[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 198 (Thursday, October 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63143-63144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25827]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

RIN 0524-AA43


Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders Regarding Administration 
of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for stakeholder input.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is 
soliciting stakeholder input on the recent implementation of the 
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) authorized under 
section 1415A of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3151a). The purpose of this 
program is for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into 
agreements with veterinarians under which the veterinarians agree to 
provide, for a specific period of time as identified in the agreement, 
veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations. As part of the 
stakeholder input process, NIFA is conducting a public meeting to 
solicit comments regarding the processes developed and implemented for 
the first application cycle that concluded with the first group of 
awards under this program in September 2010. Input collected will be 
used to modify and improve processes for subsequent calls of shortage 
situation nominations and request for applications.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, November 8, 2010, from 9 
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. All comments must be received by close of business 
Monday, November 15, 2010, to be considered.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in room 1410 A-B-C-D of the 
Waterfront Centre Building, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 
United States Department of Agriculture, 800 9th St., SW., Washington, 
DC 20024. Meeting participants will need to provide photo 
identification to be admitted to the building. Please allow sufficient 
time to go through security. You may submit comments, identified by 
NIFA-2011-0001, by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    E-mail: [email protected]. Include NIFA-2011-0001 in the subject 
line of the message.
    Fax: 202-720-6486.
    Mail: Paper, disk or CD-ROM submissions should be submitted to 
VMLRP, Plant and Animal Systems (PAS) Unit, National Institute of Food 
and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture; STOP 2220, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-2220.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: VMLRP; Plant and Animal Systems (PAS) Unit, 
National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Room 3153, Waterfront Centre, 800 9th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20024.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and NIFA-2011-0001. All comments received will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lisa Stephens, (202) 401-6438, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional Meeting and Comment Procedures

    Because of the diversity of subjects, and to aid participants in 
scheduling their attendance, the following schedule is anticipated for 
the November 8, 2010, meeting:

9-9:30 a.m.-- Introduction and Background of VMLRP.
9:30-12 p.m.--Identification and prioritization of veterinarian 
shortage situations.
1-3:30 p.m.--Administration of the VMLRP, including application forms; 
timing and length of VMLRP application period; application 
prioritization and review; execution of VMLRP agreements; agreement 
terms and conditions; and monitoring and oversight of VMLRP agreements.

    Persons wishing to present oral comments at this meeting are 
requested

[[Page 63144]]

to pre-register by contacting Ms. Lisa Stephens at (202) 401-6438, by 
fax at (202) 401-6156 or by e-mail to [email protected]. 
Participants may reserve one 5-minute comment period per topic area, 
and should indicate the topic area(s) for which they are registering 
(i.e., identification of veterinarian shortage situations and/or 
administration of the VMLRP). For any participant who may require only 
one 5-minute period to fully present testimony regarding both topic 
areas, the participant should indicate this intention and may reserve 
their 5-minute comment period under one of the two topic areas. More 
time may be available, depending on the number of people wishing to 
make a presentation and the time needed for questions following 
presentations. Reservations will be confirmed on a first-come, first-
served basis. All other attendees may register at the meeting. Written 
comments may also be submitted for the record at the meeting. All 
comments must be received by close of business Monday, November 15, 
2010, to be considered. All comments and the official transcript of the 
meeting, when they become available, may be reviewed on the NIFA Web 
site for six months. Participants who require a sign language 
interpreter or other special accommodations should contact Ms. Stephens 
as directed above.

Background and Purpose

    Note: On October 1, 2009, the Cooperative State Research, 
Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) became the National 
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as mandated by the Food, 
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA), section 7511(f).

    In December 2003, the National Veterinary Medical Service Act 
(NVMSA) was passed into law adding section 1415A to the National 
Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 
(NARETPA). This law established a new Veterinary Medicine Loan 
Repayment Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing the Secretary of 
Agriculture (Secretary) to carry out a program of entering into 
agreements with veterinarians under which they agree to provide 
veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations. In November 
2005, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-97), 
appropriated $495,000 to implement the Veterinary Medicine Loan 
Repayment Program (VMLRP) and represented the first time funds had been 
appropriated for this program. In February 2007, the Revised Continuing 
Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (Pub. L. 110-5), appropriated an 
additional $495,000 for support of the program, and in December 2007, 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-161), 
appropriated an additional $868,875 for support of this program, and on 
March 11, 2009, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8) 
was enacted, providing an additional $2,950,000, for the VMLRP. In 
October 2009, the President signed into law, Pub. L. 111-80, 
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010, which appropriated 
$4,800,000 for the VMLRP. Consequently, there was a cumulative total of 
approximately $9.6 million available for NIFA to administer this 
program when NIFA rolled out its first Request for Applications for 
this program on April 30, 2010.
    The first VMLRP application period resulted in 260 applications in 
which 62 applications were selected for loan repayment awards totaling 
$5,988,086.
    Section 7105 of the FCEA amended section 1415A to revise the 
determination of veterinarian shortage situations to consider (1) 
geographical areas that the Secretary determines have a shortage of 
veterinarians; and (2) areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary 
determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as food animal 
medicine, public health, epidemiology, and food safety. This section 
also added that priority should be given to agreements with 
veterinarians for the practice of food animal medicine in veterinarian 
shortage situations.
    NARETPA section 1415A requires the Secretary, when determining the 
amount of repayment for a year of service by a veterinarian, to 
consider the ability of USDA to maximize the number of agreements from 
the amounts appropriated and to provide an incentive to serve in 
veterinary service shortage areas with the greatest need. This section 
also provides that loan repayments may consist of payments of the 
principal and interest on government and commercial loans received by 
the individual for the attendance of the individual at an accredited 
college of veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of 
Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent. This program is not authorized 
to provide repayments for any government or commercial loans incurred 
during the pursuit of another degree, such as an associate or bachelor 
degree. Loans eligible for repayment include educational loans made for 
one or more of the following: Loans for tuition expenses; other 
reasonable educational expenses, including fees, books, and laboratory 
expenses, incurred by the individual; and reasonable living expenses as 
determined by the Secretary. In addition, the Secretary is directed to 
make such additional payments to participants as the Secretary 
determines appropriate for the purpose of providing reimbursements to 
participants for individual tax liability resulting from participation 
in this program. The Secretary delegated the authority to carry out 
this program to NIFA.
    NIFA is holding a public meeting to obtain comments to use in 
improving the administration of the VMLRP. The meeting is open to the 
public. Written comments and suggestions on issues that may be 
considered during the meeting may be submitted to the NIFA Docket Clerk 
at the address above.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of October 2010.
Meryl Broussard,
Deputy Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2010-25827 Filed 10-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-22-P