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

Summary

The Agriculture Secretary must set yearly target participation rates so people from socially disadvantaged groups get a fair share of loans and chances to buy or lease inventory farmland under subchapter I and loans under subchapter II. For subchapter I the targets are set by county and must consider how many people in the county are in those groups and how much inventory farmland is available. For gender, targets use the number of current and potential socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in a State compared with all farmers and ranchers in that State. The Secretary must, as much as possible, reserve and give out loan funds based on those targets, favoring counties with the highest share of such group members and the most inventory farmland; funds for counties on Indian reservations are allocated reservation-wide. The Secretary must try to reserve each State’s share of subchapter II funds equal to the State’s target and then distribute those funds by county; unused State funds can be used for pending applications in other States or reallocated within the State. The Secretary must report the targets and results to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. “Socially disadvantaged group” and “socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” are defined as in the law. The Secretary must make these rules consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Federico Pena, 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995) no 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