§1515. Advisory Committee for Federal Crop Insurance

(a) Establishment

The Secretary may establish within the Department an advisory committee to be known as the "Advisory Committee for Federal Crop Insurance".

(b) Primary responsibility

The primary responsibility of the Advisory Committee shall be to advise the Secretary on the implementation of this chapter and on other issues related to crop insurance, as determined by the Manager of the Corporation.

(c) Membership

The Advisory Committee shall be composed of the Manager of the Corporation, the Secretary (or a designee of the Secretary), and not fewer than 12 members representing organizations and agencies involved in the provision of crop insurance under this chapter. Not fewer than 3 of the members of the Advisory Committee shall be representatives of the specialty crops industry. The organizations or agencies represented by members on the Advisory Committee may include insurance companies, insurance agents, farm producer organizations, experts on agronomic practices, and banking and lending institutions.

(d) Administrative provisions

(1) Terms

Members of the Advisory Committee (other than the Manager of the Corporation and the Secretary) shall be appointed by the Secretary for a term of up to 2 years from nominations made by the organizations and agencies specified in subsection (c) of this section. The terms of the members (other than the Manager of the Corporation and the Secretary) shall be staggered.

(2) Chairperson

The Advisory Committee shall be chaired by the Manager of the Corporation.

(3) Meetings

The Advisory Committee shall meet at least annually. The meetings of the Advisory Committee shall be publicly announced in advance and shall be open to the public. Appropriate records of the activities of the Advisory Committee shall be kept and made available to the public on request.

(e) Reports

Not later than June 30 of each year, the Advisory Committee shall submit to the Secretary a report specifying the conclusions and recommendations of the Advisory Committee regarding-

(1) the progress toward implementation of this chapter;

(2) the actuarial soundness of the Federal crop insurance program;

(3) the rate of producer participation in both catastrophic risk protection under section 1508(b) of this title and additional coverage under section 1508(c) of this title; and

(4) the progress toward improved crop insurance coverage for new and specialty crops.

(f) Termination of authority

The authority provided by this section shall terminate on September 30, 1998.

(Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title V, §515, as added Pub. L. 103–354, title I, §109, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3197 .)

Prior Provisions

A prior section, act Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title V, §515, 52 Stat. 77 , provided for appointment and compensation of an advisory committee, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 96–365, title I, §108, Sept. 26, 1980, 94 Stat. 1317 .

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 13, 1994, and applicable to provision of crop insurance under Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) beginning with 1995 crop year, with such Act, as in effect on the day before Oct. 13, 1994, to continue to apply with respect to 1994 crop year, see section 120 of Pub. L. 103–354, set out as an Effective Date of 1994 Amendment note under section 1502 of this title.