Agriculture FY98 Appropriations bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Agricultural Programs

Title II: Conservation Programs

Title III: Rural Economic and Community Development Programs

Title IV: Domestic Food Programs

Title V: Foreign Assistance and Related Programs

Title VI: Related Agencies and Food and Drug Administration

Title VII: General Provisions

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 - Title I: Agricultural Programs - Appropriates funds for FY 1998 for the following Department of Agriculture programs and services: (1) Office of the Secretary of Agriculture; (2) executive operations (Chief Economist, and National Appeals Division); (3) Office of Budget and Program Analysis; (4) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization; (5) Office of the Chief Financial Officer; (6) Chief Financial Officer; (7) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration; (8) Agriculture buildings and facilities and rental payments; (9) hazardous waste management; (10) departmental administration (including set-asides for civil rights enforcement and investigation); (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) Native American Institutions Endowment Fund;(21) extension activities; (22) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs; (23) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; (24) buildings and facilities; (25) Agricultural Marketing Service; (26) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration; (27) Food Safety and Inspection Service; (28) Office of the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; (29) Farm Service Agency; (30) Risk Management Agency (withholds specified Agency funding until submission of a plan to reduce crop insurance providers' administrative and operating costs); (31) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Fund; and (32) Commodity Credit Corporation Fund.

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

Title III: Rural Economic and Community 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; (2) child nutrition programs; (3) special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC); (4) food stamp program; and (5) commodity assistance program.

Title V: Foreign Assistance and Related Programs - Appropriates funds for the Foreign Agricultural Service and General Sales Manager.

States that the United States Agency for International Development should use at least the same amount of funds in FY 1998 as FY 1997 for the orphan feeding program in Haiti.

Title VI: Related Agencies and Food and Drug Administration - Appropriates funds for the following: (1) Food and Drug Administration; (2) Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation; (3) Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and (4) 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. 728) Amends the Agricultural Marketing Transition Act, as of October 1, 1998, with respect to cotton user marketing certificates.

(Sec. 729) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to conduct an economic evaluation of the effects of the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact and other factors on milk prices.

(Sec. 730) Authorizes the Secretary to use specified disaster reserve grain sale funds for a livestock indemnity program.

(Sec. 731) Prohibits appropriations under this Act for payment to producers of wild rice grown on Agricultural Market Transition Act acreage unless such payments are reduced for each such planted acre.

(Sec. 732) Prohibits the Secretary from using agricultural appropriations for required inspections and certifications of agricultural products in interstate commerce unless the Secretary inspects and certifies agricultural processing equipment, and charges a fee for such service.

(Sec. 733) Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to extend through FY 1998 program authority or authorization of appropriations for: (1) targeted underserved areas; (2) insurance of housing and related facilities loans for elderly persons and families and other low-income persons and families; (3) nonprofit rural rental housing fund set-asides; and (4) loan guarantees for multifamily rural rental housing.