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Congressman Paul Tonko announced today that New York State will receive $41.7 million dollars in emergency flood relief from the United States Department of Agriculture, which will help farmers and local communities clean up and make repairs to damage caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee late last summer. The funding is part of $308 million dollars in total funding that will be distributed to communities across the country which were battered by natural disasters throughout 2011.

“The release of these funds is another step forward in our recovery from the flooding that devastated farms and clogged our streams, rivers and drainage systems with tons of debris. While it is not a panacea, resources will now be available to help farmers remove debris from their land, make repairs to fences, clear stream channels and road culverts and fix drainage infrastructure that will otherwise flood again if there is a significant storm. I want to thank my colleagues for working in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that our farm communities will be able to recover and rebuild. This effort is a good example of how Washington should work to benefit the American people – especially after a major disaster strikes.”

New York State will receive $37.8 million from the USDA’s Emergency Watershed Protection program, which will be used to provide funding and technical assistance to clear debris from stream channels, fix damaged drainage facilities, reshape and protect eroded banks, and other activities that address public safety and restoration efforts on public and private land.

Another $3.93 million will be allocated to New York through USDA’s Emergency Conservation Program, which provides emergency funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters.

In response to the local flooding and other natural disasters across the country, Congressman Tonko led a bipartisan effort through the Hurricane Irene Coalition to secure additional funding for these two programs. As part of that effort, Congressman Tonko introduced the Helping Devastated Farmers Act of 2011, which called for an additional $340 million of funding for the EWP & ECP programs.

Both programs will fund 75% of targeted repair and restoration projects. Farmers can apply for ECP funds through their local Farm Service Agency county office. Projects sponsors can apply for EWP funds through their local Natural Resources Conservation Service county office.

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