(a) Payment under DELAP will only be made to producers, but the dairy “operation” must first qualify its production within limits provided for in this subpart in order to have the individuals or entities that qualify as “producers” receive payment subject to whatever additional limits (such as the adjusted gross income provisions of these regulations) apply. As needed the agency may construe the terms of this regulation in any manner needed to facilitate and expedite payments using existing data and records from other assistance programs. Further, those parties (State and local governments and their political subdivisions and related agencies) excluded from the MILC program will not be eligible for DELAP payments notwithstanding any other provision of these regulation. That said, to be eligible to receive payments under this subpart, a dairy producer in the United States must:

(b) To be eligible to receive a payment, each producer in an eligible dairy operation must meet the average adjusted gross income eligibility requirements of 7 CFR part 1400. No person or entity will be eligible to receive any payment or direct or indirect benefit under this subpart if their annual average adjusted nonfarm income is over $500,000 as determined under 7 CFR part 1400. In the case of indirect benefits, direct benefits to other parties will be reduced accordingly. This will mean that all of the attribution rules of part 1400 will apply. For example if Individual A is over the limit and owns 100 percent of Corporation C which had a 20 percent interest in Corporation B which had a 50 percent interest in milk producer Corporation A, the AGI of Individual A would result in a 10 percent (100 percent times 20 percent times 50 percent) loss in benefits to Corporation A. For DELAP, the relevant period for the annual average adjusted nonfarm income is 2005 through 2007.