Disaster Assistance: USDA and SBA Could Do More to Help Aquaculture and Nursery Producers
Published: 2012-09-11T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Farmers and other agricultural producers are exposed to natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. In the aftermath of such events, FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs can provide an important safety net for these producers. However, after past natural disasters, industry groups and others have raised concerns that some small agricultural producersparticularly aquaculture (such as farmed fish and shellfish) and nursery (such as trees and plants) producersreported being ineligible to obtain this assistance.
GAO was asked to (1) examine FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs and the coverage they provide to small producers; (2) identify the main factors, if any, that may limit small aquaculture and nursery producers participation in these disaster assistance programs; and (3) examine FSA and SBA efforts to collaborate in providing such assistance to these producers. GAO reviewed the 10 FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs that become available following a natural disaster and that provide direct financial assistance or loans to these producers, interviewed agency officials and industry representatives, and reviewed agency documents and regulations.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have 10 disaster assistance programs that small agricultural producers and businesses that support agriculture can use to recover from natural disasters. These programs serve largely different populations but leave few gaps in the disaster assistance available to most small agricultural producers. Aquaculture and nursery producers could be eligible for six of these programs, but their participation is limited by awareness and eligibility issues.
GAO identified three factors that may limit small aquaculture and nursery producers' participation in the 6 disaster assistance programs for which they could be eligible. In particular, the producers are often not aware of the programs, have other options for assistance, or do not qualify because they do not meet certain program requirements. Both FSA and SBA conduct outreach related to their disaster assistance programs, but neither agency has specifically targeted its efforts toward small aquaculture and nursery producers. As a result, eligible producers are missing opportunities to obtain assistance that could help them maintain a viable business after experiencing a natural disaster.
FSA and SBA engaged in some informal efforts to collaborate in providing disaster assistance to small aquaculture and nursery producers. However, the efforts were limited because FSA field staff know little about SBA's disaster assistance programs, and SBA staff know little about the factors that affect whether an agricultural loan will be repaid. GAO has reported that agencies with complementary programs can enhance the value of these programs through interagency collaboration. Without more formal collaboration, small producers may not be consistently referred by one agency to the other, leading to fewer opportunities for these small producers to get assistance for which they otherwise might qualify.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO recommends that USDA and SBA target outreach to small aquaculture and nursery producers, for example, by building on existing outreach, and develop a strategy to formally collaborate on disaster assistance for such producers. USDA and SBA generally concurred with GAO's recommendations.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Farmers and other agricultural producers are exposed to natural  disasters, such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Small  agricultural producers, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)  describes as a diverse group that produces a range of food and fiber and  that can include family farms, commodity producers, aquaculture (such as  farmed fish and shellfish) producers, nursery producers (such as trees  and plants), and other farmers and ranchers. These producers are  particularly vulnerable to disasters because they tend to have less control  over their economic security than larger producers, and natural disasters  can exacerbate this economic insecurity. In the aftermath of such natural  disasters, federal disaster assistance programs can provide an important  safety net for these producers. However, after past natural disasters,  some small agricultural producers, particularly aquaculture and nursery  producers, reported challenges in obtaining this assistance. For example,  following the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005 and 2006 and other natural  disasters, some crawfish, oyster, and catfish producers whose operations  were severely damaged reported that they did not have the safety net that  they expected.
Both USDA, through its Farm Service Agency (FSA), and the Small  Business Administration (SBA) are major sources of disaster assistance,  but there is little overlap in the populations served by the FSA and SBA  programs. Specifically, FSA provides financial assistance in the form of  cash payments and reimbursements, as well as loans to help agricultural  producers recover from damages sustained in natural disasters. It  provides this assistance for producers who have sustained crop and  livestock losses resulting from natural disasters through five supplemental  disaster assistance programs authorized under Title XV of the 2008 farm  bill, as well as three other programs.incurred as a result of a disaster that occurred on or before September  30, 2011, but payments are currently being made for disaster losses  incurred from January 1, 2008, through September 30, 2011. A new farm  bill was being debated as of August 2012, and the final bill may  reauthorize some of these programs and may include retroactive  assistance for damages resulting from natural disasters occurring after  September 30, 2011. In addition, while SBA disaster loans primarily serve  nonagricultural entities, SBA also has authority to and does provide loans  to help some small agricultural producers and businesses that support  agriculture recover from disasters. However, after past natural disasters,  some stakeholders, including certain industry groups and others, raised  concerns that some small agricultural producers, including aquaculture  and nursery producers, have been found ineligible for both agencies’  disaster assistance programs. In addition, it is not clear whether FSA and  SBA are collaborating effectively to ensure that these producers are  served.
These programs only cover losses  In this context, you asked us to examine the disaster assistance  programs available to small agricultural producers. In this report, our  objectives were to (1) examine FSA and SBA disaster assistance  programs and the coverage they provide small producers; (2) identify the  main factors, if any, that may limit small aquaculture and nursery  producers’ participation in disaster assistance programs from FSA and  SBA; and (3) examine FSA and SBA efforts to collaborate in providing  disaster assistance to small aquaculture and nursery producers.
To address these objectives, we reviewed the 10 FSA and SBA disaster  assistance programs we identified for agricultural producers and  businesses that support agriculture that become available following a  natural disaster and that provide direct financial assistance in cash  payments, reimbursements, or loans to agricultural producers and  businesses that support agriculture that have experienced natural  disasters. We use the term “agricultural producers” to refer to family  farms, commodity producers, aquaculture producers, nursery producers,  and other farmers and ranchers. Businesses that support agriculture  refers to businesses that provide support activities for agriculture that do  not lead to agricultural production. Examples of support activities include  such duties as cotton ginning, soil preparation, planting, and breeding  services for animals. Our primary focus was on small agricultural  producers as described by USDA. We included family farms and other  farmers and ranchers whose size makes them particularly vulnerable to  natural disasters and in turn to economic insecurity. We used available  FSA- or SBA-established agricultural producer size criteria for program  eligibility in our review. To determine the types of small agricultural  producers the 10 FSA and SBA programs cover, we reviewed agency  documents, authorizing statutes, and implementing regulations to obtain  information about each program, including eligibility requirements, and  interviewed FSA and SBA officials. When analyzing whether any gaps in  coverage exist, we analyzed major categories of agricultural producers  involved in the production of food and fiber, including commodities such  as wheat, feed grains, cotton, rice, oilseeds, and peanuts; specialty crops  such as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops including  floriculture; livestock; and aquaculture. We believe that this analysis of  major categories allowed us to reasonably identify where any gaps in  coverage may be present. However, we recognize that we may not have  detected additional gaps in coverage that may exist. We focused our  second objective on the factors limiting small aquaculture and nursery  producers’ participation in these disaster assistance programs because  aquaculture and nursery producers are covered by at least one of the  disaster assistance programs offered by both FSA and SBA. Other  agricultural producers are not covered by the SBA programs. To identify  any factors limiting small nursery and aquaculture producers’ participation  in these disaster assistance programs, we reviewed the eligibility criteria  for the programs that pertain to them and interviewed FSA and SBA  officials. We assessed the agencies’ outreach policies and practices  against our prior reports on reaching a program’s intended recipients.
We also interviewed state-level FSA officials and industry representatives  in seven selected states about the main factors that may limit participation  in disaster assistance programs from FSA and SBA. We selected these  states because the nursery and aquaculture industries have a significant  presence in them. In selecting them, we also considered the geographic  distribution of the states to ensure that a variety of places experiencing  different types of natural disasters was included. Because we selected a  nonprobability sample of states, the information we collected from them  cannot be generalized to all states; however, the information provides  useful examples of the factors that may limit participation in disaster  assistance programs from FSA and SBA in those states. The states we  selected were California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North  Carolina, and Washington. To determine how FSA and SBA collaborate  to provide disaster assistance to small nursery and aquaculture  producers, we reviewed FSA and SBA documents and interviewed  national- and state-level agency officials to obtain information about the  agencies’ policies and practices for collaborating on disaster assistance.  We also examined the degree to which the agencies’ collaborative efforts  reflected key practices we previously identified that can help enhance and  sustain collaboration among federal agencies. Appendix I provides more  information on our objectives, scope, and methodology.
We conducted this performance audit from September 2011 to  September 2012 in accordance with generally accepted government  auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the  audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable  basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We  believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, and other  adverse weather events, pose risks to agricultural producers. The federal  government has played an active role in mitigating those risks through a  variety of disaster assistance programs. USDA provides a basic safety  net of permanently authorized and regularly funded programs to help  agricultural producers recover financially from losses resulting from  natural disasters. Congress has historically supplemented these ongoing  programs in an ad hoc manner by providing one-time payments through  disaster assistance programs that compensate producers for disaster- related crop and livestock losses they sustained. The aquaculture and  nursery industries are two growing agricultural industries covered by  federal disaster assistance.
subsections: section_title: Federal Crop Insurance and Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Programs Provide a Basic Safety Net for Agricultural Producers
paragraphs: The Federal Crop Insurance Program and the Noninsured Crop Disaster  Assistance Program (NAP) offer agricultural producers protection against  crop losses if they enroll in the programs prior to experiencing a loss.  Federal crop insurance, administered by USDA’s Risk Management  Agency (RMA), protects participating farmers against financial losses  because of production risks—droughts, floods, and other natural  disasters—as well as other risks. Under the Federal Crop Insurance  Program, farmers can choose various levels and types of insurance  protection: they can insure against losses caused by poor crop yields,  declines in crop prices, or both, for each insurable crop they produce.  These crops include major crops—such as corn, cotton, soybeans, and  wheat, which accounted for three-quarters of the acres enrolled in the  program in 2011—as well as nursery crops and certain fruits and  vegetables. RMA is also conducting pilot aquaculture crop insurance  projects for clams and oysters. For crops for which federal crop insurance  is not available, farmers can obtain coverage through FSA’s NAP, which  provides cash payments to producers when natural disasters are  responsible for low crop yields or loss of value or prevent planting from  occurring. NAP is limited by statute to include crops for which the  catastrophic risk protection level of crop insurance is not available and  that are grown for food and fiber, and other crops such as floriculture,  ornamental nursery, Christmas tree crops, turfgrass sod, and  aquaculture.
Disaster declarations are required to trigger some federal disaster  assistance programs. For agricultural disaster assistance programs,  disaster declarations can be made by the President, the Secretary of  Agriculture, or the SBA Administrator. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster  Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes the President to issue  major disaster or emergency declarations in response to catastrophes in  the United States that overwhelm state and local governments. Such  declarations result in the distribution of a wide range of federal aid to  individuals and families, certain nonprofit organizations, and public  agencies (see app. II). The Federal Emergency Management Agency  (FEMA), in the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for  coordinating federal response and recovery efforts under presidential  disaster declarations. FEMA works with other federal, state, and local  agencies to assist individuals after major disasters, and volunteer  organizations, such as the American Red Cross, also participate in these  efforts.disaster recovery centers where individuals can meet with representatives  from federal agencies, including FSA and SBA; obtain information about  the recovery process; and register for federal disaster assistance.
section_title: Federal Disaster Assistance Programs That Become Available to Agricultural Producers and Businesses That Support Agriculture Following a Natural Disaster
paragraphs: In addition to crop insurance and NAP, which are purchased before a  disaster, FSA provides eight disaster assistance programs that become  available to producers after a natural disaster. Title XV of the Food,  Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 farm bill) established five  disaster assistance programs that provide assistance to agricultural  producers who suffer crop and livestock losses incurred as a result of a  disaster, adverse weather, or other environmental condition that occurred  on or before September 30, 2011. Agricultural producers may apply for  this assistance following a natural disaster. USDA’s FSA administers  these programs and funds them through the Agricultural Disaster Relief  Trust Fund providing approximately $3.6 billion in assistance through the  end of calendar year 2011 to agricultural producers of all sizes.
The five programs are the following:
The Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE)  provides cash assistance for agricultural producers with crop  production losses or crop quality losses.
The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides partial cost  reimbursements to orchard and nursery producers for replanting or  rehabilitating lost or damaged trees, bushes, or vines.
The Livestock Indemnity Program provides cash assistance to  producers for livestock deaths.
The Livestock Forage Disaster Program provides cash assistance to  livestock producers when their livestock are prevented from grazing  due to drought or fire on federally managed land.
The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm- raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides cash assistance to eligible  producers who have losses that are not covered under the other 2008  farm bill programs due to adverse weather and disease, among other  things.
FSA also administers three other disaster assistance programs that  producers can apply for following a disaster. These programs are  generally funded through annual appropriations and are as follows:
The Emergency Forest Restoration Program, which also was created  in the 2008 farm bill, provides payments to eligible owners of  nonindustrial private forestland to carry out emergency measures to  restore land damaged by a natural disaster. This program was  implemented in 2010 to cover disasters starting in January 2010. It  has provided $2 million from fiscal years 2010 through 2011.
The Emergency Conservation Program provides funding and  technical assistance for farmers and ranchers who carry out  emergency measures to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural  disasters and for carrying out emergency water conservation  measures in periods of severe drought. This program provided $345  million from fiscal years 2008 through 2011.
The Emergency Loan Program helps agricultural producers recover  from production and physical losses. Unlike FSA’s other disaster  assistance programs, the Emergency Loan Program is available only  to small agricultural producers, which USDA classifies as family-sized  farms. FSA obligated $32 million for the Emergency Loan Program in  fiscal year 2011.
By law, SBA is prohibited from providing disaster loans to most  agricultural producers. However, SBA has two loan programs that are  relevant to agriculture and provided 103 loans totaling about $15 million in  disaster loans to eligible small aquaculture producers, nursery producers  affected by drought, and businesses that support agriculture that reported  losses to SBA from October 2007 through the end of 2011. The two  programs are the following:
The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program provides working capital  loans for disaster-related needs to meet financial obligations that  could have been met had the disaster not occurred. Small businesses  or private nonprofit organizations are eligible for these loans if they  have suffered substantial economic injury—i.e., the business cannot  meet its obligations or pay necessary operating expenses—as a direct  result of a declared disaster. Aquaculture producers and nursery  producers affected by drought may qualify for these loans.
The Business Physical Disaster Loan Program provides loans for a  business to repair, rehabilitate, or replace damaged property,  including real estate, equipment, inventory, and fixtures. Any  business, other than an agricultural enterprise, or private, nonprofit  organization (large or small) located in a declared disaster area that  has incurred damage during the disaster may apply for these loans,  including businesses that support agriculture.
section_title: Characteristics of Aquaculture and Nursery Industries
paragraphs: The 10 USDA and SBA disaster assistance programs have slightly  different definitions for aquaculture. USDA defines aquaculture as the  production and rearing of aquatic species under controlled or selected  environments. SBA uses a definition from the U.S. Department of  Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which  defines aquaculture as the propagation and rearing of aquatic organisms  in controlled or selected aquatic environments for any commercial,  recreational or public purpose. A 2012 Congressional Research Service  report stated that, until recently and with a few exceptions, U.S.  aquaculture has been considered a minor industry. USDA’s 2005  Census of Aquaculture reported that U.S. sales of aquaculture products  were approximately $1.1 billion. Aquaculture crops include fish for human  consumption, such as catfish, salmon, and trout; crustaceans such as  crawfish; mollusks such as oysters and clams; and ornamental fish and  baitfish. Fish for human consumption and baitfish are normally grown in  freshwater. Crawfish are grown in freshwater, and farm-raised oysters  and clams are grown in coastal areas of the United States.
Nursery producers grow a variety of trees and plants, such as oak trees,  shrubs, and potted plants, with some producers growing hundreds of  varieties. USDA has reported that, since the 1970s, the greenhouse and  nursery industry had been growing more rapidly than all other agricultural  commodities, in terms of cash receipts. Cash receipts for the top five  greenhouse and nursery producing states were nearly $10 billion in 2006.
section_title: Disaster Assistance Programs Leave Few Gaps in Coverage for Small Agricultural Producers
paragraphs: The 10 FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs we identified that  small agricultural producers and businesses that support agriculture can  use to recover from natural disasters provide assistance that can cover  most losses. FSA provides cash assistance to agricultural producers,  including small producers, for crop and livestock losses and damages to  land. FSA also provides disaster loans to these producers to cover  production losses, while SBA provides disaster loans to cover physical  damages and economic injury losses to businesses that support  agriculture and economic injury to a limited aquaculture sector and for  nurseries only when a drought is declared. Together, the FSA and SBA  disaster assistance programs are fragmented, but they leave few gaps in  the assistance available to most small agricultural producers in the wake  of a natural disaster.programs we identified and the types of losses they cover.
section_title: Awareness and Eligibility Issues Limit Small Aquaculture and Nursery Producers’ Participation in Disaster Assistance Programs
paragraphs: Three main factors may limit small aquaculture and nursery producers’  participation in the 6 of the 10 disaster assistance programs for which  they could be eligible. First, many producers did not apply for the  assistance because they were not aware of these programs. Second,  some producers did not apply for it because they sought relief through  other options, such as other federal grants and private loans. Third, some  producers applied but did not qualify because they did not meet certain  program requirements. Table 4 shows the six disaster assistance  programs—four cash assistance and two loan programs—that small  aquaculture and nursery producers could apply for.
Many small aquaculture producers and some small nursery producers did  not apply for disaster assistance because they were not aware of FSA’s  or SBA’s programs, according to aquaculture and nursery industry  representatives and FSA and SBA officials we interviewed. According to  most state-level aquaculture industry representatives and, to a lesser  extent, nursery industry representatives, aquaculture and nursery  producers in their states were generally not aware of FSA’s or SBA’s  disaster assistance programs or that they could be eligible for financial  assistance through these programs. For example, a representative of a  state-level aquaculture association said its members were either not  aware they could be eligible for, or were misinformed about, FSA disaster  assistance programs and did not use SBA programs. Several FSA and  SBA officials told us that both small aquaculture and nursery producers  fall outside of their usual customer bases and may not be aware of their  disaster assistance programs. In general, these producers do not have a  past or current relationship with FSA or SBA. However, in two states  where aquaculture producers also grow other crops and participate in  other FSA programs, FSA officials said these producers were more likely  to become aware of FSA’s disaster assistance programs. For example,  FSA officials in one large aquaculture state told us that some of the  state’s small aquaculture producers are aware of FSA because they grow  other crops covered by FSA’s agriculture support programs. In addition, a  catfish producer we spoke with had worked with FSA on other issues and  was familiar with FSA disaster assistance programs but was not aware of  SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans. In contrast, a representative of a  state nursery industry association said that he had not considered going  to FSA for nursery-related matters, despite having experience working  with FSA on matters affecting other types of agricultural producers. He  also said that nursery producers in his state may not be aware of disaster  assistance programs and do not identify themselves as agricultural  producers, so do not think of FSA as a resource when a disaster occurs.
Participation among small aquaculture and nursery producers was low in  certain FSA disaster assistance programs, according to FSA officials, and  few aquaculture producers applied for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster  Loan Program, according to SBA officials. For example, FSA officials we  interviewed in one state with aquaculture and nursery farms numbering in  the top 10 compared with other states, as of 2009 and 2007, respectively,  reported receiving only 1 aquaculture and 3 nursery applications out of a  total of nearly 2,500 applications for SURE between January 2011 and  June 2012. In addition, they reported receiving only 2 aquaculture and 2  nursery applications out of a total of nearly 2,750 for Emergency  Conservation Program assistance during 2011. FSA national-level loan  officials also said that they received few applications for Emergency  Loans from aquaculture and nursery producers. For example, FSA  officials from a state with large aquaculture and nursery industries  reported that they did not receive any Emergency Loan applications from  aquaculture producers and only 7 applications from nursery producers in  fiscal years 2010 through 2011. Similarly, SBA officials told us, as of July  2012, they had received only 3 Economic Injury Disaster Loan  applications from aquaculture producers since the Small Business Jobs  Act of 2010 extended eligibility to aquaculture producers.
We have reported that reaching a program’s intended recipients is an  important measure of program performance.
Outreach is one approach  to increasing awareness of federal programs among intended recipients.  Both FSA and SBA conduct outreach related to their disaster assistance  programs, but their methods do not help to ensure that small aquaculture  and nursery producers are aware of their potential eligibility for the  programs. Therefore, aquaculture and nursery producers may be missing  opportunities to receive assistance that could help them maintain a viable  business after experiencing a natural disaster. Specifically, FSA’s  outreach activities include notifying local media outlets; minority, civic,  and business organizations; and FSA’s existing customers about FSA’s  disaster assistance programs. In addition, FSA national-level officials told  us that the public may sign up for disaster assistance e-mail updates on  the FSA website. However, FSA national-level officials told us FSA’s  outreach approach does not directly target aquaculture and nursery  industry organizations. In addition, aquaculture and nursery producers are  often not in FSA’s customer database, so they would not receive FSA  newsletters that contain information about disaster assistance. For  example, FSA officials in a state with a large nursery industry said that  they do not conduct outreach to the nursery industry, although they reach  out to other agricultural producers. Therefore, aquaculture and nursery  producers may not see all information FSA releases. In addition, those  who receive disaster assistance information may not realize they could be  eligible for assistance from FSA because some do not identify as a part of  the agriculture industry.
Similarly, SBA provides information to disaster victims; current SBA  customers; media outlets; Small Business Development Centers;  Chambers of Commerce; and federal, state, and local officials about SBA  disaster loans. SBA national-level officials told us they have not contacted  small aquaculture or nursery producers or their industry representatives  directly about SBA disaster loans. While SBA developed postdisaster  procedures that include contacting aquaculture industry associations,  officials told us that, as of July 2012, they had not contacted any  aquaculture industry associations. They told us there has been little  disaster activity affecting aquaculture producers since they became  eligible for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans, but that they would  follow these procedures for future disaster declarations. As a result,  aquaculture and nursery producers may not be aware they could be  eligible for SBA disaster assistance.
FSA and SBA have indicated a willingness to help aquaculture and  nursery producers seek disaster assistance when asked. Several  representatives of state-level aquaculture and two nursery industry  associations said they have requested and received help from FSA field  offices on numerous occasions about disaster assistance eligibility and  payment issues. Of these, most noted they have a good relationship with  the agency. For example, one state’s aquaculture association  representative noticed that his producers were not aware they could be  eligible for, or were misinformed about, FSA disaster assistance. He  requested FSA’s help in educating producers about disaster assistance.  As a result, FSA may participate in the industry’s annual conference to  increase producers’ familiarity with FSA services. Similarly, SBA national- level officials told us they were interested in helping aquaculture  producers obtain access to SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans and  have taken steps to bring these producers to SBA. For example, SBA’s  disaster loan announcements specify that aquaculture producers are  eligible for their Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.
subsections: section_title: Some Producers Do Not Apply for Disaster Assistance Because They Have Other Options
paragraphs: Some small aquaculture and nursery producers may not apply for FSA or  SBA disaster assistance programs for which they could be eligible  because they have other options for assistance, including other federal  grant programs and other federal or private loans, according to FSA  officials and industry representatives. FSA national-level officials told us  that one reason they had received few applications for ELAP from  aquaculture producers to cover disaster-related feed losses was because  many aquaculture producers had received assistance for historically high  feed costs through FSA’s Aquaculture Grant Program, which was active  in 2008 and 2009. Aquaculture producers who receive 2008 or 2009  Aquaculture Grant Program payments are not eligible for aquaculture  feed losses under ELAP for the same species for which the grant benefits  were received because producers cannot receive duplicate payments for  the same loss under multiple programs. FSA officials also noted that  SURE covers physical losses for the majority of aquaculture species,  while ELAP only covers physical losses of game fish and baitfish.  Therefore, FSA received few ELAP applications from aquaculture  producers. In addition, some small nursery producers in particular do not  apply for FSA Emergency Loans or SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans  because they apply for other loans or prefer not to take out a loan,  according to most loan officials and several nursery representatives. For  example, some FSA officials said that some small nursery producers  choose to apply for FSA Operating Loans rather than Emergency Loans.  According to FSA national-level officials, Operating Loans may be more  attractive to these producers because their interest rates are currently  lower than Emergency Loans, and they do not require applicants to  document disaster losses. The Operating Loan interest rate has been  below the Emergency Loan interest rate since November 2008—1.25  percent as of July 2012 and 3.75 percent since January 1994,  respectively. However, as previously noted, USDA announced in July  2012 that the Emergency Loan rate would be reduced to 2.25 percent.  The Operating Loan rate is tied to the government’s cost of borrowing,  and FSA officials told us it is historically low because of the economic  downturn. However, FSA officials noted that Emergency Loans remain an  important option for some producers who have exhausted their Operating  Loan statutory term limits by receiving an Operating Loan in 7 different  years or have reached the statutory loan size limit of $300,000 and need  additional funds. SBA officials said that some aquaculture producers’  disaster losses may be covered sufficiently by insurance or they may  seek out grants rather than loans. In addition, two nursery industry  representatives said that small nursery producers affected by disasters  may take out private loans because they are familiar with their local  banks. Another nursery industry representative said that other small  nursery producers do not take out any loans because they do not want to  take on more debt.
section_title: Some Small Producers Do Not Meet Certain Requirements for Disaster Assistance
paragraphs: Some small aquaculture and nursery producers did not receive disaster  assistance from FSA or SBA primarily because (1) their losses were less  than the required minimums, (2) they did not meet the crop insurance or  NAP coverage requirement, or (3) they did not meet loan eligibility  requirements. First, three programs available to aquaculture and nursery  producers—SURE, TAP, and the Emergency Loan Program—set  minimum loss requirements as a condition of receiving assistance. As a  result, some small aquaculture and nursery producers did not experience  the required levels of losses. Several FSA officials told us this was  primarily because they tend to have more control over their operating  conditions relative to other types of agricultural producers, which tends to  limit damage from a disaster. For example, FSA officials in a state with a  large aquaculture industry told us that catfish ponds tend to experience  little damage from flooding. In addition, FSA officials in another state  denied five of six SURE applications from nursery and aquaculture  producers last year because controlled operating conditions limited  disaster losses. Therefore, these applicants did not meet the SURE  requirement that they experience at least a 10 percent crop loss on at  least one crop of economic significance on their farm if they were located  in a declared disaster county or a county adjacent to a disaster county or,  at least a 50 percent loss of the normal production on their farms from a  natural disaster if they were not located in a declared disaster county or  contiguous county. Similarly, FSA national-level officials told us that small  nursery producers often do not qualify for TAP because their trees or  plants were damaged but not destroyed in a disaster. Only trees that are  destroyed or damaged such that it would be more cost-effective to  replace them are considered in determining whether the loss threshold is  met and, therefore, whether an applicant will receive a payment. As  previously mentioned, to qualify for TAP, a producer must have sustained  a loss in excess of 15 percent of the trees, bushes, or vines in an  individual stand—a contiguous acreage of the same type of plant—after  adjusting for normal mortality or damage.
Furthermore, because aquaculture and nursery producers have more  control over their operating conditions compared with other types of  agricultural producers, FSA expects these producers to follow certain  management practices to decrease their risk of disaster losses. If they fail  to do so, FSA may deny a request for assistance. For example, according  to FSA officials in one state, they did not approve an application for SURE  from a tilapia producer because they determined that the producer could  have prevented the tilapia losses. That is, the tilapia died because the  water in their tank was too hot, and the producer could have controlled  the water temperature. Similarly, FSA disaster assistance programs  typically do not cover nursery losses from drought because irrigation is a  standard practice for nursery producers. FSA officials in a state with a  large nursery industry also told us that nursery producers can control the  location of their potted trees and plants. As such, producers could avoid  losses from a freeze by moving the pots indoors.
Second, several representatives from state-level nursery industry  associations said that small nursery producers often did not receive  disaster assistance because they did not enroll in crop insurance. As  previously mentioned, enrolling in crop insurance or purchasing NAP are  generally prerequisites for several FSA disaster assistance programs.  FSA officials in some states in which we conducted interviews also said  that nursery producers often do not meet this requirement. FSA national- level officials told us that because crop insurance coverage is widely  available to nurseries, there are few instances when nurseries would use  NAP. National-level officials from USDA’s RMA told us that nursery  producers may not enroll in crop insurance because they see little risk of  disaster losses because they operate under controlled conditions. In  addition, RMA officials told us that both aquaculture and nursery  producers continuously plant and harvest their crops, reducing their risk  of losing an entire year’s crops to a single natural disaster. According to  one state’s nursery industry representative, some producers do not  realize that crop insurance is a prerequisite for receiving disaster  assistance under several of the FSA programs. FSA national-level  officials said that because disaster assistance programs only recently  included crop insurance or NAP enrollment as a eligibility requirement,  many producers are just beginning to see the connection between having  crop insurance and obtaining disaster assistance. Small aquaculture  producers’ participation in crop insurance and NAP tended to vary by  state, according to state aquaculture representatives.
Third, some small aquaculture and nursery producers did not meet the  requirements of FSA’s Emergency Loan or SBA’s Economic Injury  Disaster Loan Programs. According to most FSA state-level loan officials,  small aquaculture and nursery producers did not receive assistance from  the Emergency Loan Program primarily because they could not  demonstrate an ability to repay the loan. The program requires that  applicants submit a farm operating plan as part of their loan application to  demonstrate their ability to pay back the loan according to a set schedule.  The farm operating plan includes applicants’ projected cash flow budget  reflecting production, income, expenses, and loan repayment plan. FSA  reviews the farm operating plan along with other application documents. If  FSA officials determine the plan is not feasible, they will deny the loan  request. For example, an FSA loan official in one state with a large  nursery industry told us that the small nursery producer applicants who  were denied Emergency Loans were often in tenuous financial positions  prior to the disaster and, once the disaster hit, did not have the means to  repay a loan.
Federal  barrier resource area. The third application was withdrawn by the  applicant before SBA began processing it.
section_title: FSA and SBA Efforts to Collaborate on Disaster Assistance to Small Aquaculture and Nursery Producers Are Limited
paragraphs: FSA and SBA engaged in some efforts to collaborate in providing disaster  assistance to small aquaculture and nursery producers, but the efforts  were limited to referring producers from one agency to the other without  identifying the assistance that may be available to these producers.  Specifically, FSA officials told us that when they collaborate with SBA, it is  at the local level on a disaster-by-disaster basis or when a disaster event  is concentrated and losses are immediate. These collaborative efforts  generally are limited to presidentially declared disasters, where, both SBA  and FSA officials told us, the agencies have participated in multiagency  disaster recovery centers established by FEMA. According to SBA  officials and as provided by SBA’s website, the agency also has taken  steps on its own to inform agricultural producers (including small  aquaculture and nursery producers) that FSA provides disaster  assistance. SBA posts some information on its website showing that FSA  administers and manages disaster assistance and loan programs through  a network of federal, state, and county offices and that producers eligible  for SBA assistance should also consider getting assistance from FSA.  SBA also mentions FSA and USDA in the disaster notices it publishes  following a Secretary of Agriculture-declared disaster. In addition,  according to SBA officials, SBA advises applicants orally and in writing to  check with FSA for assistance when they have been declined SBA  assistance because their affected businesses were primarily agricultural  and not covered by the statutes that extended eligibility to aquaculture  and nursery producers. However, SBA typically does not provide  producers information about the type of FSA disaster assistance.
We identified one primary reason for FSA’s and SBA’s limited  collaboration. Both FSA national-level officials and state-level Emergency  Loan officials told us that FSA field staff know little about SBA’s disaster  assistance programs, and SBA staff know little about what factors affect  whether an agricultural loan will be repaid. According to FSA national- level officials, the FSA Emergency Loan and SBA disaster loan programs  have little in common, but FSA’s limited knowledge of SBA’s programs  may reduce the abilities of both agencies to meet the needs of small  aquaculture and nursery producers affected by disasters. FSA national- level officials said that their loan officers at the state and county levels  may have some general knowledge of SBA’s disaster assistance  programs, but that those loan officers may not know the programs in  enough detail to inform a producer about them. They also said that FSA  does not expect its county officials to be familiar with SBA’s disaster  assistance programs. Consequently, the national-level FSA officials said  that any knowledge their loan officers might have about SBA’s programs  is likely to occur in local FSA offices that know more about SBA. Similarly,  several state-level FSA loan officials we spoke with said that they were  aware that SBA had disaster assistance programs but were not  necessarily familiar with them. Also, FSA’s national-level office has not  provided any guidance explaining SBA’s programs to its staff. In contrast,  SBA national-level officials told us that they and their customer service  representatives were generally familiar with FSA’s disaster assistance  programs; however, they also told us that they have a limited  understanding of the factors that might lead small aquaculture and  nursery producers to repay their loans, which could make it challenging to  serve them. SBA officials also told us that, historically, SBA has not  focused on providing disaster assistance to aquaculture and nursery  producers because SBA is prohibited by law from providing disaster loans  to other agricultural producers. Consequently, the officials told us, SBA  has not provided disaster assistance to many small aquaculture and  nursery producers. Similarly, the FSA officials said that they and SBA  understand the small aquaculture and nursery industries differently, giving  them little reason to collaboratively provide assistance. However, both  FSA and SBA provide assistance to aquaculture and nursery producers  that is complementary, but they have not established compatible policies,  procedures, and other means to coordinate their programs. In the  absence of such practices, collaboration between FSA and SBA has been  informal.
GAO, National Security: Key Challenges and Solutions to Strengthen Interagency  Collaboration, GAO-10-822T (Washington, D.C.: June 9, 2010). work collaboratively by articulating their roles and responsibilities in  formal documents to facilitate decision making. Such formal documents  can include memoranda of understanding, interagency guidance, or  interagency planning documents, signed by senior officials in the  respective agencies. These documents can clarify which agencies will be  responsible for particular activities and how they will organize their joint  and individual efforts. As we reported in October 2005, agencies that  have complementary programs can enhance the value of these programs  through interagency collaboration.  Among the key practices we  identified were (1) defining and articulating a common federal outcome;  (2) establishing strategies that are mutually reinforcing or joint to help the  agencies align their activities, core processes, and resources to  accomplish their common outcome; (3) agreeing on roles and  responsibilities; (4) establishing compatible policies, procedures, and  other means to operate across agency boundaries; and (5) including  collaboration competencies in designing performance management  systems and set performance expectations for collaboration to reinforce  individual accountability for collaborative efforts. In the absence of such  practices, collaboration between FSA and SBA has been based on limited  information and not guided by any formal collaborative policy, guidance,  or process. FSA and SBA have not adopted formal or written memoranda  of understanding or interagency policies regarding their collaboration on  disaster assistance programs. Both FSA and SBA national-level officials  told us that they have no central guidance in place to facilitate  collaboration with SBA on implementing their assistance programs. The  SBA officials added that they did not see any need for written guidance  because, in their view, the FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs do  not overlap, and thus there are no “gray” areas that would require formal  collaboration.
With limited information and no documented approach or policy to guide  their collaboration, FSA and SBA personnel have not consistently referred  applicants for disaster assistance to the other agency and, in turn, there  has been little opportunity for small aquaculture and nursery producers to  get assistance for which they may qualify. FSA national-level officials told  us that they have discussed SBA disaster assistance with FSA field staff  but have not provided written guidance on when or how its staff should  refer producers, including aquaculture and nursery producers, to SBA.
Further, FSA officials from two states said that, while they had referred  large agricultural producers to SBA for other assistance, they had not  done so for disaster assistance. They also said that because of their  limited understanding of SBA’s disaster assistance programs and little  contact with SBA, they were not clear about the circumstances under  which they should refer producers to SBA. Officials from four FSA state  offices also told us that such referrals are either few and decreasing or  not made in their states. Similarly, SBA national-level officials told us that  while their loan officers may advise applicants to check with FSA for  assistance, they do not routinely refer applicants to FSA. Consequently,  small aquaculture and nursery producers likely have had less of an  opportunity to get the disaster assistance for which they may qualify than  they would have if FSA and SBA consistently referred producers to the  other agency. In addition, several representatives of the aquaculture and  nursery industries told us that they were not sure whether or how FSA  and SBA coordinated their disaster programs, and a representative from  another nursery association was not aware of any nursery producers that  had been referred by either agency to the other. However, a  representative from another nursery association noted that SBA had  referred some producers to FSA, and the representative of another  nursery association recalled that FSA had referred producers to SBA.  Officials with one FSA state office told us that nursery producers who  sought assistance from FSA or SBA could get bounced back and forth  between the agencies while they determined whether the producers were  eligible for assistance. Without more formal collaboration, applicants for  disaster assistance may not be consistently referred by one agency to the  other, leading to fewer opportunities for these small producers to get  assistance for which they otherwise might qualify, and the value of these  disaster assistance programs is diminished for aquaculture and nursery  producers.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: FSA’s and SBA’s 10 disaster assistance programs serve largely different  populations but can provide an important safety net to help small  agricultural producers recover from disasters. However, even though six  FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs are open to small  aquaculture and nursery producers, these producers are missing  opportunities to receive such assistance. Small aquaculture and nursery  producers are not using these programs as much as other agricultural  producers, in part, because of their unique operations, such as the  controlled growing environments that inherently mitigate disaster losses.  Furthermore, they are not fully aware of the opportunities that exist.  Because they do not apply for and receive assistance for which they  could be eligible, small aquaculture and nursery producers’ disaster  losses have the potential to significantly affect their ability to maintain a  viable business. Both FSA and SBA conduct outreach related to their  disaster assistance programs, but their methods do not help to ensure  that small aquaculture and nursery producers are aware of their potential  eligibility for the programs. In addition, FSA and SBA engaged in some  efforts to collaborate in providing disaster assistance to such producers,  but the efforts were limited. Moreover, FSA’s general lack of awareness  about SBA’s disaster assistance programs and SBA’s limited  understanding of the factors that might lead small aquaculture and  nursery producers to repay their loans reduce both agencies’ abilities to  fully serve these producers. Without a more formal collaborative approach  between the agencies such as through a memorandum of understanding  and further education of staff about the other agency’s disaster  assistance programs, applicants for disaster assistance may not be  consistently referred by one agency to the other, leading to fewer  opportunities for these small producers to get assistance for which they  otherwise might qualify.
section_title: Recommendations for Executive Action
paragraphs: To help ensure that small aquaculture and nursery producers are aware  of the disaster assistance programs available to them, we recommend  that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Small  Business Administration direct FSA and SBA officials to take the following  two actions:
Conduct targeted outreach to small aquaculture and nursery  producers, for example, by building on existing agency outreach  programs.
Develop a strategy to better formalize collaboration through means  such as developing a memorandum of understanding on interagency  collaboration and educating staff about the other agency’s disaster  assistance programs.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We provided the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the  Small Business Administration with a draft of this report for review and  comment. The departments did not provide official written comments to  include in our report. However, in e-mails received August 23, 2012, the  USDA and SBA liaisons stated that USDA and SBA generally concurred  with our recommendations. USDA and SBA also provided written  technical comments, which we incorporated into the report as  appropriate.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of  this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the  report date. At that time, we will send copies to the Secretary of  Agriculture, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the  appropriate congressional committees, and other interested parties. In  addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO website at  http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff members have any questions about this report, please  contact Lisa Shames at (202) 512-3841 or shamesl@gao.gov or William  B. Shear at (202) 512-8678 or shearw@gao.gov. Contact points for our  Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on  the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed in  appendix III.
section_title: Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
paragraphs: Our objectives for this engagement were to (1) examine selected U.S.  Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Small  Business Administration (SBA) disaster assistance programs and the  types of small agricultural producers that they cover; (2) identify the main  factors, if any, that may limit small aquaculture and nursery producers’  participation in disaster assistance from FSA and SBA; and (3) examine  FSA and SBA efforts to collaborate in providing disaster assistance to  small aquaculture and nursery producers.
To address these objectives, we reviewed 10 FSA and SBA disaster  assistance programs for agricultural producers and businesses that  support agriculture and interviewed the FSA and SBA officials responsible  for managing and administering each program. We reviewed these 10  programs because they become available to agricultural producers and  businesses that support agriculture following a natural disaster and  provide direct financial assistance in the forms of cash payments and  reimbursements, as well as loans to agricultural producers and  businesses that support agriculture that have experienced losses due to  disasters. We use the term “agricultural producers” to refer to family  farms, commodity producers, aquaculture producers, nursery producers,  and other farmers and ranchers. Businesses that support agriculture  refers to businesses that provide support activities for agriculture that do  not lead to agricultural production. Examples of support activities include  such duties as cotton ginning, soil preparation, planting, and breeding  services for animals. Our primary focus was on small agricultural  producers. While there is no one definition that covers all small  agricultural producers, we included family farms and other farmers and  ranchers whose size makes them particularly vulnerable to disasters  because they tend to have less control over their economic security in  general, and disasters can exacerbate that insecurity. When FSA or SBA  established specific size criteria for program eligibility, we used those  criteria in our review. FSA administers 8 of the 10 programs, including the  5 disaster assistance programs that were authorized by Title XV of the  2008 farm bill, the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, the  Emergency Conservation Program, and the Emergency Loan Program. The programs authorized by Title XV of the 2008 farm bill are the  Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish  Program, the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock  Indemnity Program, the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments  Program, and the Tree Assistance Program. SBA administers the  remaining two disaster assistance programs, including the Economic  Injury Disaster Loan and Physical Disaster Loan Programs. We also  reviewed documents about the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA)  crop insurance program and FSA Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance  Program and interviewed RMA and FSA officials about how these  programs interact with the disaster assistance programs in our study.
To determine the types of small agricultural producers the FSA and SBA  programs cover, we reviewed agency documents, authorizing statutes,  and implementing regulations to obtain information about each program,  including eligibility requirements, and interviewed FSA and SBA officials.  When analyzing whether gaps in coverage exist, we reviewed and  analyzed FSA technical program handbooks and SBA program  summaries and interviewed FSA and SBA officials. We analyzed major  categories of agricultural producers involved in the production of food and  fiber, including commodities, specialty crops, orchard and nursery  products, and livestock, including aquaculture producers. We believe that  this has enabled us to identify gaps in coverage, but we recognize that  there could be additional gaps that we did not detect in this analysis.
We focused our second objective on the factors limiting small aquaculture  and nursery producers’ participation in these disaster assistance  programs because aquaculture and nursery producers are covered by  both FSA and SBA disaster assistance programs. Other agricultural  producers are not covered by the SBA programs. We identified the  factors limiting small nursery and aquaculture producers’ participation in  these disaster assistance programs by reviewing the eligibility criteria for  the programs that pertain to them and by interviewing FSA and SBA  officials about eligibility criteria and outreach policies and practices. We  also interviewed state-level FSA officials and industry representatives in  seven states about the factors that may limit small aquaculture and  nursery producers’ participation in disaster assistance, including program  participation and outreach practices. We assessed the agencies’ outreach  policies and practices against prior GAO reports on reaching a program’s  intended recipients. The industry representatives we selected for  interviews were heads of aquaculture or nursery industry associations or  others who could represent the views of producers in their states. The  states we selected were California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan,  Mississippi, North Carolina, and Washington. We selected these states  because they have a significant nursery industry or aquaculture industry  presence based on the number of nursery and aquaculture farms and  annual sales, as reported by the 2007 USDA Census of Agriculture. We  also considered the geographic distribution of the states to ensure that a  variety of places experiencing different types of natural disasters was  included. We did not conduct a nationwide study on this issue.
To determine how FSA and SBA collaborate to provide disaster  assistance to small nursery and aquaculture producers, we reviewed  authorizing statutes and FSA and SBA documents and interviewed FSA  and SBA officials to obtain information about the agencies’ policies and  practices for collaborating on disaster assistance. We also interviewed  state-level FSA officials in seven states and industry representatives  about their experience with the agencies’ collaboration. We examined the  degree to which the agencies’ collaborative efforts reflected key practices  we previously identified that can help enhance and sustain collaboration  among federal agencies. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management  Agency about its role in coordinating disaster assistance.
In addition, we interviewed officials at the  We conducted this performance audit from September 2011 to  September 2012 in accordance with generally accepted government  auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the  audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable  basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We  believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
GAO-06-15.
section_title: Appendix II: Federal Disaster Assistance Programs
subsections: section_title: Agency and program Department of Agriculture Federal Crop Insurance Program
paragraphs: Federally subsidized insurance program that covers crop and  livestock losses due to natural disasters as well as other risks.
Provides producers in disaster counties declared or contiguous to  disaster counties who have existing direct loans with FSA and are  unable to make loan payments with the opportunity to set aside up to  1 full year’s payment to the end of the loan.
Provides food assistance specifically for disaster survivors following a  presidentially declared disaster.
Provides cash assistance for livestock feed losses and deaths that  are not covered by other FSA disaster assistance programs, farm- raised fish, and honeybee deaths and feed losses.
Provides partial reimbursement for agricultural producers to  rehabilitate farmland that has been severely damaged.
Provides partial reimbursement for owners of nonindustrial private  forestland (including farmers and ranchers) in order to carry out  emergency measures to restore damaged land.
Provides loans up to $500,000 to help small agricultural producers  recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding,  other natural disasters, or quarantine.
Allows livestock producers enrolled in the program to hay or graze  Conservation Reserve Program acreage during an emergency in  counties that have suffered a 40 percent or greater loss in normal  hay and pasture production due to drought or excessive moisture.
Provides cash assistance for livestock grazing losses caused by  qualifying drought conditions or a fire on federal land used for  grazing.
Provides cash assistance for livestock deaths in excess of normal  mortality due to adverse weather.
Provides coverage for crops for which crop insurance is not available.  Results in cash payments to preenrolled producers when low yields,  loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural  disasters.
Provides cash assistance for agricultural producers with qualifying  crop production losses or crop quality losses.
Provides partial reimbursement for qualifying orchardists and nursery  producers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines.
Provides disaster behavioral health technical assistance grant  support to eligible states, territories, and federally recognized tribes;  supports FEMA’s Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training  Program.
section_title: Agency and program Department of Homeland Security Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program
paragraphs: Supports short-term interventions that involve the counseling goals of  assisting survivors of a presidentially declared disaster in  understanding their current situation and reactions, mitigating stress,  assisting survivors in reviewing their disaster recovery options,  promoting the use or development of coping strategies, providing  emotional support, and encouraging linkages with other individuals  and agencies who may help survivors in their recovery process.
Provides legal assistance to low-income disaster survivors of a  presidentially declared disaster. Legal assistance generally includes  help with insurance claims, hospital bills, lost property, preparing lost  legal documents, and home repairs and contracts.
Provides assistance to individuals and households affected by a  disaster to enable them to address necessary expenses and serious  needs, which cannot be met through other forms of disaster  assistance or insurance. Forms of housing assistance include  temporary housing, repair, replacement, and  semipermanent/permanent housing construction.
Individuals and Households Program–Other Needs Assistance  Provides assistance to individuals and households affected by a  disaster to enable them to address necessary expenses and serious  needs, which cannot be met through other forms of disaster  assistance or insurance. Forms of other needs assistance include  personal property, medical, dental, and funeral.
Helps survivors in presidentially designated disaster areas to obtain  mortgages to purchase a new home or rebuild their home that was  destroyed or damaged by a disaster.
Provides grants to states, local governments, American Indian tribes,  and other areas as a result of a presidentially declared disaster to  rebuild the affected areas and provide seed money to start the  recovery process. The grants are to primarily benefit low-income  residents.
Provides unemployment benefits to individuals who have become  unemployed as a result of a presidentially declared major disaster  and are not eligible for regular unemployment insurance benefits.
Provides cash payments to federally recognized American Indians  and Alaska Native tribe members who suffer from a burnout, flood, or  other destruction of their homes and loss or damage to personal  possessions.
Allows taxpayers to deduct nonreimbursed casualty losses in a  presidentially declared disaster. Taxpayers may deduct the losses in  the year the disaster occurred or file an amended return to deduct the  loss in the year preceding the disaster.
Purpose  Allows bond owners in areas affected by a presidentially declared  disaster to redeem bonds prior to the expiration of the initial 12- month holding period.
Provides working capital loans to small businesses or private,  nonprofit organizations for up to $2 million in working capital to meet  financial obligations that could have been met had the disaster not  occurred.
Provides loans to renters and homeowners up to $40,000 to repair or  replace clothing, furniture, cars, appliances, etc. damaged or  destroyed in a disaster and loans to homeowners up to $200,000 to  repair or replace their primary residence to its predisaster condition.
Provides loans up to $2 million for a business to repair, rehabilitate,  or replace damaged property, including real estate, equipment,  inventory, and fixtures.
These programs are included in this GAO report and are those that become available to agricultural  producers and businesses that support agriculture following a disaster and provide direct financial  assistance.
section_title: Appendix III: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contacts
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the individuals named above, Anne K. Johnson, Assistant  Director; Kay Kuhlman, Assistant Director; Lucas Alvarez; Kevin Bray;  Anna Carbino; John Forrester; Annamarie Lopata; Lindsay Read; Anne  Rhodes-Kline; and Carol Herrnstadt Shulman made significant  contributions to this report.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: Crop Insurance: Savings Would Result from Program Changes and  Greater Use of Data Mining. GAO-12-256. Washington, D.C.: March 13,  2012.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Federally Funded Programs Have Helped to  Address the Needs of Gulf Coast Small Businesses, but Agency Data on  Subcontracting Are Incomplete. GAO-10-723. Washington, D.C.: July 29,  2010.
USDA Crop Disaster Programs: Lessons Learned Can Improve  Implementation of New Crop Assistance Program. GAO-10-548.  Washington, D.C.: June 4, 2010.
Small Business Administration: Continued Attention Needed to Address  Reforms to the Disaster Loan Program. GAO-10-735T. Washington, D.C.:  May 19, 2010.
Small Business Administration: Additional Steps Should Be Taken to  Address Reforms to the Disaster Loan Program and Improve the  Application Process for Future Disasters. GAO-09-755. Washington,  D.C.: July 29, 2009.
Gulf Coast Disaster Recovery: Community Development Block Grant  Program Guidance to States Needs to Be Improved. GAO-09-541.  Washington, D.C.: June 19, 2009.