[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17044-17046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8527]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Housing Service


Announcement of Funding to Develop Essential Community Facilities 
in Rural Communities for Eligible Public Entities, Nonprofit 
Corporations, and Tribal Governments with Extreme High Unemployment and 
Severe Economic Depression

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) announces the availability of 
$19 million in national competitive grant funds to be administered in 
accordance with this Notice, 7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(20), and the Community 
Facilities grant program (7 CFR part 3570, subpart B) to develop 
essential community facilities in rural communities with extreme high 
unemployment and severe economic depression.

DATES: Applications may be submitted at any time until funds are 
exhausted. (See Allocation of Funds and Selection Process.)

ADDRESSES: Entities wishing to apply for assistance are encouraged to 
contact their local USDA Rural Development office for guidance on the 
intake and processing of preapplications. A listing of Rural 
Development State offices, addresses, telephone numbers, and a person 
to contact follows:

    Note: Telephone numbers listed are not toll-free.

Alabama State Office
Suite 601, Sterling Centre, 4121 Carmichael Road Montgomery, AL 36106-
3683, 334-279-3400, James B. Harris
Alaska State Office
800 W. Evergreen, Suite 201, Palmer, AK 99645-6539, 907-761-7705, Dean 
Stewart
Arizona State Office
Phoenix Corporate Center, 3003 North Central Avenue, Suite 900, 
Phoenix, AZ 85012-2906, 602-280-8700, Leonard Gradillas
Arkansas State Office
700 W. Capitol Avenue, Room 3416 Little Rock, AR 72201-3225, 501-301-
3200, Jesse G. Sharp
California State Office
430 G Street, #4169, Davis, CA 95616-4169, 530-792-5800, Janice Waddell
Colorado State Office
655 Parfet Street, Room E100, Lakewood, CO 80215, 303-236-2801, Leroy 
Cruz
Delaware State Office*
4607 S. DuPont Highway, P.O. Box 400, Camden, DE 19934-9998, 302-697-
4300, James E. Waters
Florida State Office**
4440 N.W. 25th Place, P.O. Box 147010, Gainesville, FL 32614-7010, 352-
338-3400, Glenn W. Walden

[[Page 17045]]

Georgia State Office
Stephens Federal Building, 355 E. Hancock Avenue, Athens, GA 30601-
2768, 706-546-2162, Jerry Thomas
Hawaii State Office
Room 311, Federal Building, 154 Waianuenue Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720, 808-
933-8380, Thao Khamoui
Idaho State Office
9173 W. Barnes Drive, Suite A1, Boise, ID 83709, 208-378-5600, Dan 
Fraser
Illinois State Office
2118 Westpark Court, Suite A, Champaign, IL 61821, 217-403-6200, Gerald 
Townsend
Indiana State Office
5975 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46278, 317-290-3100, Gregg 
Delp
Iowa State Office
873 Federal Building, 210 Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50309, 515-284-
4663, Dorman A. Otte
Kansas State Office
1303 SW First American Place, Suite 100, Topeka, KS 66604-0440, 785-
271-2700, Gary Smith
Kentucky State Office
Suite 200, 771 Corporate Drive, Lexington, KY 40503, 859-224-7300, 
Vernon C. Brown
Louisiana State Office
3727 Government Street, Alexandria, LA 71302, 318-473-7920, Danny Magee
Maine State Office
967 Illinois Avenue, Suite 4, P.O. Box 405, Bangor, ME 04402-0405, 207-
990-9106, Alan Daigle
Massachusetts State Office***
451 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002, 413-253-4300, Daniel Beaudette
Michigan State Office
3001 Coolidge Road, Suite 200, East Lansing, MI 48823, 517-324-5100, 
Philip H. Wolak
Minnesota State Office
410 AgriBank Building, 375 Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101-1853, 
651-602-7800, James Maras
Mississippi State Office
Federal Building, Suite 831, 100 W. Capitol, Jackson, MS 39269, 601-
965-4316 Darnella Smith-Murray
Missouri State Office
601 Business Loop 70 West, Parkade Center, Suite 235, Columbia, MO 
65203, 573-876-0976, D. Clark Thomas
Montana State Office
Unit 1, Suite B, P.O. Box 850, 900 Technology Boulevard, Bozeman, MT 
59715, 406-585-2580, Deborah Chorlton
Nebraska State Office
Federal Building, Room 152, 100 Centennial Mall N, Lincoln, NE 68508, 
402-437-5551, Denise Brosius-Meeks
Nevada State Office
1390 South Curry Street, Carson City, NV 89703-9910, 775-887-1222, Mike 
E. Holm
New Jersey State Office
Tarnsfield Plaza, Suite 22, 790 WoodLane Road, Mt. Holly, NJ 08060, 
609-265-3600, Michael P. Kelsey
New Mexico State Office
6200 Jefferson Street NE, Room 255, Albuquerque, NM 87109, 505-761-
4950, Clyde F. Hudson,
New York State Office
The Galleries of Syracuse 441 S. Salina Street, Suite 357, Syracuse, 
NY, 13202-2541, 315-477-6400, Gail Giannotta
North Carolina State Office
4405 Bland Road, Suite 260, Raleigh, NC 27609, 919-873-2000, Phyllis 
Godbold
North Dakota State Office
Federal Building, Room 208, 220 East Rosser, P.O. Box 1737, Bismarck, 
ND, 58502-1737, 701-530-2037, Donald Warren
Ohio State Office
Federal Building, Room 507, 200 North High Street, Columbus, OH, 43215-
2418, 614-255-2400, David Douglas
Oklahoma State Office
100 USDA, Suite 108, Stillwater, OK 74074-2654, 405-742-1000, Rock W. 
Davis
Oregon State Office,
101 SW Main, Suite 1410, Portland, OR 97204-3222, 503-414-3300, Jerry 
W. Sheridan
Pennsylvania State Office
One Credit Union Place, Suite 330, Harrisburg, PA 17110-2996, 717-237-
2299, Gary Rothrock
Puerto Rico State Office
IBM Building, Suite 601, 654 Munos Rivera Avenue, Hato Rey, PR, 00918-
6106, 787-766-5095, Pedro Gomez
South Carolina State Office
Strom Thurmond Federal Building, 835 Assembly Street, Room 1007, 
Columbia, SC 29102, 803-765-5163, Larry Floyd
South Dakota State Office
Federal Building, Room 210, 200 Fourth Street SW., Huron, SD 57350, 
605-352-1100, Roger Hazuka
Tennessee State Office
Suite 300, 3322 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203-1084, 615-783-
1300, Keith Head
Texas State Office
Federal Building, Suite 102, 101 South Main, Temple, TX 76501, 254-742-
9700, Eugene G. Pavlat
Utah State Office
Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, 125 S. State Street, Rm. 4311, 
P.O. Box 11350, Salt Lake City, UT 84147-0350, 801-524-4320, Bonnie 
Carrig
Vermont State Office \****\
City Center, 3rd Floor, 89 Main Street, Montpelier, VT 05602, 802-828-
1600, Rhonda Shippee
Virginia State Office
Culpeper Building, Suite 238, 1606 Santa Rosa Road, Richmond, VA 23229, 
804-287-1550, Carrie Schmidt
Washington State Office
1835 Black Lake Blvd. SW., Suite B, Olympia, WA 98512-5715, 360-704-
7740, Sandi Boughton
West Virginia State Office
Federal Building, 75 High Street, Room 320, Morgantown, WV 26505-7500, 
304-284-4860, Dianne Crysler
Wisconsin State Office
4949 Kirschling Court, Stevens Point, WI 54481, 715-345-7600, Mark 
Brodziski,
Wyoming State Office
100 East B, Federal Building, Room 1005, P.O. Box 820, Casper, WY 
82602, 307-261-6300, Charles Huff

    \*\ The Delaware State Office also administers the Maryland 
program.
    \**\ The Florida State Office also administers the Virgin Island 
program.
    \***\ The Massachusetts State Office also administers the Rhode 
Island and Connecticut programs.
    \****\ The Vermont State Office also administers the New Hampshire 
program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Ben-Israel, Community Programs, 
RHS, USDA, STOP 0787,

[[Page 17046]]

1400 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20250-0787, Telephone (202) 
720-1490, Facsimile (202) 690-0471, E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The reporting requirements contained in this notice have been 
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and have been 
assigned OMB control number 0575-0173 in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Authorizing Legislation and Regulations

    This program is authorized under section 306(a) of the Consolidated 
Farm and Rural Development Act. RHS will administer these funds using 
the same regulations that govern its Community Facilities grant 
program. Program administration, eligibility, processing, and servicing 
requirements that govern the Community Facilities grant program may be 
found under 7 CFR part 3570, subpart B.

Background

    Under the FY 2002 appropriation, Congress appropriated $19 million 
for a Community Facilities grant program for rural communities with 
extreme unemployment and severe economic depression, hereafter referred 
to as the Economic Impact Initiative. These funds are in addition to 
the Community Facilities grant program's regular allocation of 
competitive grant funds. The Community Facilities grant program, 
authorized by Congress in 1996, is used in conjunction with the 
existing direct and guaranteed loan programs for the development of 
essential community facilities for public use in rural areas. Funding 
is intended to complement rather than compete with other credit 
sources. Grants are made available to public entities, such as 
municipalities, counties, and special-service districts, as well as to 
eligible nonprofit corporations and tribal governments. Grants are 
targeted to communities with the smallest populations and lowest 
incomes. Communities with lower population and income levels receive a 
greater percentage of the Federal contribution, between 15 to 75 
percent of the cost of developing the facility.

Additional Eligibility Requirements

    In addition to those requirements contained in 7 CFR part 3570, 
subpart B, the essential community facility must be located in a rural 
community where the ``not employed rate'' is greater than 19.5 percent 
as mandated by 7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(20)(B).

Definition of Not Employed Rate

    This is the percentage of individuals over the age of 18 who reside 
within the community and who are ready, willing, and able to be 
employed but are unable to find employment, as determined by the 
Department of Labor of the State in which the community is located.

Applicant Eligibility for Local Dial-Up Internet Access

    The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 expanded eligibility for 
the Economic Impact Initiative to provide local dial-up Internet access 
or broadband service where it does not currently exist. Under this 
provision, the Agency may make grants to State agencies for use by 
regulatory commissions in States with rural communities without local 
dial-up Internet access or local broadband service. The State Agencies 
will establish a competitive, technologically neutral grant program to 
telecommunications carriers or cable operators that establish common 
carrier facilities and services that, in the commission's 
determination, will result in the long-term availability of affordable 
broadband services that are used for high speed Internet access for 
these communities.

Allocation of Funds

    All Economic Impact Initiative funds will remain in the National 
Office reserve for funding consideration for FY 2002. Project 
selections will be on a national competitive basis. There will be two 
windows of opportunity to compete for grant funding. It is anticipated, 
the first round of funding selections will be made after May 10, 2002. 
The second round will be held after August 23, 2002.

Selection Process

    Once a determination has been made by the State Office that an 
applicant is eligible, the preapplication is evaluated competitively 
and points awarded as specified in the project selection priorities 
contained in 7 CFR part 3570, subpart B. The State Director or designee 
will then forward the request to the National Office to compete for 
funding consideration. Projects will then be rated, ranked, and 
selections made in order of priority. Each proposal will be judged on 
its own merit. Unless withdrawn by the applicant, projects not selected 
for funding consideration for the first round of funding selections 
will remain eligible to compete for the next round of funding.
    To be considered for the first window, all preapplications along 
with supporting documentation satisfactory to the Agency must be 
received by the Rural Development State or designated field office by 
close of business May 3, 2002. To be considered for the second window, 
all preapplications must be received by the Rural Development State or 
designated field office by close of business August 16, 2002.

Notice of Invitation To Submit Complete Application

    All preapplications selected for funding consideration will be 
notified by the State or field office by issuing Form AD-622, ``Notice 
of Preapplication Review Action.'' At that time, the proposed recipient 
will be invited to submit a complete application, along with 
instructions related to the agreed upon award amount, and asked to 
schedule an application conference to discuss items needed for formal 
application and to further clarify issues related to the project.

Final Approval and Funding Process

    Final approval is subject to the availability of funds; the 
submission by the applicant of a formal, complete application and 
related materials that meet the program requirements and 
responsibilities of the grantee (contained in 7 CFR part 3570, subpart 
B); the letter of conditions; and the grant agreement. Those 
preapplications that do not have sufficient priority necessary to 
receive funding consideration for FY 2002 will be notified, in writing, 
by the Agency's State or designated field office.

    Dated: April 3, 2002.
Arthur A. Garcia,
Administrator, Rural Housing Service.
[FR Doc. 02-8527 Filed 4-8-02; 8:45 am]
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