Public Law 110-398

One Hundred Tenth Congress of the United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,

the third day of January, two thousand and eight

An Act

To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, 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. TREATMENT OF FARMS WITH LIMITED BASE ACRES.

 * (a) Suspension of Prohibition-
 * (1) IN GENERAL- Section 1101(d) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8711(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:


 * `(4) SUSPENSION OF PROHIBITION- Paragraphs (1) through (3) shall not apply during the 2008 and 2009 crop years.'.


 * (2) PEANUTS- Section 1302(d) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8752(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:


 * `(4) SUSPENSION OF PROHIBITION- Paragraphs (1) through (3) shall not apply during the 2008 and 2009 crop years.'.


 * (b) Extension of 2008 Signup for Direct Payments and Counter-Cyclical Payments-
 * (1) IN GENERAL- Section 1106 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8716) is amended by adding at the end the following:


 * `(f) Extension of 2008 Signup-
 * `(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall extend the 2008 crop year deadline for the signup for benefits under this subtitle by producers on a farm with base acres of 10 acres or less until the later of--
 * `(A) November 14, 2008; or
 * `(B) the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this subsection.
 * `(2) PENALTIES- The Secretary shall ensure that no penalty with respect to benefits under this subtitle is assessed against producers on a farm described in paragraph (1) for failure to submit reports under this section or timely comply with other program requirements as a result of compliance with the extended signup deadline under that paragraph.'.


 * (2) PEANUTS- Section 1305 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8755) is amended by adding at the end the following:


 * `(f) Extension of 2008 Signup-
 * `(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall extend the 2008 crop year deadline for the signup for benefits under this subtitle by producers on a farm with base acres of 10 acres or less until the later of--
 * `(A) November 14, 2008; or
 * `(B) the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this subsection.
 * `(2) PENALTIES- The Secretary shall ensure that no penalty with respect to benefits under this subtitle is assessed against producers on a farm described in paragraph (1) for failure to submit reports under this section or timely comply with other program requirements as a result of compliance with the extended signup deadline under that paragraph.'.


 * (c) Offsetting Reduction- Section 515(k)(1) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1515(k)(1)) is amended by striking `not more than $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011' and inserting `not more than $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, not more than $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, and not more than $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011'.