Agriculture Appropriations, FY 2004 bill

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 - Title I: Agricultural Programs - Appropriates funds for FY 2004 for the following Department of Agriculture programs and services: (1) Office of the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary); (2) executive operations; (3) Office of the Chief Information Officer; (4) Office of the Chief Financial Officer; (5) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; (6) Office of Civil Rights; (7) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration; (8) agriculture buildings and facilities and rental payments; (9) hazardous materials management; (10) departmental administration; (11) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations; (12) Office of Communications; (13) Office of the Inspector General; (14) Office of the General Counsel; (15) Office of the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics; (16) Economic Research Service; (17) National Agricultural Statistics Service; (18) Agricultural Research Service; (19) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; (20) Office of the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs; (21) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; (22) Agricultural Marketing Service; (23) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration; (24) Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety; (25) Food Safety and Inspection Service; (26) Office of the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; (27) Farm Service Agency; (28) Risk Management Agency; (29) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Fund; and (30) Commodity Credit Corporation Fund.

Title II: Conservation Programs - Appropriates funds for the following: (1) Office of the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; and (2) Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Title III: Rural Development Programs - Appropriates funds for the following: (1) Office of the Under Secretary for Rural Development; (2) Rural Housing Service; (3) Rural Business-Cooperative Service; and (4) Rural Utilities Service.

Title IV: Domestic Food Programs - Appropriates funds for the following: (1) Office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services; and (2) Food and Nutrition Service.

Title V: Foreign Assistance and Related Programs - Appropriates funds for the following: (1) Foreign Agricultural Service; (2) Public Law 480 program account, title I ocean freight differential grants, and title II grants; (3) McGovern-Dole international food for education and child nutrition program grants; and (4) Commodity Credit Corporation export loans program account.

Title VI: Related Agencies and Food and Drug Administration- Appropriates funds for the following: (1) Food and Drug Administration (FDA); (2) Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and (3) Farm Credit Administration.

Title VII: General Provisions - Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act.

(Sec. 721) Prohibits FDA fund use to reduce the FDA District Office in Detroit, Michigan, below specified staffing levels. Stipulates that such provision shall not apply to FDA field laboratory facilities in Detroit, except that such personnel shall be assigned to Detroit-vicinity facilities.

(Sec. 723) Prohibits fund use to relocate a State Rural Development office unless cost and operation effective.

(Sec. 724) Obligates specified amounts of agricultural commodities to assist foreign countries mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS.

(Sec. 725) Makes additional appropriations for Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships.

(Sec. 727) Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase the funding level for the national sheep industry improvement center.

(Sec. 729) Prohibits FDA fund use to close or relocate the FDA Division of Drug Analysis, St. Louis, Missouri, outside the city or county limits of St. Louis, Missouri.

(Sec. 731) Directs the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide assistance for the Upper Tygart Valley Watershed project, West Virginia.

(Sec. 732) Authorizes Department agencies and office to use unobligated salaries and expense funds to reimburse the Office of General Counsel for representing them in employee complaints before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, or the Merit Systems Protection Board without prior approval of the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations.

(Sec. 733) Prohibits fund use for older dam rehabilitation under the Watershed Protection and and Flood Prevention Act.

(Sec. 734) Prohibits fund use to for the rural strategic investment program under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.

(Sec. 735) Prohibits fund use for the rural firefighters and emergency personnel grant program.

(Sec. 736) Authorizes the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide financial and technical assistance through the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations program for the: (1) Kuhn Bayou and Ditch 26 Improvement projects in Arkansas; (2) Matanuska River erosion control project in Alaska; (3) DuPage County Sawmill Creek Watershed project in Illinois; and (4) Coal Creek project in Utah.

(Sec. 737) Limits Commodity Credit Corporation reimbursement for commodity releases under the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act to $20 million for fiscal years up to and including 2004. Requires that such funds be used to replenish the trust through producer or market commodity purchases.

(Sec. 738) Authorizes the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide financial and technical assistance to the Dry Creek project, Utah.

(Sec. 739) Authorizes the Secretary to permit Department employees to carry firearms for personal protection when on duty in remote field locations.

(Sec. 740) Prohibits fund use under this Act for a review of the Agricultural Research Service, as provided for by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

(Sec. 741) Authorizes the Secretary to use up to $10 million of food stamp funds for commodity distribution costs.

(Sec. 742) Limits wetlands reserve program enrollment acreage for 2004.

(Sec. 743) Directs the Secretary, with respect to rural electric and telephone loan guarantees, and with lender consent, to structure the annual fee not to exceed an average of 30 basis points per year in order to ensure the availability of funds to pay guarantee costs.

(Sec. 744) Limits funds for the following programs under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002: (1) ground and surface water conservation program; (2) grazing, wildlife habitat incentive, and Great Lakes Basin programs; and (3) farmland protection program.

(Sec. 747) Appropriates $3 million for the Northern Great Plains Regional Authority. States that the FY 2004 Federal share of the Authority's administrative expenses shall be 100 percent.

(Sec. 748) Prohibits fund use for the following programs under the the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002: (1) rural business investment (other than application review and promulgation of regulations); (2) rural broadband access; and (3) loans for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements.

(Sec. 751) Authorizes Department agencies and offices to use discretionary funds for preparing for final agency decisions regarding discrimination complaints.

(Sec. 752) States that in the case of a high cost isolated rural area that is not connected to a road system in Alaska, the maximum level for the single family housing assistance shall be 150 percent of the average income level in the metropolitan areas of the State and 115 percent of all other eligible areas of the State.

(Sec. 753) Rescinds any unobligated balances in the Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Revolving Fund.

(Sec. 754) Appropriates $2 million for the Denali Commission to address deficiencies in solid waste disposal sites which threaten to contaminate rural drinking water supplies.

(Sec. 755) Considers, until receipt of the 2010 census, Vicksburg, Mississippi; Aberdeen, South Dakota; and Starkville, Mississippi to be eligible for rural housing programs under the Housing Act of 1949.

(Sec. 756) Considers, until receipt of the 2010 census, Berlin, New Hampshire to be eligible for rural community advancement program loans and grants.

(Sec. 757) Prohibits, without specific congressional authorization, fund use to study or enter into a contract with a private party for competitive sourcing activities relating to rural development or farm loan programs, animal disease research, or grant review or management activities.

(Sec. 759) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to make the educational management assistance program a program under which a State receives grants and then provides financial assistance to producers rather than a direct financial assistance to producer program.

(Sec. 760) Amends the the Trade Sanctions Reform And Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations authorizing certain travel-related transactions for travel to, from, or within Cuba relating to the commercial export sale of agricultural and medical goods.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov