Amador County – The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency announced recently that it is accepting comments on a proposed rule change to streamline the process for its Secretarial Disaster Designation, allowing farmers and ranchers affected by natural disaster to obtain assistance faster.

FSA’s Isabel Benemelis released details of the plan Nov. 10, saying “improvements outlined in the proposed rule aim to cut the time to make a disaster designation by as much as 70 percent.”

She said “designating disaster counties is a key step to authorizing disaster assistance for some of the programs administered by USDA. Disaster assistance provides support to American producers as part of the farm safety net,” which USDA believes “is important to the vitality of American agriculture.”

FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson said “America’s farmers and rural communities are vitally important” to the economy, “producing the food, feed, fiber and fuel that continues to help us grow.” He said “it’s crucial that we help farmers remain productive through difficult times. When disaster strikes, this proposal will help us provide assistance more quickly, streamlining processes from six steps to two.”

Benemelis said a “natural disaster designation makes all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for a variety of assistance from USDA, including low interest emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program.” Amador County has been designated for 2010 as a county contiguous with disaster counties, making certain farm losses in 2010 eligible for the programs. “The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to designate disaster counties to make disaster assistance programs available to farmers and ranchers, she said.

Streamlining the process “will enable USDA to help those in need in an expedited manner, allowing farmers and ranchers” affected by “natural disaster to obtain emergency loans faster than before.” USDA believes the proposed rule can help to ensure all eligible disaster counties receive a designation.

The rule change would expedite and simplify the disaster designation process for severe drought occurrences by using the U.S. Drought Monitor as a tool to automatically trigger disaster areas with no further documentation.

It would also remove the requirement that a request for a disaster designation be initiated by a state governor or Indian tribal council. But the rule would still allow a governor or tribal council to request a Secretarial Disaster Designation.

The proposed rule is contained in the Nov. 14 Federal Register and has a 60-day comment period. Comments can be submitted no later than Jan. 13, 2012.

For more information on programs, contact the FSA Elk Grove regional office, at (916) 714-1104.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.