AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT.

SEC. 501. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT. (a) Amendments to Section 304.— Section 304 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1924) is amended— 105 STAT. 1866 (1) by striking subsection (a); and (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (a) and moving such subsection to appear before subsection (b). (b) Amendment to Section 312(a).— Section 312(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1942(a)) is amended by striking “systems.” and all that follows and inserting “systems (for purposes of this subtitle, the term ‘solar energy’ means energy derived from sources (other than fossil fuels) and technologies included in the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974) (42 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.), (12) training in maintaining records of farming and ranching operations for limited resource borrowers receiving loans under section 310D, and (13) borrower training under section 359.”, (c) Amendments to Section 331.— (1) Direct amendments.— Section 331(b)(4) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1981(b)(4)) is amended— (A) by striking “this title”; and (B) by striking “1949 from” and inserting “1949, from”. (2) Indirect amendments.— (A) Clarification of repeal.— Section 1805 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 3819) is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) and inserting the following: “(b) Payment of Accrued Interest.— Section 331 (7 U.S.C. 1981) is amended by striking subsection (h) and redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as subsections (h) and (i), respectively.”. (B) Clarification of technical corrections.— Section 2388(d)(1) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 4052) is amended— (i) by inserting “, as amended by section 1805(b) of this Act,” before “is amended”; (ii) in clause (i) of subparagraph (A), by striking “(h), and (i)” and inserting “and (h)”; (iii) by striking clause (iv) and redesignating clauses (v), (vi), and (vii) of subparagraph (A) as clauses (iv), (v), and (vi), respectively; (iv) in clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated by clause (iii) of this subparagraph), by striking “(i)” and inserting “(h)”; and (v) in clause (vi) of subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated by clause (iii) of this subparagraph)— (I) by striking “(j)” and inserting “(i)”; and (II) by striking “(10)” and inserting “(9)”. (d) Amendments to Section 331E.— (1) In general.— Section 331E of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1981e) is amended— (A) by striking “The” and inserting “(a) IN GENERAL.— The”; and (B) by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(b) Calculation of Yields.— “(1) In general.— For purposes of averaging past yields of the farm of a borrower or applicant over a period of crop years to calculate future yields for the farm under this title (except for loans under subtitle C), the Secretary shall permit the borrower or applicant to exclude the crop year with the lowest actual or county average yield for the farm from the calculation, if the borrower or applicant was affected by a disaster during at least 2 of the crop years during the period. 105 STAT. 1867 “(2) Affected by a disaster.— For purposes of paragraph (1), a borrower or applicant was affected by a disaster if the Secretary finds that the borrower or applicant’s farming operations have been substantially affected by a natural disaster in the United States or by a major disaster or emergency designated by the President under the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), including a borrower or applicant who has a qualifying loss but is not located in a designated or declared disaster area. “(3) Application of subsection.— Paragraph (1) shall apply to all actions taken by the Secretary to carry out this title (except for loans under subtitle C) that involve the yields of a farm of a borrower or applicant, including making loans and loan guarantees, servicing loans, and making credit sales.”. (2) Regulations.— (A) Interim regulations.— Notwithstanding section 553 of title 5, United States Code, as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act and without a requirement for prior public notice and comment, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue interim regulations that provide for the implementation of the amendment made by paragraph (1) beginning in crop year 1992. (B) Final regulations.— The Secretary of Agriculture shall provide for public notice and comment before the issuance of final regulations to implement the amendment made by paragraph (1). (3) Effective date.— (A) In general.— Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the amendment made by paragraph (1) shall become effective on the date of publication of the interim regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (2)(A). (B) Exception.— The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply to each primary loan servicing application submitted on or after the date of enactment of this Act. (e) Amendments to Section 333(2)(A).— Section 333(2)(A) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1983(2)(A)) is amended by redesignating clauses (1), (2), and (3), as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively. (f) Amendments to Section 335(e)(1).— Section 335(e)(1) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1985(e)(1)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking “the borrower” and all that follows through “the ‘borrower-owner’)” and inserting “borrower-owner (as defined in subparagraph (F)”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: “(F) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘borrower-owner’ means— “(i) a borrower from whom the Secretary acquired real farm or ranch property (including the principal residence of the borrower) used to secure any loan made to the borrower under this title; or “(ii) in any case in which an owner of property pledged the property to secure the loan and the owner is different than the borrower, the owner.”. (g) Amendments to Section 352.— Section 352 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2000) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— 105 STAT. 1868 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph: “(2) The term ‘borrower-owner’ means— “(A) a borrower of a loan made or insured by the Secretary or the Administrator who meets the eligibility requirements of subsection (c)(1); or “(B) in any case in which an owner of homestead property pledged the property to secure the loan and the owner is different than the borrower, the owner.”; and (2) by striking “borrower” each place it appears and inserting “borrower-owner”. (h) Amendments To Section 353.— Section 353 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2001) is amended— (1) in subsection (c)(6)(A)(ii), by striking “the date of enactment of this paragraph” and inserting “November 28, 1990”; and (2) in subsection (m), by striking “335(e)(1)(A)” and inserting “335(e)(1)”. (i) Amendments to Section 363.— Section 363 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2006e) is amended— (1) by striking “3801(a)(16))” and inserting “3801(a)(16)))”; and (2) by striking “prior to the date of enactment of this section” and inserting “before November 28, 1990”.