[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 238 (Monday, December 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89431-89432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29655]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders Regarding the Food Safety 
Outreach Program

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Stakeholder Listening Session and request for 
stakeholder input.

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SUMMARY: As part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's 
(NIFA) strategy to successfully expand the Food Safety Outreach 
Program, NIFA will host a virtual listening session. The focus of the 
listening session is to gather stakeholder input to develop the 
priorities for the Request for Applications (RFA) in Fiscal Year (FY) 
2018. NIFA is particularly interested in reaching the intended 
audience, achieving the most impact, and identifying suggested 
priorities in the third year of the Food Safety Outreach Program.

DATES: The listening session will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 
from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST). All written 
comments must be received by 5 p.m. EST on January 31, 2017 to be 
considered in the initial drafting of the FY 2018 Food Safety Outreach 
Program request for applications.

ADDRESSES: The listening session will be hosted using Adobe Connect. On 
January 31, 2017, please access the following Web site, http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/r271ozhv661/. In addition, audio conference call 
capabilities are accessible at 1-888-844-9904, participant code 
4715738#.
    Please submit comments, identified as NIFA-2017-0002, by any of the 
following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Email: [email protected]. Include NIFA-2017-0002 in the subject 
line of the message.
    Fax: 202-401-4888.
    Mail: Paper, disk or CD-ROM submissions should be submitted to 
FSOP; Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition (IFSN), National Institute 
of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 2225, 
1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-2225.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: FSOP, IFSN, National Institute of Food and 
Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 2458, Waterfront 
Centre, 800 9th Street SW., Washington, DC 20024.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and reference to NIFA-2017-0002. All comments received will be posted 
to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dawanna James-Holly, (202) 401-
1950 (phone), (202) 401-4888 (fax), or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional Webinars and Comment Procedures

    Persons wishing to present during the web-based listening session 
on Tuesday, January 31, 2017, are requested to pre-register by 
contacting Dr. Dawanna James-Holly. Participants may reserve one 5-
minute comment period. More time may be available, depending on the 
number of people wishing to make a presentation. Reservations will be 
confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis. All other participants 
may provide comments during the listening session if time permits, or 
by previous listed means.

Background and Purpose

    On January 4, 2011, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was 
signed into legislation. The Act amended the Food and Drug Cosmetic 
Act, 21 U.S.C. 391 et seq. Section 209 of FSMA added section 1011, 
Subsection (d) entitled ``National Food Safety Training, Education, 
Extension, Outreach and Technical Assistance Program''. In 2015 NIFA 
and FDA formed a collaboration to establish the National Food Safety 
Training, Education, Extension, Outreach and Technical Assistance 
Competitive Grant Program. In 2016, the Food Safety Outreach Program at 
NIFA expanded the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, 
Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grant Program. Both 
programs award competitive grants to eligible recipients for projects 
that develop and implement FSMA-related food safety training, 
education, extension, outreach, and technical assistance to owners and 
operators of small and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially 
disadvantaged farmers, small processors or small fresh fruit and 
vegetable merchant wholesalers.
    In FY 2016, the Food Safety Outreach Program at NIFA built upon the 
national infrastructure, with a focus on delivery of customized 
training to very specific target audiences. Grant applications were 
solicited directly from those in local communities--to include those 
from community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, 
food hubs, farm cooperatives, extension, and other local groups. 
Proposals were solicited for three project types: (1) Pilot Projects; 
(2) Community Outreach Projects; and (3) Multistate Education and 
Training Projects. Pilot Projects support the development of 
potentially high-risk and high-impact food safety education and 
outreach programs in local communities, addressing the needs of small, 
specialized audiences from among the various target groups. Pilot 
projects focus on building the capacity of local groups to identify 
very specific needs within their communities, and implementing 
appropriately-customized food safety education and outreach programs to 
meet those specific needs.
    Community Outreach Projects support the growth and expansion of 
already existing food safety education and outreach programs currently 
offered in local communities. In addition, these projects enable 
existing programs to reach a broader target audience. These projects 
enable existing education and training curricula to be modified to 
ensure that they are consistent with new FSMA rules and to ensure that 
they meet the needs of expanded audiences.
    Multistate Education and Training Projects support the development 
of multi-county, state-wide or multi-state programs. These projects 
support collaborations among states not necessarily located within the 
same regions, but having common food safety concerns, or addressing 
common commodities.
    Since its inception in FY 2015, the program has awarded over $7 
million to Community Based Organizations, Cooperative Extension at 1890 
and 1862 land-grant institutions, and local food hubs and established 
27 new Food Safety Education and Outreach Projects. Many of these 
projects will work at the local level to provide training and technical 
assistance to small, mid-sized and hard to reach producers and 
processors to address the new requirements associated with FSMA.

Implementation Plans

    All comments and the official transcript of the listening session, 
once available, may be reviewed on the NIFA Web page, https://
nifa.usda.gov/food-

[[Page 89432]]

safety-outreach-program, for six months. NIFA plans to consider 
stakeholder input received from this listening session as well as other 
written comments in developing the Fiscal Year 2018 solicitations for 
this program.

    Dated: December 2, 2016.
Sonny Ramaswamy,
Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2016-29655 Filed 12-9-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-22-P