Participants will be eligible to receive a 2017 WHIP payment under this subpart only if they incurred a loss to an eligible crop, tree, bush, or vine due to a qualifying disaster event, as further specified in this subpart.

To be an eligible participant under this subpart a producer who is a person or legal entity must be a:

Citizen of the United States;

Resident alien; for purposes of this subpart, resident alien means “lawful alien;”

Partnership consisting of citizens of the United States or resident aliens; or

Corporation, limited liability company, or other organizational structure organized under State law.

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 title. Similarly, if any person or legal entity who would otherwise 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 for payment. Eligibility of such participant will be determined, as it is for other participants, based upon ownership share and risk in producing the crop.

Growers growing eligible crops under contract for crop owners are not eligible 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.

A person or legal entity is not eligible to receive disaster assistance under this subpart if it is determined by FSA that the person or legal entity:

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

Made any fraudulent representation; or

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.

A person 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.

The provisions of § 718.11 of this title, providing for ineligibility for payments for offenses involving controlled substances, apply.

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 2017 WHIP benefits, and must not otherwise be precluded from receiving payments under parts 12, 400, 1400, or 1437 of this title or any law.