FEDERAL AGENCY:

FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

AUTHORIZATION:

Section 3602 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Public Law 108-83.

OBJECTIVES:

This program provides assistance to tree, bush and vine owners who have trees, bushes or vines lost by a natural disaster. The statute authorizes payments only for eligible owners who actually replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes and vines and who produce annual crops from trees for commercial purposes.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:

Direct Payments with Unrestricted Use. Place Cursor Here for Definition

USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:

Eligible owners must execute all required documents, comply with all applicable noxious weed laws, and complete the TAP funded practice within 12 months of application approval. Participants must allow representatives of FSA to visit the site for the purposes of certifying compliance with TAP requirements.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:   To be eligible for TAP payments the owner must: (1) Own the stand on which the claim for benefits is based; (2) Have owned it at the time the natural disaster occurred; (3) Have continuously owned the stand until the TAP application is submitted; (4) Annual gross revenue not to exceed $2.5 million for the preceding tax year; (5) Federal, State, local governments and agencies as well as political subdivisions thereof are not eligible for benefits.

Beneficiary Eligibility:   An individual owner who has trees, bushes or vines lost by a natural disaster.

Credentials/Documentation:   To be considered an eligible loss: (1) Trees, bushes or vines must have been lost as a result of a natural disaster; (2) The individual stand must have sustained a loss in excess of 15 percent after adjustment for normal mortality; (3) The loss could not have been prevented through reasonable and available measures; (4) The trees, bushes or vines would not normally have been rehabilitated or replanted within the 12-month period following the loss; (5) The damage must be visible and obvious to the County Committee except that if the damage is no longer visible, the County Committee may accept other evidence of the loss as it determines is reasonable. County Committee may require information from an expert in the case of plant disease or insect infestation.

Pre-application Coordination:   None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure:   A complete application for TAP benefits and related supporting documentation must be submitted to the county office prior to the deadline that FSA announces. A complete application includes all of the following: (1) A form provided by FSA; (2) A written estimate of the number of trees, bushes or vines lost or damaged which is prepared by the owner or someone who is a qualified expert, as determined by the County Committee; (3) The number of acres on which the loss was suffered; (4) Sufficient evidence of the loss to allow the County Committee to calculate whether an eligible loss occurred.

Award Procedure:   The County Committee: (1) Must make recommendations and an eligibility determination based on a complete application on those requests that it wants to refer to a higher approval official; (2) Will verify actual qualifying losses and the number of acres involved by on-site visual inspection of the land and trees, bushes or vines; (3) May request additional information and may consider all relevant information in making its determination including its members' own knowledge about the applicant's normal operations.

Deadlines:   To be announced.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:    

30 days.

Appeals:    

None.

Renewals:    

None.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:    

Subject to the availability of TAP funds, an approved owner shall be reimbursed in an amount not to exceed 75 percent of the eligible costs for the qualifying loss (that loss over and above the calculated 15 percent mortality). The payment shall be the lesser of the actual costs for the replanting or the amount calculated using rates established by the County Committee (not to exceed the maximum amount the Deputy Administrator establishes). (1) When lost stands are replanted, the types planted may be different than those originally planted if the new types have the same general end use, as the County Committee determines. Payments will be based on the lesser of rates established to plant the types actually lost or the cost to establish the alternative used. (2) If the species of plantings, seedlings or cuttings differs significantly from the species lost, as the County Committee determines, the costs may not be reimbursed. (3) Owners may elect not to replant the entire eligible stand. If so, the County Committee shall calculate payment based on the number of qualifying trees, bushes or vines actually replanted. (4) The cumulative total quantity of acres planted to trees, bushes or vines for which a person may receive assistance shall not exceed 500 acres. (5) The cumulative amount of TAP payments, which any person may receive, shall not exceed $75,000 per program year. (6) If the total of all eligible TAP claims received exceeds the available TAP funds, payments shall be reduced by a uniform national percentage after the imposition of applicable payment limitation provisions.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:    

Payment is made by check or direct deposit after determining applicant eligibility.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:  None.

Audits:   Recipients under this program are subject to audit by the Office of the Regional Inspector General, USDA.

Records:   An owner or any other individual or entity receiving assistance for TAP shall maintain and retain financial books and records which will permit verification of all transactions for at least 3 years, following the end of the calendar year in which assistance was provided.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Account Identification:  

12-4336-0-4-350.

Obligations:  (Direct Payments) FY 03 $0; FY 04 est $9,700,000; and FY 05 est $0.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:  
Not Applicable.

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