COOPERATIVE FORESTRY ASSISTANCE ACT OF 19781

FORESTRY INCENTIVES

SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary is authorized to develop and implement a forestry incentives program to encourage the development, management, and protection of nonindustrial private forest lands. The purposes of such program shall be to encourage landowners to apply practices that will provide for afforestation of suitable open lands, reforestation of cutover or other nonstocked or understocked forest lands, timber stand improvement practices, including thinning, prescribed burning, and other silvicultural treatments, and forest resources management and protection, so as to provide for the production of timber and other forest resources associated therewith.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the term "private forest land" means land capable of producing crops of industrial wood and owned by any private individual, group, Indian tribe or other native group, association, corporation, or other legal entity.

(c) Landowners shall be eligible for cost sharing under this program if they own one thousand acres or less of private forest land, except that the Secretary may approve cost sharing with landowners owning more than one thousand acres of such land if significant public benefits will accrue. In no case, however, may the Secretary approve cost sharing with landowners owning more than five thousand acres of private forest land.

(d) The Secretary shall administer this section in accordance with regulations the Secretary shall develop in consultation with the committee described in section 10(c) of this Act. Regulations issued under title X of the Agricultural Act of 1970, as added by the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, shall remain in effect until revoked or amended by regulations issued under this subsection. The regulations issued under this subsection shall include guidelines for the administration of this section at the Federal and State levels, and shall identify the measures and activities eligible for cost sharing under this section. (e) Individual forest management plans developed by the landowner in cooperation with and approved by the State forester or equivalent State official shall be the basis for agreements between the landowner and the Secretary under this section. The Secretary shall encourage participating States to use private agencies, consultants, organizations, and firms to the extent feasible for the preparation of individual forest management plans.

(f) In return for the agreement by the landowner, the Secretary shall agree to share the cost of implementing those forestry practices and measures set forth in the agreement for which the Secretary determines that cost sharing is appropriate. The portion of such cost (including labor) to be shared shall be that portion that the Secretary determines is necessary and appropriate to implement the forestry practices

P.L. 95-213, 92 Stat. 367, July 1, 1978. Several other sections of the Act contain definitions, limitations, and other provisions to be considered in connection with this section.

and measures under the agreement, but not more than 75 percent of the actual costs incurred by the landowner. The maximum amount any individual may receive annually under the program authorized by this section shall be determined by the Secretary in consultation with the committee described in section 10(c) of this Act.

(g) The Secretary shall, for the purposes of this section, distribute funds available for cost sharing among the States only after assessing the public benefit incident thereto, and after giving appropriate consid eration to (1) the acreage of private commercial forest land in each State, (2) the potential productivity of such land, (3) the number of ownerships eligible for cost sharing in each State, (4) the need for reforestation, timber stand improvement, or other forestry investments on such ownerships, and (5) the enhancement of other forest

resources.

(h) The Secretary may, if the Secretary determines that doing so will contribute to the effective and equitable administration of the program authorized by this section, use an advertising and bid procedure in determining the lands in any area to be covered by agreements under this section.

(i) In implementing this section, the Secretary may use the authorities provided in sections 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, and 1008 of the Agricultural Act of 1970, as added by the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973.

(j) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated annually such sums as may be needed to implement this section, including funds necessary for technical assistance and expenses associated therewith. (16 U.S.Č. 2103.)

AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1938

EXPLANATORY NOTE

As enacted on February 16, 1938, this statute contained amendments which strengthened and broadened the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, provided for assistance in the marketing of agricultural commodities for domestic consumption and export, provided for price support loans on wheat, corn, cotton and other agricultural commodities, authorized parity payments for corn, wheat, tobacco, cotton and rice, when funds were appropriated therefor, provided for farm marketing quotas for tobacco, corn, wheat, cotton and rice, and established the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. The Act has been amended many times since its enactment. In 1941, marketing quota and price support provisions for peanuts were added to the Act and the marketing quota provisions for corn and wheat were changed in several important respects. In 1949, substantial changes were made in the marketing quota provisions for cotton and rice, and the price support provisions were repealed with the enactment of the Agricultural Act of 1949. The Agricultural Act of 1954 repealed the authority for marketing quotas for corn, but authority for corn acreage allotments was retained. Acreage allotments and a commercial corn-producing area were not established for the 1959 and subsequent crops of corn since a majority of the corn producers voting in the referendum held on November 25, 1958, favored a price support program without acreage allotments, as provided in section 104(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as added by the Agricultural Act of 1958.

In 1961, P. L. 87-128, 75 Stat. 294, August 8, 1961, made numerous changes in the wheat provisions of the Act. P. L. 87-703, 76 Stat. 605, September 27, 1962 made further amendments in the wheat provisions of the Act effective with the 1964 and subsequent crops of wheat. A land use and a wheat marketing allocation program were also enacted by this law. P. L. 88-297, 78 Stat. 178, April 14, 1964, provided that a national marketing quota would not be in effect for the 1965 crop of wheat.

In 1965, the Congress extended through the 1969 crop of wheat, the wheat marketing allocation program and the land use program without marketing quotas. (P. L. 89-321, 79 Stat. 1187, November 3, 1965.) The final year of the period was extended from 1969 to 1970 by P. L. 90-559, 82 Stat. 996, October 11, 1968.

The Agricultural Act of 1970, P. L. 91-524, 84 Stat. 1358, November 30, 1970, suspended wheat and cotton marketing quotas and acreage allotments for 1971, 1972, and 1973.

It established voluntary set-aside programs for wheat, upland cotton, and feed grains under which, as a condition of eligibility for loans, payments, and certificates (in the case of wheat), producers must set aside and devote to approved conservation uses a specified acreage of cropland. Provisions governing the wheat set-aside program appear in amendments to sections 379b and 379c of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended. Provisions governing the feed grain and cotton set-aside programs appear in amendments to the Agricultural

Act of 1949, except that this Act contains provisions for determining cotton farm base acreage allotments which are used to determine payments under the upland cotton program.

The constitutional validity of the marketing quota provisions has been upheld as to tobacco in the case of Mulford v. Smith (307 U.S. 38), as to cotton in the case of Trophy v. LaSara Farmers Gin Co. (113 F.2d 350), as to wheat in the case of Wickard v. Filburn (317 U.S. 111), and as to rice in the case of Weir v. United States (310 F.2d 149).

The Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, P.L. 93-86, 87 Stat. 221, August 10, 1973, provided generally for a four-year extension of the programs authorized by the Agricultural Act of 1970 and established a "target price" concept for wheat, feed grains, and cotton whereby payments are made to participating producers only when the higher of the market price or loan level is lower than the established target price. The Act also contains provisions for payments if, because of a natural disaster, producers are prevented from planting or obtain an abnormally low yield. The Act also reduced the payment limitation under such programs to $20,000 and terminated the wheat marketing certificate program for producers, processors and exporters. A new Title X, Rural Environmental Conservation Program, provided authority for the Secretary to cost share with eligible owners and operators of land under long-term agreements for the carrying out of certain conservation practices. In addition, Title X provides the authority for a Forestry Incentives Program.

The Rice Production Act of 1975 suspended marketing quota provisions for the 1976-77 crops of rice.

The Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 suspended wheat, upland cotton, rice, and peanut marketing quota provisions for the 1978-81 crops. Poundage quotas were provided for the 1978-81 crops of peanuts, with provisions for farm poundage quotas, "quota" and "additional" peanuts, marketing of peanuts by producers, and peanut handlers. The 1977 Act also changed the payment limitations with respect to feed grains, wheat, upland cotton, and rice.

AN ACT

To provide for the conservation of national soil resources and to provide an adequate and balanced flow of agricultural commodities in interstate and foreign commerce and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938." (7 U.S.C. 1281.)

DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 2. It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress to continue the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as amended, for the purpose of conserving national resources, preventing the wasteful use of soil fertility, and of preserving, maintaining, and rebuilding the farm and ranch land resources in the national public interest; to accomplish these purposes through the encouragement of soil-building and soilconserving crops and practices; to assist in the marketing of agricultural commodities for domestic consumption and for export; and to regulate interstate and foreign commerce in cotton, wheat, corn, tobacco, and rice to the extent necessary to provide an orderly, adequate, and balanced flow of such commodities in interstate and foreign commerce through storage of reserve supplies, loans, marketing prices for such commodities and parity of income, and assisting consumers to obtain an adequate and steady supply of such commodities at fair prices. (7 U.S.C. 1282.)

TITLE I-AMENDMENTS TO SOIL CONSERVATION AND

DOMESTIC ALLOTMENT ACT

This title contains amendments to the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as amended. Insofar as now applicable, these amendments are incorporated in Part I of this compilation.

P. L. 430, 75th Cong., 52 Stat. 31, February 16, 1938.