[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28945-28946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9932]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Rural Development; Notice of Privatization of the National Sheep 
Industry Improvement Center

AGENCY: Rural Development, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Agriculture approved the Transition Plan to 
privatize the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. The American 
Sheep and Goat Center, a Utah non-profit corporation, became the 
successor to the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center on October 
1, 2006.

DATES: Privatization was effective Midnight, September 30, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas C. Dorr, Under Secretary, USDA 
Rural Development, Room 205-W, Mail Stop 0107, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-0107, telephone: 202-720-4581, TTY: 800-877-
8339 (Federal Information Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 28946]]

Background

    Section 375 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 7 
U.S.C. 2008j, created the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center 
(NSIIC) to strengthen the infrastructure of the sheep and goat 
industry. The NSIIC provided loans and grants for business ventures 
where normal commercial credit or funding was not available. Section 
375(j) of the Farm Bill legislation required the privatization of the 
NSIIC to occur on the earlier of its receiving a certain level of 
Federal funding or September 30, 2006. The legislation required a 
transition plan, to be approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, that 
provides for a private successor entity that would have the same 
purposes and be able to continue the activities of the NSIIC. The 
Secretary of Agriculture has approved a privatization plan that was 
triggered by the September 30, 2006 deadline. The NSIIC ceased 
operations on September 30, 2006. The American Sheep and Goat Center 
became the successor private organization on October 1, 2006. All 
assets and liabilities of the NSIIC have now been transferred to the 
private American Sheep and Goat Center. The transition plan is 
completed as of May 23, 2007.

    Dated: May 16, 2007.
Douglas Faulkner,
Acting Under Secretary, Rural Development.
 [FR Doc. E7-9932 Filed 5-22-07; 8:45 am]
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