Agriculture

Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2013

Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to list permissible sources of dogs and cats used by research facilities to include dogs and cats obtained: (1) from a licensed dealer, (2) from a publicly owned and operated pound or shelter that meets specified requirements, (3) by donation from a person who bred and raised the dog or cat or owned it for not less than one year, or (4) from a research facility licensed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Sets forth additional monetary penalties for related violations. Prohibits federal facilities from purchasing or otherwise acquiring dogs or cats for exhibition purposes (currently, for research, experimentation, or exhibition purposes) except from: (1) the operator of an auction that comports with legal requirements, or (2) a person holding a valid dealer or exhibitor license. Prohibits dealers from selling or otherwise providing any research facility (currently, any individual or entity) with random source dogs or cats unless specified certification requirements are met.

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

United States · United States Senate · 23 May 2013

A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to expedite access to certain Federal lands under the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013

Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to implement a process to provide eligible organizations and individuals expedited access to federal lands to conduct good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. Sets forth procedures for the approval or denial of requests made by eligible organizations or individuals to carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission. Requires the Secretaries to develop search-and-recovery focused partnerships with search-and-recovery organizations to: (1) coordinate good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions on such lands, and (2) expedite and accelerate mission efforts for missing individuals on such lands.

Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act

United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013

Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to implement a process to provide eligible organizations and individuals expedited access to federal lands to conduct good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. Sets forth procedures for the approval or denial of requests made by eligible organizations or individuals to carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission. Requires the Secretaries to develop search-and-recovery focused partnerships with search-and-recovery organizations to: (1) coordinate good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions on such lands, and (2) expedite and accelerate mission efforts for missing individuals on such lands.

Rural Economic Vitalization Act

United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013

Rural Economic Vitalization Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) or the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) accept and terminate any grazing permit or lease that is waived by a grazing permittee or lessee; and (2) not issue any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the retired permit or lease, and ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on such allotment. Directs the appropriate Secretary, if a grazing allotment covered by a waived permit or lease is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, to reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the grazing allotment to reflect such waiver. Deems a permittee or lessee who waives a grazing permit or lease to have waived any claim to all range developments on the associated grazing allotment.

Preserving Healthy Food for the Hungry Act

United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013

Preserving Healthy Food for the Hungry Act - Amends the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 to provide agricultural product market development grants to assist persons in preserving the quality and shelf-life of fruit and vegetable crops produced by such persons on qualified land through the use of mobile and fixed flash freezing and quick freezing units.

To provide for the conveyance of a small parcel of Natural Resources Conservation Service property in Riverside, California, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to convey and quitclaim all interest of the United States in and to a parcel of real property, including improvements, located at 4500 Glenwood Drive in Riverside, California, and administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, to the Riverside Corona Resource Conservation District.

Crop Insurance Subsidy Transparency Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2013

Crop Insurance Subsidy Transparency Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to require annual disclosure to the public of specified crop insurance premium subsidy information.

Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act Reauthorization of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2013

Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act Reauthorization of 2013 - Amends the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) to reauthorize, until July 25, 2020, the program for the completion of appraisals and satisfaction of other legal requirements for the sale or exchange of public land identified for disposal under approved land use plans under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) establish and maintain a database containing a comprehensive list of all of the public land identified for disposal under such plans, and (2) make such database available to the public on the website of the Department of the Interior. Allows a state to use any funds made available from the Federal Land Disposal Account for same-state purchases that are not obligated or expended by the end of the fourth fiscal year after the sale or exchange of the land that generated such funds. Instructs the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), in prioritizing the acquisition of inholdings and non-federal lands with exceptional resources, to consider the extent to which the acquisition of the land or interest therein will increase public availability of resources for, and facilitate public access to, hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities. Requires any remaining balance in the Federal Land Disposal Account to be deposited into the Treasury and used for deficit reduction, except that in the case of a fiscal year for which there is no federal budget deficit, such amounts shall be used to reduce the federal debt. Makes the FLTFA inapplicable to land eligible for sale under specified public land laws.

Transparency for Lethal Control Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2013

Transparency for Lethal Control Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, to submit an annual report to Congress (and make such report publicly available on the Internet) on the animals killed during the preceding year under the wildlife services program or by a state or local entity acting in cooperation with or on behalf of such program.

Jon M. Holladay, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer, Department of Agriculture, vice Evan J. Segal.

United States · United States Senate · 20 May 2013

To prohibit the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of any pesticide containing atrazine.

United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2013

Prohibits the use, production, sale, importation, or exportation of atrazine (pesticide) or an atrazine product.

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

United States · United States Senate · 16 May 2013

Community College Energy Training Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2013

Community College Energy Training Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE), in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, to create a program awarding grants to community colleges to provide workforce training and education in sustainable energy industries and practices, such as: (1) alternative energy; (2) high-performance green building construction, design, and redevelopment; (3) sustainable energy technologies; (4) water, energy, and resource conservation; (5) recycling and waste reduction; and (6) sustainable agriculture and farming. Requires at least one-half of the grant funds to be awarded to community colleges with existing sustainability programs leading to certificates, credentials, or degrees in one or more of these industries or practices.

Disabled Veterans Nutrition Fairness Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2013

Disabled Veterans Nutrition Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand eligibility for supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP, formerly food stamp) benefits to include certain veterans with pending service-connected disability claims.

A bill to permanently suspend application of certain agricultural price support authority.

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013

Suspends specified agricultural price support authorities under: (1) the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 with regard to covered commodities, peanuts, sugar, and milk; (2) the Agricultural Act of 1949 with regard to covered commodities, peanuts, sugar, and milk; and (3) a certain quota resolution with regard to wheat.

To eliminate the limitation on the period for which borrowers are eligible for guaranteed assistance under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013

Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to eliminate the 15-year limitation on the period for which borrowers of agricultural operating loans are eligible for guaranteed assistance.

AFFIRM Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013

Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures Act or AFFIRM Act - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to prohibit the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) from paying a part of the crop insurance premium for additional coverage for any person or legal entity that has an average adjusted gross income in excess of $250,000. Caps: (1) the rate of return for all crop insurance providers combined for the 2013 and subsequent reinsurance years at 12% of retained premium, and (2) total reimbursements for administrative and operating costs for the 2013 insurance year for all types of policies and plans of insurance at $900 million. Requires that any renegotiated Standard Reinsurance Agreement, when compared to the immediately preceding Agreement, shall reduce FCIC obligations. Requires annual disclosure to the public of specified crop insurance premium subsidy information.

To require the Forest Service to accommodate, to the extent consistent with the management objectives and limitations applicable to the National Forest System lands at issue, individuals with mobility disabilities who need to use a power-driven mobility device for reasonable access to such lands.

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), through the Chief of the Forest Service, to require Forest Service personnel, in the implementation of off-road vehicle management under the Forest Service Travel Management Rule, to endeavor to accommodate individuals with mobility disabilities who would need to use a power-driven mobility device for access to such lands.

Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2013

Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit any person from importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce, breeding, or possessing any prohibited wildlife species (current law prohibits importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing such a species in interstate or foreign commerce). Includes among exemptions to such prohibition the breeding transportation, or possession of such species by authorized persons. Defines "breeding" as facilitating the propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or failing to prevent the propagation or reproduction, of a prohibited wildlife species or other animal. Removes from the list of persons authorized to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, purchase, breed, or possess such species a person that is licensed or registered, and inspected, by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) or any other federal agency with respect to such species. Includes in such list: an institution accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) or certified related facilities that coordinate with an AZA Species Survival Plan for breeding of species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973; a wildlife sanctuary that cares for such species, is a tax exempt corporation, does not commercially trade in or propagate such species, does not allow direct contact between the public and animals, and does not allow the transportation and display of such species off-site; a person that is in possession of animals of such species that were born before the date of this Act's enactment and that are registered with APHIS within 180 days after such regulations are promulgated; and a traveling circus that regularly travels in interstate commerce to conduct performances featuring live prohibited wildlife species and multiple trained human entertainers, that does not allow members of the public to be in direct contact with or unsafe proximity to a prohibited wildlife species of any age, and that, during the three years preceding this Act's enactment, has not been determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to have violated the Animal Welfare Act by reason of jeopardizing the health and well-being of a prohibited wildlife species. Establishes civil and criminal penalties and forfeiture requirements for violations of this Act.

Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2013

Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 - Title I: Commodity Programs - Subtitle A: Repeals and Reforms - Repeals, but continues for crop year 2013, direct payments, countercyclical payments, and the average crop revenue election program (ACRE). Makes adverse market payments available for the 2014-2018 crop years to producers on farms where the actual price for a covered commodity is less than the reference price for such commodity. Establishes the agriculture risk coverage program for crop years 2014-2018 to make payments to producers for each planted crop when actual farm or county-wide crop revenue is below the agriculture risk coverage guarantee. Requires producers to make a one-time choice between individual or county coverage. Subtitle B: Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments - Authorizes: (1) nonrecourse marketing assistance loans, (2) loan deficiency payments, (3) payments in lieu of loan deficiency payments for grazed acreage, (4) programs for upland cotton and extra long staple cotton, (5) assistance for peanuts, and (6) recourse loans for high moisture feed grains and seed cotton. Subtitle C: Sugar - Makes nonrecourse loans to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and domestically grown sugar beets through crop year 2018. Makes sugarcane and sugar beet quantity estimates through crop year 2018 for: (1) human consumption, (2) carryover stocks, (3) carry-in stocks, (4) domestic processing, and (5) imports. programs for sugar and sugar beets. Subtitle D: Dairy - Establishes a dairy production margin protection program under which participating dairy operations are paid: (1) basic production margin protection program payments when production margins are less than threshold levels, and (2) supplemental production margin protection program payments if purchased by a participating dairy operation. Establishes a dairy market stabilization program to assist in balancing the supply of milk with demand when participating dairy operations are experiencing low or negative operating margins. Provides for a transition period under which the dairy production margin protection program and the milk income loss program shall both be in existence and producers may participate in either program. Terminates the production margin protection and stabilization programs on December 31, 2018. Repeals: (1) the dairy products price support program, (2) the milk income loss contract program, and (3) the dairy export incentive program. Extends: (1) the dairy indemnity program, (2) the dairy forward pricing program, and (3) the dairy promotion and research program. Subtitle E: Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs - Provides livestock indemnity payments through FY2018 to eligible producers on farms that have incurred excess livestock death losses due to: (1) attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law, or (2) adverse weather. Establishes the livestock forage disaster program to provide one source for livestock forage disaster assistance for weather-related forage losses by combining specified other livestock forage assistance programs and functions. Provides compensation through FY2018 to eligible livestock producers for forage losses caused by: (1) drought, (2) fire on federally managed land, or (3) weather-related conditions other than drought or fire. Provides emergency assistance through FY2018 to eligible producers of livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish to aid in the reduction of losses due to disease or adverse weather. Provides assistance through FY2018 to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers that: (1) planted trees for commercial purposes but lost the trees as a result of a natural disaster, or (2) have a production history for commercial purposes on planted or existing trees but lost the trees as a result of a natural disaster. Subtitle F: Administration - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, facilities, and authorities to carry out this title. Suspends permanent price support authority under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Agricultural Act of 1949 for covered commodities, cotton, and sugar through crop year 2018, and for milk through December 31, 2018. Revises payment limitation requirements. Prohibits a person or legal entity from receiving specified agricultural benefits during a crop, fiscal, or program year if the average adjusted gross income of such person or entity exceeds $750,000. Extends specified direct reimbursement payments for geographically disadvantaged farmers and ranchers through FY2018. Directs the Secretary to preclude the issuance of agricultural payments to, and on behalf of, deceased individuals that were not eligible for payments. Authorizes the Secretary to track the benefits provided to individuals and entities under titles I and II of this Act. Title II: Conservation - Subtitle A: Conservation Reserve Program - Extends the conservation reserve program (CRP) and the farmable wetland program through FY2018. Sets forth maximum CRP acreage enrollments for FY2014- FY2018. Subtitle B: Conservation Stewardship Program - Revises, and extends through FY2018, the conservation stewardship program. Limits aggregate payments to a person or entity to $200,000 during FY2014-FY2018. Subtitle C: Environmental Quality Incentives Program - Extends the environmental quality incentives program through FY2018. Requires that 60% of FY2014-FY2018 program funds be used for livestock production practices, and that 5% of such funds be used for wildlife habitat practices. Provides payments for wildlife habitat development. Applies program limitations to the period FY2014-FY2018. Subtitle D: Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Establishes the agricultural conservation easement program for the conservation of eligible land and natural resources through easements or other interests in land. (Combines the purposes and coordinates the functions of the wetlands reserve program, the grassland reserve program, and the farmland protection program.) Sets forth agricultural land and wetland easement requirements. Subtitle E: Regional Conservation Partnership Program - Establishes a regional conservation partnership program to: (1) accomplish purposes similar to the agricultural water enhancement program, the Chesapeake Bay watershed program, the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and the Great Lakes basin program; (2) further the conservation use of natural resources on a regional or watershed scale; and (3) encourage partners to cooperate with producers in meeting or avoiding the need for regulatory requirements related to production on eligible land and implementing projects that affect multiple agricultural or nonindustrial private forest operations on a local, state, or regional basis. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a partnership agreement for up to 5 years, with a one-time extension for up to 12 months. Provides program funding for FY2014-FY2018. Subtitle F: Other Conservation Programs - Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for: (1) the conservation of private grazing land program, (2) the grass roots source water protection program, (3) the voluntary public access and habitat incentive program, and (4) the small watershed rehabilitation program. Establishes a terminal lakes assistance program (in lieu of the desert lakes program) for the purchase of eligible land impacted by flooded or terminal lakes and their associated watershed or riparian resources. Subtitle G: Funding and Administration - Authorizes the use of CCC funds through FY2018 for: (1) the conservation reserve program, including specified amounts for thinning activities and transferring contract land from retiring owners and operators to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers; (2) the agricultural conservation easement program; (3) the conservation security program; (4) the conservation stewardship program; and (5) the environmental quality incentives program. Subtitle H: Repeal of Superseded Program Authorities and Transitional Provisions; Technical Amendments - Repeals: (1) the conservation enhancement program, (2) the emergency forestry conservation reserve program, (3) the wetlands reserve program, (4) the farmland protection program, (5) the grassland reserve program, (6) the agricultural water enhancement program, (7) the wildlife habitat incentive program, (8) the Great Lakes Basin program, (9) the Chesapeake Bay watershed program, (10) the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and (11) the environmental easement program. Title III: Trade - Subtitle A: Food for Peace Act - Extends specified programs and authorizations of appropriations under the Food for Peace Act through FY2018. Prohibits assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Subtitle B: Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 - Extends through FY2018: (1) export credit guarantee programs, (2) the market access program, and (3) the foreign market cooperator program. Subtitle C: Other Agricultural Trade Laws - Extends through FY2018: (1) the food for progress program, (2) the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, (3) the McGovern-Dole international food for education and child nutrition program, (4) technical assistance for specialty crops, (5) the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and (6) local and regional food aid procurement projects. Establishes the Donald Payne Horn of Africa food resilience program. Authorizes FY2014-FY2018 appropriations. Directs the Secretary to plan for establishment of a position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for Foreign Agricultural Services. Title IV: Nutrition - Subtitle A: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Extends the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) through FY2018. Revises or extends program requirements, including those regarding: (1) utility allowances, (2) participant eligibility, (3) lottery or gambling winner ineligibility, (4) retail food stores, (5) food assistance security, (6) restaurant meals, (7) performance bonus payments, (8) employment and training programs, (9) community food projects, (10) nutrition education, (11) disqualification of certain felons, (12) the food distribution program on Indian reservations, (13) commodity purchases for emergency food assistance, and (14) prevention of recipient and retail food store trafficking. Subtitle B: Commodity Distribution Programs - Extends through FY2018: (1) the commodity distribution program, (2) the commodity supplemental food program, and (3) the distribution of surplus commodities to special nutrition projects program. Amends the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 with regard to the processing of commodities. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous - Extends funding through FY2018 for: (1) the senior farmers' market nutrition program, and (2) the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables for distribution to schools and service institutions. Repeals the nutrition information and awareness pilot program. Revises and provides funding through FY2018 for the hunger-free communities program. Establishes the healthy food financing initiative. Requires the Secretary to buy eligible pulse crops (dry beans, dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas) and related products for the school breakfast and lunch programs. Requires up to five demonstration projects to facilitate the purchase by school food authorities of unprocessed and minimally processed locally grown and locally raised agricultural products. Establishes: (1) in the office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services a multiagency task force to provide coordination and direction for commodity programs; and (2) a Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program to increase knowledge of agriculture and improve the nutritional health of children. Title V: Credit - Subtitle A: Farmer Loans, Servicing, and Other Assistance Under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act - Restructures agricultural credit program requirements under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. Allows: (1) additional legal entities to qualify for farm ownership loans, and (2) other acceptable experiences to qualify for the three-year farming eligibility requirement for direct loans. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for the conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Increases maximum down payment loan program amounts. Title VI: Rural Development -- Subtitle A: Reorganization of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act -- Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize through FY2018 the water, waste disposal and wastewater facility grant and loan program, with a funding priority for rural communities with populations of under 5,500. Reauthorizes the Community Facilities Loan and Grant Program. Directs the Secretary make up to 3% of funds provided through the Program available to applicants for technical assistance to help smaller communities in the development of their loan and grant applications. Reauthorizes the Rural Water and Wastewater Circuit Rider Program, the Rural Business Development Program , and general loan and grant authorities for rural development. Subtitle B: Rural Electrification -- Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1926 to reauthorize through FY2018 guarantees for bonds and notes issued for electrification or telephone purposes as well as expansion of 911 access. Authorizes the Secretary to begin providing combinations of grants and loans for the expansion of broadband service. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous - Reauthorizes through FY 2018 the distance learning and telemedicine program supporting equipment and infrastructure improvements that enhance telecommunications capabilities at educational and medical facilities. Authorizes the Secretary to issue zero-interest loans under a Rural Energy Savings Program to any electric cooperative or coordinated group of electric cooperatives for the purpose of lending the funds to their customers to make energy saving retrofit and structural improvements. Title VII: Research, Extension, and Related Matters - Subtitle A: National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 - Reauthorizes through FY 2018 the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 and specified grant programs under it. Directs the Secretary to carry out a competitive veterinary services grant program. Subtitle B: Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 - Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to reauthorize through FY2018 specified programs, systems, and initiatives, including: (1) the Sustainable Agriculture Technology Development and Transfer Program, (2) the National Training Program, (3) the National Genetics Resources Program, (4) the National Agricultural Weather Information System, (5) the Agricultural Genome Initiative, (6) various specified high-priority research and extension initiatives, (7) the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, (8) the Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities, and (9) the National Rural Information Center Clearinghouse. Directs the Secretary to carry out: (1) a Pulse Health Initiative, (2) a forestry and forestry products research and extension initiative, and (3) a farm animal integrated research initiative. Authorizes the Secretary to prioritize regional centers of excellence established for specific agricultural commodities. Subtitle C: Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 - Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to reauthorize through FY2018: (1) the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Database Program, and (2) the Office of Pest Management Policy. Funds the Specialty Crop Research Initiative though FY2018. Establishes four Regional Integrated Pest Management Centers, which shall be located in the north central, northeastern, southern, and western regions of the United States. Subtitle D: Other Laws - Reauthorizes through FY2018 the Critical Agricultural Materials Act, the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994, the Research Facilities Act, the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act, the Renewable Resources Extension Act of 1978, and the National Aquaculture Act of 1980. Reauthorizes also through FY2018 the Enhanced Use Lease Authority Pilot Program under the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994. Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to require: (1) a set-aside of funds for beginning farmers and ranchers who are veterans, and (2) competitive grants to states to establish and improve farm safety programs. Subtitle E: Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 - Amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to reauthorize through FY2018: (1) the Agricultural Biosecurity Communication Center; (2) assistance to build local capacity in agricultural biosecurity planning, preparation, and response; (3) research and development of agricultural countermeasures; and (4) the agricultural biosecurity grant program. Continues through FY2018 the Grazinglands Research Laboratory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Reauthorizes through FY2018 the Natural Products Research Program and the Sun Grant Program. Directs the Secretary to establish a nonprofit Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. Title VIII: Forestry - Subtitle A: Repeal of Certain Forestry Programs - Repeals: (1) the forest land enhancement program under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, (2) the Hispanic-serving institution agricultural land national resources leadership program under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, and (3) the tribal watershed forestry assistance program under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. Subtitle B: Reauthorization of Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 - Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to reauthorize through FY2018 the requirement for a state forester to make a state-wide assessment of forest resource conditions and a long-term state-wide forest resource strategy. Subtitle C: Reauthorization of Other Forestry-Related Laws - Amends specified Acts to reauthorize through FY20018 the forestry rural revitalization program, the Office of International Forestry, and the healthy forests reserve program. Amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to direct the Secretary, if requested by a state governor, to designate as part of an insect and disease treatment program one or more subwatersheds (sixth-level hydrologic units) in at least one national forest in each state experiencing an insect or disease epidemic. Authorizes the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enter into stewardship contracting projects with private persons or other public or private entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the national forests and the public lands that meet local and rural community needs. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act to waive the matching funds requirement for eligible 1890 Institutions if the allocation is below $200,000. Directs the Secretary to revise the strategic plan for forest inventory and analysis initially prepared under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 to meet specified requirements. Authorizes the Secretary, for any state seeking reimbursement for amounts expended for resources and services provided to another state for the management and suppression of a wildfire, to accept the reimbursement amounts from the other state and pay them to the state seeking reimbursement. Title IX: Energy - Extends through FY2018: (1) the biobased marketing program, (2) biorefinery, renewable chemical, and biobased product manufacturing assistance, (3) the bioenergy program for advanced biofuels, (4) the biodiesel fuel education program, (5) the rural energy for America program, (6) biomass research and development, (7) the feedstock flexibility program for bioenergy producers, (8) the biomass crop assistance program, and (9) the community wood energy program. Repeals the forest biomass for energy program under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and the renewable fertilizer study under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Title X: Horticulture - Extends through FY2018: (1) the specialty crop market news program, (2) the farmers market and local food promotion program, (3) organic production and market initiatives, (4) food safety education initiatives, and (5) specialty crop block grants. Repeals the specialty crop movement-to-market program. Directs the Secretary to study the production and marketing of locally or regionally produced agricultural food products, and evaluate the effectiveness of programs designed to expand or facilitate local food systems. Establishes the National Clean Plant Network. Exempts the bulk bin shipment of apples to Canada from specified Apple Export Act inspection requirements. Revises requirements for exemption of certified organic products from promotion order assessments. Title XI: Crop Insurance - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to direct the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) to offer crop producers the opportunity to purchase coverage in combination with an individual buy up policy or plan of insurance that would allow the payment of indemnities to a producer equal to part of the deductible under the policy or plan, if sufficient area data is available (Supplemental Coverage Option, based on area yield and loss, individual yield or loss, or a combination of both). Allows a producer also to purchase additional coverage on a margin basis alone or in combination with individual yield or loss or area yield or loss. Makes permanent the pilot program under which FCIC pays a portion of the premiums for insurance plans or policies for which the insurable unit is defined as a whole farm or enterprise unit. Makes separate enterprise units available for irrigated and non-irrigated acreages of crops beginning with crop year 2014. Revises the adjustment in actual production history used to establish insurable yields. Requires FCIC to review any policy or pilot program to carry out research and development for new crop insurance policies and submit such policy or program to the Board of Directors, if the policy or program will likely result in a marketable policy and improved coverage. Specifies conditions for the FCIC Board to determine, in its sole discretion, when reviewing a policy, plan of insurance, or other submitted material for approval for reinsurance. Directs the Board to ensure that any Standard Reinsurance Agreement is budget neutral. Requires the FCIC to establish procedures to allow insured producers up to 120 days to settle claims involving corn determined to have low test weight. Requires FCIC, beginning not later than the 2014 upland cotton crop, to make available to producers of maximum eligible acres of upland cotton an additional policy (the Stacked Income Protection Plan). Requires FCIC and the Risk Management Agency, beginning with the 2014 crop, to make available a revenue crop insurance program for peanuts based on a price equal to the Rotterdam price index for peanuts, as adjusted to reflect the farmer stock price of peanuts in the United States. Directs the Secretary to: (1) maintain and upgrade FCIC information management systems used in the administration and enforcement of this title, and (2) implement an acreage reporting streamlining initiative to permit producers to report acreage and other information directly to USDA. Directs the FCIC to carry out research and development to develop a whole farm risk management insurance plan, with a liability limitation of $1.5 million, that allows a diversified crop or livestock producer the option to qualify for an indemnity in specified circumstances. Requires the FCIC to offer to: (1) contract with qualified entities to study whether offering policies that cover specialty crops from food safety and contamination issues would benefit agricultural producers, and (2) contract with a qualified person to study the feasibility of insuring swine producers for a catastrophic event. Requires FCIC to contract for: (1) research and development regarding a policy to insure producers of catfish against reduction in the margin between market value and selected production costs; (2) a study to determine the feasibility of insuring commercial poultry production against business disruptions caused by integrator bankruptcy, and a separate study to determine the feasibility of insuring poultry producers for a catastrophic event; (3) a study to determine the best method of insuring seafood harvesters; and (4) research and development regarding policies to insure biomass and sweet sorghum grown to produce feedstocks for renewable biofuel, renewable electricity, or biobased products. Requires the FCIC to offer producers of organic crops price elections for all organic crops produced in compliance with USDA standards under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 that reflect the actual retail or wholesale prices, as appropriate, received by producers for organic crops. Authorizes the FCIC, at its sole discretion, to conduct a pilot program to provide financial assistance for producers of underserved crops and livestock (including specialty crops) to purchase an index-based weather insurance product from a private insurance company. Defines "beginning farmer or rancher" as a farmer or rancher who has not actively operated and managed a farm or ranch with a bona fide insurable interest in a crop or livestock as an owner-operator, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper for more than five crop years. Requires a beginning farmer or rancher to receive crop insurance premium assistance 10 percentage points greater than otherwise available premium assistance. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide organic certification cost share assistance; (2) support risk management education and community outreach partnerships; and (3) make agricultural management assistance grants to producers in states with a low level of federal crop insurance participation and availability, as well as to producers underserved by the federal crop insurance program. Revises requirements related to crop production on native sod. Directs the Secretary to improve the existing Internet website through which agricultural producers in any state may identify crop insurance options. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study fraudulent crop insurance claims and benefits provided under them. Title XII: Miscellaneous - Subtitle A: Socially Disadvantages Producers and Limited Resource Producers - Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for outreach and assistance for socially disadvantaged or veteran farmers and ranchers, as well as for the USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach. Directs the Secretary to award a competitive grant to an eligible 1890 Institution to establish a Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center. Subtitle B: Livestock - Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to establish: (1) the wildlife reservoir zoonotic disease initiative, and (2) a program to improve the U.S. sheep industry. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for: (1) the national aquatic animal health plan, and (2) the trichinae certification program. Authorizes a feral swine eradication pilot program. Directs the Secretary to offer to enter into contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other legal instruments with eligible diagnostic animal health laboratories to: (1) enhance the Secretary's capability to respond in a timely manner to emerging or existing bioterrorist threats to animal health; (2) provide the capacity and capability, among other things, for standardized test procedures, equipment, laboratory biosafety and biosecurity levels, quality management system requirements, and interconnected electronic reporting and transmission of data; and (3) coordinate the development, implementation, and enhancement of national veterinary diagnostic laboratory capabilities. Requires the Secretary to ensure that the USDA continues to administer the avian influenza surveillance program in commercial poultry through the National Poultry Improvement Program. Subtitle C: Other Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish the position in the USDA of Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison. Amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to authorize appropriations through FY2018 for grants to improve agricultural labor force supply, stability, safety, and training. Revises requirements for the noninsured crop disaster assistance program to provide coverages based on individual yields (other than for value-loss crops) equivalent to: (1) catastrophic risk protection (as under current law), or (2) certain additional coverage not exceeding 65%. Makes crops grown expressly for the purpose of producing a feedstock for renewable biofuel, renewable electricity, or biobased products eligible for noninsured crop disaster assistance. Directs the Secretary to establish in the Office of the Secretary an Office of Tribal Relations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to states and tribal governments to support their efforts to promote the domestic maple syrup industry. Amends the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit, and subject to criminal penalties, attending or causing a minor to attend an animal fight. Establishes the Pima Cotton Trust Fund, the Agriculture Wool Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund, and the Citrus Disease Research and Development Trust Fund.

Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2013

Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act - Streamlining Permitting of American Energy Act of 2012 - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to revise requirements for the issuance of permits to drill in energy projects on federal lands. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to extend the initial 30-day permit application review period for up to 2 periods of 15 days each, if the Secretary has given written notice of the delay to the applicant. Deems a permit application approved if the Secretary has not made a decision on it by 60 days after its receipt. Prescribes a notice requirement for denial of an application. Requires the Secretary to collect a single $6,500 permit processing fee per application from each applicant at the time the decision is made whether or not to issue a permit. Requires that specified minimum percentages of fees collected as annual wind energy and solar energy right-of-way authorization fees be available for the local Department of the Interior field office where they are collected, for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permit approval activities, and to the Secretary for department-wide permitting activities. Requires the Secretary to collect a $5,000 documentation fee to accompany each protest for a lease, right of way, or application for permit to drill. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project in every BLM Field office with responsibility for permitting energy projects on federal land, and (2) enter into a related memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers. Requires federal signatories to such memorandum to assign staff with special expertise to BLM field offices. States that the Secretary shall not require a finding of extraordinary circumstances related to a categorical exclusion in administering the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA 2005) with respect to review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). (A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is required.) Sets forth procedures for judicial review of leasing of federal lands for the exploration, development, production, processing, or transmission of oil, natural gas, wind, or any other energy source of energy. Providing Leasing Certainty for American Energy Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary, in conducting lease sales under the Mineral Leasing Act, to offer for sale at least 25% of the annual nominated acreage not previously made available for lease. Shields such acreage from protest and the test of extraordinary circumstances, but makes it eligible for certain categorical exclusions under EPA 2005 and NEPA. Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit the Secretary from: (1) withdrawing any covered energy project issued under that Act without finding a violation of lease terms by the lessee; (2) delaying indefinitely issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic permits, and rights of way for activities under a lease; and (3) cancelling or withdrawing any lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and a winning bidder has made the last payment for the parcel. Instructs the Secretary to: (1) make nominated areas available for lease within 18 months after an area is designated as open under a current land use plan, (2) issue all leases sold 60 days after the last payment is made, and (3) adjudicate any lease protests filed following a lease sale. Prohibits additional lease stipulations (except certain emergency stipulations) after the parcel is sold without consultation and agreement of the lessee. Requires federal land managers to follow existing resource management plans and continue to actively lease in areas designated as open when resource management plans are being amended or revised, until such time as a new record of decision is signed. Declares without force or effect Bureau of Land Management Instruction Memorandum 2010-117. Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act or PIONEERS Act - Deems the final regulations regarding oil shale management published by the BLM on November 18, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements under any law, including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, NEPA, and EPA 2005. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement those regulations, including the oil shale leasing program they authorize, without any other administrative action necessary. Deems the November 17, 2008, U.S. Bureau of Land Management Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement also to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements under any law. Directs the Secretary to implement the oil shale leasing program in those areas covered by the resource management plans amended by such amendments, and covered by such record of decision, without any other administrative action necessary. Directs the Secretary to hold a lease sale, within 180 days after enactment of this Act, that offers an additional 10 parcels for lease for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources under the terms offered in the solicitation of bids for such leases published on January 15, 2009. Requires the Secretary, by January 1, 2016, to hold at least 5 separate commercial lease sales, in multiple lease blocs, in areas of at least 25,000 acres, which: (1) have been nominated through public comment, and (2) are considered to have the most potential for oil shale development.

Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2013

Federal Agriculture Reform and and Risk Management Act of 2013 - Title I: Commodities - Subtitle A: Repeals and Reforms - Repeals, but continues for crop year 2013: (1) direct payments, (2) countercyclical payments, and (3) the average crop revenue election program (ACRE). Provides for crop years 2014-2018 either: (1) price loss coverage if a covered commodity's effective price is less than its reference price; or (2) alternative revenue loss coverage, as a permanent one-time election, if a covered commodity's county revenue is less than the county revenue loss coverage trigger. Subtitle B: Marketing Loans - Authorizes: (1) nonrecourse marketing assistance loans through crop year 2018, (2) loan deficiency payments through crop year 2018, (3) payments in lieu of loan deficiency payments for grazed acreage through crop year 2018, (4) programs for upland cotton and extra long staple cotton, (5) assistance for peanuts, and (6) recourse loans for high moisture feed grains and seed cotton through crop year 2018. Subtitle C: Sugar - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to make nonrecourse loans to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and domestically grown sugar beets through crop year 2018. Directs the Secretary to make sugarcane and sugar beet quantity estimates through crop year 2018 for: (1) human consumption, (2) carryover stocks, (3) carry-in stocks, (4) domestic processing, and (5) imports. Subtitle D: Dairy - Establishes a dairy production margin protection program under which participating dairy operations are paid: (1) basic production margin protection program payments when production margins are less than threshold levels, and (2) supplemental production margin protection program payments if purchased by a participating dairy operation. Provides for program retroactivity. Establishes a dairy market stabilization program to assist in balancing the supply of milk with demand when participating dairy operations are experiencing low or negative operating margins. Terminates the production margin protection and stabilization programs on December 31, 2018. Repeals: (1) the dairy products price support program, (2) the milk income loss contract program, and (3) the dairy export incentive program. Extends: (1) the dairy indemnity program, (2) the dairy forward pricing program, and (3) the dairy promotion and research program. Makes the provisions of this subtitle effective on October 1, 2013. Subtitle E: Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs - Provides livestock indemnity payments through FY2018 to eligible producers on farms that have incurred excess livestock death losses due to: (1) attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law, or (2) adverse weather. Provides compensation through FY2018 to eligible livestock producers for grazing losses caused by drought or fire. Provides emergency assistance through FY2018 to eligible producers of livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish to aid in the reduction of losses due to disease or adverse weather. Provides assistance through FY2018 to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers that planted trees for commercial purposes but lost the trees as a result of a natural disaster, and to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers that have a production history for commercial purposes on planted or existing trees but lost the trees as a result of a natural disaster. Subtitle F: Administration - Directs the Secretary to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, facilities, and authorities to carry out this title. Suspends permanent price support authority under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Agricultural Act of 1949 for covered commodities, cotton, and sugar through crop year 2018, and for milk through December 31, 2017. Revises specified payment limitation provisions. Prohibits a person or legal entity from receiving specified agricultural benefits during a crop, fiscal, or program year if the average adjusted gross income of such person or entity exceeds $950,000. Extends specified direct reimbursement payments for geographically disadvantaged farmers and ranchers through FY2018. Directs the Secretary to preclude the issuance of agricultural payments to, and on behalf of, deceased individuals that were not eligible for payments. Makes $100 million available to the Farm Service Agency to carry out this title. Title II: Conservation - Subtitle A: Conservation Reserve Program - Extends the conservation reserve program (CRP) and the farmable wetland program through FY2018. Sets forth maximum CRP acreage enrollments for FY2014- FY2018. Subtitle B: Conservation Stewardship Program - Revises, and extends through FY2018, the conservation stewardship program. Limits aggregate payments to a person or entity to $200,000 during FY2013-FY2017. Subtitle C: Environmental Quality Incentives Program - Extends the environmental quality incentives program through FY2018. Requires that 60% of FY2014-FY2018 program funds be used for livestock production practices, and that 5% of such funds be used for wildlife habitat practices. Provides payments for wildlife habitat development. Applies program limitations to the period FY2014-FY2018. Subtitle D: Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Establishes the agricultural conservation easement program for the conservation of eligible land and natural resources through easements or other interests in land. (Combines the purposes and coordinates the functions of the wetlands reserve program, the grassland reserve program, and the farmland protection program.) Sets forth agricultural land and wetland easement provisions. Makes the provisions of this subtitle effective on October 1, 2013. Subtitle E: Regional Conservation Partnership Program - Establishes a regional conservation partnership program to: (1) accomplish purposes similar to the agricultural water enhancement program, the Chesapeake Bay watershed program, the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and the Great Lakes basin program; (2) further the conservation use of natural resources on a regional or watershed scale; and (3) encourage partners to cooperate with producers in meeting or avoiding the need for regulatory requirements related to production on eligible land and implementing projects that affect multiple agricultural or nonindustrial private forest operations on a local, state, or regional basis. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a partnership agreement for up to 5 years, with a one-time extension for up to 12 months. Provides program funding for FY2014-FY2018. Makes the provisions of this subtitle effective on October 1, 2013. Subtitle F: Other Conservation Programs - Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for: (1) the conservation of private grazing land program, (2) the grass roots source water protection program, (3) the voluntary public access and habitat incentive program, and (4) the small watershed rehabilitation program. Subtitle G: Funding and Administration - Authorizes the use of Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds through FY2018 for: (1) the conservation reserve program, including specified amounts for transferring contract land from retiring owners and operators to beginning and disadvantaged farmers and ranchers; (2) the agricultural conservation easement program; (3) the conservation security program; (4) the conservation stewardship program; and (5) the environmental quality incentives program. Makes such provisions effective on October 1, 2013. Subtitle H: Repeal of Superseded Program Authorities and Transitional Provisions; Technical Amendments - Repeals: (1) the conservation enhancement program, (2) the emergency forestry conservation reserve program, (3) the wetlands reserve program, (4) the farmland protection program, (5) the grassland reserve program, (6) the agricultural water enhancement program, (7) the wildlife habitat incentive program, (8) the Great Lakes Basin program, (9) the Chesapeake Bay watershed program, (10) the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and (11) the environmental easement program. Title III: Trade - Subtitle A: Food for Peace Act - Extends specified programs and authorizations of appropriations under the Food for Peace Act through FY2018. Subtitle B: Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 - Extends through FY2018: (1) export credit guarantee programs, (2) the market access program, and (3) the foreign market cooperator program. Subtitle C: Other Agricultural Trade Laws - Extends through FY2018: (1) the food for progress program, (2) the Bill Emerson humanitarian trust, (3) the McGovern-Dole international food for education and child nutrition program, (4) technical assistance for specialty crops, and (5) the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Authorizes the Secretary to establish the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for Foreign Agricultural Services. Title IV: Nutrition - Subtitle A: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Extends the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) through FY2018. Revises program provisions, including provisions regarding: (1) participant eligibility, (2) retail stores, (3) services to the elderly and disabled, (4) utility allowances, (5) lottery or gambling ineligibility, (6) food assistance security, (7) mobile transactions, (8) restaurant meals, (9) data exchange standardization, (10) employment and training programs, (11) exclusion of medical marijuana from the excess medical expense deduction, (12) limitations on fund use to Puerto Rico, (13) funding for retailer trafficking, (14) nutrition education, and (15) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Extends through FY2018: (1) the food distribution program on Indian reservations, and (2) commodity purchases for emergency food assistance. Subtitle B: Commodity Distribution Programs - Extends through FY2018: (1) the commodity distribution program, (2) the commodity supplemental food program, and (3) the distribution of surplus commodities to special nutrition projects program. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous - Extends funding for the senior farmers' market nutrition program through FY2018. Repeals the nutrition information and awareness pilot program. Establishes a pilot grant program for the purchase of fresh fruit and vegetables. Title V: Credit - Subtitle A: Farm Ownership Loans - Allows: (1) additional legal entities to qualify for farm ownership loans, and (2) other acceptable experiences to qualify for the three-year farming eligibility requirement for direct loans. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for the conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Increases maximum down payment loan program amounts. Subtitle B: Operating Loans - Allows additional legal entities to qualify for farm operating loans. Authorizes the Secretary to waive the personal liability of a youth borrower if a loan default was due to circumstances beyond the borrower's control. Authorizes a micro loan program for direct or guaranteed loans (maximum micro loan of $35,000 with a total micro loan indebtedness of $70,000 per borrower). Subtitle C: Emergency Loans - Allows additional legal entities to qualify for emergency loans. Subtitle D: Administrative Provisions - Extends the beginning farmer and rancher individual development accounts pilot program through FY2018. Subtitle E: State Agricultural Mediation Programs - Extends state agricultural mediation programs through FY2018. Subtitle F: Loans to Purchasers of Highly Fractionated Land - Amends the loan and loan guarantee program for Indian tribes and tribal corporations to purchase highly fractioned land within the reservation to permit loans to intermediaries to establish revolving loan funds for such purchases. Title VI: Rural Development - Subtitle A: Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act - Extends through FY2018: (1) water, waste disposal, and wastewater facility grants; (2) rural business opportunity grants; (3) funding for the federal share of developing tribal college or university essential community facilities; (4) emergency and imminent community water assistance grants; (5) grants to nonprofit organizations for water well system servicing for low- and moderate income households; (6) rural cooperative development grants; (7) loans to enterprises that process, store, and market locally or regionally produced agricultural food products; (8) the intermediary relending program to finance rural business facilities and community development projects; (9) grants for the federal share of acquiring radio transmitters to increase rural coverage by the weather radio broadcast system of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); (10) the rural micro enterprise assistance program; (11) the Delta Regional Authority; (12) the Northern Great Plains Regional Authority; and (13) the rural business investment program. Authorizes appropriations for the rural water and wastewater circuit rider program. Subtitle B: Rural Electrification Act of 1936 - Extends through FY2018: (1) guarantee authority for rural electrification or telephone bonds and notes, (2) expansion of 911 access, and (3) loan guarantees for rural broadband telecommunications infrastructure. Gives loan priority to applicants that offer to provide broadband service to the greatest proportion of households that had no incumbent service provider. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous - Extends through FY2018 : (1) the distance learning and telemedicine program, (2) value-added agricultural producer grants, and (3) the agriculture innovation center demonstration program. Title VII: Research, Extension, and Related Matters - Subtitle A: National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 - Extends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board until September 30, 2018. Establishes a veterinary services grant program. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for: (1) agricultural and food policy research centers. Repeals: (1) the human nutrition intervention and health promotion research program, (2) appropriations for research on national or regional problems, (3) the pilot research program to combine medical and agricultural research, (4) research equipment grants, and (5) the national and regional animal health and disease research program. Extends through FY2018: (1) grants and fellowships for food and agricultural sciences education, (2) the nutrition education program, (3) animal heath and disease research programs, (4) grants to upgrade agricultural and food sciences facilities at 1890 land-grant colleges and at land grant colleges in insular areas, (5) grants for Hispanic-serving institutions, (6) grants for international agricultural science and education, (7) assistance for extension programs, (8) assistance for university agricultural research, (9) assistance for supplemental and alternative crops, (10) aquaculture assistance programs, (11) rangeland research programs, and (12) biosecurity planning. Establishes a grant program for training Hispanic agricultural workers and youth in the food and agricultural sciences. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for distance education and resident instruction at insular-area institutions of higher education. Requires the recipient of a competitive grant that involves applied research or extension and that is commodity- or state-specific to provide matching funds or in-kind contributions. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 to carry out this subtitle. Subtitle B: Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 - Extends through FY2018 programs and assistance under the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977. Repeals: (1) the national agricultural weather information system, (2) the agricultural genome initiative, (3) the electronic commerce extension program, (4) the nutrient management research and extension initiative, and (5) the agricultural bioenergy feedstock and energy efficiency research and extension initiative. Extends through FY2018: (1) integrated management systems, (2) Extension Service agent training, (3) sustainable agriculture technology, (4) organic agriculture research, (5) farm business management, (6) assistive technology for farmers with disabilities, (7) the national rural information center clearinghouse, (8) high-priority research and extension initiatives, and (9) the genetics resources program. Subtitle C: Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 - Extends through FY2018: (1) integrated management systems programs; (2) research regarding diseases of wheat, triticale, and barley caused by Fusarium graminearum or by Tilletia indica; (3) grants for youth organizations; (4) the specialty crop research initiative; (5) the food animal residue avoidance database program; and (6) the Office of Pest Management Policy. Repeals: (1) the program to improve the viability of small and medium dairy, livestock, and poultry operations; (2) Johne's (livestock) disease control program; and (3) the national swine research center. Subtitle D: Other Laws - Extends through FY2018 programs and assistance under: (1) the Critical Agricultural Materials Act, (2) the Research Facilities Act, (3) the Renewable Resources Extension Act of 1978, and (4) the National Aquaculture Act of 1980. Revises "1994 Institutions" (Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994) provisions. Extends the beginning farmer and rancher development program through FY2018. Makes beginning farmers and ranchers who are veterans eligible for program set-asides. Extends coverage under the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Subtitle E: Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 - Extends through FY2018: (1) the Agricultural Biosecurity Communication Center, (2) research and development of agricultural countermeasures, (3) training for agricultural biosecurity planning and response for food science professionals and veterinarians, and (4) the agricultural biosecurity grant program. Extends the period prohibiting federal land and facilities at El Reno, Oklahoma, from being declared to be surplus federal property or otherwise be conveyed. Revises budget submission and funding provisions. Extends through FY2018: (1) the natural products research program, and (2) the sun grant program. Repeals: (1) the antibiotic-resistant bacteria research grant program, (2) the farm and ranch stress assistance network, (3) the seed distribution program, and (4) the rural transportation research program. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to negotiate concession agreements at the National Arboretum with nonprofit organizations that support the Arboretum. Authorizes a non-federal entity to construct, at no cost to the government, a facility for use by the Agricultural Research Service on land owned by the Agricultural Research Service and managed by the Secretary. (Directs the Secretary to accept the completed facility as a gift.) Title VIII: Forestry - Subtitle A: Repeal of Certain Forestry Programs - Repeals: (1) the forest land enhancement program, (2) the watershed forestry assistance program, (3) the Hispanic-serving institution agricultural land leadership program, and (4) the tribal watershed forestry assistance program. Subtitle B: Reauthorization of Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 Programs - Extends the forest legacy program and the community forest and open space conservation program through FY2018. Subtitle C: Reauthorization of Other Forestry-Related Laws - Extends the rural revitalization technologies program and the Office of International Forestry through FY2018. Subtitle D: National Forest Critical Area Response - Directs the Secretary to designate critical areas within the National Forest System to address: (1) deteriorating forest health conditions due to insect infestation, drought, disease, or storm damage; and (2) the future risk of insect infestations or disease outbreaks through preventative treatments. Allows the use of expedited environmental, administrative, and judicial procedures to be used for such areas. Subtitle E: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary to revise the forest inventory strategic plan. Title IX: Energy - Extends through FY2018: (1) the biobased marketing program, (2) biorefinery assistance, (3) the bioenergy program for advanced biofuels, (4) the biodiesel fuel education program, (5) the repowering assistance program to reduce or eliminate biorefinery fossil fuel use, (6) the rural energy for America program, (7) biomass research and development, (8) the feedstock flexibility program for bioenergy producers, (9) the biomass crop assistance program, and (10) the community wood energy program. Title X: Horticulture - Extends through FY2018: (1) the specialty crop market news program, (2) the farmers market and local food promotion program, (3) organic production and market initiatives, (4) food safety initiatives, and (5) specialty crop block grants. Repeals the specialty crop movement-to-market program. Sets forth investigatory and enforcement provisions under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. Exempts the bulk bin shipment of apples to Canada from specified Apple Export Act requirements. Subjects imported olive oil to U.S. grade, size, and quality controls. Repeals the coordinated plant management program and establishes the national clean plant network for diagnostic and pathogen elimination services to: (1) produce clean propagative plant material, and (2) maintain blocks of pathogen-tested plant material in sites throughout the United States. Makes funding available through FY2018. Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2013 - Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a state from requiring a permit under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for a discharge from a point source into navigable waters of a pesticide authorized for sale, distribution, or use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Title XI: Crop Insurance - Makes available to crop producers a supplemental coverage option (based on area yield and loss) to cover part of a crop insurance policy deductible. Triggers such option only if area losses exceed 10% of normal levels. Provides for: (1) 65% premium coverage by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), and (2) coverage to begin no later than crop year 2014. Makes permanent the pilot program under which FCIC pays a portion of the premiums for insurance plans or policies for which the insurable unit is defined as a whole farm or enterprise unit. Makes separate enterprise units available for irrigated and non-irrigated acreages of crops beginning with crop year 2014. Revises the adjustment in actual production history used to establish insurable yields. Requires FCIC to: (1) review any policy or pilot program to carry out research and development for new crop insurance policies, and submit it to the Board of Directors if it will likely result in a marketable policy and improved coverage; and (2) make an additional annual reimbursement through reinsurance year 2015 to insurance companies selling specialty crop policies. Provides crop insurance premiums at 50 percentage points less than the otherwise applicable subsidy for the first four crop years of planting on native sod acreage in the Prairie Pothole National Priority Area. Defines "beginning farmer or rancher" as a farmer or rancher who has not actively operated and managed a farm or ranch with a bona fide insurable interest in a crop or livestock as an owner-operator, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper for more than five crop years. Requires FCIC, beginning not later than the 2014 upland cotton crop, to make available to producers of maximum eligible acres of upland cotton an additional policy (the Stacked Income Protection Plan). States that Plan coverage shall be in addition to all other coverages available to upland cotton producers. Requires FCIC and the Risk Management Agency, beginning with the 2014 crop, to make available a revenue crop insurance program for peanuts based on a price equal to the Rotterdam price index for peanuts, as adjusted to reflect the farmer stock price of peanuts in the United States. Directs the Secretary to: (1) maintain and upgrade FCIC information management systems used in the administration and enforcement of this title, (2) implement an acreage reporting streamlining initiative to permit producers to report acreage and other information directly to USDA. Requires FCIC to: (1) contract for research and development for insuring producers of freshwater-reared catfish against reduction in the margin between market value and selected production costs; (2) contract to determine the feasibility of insuring commercial poultry production against business disruptions caused by integrator bankruptcy, and for a study to determine the feasibility of insuring poultry producers for a catastrophic event; (3) contract for research and development of insuring biomass and sweet sorghum grown to produce feedstocks for renewable biofuel, renewable electricity, or biobased products; (4) contract for a feasibility study of insuring swine producers for a catastrophic event; and (5) develop a whole farm risk management insurance plan (with liability of up to $1 million). Title XII: Miscellaneous - Subtitle A: Livestock - Extends through FY2018: (1) the national aquatic animal health plan, (2) the trichinae certification program, and (3) the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. Directs the Secretary, through the Office of the Chief Economist, to conduct an economic analysis of the USDA's proposed rule "Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken, Goat Meat, Wild and Farm-raised Fish and Shellfish, Perishable Agricultural Commodities, Peanuts, Pecans, Ginseng and Macadamia Nuts." Directs the Secretary to enter into contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements with eligible laboratories to: (1) enhance USDA's capability to detect and respond to animal health threats and to support the protection of public health, the environment, and the agricultural economy; (2) coordinate enhancement of national veterinary diagnostic laboratory capabilities; and (3) provide for standardized laboratory biosafety and biosecurity levels. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018. Subtitle B: Socially Disadvantaged Producers and Limited Resource Producers - Provides funding through FY2018 for: (1) outreach and assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (including veteran farmers and ranchers in the program), and (2) the Office of Advocacy and Outreach. Subtitle C: Other Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides funding through FY2018 for grants to improve the supply, stability, safety, and training of the agricultural labor force. Establishes: (1) an Office of Tribal Relations within the Office of the Secretary; and (2) a USDA position of Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison to provide information to returning military veterans on beginning farmer training, agricultural vocational and rehabilitation programs. Provides coverages based on individual yields (other than for value-loss crops) under the noninsured crop disaster assistance program equivalent to: (1) catastrophic risk protection, or (2) specified additional coverage. Reduces the premium for additional coverage by 50% for limited resource, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers. Requires each federal agency to have guidelines in effect for ensuring the quality of scientific information by January 1, 2014.

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

United States · United States Senate · 9 May 2013

Balancing Food, Farm, and the Environment Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013

Balancing Food, Farm, and the Environment Act of 2013 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make a producer violating certain conservation requirements under the highly erodible land or wetland programs ineligible for federal crop insurance premiums. Requires producers under the highly erodible land program and the wetland conservation program to comply with specified conservation requirements. Extends and revises: (1) the conservation reserve program, (2) the conservation stewardship program, and (3) the environmental quality incentives program. Establishes: (1) a conservation reserve easement program, and (2) a conservation innovation grant program. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds and facilities to carry out the following programs through FY2018: (1) the conservation reserve program, (2) the conservation security program, (3) the conservation stewardship program, (4) the environmental quality incentives program, (5) the conservation innovation grant program, (6) the agricultural conservation easement program, and (7) the conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Authorizes a conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Establishes an agricultural conservation easement program which shall combine the purposes and functions of the wetlands reserve program, the grassland reserve program, and the farmland protection program. Provides: (1) funding for the purchase by eligible entities of agricultural land easements and other interests in eligible land, and (2) assistance to owners of eligible land to restore and protect wetland through easements and related wetland easement plans. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into one or more agreements with a state, nongovernmental organization, or Indian tribe to carry out a special wetlands reserve enhancement program which shall include a reservation of haying and grazing component. Establishes a regional conservation partnership program which shall combine the purposes and functions of the agricultural water enhancement program, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed program, the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and the Great Lakes basin program for soil erosion and sediment control. Repeals: (1) the emergency forestry conservation reserve program, (2) the wetlands reserve program, (3) the farmland protection program and farm viability program, (4) the grassland reserve program, (5) the environmental easement program, (6) the program of conservation innovation grants and payments, (7) the agricultural water enhancement program, (8) the wildlife habitat incentive program, (9) the Great Lakes Basin program, (10) the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and (11) the desert terminal lakes program.

Let's Grow Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013

Let's Grow Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) (Secretary) to carry out the Green and Healthy Corner Store Initiative to assist qualified convenience stores to expand their offering of fruits and vegetables. Directs the Secretary to make grants to provide access to farmers' markets for communities with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, particularly areas of predominantly lower-income communities. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a pilot grant program to allow local and tribal governments to conduct food security assessments. Directs the Secretary, regarding the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program), to: (1) establish hunger-free communities incentive grants to improve participant access to local fruits and vegetables by providing point-of-purchase incentives, and (2) provide grants to urban farmers' markets for installation of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems. Authorizes appropriations through FY2018 for SNAP research, demonstration, and evaluations. Directs the Secretary to make grants for a Farm-to-Preschool program that fosters the connection between preschools, Head Start programs, childcare or day care centers, kindergarten readiness programs and in-home care facilities with small- or medium-sized agricultural producers to develop an industry-leading preschool nutrition education and meal program. Establishes in USDA a Healthy Food Financing Initiative to: (1) improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas; (2) create and preserve quality jobs; and (3) revitalize low-income communities by providing loans and grants to eligible food retailers to overcome the higher costs and initial barriers to entry in underserved, urban, suburban, and rural areas. Directs the Secretary to provide grants for urban and Native American community gardens. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make grants to convert abandoned or foreclosed property to urban agricultural use; (2) enter into an agreement with the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide the Corporation with funds to support the creation of the HarvestCorps program; and (3) make grants to establish urban farms, gardens, or aquacultural or other facilities for the production of agricultural or aquacultural products or the raising of livestock for sale in the urban area. Directs the Secretary to make grants to: (1) assist nonprofit organizations purchase and convert publicly owned land in underserved areas for use as urban farms or community gardens, and (2) implement urban agricultural workforce training programs. Extends certain payment assistance and conservation access provisions to socially disadvantaged urban farmers and ranchers. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) an urban entrepreneurship and microenterprise program, and (2) a local farm business and market garden competitive loan program. Directs the Secretary to provide commodities to specified nonprofits to provide nutritious food to at-risk school children on weekends and during extended school holidays during the school year. (At-risk school children are those who participate in the school lunch program and reside in an area served by a school in which at least 50% of the students receive free or reduced price meals under the school lunch or breakfast programs.) Extends: (1) the commodity supplemental food program, and (2) the emergency food assistance program. Directs the Secretary to provide grants: (1) for equipment and technology to increase food bank efficiency; and (2) to schools, museums, and libraries to increase energy efficiency.

Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013

Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to jurisdiction of courts in the United States over foreign manufacturers that import products into the United States. Directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (with respect to drugs, devices, cosmetics, and biological products), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) (with respect to consumer products), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (with respect to chemical substances, new chemical substances, and pesticides) to require foreign manufacturers and producers of such products (or components used to manufacture them), in excess of a minimum value or quantity, to establish a registered agent in the United States authorized to accept service of process on their behalf for the purpose of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court. Deems a foreign manufacturer or producer of products covered under this Act that registers an agent to consent to the personal jurisdiction of the state or federal courts of the state in which the agent is located for the purpose of any civil or regulatory proceeding. Requires any person who imports into the United States a covered product manufactured or produced outside the United States to provide to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a declaration that to the best of the person's knowledge, with respect to the importation of each covered product, the foreign manufacturer or producer of the product has registered an agent in the United States. Directs the CBP Commissioner to prescribe related regulations. Subjects an importer who fails to provide or files a false declaration to certain penalties. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs jointly to study the feasibility and advisability of requiring foreign producers of food distributed in commerce to establish a registered agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of such producers for the purpose of all civil and regulatory actions in state and federal courts. Requires the head of each agency cited in this Act similarly to study feasible and advisable methods of requiring foreign manufacturers or producers of component parts of covered products distributed in U.S. commerce to establish registered agents in the United States for purposes of such service of process.

Farm Program Integrity Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013

Farm Program Integrity Act of 2013 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a per farm cap of $50,000 on commodity program benefits and $75,000 on marketing loan program benefits ($125,000 total). Increases such limit to $250,000 for married couples. Revises the limitation of benefits eligibility to active producers to include farm managers. Establishes criteria for determining whether a person acting as a farm manager is actively engaged in farming for such purposes. (Permits only one such eligibility per farm operation.)

Enhancing Employment and Training Through Education Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2013

Enhancing Employment and Training Through Education Act of 2013 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to carry out pilot projects to identify best practices for employment and training programs to increase the number of work registrants who obtain unsubsidized employment, increase their earned income, and reduce their reliance on public assistance, including but not limited to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program). Sets forth selection criteria.

National Forest Emergency Response Act

United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2013

National Forest Emergency Response Act - Declares that the fire hazard and human endangerment in national forests to be designated by the Secretary of Agriculture constitute emergency circumstances. Directs the Secretary to designate (for up to 10 years) at least one national forest in each state that is experiencing conditions that constitute emergency circumstances due to pine beetle infestation, drought, disease, or storm damage and the resulting imminent risk of devastating wildfire that poses significant threat to the economic stability of surrounding areas and the health, safety, and well-being of residents, firefighters, and visitors. Makes provisions of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act regarding hazardous fuel reduction on federal land (including environmental analysis requirements, the special administrative review process, and the judicial review process) applicable to all Forest Service projects and activities implementing the land and resource management plan developed for the designated national forests during the term of the emergency circumstances, subject to specified modifications by the Secretary. Requires a project conducted in a designated national forest under this Act that comprises less than 10,000 acres (with exceptions, including components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, any federal land on which the removal of vegetation is restricted or prohibited by Act of Congress or presidential proclamation, or a congressionally designated wilderness study area) to be considered an action categorically excluded from the requirements for an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement. Prohibits a U.S. court from issuing any restraining order, preliminary injunction, or injunction pending appeal regarding any decision to engage in remedial action or to prepare, advertise, offer, award, or operate a timber sale in a designated forest. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement or contract with a state forester to provide forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration and protection services on national forest system land in that state.

To establish an Office of Tribal Relations in the Department of Agriculture.

United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2013

Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Tribal Relations within the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to advise the Secretary on policies related to Indian tribes.

Balancing Food, Farm, and the Environment Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2013

Balancing Food, Farm, and the Environment Act of 2013 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make a producer violating certain conservation requirements under the highly erodible land or wetland programs ineligible for federal crop insurance premiums. Requires producers under the highly erodible land program and the wetland conservation program to comply with specified conservation requirements. Extends and revises: (1) the conservation reserve program, (2) the conservation stewardship program, and (3) the environmental quality incentives program. Establishes: (1) a conservation reserve easement program, and (2) a conservation innovation grant program. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds and facilities to carry out the following programs through FY2018: (1) the conservation reserve program, (2) the conservation security program, (3) the conservation stewardship program, (4) the environmental quality incentives program, (5) the conservation innovation grant program, (6) the agricultural conservation easement program, and (7) the conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Authorizes a conservation loan and loan guarantee program. Establishes an agricultural conservation easement program which shall combine the purposes and functions of the wetlands reserve program, the grassland reserve program, and the farmland protection program. Provides: (1) funding for the purchase by eligible entities of agricultural land easements and other interests in eligible land, and (2) assistance to owners of eligible land to restore and protect wetland through easements and related wetland easement plans. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into one or more agreements with a state, nongovernmental organization, or Indian tribe to carry out a special wetlands reserve enhancement program which shall include a reservation of haying and grazing component. Establishes a regional conservation partnership program which shall combine the purposes and functions of the agricultural water enhancement program, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed program, the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and the Great Lakes basin program for soil erosion and sediment control. Repeals: (1) the emergency forestry conservation reserve program, (2) the wetlands reserve program, (3) the farmland protection program and farm viability program, (4) the grassland reserve program, (5) the environmental easement program, (6) the program of conservation innovation grants and payments, (7) the agricultural water enhancement program, (8) the wildlife habitat incentive program, (9) the Great Lakes Basin program, (10) the cooperative conservation partnership initiative, and (11) the desert terminal lakes program.

Safety Net Abuse Prevention (SNAP) Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2013

Safety Net Abuse Prevention (SNAP) Act of 2013 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to prohibit the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from using funds for any agreement with a foreign government to promote enrollment in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program). Terminates the Partnership for Nutrition Assistance Initiative between the United States and Mexico.

WILL Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2013

Workforce Investments through Local Libraries Act or WILL Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to define "digital literacy skills" to mean the skills associated with using technology to enable users to find, evaluate, organize, create, and communicate information. Revises requirements for member composition of state and local workforce investment boards to include heads of public libraries. Requires state workforce investment plans to include a description of the procedures states will take to assure coordination of and avoid duplication among employment and training activities, and adult education and literacy activities, provided by public libraries. Requires local workforce investment plans similarly to describe how local boards will coordinate investment activities carried out in the local area with such activities provided by public libraries. Allows a human resource program operated by a one-stop partner to include programs of employment and training activities, and adult education and literacy activities, provided by public libraries. Revises state allotment eligibility requirements to allow public libraries located in local areas to operate as one-stop centers to provide such activities. Allows public libraries, among other appropriate entities, to contract with the one-stop delivery system to deliver intensive services for employment and training for adults and dislocated workers supported by workforce investment funds. Includes development of digital literacy skills among the intensive short-term prevocational services of a one-stop delivery system. Allows demonstration and pilot, multiservice, research, and multistate projects of the Department of Labor for providing employment opportunities and training services to individuals to include the establishment of employment resource centers in public libraries to provide unemployed and underemployed individuals access to workforce investment services related to such opportunities and services. Directs the Secretary of Labor to collaborate on initiatives, materials, or technology to support workforce development activities with the heads of relevant federal departments and agencies, including the Secretary of Education, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), or their designees. Amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act to require an eligible provider receiving a grant or contract to develop, implement, and improve adult education and literacy activities to use the grant or contract to establish or operate one or more programs to promote digital literacy skills.

Maple Tapping Access Program Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2013

Maple Tapping Access Program Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to make grants to states and tribal governments to promote the domestic maple syrup industry through: (1) promotion of research and education, (2) promotion of natural resource sustainability, (3) market promotion, and (4) encouragement of owners and operators of privately held land to initiate or expand maple-sugaring activities or to voluntarily make the land available to the public for maple-sugaring activities. Defines "maple-sugaring" as the collection of sap from any species of tree in the genus Acer for the purpose of boiling to produce food.

Enhancement of Species Survival Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2013

Enhancement of Species Survival Act - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to define the term "enhancement of propagation or survival" to mean directly or indirectly improving a species' sustainability in the wild. Requires the Secretary (Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case may be) (who under existing law is already authorized) to allow certain prohibited acts for scientific purposes or to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered species of fish or wildlife or plants, including, but not limited to, acts necessary for the establishment and maintenance of experimental populations of such species. Authorizes the appropriate Secretary to allow the otherwise prohibited taking of any such species within the United States or the U.S. territorial sea if it is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity. Directs the appropriate Secretary to permit the importation of a sport-hunted trophy or other specimen that was legally taken from a population of a species not native to the United States (including a domestic population of such species), if it is listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and all trade in the trophy or specimen is in accordance with Convention requirements and relevant resolutions and quotas adopted by the Convention. Requires also permission to import a sport-hunted trophy or other specimen of a marine mammal that has been legally taken from a depleted population stock listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Rural Energy Investment Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2013

Rural Energy Investment Act of 2013 - Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 regarding the biobased markets program to: (1) extend program funding through FY2018, (2) increase the number of categories of biobased products designated and individual biobased products eligible for preferred purchasing, and (3) provide for a program of biobased product education and promotion activities. Amends the Rural Energy for America Program to: (1) extend Program funding through FY2018; (2) make nonprofit organizations eligible for assistance; (3) provide loan guarantees and grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy system purchases, with a tiered loan and grant application process that reflects project cost; and (4) permit the combined amount of a grant and a loan guarantee to cover all eligible activity costs. Extends funding through FY2018 for: (1) biorefinery assistance, (2) the biodiesel fuel education program, (3) biomass research and development, (4) the Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative, (5) the biomass crop assistance program, (6) the forest biomass for energy program, (7) the community wood energy program, and (8) the feedstock flexibility program for bioenergy producers.

Animal and Public Health Protection Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2013

Animal and Public Health Protection Act - Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to offer to enter into contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements with eligible laboratories to: (1) detect emerging or existing threats to animal health and support the protection of public health, the environment, and the agricultural economy; (2) provide the capability for standardized test procedures, laboratory biosafety and biosecurity, interconnected electronic data reporting, and emergency preparedness evaluation; and (3) coordinate the development and implementation of national veterinary diagnostic laboratory capabilities. Directs the Secretary to give priority to eligible laboratories at existing federal and state facilities and those at institutions of higher education.

Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2013

Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2013 - Designates specified federal lands in San Juan National Forest in Colorado as: (1) the Hermosa Creek Watershed and Protection Area, and (2) the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a management plan for the long-term protection and management of the Special Management Area. Designates specified land within the Protection Area as the Hermosa Creek Wilderness. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, upon the expiration of a specified permit, to convey to La Plata County, Colorado, identified land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Tres Rios District in Colorado. Requires such land to be used only for public purposes consistent with the uses allowed under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act. Requires the County to: (1) pay all survey costs and other administrative costs necessary for preparing and completing patents for, and transfers of title to, such land; and (2) agree in writing to pay administrative costs associated with such conveyance, including the costs of environmental, wildlife, cultural, or historical resources studies. Releases the West Needles Contiguous Wilderness Study Area in San Juan County, Colorado, from further study for designation as wilderness.

AG Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013

Agricultural Guestworker Act or the AG Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish an H-2C nonimmigrant visa for an alien having a residence in a foreign country which he or she has no intention of abandoning and who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services. Requires an employer to file an H-2C petition with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) which shall include specified employment-related attestations. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) penalties; (2) working conditions, wages, and transportation reimbursement; (3) admissions and extensions of stay; (4) abandonment of employment and worker replacement; (5) protection of U.S. workers; (6) legal assistance; (7) fees; and (8) arbitration and mediation. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct investigations and random audits of employer work sites. Requires an employer to guarantee to offer the worker employment for the hourly equivalent of at least 50% of the work hours during the total anticipated period of employment. Makes an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States on April 25, 2013, eligible to adjust to H-2C status. Establishes in the Treasury a trust fund to provide a monetary incentive for H-2C workers to return to their country of origin upon expiration of their visas. Permits an H-2C worker to perform agricultural labor or services for any "registered agricultural employer" if such worker: (1) is already lawfully present in the United States as an H-2C worker; and (2) has completed the period of employment specified in the job offer the worker accepted, or the employer has terminated the worker's employment. Limits the number of annual fiscal year H-2C admissions. Prohibits the admission of spouses and children of H-2C workers. Extends coverage under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to H-2C workers. Sets forth limitations on federal benefits and tax credits. Terminates authority to petition for H-2A temporary agricultural workers two years after enactment of this Act.

School Food Modernization Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013

School Food Modernization Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to issue loan guarantees to local educational agencies (LEAs) participating in the school lunch program, tribal organizations, or consortia of such entities to finance the construction, remodeling, or expansion of infrastructure or the purchase of durable equipment that will facilitate their provision of healthy meals through the school breakfast and lunch programs. Requires the Secretary to give a preference to applicants that, compared with other applicants, demonstrate a substantial or disproportionate need for food service infrastructure or durable equipment. Prohibits a loan guarantee from covering more than 90% of a loan's principal. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to direct the Secretary to award competitive grants to assist LEAs participating in the school lunch program, tribal organizations, or consortia of such entities in purchasing the durable equipment and infrastructure they need to serve healthier meals and improve food safety. Gives grant priority to applicants that serve a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price meals under the school lunch program. Directs the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to experienced third-party training institutions to provide school food service personnel with the training and technical assistance they need to meet updated school lunch program nutrition standards.

Halal and Kosher Food Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013

Kosher and Halal Food Act of 2013 - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to: (1) provide for the increased purchase of Kosher and Halal food if such food is cost neutral as compared to food that is not from food manufacturers with a Kosher or Halal certification, and (2) modify the labeling of the commodities list under the emergency food assistance program to enable Kosher and Halal food bank operators to identify which commodities to obtain from local food banks.

Creating Crop Insurance Certainty for Farmers Act

United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013

Creating Crop Insurance Certainty for Farmers Act - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to provide specified advanced public notice and a period for public comment before any modification to the terms or conditions of a crop insurance policy or plan may be made. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such provision in an emergency situation.

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2014

United States · United States House of Representatives · 25 April 2013

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

United States · United States Senate · 25 April 2013

Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2014

United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013

Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2013 - Designates specified federal lands in San Juan National Forest in Colorado as: (1) the Hermosa Creek Watershed and Protection Area, and (2) the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a management plan for the long-term protection and management of the Special Management Area. Designates specified land within the Protection Area as the Hermosa Creek Wilderness. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, upon the expiration of a specified permit, to convey to La Plata County, Colorado, identified land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Tres Rios District in Colorado. Requires such land to be used only for public purposes consistent with the uses allowed under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act. Requires the County to: (1) pay all survey costs and other administrative costs necessary for preparing and completing patents for, and transfers of title to, such land; and (2) agree in writing to pay administrative costs associated with such conveyance, including the costs of environmental, wildlife, cultural, or historical resources studies. Releases the West Needles Contiguous Wilderness Study Area in San Juan County, Colorado, from further study for designation as wilderness.

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2013 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend: (1) the conservation reserve and related programs, and (2) assistance to disadvantaged or beginning farmers or ranchers for access to the environmental quality incentives and the conservation stewardship programs. Permits conservation reserve contract modification to facilitate transfers from retiring owners to limited resource farmers or ranchers. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to: (1) reduce the number of operating years required for a beginning farmer or rancher to qualify for a direct real estate loan; (2) extend conservation loan and loan guarantee authority, and reserve specified amounts for beginning farmers and ranchers; (3) extend the beginning farmer and rancher individual development accounts pilot program; (4) authorize micro loans for beginning farmers or ranchers; and (5) make the direct operating loan set-aside for beginning farmers and ranchers permanent. Amends the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 to extend the value-added agricultural product market development grant program. Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to extend the beginning farmer and rancher development program. Provides assistance for agricultural rehabilitation and vocational training for veterans. Amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to extend the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. Provides priority assistance for new farming opportunities, including young, beginning, socially disadvantaged, and immigrant issues, as well as farm entry, transition, and transfer issues. Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide for risk management programs targeted at beginning, socially disadvantaged, transitioning, or legal immigrant farmers and ranchers. Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish in the Department of Agriculture (USDA) the position of Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison.

Healthy Food Financing Initiative

United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013

Healthy Food Financing Initiative - Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish in the Department of Agriculture (USDA) a Healthy Food Financing Initiative to provide assistance in order to: (1) improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas; (2) create and preserve quality jobs; and (3) revitalize low-income communities by providing loans and grants to eligible food retailers to overcome the higher costs and initial barriers to entry in underserved, urban, suburban, and rural areas.

Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013

Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013 - Amends the Egg Products Inspection Act to revise provisions concerning housing and treatment of egg-laying hens and enforcement of such requirements. Sets forth separate caging device and environmental and housing conversion provisions for California. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to delegate to the California Department of Food and Agriculture certain enforcement authority with respect to eggs produced, shipped, handled, transported, or received in California prior to the date that is 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Halal and Kosher Food Act of 2013

United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013

Kosher and Halal Food Act of 2013 - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to: (1) provide for the increased purchase of Kosher and Halal food if such food is cost neutral as compared to food that is not from food manufacturers with a Kosher or Halal certification, and (2) modify the labeling of the commodities list under the emergency food assistance program to enable Kosher and Halal food bank operators to identify which commodities to obtain from local food banks.