Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 1.djvu/423

This page needs to be proofread.

PUBLIC LAW 106-224—JUNE 20, 2000 114 STAT. 387 SEC. 133. EDUCATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE. The Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), as amended by section 132(a), is amended by adding at the end the following: "SEC. 524. EDUCATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE. 7 USC 1524. "(a) EDUCATION ASSISTANCE.— "(1) IN GENERAL.— Subject to the amounts made available under paragraph (4)— "(A) the Corporation shall carry out the program established under paragraph (2); and "(B) the Secretary, acting through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, shall carry out the program established under paragraph (3). "(2) EDUCATION AND INFORMATION.—The Corporation shall establish a program under which crop insurance education and information is provided to producers in States in which (as determined by the Secretary)— "(A) there is traditionally, and continues to be, a low level of Federal crop insurance participation and availability; and "(B) producers are underserved by the Federal crop insurance program. "(3) PARTNERSHIPS FOR RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION. — "(A) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, acting through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, shall establish a program under which competitive grants are made to qualified public and private entities (including land grant colleges, cooperative extension services, and colleges or universities), as determined by the Secretary, for the purpose of educating agricultural producers about the full range of risk management activities, including futures, options, agricultural trade options, crop insurance, cash forward contracting, debt reduction, production diversification, farm resources risk reduction, and other risk management strategies. "(B) BASIS FOR GRANTS. — ^A grant under this paragraph shall be awarded on the basis of merit and shall be subject to peer or merit review. "(C) OBLIGATION PERIOD. —Funds for a grant under this paragraph shall be available to the Secretary for obligation for a 2-year period. "(D) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— The Secretary may use not more than 4 percent of the funds made available for grants under this paragraph for administrative costs incurred by the Secretary in carrying out this paragraph. "(4) FUNDING.—From the insurance fund established under section 516(c), there is transferred— "(A) for the education and information program established under paragraph (2), $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and each subsequent fiscal year; and "(B) for the partnerships for risk management education program established under paragraph (3), $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and each subsequent fiscal year. " (b) AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE.—