Disaster Assistance

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FARM SERVICE AGENCY FACT SHEET

October 2017

Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process 

OVERVIEW

Agriculture-related disasters and disaster designations 

are quite common. Many counties in the United 

States have been designated as disaster areas in 

the past several years, even in years of record crop 

production.

The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to 

designate counties as disaster areas to make 

emergency (EM) loans available to producers 

suffering losses in those counties and in counties that 

are contiguous to a designated county. In addition 

to EM loan eligibility, other emergency assistance 

programs, such as Farm Service Agency (FSA) 

disaster assistance programs, have historically used 

disaster designations as an eligibility trigger.

TYPES OF DISASTER DESIGNATIONS

FSA administers four types of disaster designations:

• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Secretarial disaster designation;

• Presidential major disaster and Presidential 

emergency declaration;

• FSA Administrator’s Physical Loss Notification 

(APLN); and

• Quarantine designation by the Secretary under 

the Plant Protection Act or animal quarantine 

laws.

USDA Secretarial disaster designations must be 

requested of the Secretary of Agriculture by a 

governor or the governor’s authorized representative, 

by an Indian Tribal Council leader or by an FSA 

State Executive Director (SED). The Secretarial 

disaster designation is the most widely used and 

its process is the most complicated of the four. An 

expedited process for drought was introduced in 

2012. The general process and the expedited process 

are described in further detail under “Secretarial 

Disaster Designation Process.”

Presidential major disaster declarations, which 

must be requested of the President by a governor, 

are administered through the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA). A Presidential major 

disaster declaration can be made within days or hours 

of the initial request. FEMA immediately notifies 

FSA of the primary counties named in a Presidential 

declaration.

An FSA APLN is for physical losses only, such as a 

building destroyed by a tornado. Livestock-related 

losses are considered physical losses. An APLN is 

requested of FSA’s Administrator by an FSA SED.

A quarantine designation is requested of the Secretary 

of Agriculture by an FSA SED. A quarantine 

designation authorizes EM loans for production and 

physical losses resulting from quarantine.

WHAT DOES A DISASTER DESIGNATION 

SPECIFY?

A disaster designation specifies:

• The disaster that resulted in the designation;

• The incident period (dates) of that disaster; and

• The specific counties included in the designation.

SECRETARIAL DISASTER DESIGNATION 

PROCESS

In 2012, USDA streamlined the Secretarial disaster 

declaration process to reduce paperwork and 

documentation requirements at the local FSA level, 

making the process more efficient and timely for 

agricultural producers. The program improvements 

included Fast Track Secretarial disaster designations 

for severe drought, which provide for a nearly 

automatic designation when, during the growing 

season, any portion of a county meets the D2 

(Severe Drought) drought intensity value for eight 

consecutive weeks or a higher drought intensity value 

for any length of time as reported in the U.S. Drought 

Monitor (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/).

For all other natural disaster occurrences, including 

drought conditions that do not trigger a Fast Track 

designation, the county must have a 30 percent

production loss of at least one crop or a determination 

must be made by surveying producers that other 

lending institutions will not be able to provide
FACT SHEET

Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process October 2017

emergency financing. The process for those 

Secretarial disaster designations is described below.

PROCESS

STEP 1

The governor, Indian Tribal Council leader or FSA 

SED makes a request in writing to the Secretary of 

Agriculture within three months of the ending date of 

the disaster.

STEP 2

FSA county offices assemble required agricultural 

loss information for the Loss Assessment Report.

STEP 3

The County Emergency Board reviews the Loss 

Assessment Report and makes a recommendation to 

approve, defer or reject the request.

STEP 4

The State Emergency Board reviews the request and 

the County Emergency Board’s recommendation. 

The State Emergency Board’s recommendation is 

submitted to FSA’s national headquarters.

STEP 5

FSA national headquarters reviews the loss 

information on the Loss Assessment Report, 

determines eligibility and prepares a package, 

including the letter of approval or disapproval, to be 

signed by the Secretary.

ELIGIBLE NATURAL DISASTERS

Eligible natural disasters are disasters in which 

damaging weather conditions or other adverse natural 

occurrence phenomena have substantially affected 

farmers causing severe production losses. Eligible 

natural disaster conditions include, but are not limited 

to, drought, flooding, excessive rain and humidity, 

severe storms, lightning, hail, mudslides and 

landslides, snow, ice, blizzards, frost, freeze, belownormal temperatures, wind, tornadoes, hurricanes, 

typhoons, tropical storms, fire, excessive heat, 

volcanoes, pests and disease.

FSA PROGRAMS INITIATED BY 

DESIGNATIONS AND/OR DECLARATIONS

All four types of designation (Secretarial disaster 

designations, Presidential disaster declarations, 

APLNs and quarantine designations) immediately 

trigger the availability of low-interest FSA EM loans 

to eligible producers in all primary and contiguous 

counties. More information about EM loans is 

available at www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-andservices/farm-loan-programs/emergency-farmloans/index.

FSA borrowers located in designated disaster areas 

or contiguous counties, who are unable to make their 

scheduled payments on any debt, may be authorized 

to have certain set asides. Under Section 331A of 

the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 

FSA is authorized to consider setting aside certain 

payments owed by FSA borrowers to allow the 

operation to continue.

Additional disaster assistance requiring a designation 

may also be provided by new programs in the future.

REGULATION GOVERNING DISASTER 

DESIGNATION PROCESS

The regulation governing disaster designations is at 

7 CFR Part 759. The rule was published in the 

Federal Register on July 13, 2012, at 

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-13/html/2012-

17137.htm.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

This fact sheet is for informational purposes only; 

other restrictions may apply. For more information

about FSA disaster programs, visit 

http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov or contact your local 

FSA office. To find your local FSA office, visit 

http://offices.usda.gov. ___________________________________________________________________________

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, 

and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental 

status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or 

retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by 

USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary 

by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program 

information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should 

contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 

TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, 

program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination 

Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_

cust.html and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the 

letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, 

call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil

 Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or

3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

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