Ensuring Disaster Recovery and Resilience for Specialty Crops Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4661 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4661

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to 
  provide permanent disaster assistance for specialty crops, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 2, 2026

Mr. Schiff (for himself and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to 
  provide permanent disaster assistance for specialty crops, 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 ``Ensuring Disaster Recovery and 
Resilience for Specialty Crops Act''.

SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.

    (a) In General.--The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act 
of 1996 is amended by inserting after section 196 (7 U.S.C. 7333) the 
following:

``SEC. 197. SPECIALTY CROP EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a framework to 
provide direct assistance to producers of specialty crops the 
production of which is impacted by an adverse event (including an 
economic crisis or market disruption), as determined by the Secretary, 
in accordance with this section.
    ``(b) Payment Calculation.--In determining a payment calculation 
for purposes of direct assistance to a producer of specialty crops 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall calculate payments based on--
            ``(1) the producer's sales of specialty crops for a 
        calendar year that precedes the year in which the adverse event 
        described in such subsection occurred or the average of such 
        sales over a set of consecutive calendar years that precedes 
        the year in which such adverse event occurred, as determined by 
        the Secretary; multiplied by
            ``(2) a payment factor the Secretary determines, subject to 
        the availability of funds, to address losses of such specialty 
        crops from such adverse event.
    ``(c) Special Rules.--Subject to subsection (d), in providing 
direct assistance pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall 
consider--
            ``(1) the higher value of specialty crops relative to other 
        crops;
            ``(2) the greater input costs required to grow specialty 
        crops relative to other crops; and
            ``(3) diverse types of legal entities and structures used 
        by specialty crop producers.
    ``(d) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Total amount.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), the total amount of payments 
                received, directly or indirectly, by a person or legal 
                entity (except a qualified pass-through entity) (as 
                such terms are defined in section 1001(a) of the Food 
                Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(a))) for any crop 
                year under this section may not exceed the amount 
                specified in subsection (b) of section 1001 of the Food 
                Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308), as adjusted 
                pursuant to subsection (i) of such section.
                    ``(B) Exception.--In the case of a person or legal 
                entity with an average gross income (as calculated 
                under subparagraph (B) of section 1001D(b)(4) of the 
                Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b)(4))) for 
                which greater than or equal to 75 percent of the 
                average derives from farming, ranching, or silviculture 
                activities (as defined in subparagraph (A) of that 
                section)--
                            ``(i) subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 
                        shall not apply; and
                            ``(ii) the total maximum amount of payments 
                        received, directly or indirectly, by such 
                        person or legal entity for any crop year under 
                        this section shall be set by the Secretary, 
                        except such amount may not be less than 
                        $500,000.
            ``(2) Notification of interests; eligibility; denials.--
        Sections 1001A(a), 1001B, and 1001C of the Food Security Act of 
        1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-1(a); 1308-2; 1308-3) shall apply to a 
        producer of a specialty crop under this section in the same 
        manner as such sections apply to a person or legal entity with 
        respect to a covered commodity, except to the extent such 
        sections relate to the application of subsections (b) through 
        (d) of section 1001A of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1308-1).''.
    (b) Payment Limitation Conforming Amendment.--Section 1001D(b) of 
the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(E), by inserting ``or section 197 of 
        that Act'' before the period at the end; and
            (2) in paragraph (4)(A)(i)(II), by inserting ``or section 
        197 of that Act'' before the semicolon.
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