[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 42 (Friday, March 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12905-12907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04687]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
[Docket Number: RBS-21-BUSINESS-0003]
Inviting Applications for Value-Added Producer Grants and
Solicitation of Grant Reviewers
AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; amendment.
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SUMMARY: The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) published a
notice in the Federal Register on December 21, 2020 inviting
applications for the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program.
Subsequently, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which provides
$35 million in COVID-19 relief funds, was enacted. Accordingly, a total
of $76 million in program funding is available. The agency is extending
the application deadline, increasing available total funding for the
program; allowing for application submission through email; eliminating
the awarding of points for the Level of Commitment category specified
in Section 1(c) of the original notice, and allowing for a reduced cost
share match of 10 percent of the grant amount for the $35 million in
COVID-19 relief funds. You should review this notice in its entirety
for more specific information on changes that have been made to the
original notice.
DATES: You must submit your application by May 4, 2021 for it to be
considered for funding. Paper applications must be postmarked and
mailed, shipped, or sent overnight by this date. You may also email or
hand carry your application to one of our field offices, but
applications submitted by this method must be received by 4:30 p.m.
local time on May 4, 2021. Applications are permitted via https://www.grants.gov/ and must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on
April 29, 2021. Late applications are not eligible for grant funding
under this Notice.
ADDRESSES: To submit a paper application, send it to the State Office
located in the State where your project will primarily take place. You
can find State Office contact information at http://www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices. To submit an application through email,
contact your respective State Office before May 4, 2021 to obtain the
Agency email address where you will submit your application. If you
want to submit an application through Grants.gov, follow the
instructions for the VAPG funding announcement on https://www.grants.gov/. Please review the Grants.gov website at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/registration.html for instructions
on the process of registering your organization as soon as possible to
ensure you are able to meet the Grants.gov application deadline.
[[Page 12906]]
You should contact your USDA Rural Development State Office if you
have questions about eligibility or submission requirements. You are
encouraged to contact your State Office well in advance of the
application deadline to discuss your project and to ask any questions
about the application process. Application materials are available at
http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/value-added-producer-grants.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg York at (202) 281-5289,
[email protected], or Mike Daniels at (715) 345-7637,
[email protected], Program Management Division, Rural Business-
Cooperative Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Mail Stop 3226, Room--5801-S, Washington, DC
20250-3226, 202-720-1400, or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENATARY INFORMATION: Authority:
The VAPG program is authorized under section 231 of the Agriculture
Risk Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-224), as amended by section
10102 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334) (see
7 U.S.C. 1627c). Applicants must adhere to the requirements contained
in the program regulation, 7 CFR part 4284, subpart J, which is
incorporated by reference in this Notice.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the paperwork
burden associated with this Notice has been approved by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number 0570-0064.
Overview
Federal Agency Name: USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
Funding Opportunity Title: Value-Added Producer Grant.
Announcement Type: Notice of Solicitation of Applications and
Solicitation of Grant Reviewers.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 10.352.
Dates: Application Deadline. You must submit your application by
May 4, 2021 for it to be considered for funding. Paper applications
must be postmarked and mailed, shipped or sent overnight by this date.
You may also email or hand carry your application to one of our field
offices, but it must be received by 4:30 p.m. local time on May 4,
2021. Applications are permitted via https://www.grants.gov/ and must
be received before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on April 29, 2021. Late
applications are not eligible for grant funding under this Notice.
I. Background
The Agency published a Notice in the Federal Register on December
21, 2020 (85 FR 83038) (the original notice) announcing the
availability of funding for competitive grants to assist eligible
agricultural producers in starting or expanding value-added activities
related to the processing and marketing of new products. The goals of
this program are to generate new products, create and expand marketing
opportunities, and increase producer income.
Under the original notice, applicants had until March 22, 2021 to
submit a paper application and until March 16, 2021 to submit
applications through Grants.gov (the new due dates are as specified in
Section III(4) below). The original solicitation required the applicant
to provide cost sharing match of at least $1 for every $1 in grant
funds provided by the Agency.
The purpose of this Notice is to announce that the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (the FY 2021 Appropriations Act), provides an
additional $35 million in funding for COVID-19 relief and allows for a
reduced cost-share match of 10 percent of the grant amount (i.e., at
least $1 from the applicant for every $10 in Agency grant funds) for
these funds during the public health emergency.
II. General Funding Information
A. Type of Instrument
Grant. Maximum award amount for Planning Grant is $75,000; maximum
award amount for Working Capital Grant is $250,000.
B. Available Funds
There is approximately $76 million in available funding. Of this
amount, the COVID-19 relief funds constitute $35 million and the other
$41 million comes from the FY 2021 Appropriations Act and carryover
funding from fiscal year 2020. The $35 million in COVID-19 relief funds
may include a reduced cost share match requirement of 10 percent of the
grant amount. The other available funds have a statutory cost share
match requirement of 100 percent of the grant amount. Please see
section III., ``Program Requirements and Changes,'' for additional
information.
C. Approximate Number of Awards
The number of awards will depend on the number of eligible
participants and the total amount of requested funds.
III. Program Requirements and Changes
To be eligible for an award under this solicitation, applications
must meet all the requirements contained in the original notice with
the following exceptions for this amended notice:
1. Total available funding for FY 2021 is approximately $76
million.
2. Your application may include a reduced cost-share match of 10
percent of grant funds if you are competing for the $35 million in FY
2021 COVID-19 relief funds. You are not required to demonstrate how
your business operations were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Relief
funds will be awarded in application scoring rank order until
exhausted. If your application for COVID-19 relief funds is not
selected for funding through the competitive process, you will have the
opportunity to compete for the additional $41 million in funds if your
application scores 50 points or above. You will be contacted by the
Agency and will be required to submit a revised budget and work plan
that includes the standard cost-share match of at least $1 for every $1
in grant funds. Applicants unable to meet the standard cost-share match
will be ineligible to compete for the additional funding.
3. For the FY 2021 VAPG cycle, the Level of Commitment assignment
of points for in-kind and cash match contributions will be eliminated
from Commitments and Support scoring criterion (c).
Points for Commitments and Support will be redistributed as
follows:
(i) 0 points will be awarded if you do not address the criterion.
(ii) Independent Producer Commitment:
(A) Sole Proprietor (one owner/producer): 1 point.
(B) Multiple Independent Producers (note: in cases where family
members, such as husband and wife, are eligible Independent Producers,
each family member will count as one Independent Producer): 2 points.
(iii) End-user commitment:
(A) No or insufficiently documented commitment from end-users: 0
points.
(B) Well-documented commitment from one end-user: 2 points.
(C) Well-documented commitment from more than one end-user: 4
points.
(iv) Third-party commitment:
(A) No, or insufficiently documented, commitment from third-
parties: 0 points.
(B) Well-documented commitment from one third-party: 2 points.
(C) Well-documented commitment from more than one third-party: 4
points.
4. You must submit your application by May 4, 2021 for it to be
considered for funding. Paper applications must be postmarked and
mailed, shipped or sent overnight by this date. You may also
[[Page 12907]]
email or hand carry your application to one of our field offices, but
it must be received by 4:30 p.m. local time on May 4, 2021.
Applications are permitted via https://www.grants.gov/ and must be
received before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on April 29, 2021. Late
applications are not eligible for grant funding under this Notice.
5. If you are interested in serving as a non-federal independent
grant reviewer, please send a resume addressing relevant qualifications
and experience to [email protected] by April 5, 2021.
Program information and revised application templates can also be
found at https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/value-added-producer-grants.
Mark Brodziski,
Acting Administrator, Rural Business--Cooperative Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-04687 Filed 3-4-21; 8:45 am]
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