
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC7333]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
               CHAPTER 100--AGRICULTURAL MARKET TRANSITION
 
           SUBCHAPTER VIII--MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITY PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 7333. Administration and operation of noninsured crop 
        assistance program
        

(a) Operation and administration of program

                           (1) In general

        In the case of an eligible crop described in paragraph (2), the 
    Secretary of Agriculture shall operate a noninsured crop disaster 
    assistance program to provide coverage equivalent to the 
    catastrophic risk protection otherwise available under section 
    1508(b) of this title. The Secretary shall carry out this section 
    through the Consolidated Farm Service Agency (in this section 
    referred to as the ``Agency'').

                         (2) Eligible crops

        (A) In general

            In this section, the term ``eligible crop'' means each 
        commercial crop or other agricultural commodity (except 
        livestock)--
                (i) for which catastrophic risk protection under section 
            1508(b) of this title is not available; and
                (ii) that is produced for food or fiber.

        (B) Crops specifically included

            The term ``eligible crop'' shall include floricultural, 
        ornamental nursery, and Christmas tree crops, turfgrass sod, 
        seed crops, aquaculture (including ornamental fish), and 
        industrial crops.

        (C) Combination of similar types or varieties

            At the option of the Secretary, all types or varieties of a 
        crop or commodity, described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), may 
        be considered to be a single eligible crop under this section.

                          (3) Cause of loss

        To qualify for assistance under this section, the losses of the 
    noninsured commodity shall be due to drought, flood, or other 
    natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary.

(b) Application for noninsured crop disaster assistance

                       (1) Timely application

        To be eligible for assistance under this section, a producer 
    shall submit an application for noninsured crop disaster assistance 
    at a local office of the Department. The application shall be in 
    such form, contain such information, and be submitted not later than 
    30 days before the beginning of the coverage period, as determined 
    by the Secretary.

                             (2) Records

        To be eligible for assistance under this section, a producer 
    shall provide annually to the Secretary records of crop acreage, 
    acreage yields, and production for each crop, as required by the 
    Secretary.

                         (3) Acreage reports

        A producer shall provide annual reports on acreage planted or 
    prevented from being planted, as required by the Secretary, by the 
    designated acreage reporting date for the crop and location as 
    established by the Secretary.

(c) Loss requirements

                              (1) Cause

        To be eligible for assistance under this section, a producer of 
    an eligible crop shall have suffered a loss of a noninsured 
    commodity as the result of a cause described in subsection (a)(3) of 
    this section.

                           (2) Assistance

        On making a determination described in subsection (a)(3) of this 
    section, the Secretary shall provide assistance under this section 
    to producers of an eligible crop that have suffered a loss as a 
    result of the cause described in subsection (a)(3) of this section.

                       (3) Prevented planting

        Subject to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make a prevented 
    planting noninsured crop disaster assistance payment if the producer 
    is prevented from planting more than 35 percent of the acreage 
    intended for the eligible crop because of drought, flood, or other 
    natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary.

                          (4) Area trigger

        The Secretary shall provide assistance to individual producers 
    without any requirement of an area loss.

(d) Payment

    The Secretary shall make available to a producer eligible for 
noninsured assistance under this section a payment computed by 
multiplying--
        (1) the quantity that is less than 50 percent of the established 
    yield for the crop; by
        (2)(A) in the case of each of the 1996 through 1998 crop years, 
    60 percent of the average market price for the crop (or any 
    comparable coverage determined by the Secretary); or
        (B) in the case of each of the 1999 and subsequent crop years, 
    55 percent of the average market price for the crop (or any 
    comparable coverage determined by the Secretary); by
        (3) a payment rate for the type of crop (as determined by the 
    Secretary) that--
            (A) in the case of a crop that is produced with a 
        significant and variable harvesting expense, reflects the 
        decreasing cost incurred in the production cycle for the crop 
        that is--
                (i) harvested;
                (ii) planted but not harvested; and
                (iii) prevented from being planted because of drought, 
            flood, or other natural disaster (as determined by the 
            Secretary); and

            (B) in the case of a crop that is not produced with a 
        significant and variable harvesting expense, as determined by 
        the Secretary.

(e) Yield determinations

                          (1) Establishment

        The Secretary shall establish farm yields for purposes of 
    providing noninsured crop disaster assistance under this section.

                    (2) Actual production history

        The Secretary shall determine yield coverage using the actual 
    production history of the producer over a period of not less than 
    the 4 previous consecutive crop years and not more than 10 
    consecutive crop years. Subject to paragraph (3), the yield for the 
    year in which noninsured crop disaster assistance is sought shall be 
    equal to the average of the actual production history of the 
    producer during the period considered.

                       (3) Assignment of yield

        If a producer does not submit adequate documentation of 
    production history to determine a crop yield under paragraph (2), 
    the Secretary shall assign to the producer a yield equal to not less 
    than 65 percent of the transitional yield of the producer (adjusted 
    to reflect actual production reflected in the records acceptable to 
    the Secretary for continuous years), as specified in regulations 
    issued by the Secretary based on production history requirements.

       (4) Prohibition on assigned yields in certain counties

        (A) In general

            (i) Documentation

                If sufficient data are available to demonstrate that the 
            acreage of a crop in a county for the crop year has 
            increased by more than 100 percent over any year in the 
            preceding 7 crop years or, if data are not available, if the 
            acreage of the crop in the county has increased 
            significantly from the previous crop years, a producer must 
            provide such detailed documentation of production costs, 
            acres planted, and yield for the crop year for which 
            benefits are being claimed as is required by the Secretary. 
            If the Secretary determines that the documentation provided 
            is not sufficient, the Secretary may require documenting 
            proof that the crop, had the crop been harvested, could have 
            been marketed at a reasonable price.
            (ii) Prohibition

                Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a producer who 
            produces a crop on a farm located in a county described in 
            clause (i) may not obtain an assigned yield.

        (B) Exception

            A crop or a producer shall not be subject to this subsection 
        if--
                (i) the planted acreage of the producer for the crop has 
            been inspected by a third party acceptable to the Secretary; 
            or
                (ii)(I) the County Executive Director and the State 
            Executive Director recommend an exemption from the 
            requirement to the Administrator of the Agency; and
                (II) the Administrator approves the recommendation.

       (5) Limitation on receipt of subsequent assigned yield

        A producer who receives an assigned yield for the current year 
    of a natural disaster because required production records were not 
    submitted to the local office of the Department shall not be 
    eligible for an assigned yield for the year of the next natural 
    disaster unless the required production records of the previous 1 or 
    more years (as applicable) are provided to the local office.

       (6) Yield variations due to different farming practices

        The Secretary shall ensure that noninsured crop disaster 
    assistance accurately reflects significant yield variations due to 
    different farming practices, such as between irrigated and 
    nonirrigated acreage.

(f) Contract payments

    A producer who has received a guaranteed payment for production, as 
opposed to delivery, of a crop pursuant to a contract shall have the 
production of the producer adjusted upward by the amount of the 
production equal to the amount of the contract payment received.

(g) Use of Commodity Credit Corporation

    The Secretary may use the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation 
to carry out this section.

(h) Exclusions

    Noninsured crop disaster assistance under this section shall not 
cover losses due to--
        (1) the neglect or malfeasance of the producer;
        (2) the failure of the producer to reseed to the same crop in 
    those areas and under such circumstances where it is customary to 
    reseed; or
        (3) the failure of the producer to follow good farming 
    practices, as determined by the Secretary.

(i) Payment and income limitations

                           (1) Definitions

        In this subsection:

        (A) Person

            The term ``person'' has the meaning provided the term in 
        regulations issued by the Secretary. The regulations shall 
        conform, to the extent practicable, to the regulations defining 
        the term ``person'' issued under section 1308 of this title.

        (B) Qualifying gross revenues

            The term ``qualifying gross revenues'' means--
                (i) if a majority of the gross revenue of the person is 
            received from farming, ranching, and forestry operations, 
            the gross revenue from the farming, ranching, and forestry 
            operations of the person; and
                (ii) if less than a majority of the gross revenue of the 
            person is received from farming, ranching, and forestry 
            operations, the gross revenue of the person from all 
            sources.

                       (2) Payment limitation

        The total amount of payments that a person shall be entitled to 
    receive annually under this section may not exceed $100,000.

          (3) Limitation on multiple benefits for same loss

        (A) In general

            Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if a producer who is 
        eligible to receive benefits under this section is also eligible 
        to receive assistance for the same loss under any other program 
        administered by the Secretary, the producer shall be required to 
        elect whether to receive benefits under this section or under 
        the other program, but not both.

        (B) Exception

            Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to emergency loans under 
        subtitle C of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
        U.S.C. 1961 et seq.).

                        (4) Income limitation

        A person who has qualifying gross revenues in excess of the 
    amount specified in section 2266(a) of the Food, Agriculture, 
    Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note) (as in 
    effect on November 28, 1990) during the taxable year (as determined 
    by the Secretary) shall not be eligible to receive any noninsured 
    assistance payment under this section.

                           (5) Regulations

        The Secretary shall issue regulations prescribing such rules as 
    the Secretary determines necessary to ensure a fair and equitable 
    application of section 1308 of this title, the general payment 
    limitation regulations of the Secretary, and the limitations 
    established under this subsection.

(j) Omitted

(k) Service fee

                           (1) In general

        To be eligible to receive assistance for an eligible crop for a 
    crop year under this section, a producer shall pay to the Secretary 
    (at the time at which the producer submits the application under 
    subsection (b)(1) of this section) a service fee for the eligible 
    crop in an amount that is equal to the lesser of--
            (A) $100 per crop per county; or
            (B) $300 per producer per county, but not to exceed a total 
        of $900 per producer.

                             (2) Waiver

        The Secretary shall waive the service fee required under 
    paragraph (1) in the case of a limited resource farmer, as defined 
    by the Secretary.

                               (3) Use

        The Secretary shall deposit service fees collected under this 
    subsection in the Commodity Credit Corporation Fund.

(Pub. L. 104-127, title I, Sec. 196, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 947; Pub. 
L. 105-277, div. A, Sec. 101(a) [title VIII, Sec. 803(b)], Oct. 21, 
1998, 112 Stat. 2681, 2681-38; Pub. L. 106-224, title I, Sec. 109, June 
20, 2000, 114 Stat. 371.)

                       References in Text

    The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, referred to in 
subsec. (i)(3)(B), is title III of Pub. L. 87-128, Aug. 8, 1961, 75 
Stat. 307, as amended. Subtitle C of the Act is classified generally to 
subchapter III (Sec. 1961 et seq.) of chapter 50 of this title. For 
complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note 
set out under section 1921 of this title and Tables.
    Section 2266(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 
Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (i)(4), is section 2266(a) of Pub. 
L. 101-624, which was set out in a note under section 1421 of this 
title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103-354, title I, Sec. 119(c), Oct. 
13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3208.

                          Codification

    Section is comprised of section 196 of Pub. L. 104-127. Subsec. (j) 
of section 196 of Pub. L. 104-127 repealed section 1519 of this title.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 106-224, Sec. 109(a), added subpar. 
(C).
    Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106-224, Sec. 109(b), substituted ``not 
later than 30 days before the beginning of the coverage period, as 
determined by the Secretary'' for ``at such time as the Secretary may 
require'' in second sentence.
    Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 106-224, Sec. 109(c)(1), added par. (2) and 
struck out heading and text of former par. (2). Text read as follows: 
``A producer shall provide records, as required by the Secretary, of 
crop acreage, acreage yields, and production.''
    Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 106-224, Sec. 109(c)(2), inserted ``annual'' 
after ``shall provide''.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-224, Sec. 109(d), added subsec. (c) and 
struck out heading and text of former subsec. (c), which authorized 
noninsured crop disaster assistance if average yield fell below 65 
percent of expected yield, if producer was prevented from planting more 
than 35 percent of intended acreage, or if total quantity of harvest was 
less than 50 percent of expected yield.
    Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 106-224, Sec. 109(e), added subsec. (k).
    1998-Subsec. (i)(3). Pub. L. 105-277 designated existing provisions 
as subpar. (A), inserted heading, substituted ``Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), if a producer'' for ``If a producer'', and added 
subpar. (B).


                    Effective Date of 2000 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 106-224 applicable beginning with the 2001 crop 
of an agricultural commodity, see section 171(b)(2)(G) of Pub. L. 106-
224, set out as a note under section 1501 of this title.


                             Savings Clause

    Section as in effect on day before June 20, 2000, to continue to 
apply with respect to 1999 crop year, and to apply with respect to 2000 
crop year, to extent application of an amendment by Pub. L. 106-224 is 
delayed under section 171(b) or by terms of the amendment, see section 
173 of Pub. L. 106-224, set out as a note under section 1501 of this 
title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1506, 1508a, 1515, 1522 of 
this title.
