[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR783.4]

[Page 294-295]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
       CHAPTER VII--FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 783_TREE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 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

[[Page 295]]

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.