[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3401 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3401
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Crop
Insurance Corporation to carry out research and development on a single
index insurance policy, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 5, 2023
Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Markey)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Crop
Insurance Corporation to carry out research and development on a single
index insurance policy, 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 ``Withstanding Extreme Agricultural
Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience Act of 2023'' or the
``WEATHER Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. SINGLE INDEX INSURANCE POLICY.
(a) In General.--Section 522(c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act
(7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(20) Single index insurance policy.--
``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Covered crop or commodity.--The term
`covered crop or commodity' means any crop or
commodity (including a specialty crop) on a
farm except timber, forest products, animals
for sport or show, and pets.
``(ii) Covered policy.--The term `covered
policy' means the single index insurance policy
described in subparagraph (B)(i).
``(iii) Covered weather condition.--
``(I) In general.--The term
`covered weather condition' means any
of the following weather conditions
that are found to be closely correlated
with agricultural income losses:
``(aa) High winds.
``(bb) Excessive moisture
and flooding.
``(cc) Extreme heat.
``(dd) Abnormal freeze
conditions.
``(ee) Wildfire.
``(ff) Hail.
``(gg) Drought.
``(hh) Any other severe
weather or growing conditions
applicable to small-scale
farmers, as determined by the
Secretary.
``(II) Data.--The existence of a
weather condition described in
subclause (I) shall be determined by
indices that prioritize using data from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, as available, but may
use other federally or State certified
weather data sources, public and
private satellite data, and weather and
climate data and models, if necessary,
as determined by the Secretary.
``(B) Policy.--
``(i) In general.--The Corporation shall
carry out research and development, or offer to
enter into 1 or more contracts with 1 or more
qualified persons to carry out research and
development, to develop a single index policy
to insure against agricultural income losses
due to 1 or more covered weather conditions.
``(ii) Coverage.--Research and development
on the covered policy under clause (i) shall
require that coverage is available in all 50
States (including Indian Tribes), the District
of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands of the United States.
``(iii) Option to buy-up or buy-down.--
``(I) In general.--Research and
development on the covered policy under
clause (i) shall consider permitting a
holder of the covered policy to elect
to buy-up to 150 percent, subject to
subclause (II), or buy-down to 5
percent, of the median county-level
adjusted gross income for farms, in 5-
percent increments, to reflect the
income of the individual farm business
of the holder insured under the covered
policy.
``(II) Limitation.--A holder of a
covered policy may buy-up under
subclause (I) only if the farms of the
holder insured under the covered policy
have at least 3 covered crops or
commodities.
``(iv) Priority features of policy.--In
carrying out research and development on the
covered policy under clause (i), the following
features may be given priority:
``(I) Agricultural income losses
under the covered policy include--
``(aa) losses for all
covered crops or commodities;
and
``(bb) losses to the value
of packing, packaging, or any
other similar on-farm activity
that the Corporation determines
necessary to remove a covered
crop or commodity from the
field.
``(II) Payments are made under the
covered policy not later than 30 days
after the occurrence of a covered
weather condition in the county in
which the applicable farm of the farmer
is located or an adjacent county.
``(III) Provision of seasonal
coverage periods.
``(IV) Provision of special
consideration to concerns facing
individual farm businesses--
``(aa) that have less than
$350,000 in adjusted gross
income; and
``(bb) with respect to
which a farmer is an
underserved producer (as
defined in section
508(a)(7)(A)).
``(V) Paperwork requirements are
reduced for farmers seeking to obtain a
covered policy.
``(v) Consultation.--In carrying out
research and development on the covered policy
under clause (i), the Corporation--
``(I) shall hold stakeholder
meetings to solicit producer and agent
feedback; and
``(II) may consult with licensed
actuaries with experience developing
index policies insuring agricultural
production.
``(C) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this paragraph, the Corporation shall
make publicly available a report that describes--
``(i) the results of the research and
development carried out under this paragraph;
and
``(ii) recommendations to Congress with
respect to those results, including--
``(I) any challenges to developing
the covered policy; and
``(II) options to address those
challenges.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--Section 531(a)(18) of the Federal Crop
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1531(a)(18)) is amended by striking ``section
2501(e) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990
(7 U.S.C. 2279(e))'' and inserting ``section 2501(a) of the Food,
Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)).''.
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