Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process Face Sheet

FACT SHEETUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREFARM SERVICE AGENCYEmergency Disaster Designation and Declaration ProcessJuly 2012OverviewAgriculture-related disastersand disaster designations arequite common. One-half totwo-thirds of the counties inthe United States have beendesignated as disaster areasin each of the past severalyears, even in years ofrecord crop production.The Secretary of Agricultureis authorized to designatecounties as disaster areasto make emergency loans(EM) to producers sufferinglosses in those countiesand in counties that arecontiguous to a designatedcounty. In addition to EMeligibility, other emergencyassistance programs, suchas FSA disaster assistanceprograms, have historicallyused disaster designationsas an eligibility requirementtrigger.The Farm Service Agency(FSA) streamlined theUSDA Disaster Designationprocess to make assistancemore readily availableand with less burdensomepaperwork.Types of DisasterDesignationsFSA administers four typesof disaster designations:USDA Secretarialdisaster designation(This designation ismost widely used).Presidential majordisaster and Presidentialemergency declarations,• FSA Administrator'sPhysical LossNotification and,• Quarantine designationby the Secretary underthe Plant ProtectionAct or animalquarantine laws asdefined in § 2509 ofthe Food, Agriculture,Conservation andTrade Act of 1990(mentioned in 7CFR part 761, whichincludes a definitionof "quarantine" inaccordance with 7U.S.C. 1961).What Does a DisasterDesignation Specify?A disaster designationspecifies:The disaster that resultedin the designation;• The incidence period(dates) of that disaster;The specific countiesincluded in thedesignation.Procedures for SevereDroughtThe streamlined processprovides for nearly anautomatic designation forany county in which droughtconditions, as reported inthe U.S. Drought Monitor(http:/ I droughtrnonitor. unl.edu/) when any portion of acounty meets the D2 (SevereDrought) drought intensityvalue for eight consecutiveweeks. A county that hasa portion of its area in adrought intensity value ofD3 (Extreme Drought) orhigher at any time duringthe growing season alsowould be designated as adisaster area.Benefits of the StreamlinedDisaster DesignationProcessThe new process helpsreduce paperwork anddocumentation requirementsat the local FSA level,making the process moreefficient and timely.Individual producer losseswould still need to bedocumented for EmergencyLoan (EM) Programeligibility.Page 1

FACT SHEETEmergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process July 2012Highlights of the New RuleGoverning SecretarialDisaster Designations• The new rule governingdisaster designations:• Streamlines theUSDA Secretarialdesignation processby eliminating stepsfrom the currentprocess;• Preserves the abilityof a state governoror Indian TribalCouncil to request aSecretarial DisasterDesignation;Removes therequirement thata request for adisaster designationbe initiated onlyby a state governoror Indian TribalCouncil;• Further streamlinesthe disasterdesignation processfor severe droughtoccurrences byutilizing theU.S. DroughtMonitor as a toolto automaticallytrigger disaster areaswith no furtherdocumentation;Does not impose anynew requirementson producers or thepublic.• For all other naturaldisaster occurrences andPage 2those drought conditionsthat are not consideredsevere, the countymust either show a 30percent production lossof at least one crop ora determination mustbe made by surveyingproducers that otherlending institutions willnot be able to provideemergency financing.Location of RegulationGoverning DisasterDesignation ProcessThe rule is contained in theFederal Register dated July13, 2012, athttp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-13/pdf/2012-17137.pdf168/77.The U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA) prohibits discrimination In allIts programs and activities on the basisof race, color, national origin, age, disability,and where applicable, sex, maritalstatus, familial status, parental status,religion, sexual orientation, politicalbeliefs, genetic lnfonnation, reprisal,or because all or part of an Individual'sIncome Is derived from any public assistanceprogram. (Not all prohibited basesapply to all programs.) Persons with disabilitieswho require alternative meansfor communication of program lnfonnatlon(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.)should contact USDA's TARGET Centerat (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). Tofile a complaint of Discrimination, writeto USDA, Assistant Secretary for CivilRights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.,Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410,or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English)or (800) 877-8339 (TDD), or (866)3n-8642 (English Federal-relay), or, or(800) 845-6136 or. USDA Is an equal opportunityprovider and employer.