[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 74 (Friday, April 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20589-20590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8648]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency


Notice of Funds Availability: Tree Assistance Program for New 
York Fruit Tree Losses Due to Ice Storm

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of $5,000,000 to 
provide assistance under the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) to 
compensate tree-fruit growers in a federally-declared disaster area in 
the State of New York who suffered tree losses in 2003 as the result of 
an April 4-6, 2003, ice storm.

DATES: Applications by eligible persons may be submitted any time 
before the ending date announced by the Deputy Administrator for Farm 
Programs, Farm Service Agency. That date, unless adjusted by the Deputy 
Administrator, shall be May 14, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eloise Taylor, Chief, Compliance 
Branch, Production, Emergencies and Compliance Divisions, FSA/USDA, 
Stop 0517, 1400 Independence Avenue SW.,

[[Page 20590]]

Washington, DC 20250-0517; telephone (202) 720-9882; e-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:

Background

    TAP was authorized, but not funded, by section 10201 et seq. of the 
Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171) (7 
U.S.C. 8201 et seq.) to provide assistance to eligible orchardists to 
replant trees, bushes and vines that were grown for the production of 
an annual crop and were lost due to a natural disaster. This notice 
sets out a special program within TAP for certain fruit tree losses due 
to an ice storm in New York. Section 756(a) of Division A of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199) provided that 
the Secretary of Agriculture shall use $5,000,000 of the funds of the 
Commodity Credit Corporation to provide assistance under TAP to 
compensate tree-fruit growers in a federally-declared disaster area in 
the State of New York who suffered tree losses in 2003 as the result of 
an April 4-6, 2003, ice storm. Assistance will be provided subject to 
regulations and restrictions governing the TAP provided for in the 2002 
Act. Those regulations were published March 2, 2004 (69 FR 9744) and 
are found at 7 CFR part 783. Also, the restrictions of the statute 
apply. Those include a requirement of replanting, a limitation on 
payments by ``person,'' a limitation on acres for which relief can be 
claimed, a requirement that the loss be tied to a natural disaster, and 
others. If, after the claims filed during the allowed period set out in 
this notice are received and the available funds are less than the 
eligible claims, a proration will be made. Claims are limited to the 
lesser of the established practice rates or 75 percent of the actual 
costs for eligible replantings after adjusting for normal mortality. In 
addition, the reimbursement for those plantings cannot exceed the 
reasonable cost of those replantings as determined by FSA. There are 
other statutory restrictions. Under current law, no ``person'' as 
defined by reference to program regulations can receive, cumulatively, 
for all TAP claims for all commodities over the life of the program as 
administered pursuant to the general authority of the 2002 Act, a total 
of $75,000. Also, and cumulatively, no person, for all TAP claims for 
all commodities over the life of the administration of the program, 
can, under current law, receive benefits for losses on more than 500 
acres. All other restrictions of the TAP regulations and statute apply 
as well. Other requirements may also apply.

Applications

    Applications may be accepted at any time before the ending date set 
by the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, FSA. That date, unless 
modified by the Deputy Administrator, shall be May 14, 2004. Only 
producers with losses in federally-declared disaster counties may file 
an application. The counties are Cayuga, Chenango, Livingston, Madison, 
Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, 
Schenectady, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates.
    Application forms are available for TAP at FSA county offices or on 
the Internet at www.fsa.usda.gov. A complete application for TAP 
benefits and related supporting documentation must be submitted to the 
county office before the deadline.
    A complete application will include all of the following:
    (1) A form provided by FSA;
    (2) A written estimate of the number of fruit trees lost or damaged 
which is prepared by the owner or someone who is a qualified expert, as 
determined by the FSA 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; and
    (5) Other information as requested or required by regulation.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on March 25, 2004.
James R. Little,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 04-8648 Filed 4-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P