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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 153 / Thursday, August 12, 2021 / Notices counties. Maximum 20 points will be given.
f. Equity priority. 10 points will be given to applications with projects located in a community with a score of 0.75 or above according to the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index. Applicants may verify whether projects qualify for these priority points by viewing the RD
web page at https www.rd.usda.gov/
priority-points. For applications supporting two or more facility locations, these priority points will only be given if 50 percent or more of the requested award funds will support these communities identified for priority points through the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index. Maximum 10
points will be given.
2 Track Two, Impact applicants will receive a score based on the criteria below maximum score 100 points:
a. Distressed Communities/
Communities below the poverty line threshold priority. 10 points will be given for facilities or projects targeting distressed communities according to the EIG index or communities below the poverty line. For applications supporting two or more facility locations, these priority points will only be given if 50 percent or more of the requested award funds will support distressed communities or those communities below the poverty line.
EIGs Distressed Community Map can be found here: https
ruraldevelopment.maps.arcgis.com/
apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=
06a26a91d074426d944d22715a90311e.
Maximum 10 points will be given.
b. Income priority. If the median household income of the projects service area is below the higher of the poverty line or i. 60 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income: 15 points.
ii. 70 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income: 12 points.
iii. 80 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income: 9 points; or iv. 90 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income: 6 points.
c. Population priority. If the project or facilityies will be located in a rural community having a population, according to the most recent decennial census, of i. 5,000 or less: 10 points.
ii. 5,001 to 10,000: 6 points; or iii. 10,001 to 15,000: 3 points.
d. Need, Methodology, and Innovation maximum 25 points. The Agency will utilize a panel of internal and/or external qualified reviewers to
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assess need, methodology, and innovation along the following factors:
i. The extent to which the application clearly describes the purpose of the proposed project, the local/regional health care environment and how the need was identified, expected outcomes, focus areas and the aims the project would support.
ii. The extent to which the applicant describes an innovative approach to address the need, goals, and objectives and the appropriateness of the proposed strategy.
iii. The extent to which the applicants project will provide demonstrable impact to rural communityies and the health care community.
Maximum 25 points will be given.
e. Organizational Capacity and Strength of Consortium maximum 15
points. The Agency will utilize a panel of internal and/or external qualified reviewers to assess organizational capacity and strength of consortium along the following factors:
i. Clarity of the roles and responsibilities for each consortium member and the extent to which the network members demonstrate the strength of their mutual commitment in carrying out the planning activities.
ii. The extent to which the application identifies the composition, capacity, and expertise of each consortium member and successfully connects this expertise to the consortium members and project directors proposed responsibilities.
iii. The extent to which the application describes the geographical relationship with the rural service population. Urban-based applicants also must demonstrate how the rural population will be served, and that a high degree of local rural control of the project will be maintained.
iv. Strength of the relationship between the consortium and the community or region it serves. Degree to which the consortium collaborates with appropriate organizations in the community to fulfill the goals of the consortium and the project.
v. Strength and qualifications of the project director, who will dedicate an appropriate amount of their time to the program and be responsible for monitoring the program and ensuring award activities are carried out. This element includes measuring the effectiveness of the application in clearly demonstrating how the project directors role contributes to the success of the network.
Maximum 15 points will be given.
f. Workplan and Proposed Budget maximum 10 points. The Agency will
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utilize a panel of internal and/or external qualified reviewers to assess the workplan and proposed budget along the following factors:
i. The feasibility of activities and objectives identified in the work plan including measurable outcomes and the extent to which the expected outcomes this program will accomplish by the end of the period of performance.
ii. The reasonableness of the proposed budget for each year of the period of performance in relation to the objectives, the complexity of the project activities, and the anticipated results.
Maximum 10 points will be given.
g. Evaluation, Impact, and Replicability maximum 10 points. The Agency will utilize a panel of internal and/or external qualified reviewers to assess evaluation, impact, and replicability along the following factors:
i. The clarity and appropriateness of the proposed goals, objectives, strategy to calculate summary impact measures and/or return on investment, and extent to which project activities would result in achieving the proposed goals outlined in the work plan. The extent to which measures are able to be tracked, to assess whether the program objectives will be met and the extent to which these can be attributed to the program.
ii. The appropriateness and strength of data collection efforts from the lead applicant as well as other members of the consortium, including any plans to solicit or provide technical assistance to support data collection efforts.
iii. The appropriateness and strength of the proposed process for evaluation.
iv. The extent to which the applicant clearly identifies factors and strategies that will lead to viability and sustainability of the network beyond Federal funding, and after the program ends. The clarity and reasonableness of proposed steps to disseminate lessons learned and encourage replication where appropriate.
Maximum 10 points will be given.
h. Equity priority maximum 5 points will be given to applications with projects located in a community with a score of 0.75 or above according to the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index. For applications supporting two or more project locations, these priority points will only be given if 50 percent or more of the requested award funds will support these communities identified for priority points through the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index. Applicants may verify whether projects qualify for these priority points through a link on the RD website.
Maximum 5 points will be given.

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