UNITED STATES GRAIN STANDARDS ACT

Act of August 11, 1916, ch. 313, 39 Stat. 446

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

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GENERAL AUTHORITIES

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SEC. 16.1 (a) The Administrator is authorized to conduct such investigations; hold such hearings; require such reports from any official agency, any State agency delegated authority under this Act, licensee, or other person; and prescribe such rules, regulations, and instructions, as the Administrator deems necessary to effectuate the purposes or provisions of this Act. Such regulations may require, as a condition for official inspection or official weighing or supervision of weighing, among other things, (1) that there be installed specified sampling, handling, weighing, and monitoring equipment in grain elevators, warehouses, and other grain storage or handling facilities, (2) that proval of the Administrator be obtained as to the condition of vessels and other carriers or receptacles for the transporting or storing of grain, and (3) that persons having a financial interest in the grain which is to be inspected (or their agents) shall be afforded an opportunity to observe the weighing, loading, and official inspection thereof, under conditions prescribed by the Administrator. The Administrator is further authorized to prescribe such other rules, regulations, and instructions as he deems necessary to effectuate the purposes or provisions of this Act. Whether any certificate, other form, representation, designation, or other description is false. incorrect, or misleading within the meaning of this Act shall be determined by tests made in accordance with such procedures as the Administrator may adopt to effectuate the objectives of this Act, if the relevant facts are determinable by such tests. Proceedings under section 9 of this Act for refusal to renew, or for suspension or revocation of, a license shall not, unless requested by the respondent, be subject to the administrative procedure provisions in sections 554, 556, and 557 of title 5 of the United States Code.

(b) The Administrator is authorized to investigate reports or complaints of discrepancies and abuses in the official inspection and weighing of grain under this Act. The Administrator shall prescribe by regulation procedures for (1) promptly investigating (A) complaints of foreign grain purchasers regarding the official inspection or official weighing of grain shipped from the United States, (B) the cancella

17 U.S.C. 87e. Amended in its entirety by section 18 of the Act of October 21, 1976, Public Law 94-582. 90 Stat. 2884-2885; further amended by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, section 1604 (k), Public Law 95-113, 91 Stat. 913.

tion of contracts for the export sale of grain required to be inspected or weighed under this Act, and (C) any complaint regarding the operation or administration of this Act or any official transaction with which this Act is concerned; and (2) taking appropriate action on the basis of the findings of any investigation of such complaints. The Administrator shall report to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate at the end of every threemonth period with respect to investigative action taken on complaints, during the immediately preceding three-month period.

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(c) The Administrator is authorized to cause official inspection personnel to monitor in foreign nations which are substantial importers of grain from the United States, grain imported from the United States upon its entry into the foreign nation, to determine whether such grain is of a comparable kind, class, quality, and condition after considering the handling methods and conveyance utilized at the time of loading, and the same quantity that it was certified to be upon official inspection and official weighing in the United States.

(d) The Office of Investigation of the Department of Agriculture (or such other organization or agency within the Department of Agriculture which may be delegated the authority, in lieu thereof, to conduct investigations on behalf of the Department of Agriculture) shall conduct such investigations regarding the operation or administration of this Act or any official transaction with which this Act is concerned, as the Director thereof deems necessary to assure the integrity of official inspection and weighing under this Act.

(e) The Administrator is authorized to conduct, in cooperation with other agencies within the Department of Agriculture, a continuing research program for the purpose of developing methods to improve accuracy and uniformity in grading grain.

(f) To assure the normal movement of grain at all inspection points in a timely manner consistent with the policy expressed in section 2 of this Act, the Administrator shall, notwithstanding any other provi sion of law, provide adequate personnel to meet the inspection and weighing requirements of this Act."

2 Amended by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 by substituting "Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry" for "Committee on Agriculture and Forestry."

Amended by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 by deleting the word "additional" following "to meet the".

UNITED STATES GRAIN STANDARDS ACT OF 1976

Act of October 21, 1976, Public Law 94-582, 90 Stat. 2874

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SEC. 8(b) (1) 1 In order to provide information for use by the Congress in evaluating the needs of the grain inspection and weighing system at points in the United States other than at export port locations; the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service, the Director of the Office of Investigation of the United States Department of Agriculture (or such other organization or agency within the Department of Agriculture which may be delegated the authority, in lieu thereof, to conduct investigations on behalf of the Department of Agriculture), and the Comptroller General of the United States shall severally conduct investigations into and study grain inspection and weighing in the interior of the United States. The studies shall address, but are not limited to, the tasks of (A) determining the reliability and effectiveness of present official inspection and weighing procedures in the interior of the United States, and (B) evaluating the operating procedures and management practices of agencies providing grain inspection and weighing services in the interior of the United States, as they relate to the integrity and accuracy of the services.

(2) The Director of the Office of Investigation specifically is directed to study the extent of any irregularities or problem areas under the present inspection and weighing systems and conflicts of interest rules and develop factual summaries of evidence disclosed in the Director's investigations into violations of the United States Grain Standards Act, the grain weighing provisions of the United States Warehouse Act, and related provisions of title 18 of the United States Code: Provided, That the Director shall not submit such summary with respect to any criminal investigation which is pending at the time the report is due.

(3) The Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service shall make findings with respect to present grain inspection and weighing agencies at each inland terminal marketing area of the United States at which over fifty million bushels of grain are inspected in an average year, such findings to include (A) results of interviews with shippers who ship grain to and consignees who receive grain from such terminal marketing areas, and (B) a thorough analysis of inspection and weighing error rates of such agencies (which may include the application of statistical tolerances for expected variations), based on existing documentation and the sampling during the investigation of a representative number of randomly selected lots of grain shipped to and from such terminal marketing areas.

(4) The Director of the Office of Investigation and the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service shall complete their

17 U.S.C. 79 note. Amended by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, Public Law 95113, sections 1605 (a), 1607 (a), 91 Stat. 1029, 1031.

investigations and study and shall submit their reports to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Comptroller General not later than thirty months after the effective date of this Act.

(5) The Comptroller General, in making his investigations and study, shall (A) assess the present grain inspection and weighing system in the interior of the United States, and (B) evaluate the reports submitted under this subsection by the Director of the Office of Investigation and the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service. The Comptroller General shall submit a report setting forth the findings of such study and evaluation and his recommendations for changes in the United States Grain Standards Act to such Committees not later than three years after the effective date of this Act.

STUDIES OF GRAIN STANDARDS

SEC. 24.2 (a) In order to assure that producers, handlers, and transporters of grain are encouraged and rewarded for the production, maintenance, and delivery of high quality grain and grain of the type needed to meet the end-use requirements of domestic and foreign buyers, the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service shall conduct an investigation and make a study regarding the adequacy of the current grain standards established under the United States Grain Standards Act.

(b) To determine the items of concern to buyers, both foreign and domestic, and how sellers in the United States might best satisfy those needs, the Administrator may seek the advice of and may employ the services of representatives of the grain industry, land-grant colleges, and other members of the public (without regard to the provisions of title 5 of the United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service).

(c) The study shall address specifically, but is not limited thereto, the tasks of determining (A) if standards may be developed that would reduce grading errors and remove, where possible, subjective human judgment from grading by increased utilization of mechanical, electrical, and chemical means of grading, (B) whether grain should be subclassed according to color or other factor not affecting the quality of the grain, (C) whether the protein factor should be included in the standards, and (D) whether broken grain should be grouped together with foreign material.

(d) On the basis of the results of such study, the Administrator, in accordance with section 4 of the United States Grain Standards Act, shall make such changes in the grain standards as he determines necessary and appropriate, and, not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act, submit a report to the Congress setting forth the findings of such study and action taken by him as a result of the study.

7 U.S.C. 76 note,

PART VI. FORESTRY

CLARKE-MCNARY ACT

Act of June 7, 1924, ch. 348, 43 Stat. 653

Chap. 348.-AN ACT To provide for the protection of forest lands, for the reforestation of denuded areas, for the extension of national forests, and for other purposes, in order to promote the continuous production of timber on lands chiefly suitable therefor

SEC. 5.1 The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed, in cooperation with the land grant colleges and universities of the various States or, in his discretion, with other suitable State agencies, to aid farmers through advice, education, demonstrations, and other similar means in establishing, renewing, protecting, and managing wood lots, shelter belts, windbreaks, and other valuable forest growth, and in harvesting [,] utilizing, and marketing the products thereof. Except for preliminary investigations, the amount expended by the Federal Government under this section in cooperation with any State or other cooperating agency during any fiscal year shall not exceed the amount expended by the State or other cooperating agency for the same purpose during the same fiscal year, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make expenditures on the certificate of the appropriate State official that the State expenditures, as provided for in this section, have been made. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated annually out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not more than $500,000 to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of this section.

116 U.S.C. 568. Amended in its entirety by Sec. 3 of the Act of October 26, 1949, ch. 735, 63 Stat. 910.

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