PART 759—DISASTER DESIGNATIONS AND NOTIFICATIONS Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 7 U.S.C. 1961 and 1989. Source: 77 FR 41254, July 13, 2012, unless otherwise noted. § 759.1 Administration. (a) This part will be administered under the general supervision and direction of the Administrator, Farm Service Agency (FSA). (b) FSA representatives do not have authority to modify or waive any of the provisions of the regulations of this part as amended or supplemented. (c) The Administrator will take any action required by the regulations of this part that the Administrator determines has not already been taken. The Administrator will also: (1) Correct or require correction of any action taken that is not in accordance with the regulations of this part; or (2) Require withholding taking any action that is not in accordance with this part. (d) No provision or delegation in these regulations will preclude the Administrator or a designee or other such person, from determining any question arising under this part, or from reversing or modifying any determination made under this part. (e) Absent a delegation to the contrary, this part will be administered by the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs of FSA on behalf of the Administrator of FSA or the Secretary, but nothing in this part will inhibit the ability of the Administrator of FSA or the person holding the equivalent position in the event of a reorganization to delegate the functions of DAFP under these regulations to another person. Likewise, nothing shall inhibit the ability of the Secretary to reassign any duties with respect to the designations of disasters under this part. § 759.2 Purpose. (a) This part specifies the types of incidents that can result in an area being determined a disaster area, which under other regulations makes qualified farmers in such areas eligible for Emergency loans (EM) or eligible for such other assistance that may be available, based on Secretarial disaster designations. Nothing in this part overrides provision of those regulations that govern the actual administration and availability of the disaster assistance regulations. (b) This part specifies the responsibility of the County Emergency Board (CEB), State Emergency Board (SEB), and the State Executive Director (SED) in regard to Secretarial Designations with regards to disasters. It also addresses matters relating to the handling of a Presidential declaration of disaster or the imposition of a USDA quarantine by the Secretary with respect to triggering the availability of EM loans. § 759.3 Abbreviations and definitions. (a) Abbreviations. CEB CED DAFP EM FSA LAR SEB SED USDA (b) Definitions. Administrator Contiguous county County CEB CED Disaster area LAR Natural disaster Primary county Presidential declaration Production losses (severe) SEB SED Severe physical losses Substantially affected U.S. Drought Monitor United States § 759.5 Secretarial disaster area determination and notification process. (a) U.S. Drought Monitor. (1) If any portion of a county is physically located in an area with a Drought Monitor Intensity Classification value of D3 (drought-extreme) or higher during any part of the growing season of the crops affected by the disaster in the county, then the county will be designated a disaster area by the Secretary. (2) If any portion of a county meets the threshold Drought Monitor Intensity Classification value of D2 (drought-severe) for at least 8 consecutive weeks during the growing season of affected crops, then the county will be designated a disaster area by the Secretary. (b) CEB and SEB recommendations. (1) A LAR is required as part of a CEB disaster designation request. CEB will submit a disaster designation request with a LAR to SEB for review and recommendation for approval by the Secretary. CEB's written request and SEB recommendation must be submitted within three months of the last day of the occurrence of a natural disaster. (2) If SEB determines a qualifying natural disaster and loss have occurred, SEB will forward the recommendation to the Administrator. The natural disaster may include drought conditions that were not sufficiently severe to meet the criteria in paragraph (a) of this section. Since the U.S. Drought Monitor tracks only drought conditions, not specifically agricultural losses resulting from those conditions, it is possible for a drought that does not meet the criteria in paragraph (a) of this section to result in production losses that constitute a natural disaster. (3) The Secretary or the Secretary's designee will make disaster area determinations. The Secretary may delegate the authority to the SED. In such case, the SED will act on behalf of the Secretary, subject to review by DAFP as may be appropriate and consistent with the delegation. The delegation of authority to the SED may be revoked by the authority making that delegation or by other authorized person. In all cases, DAFP may reverse any SED determination made in accordance with this section unless the delegation to the SED specifies that such review is not allowed. (c) Eligible production losses. (d) Discretionary exception to production losses for designating a county as a disaster county. § 759.6 EM to be made available. (a) For purposes of the EM Program under part 764, subpart I, of this chapter, a county will be considered an eligible disaster area as designated by FSA for coverage of the EM Program as follows: (1) Secretarial designations. (2) Physical loss notification. (3) USDA quarantine. (4) Presidential declaration. (i) The Presidential declaration is not solely for Category A or Category B Public Assistance or Hazard Mitigation Grant Assistance, and (ii) The Presidential Major Disaster declaration is for losses due to severe, general disaster conditions including but not limited to conditions such as flood, hurricane, or earthquake. (b) [Reserved]