[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9240 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9240
To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to require the
Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to provide
recovery payments to producers of seasonal and perishable crops that
experience low prices caused by imports, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2024
Mr. Bishop of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to require the
Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to provide
recovery payments to producers of seasonal and perishable crops that
experience low prices caused by imports, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Our Produce Act''.
SEC. 2. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PILOT PROGRAM.
The Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
465; 118 Stat. 3882) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Secretary of Agriculture'' each place it
appears and inserting ``Secretary'';
(2) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``(3) The term''
and inserting the following:
``(4) State department of agriculture.--The term'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(2) The term''
and inserting the following:
``(3) State.--The term''; and
(C) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1) The term''
and inserting the following:
``(1) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
``(2) Specialty crop.--The term''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``TITLE V--SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP PROGRAMS
``SEC. 501. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PILOT PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Effective price.--The term `effective price', with
respect to a seasonal and perishable crop for a marketing year,
means the national average market price for that seasonal and
perishable crop during the seasonal marketing window for the
seasonal and perishable crop.
``(2) Reference price.--The term `reference price', with
respect to a seasonal and perishable crop for a marketing year,
means the average of the national average market prices
received by all producers of the seasonal and perishable crop
during the seasonal marketing window for the seasonal and
perishable crop for the most recent 5-year period of marketing
seasons, excluding--
``(A) the marketing season during that period with
the highest national average market price; and
``(B) the marketing season during that period with
the lowest national average market price.
``(3) Seasonal and perishable crop.--The term `seasonal and
perishable crop' means an asparagus, bell pepper, blueberry,
cucumber, or squash crop that is--
``(A) marketed in raw form for consumption without
further processing; and
``(B) as determined by the Secretary, normally
marketed not later than 4 weeks after harvesting.
``(4) Seasonal marketing window.--The term `seasonal
marketing window' means the timeframe during a marketing year,
as determined by the Secretary--
``(A) during which a crop is normally marketed
within a specific geographical region of the United
States; and
``(B) that concludes on the date that is not later
than 4 weeks after the last day on which the crop is
normally harvested.
``(b) Establishment of Pilot Program.--
``(1) In general.--Beginning with marketing year 2025, the
Secretary shall establish a pilot program under which the
Secretary shall provide annual crop loss payments to producers
of seasonal and perishable crops located in any geographical
region described in paragraph (2) in accordance with this
section, if the Secretary determines that, during the
applicable marketing year--
``(A) the effective price of the seasonal and
perishable crop is less than the reference price of
that seasonal and perishable crop; and
``(B) the crop loss described in subparagraph (A)
is caused by imports of the applicable seasonal and
perishable crop.
``(2) Description of geographical regions.--A geographical
region referred to in paragraph (1) is a geographical region of
the United States in which a seasonal and perishable crop is
grown within a seasonal marketing window during which a harvest
and shipment of the seasonal and perishable crop occurs, as
determined by the Secretary.
``(c) Eligibility.--
``(1) Application.--To be eligible to receive a payment
under the pilot program under this section, a producer of 1 or
more seasonal and perishable crops shall submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require,
including the information described in paragraph (2).
``(2) Requirement.--No producer may be eligible to receive
a payment under the pilot program under this section unless the
producer--
``(A) has an average adjusted gross income of less
than $5,000,000 for the 3 tax years preceding the most
recent tax year; and
``(B) derives at least 75 percent of the adjusted
gross income of the producer from farming, ranching, or
forestry, as determined by the Secretary.
``(d) Payment Amount.--The amount of a payment provided under the
pilot program under this section shall be equal to the product obtained
by multiplying--
``(1) the payment rate for the marketing year for which the
payment is provided with respect to the applicable seasonal and
perishable crop under subsection (e); and
``(2) the average production during the 5 most recent
marketing years of the seasonal and perishable crop by the
producer during the seasonal marketing window, excluding--
``(A) the marketing year during that period with
the highest production; and
``(B) the marketing year during that period with
the lowest production.
``(e) Payment Rate.--The rate of a payment provided under the pilot
program under this section shall be equal to the difference between--
``(1) the reference price of the applicable seasonal and
perishable crop; and
``(2) the effective price of that seasonal and perishable
crop.
``(f) Sunset.--The pilot program under this section shall terminate
on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of the
Protecting Our Produce Act.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to
carry out the pilot program under this section $200,000,000 for each
fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of the
Protecting Our Produce Act and before the date described in subsection
(f).''.
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