§ 783.4 - Eligibility.

(a) To be considered an eligible loss:

(1) Eligible trees, bushes or vines must have been located and lost as a result of natural disasters determined and announced by FSA as set forth in the TAP application.

(2) The individual stand must have sustained a loss in excess of 15 percent after adjustment for normal mortality;

(3) The loss could not have been prevented through reasonable and available measures; and

(4) The tree, bush or vine, in the absence of a qualifying disaster, would not normally have been rehabilitated or replanted within the 12-month period following the loss.

(b)(1) The damage must be visible and obvious to the county committee except that if the damage is no longer visible, the county committee may accept other evidence of the loss as it determines is reasonable.

(2) The county committee may require information from an expert in the case of plant disease or insect infestation.

(c)(1) To be eligible for TAP benefits the eligible orchardist must:

(i) Own the stand on which the claim for benefits is based;

(ii) Have owned the stand at the time the natural disaster occurred;

(iii) Have continuously owned the stand until the TAP application is submitted; and

(iv) Not exceed or be in violation of any other limitations on payments.

(2) Federal, State, and local governments and agencies and political subdivisions thereof are not eligible for benefits under this part.

(d)(1) A new owner of an orchard is allowed to receive TAP benefits in an amount not to exceed those approved for the predecessor owner of the orchard and not paid to the predecessor owner, if the predecessor owner of the orchard agrees to the succession in writing and if the new owner:

(i) Acquires ownership of trees, bushes or vines for which benefits have been approved;

(ii) Agrees to complete all approved practices which the original owner has not completed; and

(iii) Otherwise meets and assumes full responsibility for all provisions of this part, including refund of payments made to the previous owner, if applicable.

(2) In the case of death, incompetence or disappearance of an eligible orchardist, successors may be eligible to receive TAP payments as specified in part 707 of this chapter.