§155D-2 Grants; qualified producer. (a) Applications for grants by qualified producers shall be submitted on a form furnished by the department and shall be filed with accompanying documentation of animal feed costs; provided that:

(1) The applicant shall comply with applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, or disability;

(2) The applicant shall have applied for or received all applicable licenses or permits;

(3) The applicant shall indemnify and hold harmless the State and its officers, agents, and employees from all claims arising out of or resulting from the feed purchased;

(4) The subsidy shall not be allowed within a fiscal quarter if the flock or herd size or, in the case of fish or crustaceans, sale weight, falls five per cent or more below the required minimum of:

(A) Thirty birds;

(B) Ten cows;

(C) Ten sows in any two months of the applicable fiscal quarter;

(D) Twenty finished beef cattle annually;

(E) Twenty-five lactating milking goats;

(F) Thirty sheep, lambs, or goats raised for meat annually; or

(G) Sales of five hundred pounds of fish or crustaceans in the applicable fiscal quarter; and

(5) The department may request an applicant to provide necessary information for the purposes of verifying flock or herd size or sale weight, as applicable, and feed purchases.

(b) Documentation of animal feed costs, as requested by the department, shall be filed for feed purchased within the immediate preceding fiscal quarter of filing.

(c) The applicant shall submit a quarterly financial statement of farm revenues and expenses along with other supporting documents as deemed necessary by the department, and filed with the documentation of the feed costs. An annual financial statement shall be filed with the department within ninety days following the close of the business' fiscal year for final reconciliation of any reimbursement paid during the previous three quarters within the fiscal year. The financial statements shall be certified as accurate by the applicant and the preparer of the financial statement on forms prepared by the department.

(d) Funds shall be disbursed upon approval by the department to the qualifying producer for up to:

(1) Sixty per cent of the feed costs incurred for production of poultry products;

(2) Forty per cent of the feed costs incurred for milk production;

(3) Fifty per cent of the feed costs incurred for pigs raised in Hawaii and slaughtered for local consumption;

(4) Fifty per cent of the feed costs for beef cattle raised in Hawaii and slaughtered in Hawaii for local consumption;

(5) Fifty per cent of the feed costs for sheep, lambs, and goats raised in Hawaii and slaughtered in Hawaii for local consumption; or

(6) Fifty per cent of the feed costs for fish or crustaceans raised in Hawaii and processed for local consumption.

(e) Feed costs shall be limited to only the feed fed to the qualifying flock, herd, fish, or crustaceans and shall not include the feed purchases for resale or gift, or the cost of transportation to Hawaii. In no case shall costs be reimbursed to a qualified producer when, after evaluation and verification by the department, the department determines that the amount of reimbursement will result in an annual profit of more than:

(1) Twelve per cent for milk producers;

(2) Eight per cent for poultry producers;

(3) Eight per cent for pork producers;

(4) Eight per cent for beef producers;

(5) Eight per cent for sheep, lamb, or goat meat producers; or

(6) Eight per cent for seafood producers.

(f) The department shall aggregate the total grant claims pursuant to this section and divide and distribute the available grant funds on a pro rata basis. [L 2007, c 221, pt of §2; am L 2013, c 200, §3; am L 2016, c 221, §4]