§ 3703. — State and regional plans.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC3703]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 68--AGRICULTURAL SUBTERMINAL FACILITIES
Sec. 3703. State and regional plans
(a) Grants; requisite provisions of plans
(1) The Secretary shall, beginning not more than one hundred and
eighty days after October 1, 1980, make financial assistance available
to any State that makes application therefor, and that otherwise meets
the requirements of this section, for the purpose of assisting such
State in the development of a subterminal facilities plan (hereinafter
in this chapter referred to as the ``State plan'') for such State.
Assistance under this section shall be made available in the form of a
grant. No grant may be made to any State unless the Governor of such
State or the appropriate agency of such State makes an application
therefor as provided in this section. To the maximum extent practicable,
the personnel and resources of the colleges or universities in the State
which are eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (7
U.S.C. 301-305, 307, and 308), or the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C.
321-326 and 328), including Tuskegee Institute, shall be utilized in
developing the subterminal facilities plan for that State pursuant to
this section.
(2) The Secretary may also make grants under this section available
to two or more States acting together to develop a coordinated regional
subterminal facilities plan (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as
the ``regional plan'') for such region.
(3) Grants made under this section to any State or region may not
exceed 80 per centum of the cost of preparing the State or regional
plan.
(4) The State or regional plan shall prescribe in detail the actions
such State or region proposes to take in order to (A) facilitate the
efficient and competitive movement of bulk agricultural commodities from
the points of production within such State or region to major market or
export points, (B) provide adequate storage facilities for such
commodities between points of production and market, (C) provide
adequate receiving, storage, and loading facilities for any bulk
agricultural commodity, and (D) assure that such facilities will be
located at sites that will result in maximum benefits to local
producers.
(5) Each State or regional plan shall include the following:
(A) an analysis of the marketing, shipping, storage, and
production of bulk agricultural commodities produced in that State
or region and the short- and long-range projections with respect to
the marketing, shipping, storage, and production of such commodities
in that State or region;
(B) a determination, on the basis of the analysis and
projections required under clause (A) of this paragraph, of the
needs of the State or region for subterminal facilities;
(C) an assessment of the use of existing on-farm storage
facilities located within the State or region and an assessment of
the ways in which subterminal facilities can benefit the continued
use of on-farm storage facilities;
(D) an evaluation of the effect of the development of new
subterminal facilities on small capacity rural shipping and storage
facilities within the State or region;
(E) an evaluation of ways to ensure adequate rail service for
subterminal facilities described in clause (D) of this paragraph,
including an evaluation of the use and feasibility of contract
rates;
(F) an assessment of the ways that subterminal facilities can
enhance the operation of small capacity shipping and storage
facilities within the State or region;
(G) an assessment of other actions being taken or considered in
such State or region for the improvement of agricultural
transportation, including an evaluation of the use being made of
shuttle or collector trains and combinations of rail and barge
service;
(H) an evaluation of the potential benefits of subterminal
ownership and leasing arrangements for rail rolling stock (including
locomotive power), motor trucks, barge equipment, and other bulk
agricultural commodity transport equipment that may help achieve
maximum benefits from the operation of subterminal facilities within
the State or region;
(I) an assessment of the overall transportation system in the
State or region and future plans for that overall system, including
the adequacy of highways and bridges; and
(J) consideration of the feasibility and advisability of the
ownership and operation of rail branch lines by farmer-owned
cooperatives, and the role that such cooperatives might play in any
overall planning for the restructuring and rehabilitation of rail
service and marketing facilities within the State or region.
(b) Plan review commissions
Funds made available to a State or region under this chapter for the
purposes of assisting such State or region to develop a plan shall be
subject to the condition that the State or region establish a plan
review commission composed of local producers, local elevator operators,
representatives of affected motor and rail carriers, other interested
individuals, and, when appropriate in the judgment of the Secretary,
consumers of bulk agricultural commodities used in the production of
unprocessed agricultural products. A majority of the members of any plan
review commission must be local producers or, when appropriate in the
judgment of the Secretary, consumers of bulk agricultural commodities
used in the production of unprocessed agricultural products. The plan
review commission shall consider the information and analyses developed
by the State or region in the development of a State or regional plan
and make appropriate recommendations regarding the State or regional
plan. The plan review commission shall also make recommendations, based
on information developed in the plan, for the most beneficial location
of subterminal facilities.
(c) Recommendations of need
No application for planning assistance authorized pursuant to this
section may be submitted by a State or region until the appropriate plan
review commission established in accordance with this chapter has had
the opportunity to make recommendations to the Governor or Governors
that a need exists for the development of a State or regional plan, and
a majority of the members of such plan review commission concur that
such application should be submitted.
(d) Prerequisites for receipt of grant
No State or region may receive a grant under this section unless--
(1) an application therefor has been submitted that complies
with the provisions of this chapter;
(2) the average annual production of bulk agricultural
commodities produced within such State or region, or shipments of
such commodities transported into such State or region, meets
minimum levels established by the Secretary for a period the
Secretary considers appropriate preceding the year in which
application for such grant is made;
(3) the Governor of such State or the Governors of the States in
such region certify to the Secretary that producers of agricultural
commodities have experienced serious storage and transportation
problems within such State or region during the three years
preceding the year in which application for such grant is made; and
(4) such State or each State within such region has established
an adequate plan, as described in section 22102 of title 49, for
rail service in such State or States, or such State or each State in
such region is actively developing such a plan.
(e) Approved State plans; approved regional plans
Whenever any State or region has submitted a State or regional plan
under this section, the Secretary shall approve such plan only if it has
been approved by a majority of the members of the appropriate plan
review commission established pursuant to this chapter, and it meets the
other conditions specified in this chapter and those prescribed in
regulations issued by the Secretary to carry out this chapter. When a
plan is approved by the Secretary, such plan shall be known as an
``approved State plan'' or an ``approved regional plan'', as
appropriate.
(f) Authorization of appropriations
To carry out the purposes of this section, there are authorized to
be appropriated not to exceed $3,300,000 for each of the fiscal years
ending September 30, 1981, September 30, 1982, and September 30, 1983.
(Pub. L. 96-358, Sec. 4, Sept. 25, 1980, 94 Stat. 1185.)
References in Text
Act of July 2, 1862 (7 U.S.C. 301-305, 307, and 308), referred to in
subsec. (a)(1), is act July 2, 1862, ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503, as amended,
popularly known as the ``Morrill Act'' and also as the ``First Morrill
Act'', and is classified generally to subchapter I (Sec. 301 et seq.) of
chapter 13 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Short Title note set out under 301 of this title and Tables.
Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321-326 and 328), referred to in
subsec. (a)(1), is act Aug. 30, 1890, ch. 841, 26 Stat. 417, as amended,
popularly known as the Agricultural College Act of 1890 and also as the
Second Morrill Act, which is classified generally to subchapter II
(Sec. 321 et seq.) of chapter 13 of this title. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out
under section 321 of this title and Tables.
Codification
In subsec. (d)(4), ``section 22102 of title 49'' substituted for
``section 5(j) of the Department of Transportation Act (49 U.S.C.
1654(j))'' on authority of Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 6(b), July 5, 1994, 108
Stat. 1378, the first section of which enacted subtitles II, III, and V
to X of Title 49, Transportation. Previously, section 5 of the
Department of Transportation Act was amended generally by Pub. L. 101-
213, Sec. 2(c), Dec. 11, 1989, 103 Stat. 1843, and, as so amended,
provisions of subsec. (j), relating to an adequate State plan, were set
out in subsec. (a).
