(a) Subparts A through C of this part specify the eligibility requirements and payment calculations for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). CFAP will provide payments with respect to commodities that have been significantly impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. CFAP is being implemented through two rounds of payments, with the first round (CFAP 1) determined as specified in subpart B of this part, and the second round (CFAP 2) determined as specified in subpart C of this part. To be eligible for CFAP payments, participants must comply with all provisions under this subpart and the relevant particular subpart for CFAP 1 or CFAP 2. Payments will be made with respect to only commodities produced in the United States; commodities other than livestock that are imported into the United States may not be used to determine any CFAP payment. For livestock, “produced in the United States” means physically located in the United States:

(1) For assistance under subpart B of this part:

(i) On January 15, 2020, and remaining in the United States until sold, for livestock sold between January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020; or

(ii) On the applicable date selected for livestock in inventory between April 16, 2020, and May 14, 2020; and

(2) For assistance under subpart C of this part, on the applicable date selected for livestock in inventory between April 16, 2020, and August 31, 2020.

(b) The program is administered under the general supervision and direction of the Administrator, Farm Service Agency (FSA) with the assistance of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

(c) The FSA State committee will take any action required by subparts A through C of this part that an 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 such county FSA committee that is not in accordance with the regulations of subparts A through C of this part; or

(2) Require an FSA county committee to withhold taking any action that is not in accordance with subparts A through C of this part.

(d) No provision or delegation to an FSA State or county committee will preclude the FSA Administrator, the Deputy Administrator, or a designee or other such person, from determining any question arising under the CFAP, or from reversing or modifying any determination made by an FSA State or county committee.

The following definitions apply to subparts A through C of this part. The definitions in parts 718 and 1400 of this title apply, except where they conflict with the definitions in this section.

AMS means USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Application means the CFAP application form.

Cattle means commercially raised or maintained bovine animals, excluding beefalo, bison, and animals used for dairy production or intended for dairy production.

Commodity means an agricultural commodity produced in the United States and intended to be marketed for commercial production that has been designated as eligible for payments under CFAP.

Controlled environment means an environment in which everything that can practicably be controlled by the producer with structures, facilities, and growing media (including but not limited to water, soil, or nutrients), is in fact controlled by the producer, as determined by industry standards.

Foreign entity means a corporation, trust, estate, or other similar organization that has more than 10 percent of its beneficial interest held by individuals who are not:

(1) Citizens of the United States; or

(2) Lawful aliens possessing a valid Alien Registration Receipt Card.

Foreign person means any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States or who is admitted into the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act and possesses a valid Alien Registration Receipt Card issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.

Hogs means any swine 120 pounds or more.

NOFA means a Notice of Funding Availability published in the Federal Register.

Ownership interest means to have either legal ownership interest or beneficial ownership interest in a legal entity. For the purposes of administering CFAP, a person or legal entity that owns a share or stock in a legal entity that is a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, or similar type entity, and shares in the profits or losses of such entity is considered to have an ownership interest in such legal entity. A person or legal entity that is a beneficiary of a trust or heir of an estate who benefits from the profits or losses of such entity is also considered to have an ownership interest in such legal entity.

Pigs means any swine weighing less than 120 pounds.

Wool means the fiber sheared from a live sheep and includes, unless noted otherwise, graded and nongraded wool. Graded wool is paid on a clean basis, and ungraded wool is paid on a greasy basis.

To be eligible for a CFAP payment, a producer must:

(a) Meet all of the requirements in subparts A through C of this part;

(b) Be a:

(1) Citizen of the United States;

(2) Resident alien, which for purposes of subparts A through C of this part means “lawful alien” as defined in part 1400 of this title;

(3) Partnership of citizens of the United States;

(4) Corporation, limited liability company, or other organizational structure organized under State law;

(5) Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, as defined in section 4(b) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); or

(6) Foreign person or foreign entity who meets all requirements as described in part 1400 of this title; and

(c) For payments under § 9.102 of this part, have had a share in the eligible commodity on January 15, 2020, or April 16, 2020, through May 14, 2020.

(a) A completed application under this subpart must be submitted in person, by mail, email, or facsimile to any FSA county office by the close of business on:

(1) September 11, 2020, for payments issued under § 9.102; and

(2) October 12, 2021, for payments issued under § 9.203.

(b) Failure of an individual, entity, or a member of an entity to submit the following payment limitation and payment eligibility forms within 60-days from the date of signing the CFAP application, may result in no payment or a reduced payment:

(1) A farm operating plan for an individual or legal entity as provided in part 1400 of this title;

(2) Form CCC-901 Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable);

(3) An average adjusted gross income statement for the 2020 program year for the person or legal entity, including the legal entity's members, partners, or shareholders, as provided in part 1400 of this title; form CCC-941 Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Certification and Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information;

(4) CCC-942 Certification of Income From Farming, Ranching and Forestry Operations (optional); and

(5) A highly erodible land conservation (sometimes referred to elsewhere as HELC) and wetland conservation certification as provided in part 12 of this title (form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification for CFAP applicant and applicable affiliates).

(c) If requested by USDA, the applicant must provide documentation that:

(1) Establishes the applicant's ability and intent to harvest, transport, and market the commodity for the intended market or crop's expected production in a quantity determined based on the producer's approved yield, expected level of production, or inventory of the livestock, crop, or commodity;

(2) Establishes the applicant's ownership share in the commodity; and

(3) Establishes the applicant's value at risk in the commodity.

(d) A producer applying for assistance for a crop subject to § 9.203(a) or (b) must file a report of all acreage of the crop on FSA-578, Report of Acreage.

(e) To receive an additional payment under § 9.203(p), a producer must submit form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, with a certification applicable to the 2020 program year by the date announced by the Deputy Administrator.

(a) Producers who are approved for participation in CFAP are required to retain documentation in support of their application for 3 years after the date of approval.

(b) Participants receiving CFAP 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 to allow representatives to make copies of books, records, or other items for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of the information provided by the participant.

(a) If a CFAP payment resulted from erroneous information provided by a participant, or any person acting on their behalf, the payment will be recalculated and the participant must refund any excess payment with interest calculated from the date of the disbursement of the payment.

(1) If FSA determines that the applicant intentionally misrepresented either the total amount or applicant's share of the commodities, acres, sales, or revenue on their application, the application will be disapproved and the applicant must refund the full payment to FSA with interest from the date of disbursement.

(2) Any required refunds must be resolved in accordance with part 3 of this title.

(b) The regulations in part 718, subpart D, and parts 11 and 780 of this title apply to determinations made under subparts A through C of this part.

(c) Any payment under subparts A through C of this part 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 from the sale of the commodity. The regulations governing offsets in part 3 of this title do not apply to payments made under subparts A through C of this part.

(d) 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 CFAP unless at least 75 percent of the person or legal entity's average AGI is derived from farming, ranching, or forestry-related activities. The average AGI will be calculated for a person or such legal entity based on the 2016, 2017, and 2018 tax years. If the person or such 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 subparts A through C of this part.

(e)(1) The total amount of CFAP payments that a program applicant who is an individual may receive directly or through the attribution of payments as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section is $250,000 under each of subparts B and C. The total amount of payments that a program applicant who is a legal entity created under State law may receive is $250,000 under each of subparts B and C, except as provided in paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Payments made to a program applicant who is a joint venture or a general partnership are limited to the aggregated amount of payments that individual or legal entity members of the joint venture or general partnership may otherwise receive.

(2)(i) The total amount of CFAP payments a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, trust, or estate may receive is $250,000 under each of subparts B and C unless the members, partners, stockholders, beneficiaries, or heirs of the legal entity meet the provisions of paragraphs (e)(2)(ii) or (iii) of this section.

(ii) The total amount of CFAP payments a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, trust, or estate may receive is $500,000 under each of subparts B and C if two different individual persons who are members, partners, stockholders, beneficiaries, or heirs of the legal entity each provided at least 400 hours of active personal labor or active personal management or combination thereof with respect to the production of commodities for which an application or applications are made in accordance with subparts A through C of this part.

(iii) The total amount of CFAP payments a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, trust, or estate may receive is $750,000 under each of subparts B and C if three different individual persons who are members, partners, stockholders, beneficiaries, or heirs of the legal entity each provided at least 400 hours of active personal labor or active personal management or combination thereof with respect to the production of commodities for which an application or applications are made in accordance with subparts A through C of this part.

(3)(i) Except for payments subject to the increased payment limitation in (e)(2)(ii) and (e)(2)(iii) of this section, a CFAP payment made to any legal entity will be attributed to individuals or legal entities with an ownership interest in the legal entity in accordance with § 1400.105 of this title. Payments attributed to a legal entity with an ownership interest in the legal entity will be further attributed as provided in § 1400.105 of this title. If the legal entity does not qualify for an increased payment limitation under (e)(2)(ii) or (iii) of this section and the total amount of CFAP payments made directly or indirectly to an individual or legal entity has met the applicable amount specified in paragraph (e)(1) of this section, the payment to the legal entity will be reduced commensurate with the amount of the ownership interest of the individual or legal entity in the legal entity. CFAP payments subject to attribution under this paragraph will be attributed to individuals and legal entities until the attribution is made only to an individual except the attribution will stop at the fourth level of ownership.

(ii) A payment subject to the increased payment limitation in (e)(2)(ii) or (iii) of this section will be limited to the lesser of the amount specified in either (e)(2)(ii) or (iii) of this section, or the sum of the amount specified in (e)(1) of this section that each eligible member, stockholder, partner, heir, or beneficiary of the legal entity may receive, regardless of ownership share. Payments attributed to a legal entity with an ownership interest in the legal entity will be further attributed to individuals and legal entities until the attribution is made only to an individual, except the attribution will stop at the fourth level of ownership.

(4) If an individual or legal entity is not eligible to receive CFAP payments due to the individual or legal entity failing to satisfy some other payment eligibility provision such as AGI in or conservation compliance provisions or some other payment eligibility impediment, the payment made either directly or indirectly to the individual or legal entity will be reduced to zero. The amount of the reduction for the direct payment to the applicant will be commensurate with the direct or indirect ownership interest of the ineligible individual or ineligible legal entity. The application of this ineligibility to receive a CFAP payment due to the excessive AGI of an individual or legal entity will stop at the fourth level of ownership.

(f) For the purposes of the effect of a lien on eligibility for Federal programs (28 U.S.C. 3201(e)), USDA waives the restriction on receipt of funds under CFAP but only as to beneficiaries who, as a condition of the waiver, agree to apply the CFAP payments to reduce the amount of the judgment lien.

(g) In addition to any other Federal laws that apply to CFAP, the following laws apply: 15 U.S.C. 714; 18 U.S.C. 286,287,371,1001; and 31 U.S.C. 1001.

(h) Subparts A through C of this part apply to applications submitted under CFAP through the applicable date in § 9.4(a), or until funds made available for CFAP are exhausted.

(i) To be eligible to receive a CFAP payment and facilitate administration of paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, a person or legal entity must provide their name, address, and taxpayer identification number to USDA. In addition, a legal entity must provide the name taxpayer identification number, address and ownership share of each person or legal entity that holds or acquires a direct or indirect ownership interest in the legal entity. CFAP payments to a legal entity will be reduced in proportion to a member's ownership share when the taxpayer identification number for a person or legal entity that holds less than a 10 percent direct or indirect ownership interest at, or above, the fourth level of ownership in the business structure is not provided to USDA. Additionally, a legal entity will not be eligible to receive CFAP payments when a valid taxpayer identification number for a person or legal entity that holds a direct or indirect ownership interest of 10 percent or greater, at or above the fourth level of ownership in the business structure, is not provided to USDA.

In either applying for or participating in CFAP, or both, the producer is subject to laws against perjury and any penalties and prosecution resulting therefrom, with such laws including but not limited to 18 U.S.C. 1621. If the producer willfully makes and represents as true any verbal or written declaration, certification, statement, or verification that the producer knows or believes not to be true, in the course of either applying for or participating in CFAP, or both, then the producer is guilty of perjury and, except as otherwise provided by law, may be fined, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, regardless of whether the producer makes such verbal or written declaration, certification, statement, or verification within or without the United States.