment under this section, a producer shall 
        purchase, for each of the 2 succeeding crop years--
                    (A) Federal Crop Insurance, if available; or
                    (B) if Federal Crop Insurance is not available, 
                coverage under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance 
                Program.
    (d) Amount of Payments.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to subsection (e), the amount of a 
        payment provided to a producer under subsection (c)(1) shall be 
        determined in accordance with--
                    (A) to the maximum extent practicable, a 
                calculation based on data relating to the producer for 
                the applicable crop year that were previously submitted 
                or known to the Secretary, including--
                            (i) any indemnity of the producer under 
                        Federal Crop Insurance or payment received by 
                        the producer under the Noninsured Crop Disaster 
                        Assistance Program;
                            (ii) the level of coverage of the producer 
                        under--
                                    (I) Federal Crop Insurance; or
                                    (II) the Noninsured Crop Disaster 
                                Assistance Program; and
                            (iii) an appropriate percentage factor, to 
                        be established by the Secretary, subject to the 
                        condition that the factor shall be not more 
                        than 90 percent; or
                    (B) for a producer that did not purchase coverage 
                under Federal Crop Insurance or the Noninsured Crop 
                Disaster Assistance Program, a calculation based on the 
                revenue of the producer for the applicable crop year, 
                as described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Revenue-based calculation.--
                    (A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
                            (i) Allowable gross revenue.--The term 
                        ``allowable gross revenue'', with respect to a 
                        producer, means the reported revenue of the 
                        operations of the producer during a crop year, 
                        including from--
                                    (I) sales of eligible crops, as 
                                identified by the Secretary; or
                                    (II) sales resulting from value 
                                added in post-production activities.
                            (ii) Benchmark year.--The term ``benchmark 
                        year'' means a crop year in which a producer 
                        did not experience a qualified loss.
                            (iii) Disaster year.--The term ``disaster 
                        year'' means a crop year in which a producer 
                        experiences a qualified loss.
                    (B) Factors for consideration.--Subject to 
                subparagraph (C), the revenue-based calculation 
                referred to in paragraph (1)(B) shall take into 
                account--
                            (i) the allowable gross revenue of the 
                        applicable producer during a benchmark year;
                            (ii) the allowable gross revenue of the 
                        applicable producer during the disaster year 
                        for which the payment is provided under this 
                        section;
                            (iii) the percentage of the allowable gross 
                        revenue described in clause (ii) derived from 
                        sales of specialty crops and high-value crops; 
                        and
                            (iv) an appropriate percentage factor, to 
                        be established by the Secretary, subject to the 
                        condition that the factor shall be not more 
                        than 70 percent.
                    (C) Vertical integration for producers of wine 
                grapes.--For a producer of wine grapes that uses not 
                less than 75 percent of the grapes to produce wine at a 
                facility owned by the producer, a payment provided 
                under this section shall be calculated based on the 
                market rate for wine grapes at the time of calculation, 
                in lieu of the revenue of the producer.
    (e) Limitations.--For each crop year--
            (1) a producer the average adjusted gross farm income of 
        whom is less than 75 percent may receive payments under this 
        section in an amount equal to not more than--
                    (A) $125,000 for the specialty crops and high-value 
                crops of the producer, as determined by the Secretary; 
                and
                    (B) $125,000 for the crops of the producer not 
                described in subparagraph (A);
            (2) a producer the average adjusted gross farm income of 
        whom is 75 percent or more may receive payments under this 
        section in an amount equal to not more than--
                    (A) $900,000 for the specialty crops and high-value 
                crops of the producer, as determined by the Secretary; 
                and
                    (B) $250,000 for the crops of the producer not 
                described in subparagraph (A); and
            (3) the total amount of all payments provided to a producer 
        under this section shall be not more than, as applicable--
                    (A) an amount equal to 90 percent of the qualified 
                losses of the producer during the crop year, including 
                any assistance provided under--
                            (i) Federal Crop Insurance; or
                            (ii) the Noninsured Crop Disaster 
                        Assistance Program; or
                    (B) an amount equal to 70 percent of the qualified 
                losses of the producer during the crop year, if the 
                producer did not--
                            (i) obtain a policy or plan of insurance 
                        under Federal Crop Insurance for the crops, 
                        trees, bushes, or vines incurring the qualified 
                        losses; or
                            (ii) file any required paperwork or pay any 
                        service fee under the Noninsured Crop Disaster 
                        Assistance Program by the applicable State 
                        filing deadline for a noninsurable commodity 
                        incurring the qualified losses.
    (f) Timing.--The Secretary shall administer the program under this 
section simultaneously for--
            (1) producers submitting applications using indemnity-based 
        calculations, as described in subsection (d)(1)(A); and
            (2) producers submitting applications using revenue-based 
        calculations, as described in subsection (d)(1)(B).

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act for each of 
fiscal years 2023 through 2028.
    (b) Administrative Costs.--Of the amounts made available under 
subsection (a) for each fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more 
than 1 percent to pay the administrative costs of the Secretary.
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