USDA to provide disaster aid to Superstorm Sandy victims
April 23, 2013 | 10:18 AM
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Monday that USDA will provide disaster assistance valued at $209 million to help farmers, land owners and communities recover from the effects of Superstorm Sandy in 12 states.
The aid will flow through the Emergency Conservation Program, Emergency Forest Restoration Program and Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Qualifications for funds are based on the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, while funding is provided under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.
“Landowners, individuals and communities along our eastern seaboard have endured incredible hardships because of the intensity and havoc wrecked on their livelihoods by this historic storm,” Vilsack said in a news release.
“President Obama and USDA are committed to helping America’s producers, private forest owners and other communities recover, repair and rebuild. This funding will help to rebuild communities, while states can use the funds to carry out emergency recovery measures. At the same time, this assistance keeps farmers on the farm, ranchers on the ranch, and landowners on their land, helping to keep American agriculture profitable.”
Through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP), USDA will offer up to $171 million to help conserve natural resources by relieving imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters.
Recovery assistance for Superstorm Sandy could include: debris-clogged stream channels; undermined and unstable stream banks; jeopardized water control structures and public infrastructures; wind-borne debris removal; and damaged upland sites stripped of protective vegetation.
Both public and private landowners are eligible for assistance, but they must be represented by a project sponsor.
NRCS can pay up to 75 percent of the construction cost of emergency measures or up to 90 percent in limited-resource areas, USDA said. The remaining cost-share must come from local sources and can be in the form of cash or in-kind services.
The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) program will contribute $15 million to producers to help remove debris from farmland, restore livestock fences and conservation structures, and grade and shape farmland damaged by the natural disaster.
The Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) will provide $23 million in payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest land in order to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by the natural disaster.
ECP and EFRP participants may receive cost-share assistance of up to 75 percent of the cost to implement approved emergency practices. Qualified limited-resource producers may receive cost-share assistance of up to 90 percent of the cost to implement approved ECP practices.
This particular funding for ECP and EFRP is limited to counties named in Presidential Disaster Declarations due to Superstorm Sandy. Producers and forest owners in eligible counties of the following states are eligible for assistance:
The aid will flow through the Emergency Conservation Program, Emergency Forest Restoration Program and Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Qualifications for funds are based on the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, while funding is provided under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.
“Landowners, individuals and communities along our eastern seaboard have endured incredible hardships because of the intensity and havoc wrecked on their livelihoods by this historic storm,” Vilsack said in a news release.
“President Obama and USDA are committed to helping America’s producers, private forest owners and other communities recover, repair and rebuild. This funding will help to rebuild communities, while states can use the funds to carry out emergency recovery measures. At the same time, this assistance keeps farmers on the farm, ranchers on the ranch, and landowners on their land, helping to keep American agriculture profitable.”
Through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP), USDA will offer up to $171 million to help conserve natural resources by relieving imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters.
Recovery assistance for Superstorm Sandy could include: debris-clogged stream channels; undermined and unstable stream banks; jeopardized water control structures and public infrastructures; wind-borne debris removal; and damaged upland sites stripped of protective vegetation.
Both public and private landowners are eligible for assistance, but they must be represented by a project sponsor.
NRCS can pay up to 75 percent of the construction cost of emergency measures or up to 90 percent in limited-resource areas, USDA said. The remaining cost-share must come from local sources and can be in the form of cash or in-kind services.
The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) program will contribute $15 million to producers to help remove debris from farmland, restore livestock fences and conservation structures, and grade and shape farmland damaged by the natural disaster.
The Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) will provide $23 million in payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest land in order to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by the natural disaster.
ECP and EFRP participants may receive cost-share assistance of up to 75 percent of the cost to implement approved emergency practices. Qualified limited-resource producers may receive cost-share assistance of up to 90 percent of the cost to implement approved ECP practices.
This particular funding for ECP and EFRP is limited to counties named in Presidential Disaster Declarations due to Superstorm Sandy. Producers and forest owners in eligible counties of the following states are eligible for assistance:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
- West Virginia
