Small Business Disaster Relief Grants

Commerce has $9.7 million available for grants to small businesses with annual gross receipts of $5 million or less that have sustained a reduction in business income or activity as the result of:

-Natural disaster such as flood, earthquake, or comparable

-Human- caused disaster such as a major utility disruption resulting in property damage or prolonged outages

For more information visit Small Business Disaster Relief Grants - Washington State Department of Commerce

Disaster Assistance Program- *Whatcom County*

State funding is available to reimburse up to 75% of eligible damages or losses. The Washington State Conservation Commission and Whatcom Conservation District are administering grants through a new Disaster Assistance Program.

A farmer or rancher must:

-Have sustained physical damage or incurred cost due to the major flooding event that occurred in Whatcom County during November 2021, and

-Provide documentation of a reduction in agricultural income or activity as a result of a natural disaster such as a flood, earthquake, or wildfire.

For more information visit Disaster Assistance Program (wa.gov)

Emergency Relief

ERP covers losses to crops, trees, bushes and vines due to a qualifying natural disaster event in calendar years 2020 and 2021. Eligible crops include all crops for which federal crop insurance or NAP coverage was available except for crops intended for grazing. Qualifying natural disaster events include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions.

For more information visit Emergency Relief Program (usda.gov).

Emergency Conservation Program

ECP helps farmers and ranchers repair damage to farmlands caused by natural disasters and put in place methods for water conservation during severe drought. ECP does this through funding and technical assistance. The FSA County Committee inspects the damage to determine if land is eligible for ECP. For land to qualify for ECP funds, the damage from the natural disaster or severe drought must create new conservation problems that if not dealt with would further damage the land, significantly affect the land’s productive capacity, represent damage from a natural disaster unusual for the area (an exception to this is damage from wind erosion), be too costly to repair without Federal assistance in order to return the land to agricultural production.

For more information visit Emergency Conservation Program (usda.gov)

Emergency Farm Loans

The Emergency loan program is triggered when a natural disaster is designated by the Secretary of Agriculture, or a natural disaster or emergency is declared by the President under the Stafford Act. These loans help producers who suffer qualifying farm related losses directly caused by the disaster in a county declared or designated as a primary disaster or quarantine area. Also, farmers located in counties that are contiguous to the declared, designated, or quarantined area may qualify for Emergency loans.

For more information visit Emergency Farm Loans (usda.gov)

Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program

NAP administered by USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters that result in lower yields or crop losses, or prevents crop planting. Eligible crops must be commercially produced agricultural commodities for which crop insurance is not available and be any of the following:

• Crops grown for food;

• Crops planted and grown for livestock consumption, such as grain and forage crops, including native forage; Crops grown for fiber, such as cotton and flax (except trees)

For more information visit Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) (usda.gov)