(a) Subject to the availability of funds and only for areas, natural disasters, and time periods for the natural disaster and rehabilitation approved by the Deputy Administrator, FSA will provide financial assistance to owners of nonindustrial private forest land who carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by a natural disaster as determined by FSA.

(b) The objective of EFRP is to make financial assistance available to eligible participants on eligible land for certain practices to restore nonindustrial private forest land that has been damaged by a natural disaster.

(a) To be eligible to participate in EFRP, a person or legal entity must be an owner of nonindustrial private forest land affected by a natural disaster, and must be liable for or have the expense that is the subject of the financial assistance. The owner must be a person or legal entity (including an Indian tribe) with full decision-making authority over the land, as determined by FSA, or with such waivers as may be needed from lenders or others as may be required, to undertake program commitments.

(b) Federal agencies and States, including all agencies and political subdivisions of a State, are ineligible for EFRP.

(c) An application may be denied for any reason.

(a) For land to be eligible, it must be nonindustrial private forest land and must, as determined by FSA:

(1) Have existing tree cover or have had tree cover immediately before the natural disaster and be suitable for growing trees;

(2) Have damage to natural resources caused by a natural disaster that, if not treated, would impair or endanger the natural resources on the land and would materially affect future use of the land; and

(3) Be physically located in a county in which EFRP has been implemented.

(b) Land is ineligible for EFRP if FSA determines that the land is any of the following:

(1) Owned or controlled by the United States; or

(2) Owned or controlled by States, including State agencies or political subdivisions of a State.

(a) FSA will establish the minimum qualifying cost of restoration, which may vary by State or region.

(b) An applicant may request a waiver of the qualifying minimum cost of restoration. The waiver request must document how failure to grant the waiver will result in environmental damage or hardship to the person or legal entity, and how the waiver will accomplish the goals of the program.

(a) Participants are not eligible to receive funding under EFRP for land on which FSA determines that the participant has or will receive federal funding for the same or similar expenses under:

(1) The Emergency Conservation Program provided for in subpart B of this part;

(2) The Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) provided for in part 1467 of this title;

(3) The Emergency Wetland Reserve Program (EWRP) provided for in part 623 of this chapter;

(4) The Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP), provided for in part 624 of this chapter; or

(5) Any other Federal program that covers the same or similar expenses so as to create duplicate payments, or, have the effect of creating in total, otherwise, a higher rate of financial assistance than is allowed on its own under this part.

(b) Participants who receive any duplicate Federal funds, payments, or benefits must refund any EFRP payments received, except the Deputy Administrator may reduce the refund amount to the amount determined appropriate by the Deputy Administrator to ensure that the total amount of assistance received by the owner of the land under all Federal programs does not exceed an amount otherwise allowed in this part.

(a) Financial assistance may be offered to eligible persons or legal entities for EFRP practices to restore forest health and forest-related resources on eligible land.

(b) Practice specifications must represent the minimum level of performance needed to restore the land to the applicable FSA, NRCS, Forest Service, or State forestry standard.

(a) In addition to other restrictions that may be applied by FSA, an EFRP participant will not receive more than 75 percent of the lesser of the participant's total actual cost or of the total allowable costs, as determined by this subpart, to perform the practice.

(b) A person, or legal entity, as defined in part 1400 of this title, is limited to a maximum cost-share of $500,000 per person or legal entity, per natural disaster.

(c) The Secretary may waive the maximum limitations described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section to the maximum extent allowed by law.