16 USC 590 - Payments and grants of aid

View all text of Chapter 3 B [§ 590a - § 590q-3]

§ 590h. Payments and grants of aid

(a) Repealed. Pub. L. 87–703, title I, § 101(2), Sept. 27, 1962, 76 Stat. 605

(b) Conservation and environmental assistance

(1) Environmental quality incentives program

(2) to (4) Repealed. Pub. L. 104–127, title III, § 336(a)(1)(A)(i)(I), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1004

(5) State, county, and area committees

(A) Appointment of State committees

(B) Establishment and elections for county, area, or local committees

(i) Establishment(I) In general(II) Local administrative areas

(ii) Composition of county, area, or local committees(I) In general

Except as provided in subclause (II), a committee established under clause (i) shall consist of not fewer than 3 nor more than 5 members that—

(aa) are fairly representative of the agricultural producers within the area covered by the county, area, or local committee; and(bb) are elected by the agricultural producers that participate or cooperate in programs administered within the area under the jurisdiction of the county, area, or local committee.(II) Combination or consolidation of areas

A committee established by combining or consolidating 2 or more county or area committees shall consist of not fewer than 3 nor more than 11 members that—

(iii) Elections(I) In general(II) Nondiscrimination statement(III) Nominations(aa) Eligibility(bb) Outreach(IV) Opening of ballots(aa) Public notice(bb) Opening of ballots(cc) Observation(V) Report of election

Not later than 20 days after the date on which an election is held, a county, area, or local committee shall file an election report with the Secretary and the State office of the Farm Service Agency that includes—

(aa) the number of eligible voters in the area covered by the county, area, or local committee;(bb) the number of ballots cast in the election by eligible voters (including the percentage of eligible voters that cast ballots);(cc) the number of ballots disqualified in the election;(dd) the percentage that the number of ballots disqualified is of the number of ballots received;(ee) the number of nominees for each seat up for election;(ff) the race, ethnicity, and gender of each nominee, as provided through the voluntary self-identification of each nominee; and(gg) the final election results (including the number of ballots received by each nominee).(VI) National report(VII) Election reform(aa) Analysis(bb) Inclusion(cc) Methods of inclusion

(iv) Term of office

(v) Public availability and report to Congress(I) Public disclosure(II) Report to Congress

The Secretary may not terminate a county or area committee or combine or consolidate two or more county or area committees unless—

(i) the Secretary first notifies the committee or committees involved of the proposed action; and

(ii) the State committee of the State in which the affected counties are located approves of such action in a vote taken after the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date the notification is received.

(D) Use of committees

(E) Regulations

The Secretary shall issue such regulations as the Secretary considers necessary relating to the selection and exercise of the functions of the respective committees, and to the administration through such committees of the programs described in subparagraph (D). Pursuant to such regulations, each county and area committee shall select an executive director for the area or county. Such selection shall be made in the same manner as provided for the selection of the county executive director under section 7.21(b)(2) of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on January 1, 1994. Regulations governing payments or grants under this subsection shall be as simple and direct as possible, and, whenever practicable, they shall be classified on the following two bases:

(i) Soil-depleting practices.

(ii) Soil-building practices.

(F) Mandatory duties of Secretary

In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall—

(i) insofar as practicable, protect the interests of tenants and sharecroppers;

(ii) accord such encouragement to producer-owned and producer-controlled cooperative associations as will be in harmony with the policy toward cooperative associations set forth in Federal laws and as will tend to promote efficient methods of marketing and distribution;

(iii) in every practicable manner, protect the interests of small producers; and

(iv) in every practical way, encourage and provide for soil-conserving and soil-rebuilding practices.

(G) Discretionary authorities of Secretary

(H) Limitations

(1) In apportioning acreage allotments under this section in the case of wheat and corn, the National and State allotments and the allotments to counties shall be apportioned annually on the basis of the acreage seeded for the production of the commodity during the ten calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which the national acreage allotment is determined (plus, in applicable years, the acreage diverted under previous agricultural adjustment and conservation programs), with adjustments for abnormal weather conditions and trends in acreage during the applicable period.

(2) In the case of wheat, the allotment to any county shall be apportioned annually by the Secretary, through the local committees, among the farms within such county on the basis of tillable acres, crop-rotation practices, type of soil, and topography. Not more than 3 per centum of such county allotment shall be apportioned to farms on which wheat has not been planted during any of the three marketing years immediately preceding the marketing year in which the allotment is made. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the allotments established, or which would have been established, for any farm acquired in 1940 or thereafter by the United States for national-defense purposes shall be placed in an allotment pool and shall be used only to establish allotments for other farms owned or acquired by the owner of the farm so acquired by the United States. The allotments so made for any farm, including a farm on which wheat has not been planted during any of the three marketing years preceding the marketing year in which the allotment is made, shall compare with the allotments established for other farms in the same area which are similar except for the past acreage of wheat.

(3) In the case of corn, the allotment to any county shall be apportioned annually by the Secretary, through the local committees, among the farms within such county on the basis of tillable acreage, type of soil, topography, and crop rotation practices.

(4) Repealed. Apr. 10, 1939, ch. 48, 53 Stat. 573.

(5) In determining normal yield per acre for any county under this section in the case of wheat or corn, the normal yield shall be the average yield per acre therein for such commodity during the ten calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which such yield is determined, adjusted for abnormal weather conditions and trends in yields. If for any reason there is no actual yield, or the data therefor are not available for any year, then an appraised yield for such year, determined in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, shall be used. If, on account of drought, flood, insect pests, plant disease, or other uncontrollable natural cause, the yield in any year of such ten-year period is less than 75 per centum of the average (computed without regard to such year), such year shall be eliminated in calculating the normal yield per acre. Such normal yield per acre for any county need be redetermined only when the actual average yield for the ten calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which such yield is being reconsidered differs by at least 5 per centum from the actual average yield for the ten years upon which the existing normal yield per acre for the county was based.

(6) In determining normal yield per acre for any farm under this section in the case of wheat or corn, the normal yield shall be the average yield per acre thereon for such commodity during the ten calendar years immediately preceding the calendar year in which such yield is determined, adjusted for abnormal weather conditions and trends in yields. If for any such year the data are not available, or there is no actual yield, then the normal yield for the farm shall be appraised in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, taking into consideration abnormal weather conditions, the normal yield for the county, and the yield in years for which data are available.

(d) to (f) Repealed. Pub. L. 104–127, title III, § 336(a)(1)(A)(ii), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1004

(g) Assignment of payments

(Apr. 27, 1935, ch. 85, § 8, as added Feb. 29, 1936, ch. 104, § 1, 49 Stat. 1149; amended June 28, 1937, ch. 395, § 1, 50 Stat. 329; Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title I, §§ 101, 102, 103, 52 Stat. 31, 34, 35; Apr. 7, 1938, ch. 107, §§ 16–18, 52 Stat. 204, 205; Apr. 10, 1939, ch. 48, 53 Stat. 573; May 14, 1940, ch. 200, 54 Stat. 216; July 2, 1940, ch. 521, § 2, 54 Stat. 727; June 21, 1941, ch. 217, 55 Stat. 257; Dec. 26, 1941, ch. 626, § 1, 55 Stat. 860; Feb. 6, 1942, ch. 44, § 4, 56 Stat. 53; Sept. 29, 1942, ch. 568, 56 Stat. 761; Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title III, § 301, 58 Stat. 737; July 25, 1946, ch. 642, 60 Stat. 663; July 3, 1948, ch. 827, title I, § 4, 62 Stat. 1250; Sept. 23, 1950, ch. 997, 64 Stat. 978; May 26, 1952, ch. 335, 66 Stat. 95; Aug. 28, 1954, ch. 1041, title V, § 501, 68 Stat. 907; Aug. 9, 1955, ch. 624, 69 Stat. 545; Apr. 6, 1956, ch. 186, 70 Stat. 105; July 24, 1956, ch. 668, 70 Stat. 597; Pub. L. 85–553, July 25, 1958, 72 Stat. 414; Pub. L. 86–70, § 13(a), June 25, 1959, 73 Stat. 143; Pub. L. 86–624, § 8(a), July 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 412; Pub. L. 87–703, title I, § 101(2), (3), Sept. 27, 1962, 76 Stat. 605, 606; Pub. L. 88–534, § 1, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 743; Pub. L. 89–742, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1167; Pub. L. 92–419, title VI, §§ 605, 606(2)–(5), Aug. 30, 1972, 86 Stat. 676, 677; Pub. L. 95–113, title XV, § 1501(a), Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 1019; Pub. L. 96–294, title II, § 259, June 30, 1980, 94 Stat. 709; Pub. L. 99–198, title XVII, §§ 1711(a), 1712, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1635, 1636; Pub. L. 99–253, § 3, Feb. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 36; Pub. L. 99–500, § 101(a) [title VI, § 645], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783, 1783–36, and Pub. L. 99–591, § 101(a) [title VI, § 645], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341, 3341–36; Pub. L. 99–641, title II, § 204, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3563; Pub. L. 101–624, title XI, § 1146, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3516; Pub. L. 102–237, title II, § 202, Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1848; Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 227(a), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3216; Pub. L. 104–127, title III, § 336(a)(1)(A), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1004; Pub. L. 107–171, title X, § 10708(b), May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 522; Pub. L. 110–234, title I, § 1615, May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1021; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title I, § 1615, June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1749; Pub. L. 115–334, title II, § 2301(d)(2)(D), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4554.)