
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC3703]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
             CHAPTER 68--AGRICULTURAL SUBTERMINAL FACILITIES
 
Sec. 3703. State and regional plans


(a) Grants; requisite provisions of plans

    (1) The Secretary shall, beginning not more than one hundred and 
eighty days after October 1, 1980, make financial assistance available 
to any State that makes application therefor, and that otherwise meets 
the requirements of this section, for the purpose of assisting such 
State in the development of a subterminal facilities plan (hereinafter 
in this chapter referred to as the ``State plan'') for such State. 
Assistance under this section shall be made available in the form of a 
grant. No grant may be made to any State unless the Governor of such 
State or the appropriate agency of such State makes an application 
therefor as provided in this section. To the maximum extent practicable, 
the personnel and resources of the colleges or universities in the State 
which are eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (7 
U.S.C. 301-305, 307, and 308), or the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 
321-326 and 328), including Tuskegee Institute, shall be utilized in 
developing the subterminal facilities plan for that State pursuant to 
this section.
    (2) The Secretary may also make grants under this section available 
to two or more States acting together to develop a coordinated regional 
subterminal facilities plan (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as 
the ``regional plan'') for such region.
    (3) Grants made under this section to any State or region may not 
exceed 80 per centum of the cost of preparing the State or regional 
plan.
    (4) The State or regional plan shall prescribe in detail the actions 
such State or region proposes to take in order to (A) facilitate the 
efficient and competitive movement of bulk agricultural commodities from 
the points of production within such State or region to major market or 
export points, (B) provide adequate storage facilities for such 
commodities between points of production and market, (C) provide 
adequate receiving, storage, and loading facilities for any bulk 
agricultural commodity, and (D) assure that such facilities will be 
located at sites that will result in maximum benefits to local 
producers.
    (5) Each State or regional plan shall include the following:
        (A) an analysis of the marketing, shipping, storage, and 
    production of bulk agricultural commodities produced in that State 
    or region and the short- and long-range projections with respect to 
    the marketing, shipping, storage, and production of such commodities 
    in that State or region;
        (B) a determination, on the basis of the analysis and 
    projections required under clause (A) of this paragraph, of the 
    needs of the State or region for subterminal facilities;
        (C) an assessment of the use of existing on-farm storage 
    facilities located within the State or region and an assessment of 
    the ways in which subterminal facilities can benefit the continued 
    use of on-farm storage facilities;
        (D) an evaluation of the effect of the development of new 
    subterminal facilities on small capacity rural shipping and storage 
    facilities within the State or region;
        (E) an evaluation of ways to ensure adequate rail service for 
    subterminal facilities described in clause (D) of this paragraph, 
    including an evaluation of the use and feasibility of contract 
    rates;
        (F) an assessment of the ways that subterminal facilities can 
    enhance the operation of small capacity shipping and storage 
    facilities within the State or region;
        (G) an assessment of other actions being taken or considered in 
    such State or region for the improvement of agricultural 
    transportation, including an evaluation of the use being made of 
    shuttle or collector trains and combinations of rail and barge 
    service;
        (H) an evaluation of the potential benefits of subterminal 
    ownership and leasing arrangements for rail rolling stock (including 
    locomotive power), motor trucks, barge equipment, and other bulk 
    agricultural commodity transport equipment that may help achieve 
    maximum benefits from the operation of subterminal facilities within 
    the State or region;
        (I) an assessment of the overall transportation system in the 
    State or region and future plans for that overall system, including 
    the adequacy of highways and bridges; and
        (J) consideration of the feasibility and advisability of the 
    ownership and operation of rail branch lines by farmer-owned 
    cooperatives, and the role that such cooperatives might play in any 
    overall planning for the restructuring and rehabilitation of rail 
    service and marketing facilities within the State or region.

(b) Plan review commissions

    Funds made available to a State or region under this chapter for the 
purposes of assisting such State or region to develop a plan shall be 
subject to the condition that the State or region establish a plan 
review commission composed of local producers, local elevator operators, 
representatives of affected motor and rail carriers, other interested 
individuals, and, when appropriate in the judgment of the Secretary, 
consumers of bulk agricultural commodities used in the production of 
unprocessed agricultural products. A majority of the members of any plan 
review commission must be local producers or, when appropriate in the 
judgment of the Secretary, consumers of bulk agricultural commodities 
used in the production of unprocessed agricultural products. The plan 
review commission shall consider the information and analyses developed 
by the State or region in the development of a State or regional plan 
and make appropriate recommendations regarding the State or regional 
plan. The plan review commission shall also make recommendations, based 
on information developed in the plan, for the most beneficial location 
of subterminal facilities.

(c) Recommendations of need

    No application for planning assistance authorized pursuant to this 
section may be submitted by a State or region until the appropriate plan 
review commission established in accordance with this chapter has had 
the opportunity to make recommendations to the Governor or Governors 
that a need exists for the development of a State or regional plan, and 
a majority of the members of such plan review commission concur that 
such application should be submitted.

(d) Prerequisites for receipt of grant

    No State or region may receive a grant under this section unless--
        (1) an application therefor has been submitted that complies 
    with the provisions of this chapter;
        (2) the average annual production of bulk agricultural 
    commodities produced within such State or region, or shipments of 
    such commodities transported into such State or region, meets 
    minimum levels established by the Secretary for a period the 
    Secretary considers appropriate preceding the year in which 
    application for such grant is made;
        (3) the Governor of such State or the Governors of the States in 
    such region certify to the Secretary that producers of agricultural 
    commodities have experienced serious storage and transportation 
    problems within such State or region during the three years 
    preceding the year in which application for such grant is made; and
        (4) such State or each State within such region has established 
    an adequate plan, as described in section 22102 of title 49, for 
    rail service in such State or States, or such State or each State in 
    such region is actively developing such a plan.

(e) Approved State plans; approved regional plans

    Whenever any State or region has submitted a State or regional plan 
under this section, the Secretary shall approve such plan only if it has 
been approved by a majority of the members of the appropriate plan 
review commission established pursuant to this chapter, and it meets the 
other conditions specified in this chapter and those prescribed in 
regulations issued by the Secretary to carry out this chapter. When a 
plan is approved by the Secretary, such plan shall be known as an 
``approved State plan'' or an ``approved regional plan'', as 
appropriate.

(f) Authorization of appropriations

    To carry out the purposes of this section, there are authorized to 
be appropriated not to exceed $3,300,000 for each of the fiscal years 
ending September 30, 1981, September 30, 1982, and September 30, 1983.

(Pub. L. 96-358, Sec. 4, Sept. 25, 1980, 94 Stat. 1185.)

                       References in Text

    Act of July 2, 1862 (7 U.S.C. 301-305, 307, and 308), referred to in 
subsec. (a)(1), is act July 2, 1862, ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503, as amended, 
popularly known as the ``Morrill Act'' and also as the ``First Morrill 
Act'', and is classified generally to subchapter I (Sec. 301 et seq.) of 
chapter 13 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the 
Code, see Short Title note set out under 301 of this title and Tables.
    Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321-326 and 328), referred to in 
subsec. (a)(1), is act Aug. 30, 1890, ch. 841, 26 Stat. 417, as amended, 
popularly known as the Agricultural College Act of 1890 and also as the 
Second Morrill Act, which is classified generally to subchapter II 
(Sec. 321 et seq.) of chapter 13 of this title. For complete 
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out 
under section 321 of this title and Tables.

                          Codification

    In subsec. (d)(4), ``section 22102 of title 49'' substituted for 
``section 5(j) of the Department of Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 
1654(j))'' on authority of Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 6(b), July 5, 1994, 108 
Stat. 1378, the first section of which enacted subtitles II, III, and V 
to X of Title 49, Transportation. Previously, section 5 of the 
Department of Transportation Act was amended generally by Pub. L. 101-
213, Sec. 2(c), Dec. 11, 1989, 103 Stat. 1843, and, as so amended, 
provisions of subsec. (j), relating to an adequate State plan, were set 
out in subsec. (a).
