[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 86 (Monday, May 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23688-23691]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10995]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 86 / Monday, May 5, 2003 / Notices  

[[Page 23688]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Notice of Funds Availability--2002 Livestock Compensation Program 
II

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of Commodity Credit 
Corporation (CCC) funds provided under the Agricultural Assistance Act 
of 2003 to implement the 2002 Livestock Compensation Program II (LCP-
II). Livestock for which payments were made under the 2002 Livestock 
Compensation Program I (LCP-I) will not be eligible to generate claims 
under LCP-II. Other offsets can apply.

DATES: (1) The Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin accepting 
applications on April 1, 2003.
    (2) The application deadline will be determined by the Deputy 
Administrator for Farm Programs of FSA, (Deputy Administrator).
    (3) Payments will be issued to applicants meeting all eligibility 
requirements beginning May 1, 2003, or as determined by the Deputy 
Administrator.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Tjeerdsma, Chief, Emergency 
Preparedness and Programs Branch, USDA/FSA, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 
STOP 0517, Washington, DC 20250-0522; telephone (202) 720-7641; 
facsimile (202) 690-3610; electronic mail: [email protected]. Persons with disabilities who require 
alternative means for communication of regulatory information (braille, 
large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 
(202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12372

    This program is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 
12372, which requires consultation with State and local officials.

Environmental Compliance

    Due to the weather-related disasters or other emergency requiring 
the Agency to provide immediate relief, sufficient time was not 
available to complete an environmental review prior to implementing the 
proposed action. Therefore, an environmental assessment is being 
completed to consider the potential impacts of this proposed action on 
the human environment in accordance with the provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq., the 
regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), and FSA's regulations for compliance with NEPA, 7 CFR part 799. 
A copy of the draft environmental assessment will be made available for 
public review and comment upon request.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Section 217 of the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 requires 
that this program be promulgated and administered without regard to 44 
U.S.C. 35, the Paperwork Reduction Act. This means that the information 
to be collected from the public to implement this program and the 
burden, in time and money, that the collection of the information would 
have on the public do not have to be approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget or be subject to the 60-day public comment period 
required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1).

Background

    A Notice of Funds Availability was published in the Federal 
Register on Thursday, October 10, 2002, (67 FR 63070) announcing the 
availability of $752 million ($185 million was added at a later date, 
bringing the total available to $937 million) under section 32 of the 
Act of August 24, 1935 (section 32) to implement the 2002 Livestock 
Compensation Program, or 2002 LCP-I. Livestock feed supplies and 
grazing availability were significantly reduced due to weather-related 
disasters or other emergency conditions that occurred throughout much 
of the United States during 2001 and 2002. The 2002 LCP-I provided 
immediate financial assistance to owners or cash lessees of eligible 
beef, dairy, buffalo, beefalo, sheep and goats in certain States and 
counties to offset losses due to drought. Funds were provided to 
eligible applicants only in those counties declared under a Secretarial 
disaster designation for drought made after January 1, 2001, or 
submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture, by the Governor of a State 
or a Tribal Leader of an Indian Reservation, no later than September 
19, 2002, and subsequently approved.
    Recently, in section 203 of the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 
(2003 Act) Pub. L. 108-7, enacted on February 20, 2003, Congress 
provided that the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation should be 
used to carry out what amounts to a supplement to LCP-1, not in the 
sense of granting more payments to those who received payments before, 
but by increasing the persons who are eligible to receive payments in 
the program. That supplemental program is referred to in this notice as 
the 2002 Livestock Compensation Program, the 2002 LCP-II or, simply, 
LCP-II.
    Eligibility criteria and application procedures for the new 
recipients are set out below. FSA will determine the eligibility of 
applicants and the amount of assistance that will be paid. It bears 
repeating that livestock that generated payment under LCP-I cannot 
generate claims under the expanded program. There is, still, another 
limitation on these new payments. That is, a person's payment 
eligibility under LCP-II, to the extent it is otherwise allowed by this 
notice, will be reduced by the payments received by that person under 
the 2002 Cattle Feed Program announced on September 3, 2002 (67 FR 
56260) and vice versa. Also, payment received by a producer under LCP-
II and, as applicable, under the 2002 Cattle Feed Program as announced 
on September 3, 2002 (67 FR 56260) will reduce the benefits available 
for a person with respect to the separate but also new ``livestock 
assistance program'' provided for in section 203(b) of the 2003 Act. 
These offsets among programs are specifically provided for in section 
203(c) of the 2003 Act.
    As indicated, section 203(a) of the 2003 Act, basically, expands 
the LCP-I program. It does this by providing for

[[Page 23689]]

using Commodity Credit Corporation funds to carry out the original 
program for, to the extent not already covered, all applicants who 
conducted a livestock operation that is physically located in any 
county named as a primary disaster area (which includes areas named 
under a Presidential disaster declaration, not just a Secretarial 
disaster designation, as in LCP) for any qualifying natural disaster 
(not just drought, as in LCP) in calendar years 2001 and 2002 or which 
were submitted to the Secretary or President for that designation no 
later than February 20, 2003, and were subsequently approved as primary 
disaster counties. The statute adds that for all of these new claims, 
however, payments can only be made to the extent that the claim meets 
all other eligibility requirements established by the Secretary in the 
original program (which had a different funding source).
    Accordingly, most of the eligibility criteria will be the same for 
LCP-II as for LCP-I, except those that expand the program as indicated 
above. Those new terms include tying the claims back to livestock 
operations as they existed, including the numbers of eligible livestock 
to June 1, 2002.
    Terms for LCP-II are set out in this notice, and for the sake of 
completeness, the original program terms, to the extent that they carry 
over, are repeated here. These include payment limitations and the 
exclusion of claims for persons with gross revenue from all sources 
over a certain level (subject to certain conditions relating to the 
percentage of a person's revenue derived from farming and ranching). It 
bears emphasis that livestock that generated payment under LCP-I cannot 
be used to receive claims under LCP-II. As indicated and as in LCP-I, 
the critical date of ownership is June 1, 2002. Payments will reflect 
the number of eligible animals owned by the applicant as of that date.
    Also, by reference to section 10806 of the Farm Security and Rural 
Investment Act of 2002 (21 U.S.C. 321d), the statute added catfish 
claims to those that can be paid under LCP. However, implementation of 
the catfish provisions were modified in section 2103 of Public Law 108-
11, the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (117 
Stat. 559). This section provides, in referring to catfish producers as 
eligible applicants, that ``to provide assistance to eligible 
applicants under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall provide grants 
to appropriate departments of agriculture (or other appropriate State 
agencies) that agree to provide assistance to eligible applicants.'' 
This will require special provisions which are not yet ready. 
Accordingly, the assistance to catfish producers required by the 2003 
Act will not be administered under this notice.

Terms of the Program--The 2002 Livestock Compensation Program-II.

I. Definitions

    The following definitions are applicable to this program, which 
shall be referred to here as 2002 LCP-II:
    Adult beef bulls means male bovine livestock, to be used for 
breeding purposes, that were two years old on or before June 1, 2002.
    Adult beef cows means female bovine livestock, used for the purpose 
of providing meat for human consumption, that have delivered one or 
more offspring, at any time before June 1, 2002.
    Adult buffalo and beefalo bulls means male livestock of those 
breeds, used for the purpose of providing meat for human consumption, 
to be used for breeding purposes that were two years old on or before 
June 1, 2002.
    Adult buffalo and beefalo cows means female livestock of those 
breeds, used for the purpose of providing meat for human consumption, 
that have delivered one or more offspring, at any time before June 1, 
2002.
    Adult dairy bulls means male bovine livestock, to be used for 
breeding dairy cows, that were two years old on or before June 1, 2002.
    Adult dairy cows means female bovine livestock, used for the 
purpose of providing milk for human consumption, that have delivered 
one or more offspring, at any time before June 1, 2002.
    Agency means the Farm Service Agency, its employees, and any 
successor agency.
    Applicant means the individual or business entity applying for 
assistance.
    Application means the Form CCC-370, Livestock Compensation Program 
(LCP-II) Application. The CCC-370 is available at FSA county service 
centers and on the Internet.
    Beef bulls means male bovine livestock, used for the purpose of 
providing meat for human consumption, that as of June 1, 2002, weighed 
more than 500 pounds and were less than two years old.
    Beef replacement heifers and non-breeding heifers means female 
bovine livestock, used for the purpose of providing meat for human 
consumption, that as of June 1, 2002, weighed more than 500 pounds and 
had never delivered any offspring.
    Beef steers means neutered male bovine livestock, used for the 
purpose of providing meat for human consumption, that weighed more than 
500 pounds on or before June 1, 2002.
    Buffalo and beefalo bulls means male livestock of those breeds, 
used for the purpose of providing meat for human consumption, that as 
of June 1, 2002, that weighed more than 500 pounds and were less than 
two years old.
    Buffalo and beefalo replacement heifers and buffalo and beefalo 
non-breeding heifers means female livestock of those breeds, used for 
the purpose of providing meat for human consumption, that as of June 1, 
2002, weighed more than 500 pounds and had never delivered any 
offspring.
    Buffalo and beefalo steers means neutered male livestock of those 
breeds, used for the purpose of providing meat for human consumption, 
that weighed more than 500 pounds on or before June 1, 2002.
    Business entity means a corporation, partnership, joint operation, 
trust, limited liability company, or cooperative.
    Dairy bulls means male bovine livestock, of a breed used for the 
purpose of providing milk for human consumption, that as of June 1, 
2002, weighed more than 500 pounds and were less than two years old.
    Dairy replacement heifers and dairy non-breeding heifers means 
female bovine livestock, of a breed used for the purpose of providing 
milk for human consumption, that as of June 1, 2002, weighed more than 
500 pounds and had never delivered any offspring.
    Dairy steers means neutered male bovine livestock, of a breed used 
for the purpose of providing milk for human consumption, that weighed 
more than 500 pounds on or before June 1, 2002.
    Deputy Administrator or DAFP means the Deputy Administrator for 
Farm Programs, Farm Service Agency (FSA), or a designee.
    Disaster county means a county included in the geographic area 
covered by a qualifying natural disaster declaration for calendar year 
2001 or calendar year 2002 for which the request for such designation 
was submitted during the period beginning January 1, 2001, and ending 
February 20, 2003, and was subsequently approved. Contiguous counties 
are not considered to be disaster counties unless they themselves 
qualified on their own or a disaster county.
    Eligible livestock means certain beef and dairy cattle, buffalo and 
beefalo, sheep, and goats that an eligible producer owned, or cash-
leased for 90 or more days, and that were owned or subject to a cash 
lease on June 1, 2002. Certain beef and dairy cattle, buffalo and 
beefalo, sheep, and goats subject to

[[Page 23690]]

a contract for purchase by the applicant, that was negotiated prior to 
June 1, 2002, are eligible livestock.
    Eligible livestock producer means an owner or lessee of eligible 
livestock whose livestock operation headquarters is physically located 
in a disaster county, and who did not receive a payment for the 
eligible livestock under the 2002 LCP-I program, that being the 
original Livestock Compensation Program, announced in the Federal 
Register October 10, 2002 (67 FR 63070).
    Goat means a domesticated, bearded, horned, ruminant mammal of the 
genus Capra, including Angora goats.
    Ineligible livestock means any beef cattle, buffalo, beefalo, dairy 
cattle, sheep, or goats that were considered eligible livestock and for 
which payment was received under the 2002 LCP-I, or on June 1, 2002, 
were not owned or subject to a cash lease or under contract to be 
purchased by an applicant; and are any beef cattle, buffalo, and dairy 
cattle that, as of June 1, 2002, weighed less than 500 pounds; and also 
include livestock owned by an ineligible livestock producer.
    Ineligible livestock producer, as determined by the Deputy 
Administrator, means an entity or individual who received payment for 
livestock under the 2002 LCP-1; who does not own eligible livestock; 
who slaughters, processes, and packs livestock meat into meat and meat 
products; and who is livestock owner that, for monetary reimbursement 
or other gain, provides feed and facilities for livestock owned by 
another person on a custom feeding basis; or is a livestock owner whose 
livestock operation headquarters is not located in an disaster county.
    Qualifying natural disaster means:
    (1) A natural disaster declared by the Secretary under section 
321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
1961(a)); or
    (2) A major disaster or emergency designated by the President under 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5121, et seq.).
    Sheep means a domesticated, horned, ruminant mammal of the genus 
Ovis, bred for wool, edible flesh, or skin.

II. Appeals

    An applicant may request an appeal or review of an adverse decision 
made by the Agency in accordance with 7 CFR parts 11 and 780.

III. Eligibility Requirements

    Applicants must meet all of the following requirements to be 
eligible for the 2002 LCP-II:
    1. Timely application. The applicant must submit a signed form CCC-
370 completed to the best of the applicant's ability to FSA, no earlier 
than April 1, 2003, and no later than such date as announced by the 
Deputy Administrator.
    2. Livestock owner or lessee. The applicant must own, be subject to 
a contract to purchase, or cash-lease, eligible livestock.
    3. Applicant's operation must be physically located in a disaster 
county. The applicant's livestock operation headquarters must be 
physically located in a disaster county on June 1, 2002.

IV. Gross Revenue Limitation

    A person, as defined in 7 CFR part 1400, who has annual gross 
revenue in excess of $2.5 million shall not be eligible to receive 
assistance under the 2002 LCP-II. For the purpose of this 
determination, annual gross revenue means:
    (a) With respect to a person who receives more than 50 percent of 
such person's gross income from farming and ranching, the total gross 
revenue received from such operations; and
    (b) With respect to a person who receives 50 percent or less of 
such person's gross income from farming and ranching, the total gross 
revenue of that person from all sources.

V. Payment Limitation

    The total amount of benefits that a person, as determined in 
accordance with 7 CFR part 1400, shall be entitled to receive under the 
2002 LCP-II may not exceed $40,000.

VI. Amount of Assistance

    The amount of assistance for 2002 LCP-II for the livestock covered 
shall be at the same rates for the eligible livestock covered under the 
2002 LCP, as they were published in the Federal Register October 10, 
2002 and set out below.

VII. Applicant Certification of Eligible Livestock

    Eligible livestock must be certified by owner or lessee on the CCC-
370. The applicant will report to FSA and provide proof of the number 
of eligible livestock and, as applicable, that died or were sold after 
June 1, 2002.

VIII. Payment Eligibility

    To be eligible for payment under the 2002 LCP II, as determined by 
the Deputy Administrator, the applicant must, as of June 1, 2002, be an 
owner, lessee, or under contract to purchase eligible livestock, whose 
livestock headquarters operation is physically located in a disaster 
county; who has submitted and subsequently received FSA County 
Committee approval on CCC-370, and who meets all other eligibility 
requirements. Livestock are not eligible to generate a claim under LCP-
II to the extent they generated a claim under LCP-I. Further a producer 
shall not be eligible to receive or retain a payment under this LCP-II 
program to the extent that the producer has received payment under the 
2002 Cattle Feed Program announced by the Secretary on September 3, 
2002 (67 FR 56260), or the Livestock Assistance Program established 
under section 203(b) of the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003. 
References in this paragraph to LCP-I are to the original Livestock 
Compensation Program as announced by the Secretary on October 10, 2002 
(67 FR 63070).

IX. Payment Amounts

    Adult beef cows and bulls, and adult buffalo and beefalo cows and 
bulls, as defined in Part I: $18.00 per head.
    Adult dairy cows and bulls, as defined in Part I: $31.50 per head.
    Beef, dairy, buffalo and beefalo replacement heifers, steers, non-
breeding heifers, and bulls, as defined in Part I: $13.50 per head.
    All sheep and goats, as defined in Part I, born prior to June 1, 
2002: $4.50 per head.

X. Contract Liability

    All producers receiving a share of the LCP-II payment are jointly 
and severally liable for program violations and resulting repayments, 
if applicable.

XI. How the 2002 LCP-II Will Work

    Applications will be accepted in FSA county offices beginning on 
April 1, 2003. On the LCP-II application, all owners of livestock in 
each livestock operation in a disaster county may apply for payment on 
one application. Each applicant will provide FSA with, and certify to, 
the applicant's name and identification number, address, and number and 
type of eligible livestock. After FSA county committee approval of the 
LCP-II application, payments will be issued, beginning May 1, 2003, or 
as determined by the Deputy Administrator, from the FSA county office 
to each approved livestock producer on the application.

[[Page 23691]]

XII. Misrepresentation, Scheme or Device

    A person shall be ineligible to receive assistance under this 
program, and be subject to such other remedies as may be allowed by 
law, if, with respect to such program, it is determined by the FSA 
State or county committee, or an official of FSA, that such person has:
    (a) Adopted any scheme or other device that tends to defeat the 
purpose of the program operated under this notice;
    (b) Made any fraudulent representation with respect to this 
program; or
    (c) Misrepresented any fact affecting a program determination.

XIII. Liens and Claims of Creditors

    Any benefit or portion thereof due any person under this program 
shall be allowed without regard to questions of title under State law, 
and without regard to any claim or lien in favor of any person, except 
agencies of the U.S. Government.

XIV. Power of Attorney

    In those instances in which, before the issuance of this notice, a 
producer has signed a power of attorney on an approved FSA-211 for a 
person or entity indicating that such power shall extend to all 
programs listed on the form, without limitation, such power will be 
considered to extend to this program unless by April 1, 2003, the 
person granting the power notified the local FSA office for the control 
county that the grantee of the power is not authorized to handle 
transactions for this program for the grantor.

XV. Administration

    Where circumstances preclude compliance due to circumstances beyond 
the applicant's control, the county or State committee may request that 
relief be granted by the Deputy Administrator under this notice. In 
such cases, except for statutory deadlines and other statutory 
requirements, the Deputy Administrator may, in order to more equitably 
accomplish the goals of this notice, waive or modify deadlines and 
other program requirements if the failure to meet such deadlines or 
other requirements does not adversely affect operation of the program 
and are not prohibited by statute. The 2003 Act funds allocated to CCC 
to provide assistance under LCP-II have been estimated not to exceed 
$350 million.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on April 23, 2003.
James R. Little,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-10995 Filed 4-30-03; 12:28 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P