Department of Agriculture December 28, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are amending the regulations to add the Republic of Korea to the list of regions that are considered free of rinderpest and foot- and-mouth disease (FMD). We are taking this action because we have conducted an evaluation and determined that the Republic of Korea is free of rinderpest and FMD. We are also adding the Republic of Korea to the list of regions that are subject to certain import restrictions on meat and meat products because of their proximity to or trading relationships with rinderpest- or FMD-affected countries. These actions will update the disease status of the Republic of Korea with regard to rinderpest and FMD while continuing to protect the United States from an introduction of those diseases by providing additional requirements for meat and other animal products imported into the United States from the Republic of Korea.

This rule implements specific requirements for the new Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE) authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill). SURE provides disaster assistance to eligible participants who have experienced qualifying crop production losses, or crop quality losses, or both, occurring in crop year 2008 through September 30, 2011. All crops for which crop insurance or noninsured crop disaster assistance program (NAP) coverage is available are eligible crops for SURE. To be eligible for SURE payments, participants must meet a risk management purchase requirement, with some exceptions, and have suffered a qualifying loss due to disaster. A qualifying loss is a loss of at least 10 percent of a crop of economic significance on a participant's farm in a disaster county (a county for which a Secretarial disaster declaration has been issued or a county contiguous to such a county), or on a participant's farm with an overall loss greater than 50 percent of normal production (expected revenue for all crops on the farm) due to disaster. This rule specifies how a qualifying loss is determined, how SURE payments are calculated, and how and when participants may apply for payment.