§2003 — Title 7 Agriculture | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must set yearly target rates for each county so members of socially disadvantaged groups can get loans under subchapter I and have a chance to buy or lease inventory farmland. The targets should reflect how many people in those groups live in the county and how much inventory farmland is available; for gender the targets should be based on the number of current and potential disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in the State compared to all farmers and ranchers in the State. The Secretary must, as much as possible, hold back enough subchapter I loan funds for these groups and give more money to counties with the highest share of disadvantaged people and the most available farmland. For counties inside an Indian reservation, money must be allocated on a reservation-wide basis. The Secretary also must set yearly target rates for subchapter II loans based on each State’s share of disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, reserve that share of the State’s loan funds, and try to spread the funds to counties by their need. If a State does not use all reserved funds, the unused funds can be used for pending applications in other States or reallocated within the State. The Secretary must send a yearly report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees about the targets and how well they were met. "Socially disadvantaged group" means a group treated unfairly because of race, ethnicity, or gender. "Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher" means a farmer or rancher who is a member of such a group. The Secretary must make the section follow the Supreme Court decision in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Federico Pena, 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995), not later than 180 days after April 4, 1996.

Title 7, §2003

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary shall establish annual target participation rates, on a county wide basis, that shall ensure that members of socially disadvantaged groups will receive loans made or insured under subchapter I and will have the opportunity to purchase or lease inventory farmland.

(2)Except as provided in paragraph (3), in establishing such target rates the Secretary shall take into consideration the portion of the population of the county made up of such groups, and the availability of inventory farmland in such county.

(3)With respect to gender, target participation rates shall take into consideration the number of current and potential socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in a State in proportion to the total number of farmers and ranchers in the State.

(b)(1)The Secretary shall, to the greatest extent practicable, reserve sufficient loan funds made available under subchapter I, for use by members of socially disadvantaged groups identified under target participation rates established under subsection (a).

(2)The Secretary shall allocate such loans on the basis of the proportion of members of socially disadvantaged groups in a county and the availability of inventory farmland, with the greatest amount of loan funds being distributed in the county with the greatest proportion of socially disadvantaged group members and the greatest amount of available inventory farmland.

(3)In distributing loan funds in counties within the boundaries of an Indian reservation, the Secretary shall allocate the funds on a reservation-wide basis.

(c)(1)The Secretary shall establish annual target participation rates, that shall ensure that socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers will receive loans made or insured under subchapter II. In establishing such target rates, the Secretary shall consider the number of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in a State in proportion to the total number of farmers and ranchers in that State.

(2)The Secretary shall, to the greatest extent practicable, reserve and allocate the proportion of each State’s loan funds made available under subchapter II that is equal to that State’s target participation rate for use by the socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers in that State. The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, distribute the total so derived on a county by county basis according to the number of socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers in the county. Any funds reserved and allocated under this paragraph but not used within a State shall, to the extent necessary to satisfy pending applications under this chapter, be available for use by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in other States, as determined by the Secretary, and any remaining funds shall be reallocated within the State.

(d)The Secretary shall prepare and submit, to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, a report that describes the annual target participation rates and the success in meeting such rates.

(e)(1)As used in this section, the term “socially disadvantaged group” means a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities.

(2)As used in this section, the term “socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” means a farmer or rancher who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group.

(f)Not later than 180 days after April 4, 1996, the Secretary shall ensure that the implementation of this section is consistent with the holding of the Supreme Court in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Federico Pena, Secretary of Transportation, 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

For definition of “this chapter”, referred to in subsecs. (c)(2), see note set out under section 1921 of this title.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 107–171 substituted “Any funds reserved and allocated under this paragraph but not used within a State shall, to the extent necessary to satisfy pending applications under this chapter, be available for use by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in other States, as determined by the Secretary, and any remaining funds shall be reallocated within the State.” for “Any funds reserved and allocated for purposes of this paragraph, but not used shall be reallocated within such State.” 1996—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104–127 added subsec. (f). 1992—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 102–554, § 21(a)(1), substituted “Except as provided in paragraph (3), in establishing” for “In establishing”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 102–554, § 21(a)(2), added par. (3). Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 102–554, § 21(b), substituted “, ethnic, or gender” for “or ethnic”. 1990—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 101–624, § 1817, added par. (3). Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 101–624, § 2501(f)(1)–(3), added subsec. (c), redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d), and struck out former subsec. (d) which read as follows: “As used in this section, the term ‘socially disadvantaged group’ means a group whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities.” Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 101–624, § 2501(f)(4), added subsec. (e).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Termination of Reporting RequirementsFor termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions of law requiring submittal to Congress of any annual, semiannual, or other regular periodic report listed in House Document No. 103–7 (in which the report required by subsec. (d) of this section is listed on page 44), see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance.

§2003 Target participation rates