EMERGENCY DISASTER DESIGNATION AND DECLARATION PROCESS 2
For all other natural disaster occurrences, including
drought conditions that do not trigger a Fast Track
designation, the county must have a 30 percent
production loss of at least one crop or a determination
must be made by surveying producers that other
lending institutions will not be able to provide
emergency nancing. The process for those Secretarial
disaster designations is described below.
Process
STEP 1
The governor, Indian Tribal Council leader or FSA
SED makes a request in writing to the Secretary of
Agriculture within three months of the ending date of
the disaster.
STEP 2
FSA county oces assemble required agricultural loss
information for the Loss Assessment Report.
STEP 3
The County Emergency Board reviews the Loss
Assessment Report to determine if a 30 percent
production loss of at least one crop occurred, and
makes a recommendation to approve, defer or reject
the request.
STEP 4
The State Emergency Board reviews the request and
the County Emergency Board’s recommendation. The
State Emergency Board’s recommendation is submitted
to FSA’s national headquarters.
STEP 5
FSA national headquarters reviews the loss information
on the Loss Assessment Report, determines eligibility
and prepares a package, including the letter of approval
or disapproval, to be signed by the Secretary.
Eligible Natural Disasters
Eligible natural disasters are disasters in which
damaging weather conditions or other adverse natural
occurrence phenomena have substantially aected
farmers causing severe production losses. Eligible
natural disaster conditions include, but are not limited
to, drought, ooding, excessive rain and humidity,
severe storms, lightning, hail, mudslides and landslides,
snow, ice, blizzards, frost, freeze, below-normal
temperatures, wind, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons,
tropical storms, re, excessive heat, volcanoes, pests
and disease.
FSA Programs Initiated by Designations
and/or Declarations
All types of designation or declaration (Secretarial
disaster designations, Presidential disaster declarations,
APLNs and quarantine designations) immediately
trigger the availability of low-interest FSA EM loans
to eligible producers in all primary and contiguous
counties. More information about EM loans is available
at www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/farm-
loan-programs/emergency-farm-loans/index.
FSA borrowers located in designated disaster areas
or contiguous counties, who are unable to make their
scheduled payments on any debt, may be authorized
to have certain set asides. Under Section 331A of the
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, FSA is
authorized to consider setting aside certain payments
owed by FSA borrowers to allow the operation to
continue.
Various other programs may reference designations or
declarations as is determined appropriate in program
development.
Regulation Governing Disaster Designation
Process
The regulation governing disaster designations is at
7 CFR Part 759.
For More Information
This fact sheet is for informational purposes only; other
restrictions may apply. For more information about FSA
disaster programs, visit http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov
or contact your local FSA oce. To nd your local FSA
oce, visit http://oces.usda.gov.
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