S.Amdt. 2414

1. Adds SEC. 122__. CRITERIA AND NOTICE FOR CLOSURE OR RELOCATION OF LOCAL OFFICES OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE at the end of the bill

   Adds a section

   In S. 3240 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   (2) commence consultation with the Secretary of the Interior to complete the collection and removal of Canada geese from the applicable National Park Service land to ensure that the removal is completed by not later than August 1, 2012.

   Inserted: SEC. 122__. CRITERIA AND NOTICE FOR CLOSURE OR RELOCATION OF LOCAL OFFICES OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

   Inserted: (a) Criteria.--Prior to selecting State, county, or field offices of the Farm Service Agency, the Under Secretary for Rural Development, or the Natural Resources Conservation Service (referred to in this section as a "covered office") for closure, the Secretary shall consider--

   Inserted: (1) the cost saved from closing each covered office;

   Inserted: (2) the driving distance between each covered office and the closest covered office;

   Inserted: (3) the number of citizens served;

   Inserted: (4) after an evaluation of the workload of each covered office, the overall workload of the covered office;

   Inserted: (5) the average number of employees staffed in each covered office during the preceding 5-calendar year period;

   Inserted: (6) the number of covered offices within each county; and

   Inserted: (7) in the case of local offices of the Farm Service Agency--

   Inserted: (A) the total number of reported planted acres covered by each office; and

   Inserted: (B) the total number of reported livestock covered by each office.

   Inserted: (b) Public Disclosure.--Prior to the closure of a covered office, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register--

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   Inserted: (1) a list of covered offices that are proposed to be closed; and

   Inserted: (2) a description of the formula used to select the covered offices for closure.

   Inserted: (c) Congressional Disclosure.--Not later than 3 days before public disclosure under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit the information described in subsection (b) to--

   Inserted: (1) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives;

   Inserted: (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;

   Inserted: (3) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate;

   Inserted: (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;

   Inserted: (5) each Member of the Senate representing the State in which a covered office proposed to be closed is located; and

   Inserted: (6) the Member of the House of Representatives who represents the Congressional district in which a covered office proposed to be closed is located.

   Inserted: (d) Public Meeting and Notice.--The Secretary may not close a covered office unless--

   Inserted: (1) not later than 30 days after the Secretary proposes to close the covered office, the Secretary holds a public meeting regarding the proposed closure in the county in which the covered office is located; and

   Inserted: (2) after the public meeting described in paragraph (1) but not later than 90 days before the date on which the Secretary approves the closure of the covered office, the Secretary submits to each Committee and Member described in subsection (c) notice of the proposed closure of the covered office.

   Inserted: (e) Presence After Closure.--The Secretary shall ensure that employees of the Department of Agriculture--

   Inserted: (1) maintain a presence in counties without a covered office by frequently and consistently sending to the affected counties employees of the same agency for consultation; and

   Inserted: (2) use any remaining office of the Department of Agriculture in an affected county as a location for maintaining a presence in the affected county.

   Original wording

   At the end of the bill, add the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed