72988 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 204 / Tuesday, October 24, 2023 / Notices 

and special qualities provided by this 

appropriation. Energy produced will be 

clean, affordable, reliable, and owned by 

the people who live in rural America. 

As a result, this legislation and the 

funding opportunity here allows for a 

New ERA in rural communities. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

Eligible applicants under the New ERA 

Program are electric cooperatives as 

described in section 501(c)(12) or 

1381(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986 and is or has been a RUS 

(formerly the Rural Electrification 

Administration) electric loan borrower 

pursuant to the RE Act or is serving a 

predominantly rural area (or a wholly or 

jointly owned subsidiary of such 

electric cooperative). There are well 

over 900 rural electric cooperatives 

eligible for this program. 

The application process for the New 

ERA Program will be conducted in two 

phases. Phase one will be a Letter of 

Interest (LOI) with sufficient 

information to determine a pool of 

prospective applicants which advance 

the goals of the statute, achieve policy 

objectives, meet minimum 

requirements, and are within the budget 

of the program. Those LOIs that meet 

the criteria will be issued an Invitation 

to Proceed to submit a full, complete 

New ERA application (phase two). 

Applicants wishing to apply for the 

New ERA Program with an LOI and if 

successful, a complete application must 

submit requested data, proposals, 

certifications and agreements to the 

Agency thru an online application 

window. The information collected will 

be used to: determine applicant and 

project eligibility, assess the projects’ 

technical and financial merit and 

evaluate the metrics that reflect 

achieving the greatest reductions in 

greenhouse gas emissions in order to 

rank the applications and determine 

which ones to offer an award. Lack of 

adequate information to make the 

determinations could result in the 

improper administration and 

appropriation of Federal funds. 

Description of Respondents: State, 

Local, and Tribal Governments. 

Number of Respondents: 250. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion; Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 185,514. 

Rural Utilities Service 

Title: Powering Affordable Clean 

Energy Program. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0159. 

Summary of Collection: On August 

16, 2022, Congress passed the Inflation 

Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 (Pub. L. 

117–169). Subtitle C, Section 22001 of 

IRA amended Section 9003 of the Farm 

Security and Rural Investment Act of 

2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103) by adding new 

subsection (h). Through the passing of 

IRA, the Powering Affordable Clean 

Energy (PACE) Program was established 

with the goal of supporting clean, 

affordable energy growth across 

America. 

The PACE Program will be 

administered by the Rural Utilities 

Service (RUS), a Rural Development 

(RD) Agency of the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA), that 

provides mortgage loans and loan 

guarantees to electric systems to provide 

and improve electric service in rural 

areas pursuant to the Rural 

Electrification Act of 1936, as amended 

(7 U.S.C. 901 et seq., RE Act). Section 

22001 of IRA provided the Agency with 

$1,000,000,000 in Budget Authority 

(BA), to remain available until 

September 30, 2031. With this BA, the 

Agency through the PACE Program, will 

provide loans to eligible entities, with 

varying levels of loan forgiveness, for 

Projects that generate and/or store 

electricity from Renewable Energy 

Resource (RER) systems. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

Application process for the PACE 

Program will be conducted in two 

phases. Phase one will be a Letter of 

Interest (LOI) with sufficient 

information to determine a pool of 

prospective applicants which advance 

the goals of the statute, achieve policy 

objectives, meet minimum 

requirements, and are within the budget 

of the program. Those LOIs that meet 

the criteria will be issued an Invitation 

to Proceed to submit a full, complete 

Application (phase two). 

Applicants wishing to apply for the 

PACE Program with a LOI and if 

successful, a completed Application 

must submit requested data, proposals, 

certifications, and agreements to the 

Agency thru an online application 

window. The information collected will 

be used to determine a borrower’s 

ability to meet financial obligations, 

includes analyses and document review 

by RUS regarding the applicant’s 

historical, current, and projected costs, 

revenues, cash flows, assets, and other 

factors that may be relevant on a caseby-case basis. RUS recognizes that 

Projects outlined by applicants may 

vary in size, financial complexity, and 

administration; so, the respondent’s 

burden may vary as well. The RUS 

Administrator maintains discretion to 

forego requirements for parts of the 

following information as required by the 

conditions among applicants. 

Description of Respondents: State, 

Local, and Tribal Governments. 

Number of Respondents: 250. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion; Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 23,333. 

Levi S. Harrell, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23451 Filed 10–23–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2022–0073] 

Addition of the Federal Democratic 

Republic of Nepal to the List of 

Regions Affected by African Swine 

Fever 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have added the Federal 

Democratic Republic of Nepal to the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) list maintained on the 

APHIS website of regions considered to 

be affected with African swine fever 

(ASF). We have taken this action 

because of the confirmation of ASF in 

the Federal Democratic Republic of 

Nepal. 

DATES: The Federal Democratic 

Republic of Nepal was added to the 

APHIS list of regions considered 

affected with ASF effective May 23, 

2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Amber Kerk, Staff Officer, 

Regionalization Evaluation Services, 

Strategy and Policy, Veterinary Services, 

APHIS, 920 Main Campus Drive, 

Venture II, 3rd Floor, Raleigh, NC 

27606; phone: (608) 662–0625; email: 

AskRegionalization@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to 

below as the regulations) govern the 

importation of specified animals and 

animal products to prevent the 

introduction into the United States of 

various animal diseases, including 

African swine fever (ASF). ASF is a 

highly contagious disease of wild and 

domestic swine that can spread rapidly 

with extremely high rates of morbidity 

and mortality. A list of regions where 

ASF exists or is reasonably believed to 

exist is maintained on the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/ 

aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animaland-animal-product-importVerDate Sep<11>2014 17:08 Oct 23, 2023 Jkt 262001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\24OCN1.SGM 24OCN1

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 204 / Tuesday, October 24, 2023 / Notices 72989 

1The World Organization for Animal Health 

internationally follows a British English spelling of 

‘‘organisation’’ in its name; also, it was formerly the 

Office International des Epizooties, or OIE, but on 

May 28, 2022, the Organization announced that the 

acronym was changed from OIE to WOAH. 

information/animal-health-status-ofregions/. This list is referenced in 

§ 94.8(a)(2) of the regulations. 

Section 94.8(a)(3) of the regulations 

states that APHIS will add a region to 

the list referenced in § 94.8(a)(2) upon 

determining ASF exists in the region or 

having reason to believe the disease 

exists in the region, based on reports 

APHIS receives of outbreaks of the 

disease from veterinary officials of the 

exporting country, from the World 

Organization for Animal Health 

(WOAH),1 or from other sources the 

Administrator determines to be reliable, 

or upon determining that there is reason 

to believe the disease exists in the 

region. Section 94.8(a)(1) of the 

regulations specifies the criteria on 

which the Administrator bases the 

reason to believe ASF exists in a region. 

Section 94.8(b) prohibits the 

importation of pork and pork products 

from regions listed in accordance with 

§ 94.8 except if processed and treated in 

accordance with the provisions 

specified in that section or consigned to 

an APHIS-approved establishment for 

further processing. Section 96.2 restricts 

the importation of swine casings that 

originated in or were processed in a 

region where ASF exists, as listed under 

§ 94.8(a). 

On May 18, 2022, the veterinary 

authorities of the Federal Democratic 

Republic of Nepal reported to WOAH 

the occurrence of ASF in that country. 

In response to that report, on May 23, 

2022, APHIS added the Federal 

Democratic Republic of Nepal to the list 

of regions where ASF exists or the 

Administrator has reason to believe that 

ASF exists, in compliance with 

§ 94.8(a)(3). This notice serves as an 

official record and public notification of 

that action. 

As a result, pork and pork products 

from Nepal, including casings, are 

subject to APHIS import restrictions 

designed to mitigate the risk of ASF 

introduction into the United States. 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

designated this action as not a major 

rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701–7772, 

7781–7786, and 8301–8317; 21 U.S.C. 

136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of 

October 2023. 

Michael Watson, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23483 Filed 10–23–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2023–0076] 

Notice of Request for Approval of an 

Information Collection; 

Comprehensive Aquaculture Health 

Program; Use of MI–CO Application 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: New information collection; 

comment request. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service’s intention to 

request approval of a new information 

collection associated with the use of a 

mobile application to collect certain 

information needed to manage a 

comprehensive aquaculture health 

program. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before December 

26, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS– 

2023–0076 in the Search field. Select 

the Documents tab, then select the 

Comment button in the list of 

documents. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2023–0076, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at regulations.gov or in 

our reading room, which is located in 

room 1620 of the USDA South Building, 

14th Street and Independence Avenue 

SW, Washington, DC. Normal reading 

room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. To be sure someone is there to 

help you, please call (202) 799–7039 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the Comprehensive 

Aquaculture Health Program, contact 

Dr. Kathleen Hartman, Senior 

Veterinarian, Aquaculture Health, VS, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 39, 

Riverdale, MD 20737; (813) 671–5230 

ext. 119; email: kathleen.h.hartman@

usda.gov. For more information about 

the information collection process, 

contact Mr. Joseph Moxey, APHIS’ 

Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, 

at (301) 851–2483; email: 

joseph.moxey@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: 

Comprehensive Aquaculture Health 

Program; Use of MI–CO Application. 

OMB Control Number: 0579–XXXX. 

Type of Request: Approval of a new 

information collection. 

Abstract: The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 

Veterinary Services (VS) unit is 

responsible for, among other things, 

protecting the health of the nation’s 

aquatic livestock and supporting safe 

trade of those animals and their 

products. This authority is provided 

under the Animal Health Protection Act 

(7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.). Further, 

Executive Order 13921, Promoting 

American Seafood Competitiveness and 

Economic Growth, rescinded the 2008 

National Aquatic Animal Health Plan, 

and authorized a new national 

aquaculture health plan establishing 

USDA as the competent authority for 

the protection, inspection, and 

certification of aquatic livestock health. 

The National Aquaculture Health Plan 

and Standards (NAHPS) provides 

guidance for pathogen testing, reporting, 

and laboratory standards in addition to 

outlining health inspection options for 

aquatic livestock. One of these 

inspection options is the 

Comprehensive Aquaculture Health 

Program Standards (CAHPS). CAHPS 

was developed in partnership with the 

U.S. aquaculture industry as a voluntary 

program that establishes a framework to 

improve and verify the health of aquatic 

livestock produced in the United States. 

Principles outlined in the CAHPS 

provide for early disease detection, 

surveillance, risk mitigation, reporting, 

and response for the control of aquatic 

animal pathogens, especially those 

reportable to the World Organization for 

Animal Health (WOAH), and to prevent 

their dissemination via aquatic animal 

sale, movement, and trade. 

VS and its CAHPS/aquaculture 

industry affiliates will use a mobile 

application provided through the MICorporation (MI–CO) to carry out 

CAHPS functions and evaluate and 

verify aquatic livestock health on 

premises. The application uses a MI–CO 

platform for a server/client-based 

mobile application that supports data 


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