Implementation of the Farm Program Provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill

This final rule implements farm program provisions required by Title I of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (the 1996 Act). The primary issues concern: changes to the dairy, sugar, and peanut programs; the establishment of production flexibility contracts for producers of wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice that specify the terms and conditions for receiving payments from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC); statutory payment limitation provisions; implementation of marketing assistance loans, reduced loan repayment rates, and loan deficiency payments; and a cap on Cotton User Marketing Certificate payments. This action will also: amend Chapter II to delegate authority to implement these programs from the Secretary to the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and to the Administrator, Farm Service Agency (FSA) and to correct an erroneous reference to an existing delegation with respect to the Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS); reorganize Chapter VII to consolidate the regulations in a more efficient manner, to free parts for future use and to remove obsolete provisions; and reorganize Chapter XIV so that the regulations of separate agencies that operate through CCC are located and organized in separate and identifiable parts. This regulation will complete many of the actions being taken by FSA as part of the National Performance Review Initiative to eliminate unnecessary regulations and improve those that remain in force.