7 U.S.C. § 6933 — Office of Risk Management

Page 1929 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 6933 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries FARM SERVICE AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY Pub. L. 115–334, title I, § 1705, Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4526, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2018], the Sec- retary [of Agriculture] shall establish policies, proce- dures, and plans to improve program accountability and integrity through targeted and coordinated activi- ties, including utilizing data mining to identify and re- duce errors, waste, fraud, and abuse in programs ad- ministered by the Farm Service Agency. ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep- resentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the progress and results of the activities conducted under subsection (a).’’ § 6932a. Prohibition on closure or relocation of county offices for the Farm Service Agency (a) Temporary prohibition (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2), until the date that is two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture may not close or relocate a county or field office of the Farm Service Agency. (2) Exception Paragraph (1) shall not apply to— (A) an office that is located not more than 20 miles from another office of the Farm Service Agency; or (B) the relocation of an office within the same county in the course of routine leasing operations. (b) Limitation on closure; notice (1) Limitation After the period referred to in subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall, before closing any office of the Farm Service Agency that is lo- cated more than 20 miles from another office of the Farm Service Agency, to the maximum extent practicable, first close any offices of the Farm Service Agency that— (A) are located less than 20 miles from an- other office of the Farm Service Agency; and (B) have two or fewer permanent full-time employees. (2) Notice After the period referred to in subsection (a)(1), the Secretary of Agriculture may not close a county or field office of the Farm Serv- ice Agency unless— (A) not later than 30 days after the Sec- retary proposes to close such office, the Sec- retary holds a public meeting regarding the proposed closure in the county in which such office is located; and (B) after the public meeting referred to in subparagraph (A), but not less than 90 days before the date on which the Secretary ap- proves the closure of such office, the Sec- retary notifies the Committee on Agri- culture and the Committee on Appropria- tions of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the Committee on Appropria- tions of the Senate, each Senator rep- resenting the State in which the office pro- posed to be closed is located, and the mem- ber of the House of Representatives who rep- resents the Congressional district in which the office proposed to be closed is located of the proposed closure of such office. (Pub. L. 110–234, title XIV, § 14212, May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1465; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XIV, § 14212, June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2227.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of the enactment of this Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–246, which was approved June 18, 2008. CODIFICATION Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 enacted identical sections. Pub. L. 110–234 was repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246. Section was enacted as part of the Food, Conserva- tion, and Energy Act of 2008, and not as part of the De- partment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, which in part comprises this chapter. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Enactment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 8701 of this title. § 6933. Office of Risk Management (a) Establishment The Secretary shall establish and maintain in the Department an independent Office of Risk Management. (b) Functions of Office of Risk Management The Office of Risk Management shall have ju- risdiction over the following functions: (1) Supervision of the Federal Crop Insur- ance Corporation. (2) Administration and oversight of all as- pects, including delivery through local offices of the Department, of all programs authorized under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). (3) Any pilot or other programs involving revenue insurance, risk management savings accounts, or the use of the futures market to manage risk and support farm income that may be established under the Federal Crop In- surance Act or other law. (4) Such other functions as the Secretary considers appropriate. (c) Administrator (1) Appointment The Office of Risk Management shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be ap- pointed by the Secretary. (2) Manager The Administrator of the Office of Risk Management shall also serve as Manager of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. (d) Resources (1) Functional coordination Certain functions of the Office of Risk Man- agement, such as human resources, public af- Page 1930 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 6934 1 See References in Text note below. fairs, and legislative affairs, may be provided by a consolidation of such functions under the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Pro- duction and Conservation. (2) Minimum provisions Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or any other provision of law or order of the Secretary, the Secretary shall provide the Office of Risk Management with human and capital re- sources sufficient for the Office to carry out its functions in a timely and efficient manner. (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 226A, as added Pub. L. 104–127, title I, § 194(a), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 945; amended Pub. L. 115–334, title XII, §§ 12405(a), 12415(a), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4975, 4981.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Federal Crop Insurance Act, referred to in sub- sec. (b)(2), (3), is subtitle A of title V of act Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, 52 Stat. 72, which is classified generally to subchapter I (§ 1501 et seq.) of chapter 36 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1501 of this title and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334, § 12415(a), sub- stituted ‘‘The Secretary’’ for ‘‘Subject to subsection (e), the Secretary’’. Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 115–334, § 12405(a), substituted ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation’’ for ‘‘Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services’’. § 6934. Office of Partnerships and Public Engage- ment (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Beginning farmer or rancher The term ‘‘beginning farmer or rancher’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1991(a) of this title. (2) Office The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Part- nerships and Public Engagement established under this section. (3) Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher The term ‘‘socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2279(e) 1 of this title. (b) Establishment and purpose (1) In general The Secretary shall establish within the ex- ecutive operations of the Department an office to be known as the ‘‘Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement’’— (A) to improve access to programs of the Department; (B) to improve the viability and profit- ability of— (i) small farms and ranches; (ii) beginning farmers or ranchers; (iii) socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers; (iv) limited resource producers; and (v) veteran farmers and ranchers; and (C) to promote youth outreach. (2) Director The Office shall be headed by a Director, to be appointed by the Secretary from among the competitive service. (c) Duties The duties of the Office shall be to ensure small farms and ranches, beginning farmers or ranchers, veteran farmers and ranchers, and so- cially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers access to, and equitable participation in, programs and services of the Department by— (1) establishing and monitoring the goals and objectives of the Department to increase participation in programs of the Department by small, beginning, socially disadvantaged, or veteran farmers or ranchers; (2) assessing the effectiveness of Department outreach programs; (3) developing and implementing a plan to coordinate outreach activities and services provided by the Department; (4) providing input to the agencies and of- fices on programmatic and policy decisions; (5) measuring outcomes of the programs and activities of the Department on small farms and ranches, beginning farmers or ranchers, veteran farmers or ranchers, and socially dis- advantaged farmers or ranchers programs; (6) recommending new initiatives and pro- grams to the Secretary; and (7) carrying out any other related duties that the Secretary determines to be appro- priate. (d) Socially disadvantaged farmers group (1) Establishment The Secretary shall establish within the Of- fice the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Group. (2) Outreach and assistance The Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Group— (A) shall carry out section 2279 of this title; and (B) in the case of activities described in section 2279(a) 1 of this title, may conduct such activities through other agencies and offices of the Department. (3) Socially disadvantaged farmers and farm- workers The Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Group shall oversee the operations of— (A) the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers established under section 14009 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; 1 and (B) the position of Farmworker Coordi- nator established under subsection (f). (4) Other duties (A) In general The Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Group may carry out other duties to im- prove access to, and participation in, pro- grams of the Department by socially dis- advantaged farmers or ranchers, as deter- mined by the Secretary.