[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 68 (Friday, April 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20806-20808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07260]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Solicitation of Nominations for Membership on the Rural Community 
Economic Development (RCED) Subcommittee of the USDA Equity Commission

AGENCY: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Solicitation of nominations for membership on the RCED 
Subcommittee of the USDA Equity Commission.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 1006 of the American Rescue Plan 
Act of 2021, USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack established an Equity 
Commission. The USDA Equity Commission will advise the Secretary of 
Agriculture by facilitating identification of critical USDA programs, 
policies, systems, structures, and practices that contribute to 
barriers to inclusion or access, systemic discrimination, or exacerbate 
or perpetuate racial, economic, health and social disparities. The USDA 
Equity Commission is governed under the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021, and by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(FACA). A Rural Community Economic Development (RCED) Subcommittee is 
being formed and will be charged with providing recommendations on 
issues and concerns related to rural development, persistent poverty, 
and underserved communities.

DATES: We will consider applications that are received by May 6, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please submit nominations to Cecilia Hernandez, Designated 
Federal Officer (DFO), Office of the Deputy Secretary, Department of 
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6006-S, Washington, DC 
20250; or send by email to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit www.usda.gov/equity-commission 
or email: [email protected], or Cecelia Hernandez, telephone: 
202-913-5907.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    While USDA's expansive presence in rural communities is one of its 
greatest strengths, it is increasingly clear that the decentralized, 
local nature of information sharing and decision-

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making can be problematic, especially for underserved communities and 
non-traditional customers. For example, local and regional food systems 
is a complex industry with significant up-front costs including land, 
seed, labor, fertilizer, and other inputs. In addition to assistance 
accessing affordable capital, producers often need assistance with 
business plan development, tax planning, expand market, or simply 
navigating the complexity of the financial institutions from which they 
are seeking to secure credit, be that USDA or elsewhere. These 
challenges are compounded in rural communities of persistent poverty 
where race and location combined have resulted in structural exclusion 
from financial systems and other ladders of opportunity.
    Underserved communities and populations are disproportionately 
impacted by the effects of economic and environmental shocks. As the 
world continues to experience the impacts of a pandemic and the 
devastating impacts of climate change, including drought, flooding, 
wildfire, and increased severity of storms, these communities are often 
on the front lines. Historic inequities have often left such 
communities and populations with low capacity to deal with these 
challenges. In fact, two-thirds of over 3,000 counties in the United 
States are rural and 310 of those rural communities have high and 
persistent levels of poverty. Rural communities are generally closer to 
land and water, making its residents, housing, businesses, and 
infrastructure more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Of the 
310, 86% or 267 counties are rural and concentrated in persistently 
poor areas of the Delta Region, Appalachia, the Southern Border Region, 
Puerto Rico and other insular areas, and on Native American lands. The 
majority (60%) of people living in persistent poverty \1\ counties are 
people of color. Since investments have historically lagged in these 
areas, their already vulnerable position is made worse by the 
inadequate and affordable access to reliable infrastructure, public 
services, and community economic development opportunities.
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    \1\ Persistent poverty counties are counties that have had 
poverty rates of 20% or greater for at least 30 years. For more 
information, visit: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45100.
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    The American Rescue Plan Act provides USDA a generational 
opportunity to leverage the Equity Commission and empower rural 
stakeholders to make recommendations to the Secretary in advancing 
equity at USDA and its programs. Launched on February 28, 2022, to kick 
off its Subcommittee for Agriculture, the Equity Commission in 
collaboration with USDA determined a need for an additional 
Subcommittee focused on RCED issues.

Scope and Purpose of the RCED Subcommittee

    The RCED Subcommittee will be focused on providing recommendations 
that would enable underserved communities to have equitable access to 
USDA programs and increase their capacity to break the cycle of 
persistent poverty. USDA programs may include those that support or 
affect the following rural issues:

 Local and regional food
 Workforce development
 Small businesses
 Cooperative development
 Capacity building
 Community planning
 Technical assistance
 Data management
 Housing
 Community facilities
 Telecommunication and broadband
 Electric and clean energy
 Recreational economy
 Water, wastewater, and solid waste
 Lending and lender relationships
 Tribal
 Healthcare

    USDA programs that support the topics above are administered by 
Rural Development (Rural Business Service, Rural Housing Service, and 
Rural Utilities Service) mission area and some programs within the 
Natural Resource and Environment (U.S. Forest Service), Marketing and 
Regulatory Programs (e.g., Agricultural Marketing Service) and Research 
Education and Economics (e.g., National Institute of Food and 
Agriculture and Extension) mission areas. Understanding barriers and 
needed improvements in programs will assist USDA to provide economic 
opportunities in places that need help the most and ensure that 
investments equitably benefit underserved communities.

Membership

    The RCED Subcommittee will be comprised of 15 members. Two members 
of the USDA Equity Commission will serve in the RCED subcommittee. 
Membership representation will come from the following:
     4 representatives from community-based organizations;
     2 representatives from lending institutions;
     2 representatives from small business or cooperatives;
     1 representative from a tribal entity;
     1 university, community college, or trades personnel;
     3 individuals selected at the discretion of the Secretary; 
and,
     2 members from the EC (as explained above).
    Members must adhere to required background investigation, ethics, 
and onboarding requirements prior to formal appointment. Although all 
tasks are performed on a voluntary basis without compensation, USDA 
will be reimbursed for travel expenses, including per diem instead of 
subsistence, authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5703, in the same manner as a 
person employed intermittently in the Government service.
    Subcommittee membership expires along with the parent Equity 
Commission on March 2024 unless extended.

Criteria for Selection

    In order to better represent the targeted population, criteria 
considered for membership on the RCED Subcommittee will include 
combined experience and expertise in various topics under Scope and 
Purpose. To achieve membership balance, USDA will consider diversity of 
perspectives including but not limited to geographic representation as 
well as deep life and professional experiences serving rural and 
underserved communities across the country.
    Applicants who previously submitted a complete application for the 
Equity Commission or Agriculture Subcommittee, please do not submit 
your applications again, USDA will consider and review your existing 
application. No further action is required at this time.

Meetings

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    The subcommittee will meet as deemed necessary by the USDA Equity 
Commission co-chairs and may meet in person and/or by teleconference or 
by computer-based conferencing. The subcommittee may invite technical 
experts to present information for consideration. The subcommittee 
meetings will not be announced in the Federal Register, only the public 
meetings of the USDA Equity Commission overseeing and deliberating the 
subcommittees' progress. All data and records available to the full 
USDA Equity Commission are expected to be available to the public via 
www.usda.gov/equity-commission and the www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/apex/FACAPublicCommittee?id=a10t000000ErJLmAAN when the full Equity 
Commission reviews and approves the work of the subcommittee.
    The RCED subcommittee will report back to the parent committee--
USDA Equity Commission and will not provide advice or work products 
directly to USDA or any of its agencies.

Ethics Requirements

    To maintain the highest levels of honesty, integrity and ethical 
conduct, no subcommittee member shall participate in any ``specific 
party matters'' (i.e., matters are narrowly focused and typically 
involve specific transactions between identified parties) such as a 
lease, license, permit, contract, claim, grant, agreement, or related 
litigation with the Department in which the member has a direct 
financial interest. This includes the requirement for Subcommittee 
members to immediately disclose to the DFO (for discussion with USDA's 
Office of Ethics) any specific party matter in which the member's 
immediate family, relatives, business partners or employer would be 
directly seeking to financially benefit from the Committee's 
recommendations.
    All members will receive ethics training to identify and avoid any 
actions that would cause the public to question the integrity of the 
subcommittee's advice and recommendations. Members who are appointed as 
``Representatives'' are not subject to Federal ethics laws because such 
appointment allows them to represent the point(s) of view of a 
particular group, business sector or segment of the public.
    Members appointed as ``Special Government Employees'' (SGEs) are 
considered intermittent Federal employees and are subject to Federal 
ethics laws. SGE's are appointed due to their personal knowledge, 
academic scholarship, background or expertise. No SGE may participate 
in any activity in which the member has a prohibited financial 
interest. Appointees who are SGEs are required to complete and submit a 
Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450 form) via the 
FDonline e-filing database system. Upon request USDA will assist SGEs 
in preparing these financial reports. To ensure the highest level of 
compliance with applicable ethical standards USDA will provide ethics 
training to SGEs on an annual basis. The provisions of these paragraphs 
are not meant to exhaustively cover all Federal ethics laws and do not 
affect any other statutory or regulatory obligations to which advisory 
committee members are subject.

Application Process

    Individuals who wish to be considered for the RCED Subcommittee 
must the following:
    1. [Required] A resume or curriculum vitae (CV) providing the 
nominee's background, experience, educational qualifications, and 
nominees preferred role (not to exceed 15 pages).
    2. [Required] A completed background disclosure form (Form AD-755) 
signed by the nominee on page 2 following item 19: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-755.pdf.
    Application is open to the public, including minorities, LGBTQI+ 
individuals, women, and persons with disabilities in areas designated 
within the United States, Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the U.S. 
Virgin Islands), and the Pacific Basin Area (Guam, American Samoa, and 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands).
    All submissions must be typed and legible. Please send required 
application documents by email to [email protected] or by mail 
to Attn: Cecilia Hernandez, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6006-S, 
Washington, DC 20250; telephone: (202) 913-5907.

Equal Opportunity Statement

    USDA prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities 
based on race, sex, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, 
sexual orientation, or disability. Additionally, discrimination based 
on political beliefs and marital status, or family status is also 
prohibited by statutes enforced by USDA (not all prohibited bases apply 
to all programs). Persons with disabilities who require alternative 
means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, 
audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's Technology and Accessible 
Resources Give Employment Today Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

    Dated: April 1, 2022.
Cikena Reid,
Committee Management Officer, USDA.
[FR Doc. 2022-07260 Filed 4-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P