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101 records in US in 2003
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to prohibit the use of certain conservation funding to provide technical assistance under the conservation reserve program.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Designates the facility of the Agriculture Research Service of the Department of Agriculture located at State Highway 26 West in Poplarville, Mississippi, as the Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Laboratory.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
States that Congress recognizes the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture for its 50 years of outstanding service in agricultural research.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2003
Farm-To-Cafeteria Projects Act of 2003 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to make competitive grants to private nonprofit entities and educational institutions to establish and carry out Farm-to-Cafeteria projects to improve access to local foods in schools and institutions receiving funds under NSLA and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) (except the special supplemental program for women, infants, and children (WIC), which already has a WIC Farmers Market Nutrition program). Requires the Secretary, in selecting such projects, to give preference to ones designed to: (1) procure local foods from small and medium-sized farms to provide foods for school meals; (2) support nutrition education activities or curriculum planning incorporating school children's participation in farm and agriculture education projects; and (3) develop a sustained commitment to farm-to-cafeteria projects in the community by linking schools, agricultural producers, parents, and other community stakeholders. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer a specified amount, at the beginning of each of FY 2003 through 2007, to the Secretary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2003
Arizona Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout Act of 2003 - Authorizes a permittee or lessee to waive to the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Energy, or Secretary of Defense, as appropriate, a valid existing grazing permit or lease authorizing livestock grazing on Federal land in Arizona. Directs the Secretary concerned to cancel and permanently retire from grazing such waived allotments. Sets forth compensation provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Better Eating for Better Living Act of 2003 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to revise school lunch programs with respect to reimbursement rates, nutrition guidelines, milk guidelines, and funds for nutrition education and training. Amends NLSA to increase the reimbursement rate for school lunches by ten cents per meal (from 10.5 to 20.5). Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to evaluate nutrition guidelines for school meals, and issue any necessary revised guidelines, every five years. Revises milk guidelines. Requires schools, at a minimum, to offer students a choice of low fat or nonfat fluid milk. Allows schools, in addition, to offer any other varieties of fluid milk that are: (1) consistent with expressed preferences of the student population; and (2) reasonably equivalent in calcium, protein, vitamin A, and vitamin K content and cost. Amends CNA to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer to the Secretary specified amounts of funds for implementing and administering nutrition education and training programs. Requires grants to each State from such amounts to be: (1) based on a rate of 1/2 cent per average daily number of meals served; and (2) allocated among State, district, and school food service and health education authorities, as determined by the Secretary. Sets a minimum grant amount.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
American Aquaculture and Fishery Resources Protection Act - Exempts any migratory bird management carried out by the Secretary of Agriculture through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Authorizes a Service employee acting under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to: (1) issue a depredation permit to a Service stakeholder or cooperator; and (2) manage and take migratory birds.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to convert the dairy forward pricing program from a pilot program to a permanent program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement of 1937, to include pears and cherries within the category of fruits and vegetables for which imports must meet marketing order size, grade, quality, and maturity requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Southern California Wild Heritage Act of 2003 - Designates specified national forest and Bureau of Land Management district lands in California as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (System). Requires such areas to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture, whichever has current administrative jurisdiction over each area. Designates specified California national park lands as wilderness and components of the System, requiring such lands to be managed by the National Park Service. Designates specified California rivers as wild and scenic rivers. Establishes the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest for public enjoyment and scientific study. Requires the development of a comprehensive management plan for such Forest.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Active Reservists and National Guard Farm Loan Relief Act of 2003 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to provide for loan interest forgiveness while a borrower is a mobilized active reservist and principal payment deferral while (or after) a borrower is a mobilized active reservist. Defines "mobilized military reservist."
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (with respect to the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Reclamation) and the Secretary of Agriculture ( with respect to the Forest Service) (the Secretary concerned) to establish: (1) fair and equitable basic recreation fees, expanded recreation fees, and special recreation permit fees; and (2) guidelines identifying the process by which Federal land management agencies shall establish and change amounts charged for such fees. Authorizes the Secretary concerned to charge basic recreation fees for: (1) National Park System units; (2) National Conservation Areas; (3) National Recreation Areas; (4) National and National Volcanic Monuments; (5) National Scenic Areas; and (6) areas of substantial investment by Federal land management agencies. Instructs the Secretary concerned to designate at every Federal land management unit and area that charges such a fee at least one day annually during periods of high visitation as a Fee-Free Day when no such fee is charged. Authorizes the Secretary concerned to charge expanded recreation fees at Federal lands and waters under the jurisdiction of Federal land management agencies when visitors to those lands or waters: (1) receive or are provided direct services; (2) use specific or specialized facilities or equipment; (3) require additional attention by staff, representatives, or contractors; or (4) participate in activities involving more costs than costs associated with the basic recreation fee. Authorizes the Secretary concerned to require special recreation permits and charge special recreation permit fees for specified recreation uses, including commercial tours and recreation events. Sets forth the authorities for the establishment of general recreation passes. Directs such Secretaries to: (1) establish (and allows such Secretaries to charge fees for) America the Beautiful-the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes, which shall cover the basic recreation fee charged at all Federal land management agency units and areas for which a basic fee is charged; (2) hold annual competitions to select the image on the Pass; (3) establish the price of the Pass; and (4) market the Pass. Authorizes the Secretary concerned to: (1) establish and charge fees for site-specific and regional multientity passes; (2) use volunteers to collect recreation fees and sell recreation passes; and (3) issue Passes to volunteers in exchange for significant volunteer services. Sets forth provisions for the establishment of special accounts for Federal land management agencies and the distribution and expenditure of recreation fees and pass revenues from such accounts. Sets forth provisions for the enforcement of payments of recreation fees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Border Economic Recovery Act for Health and the Environment - Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to authorize appropriations. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 with respect to funding for State-furnished emergency health services for undocumented aliens in the United States-Mexico border area ("border area"). Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, with respect to the special supplemental nutrition program, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize partnerships for increased coordination of food and nutrition assistance for residents of colonias in the border area. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase funding for grants and loans for water and waste facilities in communities whose residents face significant health risks. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to selected colleges in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to provide community resource centers to serve colonias. Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to funding of: (1) tuberculosis prevention activities in the border area; and (2) interdisciplinary, community-based linkages and centers addressing unmet health care needs in such area and in the State of Florida. Authorizes funding for the Border Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (concerning youth substance abuse prevention in the border area). Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to: (1) conduct cancer screenings in the border area and report diagnosis information to the appropriate State cancer registry; (2) expand a diabetes study; and (3) support community-based sexually transmitted disease control programs. Provides funding for the Department of HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative, reserving specified amounts for border area activities. Provides funding for: (1) the Materials Corridor Partnership Initiative; (2) the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy; (3) environmental infrastructure projects carried out by the International Boundary and Water Commission (and requires a long-range water supply strategic plan); (4) the U.S. contribution to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation; (5) innovative water conservation programs; (6) the International Consortium for the Environment established at Brooks Air Force Base; (7) the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission for environmental infrastructure projects; and (8) grants for high-priority projects carried out through the North American Development Bank's Border Environmental Infrastructure Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2003
Child Nutrition Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to revise school lunch program requirements relating to fluid milk. Requires school lunches to offer students a variety of flavored and unflavored milk, as determined by the school. Allows schools or institutions participating in the program to offer a la carte fluid milk products to be sold in addition to and, at the school's option, adjacent to fluid milk offered as part of a reimbursable meal. Prohibits program participants from directly or indirectly restricting the sale or marketing of fluid milk products by the school or by a person approved by the school at any time or any place on the school premises or at any school-sponsored event. Establishes a program of increased reimbursement rates for school lunches under NSLA and for school breakfasts under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA), to be provided as an incentive to schools and institutions that increase consumption of fluid milk by children in their meals there. Establishes a program of grants to schools that implement healthy school environment programs with respect to the nutrition, including availability of healthy food choices, and the physical activity of the children there.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2003 - Defines "specialty crop" as all agricultural crops, except wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, and tobacco. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to States to enhance specialty crop competitiveness. Bases grant amounts on specialty crop production value. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase fruit or vegetable producer operating loan limits. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to provide for marketing order specialty crop food safety programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State or local educational agencies for school garden programs that permit children to learn about specialty crops' dietary importance. Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to: (1) increase maximum orchardist assistance under the tree assistance program; and (2) increase and extend specialty crop technical assistance. Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to provide restitution to licensed specialty crop shippers for economic losses resulting from the preparation of false inspection certificates by Department of Agriculture graders at Hunts Point Terminal Market, Bronx, New York. Authorizes appropriations for the maintenance of the Agricultural Marketing Service inspection training center in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Directs the United States Trade Representative to establish at least one position in the Office of the United States Trade Representative for specialty crop trade matters. Directs: (1) the General Accounting Office to conduct a study on why and to what extent U.S. specialty crops have not benefited from the Uruguay Round; and (2) the Secretary to prepare a foreign market access strategy plan aimed at increasing such exports. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Export Petition Division to process petitions for reducing sanitary and phytosanitary export barriers; and (2) in the Department an office to develop and protect intellectual property rights in plants and plant materials. Provides for a Foreign Agricultural Service study of supplier credit guarantee program modifications in order to increase specialty crop exports. Directs the Secretary to transfer the Office of Pest Management Policy of the Department from the Agricultural Research Service to the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture for administrative and funding purposes. Provides for additional research initiatives respecting: (1) methyl bromide alternatives; (2) specialty crop clean air benefits; (3) produce quality improvement; (4) new crop protection tools and integrated pest management; (5) foreign invasive pests and diseases; and (6) national specialty crop development initiative grants. Establishes in the Treasury the Invasive Pest and Disease Response Fund to support emergency eradication and research activities of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in response to economic and health threats posed by invasive pests and agricultural disease. Directs the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to provide for independent scientific advice and peer review with regard to specialty crop import and export requests, including risk and mitigation assessments. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a food safety education program to reduce contamination from: (1) microbial pathogens; and (2) unsanitary handling practices. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to remove the income limitation from the environmental quality incentives program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, and the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987, to reauthorize certain school lunch and child nutrition programs for FY 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to convey specified parcels of real property in the Apalachicola National Forest to the Mt. Trial Primitive Baptist Church of Wakulla County, Florida, to resolve boundary discrepancies.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Amends the Reclamation Project Authorization Act of 1972 to provide that the acreage for which the North Loup Division of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, Nebraska, is authorized to provide irrigation water may be an approximation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Little Butte/Bear Creek Subbasins Water Feasibility Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a water management feasibility study and environmental impact statement for the Little Butte/Bear Creek Subbasins in Oregon to: (1) identify ways to meet future water supply needs for agriculture; (2) identify water conservation and storage measures; (3) identify measures likely to improve water quality and enable environmental and species protection; (4) evaluate integrated water resource management and supply needs; and (5) address the possible reduction or elimination of transbasin diversions.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to revise registration and maintenance fee requirements for pesticides. (Fees collected are used to help defray the administrative costs of pesticide regulation.) Modifies certain timing requirements as they concern the submission of product-specific data and other regulatory action. Increases and then decreases the maximum amount of maintenance fees payable by registrants, including small businesses, through FY 2008, with the highest levels of fees occurring during FY 2005 and 2006. Extends the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) authority to collect maintenance, but not tolerance, fees through FY 2008. (Maintenance fees are assessed on already registered or reregistered pesticides; tolerance fees are assessed on pesticides used on food or animal feed which are subject to more stringent regulatory requirements.) Directs the Administrator of the EPA to assess and collect covered pesticide registration service fees for applications submitted from FY 2004 onward. (Registration fees would apply to new pesticide applications only.) Provides transitional requirements for pending applications. Sets forth the Administrator's responsibilities concerning the publication and revision of the schedule of registration service fees, including a mandatory increase by FY 2006. Permits the waiver or reduction of these fees for minor uses or small businesses. Provides for partial fee refunds when an application is withdrawn or at the Administrator's discretion. Establishes the Pesticide Registration Fund in the Treasury to collect registration fees. Limits the use of these funds to associated regulatory costs, except for limited earmarks for worker protection and the review of new inert ingredients. Makes these funds available only to the extent provided in advance through appropriations acts. Prohibits the assessment of registration fees in any year where the amount appropriated for the Office of Pesticide Programs of the EPA is less than the amount appropriated for that Office for FY 2002. Addresses several issues concerning decision time review periods, including the goal of reducing existing periods, schedule publication requirements, determining their start, and how they are impacted by waiver or reduction requests. Provides for judicial review if the Administrator fails to make a determination on an application before the expiration of the applicable decision time review period. Terminates the registration service fee after FY 2010, with a phase out occuring during the final two years.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to revise registration and maintenance fee requirements for pesticides. (Fees collected are used to help defray the administrative costs of pesticide regulation.) Modifies certain timing requirements as they concern the submission of product-specific data and other regulatory action. Increases and then decreases the maximum amount of maintenance fees payable by registrants, including small businesses, through FY 2008, with the highest levels of fees occurring during FY 2005 and 2006. Extends the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) authority to collect maintenance, but not tolerance, fees through FY 2008. (Maintenance fees are assessed on already registered or reregistered pesticides; tolerance fees are assessed on pesticides used on food or animal feed which are subject to more stringent regulatory requirements.) Directs the Administrator of the EPA to assess and collect covered pesticide registration service fees for applications submitted from FY 2004 onward. (Registration fees would apply to new pesticide applications only.) Provides transitional requirements for pending applications. Sets forth the Administrator's responsibilities concerning the publication and revision of the schedule of registration service fees, including a mandatory increase by FY 2006. Permits the waiver or reduction of these fees for minor uses or small businesses. Provides for partial fee refunds when an application is withdrawn or at the Administrator's discretion. Establishes the Pesticide Registration Fund in the Treasury to collect registration fees. Limits the use of these funds to associated regulatory costs, except for limited earmarks for worker protection and the review of new inert ingredients. Makes these funds available only to the extent provided in advance through appropriations acts. Prohibits the assessment of registration fees in any year where the amount appropriated for the Office of Pesticide Programs of the EPA is less than the amount appropriated for that Office for FY 2002. Addresses several issues concerning decision time review periods, including the goal of reducing existing periods, schedule publication requirements, determining their start, and how they are impacted by waiver or reduction requests. Provides for judicial review if the Administrator fails to make a determination on an application before the expiration of the applicable decision time review period. Terminates the registration service fee after FY 2010, with a phase out occuring during the final two years.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2003
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to designate Department of Agriculture employees to serve as disaster liaisons to State and local Department Service Centers to coordinate assistance with other designated disaster agencies in a federally declared disaster area. Defines "federally declared disaster area" for such purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2003
Tobacco Reduction, Accountability, and Community Enhancement Act of 2003 - Amends, and repeals, specified agricultural Acts to eliminate tobacco quota and price support programs, including no net cost provisions. Adds a new subtitle, Subtitle E: Tobacco Assistance, to title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make transition payments to each tobacco quota holder (generally, an owner of a farm, as of July 1, 2002, for which a basic tobacco marketing or farm acreage allotment for quota tobacco was established for the 2002 tobacco marketing year under a marketing quota program). Requires the Secretary to make direct payments to a traditional producer of tobacco (a person that, for at least one of the 2000, 2001, or 2002 tobacco marketing years, was actively engaged in the production of tobacco marketed, or considered planted, under a marketing quota and shared in the risk of producing the tobacco). Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a permanent Tobacco Advisory Board for each kind of tobacco; and (2) a poundage limitation program for each crop of each kind of tobacco. Directs the Secretary, during any marketing year period in which the insured price for the crop of a kind of tobacco exceeds the average domestic price for such tobacco, to make market stability payments available to active producers of such tobacco. Directs the Secretary to make research grants to colleges and universities in eligible States to: (1) assist tobacco producers reduce or eliminate reliance on tobacco production through crop diversification, or to promote alternative tobacco uses or enhance tobacco quality; and (2) foster development of economically viable new agricultural technologies and enterprises for rural communities. Establishes in the Commodity Credit Corporation a revolving Tobacco Trust Fund to carry this subtitle. Deposits into the Fund a quarterly assessment (imposed by this Act) on each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco product importer that sells tobacco products in domestic U.S. commerce. Sets forth tobacco stocks and no net cost transition provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2003
Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to limit the number of packer-owned swine that certain packers may slaughter in any calendar year.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds for emergency financial assistance to producers who have suffered qualifying weather-caused crop losses in 2001, 2002, or 2003, for: (1) crops; or (2) livestock under the American Indian livestock program in a disaster-designated county. Reduces (other than crop insurance) other agricultural assistance by amounts received under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Right to Know School Nutrition Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture make certain rules for institutions that serve irradiated foods as part of the school lunch program under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act or the school breakfast program under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Requires institutions, prior to serving irradiated foods, to provide students and their parents or guardians with: (1) balanced information regarding such irradiation, including its purpose, nutritional effects, and potential adverse health consequences; and (2) the option of traditional, non-irradiated foods at every meal provided under such programs. Requires institutions to ensure: (1) clear labeling of menu items containing irradiated foods; (2) no commingling of irradiated and non-irradiated foods; and (3) prominent display of signs in school cafeterias indicating that irradiated food is being served.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
Urges any trade and investment agreement that is negotiated by the executive branch with other foreign countries to comply with certain minimum standards regarding: (1) investor and investment policy; (2) certain services; (3) policies to support American workers and small, minority, and women-owned businesses; (4) environmental, labor, and other public interests; (5) U.S. trade laws; (6) food safety; (7) agriculture and food security; (8) transparency; (9) governmental authority; (10) access to medicines and seeds; and (11) special treatment for developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with New Mexico State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University to: (1) conduct certain studies required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; (2) perform related activities in connection with the ten year plan of the National Forest Service grazing allotments for National Forest System lands in New Mexico and Arizona; and (3) perform all range and continuing range analysis for National Forest System lands in New Mexico and Arizona.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2003
Upper White Salmon Wild and Scenic Rivers Act - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate specified portions of the White Salmon River, Washington, as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and administer the comprehensive management plan required by the Act for the designated sections of the River in accordance with that portion of the preferred alternative of the Forest Service Wild and Scenic River Study Report and Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement for the Upper White Salmon River dated July 7, 1997, addressing only those sections.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2003
Country of Origin Labeling Amendment Act of 2003 - Amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to revise country of origin labeling provisions, including: (1) specifying the model certification of origin program; (2) specifying producer protections; (3) reducing maximum retailer fines; (4) prohibiting treatment of country of origin violations as adulteration or misbranding; and (5) extending the implementing guideline deadline.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2003
Urges any trade and investment agreement that is negotiated by the executive branch with other foreign countries to comply with certain minimum standards regarding: (1) investor and investment policy; (2) certain services; (3) policies to support American workers and small, minority, and women-owned businesses; (4) environmental, labor, and other public interests; (5) U.S. trade laws; (6) food safety; (7) agriculture and food security; (8) transparency; (9) governmental authority; (10) access to medicines and seeds; and (11) special treatment for developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2003
Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2003 - Amends the Valles Caldera Preservation Act to permit employees of the Valles Caldera Trust (the Trust) to be hired under an employment agreement. Opens employment in the Trust to non-Federal employees. Allows non-Federal employees of the Trust to be considered for positions in the competitive service that are open to other Federal employees and to be compensated according to General Schedule pay rates. Requires the Trust to determine the character of, and the necessity for, any obligations and expenditures of the Trust and the manner in which obligations and expenditures shall be incurred, allowed, and paid. Grants authority to the Trust to use permanent judgment appropriations to pay claims, judgments, or settlements against the Trust. Provides for the rate of compensation of the chairperson of the Trust. Authorizes the Trust to dispose of forage, forest products, or marketable renewable resources as part of its resource management authority. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to provide under a cooperative agreement with the Trust: (1) fire suppression and rehabilitation services; and (2) wildland fire severity funding for extraordinary fire preparedness.
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 2003
Nevada National Forest Land Disposal Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to sell any right, title, or interest of the United States in and to certain parcels of National Forest System lands in Carson City and Douglas County, Nevada. Declares that the Secretary and the relevant unit of local government shall jointly decide whether land is to be offered for sale under this Act. Sets forth percentages of the gross proceeds from sales under this Act that shall be earmarked for: (1) the State of Nevada general education program; (2) the Carson Water Subconservancy District in Nevada; (3) the fund established in the Sisk Act, to be used for land sales costs and for the development and maintenance of parks, trails, and natural areas in specified Nevada counties; and (4) the Minden Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden, Nevada. Declares that the lands authorized to be sold under this Act shall not be subject to specified Federal law pertaining to property management.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2003
California Wild Heritage Act of 2003 - Designates specified national forest and Bureau of Land Management district lands in California as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (System). Requires such areas to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture, whichever has current administrative jurisdiction over each area. Designates specified California public lands as: (1) salmon restoration areas; (2) wilderness study areas; and (3) potential wilderness areas. Designates specified California national park lands as wilderness and components of the System, requiring such lands to be managed by the National Park Service. Designates specified California rivers as wild and scenic rivers. Requires the review of two additional California rivers to determine their suitability as wild, scenic, or recreational rivers. Establishes the Sacramento River National Conservation Area. Requires the development of a comprehensive plan for the long-range protection and management of such Area. Establishes the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest for public enjoyment and scientific study. Requires the development of a comprehensive management plan for such Forest.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2003
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the U.S. goals in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agriculture negotiations are to achieve significantly increased market access, harmonize allowed levels of trade-distorting domestic support for all countries, and achieve a more level playing field for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers; (2) the proposed modalities framework recently released by the Chairman of the WTO Agriculture Negotiations Committee fails to meet such goals; and (3) the United States should not agree to the proposed framework unless it is significantly improved and will result in meeting such goals.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2003
DSHEA Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2003 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008: (1) to carry out the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) and all applicable regulatory requirements for dietary supplements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA); and (2) for expanded research and development of consumer information on dietary supplements by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Makes appropriations: (1) for FY 2004, to carry out DSHEA and all applicable regulatory requirements for dietary supplements under FFDCA; and (2) for FY 2004 through 2008, for expanded research and development of consumer information on dietary supplements by ODS at NIH. Requires the Food and Drug Administration to fully and appropriately use such funds to regulate dietary supplements. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report annually to Congress on the implementation and enforcement of the DSHEA.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2003
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain National Forest System land in Arkansas for cemetery use to the Hope Cemetery Association, Arkansas.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2003
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to phase out reduced price lunches and breakfasts by phasing in increases in income eligibility for free lunches and breakfasts by specified increments from 130 percent of the Office of Management and Budget nonfarm income poverty guidelines for July 1, 2003, to 185 percent of such guidelines for July 1, 2008, and every subsequent school year.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2003
Tobacco Market Transition Act of 2003 - Amends, and repeals, specified agricultural Acts to eliminate tobacco quota and price support programs, including no net cost provisions. Adds a new subtitle, Subtitle E: Tobacco Assistance, to title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make transition payments to each tobacco quota holder (generally, an owner of a farm, as of July 1, 2002, for which a basic tobacco marketing or farm acreage allotment for quota tobacco was established for the 2002 tobacco marketing year under a marketing quota program). Requires the Secretary to make direct payments to a traditional producer of tobacco (a person that, for at least one of the 2000, 2001, or 2002 tobacco marketing years, was actively engaged in the production of tobacco marketed, or considered planted, under a marketing quota and shared in the risk of producing the tobacco). Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a permanent advisory board, the Tobacco Quality Board; (2) a permanent advisory board for each kind of tobacco, a Production Board; and (3) an acreage limitation program for each crop of each kind of tobacco. Directs the Secretary, during any consecutive 4-week period of a marketing year in which the world price for the crop of a kind of tobacco exceeds the average domestic price for such tobacco, to make market stability payments available to active producers of such tobacco. Directs the Secretary to make grants: (1) to eligible States for the Federal share of carrying out economic development initiatives in impacted counties (counties in which tobacco producers have sustained a reduction in gross receipts from the sale of tobacco for a base period); and (2) to colleges and universities in eligible States to conduct research to assist tobacco producers to diversify so as to reduce or eliminate reliance on tobacco production (or to promote alternative uses of tobacco or enhance the quality of tobacco produced), and to foster development of economically viable new agricultural technologies and enterprises for rural communities. Establishes in the Commodity Credit Corporation a revolving trust fund to carry out this subtitle. Deposits into the Fund an annual assessment (imposed by this Act) on each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco product importer that sells tobacco products in domestic U.S. commerce. Sets forth tobacco stocks and no net cost transition provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Cumberland Island National Seashore Wilderness Boundary Act of 2003 - Designates certain land (excluding specified roadways) in the Cumberland Island Seashore as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System and names it the Cumberland Island Wilderness (the Wilderness). Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to include in the Wilderness specified land to be acquired and also certain other land once all prohibited uses on it have ceased. Directs that the Wilderness be administered by the Secretary in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act, with references to the Secretary of Agriculture in such Act where appropriate to be deemed references to the Secretary. Allows: (1) persons with an existing right to utility service on Cumberland Island to retain such right in the Wilderness after the enactment of this Act; and (2) the Secretary to grant contracts, as deemed appropriate, for the provision of tours to visitors of the Cumberland Island National Seashore.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for a phased elimination of the nontherapeutic use in food-producing animals of critical antimicrobial animal drugs. Defines "critical antimicrobial animal drug" and "nontherapeutic use." Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make payments to livestock or poultry producers to defray the costs of reducing such drugs' use, with priority given to family-owned or small farms and ranches. Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary to provide grants for university research and demonstration programs to phase out the nontherapeutic use of critical antimicrobial animal drugs in livestock or poultry. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require manufacturers of a critical antimicrobial animal drug or an animal feed for food-producing animals containing such a drug to report annual sales information.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Tax Incentive Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income: (1) 100 percent of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property to a first-time farmer who certifies that the use of such property shall be as a farm for farming purposes for not less than 10 years after such sale or exchange; (2) 50 percent of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property to any other person who certifies that the use of such property shall be as a farm for farming purposes for not less than 10 years after such sale or exchange; and (3) 25 percent of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property to any other person for any other use. Limits the amount of any of the above exclusions with respect to any taxable year to $500,000 on a joint return.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to eliminate pear marketing order requirements that: (1) processors be members of an agency administering a marketing order; and (2) processor and producer agency representation be equal respecting a marketing order for canned or frozen pears.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Federal Wildland Firefighter Emergency Response Compensation Act of 2003 - Entitles a wildland firefighter employed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior to compensation for the entire period of time such firefighter is engaged in officially ordered or approved duties in responding to a wildland fire or other emergency. Limits such compensation, for any 24-hour period, to the sum of 16 times the firefighter's hourly rate of basic pay, and eight times the firefighter's overtime hourly rate of pay. Treats wildland firefighter compensation received pursuant to this Act as basic pay for Federal retirement pay purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Genetically Engineered Crop and Animal Farmer Protection Act of 2003 - Requires a biotech company that sells any genetically engineered animal, plant, or seed that will be used in the United States to: (1) provide the purchaser with written notice of possible legal and environmental risks of such article's use (such disclosure shall neither relieve the company from liability, nor be construed to create purchaser liability); and (2) disclose any technology fees to the Secretary of Agriculture, and not charge fees that are higher than those outside the United States. Sets forth related contract prohibitions and limitations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) identify which plants are outcrossed pollinators and make such information available to affected sellers and purchasers; and (2) issue rules to require mitigationtrategies for predominately outcrossed crops. Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) establish the best achievable resistance plan for plant-incorporated pesticides engineered to include toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt); (2) revoke Bt registrations not in plan compliance; and (3) reduce a pesticide's use if it is determined to be facilitating Bt-toxin resistance in pests. Prohibits: (1) labeling seeds as non-genetically engineered if the Secretary determines such seeds contains genetically engineered material; (2) manufacture, sale, or planting of genetically engineered or chemically induced non-fertile seeds; and (3) loan discrimination against a producer who refuses to use genetically engineered plants or animals. Authorizes, with respect to violations under this Act,: (1) the Secretary to assess civil penalties; and (2) citizen civil actions against the Secretary, a Federal agency, or an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Railroad Competition Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to specify the primary objectives of U.S. rail transportation policy. Requires submission to arbitration of certain rail rate, service, and other disputes. Prohibits the Surface Transportation Board (STB) from issuing a certificate authorizing construction and operation of railroad lines, or exempt from such certificate requirement any related activity, that involves a transfer of interest in a line of railroad, from a Class I rail carrier to a Class II or III rail carrier, if the activity directly or indirectly would result in a restriction of: (1) the ability of the Class II or Class III rail carrier to interchange traffic with other carriers; or (2) competition between or among rail carriers in the region affected by the activity in a manner or to an extent that would violate Federal antitrust laws. Prescribes a procedure for shipper petition and STB review of any activity alleged to have resulted in a restricition of competition for at least ten years. Changes from discretionary to mandatory the authority of the STB to require: (1) a rail carrier's terminal facilities to be used by another rail carrier subject to certain conditions; and (2) rail carriers to enter into reciprocal switching agreements. Prohibits the STB, in either instance, from requiring evidence of anticompetitive conduct by a rail carrier from which such access is sought. Requires a rail carrier, upon shipper request, to establish a rate for transportation and provide requested service between any two points on the carrier's system where traffic originates, terminates, or may reasonably be interchanged. Specifies matters the carrier must disregard when establishing such rate. Specifies matters the STB must disregard when determining the reasonableness of a shipper-challenged rate established by a rail carrier with market dominance. Prohibits the STB from charging a fee for the filing of a complaint, protest, or other request for relief in an amount greater than fees charged by U.S. district courts for a comparable filing. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct comprehensive triennial studies on rail carrier competition and STB processes. Requires to STB to designate any State or part of a State as an area of inadequate rail competition after finding that: (1) it encompasses a significant number of rail shipping origins and destinations served exclusively by only one Class I railroad; or (2) a significant number of the persons that ship by rail or receive rail shipments in it usually find it necessary to pay rates exceeding a certain mark, or have experienced competitive disadvantage in the marketplace or other economic adversity because of high cost or poor rail service quality. Specifies actions the STB may take to resolve such anti-competitive conditions. Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish within the Department of Agriculture an Office of Rail Customer Advocacy, headed by a Rail Customer Advocate who shall: (1) collect information on the cost and efficiency of rail transportation of agricultural and forestry commodities or products; (2) perform related studies; and (3) participate as a party in STB proceedings regarding regulation of such transportation, as well as to initiate any petitions for STB action.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Tax Incentive Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income: (1) 100 percent of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property to a first-time farmer who certifies that the use of such property shall be as a farm for farming purposes for not less than 10 years after such sale or exchange; (2) 50 percent of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property to any other person who certifies that the use of such property shall be as a farm for farming purposes for not less than 10 years after such sale or exchange; and (3) 25 percent of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified farm property to any other person for any other use. Limits the amount of any of the above exclusions with respect to any taxable year to $500,000 on a joint return.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Right-to-Ride Livestock on Federal Lands Act of 2003 - Amends Public Law 91-383 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to preserve and facilitate the continued use and access of pack and saddle stock animals on parts of National Park System lands where there is a historical tradition of such use. Directs that as a general rule, all trails, routes, and areas used by such animals shall remain open and accessible for such use. Allows the Secretary of the Interior to implement a proposed reduction in the use and access of pack and saddle stock animals on such lands only after complying with the full review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Makes the same amendments to other laws regarding other public lands as follows: (1) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, with respect to Bureau of Land Management lands; (2) the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, with respect to National Wildlife Refuge System lands; and (3) the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, with respect to National Forest System lands (with the Secretary directed to act in this case being the Secretary of Agriculture). Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to issue final rules to define the meaning of a historical tradition of use of pack and saddle stock animals on Federal lands for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Northern Arizona National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the Prescott, Coconino, and Kaibab National Forests, Arizona, and certain other land in Yavapai County, Arizona, to the Yavapai Ranch Limited Partnership or the Northern Yavapai, L.L.C. (both referred to respectively as the "YLRP"), in exchange for land within the boundaries of the Prescott National Forest, Arizona. Grants to the YLRP perpetual, unrestricted, and nonexclusive easements that run with and benefit land transferred to the YLRP. Provides for the establishment of conservation easements on certain of the land transferred to the YLRP to conserve water in the Verde Valley, Arizona, and to minimize adverse water impacts from future development of the parcels. Reserves for the YLRP unrestricted easements and water rights for not more than three existing wells and related equipment on the land it is transferring to Federal control, with certain water rights from the wells to be reserved for the United States. Prescribes that if any part of either territory being transferred is unacceptable to the entity receiving it due to the presence of hazardous materials or any other reason, such section shall be deleted from the exchange and an adjustment shall be made. Requires the values of the land exchanged to be equal. Revokes any public orders withdrawing any of the Federal land from appropriation or disposal as necessary for the implementation of this Act. Withdraws the Federal land from all forms of entry and appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining and mineral leasing laws and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, until the date of the exchange. Prescribes that the land acquired by the United States shall become part of the Prescott National Forest and shall be managed to maintain its present character and natural values. Directs the Secretary to convey certain land in Coconino County, Arizona, to the individual or entity that represents the majority of landowners with encroachments on the lot in exchange for the payment of a designated sum plus certain other costs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to establish a program of competitive incentive grants to selected local educational agencies to create healthy school nutrition environments and assess the impact of such environments on the health and well-being of children enrolled in selected elementary and secondary schools of such agencies. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to revise requirements relating to the Secretary's CNA and NSLA regulation of competitive foods in schools. Eliminates a provision which barred such regulations from prohibiting the sale of competitive foods approved by the Secretary in food service facilities or areas during the time of service of food under CNA or NSLA, if the proceeds from the sales of such foods would inure to the benefit of the schools or of organizations of students approved by the schools. Allows such regulations to include provisions that regulate the service of competitive foods. Requires regulations regarding competitive foods to: (1) apply to all school grounds during the duration of the school day; (2) not supersede or otherwise affect State and local regulations on competitive foods that the Secretary determines conform to CNA and NSLA nutritional goals; (3) if such sales are allowed, require proceeds to be used for the benefit of schools or school-approved student organizations; (4) take into account differing needs of elementary, middle and junior high, and high schools; and (5) implement recommendations the Institute of Medicine will make to the Secretary regarding regulation of competitive foods in schools.