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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 24, 2021 / Notices
of performance for the first award and set the period of performance at two years to allow these recipients the time needed to establish their Centers. What should the period of performance be for first-time recipients? What should it be for recipients that have established Centers?
b. The statute establishes a maximum award of $1,000,000, but it does not establish a minimum award. In the previous year, RBCS set a minimum award size of $500,000, with the expectation that all recipients would have funding for a two-year period of performance. Given a two-year period of performance, what should the minimum award be? What should the minimum award be if the period of performance is only one year?
c. The authorizing statute requires applications to include goals for increasing and improving the ability of local agricultural producers to develop markets and processes for value-added agricultural products. Note that the Value-Added Producer Grant Program currently defines a Locally-Produced Agricultural Food Product in 7 CFR
4284.902. Should the AIC program be consistent with this definition with respect to considering the service area of Centers? If not, what should be considered local for AIC Centers?
Should all project funds be required to be spent on assistance to local agricultural producers? If not, what percentage or share of the project should be dedicated to local producers versus producers that are not local?
4. RBCS seeks feedback on the types of services that Centers can provide. The current regulation restricts the use of funds to the types of assistance defined as Producer Services see 7 CFR
4284.1004. Producer Services include assistance such as business development services, process development services e.g., engineering studies and scale production assessments, marketing assistance, product development, financial advisory services, and legal advisory services. We do have a small amount of discretion to expand this definition to include related types of assistance.
What types of assistance should be provided by Centers to agricultural producers? Note that all assistance provided must be for the purpose of helping the producer market a valueadded agricultural product. Assistance cannot be provided to other types of entities, such as retailers, distributors, processors, or customers.
5. RBCS seeks feedback on when the application deadline for the program should be. It is our intention to have a consistent deadline from year to year.

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This deadline must be set to allow sufficient time for processing applications in order to make awards prior to September 30 each year. If application requirements are streamlined or less burdensome, the burden on applicants selected for an award may increase because supporting documentation will be supplied at the award stage rather than the application stage. This approach would result in less time processing applications but more time processing awards.
6. RBCS is seeking feedback on the merit review process. The authorizing statute does not identify any criteria that RBCS must use as part of its merit review process. However, the statute does require a competitive process, and 2 CFR 200.205 also requires a merit review. What criteria should RBCS use to identify projects that best fit the purpose of the program and have the greatest chance of success? Should these criteria be objective, subjective, or a mix of both? What type of reviewers should RBCS use to evaluate the merit of proposed projects? Should the RBCS
Administrator have discretion to award additional points based on geography, Agency priorities, or other factors?
7. RBCS is seeking feedback on the award process. The authorizing statute requires an annual competitive process to make awards. However, we are exploring options to minimize the burden of running a nationwide competition every year, given the limited number of awards that we can make as well as the larger scope of the projects funded. These options include, but are not limited to, multi-year periods of performance, renewals for recipients that are performing satisfactorily, and competitions limited to existing recipients. Would the use of any of these options or alternatives reduce the burden for the program, streamline the application process, or improve the success of the program?
8. RBCS is seeking feedback on how the programs performance should be assessed. As stated above, the purpose of the program is to provide services to agricultural producers to assist them with marketing value-added agricultural products. The required goals of recipients must include increasing and improving the ability of local agricultural producers to develop markets and processes for value-added agricultural products. Given this purpose and these goals, what performance measures should be established for the program? How should they be measured?

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Non-Discrimination Statement In accordance with Federal civil rights laws and U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Mission Areas, agencies, staff offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA
programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity including gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA not all bases apply to all programs. Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language should contact the responsible Mission Area, agency, or staff office; the USDA
TARGET Center at 202 7202600
voice and TTY; or the Federal Relay Service at 800 8778339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should complete a Form AD3027, USDA
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, which can be obtained online at https www.ocio.usda.gov/document/
ad-3027, from any USDA office, by calling 866 6329992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainants name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights ASCR about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
1 Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 202509410; or 2 Fax: 833 2561665 or 202 690
7442; or 3 Email: program.intake@usda.gov.
Karama Neal, Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
FR Doc. 202118134 Filed 82321; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 341015P

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