Farmer's Privacy Act of 2012
Latest action · Sep 20, 2012 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 493.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 19, 2012
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Farmer's Privacy Act of 2012 - Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in exercising any authority under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act), from conducting aerial surveillance of agricultural land unless the Administrator has: (1) obtained the voluntary written consent of the owner or operator of the land to be surveilled, and (2) obtained from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a certification of reasonable suspicion that a violation of the Act exists in the area to be surveilled.
Requires the Administrator to ensure that such consent: (1) specifies a period of up to one year during which the consent is effective, (2) contains a specific description of the geographical area to be surveilled, (3) contains limitations on the days and times during which the surveillance may be conducted if requested by such owner or operator, and (4) is granted voluntarily. Prohibits the Administrator from threatening additional, more detailed, or more thorough inspections or coercing or enticing such owner's or operator's consent.
Prohibits the Administrator, except where a land operator or owner has petitioned for copies of information collected through aerial surveillance permitted under this Act or where the information is pertinent to an active EPA investigation or prosecution, from disclosing information collected through such surveillance. Excepts information collected through such surveillance from the Freedom of Information Act.
Requires the destruction of information collected through aerial surveillance conducted under this Act not later than 30 days after collection, unless it is pertinent to an active EPA investigation or prosecution.
Cosponsors 14
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 19, 2012 to Jul 25, 2012; 11 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NE | Adrian Smith | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-MD | Andy Harris | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-OH | Bill Johnson | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-VA | Bob Goodlatte | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-FL | Dennis A. Ross | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-PA | Glenn Thompson | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-VA | H. Morgan Griffith | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-SD | Kristi L. Noem | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-NE | Lee Terry | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| D-PA | Tim Holden | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-MO | W. Todd Akin | Original | Jun 19, 2012 |
| R-MT | Denny Rehberg | Jun 20, 2012 | |
| R-WA | Doc Hastings | Jul 25, 2012 | |
| R-NC | Walter B. Jones | Jul 25, 2012 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Transportation and Infrastructure Committee | Referred Jun 19, 2012Markup Aug 1, 2012Reported Sep 20, 2012 |
| Aviation Subcommittee | Referred Jun 20, 2012Discharged Aug 1, 2012 | |
| Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee | Referred Jun 20, 2012Discharged Aug 1, 2012 |
Actions 10
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 20, 2012Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. H. Rept. 112-682.
- Sep 20, 2012Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 493.
- Aug 1, 2012Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Aug 1, 2012Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Aug 1, 2012Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Discharged.
- Aug 1, 2012Subcommittee on Aviation Discharged.
- Jun 20, 2012Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
- Jun 20, 2012Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
- Jun 19, 2012Introduced in House
- Jun 19, 2012Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Sep 12, 2012H.R. 5961, Farmer’s Privacy Act of 2012As ordered reported by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on July 26, 2012
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H3807.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 112-107 | USING UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS WITHIN THE HOMELAND: SECURITY GAME-CHANGER?72 pages | Homeland Security Committee | Jul 19, 2012 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To provide reasonable limits, control, and oversight over the Environmental Protection Agency's use of aerial surveillance of America's farmers.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Farmer's Privacy Act of 2012
- Short Titles as Reported to House
- Farmer's Privacy Act of 2012
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Agriculture and Food.
- Agricultural conservation and pollution
- Agricultural practices and innovations
- Agriculture and Food
- Aviation and airports
- Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
- Environmental regulatory procedures
- Farmland
- Government information and archives
- Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
- Judicial procedure and administration
- Right of privacy
- Water quality
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 20, 2012Reported in House
- Jun 19, 2012Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
