Homeland security is an American national security umbrella term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive to the national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorism, and minimize the damage from attacks that do occur". According to an official work published by the Congressional Research Service in 2013 the "Homeland security" term's definition has varied over time.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the president that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The only exception to the state's gubernatorial declaration requirement occurs when an emergency or disaster takes place on federal property or to a federal asset—for example, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or the Space Shuttle Columbia in the 2003 return-flight disaster.
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was formerly known as the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Services, but was renamed in 2007 to more accurately reflect the programs under its jurisdiction, and to more closely align the subcommittee with its counterpart on the House Appropriations Committee. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with the United States House Committee on Appropriations over all appropriations bills in the United States Congress. Each committee has 12 matching subcommittees, each of which is tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills. This subcommittee has jurisdiction over the budget for the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration.
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices". The CCC is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments, and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities.
The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, Public Law 106-390, also called DMA2K, is U.S. federal legislation passed in 2000 that amended provisions of the United States Code related to disaster relief. The amended provisions are named after Robert Stafford, who led the passage of the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988.
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is an organization created by the United States Congress for disabled military veterans of the United States Armed Forces that helps them and their families through various means. It currently has nearly 1.3 million members. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, it is outside the purview of – and therefore not rated by – Charity Navigator.
In different administrative and organizational forms, the Food for Peace program of the United States has provided food assistance around the world for more than 50 years. Approximately 3 billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from U.S. food assistance. The Office of Food for Peace within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. Government's largest provider of overseas food assistance. The food assistance programming is funded primarily through the Food for Peace Act. The Office of Food for Peace also receives International Disaster Assistance Funds through the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) that can be used in emergency settings.
The Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 made major revisions to the United States' federal crop insurance program and provided emergency agricultural assistance. The crop insurance provisions significantly increased the program's government subsidy; improved coverage for farmers affected by multiple years of natural disasters; and authorized pilot insurance programs for livestock farmers and growers of other farm commodities that were not served by crop insurance, among many other provisions. The emergency provisions made available a total of $7.14 billion in emergency farm assistance, mostly in direct payments to growers of various commodities to compensate for low farm commodity prices.
The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 or Con Act authorized a major expansion of USDA lending activities, which at the time were administered by Farmers Home Administration (FmHA). The legislation was originally enacted as the Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act of 1961. In 1972, this title was changed to the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, and is often referred to as the Con Act.
The Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) is a program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service to respond to floods, fires, windstorms and other types of natural disasters. Types of work this program funds include: removing debris; reshaping and protecting eroded banks; correcting damaged drainage facilities; repairing levees and other water conveyance structures; and purchasing flood plain easements. For construction activities, it provides up to 75% of the project cost. It is almost always funded in supplemental appropriations that provide federal assistance to deal with a natural disaster.
The Emergency Wetlands Reserve Program (EWRP), authorized in 1993 under emergency supplemental appropriations to respond to widespread floods in the Midwest, provided payments to purchase easements and partial financial assistance to landowners who permanently restored wetlands at sites where the restoration costs exceeded the land’s fair market value. EWRP was administered by Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of its Emergency Watershed Program and operated in seven Midwestern states. Land in this program is considered to be a part of the land enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program.
The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) is an American disaster assistance program, administered by the Farm Service Agency, that makes payments for lost orchard trees and vines that produce annual crops. The program has been funded on an ad hoc basis, usually by emergency supplemental appropriations. Most recently, the program was funded for losses incurred between October 1, 1997, and September 30, 1998.
The Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a program that evolved out of surplus commodity donation efforts begun by the USDA in late 1981 to dispose of surplus foods held by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). This program was explicitly authorized by the Congress in 1983 when funding was provided to assist states with the costs involved in storing and distributing the commodities. The program originally was entitled the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program when authorized under the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983. The program is now known as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
The Pasture Recovery Program is a program, authorized in the 2001 agriculture appropriations act, to assist producers in reestablishing permanent vegetative forage crops on pastureland affected by natural disasters during calendar year 2000. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) was authorized to spend up to $40 million from Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds in counties with emergency designations by the USDA.
The United States Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, FY1999 Pub.L. 105–277, among its numerous provisions that include the regular annual appropriations for most United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, provided $5.9 billion in emergency spending for USDA programs to shore up farm income and to compensate farmers for natural disasters. More than one-half of this amount was in the form of direct market loss payments to grain, cotton, and dairy farmers for income assistance. Most of the balance was for disaster payments made to farmers who experienced large crop losses in either 1998 or in 3 of the 5 years between 1994 through 1998.
The Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 amended the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to require the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make additional types of commodities available for the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), to improve the child nutrition and food stamp programs, and to provide other hunger relief.
In United States agricultural policy, the haying and grazing rules dictate that in response to natural disaster conditions, Conservation Reserve Program land can be used for haying and grazing, but only after the Secretary approves it for the entire county. CRP participants who then choose to hay or graze receive reduced financial payments, reflecting the decreased environmental benefits being provided on enrolled lands.
Due to the common occurrence of hurricanes in the coastal state of North Carolina, Hurricane recovery in North Carolina is a large component of the state's emergency management efforts. Recovery from these tremendous storms at the local and state level is a large part of the aftermath of a hurricane. Gavin Smith and Victor Flatt stated that "Disaster recovery remains the least understood aspect of hazards management, when assessed relative to preparedness, response, and hazard mitigation." Smith and Flatt also went on to state that the role of the states is even less understood. The review of the plans and policies that instruct recovery, agencies involved, funding processes and budgets, and the environmental effects of a hurricane creates a better understanding of how North Carolina recovers from a hurricane.
The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is an organizational unit within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that is charged by the President of the United States with directing and coordinating international United States government disaster assistance.
