81178 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 

Bitterroot Forest Plan site-specifically 

for the duration of the project. 

Christine Dawe, 

Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National 

Forest System. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27546 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Announcement of Funding Availability, 

Loan Application Procedures, and 

Deadlines for the Rural Energy 

Savings Program (RESP) 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Solicitation of 

Applications (NOSA). 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service 

(RUS), a Rural Development agency of 

the United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), is soliciting Letters 

of intent for loan applications under the 

Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), 

announcing the application process for 

those loans and deadlines for 

applications from eligible entities for 

funding in fiscal year (FY) 2021, until 

expended or further notice. 

DATES: To be considered for this 

funding, applications under this NOSA 

will be accepted immediately. The RESP 

application process is described in 

detail pursuant to 7 CFR 1719. In brief, 

the RESP is comprised of two steps: 

Step 1: To be considered for 

financing, an Applicant seeking 

financing must submit a Letter of intent, 

in an electronic portable display format 

(PDF) not to exceed 10 Megabytes (10 

MB) by electronic mail (email) to RESP@

USDA.GOV. No paper Letters of intent 

will be accepted. The Letters of intent 

will be queued as they are received. If 

it advances program and policy goals, 

RUS may consider loan applications 

from Eligible entities that have 

submitted Letters of intent under prior 

funding announcements but were not 

invited to proceed with a loan 

application. 

Step 2: A RESP applicant that has 

been invited in writing by RUS to 

proceed with the loan application, will 

have up to ninety (90) days to complete 

and submit to RUS the documentation 

for a complete loan application. The 

ninety (90) day timeframe will begin on 

the date the RESP applicant receives 

RUS’ invitation to proceed. If the 

deadline to submit the completed loan 

application falls on Saturday, Sunday, 

or a Federal holiday, the application is 

due the next business day. The loan 

application package must be marked 

with the subject line ‘‘Attention: 

Christopher McLean, Assistant 

Administrator for the Electric Program; 

RESP Loan Application.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Coates, Electric Program, Rural 

Utilities Service, Rural Development, 

United States Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW, STOP 1568, Room 4121 0257–S, 

Washington, DC 20250–1510; 

Telephone: (202) 260–5415; Email: 

Robert.Coates@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Authority: 

These loans are made available under 

the authority of 7 U.S.C. 8107a (Section 

6407 of the Farm Security and Rural 

Investment Act of 2002, as amended,) 

and the Rural Electrification Act of 

1936, 7 U.S.C. 901 et seq. 

General Information 

The purpose of the RESP is to help 

rural families and small businesses 

achieve cost savings by providing loans 

to qualified consumers through eligible 

entities to implement durable costeffective energy efficiency measures 

pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 8107a(a) of the 

RESP authorizing statute. The Secretary 

may use this funding to allow eligible 

entities to offer energy efficiency loans 

to customers in any part of their service 

territory in accordance to § 7 CFR part 

1719. The Administrator may approve 

loans proposing to include these eligible 

activities for entities currently in the 

queue provided they still meet all of the 

application requirements. Additionally, 

subject to appropriations, funding for 

projects may be used to replace 

manufactured housing units with 

another manufactured housing unit if 

the replacement would be more cost 

effective in saving energy. 

The Agency encourages applications 

that will support recommendations 

made in the Rural Prosperity Task Force 

report to help improve life in rural 

America, see https://www.usda.gov/ 

topics/rural/rural-prosperity. Applicants 

are encouraged to consider projects that 

provide measurable results in helping 

rural communities build robust and 

sustainable economies through strategic 

investments in infrastructure, 

partnerships and innovation. Key 

strategies include: Achieving eConnectivity for rural America, 

developing the rural economy, 

harnessing technological innovation, 

supporting a rural workforce, and 

improving quality of life. 

Application and Submission 

Information 

Application Requirements: All 

requirements for submission of an 

application under the RESP are subject 

to 7 CFR part 1719. 

Application Materials/Submission: 

The Letter of intent must be submitted 

by the Applicant in an electronic PDF 

format not to exceed 10 Megabytes (10 

MB) by electronic mail (email) to RESP@

USDA.GOV. No paper letters of intent 

will be accepted. The completed loan 

application package must be submitted 

following the instructions that will be 

outlined in the RUS Invitation to 

proceed to the RESP Applicant. The 

loan application package must be 

marked with the subject line ‘‘Attention: 

Christopher McLean, Assistant 

Administrator for the Electric Program; 

RESP Loan Application.’’ 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35), OMB approved this 

information collection under OMB 

Control Number 0572–0151. This NOSA 

contains no new reporting or 

recordkeeping burdens under OMB 

control number 0572–0151 that would 

require approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement 

In accordance with Federal civil 

rights law and USDA civil rights 

regulations and policies, the USDA, its 

agencies, offices, and 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. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means of communication for 

program information (e.g., braille, large 

print, audiotape, American Sign 

Language, etc.) should contact the 

Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at 

(202) 720–2600 (voice and TTY) or 

contact USDA through the Federal Relay 

Service at (800) 877–8339 (English) or 

(800) 845–6136 (Spanish). Individuals 

who wish to file a Program 

Discrimination Complaint must 

complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form (PDF). 

To file a program discrimination 

complaint, you may obtain a complaint 

form by sending an email to CrVerDate Sep<11>2014 17:35 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 253001 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\15DEN1.SGM 15DEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 81179 

info@ascr.usda.gov or calling(866) 632– 

9992 to request the form. 

A letter may also be written 

containing all of the information 

requested in the form. Send the 

completed complaint form or letter by 

mail to the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Director, Office of 

Adjudication, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250– 

9410, or email at program.intake@

usda.gov. Additional information can be 

found online at https://

www.ascr.usda.gov/filingprogramdiscrimination-complaintusdacustomer. 

USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider, employer, and lender. 

Chad Rupe, 

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27576 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Request for Comments for the 

Advisory Committee on Data for 

Evidence Building 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary 

for Economic Affairs, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Foundations for 

Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 

2018 (Evidence Act) requires federal 

agencies to modernize their data 

management practices to develop and 

support evidence-based policymaking. 

The Act requires the Director of the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), or the head of an agency 

designated by the Director, to establish 

the Advisory Committee on Data for 

Evidence Building (Advisory 

Committee). In a letter dated September 

3, 2019, OMB delegated managerial and 

administrative responsibility for this 

Federal advisory committee to the 

Department of Commerce Office of 

Under Secretary for Economic Affairs 

(OUSEA). 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

Tuesday, February 9, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. 

• By email directly to Evidence@

bea.gov. Include the Docket ID; begin 

with the phrase ‘‘Comments for the 

Advisory Committee on Data for 

Evidence Building;’’ and indicate which 

numbered questions described in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of this 

notice your comments address. 

Comments by fax or paper delivery will 

not be accepted. 

Privacy Note: Comments submitted in 

response to this notice may be made 

available to the public through relevant 

websites. Therefore, commenters should 

only include information they wish to 

make publicly available on the internet. 

Do not submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

Please note the confidentiality of 

routine communication and responses 

to this public comment request are 

treated as public comments and may 

therefore be made publicly available, 

notwithstanding the inclusion of the 

routine notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lucas Hitt, Designated Federal Official, 

Advisory Committee on Data for 

Evidence Building, 4600 Silver Hill 

Road, Washington, DC 20233 by email 

Lucas.Hitt@bea.gov or by phone (301) 

278–9223. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments 

The Advisory Committee will review, 

analyze, and make recommendations on 

how to promote the use of data for 

evidence building. The Advisory 

Committee will evaluate and provide 

recommendations to the Director of the 

Office of Management and Budget on 

how to facilitate data sharing, data 

linkage, and privacy enhancing 

techniques in support of evidence 

building. As part of its evaluation, the 

Advisory Committee may consider best 

practices to improve the safe and 

appropriate access to data. The 

Advisory Committee will consider the 

coordination of data sharing and 

availability of data for evidence building 

across all agencies and levels of 

government. The FRN commentators 

may respond to any question and do not 

need to respond to all questions. 

This request for comments offers 

researchers, evaluators, contractors, 

government entities, and other 

interested parties the opportunity to 

inform the Committee’s work. This is a 

general solicitation of comments from 

the public. The Advisory Committee 

will consider all feedback and 

recommendations on core topics and 

central issues such as: 

• Capacity needs for secure data access 

and record linkage 

• Areas for research and development 

on state-of-the-art data access and 

data protection methods 

• How to protect privacy when using 

personally identifiable information or 

confidential business information in 

support of evidence building 

• How to promote transparency and 

facilitate public engagement with the 

evidence building process 

• Agency needs for data management 

and data stewardship services 

• How to best facilitate the needs of 

researchers, evaluators, and other 

evidence builders through a national 

data service or similar approach 

Please clearly indicate which 

question(s) you address in your 

response and any evidence to support 

assertions, where practicable. 

Round 1 

Central Questions— 

1. What are the main challenges faced 

by national, state/provincial, or local 

governments that are trying to build a 

basis for evidence-based policy? Briefly 

describe the bottlenecks and pain-points 

they face in the evidence-based 

decision-making process. 

2. What are examples of high-impact 

data uses for evidence-based policy 

making that successfully effected 

change, reduced costs, or improved the 

welfare of citizens? 

3. Which frameworks, policies, 

practices, or methods show promise in 

overcoming challenges experienced by 

governments in their evidence building? 

4. The Commission on EvidenceBased Policymaking (See: www.cep.gov) 

recommended the creation of a National 

Secure Data Service (See Commission 

Report at www.cep.gov). Do you agree 

with this recommendation, and if so, 

what should be the essential features of 

a National Secure Data Service? 

5. How can federal agencies protect 

individual and organizational privacy 

when using data for evidence building? 

Recommend specific actions the Office 

of Management and Budget and/or other 

federal agencies can take when using 

data for evidence building, as well as 

suggested changes to federal laws, 

policies, and procedures. 

Secure Data Access— 

6. If created, how should a data 

service be structured to best facilitate (1) 

research and development of secure 

data access and confidentiality 

technologies and methods, (2) and 

agency adoption of those technologies 

and techniques? 

7. Government agencies have argued 

that secure data access has value 

because it (1) improves service delivery, 

(2) improves efficiency (lowers costs), 

(3) produces metrics for performance 

measurement, and (4) produces new 

learnings/insights from the data. Which 

of these propositions do you agree holds 

value and why? Do you have examples 

that demonstrate these benefits? Do you