[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 244 (Thursday, December 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72918-72921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27770]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

[Docket #: RBS-21-Business-0035]


Notice of Solicitation of Applications for Inviting Applications 
for the Intermediary Relending Program for Fiscal Year 2022

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA Rural Development.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice is to invite applications under the Intermediary 
Relending Program (IRP) for fiscal year (FY) 2022, subject to 
availability of funding. This Notice is being issued in order to allow 
applicants enough time to leverage financing, prepare and submit their 
applications, and give the Agency time to process program applications 
within FY 2022. Successful applications will be selected by the Agency 
for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may 
ultimately be made available through appropriations. An announcement on 
the website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/notices-solicitation-applications-nosas will identify the amount received in the 
appropriations. The Agency advises that all interested parties bear the 
financial burden of preparing and submitting an application in response 
to the notice whether or not funding is appropriated for this Program 
in FY 2022.

DATES: The deadlines for completed applications to be received in the 
USDA Rural Development State Office for quarterly funding competitions 
is no later than 4:30 p.m. (local time) on: Second Quarter--December 
31, 2021, Third Quarter--March 31, 2022, and Fourth Quarter--June 30, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted to the USDA Rural Development 
State Office for the state where the applicant is located. Applications 
may be submitted in paper or electronic format to the appropriate Rural 
Development State Office and must be received by 4:30 p.m. local time 
on the deadline date(s) to compete for available funds in the fiscal 
quarter. Applicants are encouraged to contact their respective Rural 
Development State Office for an email contact to submit an electronic 
application prior to the submission deadline date(s). A list of the 
USDA Rural Development State Office contacts can be found at: State 
Offices  Rural Development (usda.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lori Pittman, usda.gov">lori.pittman1@usda.gov, 
Program Management Division, Business Programs, Rural Business-
Cooperative Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence 
Avenue SW, MS 3226, Room 5160-S, Washington, DC 20250-3226, or call 
(202) 720-1400. For further information on this notice, please contact 
the USDA Rural Development State Office in the State in which the 
applicant's headquarters is located. A list of Rural Development State 
Office contacts is provided at the following link: State Offices 
[verbar] Rural Development (usda.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agency encourages applicants to consider 
projects that will advance the following key priorities (more details 
available at https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points):
     Assisting rural communities recover economically from the 
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly disadvantaged 
communities;
     Ensuring all rural residents have equitable access to 
Rural Development (RD) programs and benefits from RD funded projects; 
and
     Reducing climate pollution and increasing resilience to 
the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural 
communities.

Overview

    Solicitation Opportunity Type: Intermediary Relending Program.
    Announcement Type: Solicitation of Applications for FY 2022 loan 
funds.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 10.767.
    Dates: Applications are accepted on a continuous basis and compete 
for available funds on a quarterly basis. Applications received in the 
USDA Rural Development State Office no later than 4:30 p.m. (local 
time) on: Second Quarter--December 31, 2021, Third Quarter--March 31, 
2022 and Fourth Quarter--June 30, 2022, will compete for available 
funds in the fiscal quarter.
    Set-Aside Funding Dates: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 
authorized set-aside funding to projects and intermediaries serving 
Federally-Recognized Native American Tribes, and for Mississippi Delta 
Region Counties (as determined in accordance with Public Law 100-460). 
Eligible applicants for the set-aside funds, if such funds are 
appropriated, must demonstrate that at least 75 percent of the benefits 
of an approved loan in this program will assist ultimate recipients in 
the designated areas. Applications for set-aside funds must be 
submitted to the Rural Development State Office where the project is 
located by 4:30 p.m. (local time) on the following deadline dates. The 
completed application deadline for the Federally Recognized Native 
American Tribes and Mississippi Delta Region Counties projects is May 
31, 2022. Funds may also be appropriated for projects located in Rural 
Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities/Rural Economic Area Partnership 
areas. Completed applications for these projects subject to available 
funding, must be submitted by July 15, 2022.

A. Program Description

    1. Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the program is to provide 
direct loans to intermediaries that establish revolving loan programs 
for the purpose of providing loans to ultimate recipients for business 
purposes and community development in a rural area as defined in 7 CFR 
4274.302. All applicable program requirements in their entirety can be 
found at 7 CFR part 4274, subpart D.
    2. Statutory Authority. This program is authorized under Section 
310H of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
1936b) and is administered through regulations at 7 CFR part 4274, 
subpart D.
    3. Definition of Terms. The definitions applicable to this notice 
are published at 7 CFR 4274.302.
    4. Application Awards. The Agency will review, evaluate and score 
applications received in response to this notice based on the 
provisions found in 7 CFR 4274.341.

B. Federal Award Information

    Type of Award: Loan.
    Fiscal Year Funds: FY 2022.
    Available Funds: Funding for the IRP program in FY 2022 is 
anticipated with the amount of any available funds to be determined in 
an Appropriations Act for FY 2022.
    Maximum Award: The Agency anticipates a maximum award of $1 Million 
for eligible Intermediaries submitting a loan request.
    Anticipated Award Dates--Regular Funding: Second Quarter--February 
28, 2022, Third Quarter--May 31, 2022, Fourth Quarter--August 31, 2022.
    Anticipated Award Date--Federally Recognized Native American Tribes 
and Mississippi Delta Region Counties Funding: June 15, 2022.
    Anticipated Award Date--Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities/
Rural Economic Area Partnership Funding: August 1, 2022.
    Renewal or Supplemental Awards: None.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

    IRP loans may be made to a private non-profit corporation, a public 
agency,

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an Indian Tribe, or a cooperative entity, identified as eligible 
borrowers in accordance with 7 CFR 4274.310.

2. Cost Share or Matching

    Applicants will receive points in compliance with 7 CFR 4274.341(b) 
if a cash contribution at a minimum of five percent of the loan amount 
is contributed to the IRP revolving loan fund at the time of 
application. An application will score higher with a higher cash 
contribution percentage to the application amount. The IRP revolving 
fund share of the eligible project cost of an ultimate recipient's 
project shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the ultimate 
recipient's project for which the loan is being made, in accordance 
with 7 CFR 4274.352.

3. Discretionary Points

    The Administrator may assign up to 35 discretionary points to an 
application when under their approval authority. Assignment of 
discretionary points must include a written justification. Permissible 
justifications are geographic distribution of funds, special Secretary 
of Agriculture initiatives such as Priority Communities, or a state's 
strategic goals. The number of points to be awarded will be determined 
by the impact of the project on the stated initiative. Discretionary 
points may only be assigned to initial grants. However, in the case 
where two Projects have the same score, the State Director may add one 
point to the Project that best fits the State's strategic plan 
regardless of whether the Project is an initial or subsequent grant. 
The following are examples of special Secretary of Agriculture 
initiatives that can support obtaining discretionary points.
    (i) COVID-19 Recovery. Applicant may receive priority points if the 
project is located in or serving one of the top 10% of counties or 
county equivalents based upon county risk score in the United States. 
The website, https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points, has the data to 
confirm if your location qualifies or not.
    (ii) Equity. Applicant may receive priority points if the project 
is located in or serving a community with score 0.75 or above on the 
CDC Social Vulnerability Index. The website, https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points, has the data to confirm if your location qualifies or 
not.
    (iii) Climate Impact. Applicants may receive points if the project 
is located in or serving coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities 
whose economic well-being ranks in the most distressed tier of the 
Distressed Communities Index. The website, https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points, has the data to confirm if your location qualifies or 
not. Or, applicants may receive points by demonstrating how proposed 
climate-impact projects improve the livelihoods of community residents 
and meet pollution mitigation or clean energy goals.

4. Other

    Applications will only be accepted from eligible intermediaries 
that will establish, or have established, revolving loan programs for 
the purpose of providing loans to ultimate recipients for business 
purposes and community developments in a rural area.
    There are no ``responsiveness'' or ``threshold'' eligibility 
criteria for these loans. However, not more than one loan will be 
approved by the Agency for an intermediary in any single fiscal year 
unless the additional request is from this program's set-aside funding.

5. Completeness Eligibility

    Applications will not be considered for funding if they do not 
provide enough information to determine eligibility, are not suitable 
for evaluation or are missing required elements as stated in 7 CFR 
4274.340.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address To Request Application Package

    For further information, entities wishing to apply for assistance 
should contact the USDA Rural Development State Office where they are 
located, provided in the ADDRESSES section of this notice, to obtain 
copies of the application package. Applicants are also are encouraged 
to contact their respective Rural Development State office for an email 
contact to submit an electronic application prior to the submission 
deadline date(s). Please note that applicants may locate the 
downloadable application package for this program by the Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance Number, which is 10.767.
    All applicants must have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal 
Numbering System (DUNS) number which can be obtained at no cost via a 
toll-free request line at 1-866-705-5711 or online at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. In compliance with 2 CFR part 200, all 
applicants for direct loans must also be registered in the System for 
Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting an application. Applicants 
may register for the SAM at http://www.sam.gov.

2. Content and Form of Submission

    An application must contain all the required elements and each 
selection priority criterion outlined in 7 CFR 4274.343 must be 
addressed in the application. An original copy of the application must 
be filed with a Rural Development State Office for the state where the 
Intermediary is located.
    The applicant documentation and forms needed for a complete 
application are located in 7 CFR 4274.340. There are no specific 
formats or limitations on the number of pages required for an 
application narrative, and applicants may request any Agency forms and 
addresses from the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Any form that 
requires an original signature, but is signed electronically in the 
application submission, must be signed in ink by the authorized person 
prior to the disbursement of funds.

3. Submission Dates and Times

    Applications must be received by the specified USDA Rural 
Development State Office by the dates and times as indicated above to 
compete for available funds in a fiscal quarter. If the due date falls 
on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, the application is due the 
next business day. The Agency will determine the application receipt 
date based on the actual date an application is received 
electronically, in person, or when a paper application is postmarked.

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

    All eligible and complete applications will be evaluated and scored 
based on the selection criteria and weights contained in 7 CFR 
4274.341(b). Failure to address any of the application criteria by the 
application deadline will result in the application being determined 
ineligible, and the application will not be considered for funding.

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2. Review and Selection Process

    The Rural Development State Offices will review applications to 
determine if they are eligible for assistance based on the requirements 
contained in 7 CFR part 4274, subpart D. If determined eligible, your 
application will be submitted to the National Office for funding 
competition with all eligible applications received by the quarterly 
application deadline. The Agency Administrator reserves the right to 
award up to 10 discretionary points with justification under 7 CFR 
4274.341(b)(10).
    In order to distribute funds among the greatest number of projects 
possible, State application submissions will be reviewed, organized and 
ranked in order from highest to lowest and funded up to the maximum 
funding available.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

    Successful applicants will receive notification for funding from 
the USDA Rural Development State Office. Applicants must comply with 
all applicable statutes and regulations before the loan award will be 
obligated. An eligible application competing for regular IRP funds, but 
not selected, will be reconsidered in three subsequent quarterly 
funding competitions, for a total of four competitions, provided the 
application and eligibility requirements have not changed. After 
competing in four quarterly competitions, any unsuccessful applicant 
for regular funds will receive written notification indicating that 
their application will no longer be considered for funding. Applicants 
competing for set-aside funding have only one application period per 
fiscal year. Unsuccessful applicants for set-aside funding will receive 
written notification indicating that their application was not 
successful. An unsuccessful applicant for set-aside funding may elect, 
in writing, to submit their project for IRP regular fund competitions 
commencing with the next quarterly application period.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    Additional requirements that apply to intermediaries selected for 
this Program can be found in 7 CFR part 4274, subpart D. All successful 
applicants will be notified by letter which will include a Letter of 
Conditions, and a Letter of Intent to Meet Conditions, which are not 
approval determinations. The loan will be considered approved when all 
conditions in the Letter of Conditions have been met and the Agency 
obligates the funding for the Project.
    In addition, all recipients of Federal financial assistance are 
required to report information about first-tier sub-awards and 
executive compensation (see 2 CFR part 170). You will be required to 
have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the 
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 
109-282) reporting requirements (see 2 CFR 170.200(b), unless you are 
exempt under 2 CFR 170.110(b)).
    Intermediaries must collect and maintain data provided by Ultimate 
Recipients on race, sex, and national origin and also ensure that 
Ultimate Recipients collect and maintain this data. Race and ethnicity 
data will be collected in accordance with OMB Federal Register notice, 
``Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on 
Race and Ethnicity'' (62 FR 58782), October 30, 1997. Sex data will be 
collected in accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 
1972. These items should not be submitted with the application but 
should be available upon request by the Agency.
    The applicant and the Ultimate Recipients must comply with Title VI 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments 
of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Executive 
Order 12250, Executive Order 13166 Limited English Proficiency (LEP), 
and 7 CFR part 1901, subpart E.

G. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
information collection requirement contained in this notice is approved 
by OMB under OMB Control Number 0570-0021.

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act

    All applicants, in accordance with 2 CFR part 25, must have a DUNS 
number, which can be obtained at no cost via a toll-free request line 
at (866) 705-5711 or online at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. In 
compliance with 2 CFR part 200, all applicants for direct loans must 
also be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to 
submitting an application. Applicants may register for the SAM at 
http://www.sam.gov. All recipients of Federal financial assistance are 
required to report information about first-tier sub-awards and 
executive total compensation in accordance with 2 CFR part 170.

Nondiscrimination Statement

    In accordance with Federal civil rights laws and U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its 
Mission Areas, agencies, staff offices, employees, and institutions 
participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from 
discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, 
gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, 
disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived 
from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or 
retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity 
conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). 
Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
    Program information may be made available in languages other than 
English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 
communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large 
print, audiotape, American Sign Language) should contact the 
responsible Mission Area, agency, or staff office; the USDA TARGET 
Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY); or the Federal Relay Service 
at (800) 877-8339.
    To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should 
complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, 
which can be obtained online at https://www.ocio.usda.gov/document/ad-3027, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a 
letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant's 
name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the 
alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the 
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date 
of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or 
letter must be submitted to USDA by:
    (1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20250-9410; or
    (2) Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
    (3) Email: usda.gov">program.intake@usda.gov.

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    USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Karama Neal,
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA Rural 
Development.
[FR Doc. 2021-27770 Filed 12-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XY-P