WASHINGTON -- A National Journal (Journal) report today revealed a potential path forward for a U.S. House of Representatives' bill that would extend the 2008 farm law and propose disaster relief for weather-related livestock and fruit and vegetable damages. A House vote on the measure could come as early as August 1. If approved by the House and if acceptable to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the House plan could lead to farm bill conference negotiations between House and Senate committee staff commencing possibly as early as the August 2012 congressional recess.

"If you're going to provide certainty out in the drought areas if you're going to enable an orderly transition from the completion of the regular farm bill, then a one-year makes sense," the article quoted House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) as saying. Lucas indicated that the House leadership was on board for the vote as early as Wednesday.

The Journal said House Agriculture Committee Ranking Democrat Collin Peterson (D-MN) received a call from Stabenow, asking him to pass an extension and saying that she would then call for a conference.

"If the House intends to send us a bill that will be used to negotiate the farm bill during August, I am open to that approach," Stabenow told the Journal.  "However, a short-term extension is bad for farmers and our agricultural economy.  If Congress does what Congress always does and kicks the can down the road with a short-term extension, there will be no reform, direct payments will continue, we'll lose the opportunity for major deficit reduction, and we'll deliver a real blow to our economic recovery."

Peterson told the Journal, "If we can pass an extension and use it to get to conference, that might be something I could support." Until now, Peterson was against a short-term extension, the article reported. "It's pretty clear Republicans can't get enough votes without me," he said.

The USA Rice Federation continues to closely track farm-bill and related developments to determine what provisions actually might emerge in any House bill next week, as well what could develop should farm bill conference negotiations begin.  

Contact:  Reece Langley, 703-236-1451

WASHINGTON -- The USA Rice Federation and 14 other agriculture organizations circulated a letter yesterday in support of H.R. 3158, the Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship (FUELS) Act which was sent to members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.  The FUELS Act is intended to relieve some of the unnecessary regulatory burden and confusion caused by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) rule as it applies to farms.

The committee passed the bill, authored by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), by voice vote in its mark-up today.  The FUELS Act would direct the EPA administrator to exempt from the SPCC rule farms with aggregate on-farm storage capacity of less than or equal to 10,000 gallons; allow farmers to self-certify if the aggregate storage capacity on the farm is between 10,000 and 42,000 gallons; and require a professional engineer certification for those farms with a single fuel tank greater than 10,000 gallons or aggregate storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons.

USA Rice greatly appreciates the leadership of Rep. Crawford on the SPCC issue.

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