RIN 0560-AI72 - Emergency Livestock Relief Programs (ELRP Stage 2)

OMB Control Number: 0503-0028.

Exp. Date: October 2027.

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Solution for Funding Opportunity Announcement”

TITLE: Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (FW).

USDA Agency: Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Alignment with Information Collection Package: (Check one)

[ ] One-Time Pilot Program.

[X] One-Time Funding Announcement of New Program.

Purpose: (Briefly describe the program. Explain the information to be collected to clearly describe to OMB the requirements and burden on the respondents. For example, if the table below shows 150 burden hours for project summary, provide additional detail elaborating on what the respondents are required to provide to meet that requirement.)

FSA is providing producers with ELRP 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (FW) payments. ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW will use approximately $1 billion in funds authorized by Section 2102 of Division B of Title I of the American Relief Act, 2025 (“the Act”; Pub. L. 118-158) to eligible livestock producers who incurred losses as a result of increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire occurring in calendar years 2023 and 2024. Wildfire assistance is limited to qualifying wildfires occurring on non-federally managed land. ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW will compensate eligible producers the equivalent of 60 percent of 1 month of the calculated monthly feed costs per 1 animal unit for the producer’s livestock inventories for a qualifying wildfire and 3 months of the calculated monthly feed costs per 1 animal unit for a qualifying flood.

FSA is providing that assistance through a final rule announcing ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW.

7 CFR Part 760, RIN 0560-AI72 - Emergency Livestock Relief Programs

FSA will calculate payments based on the kind, type, and weight class, if applicable, for the livestock at the time of the qualifying disaster event using the same monthly feed cost calculation used for LFP. Producers will submit one FSA-970 for each program year, 2023, 2024, or both for which they had an eligible loss. An eligible livestock producer will be required to submit the following by the application period deadline:

• FSA-970, Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2023 and 2024 FW application. (1 for each program year, as applicable)

• Supporting documentation of livestock inventories reports on FSA-970

• Supporting documentation of the qualifying disaster events reported on FSA-970, for a flood or wildfire in a county not approved by deputy administrator

• Contract grower agreement, if applicable

Producers must also submit the following forms that are necessary to obtain producer information and determine eligibility, if not already on file with FSAs by program deadline:

• AD-1026, Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation Certification (exempt from PRA 16 U.S.C. 3846), for producers and affiliates as required by 7 CFR part 12;

• CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities, if applicable;

• CCC-902E, Farm Operating Plan for an Entity, if applicable;

• CCC-902I, Farm Operating Plan for an Individual, if applicable;

• FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs, accompanied by a certification from a certified public accountant or attorney as to that person or legal entity's certification, for participants and members of legal entities to be eligible for the increased payment limitation of $250,000.

Most producers will already have CCC-901, CCC-902, and AD-1026 on file with FSA due to participation in other FSA programs. Some producers will also have previously filed FSA-510 through participation in the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2023 and 2024.

Eligible producers may receive payment for 1 or both years, and they may receive payments for multiple qualifying disaster events, if applicable, not to exceed 3 months of assistance per producer, per physical location county of the qualifying disaster event, per program year.

To streamline program delivery and reduce the burden on applicants, FSA has confirmed that qualifying floods and wildfires have occurred in many of the affected counties based disaster designations (including Secretarial disaster designations, Presidential declarations, and FSA Administrator’s physical loss notifications), weather data, and reported economic impacts. For losses in these counties, which have been approved by the Deputy Administrator, livestock producers are not required to submit supporting documentation of the qualifying disaster event. A list of counties approved by the Deputy Administrator is available in FSA county offices and at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs/emergency-livestock-relief-program-elrp.

For losses in counties that have not been approved by the Deputy Administrator, livestock producers must provide supporting documentation to substantiate that a qualifying flood or wildfire occurred in the county where their livestock were physically located, and eligibility is subject to the county committee’s determination that the disaster event meets the specific criteria established for a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire eligibility

FSA will not issue payments at the onset of the application period due to the need to evaluate program demand and determine whether a factor is needed to ensure that payments do not exceed available funding.

Announcement Dates: FSA intends to begin issuing ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW payments after the Federal Register publication date (target publication September 9, 2025) and after initial program demand has been evaluated. Payments are expected to be factored as estimated program demand is anticipated to exceed funding available. The specific dates will be dependent on the publication date of the final rule.

Type of Collection: (Check one)

[ ] Grant.

[ ] Cooperative agreement.

[X] Other: Final rule.

How will information collected be submitted to the agency?
[ ] Grants.gov

[X] Other: Producers will submit FSA-970 and other required forms and documentation to their FSA county office in person or by mail, email, facsimile, or other methods announced by FSA

Does the agency need to collect information, such as progress reports, beyond the expiration of this generic ICR (October 2027)? If so, will the agency be submitting a regular ICR package?

[X ] Yes. [] No.

The application period will end prior to the expiration of this generic ICR; however, FSA will need to continue conducting compliance activities after the expiration date. FSA will submit a regular ICR package to cover those compliance activities that continue beyond October 2027.

Announcement:

[ ] Notice of Funding of Opportunity (NOFO)

[ ] Grants.gov Announcement

[ ] Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

[ ] Request for Application (RFA)

[ ] Notice of Funding of Announcement (NOFA) (Announced in the Federal Register)

[ ] Notice of Solicitation of Application (NOSA)

[ ] Notice of Awards

[X] Other Funding Announcement Types: __Final rule_________________________

Is the agency asking any questions of a sensitive nature? If yes, provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. Include the reasons justifying why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

[ ] Yes. [X] No.

If yes, additional info:

Certification:

I certify this grant or cooperative agreement to be true:

[X] Yes. [ ] No.

Burden Hours, Formats, and Reporting

Brief description of information being collected (project summary, NOA, etc.)	Forms number	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per respondent	Total Annual Responses	Time per Response (hours)	Burden hours per responses
Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (FW) Application	FSA-970	396,195	1	396,195	.250	99,049
Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs	FSA-510	7,817	1	7,817	0.0835	653
Member Information for an Entity	CCC-901	45,423	1	45,423	0.500	22,712
Farming Operating Plan for an Individual or Entity	CCC-902	90,845	1	90,845	0.500	45,423
Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification	AD-1026	90,845	1	90,845	0.0835	0
Supporting Documentation Livestock Inventories		396,195	1	396,195	0.167	66,165
Contract Growers Agreement		7,817	1	7,817	0.0835	653
Supporting Documentation Substantiate Qualifying Disaster Event		36,000	1	36,000	0.167	6,012
TOTAL		396,195		1,071,137		240,665

There are 396,195 respondents anticipated for this data collection. The Respondents Column is not a sum, it’s the same respondents participating in different activities for this data collection; therefore, those respondents are not double counted.

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