This subpart specifies the terms and conditions for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program. The QLA Program provides disaster assistance for crop quality losses that were a consequence of hurricanes, excessive moisture, floods, qualifying drought, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity, snowstorms, and wildfires occurring in calendar years 2018 and 2019.

(a) The QLA Program is administered under the general supervision of the Administrator, Farm Service Agency (FSA), and the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, FSA. The QLA Program is carried out by FSA State and county committees with instructions issued by the Deputy Administrator.

(b) FSA State and county committees, and representatives and their employees, do not have authority to modify or waive any of the provisions of the regulations in this subpart or instructions issued by the Deputy Administrator.

(c) The FSA State committee will take any action required by the regulations in this subpart that the FSA county committee has not taken. The FSA State committee will also:

(1) Correct, or require an FSA county committee to correct, any action taken by the FSA county committee that is not in accordance with the regulations in this subpart; or

(2) Require an FSA county committee to withhold taking any action that is not in accordance with this subpart.

(d) No delegation to an FSA State or county committee precludes the FSA Administrator or the Deputy Administrator from determining any question arising under this subpart or from reversing or modifying any determination made by an FSA State or county committee.

(e) The Deputy Administrator has the authority to:

(1) Permit State and county committees to waive or modify a non-statutory deadline specified in this subpart; and

(2) Delegate authority to FSA State or county committees to make determinations under § 760.1812(f) and (g).

(f) Items of general applicability to program participants, including, but not limited to, application periods, application deadlines, internal operating guidelines issued to FSA State and county offices, prices, and payment factors established under this subpart, are not subject to appeal in accordance with part 780 of this chapter.

The following definitions apply to this subpart. The definitions in §§ 718.2 and 1400.3 of this title also apply, except where they conflict with the definitions in this section. In the event of conflict, the definitions in this section apply.

Affected production means the producer's ownership share of harvested production of an eligible crop, adjusted to standard moisture as established by the U.S. Grains Standards Act, a State regulatory agency, or industry standard, that had both:

(1) A quality loss due to a qualifying disaster event; and

(2) At least a 5 percent quality loss due to all eligible disaster events.

Average market price means the average market price determined according to § 1437.12 of this title.

Coverage level means the percentage determined by multiplying the elected yield percentage under a crop insurance policy or NAP coverage by the elected price percentage.

Crop insurance means an insurance policy reinsured by FCIC under the provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, as amended. It does not include private plans of insurance.

Crop insurance indemnity means, for the purpose of this subpart, the payment to a participant for crop losses covered under crop insurance administered by RMA in accordance with the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501-1524).

Crop year means:

(1) For insurable crops, the crop year as defined according to the applicable crop insurance policy; and

(2) For NAP-eligible crops, the crop year as defined in § 1437.3 of this title.

Eligible crop means a crop for which coverage was available either from FCIC under part 400 of this title, or through NAP under § 1437.4 of this title.

Eligible disaster event means a disaster event that is an eligible cause of loss specified in § 1437.10 of this title, excluding insect infestation.

FCIC means the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, a wholly owned Government Corporation of USDA, administered by RMA.

FSA means the Farm Service Agency, an agency of USDA.

Grading factor means a factor that describes the physical condition or a feature that is evaluated to determine the quality of the production, such as broken kernels and low-test weight.

Good farming practices means the cultural practices generally recognized as compatible with agronomic and weather conditions and used for the crop to make normal progress toward maturity, as determined by FSA. These practices are:

(1) For conventional farming practices, those generally recognized by agricultural experts for the area, which could include one or more counties; or

(2) For organic farming practices, those generally recognized by the organic agricultural experts for the area or contained in the organic system plan that is in accordance with the National Organic Program specified in part 205 of this title.

Harvested means:

(1) For insurable crops, harvested as defined according to the applicable crop insurance policy;

(2) For NAP-eligible single harvest crops, that a crop has been removed from the field, either by hand or mechanically;

(3) For NAP-eligible crops with potential multiple harvests in 1 year or harvested over multiple years, that the producer has, by hand or mechanically, removed at least 1 mature crop from the field during the crop year; and

(4) For mechanically harvested NAP-eligible crops, that the crop has been removed from the field and placed in a truck or other conveyance, except hay is considered harvested when in the bale, whether removed from the field or not.

Insurable crop means an agricultural crop (excluding livestock) for which the producer on a farm is eligible to obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501-1524).

Multiple market crop means a crop that is delivered to a single market but can have fresh and processed prices based on grading. For example, a producer may intend to sell all production of an apple crop as fresh production; however, based on grading of the crop at the market, the producer is compensated for some production at the fresh price and for some production at the processing price.

Multiple planting means the planting for harvest of the same crop in more than one planting period in a crop year on different acreage.

NAP means the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) and part 1437 of this title.

NAP-eligible crop means an agricultural crop for which the producer on a farm is eligible to obtain NAP coverage.

NAP service fee means the amount specified in § 1437.7 of this title that the producer must pay to obtain NAP coverage.

Nutrient factor means a factor determined by a test that measures the nutrient value of a crop to be fed to livestock. Examples include, but are not limited to, relative feed value and total digestible nutrients.

Production means quantity of the crop produced, which is expressed in a specific unit of measure including, but not limited to, bushels or pounds.

QLA Program means the Quality Loss Adjustment Program.

Qualifying disaster event means a hurricane, flood, tornado, typhoon, volcanic activity, snowstorm, wildfire, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, or a related condition that occurred in the 2018 or 2019 calendar year.

Qualifying drought means an area within the county was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity during the applicable calendar year.

Quality loss means:

(1) For forage crops, a reduction in an applicable nutrient factor for the crop; and

(2) For crops other than forage, a reduction in the total dollar value of the crop due to reduction in the physical condition of the crop indicated by an applicable grading factor.

Related condition means damaging weather or an adverse natural occurrence that occurred as a direct result of a specified qualifying disaster event, such as excessive rain, high winds, flooding, mudslides, and heavy smoke, as determined by the Deputy Administrator. The term does not include insect infestation.

Reliable production record means evidence provided by the participant that is used to substantiate the amount of production reported when verifiable records are not available, including copies of receipts, ledgers of income, income statements of deposit slips, register tapes, invoices for custom harvesting, and records to verify production costs, contemporaneous measurements, truck scale tickets, and contemporaneous diaries that are determined acceptable by the FSA county committee. To determine whether the records are acceptable, the FSA county committee will consider whether they are consistent with the records of other producers of the crop in that area.

RMA means the Risk Management Agency, an agency of USDA.

Salvage value means the dollar amount or equivalent for the quantity of the commodity that cannot be marketed or sold in any recognized market for the crop.

Secondary use means the harvesting of a crop for a use other than the intended use.

Unit of measure means:

(1) For insurable crops, the FCIC-established unit of measure; and

(2) For NAP-eligible crops, the established unit of measure used for the NAP price and yield.

USDA means the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

U.S. Drought Monitor is a system for classifying drought severity according to a range of abnormally dry to exceptional drought. It is a collaborative effort between Federal and academic partners, produced on a weekly basis, to synthesize multiple indices, outlooks, and drought impacts on a map and in narrative form. This synthesis of indices is reported by the National Drought Mitigation Center at http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu.

Value loss crop has the meaning specified in subpart D of part 1437 of this title.

Verifiable documentation means evidence that can be verified by FSA through an independent source.

Verifiable percentage of loss is the percentage of loss determined by comparing the applicable nutrient factors for a producer's affected production of a forage crop with the average of such nutrient factors from the 3 preceding crop years, as documented on FSA-899, Historical Nutritional Value Weighted Average Worksheet.

WHIP+ means the Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program Plus under subpart O of this part.

(a) Participants will be eligible to receive a payment under this subpart only if they incurred a loss to an eligible crop due to a qualifying disaster event, as further specified in this subpart.

(b) To be an eligible participant under this subpart, a person or legal entity must be a:

(1) Citizen of the United States;

(2) Resident alien; for purposes of this subpart, resident alien means “lawful alien” (see § 1400.3 of this title);

(3) Partnership consisting solely of citizens of the United States or resident aliens; or

(4) Corporation, limited liability company, or other similar organizational structure organized under State law consisting solely of citizens or resident aliens of the United States.

(c) If any person who would otherwise be eligible to receive a payment dies before the payment is received, payment may be released as specified in § 707.3 of this chapter. Similarly, if any person or legal entity who would otherwise have been eligible to apply for a payment dies or is dissolved, respectively, before the payment is applied for, payment may be released in accordance with this subpart if a timely application is filed by an authorized representative. Proof of authority to sign for the deceased producer or dissolved entity must be provided. If a participant is now a dissolved general partnership or joint venture, all members of the general partnership or joint venture at the time of dissolution or their duly authorized representatives must sign the application. Eligibility of such participant will be determined, as it is for other participants, based upon ownership share and risk in producing the crop.

(d) An ownership share is required to be eligible for a payment under this subpart. Growers growing eligible crops under contract for crop owners are not eligible for a payment under this subpart unless the grower is also determined to have an ownership share of the crop. Any verbal or written contract that precludes the grower from having an ownership share renders the grower ineligible for payments under this subpart.

(e) A person or legal entity is not eligible to receive assistance under this subpart if FSA determines that the person or legal entity:

(1) Adopted any scheme or other device that tends to defeat the purpose of this subpart or any of the regulations applicable to this subpart;

(2) Made any fraudulent representation; or

(3) Misrepresented any fact affecting a program determination under any or all of the following: This subpart and parts 12, 400, 1400, and 1437 of this title.

(f) A person who is ineligible for crop insurance or NAP under § 400.458 or § 1437.16 of this title, respectively, for any year is ineligible for payments under this subpart for the same year.

(g) The provisions of § 718.11 of this chapter, providing for ineligibility for payments for offenses involving controlled substances, apply.

(h) As a condition of eligibility to receive payments under this subpart, the participant must have been in compliance with the Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation provisions of part 12 of this title for the applicable crop year for which the producer is applying for benefits under this subpart, and must not otherwise be precluded from receiving payments under part 12, 400, 1400, or 1437 of this title or any law.

(a) To be eligible for the QLA Program, an eligible crop's affected production must have suffered a quality loss due to a qualifying disaster event and had at least a 5 percent quality loss due to all eligible disaster events. Whether affected production of a crop had a 5 percent loss will be determined separately for crops with different crop types, intended uses, certified organic or conventional status, county, and crop year.

(b) Affected production of the following is not eligible for the QLA Program:

(1) Crops that were not grown commercially;

(2) Crops that were intended for grazing or were grazed;

(3) Crops not intended for harvest;

(4) Volunteer crops;

(5) Value loss crops;

(6) Maple sap;

(7) Honey;

(8) By-products resulting from processing or harvesting a crop, such as, but not limited to, cotton seed, peanut shells, wheat or oat straw, or corn stalks or stovers;

(9) First-year seeding for forage production;

(10) Immature fruit crops;

(11) Crops for which FCIC coverage or NAP coverage is unavailable;

(12) Multiple market crops for which the producer previously received a crop insurance indemnity or WHIP+ payment for a quality loss;

(13) Crops for which production used to calculate a crop insurance indemnity or WHIP+ payment was adjusted based on a comparison of the producer's sale price to FCIC established price;

(14) Crops that received a crop insurance indemnity, NAP payment, or WHIP+ payment based on the quantity of production that was considered unmarketable;

(15) Crops for which the producer previously received a crop insurance indemnity, NAP payment, or WHIP+ payment for which production was reported as salvage value or secondary use;

(16) Sugar beets for which a member of a cooperative processor received a payment through a cooperative agreement; and

(17) Crops that were destroyed.

(c) Only affected production from initial crop acreage will be eligible for a QLA Program payment, unless the provisions for subsequent crops in this section are met. All plantings of an annual or biennial crop are considered the same as a planting of an initial crop in tropical regions as defined in part 1437, subpart F, of this title.

(d) In cases where there is double cropped acreage, affected production of each crop may be eligible only if the specific crops are approved by the FSA State committee as eligible double cropping practices in accordance with procedures approved by the Deputy Administrator.

(e) Participants having affected production from multiple plantings may receive payments for each planting only if the planting meets the requirements of part 1437 of this title and all other provisions of this subpart are satisfied.

(a) A producer is eligible for payments under this subpart only if the producer's affected production of an eligible crop suffered a crop quality loss due to a qualifying disaster event.

(b) A crop quality loss due to a qualifying disaster event must have occurred on acreage that was physically located in a county that received a:

(1) Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration authorizing public assistance for categories C through G or individual assistance due to a qualifying disaster event occurring in the 2018 or 2019 calendar years; or

(2) Secretarial Disaster Designation for a qualifying disaster event occurring in the 2018 or 2019 calendar years.

(c) A producer with a crop quality loss on acreage not physically located in a county that was eligible under paragraph (b) of this section will be eligible for the QLA Program for losses due to qualifying disaster events only if the producer provides supporting documentation from which the FSA county committee determines that the crop quality loss on the unit was reasonably related to a qualifying disaster event as specified in this subpart. Supporting documentation may include furnishing climatological data from a reputable source or other information substantiating the claim of loss due to a qualifying disaster event.

(a) A loss is not eligible under this subpart if any of the following apply:

(1) The cause of loss is determined by FSA to be the result of poor management decisions, poor farming practices, or drifting herbicides;

(2) The loss could have been mitigated using good farming practices, including losses due to high moisture content that could be mitigated by following best practices for drying and storing the crop;

(3) The qualifying disaster event occurred after the crop was harvested;

(4) FSA or RMA have previously disapproved a notice of loss for the crop and disaster event, unless that notice of loss was disapproved solely because it was filed after the applicable deadline; or

(5) The cause of loss was due to:

(i) Conditions or events occurring outside of the applicable growing season for the crop;

(ii) Insect infestation;

(iii) Water contained or released by any governmental, public, or private dam or reservoir project if an easement exists on the acreage affected by the containment or release of the water;

(iv) Failure of a power supply or brownout; or

(v) Failure to harvest or market the crop due to lack of a sufficient plan or resources.

(b) [Reserved]

(a) All persons with a financial interest in a legal entity receiving payments under this subpart are jointly and severally liable for any refund, including related charges, that is determined to be due to FSA for any reason.

(b) In the event that any application under this subpart resulted from erroneous information or a miscalculation, the payment will be recalculated and any excess refunded to FSA with interest to be calculated from the date of the disbursement.

(c) Any payment to any participant under this subpart will be made without regard to questions of title under State law, and without regard to any claim or lien against the commodity, or proceeds, in favor of the owner or any other creditor except agencies of the U.S. Government. The regulations governing offsets and withholdings in part 3 of this chapter apply to payments made under this subpart.

(d) Any participant entitled to any payment may assign any payment(s) in accordance with regulations governing the assignment of payments in part 3 of this chapter.

(e) The regulations in parts 11 and 780 of this title apply to determinations under this subpart.

(a) Eligibility and payments under this subpart will be determined based on the county where the affected production was harvested.

(b) FSA county committees will make any necessary adjustments to the applicant's affected production and other information on the application form used to calculate a payment when the county committee determines:

(1) Additional documentation has been requested by FSA but has not been provided by the participant;

(2) The loss is due to an ineligible cause; or

(3) The participant has a contract providing a guaranteed payment for all or a portion of the crop.

(c) Unless otherwise specified, all eligibility provisions of part 1437 of this title also apply to tropical crops for eligibility under this subpart.

(d) FSA will use the most reliable data available at the time payments under this subpart are calculated. If additional data or information is provided or becomes available after a payment is issued, FSA will recalculate the payment amount and the producer must return any overpayment amount to FSA. In all cases, payments can only issue based on the payment formula for losses that affirmatively occurred.

(e) Production that is commingled between counties, crop years, or ineligible and eligible acres before it was a matter of record or combination of record and cannot be separated by using records or other means acceptable to FSA will be prorated to each respective year, county, or type of acreage, respectively.

(a) A person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general partnership, is eligible to receive, directly or indirectly, payments of not more than $125,000 for each of the 2018, 2019, and 2020 crop years under this subpart.

(b) Payments made to a joint operation, including a joint venture or general partnership, cannot exceed the amount determined by multiplying the maximum payment amount specified in paragraph (a) of this section by the number of persons and legal entities, other than joint operations, that comprise the ownership of the joint operation.

(c) The direct attribution provisions in § 1400.105 of this title apply to payments under this subpart.

(d) The notification of interest provisions in § 1400.107 of this title apply to payments under this subpart.

(e) The provisions for recognizing persons added to a farming operation for payment limitation purposes as described in § 1400.104 of this title apply to payments under this subpart.

(f) The $900,000 average AGI limitation provisions in part 1400 of this title relating to limits on payments for persons or legal entities, excluding joint ventures and general partnerships, apply to each applicant for the QLA Program unless at least 75 percent of the person or legal entity's average AGI is derived from farming, ranching, or forestry-related activities. A person's or legal entity's average AGI for each of the program years 2018, 2019 or 2020, is determined by using the average of the adjusted gross incomes for the 3 taxable years preceding the most immediately preceding taxable year. If the person's or legal entity's average AGI is below $900,000 or at least 75 percent of the person or legal entity's average AGI is derived from farming, ranching, or forestry-related activities, the person or legal entity, is eligible to receive payments under this subpart.

(a) A completed FSA-898, Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program Application, must be submitted in person, by mail, email, or facsimile to any FSA county office by the close of business on March 5, 2020.

(b) An application submitted in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section is not considered valid and complete for issuance of payment under this subpart unless FSA determines all the applicable eligibility provisions have been satisfied and the producer has submitted all of following by March 19, 2020:

(1) Documentation required by § 760.1811;

(2) FSA-578, Report of Acreage, for all acreage for any crop for which payments under this subpart are requested;

(3) FSA-895, Crop Insurance and/or NAP Coverage Agreement; and

(4) For forage crops, FSA-899, Historical Nutritional Value Weighted Average Worksheet, if verifiable documentation of historical nutrient factors is available.

(c) In addition to the forms listed in paragraph (b) of this section, applicants must also submit all the following eligibility forms within 60 days from the date of signing the QLA Program application if not already on file with FSA:

(1) AD-1026, Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation Certification;

(2) CCC-902 Automated, Farm Operating Plan for Payment Eligibility 2009 and Subsequent Program Years;

(3) CCC-941 Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Certification and Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information; and

(4) CCC-942 Certification of Income from Farming, Ranching and Forestry Operations, if applicable.

(d) Failure to submit all required forms by the applicable deadlines in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section may result in no payment or a reduced payment.

(e) Application approval and payment by FSA does not relieve a participant from having to submit any form required, but not filed, according to this section.

(f) Once signed by a producer, the application is considered to contain information and certifications of and pertaining to the producer regardless of who entered the information on the application.

(g) The producer applying for payment under this subpart certifies the accuracy and truthfulness of the information provided in the application as well as any documentation filed with or in support of the application. All information is subject to verification or spot check by FSA at any time, either before or after payment is issued. Refusal to allow FSA or any agency of the USDA to verify any information provided will result in the participant's forfeiting eligibility for payment under this subpart. FSA may at any time, including before, during, or after processing and paying an application, require the producer to submit any additional information necessary to implement or determine any eligibility provision of this subpart. Furnishing information specified in this subpart is voluntary; however, FSA may choose not to act on the application or approve payment if the required information is not provided. Providing a false certification will result in ineligibility and can also be punishable by imprisonment, fines, and other penalties.

(a) If requested by FSA, an applicant must provide documentation that establishes the applicant's ownership share and value at risk in the crop.

(b) The applicant must provide acceptable documentation that is dated and contains all information required to substantiate the applicant's certification to the satisfaction of the FSA county committee. Verifiable documentation is required to substantiate the total dollar value loss and associated affected production, grading factors, and nutritional factors. FSA may verify the records with records on file at the warehouse, gin, or other entity that received or may have received the reported production. Reliable production records are required to substantiate the reported amount of affected production for applications not based on the total dollar value loss.

(c) To be considered acceptable, verifiable documentation for grain crops that were sold may come from any time between harvest and sale of the affected production, unless the FSA county committee determines the record is not representative of the condition within 30 days of harvest. For all other crops, the verifiable documentation must come from tests or analysis completed within 30 days of harvest, unless the FSA county committee determines that the record is representative of the condition of the affected production at time of harvest. Examples of acceptable records for purposes of this paragraph (c) include:

(1) Warehouse grading sheets;

(2) Settlement sheets;

(3) Sales receipts showing grade and price or disposition to secondary market due to quality; and

(4) Laboratory test results.

(d) For forage crops, producers must submit verifiable documentation showing the nutrient factors for the affected production. Producers must also submit verifiable documentation of the historical nutrient factors for the 3 preceding crop years if available. The nutrient factors that must be documented for a crop will determined by the FSA county committee based on the standard practice for the crop in that county.

(e) For all crops other than forage crops, producers must submit verifiable documentation of the total dollar value loss due to quality, if available, and verifiable documentation of grading factors due to quality.

(f) The participant is responsible for:

(1) Retaining, providing, and summarizing, at time of application and whenever required by FSA, the best available verifiable production records for the crop;

(2) Providing the information in a manner that can be easily understood by the FSA county committee; and

(3) Providing supporting documentation about the disaster event if the FSA county committee has reason to question the disaster event.

(e) Participants must provide all records for any production of a crop that is grown with an arrangement, agreement, or contract for guaranteed payment.

(f) Participants are required to retain documentation in support of their application for 3 years after the date of approval.

(g) Participants receiving QLA Program payments or any other person who furnishes such information to USDA must permit authorized representatives of USDA or the Government Accountability Office, during regular business hours, to enter the agricultural operation and to inspect, examine, and make copies of books, records, or other items for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of the information provided by the participant.

(a) Payments will be calculated separately for crops based on the crop type, intended use, certified organic or conventional status, county, and crop year.

(b) For forage crops with verifiable documentation of nutrient factors for the affected production and for the 3 preceding crop years, the payment will be equal to the producer's total affected production multiplied by the producer's verifiable percentage of loss, multiplied by the average market price, multiplied by 70 percent.

(c) For forage crops with verifiable documentation of nutrient factors for the affected production but not for the 3 preceding crop years, the payment will be equal to the producer's total affected production multiplied by the county average percentage of loss in paragraph (f) of this section, multiplied by the average market price, multiplied by 70 percent, multiplied by 50 percent.

(d) For crops other than forage with verifiable documentation of the total dollar value loss due to quality, the payment will be equal to the producer's total dollar value loss on the affected production, multiplied by 70 percent.

(e) For crops other than forage without verifiable documentation of the total dollar value loss but with verifiable documentation of grading factors, the payment will be equal to the producer's affected production multiplied by the county average loss per unit of measure in paragraph (g) of this section, multiplied by 70 percent, multiplied by 50 percent.

(f) The county average percentage of loss is the average percentage of loss from producers eligible for payment under paragraph (b) of this section if at least 5 producers in a county are eligible for payment for a crop under paragraph (b) of this section. If less than 5 producers in a county are eligible for payment for a crop under paragraph (b) of this section, the Deputy Administrator will:

(1) Determine a county average percentage of loss based on the best available data, including, but not limited to, evidence of losses in contiguous counties; or

(2) If a county average percentage of loss cannot be determined due to insufficient data, not issue payments to applicants under paragraph (c) of this section.

(g) The county average loss per unit of measure is based on the weighted average sales price from producers eligible for payment under paragraph (d) of this section if at least 5 producers in a county are eligible for payment for a crop under paragraph (d) of this section. If less than 5 producers are eligible for payment in a county under paragraph (d) of this section, the Deputy Administrator will:

(1) Determine a county average loss per unit of measure based on the best available data, including, but not limited to, evidence of losses in contiguous counties; or

(2) If a county average loss per unit of measure cannot be determined due to insufficient data, not issue payments to applicants under paragraph (e) of this section.

(a) Payments will be issued after the application period has ended and all applications have been reviewed by FSA.

(b) In the event that, within the limits of the funding made available by the Secretary, approval of eligible applications would result in payments in excess of the amount available, FSA will prorate payments by a national factor to reduce the payments to an amount that is less than available funds as determined by the Secretary.

(c) Applications and claims that are unpaid or prorated for any reason will not be carried forward for payment under other funds for later years or otherwise, but will be considered, as to any unpaid amount, void and nonpayable.

(a) For the first 2 consecutive crop years for which crop insurance or NAP coverage is available after the enrollment period for the QLA Program ends, a participant who receives payment under this subpart for a crop loss in a county must obtain:

(1) For an insurable crop, crop insurance with at least a 60 percent coverage level for that crop in that county; or

(2) For a NAP-eligible crop, NAP coverage with a coverage level of 60 percent.

(b) Participants who exceed the average adjusted gross income limitation for NAP payment eligibility 1 for the applicable crop year may meet the purchase requirement specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section by purchasing Whole-Farm Revenue Protection crop insurance coverage, if eligible, or paying the NAP service fee and premium even though the participant will not be eligible to receive a NAP payment due to the average adjusted gross income limit.

(c) The final crop year to purchase crop insurance or NAP coverage to meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section is the 2023 crop year.

(d) A participant who obtained crop insurance or NAP coverage for the crop in accordance with the requirements for WHIP+ in § 760.1517 is considered to have met the requirement to purchase crop insurance or NAP coverage for the QLA Program.

(e) If a producer fails to obtain crop insurance or NAP coverage as required in this section, the producer must reimburse FSA for the full amount of QLA Program payment plus interest. A producer will only be considered to have obtained NAP coverage for the purposes of this section if the participant submitted a NAP application for coverage and paid the requisite NAP service fee and any applicable premium by the applicable deadline and completed all program requirements required under the coverage agreement, including filing an acreage report.