eliminate paper coupons and instead provide the recipient with a plastic card and personal identification number that functions like money. With EBT, no money and no Food Stamps change hands at the grocery checkout counter, and all accounting is done electronically.

Under the USDA reorganization legislation, a center for nutrition policy and education was created, underscoring the Department's commitment to nutrition and nutrition education.

Food and Consumer Service

[For the Food and Consumer Service statement of organization, see the Federal Register of June 6, 1970, 35 FR 8835]

The Food and Consumer Service is the agency of the Department that administers the programs to make food assistance available to people who need it. These programs are operated in cooperation with State and local governments.

The Service, formerly the Food and Nutrition Service, was established on August 8, 1969, by the Secretary of Agriculture, under authority of 5 U.S.C. 301 and Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1953 (5 U.S.C. app.).

Food Stamps The Food Stamp Program provides food coupons through State and local welfare agencies to needy persons to increase their food purchasing power. The coupons are used by program participants to buy food in any retail store that has been approved by the Food and Consumer Service to accept and redeem the food coupons. Special Nutrition Programs The Service administers several programs designed to improve the nutrition of children, particularly those from low-income families. Principal among these is the National School Lunch Program, which provides financial assistance to public and nonprofit private schools of high. school grade and under, in operating nonprofit school lunch programs.

The School Breakfast Program provides cash assistance to State educational agencies to help schools in operating nonprofit breakfast programs meeting established nutritional standards.

It is especially important in improving the diets of needy children who may receive breakfast free or at reduced prices.

The Summer Food Service Program for Children helps various organizations get nutritious meals to needy preschool and school-aged children during the summer months or during vacations in areas operating under a continuous school calendar.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program is a companion activity that helps to get nutritious meals to preschool and school-aged children in child care facilities and to functionally impaired adults in facilities that provide nonresidential care for such individuals. The Special Milk Program for Children, which is administered in schools, institutions, and split-session kindergartens that do not participate in any other Federal food program, is designed to help child nutrition by paying a share of the cost of increased servings of fluid milk made to children. Food Distribution The Food Distribution Program makes foods available to eligible recipients. Foods purchased by the Department are made available principally to children in school lunch and breakfast programs, summer camps, and child care centers, and to the nutrition program for the elderly. Commodities are also distributed to needy families through food banks, charitable institutions, and local government agencies.

The program on Indian reservations provides Indians on or near reservations with access to a wide range of donated foods, including meat, fruit, vegetables, and dairy and grain products. Supplemental Food Programs The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children-the WIC Program-provides specified nutritious food supplements, nutrition education, and health care referrals to pregnant women, breastfeeding women up to 12 months post partum, non-breastfeeding women up to 6 months post partum, and children up to 5 years of age. Participants are determined by competent professionals (physicians, nutritionists, nurses, and other health

officials) to be at nutritional risk because of nutritionally related medical conditions or inadequate nutrition.

Cash grants are made available to participating State health departments or comparable State agencies, or recognized Indian tribes, bands, or groups. The State agencies distribute funds to the local agencies, and the funds are used to provide foods for WIC recipients and to pay specified administrative and clinical costs. Commodity Supplemental Food Program This program provides supplemental foods and nutrition education to lowincome infants and children; pregnant, post partum, and breastfeeding women; and elderly persons who are vulnerable to malnutrition and reside in approved project areas. The Department purchases

foods for distribution through State agencies.

Nutrition Education and Training Under this program funds are granted to the States for the development and dissemination of nutrition information and materials to children and for inservice training of food service and teaching personnel.

No person may be discriminated against-in the operation of any of the programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service-because of race, color, sex, creed, national origin, or handicap.

For further information, contact the Public Information Officer, Food and Consumer Service, Department of Agriculture, Alexandria, VA 22302. Phone, 703-305-2276.

Farm Service Agency

The Agency administers commodity and related land use programs designed for voluntary production adjustment, resource protection, and price, market, and farm income stabilization.

In each State, operations are supervised by a State committee of three or five members appointed by the Secretary. A State Executive Director, appointed by the Secretary, and staff carry on day-to-day operations of the State office. The State Director of the Agricultural Extension Service is an ex officio member of the State committee. In each of approximately 2,500 agricultural counties, a county committee of three farmer members is responsible for local administration. A county executive director, with other

necessary staff, is employed to carry on day-to-day operations of the county office.

Commodity Programs The Agency administers the Commodity Credit Corporation's commodity stabilization programs for wheat, corn, cotton (upland and extra long staple), seed cotton, soybeans and minor oilseeds, peanuts, rice, tobacco, milk, wool, mohair, barley, oats, sugarbeets, sugarcane, grain sorghum, rye, and honey. Commodity stabilization is achieved through commodity loans, purchases, and payments to eligible producers.

For most commodities, loans and payments are made directly to producers on the unprocessed commodity through FSA's county offices. Some commodities are also purchased from producers. Price support loans, payments, and purchases. also can be made available through cooperative marketing associations. The price of milk is stabilized through purchases of processed dairy products: butter, American-type cheese, and nonfat dry milk. Price stabilization programs for tobacco and peanuts are carried out through loans to producer associations that, in turn, make program benefits

available to producers. Tobacco producers must contribute to a fund to assure that the tobacco program operates at no net cost to taxpayers, other than administrative costs. For burley and fluecured tobaccos, purchasers contribute equally with producers. These contributions are in addition to budget deficit assessments also being paid by producers and purchasers. Stabilization of sugarbeet and sugarcane prices is carried out through loans to sugar processors, who in turn make program benefits available to producers.

Loans to producers can either be "recourse" allowing producers to repay their loans at principal plus interest or "nonrecourse." Nonrecourse loans enable the producer to forfeit or deliver the commodity to the Commodity Credit Corporation with settlement based on the quantity and quality of goods delivered if the market price falls below the loan rate.

Loan deficiency payments are available to producers who agree to forgo a nonrecourse loan. The loan rate, as determined by the Commodity Credit Corporation, is higher than the market

rate.

Eligibility for commodity loans, purchases, and payments is, in most cases, conditional upon participation in acreage reduction, paid-land diversion, payment-in-kind, allotment, or quota programs in effect for the particular crop. Under the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, payments are limited to an annual ceiling of $125,000 per person on the total payments of upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, wheat, rice, and feed grain programs for the 1991 through 1995 crops.

The act greatly expanded flexibility for participating farmers to shift program crop plantings, as well as options for oilseeds and industrial and experimental crops.

Emergency Assistance Such programs offered to farmers in emergencydesignated areas may include any or all of the following:

-furnishing cost-sharing assistance for feed purchases, purchasing fuel to burn spines off prickly pear cactus, or making

available Corporation-owned feed grains at reduced prices to eligible producers who have suffered a substantial loss of their normal livestock feed production due to natural disaster, and in some instances, donations of feed grains;

-cost-sharing with farmers who carry out emergency conservation practices to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disaster; and

-allowing haying and grazing on acreage diverted to conserving uses under the commodity programs or longterm land retirement program on a county-by-county basis, as needed, in the event of a natural disaster. Grain Reserve Program The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 reauthorized the Grain Reserve Program for farmer-owned wheat, corn, grain sorghum, oats, and barley. When entry into the Reserve is authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture, producers may enter into a contract extending their 9-month loan for an additional 27 months and receive quarterly storage payments.

Loans may be repaid at any time. Interest may be charged when prices exceed 105 percent of the target; however, storage payments cease when prices exceed 95 percent of the target price.

Dairy Refund Payment Program The Dairy Refund Payment Program provides producers refunds of the reductions in the price received for milk during a calendar year. Reductions in price are required by law for all milk produced in the United States and marketed commercially in calendar years 1991 to 1995.

Indemnity Program The Dairy Indemnity Payment Program provides indemnity payments to dairy farmers whose milk has been removed from the commercial market because it contained residues of chemicals or toxic substances, including nuclear radiation or fallout.

National Security The Agency is responsible for national security emergency preparedness plans and programs relating to food production, conservation, and stabilization; food processing, storage, and wholesale

distribution; livestock and poultry feed, seed, and the domestic distribution of fertilizer; and farm equipment and repair parts.

It also provides services relating to expansion of productive capacity, materials, and facilities under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. 2061); plans for management, control, and allocation of water to be used for agricultural production and food processing; consolidates all claims for material, labor, equipment, supplies, and services needed to support the national security emergency responsibilities of USDA; and guarantees payments or makes loans, as needed, for the continuation of food and agriculture activities in a national security emergency.

Financial management and budget support, and financial risk assessments and analyses are provided by FSA for the General Sales Manager of the Foreign Agricultural Service in administering Commodity Credit Corporation export credit sales and guarantee programs and Food for Peace programs.

To carry out the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 3501), the Department assigned FSA the primary responsibility of collecting information through a reporting system involving all States and most counties. The agency assesses penalties on late filed information and refusals to file. The Administrator rules on appeals resulting from penalties assessed for violations of the act. Conservation Programs The Agency's conservation programs help preserve and improve the wealth and promise of America's farmlands.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) targets the most fragile farmland by encouraging farmers to stop growing crops on cropland designated by soil conservationists and plant a permanent vegetative cover instead. In return, the farmer receives an annual rental payment.

The Agricultural Conservation Program (ACP) is a joint effort by agricultural producers, Federal and State agencies, and other groups to restore and protect the Nation's land and water resources

and preserve the environment. Costsharing is provided to ranchers/farmers to encourage them to carry out conservation and environmental protection practices on agricultural land that result in long-term public benefits. Producers who plant agricultural commodities on highly erodible land without an approved conservation plan or system, or wetland converted after December 23, 1985, will be considered ineligible for USDA program benefits. In addition, producers who convert wetland after December 28, 1990, will be ineligible for USDA benefits until the wetland is restored. Other provisions of the 1990 law are designed to discourage farming practices that may have adverse environmental impacts.

For further information, contact the Public Affairs Staff, Farm Service Agency, Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013. Phone, 202-720-5237.

Commodity Credit Corporation The Commodity Credit Corporation was organized October 17, 1933, pursuant to Executive Order 6340 of October 16, 1933, under the laws of the State of Delaware, as an agency of the United States. From October 17, 1933, to July 1, 1939, the Corporation was managed and operated in close affiliation with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. On July 1, 1939, the agency was transferred to the Department of Agriculture by the President's Reorganization Plan No. I of 1939 (5 U.S.C. app.). Approval of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act on June 29, 1948 (15 U.S.C. 714), subsequently amended, established the Corporation, effective July 1, 1948, as an agency and instrumentality of the United States under a permanent Federal charter.

The Corporation stabilizes, supports, and protects farm income and prices, assists in maintaining balanced and adequate supplies of agricultural commodities and their products, and facilitates the orderly distribution of commodities.

The Corporation is managed by a Board of Directors, subject to the general supervision and direction of the

Secretary of Agriculture, who is an ex officio Director and Chairman of the Board. The Board consists of seven members (in addition to the Secretary of Agriculture), who are appointed by the President of the United States.

The Corporation is capitalized at $100 million and has statutory authority to borrow up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury. It utilizes the personnel and facilities of the Farm Service Agency and, in certain foreign assistance operations, the Foreign Agricultural Service to carry out its activities.

A commodity office in Kansas City, MO, has specific responsibilities for the acquisition, handling, storage, and disposal of commodities and products held by the Corporation. Commodity Stabilization Loan, purchase, and/or payment programs of the Corporation are administered by FSA for wheat, corn, upland and extra-long staple cotton, peanuts, rice, tobacco, milk, honey, barley, oats, grain sorghum, rye, soybeans and minor oilseeds, sugarbeets, and sugarcane.

Commodities acquired under the stabilization program are disposed of through domestic and export sales, commodity certificate exchanges, transfers to other Government agencies, and donations for domestic and foreign welfare use. The Corporation also is authorized to exchange surplus agricultural commodities it has acquired by the Corporation for strategic and other materials and services produced abroad.

Foreign Assistance Under Public Law 480, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1691), the Corporation carries out assigned foreign assistance activities, such as guaranteeing the credit sale of U.S. agricultural commodities abroad. Major emphasis is also being directed toward meeting the needs of developing nations under the Food for Peace Act of 1966 (7 U.S.C. 1691), which further amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. Under these authorities, agricultural commodities are supplied and exported to combat hunger and malnutrition and to encourage economic

development in the developing countries. In addition, the Corporation supplies commodities under the Food for Progress Program to provide assistance to developing democracies.

The Corporation encourages U.S. financial institutions to provide financing to developing countries under the Export Credit Guarantee Programs administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service.

For further information, contact the Public Affairs Staff, Commodity Credit Corporation, Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013. Phone, 202-720-5237. For information about Commodity Credit Corporation export programs, contact the Information Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, Department of Agriculture. Phone, 202-720-3448.

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) is a Government-owned corporation whose purpose is to promote the national welfare by improving the economic stability of agriculture through a sound system of crop insurance.

The Corporation is responsible for directing a widely used and actuarially sound crop insurance program,

providing an alternate form of coverage for crops that are currently not insurable, and evaluating new insurance products.

Federal crop insurance protects against unavoidable production losses due to adverse weather and other named perils. The protection does not extend to crop losses resulting from neglect, poor farming prices, or theft, and does not insure against financial losses resulting from low prices.

The Corporation was established on February 16, 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1501). On October 13, 1994, the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 1501 note) significantly changed the way in which government assists producers suffering a major crop loss. A major objective of the reform was to replace the uncertainty of previous ad hoc disaster assistance with the predictability of crop insurance protection.

Under the new insurance program, producers must purchase at least the catastrophic level (CAT) of crop insurance of economic significance to participate in USDA price support and