(a) To be eligible to receive payments under this part, a geographically disadvantaged farmer or rancher must:

(1) Be a producer of an eligible agricultural commodity in substantial commercial quantities;

(2) Incur transportation costs for the transportation of the agricultural commodity or input used to produce the agricultural commodity;

(3) Submit an accurate and complete application for payment as specified in § 755.3; and

(4) Be in compliance with the wetland and highly erodible conservation requirements in part 12 of this title and meet the adjusted gross income and pay limit eligibility requirements in part 1400 of this title, as applicable, except that the $8,000 cap provided for in this rule is a per producer cap, not a per person cap. For example, a partnership of four individuals would be considered one producer, not four persons, for the purposes of this cap and thus the partnership could only generate a single $8,000 payment under this program if the cap holds because of full subscription of the program.

(b) Individual producers in an agricultural operation that is an entity are only eligible for a payment based on their share of the operation. A producer is not eligible for payment based on the share of production of any other producer.

(c) Multiple producers, such as the buyer and seller of a commodity (for example, a producer of hay and a livestock operation that buys the hay), are not eligible for payments for the same eligible transportation cost. Unless the multiple producers agree otherwise, only the last buyer will be eligible for the payment.

(d) A person or entity determined to be a “foreign person” under part 1400 of this title is not eligible to receive benefits under this part, unless that person provides land, capital, and a substantial amount of active personal labor in the production of crops on such farm.

(e) State and local governments and their political subdivisions and related agencies are not eligible for RTCP payments.