This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

77257 

Vol. 88, No. 216 

Thursday, November 9, 2023 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Doc. No. AMS–SC–23–0073] 

Request for Information Specialty 

Crops Competitiveness Initiative 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) is seeking input 

from stakeholders across the specialty 

crops industry on how USDA may better 

administratively support the industry in 

remaining competitive in domestic and 

international marketplaces, as part of 

USDA’s Specialty Crops 

Competitiveness Initiative. This input 

will strengthen USDA’s partnership 

with the specialty crops industry, an 

agricultural sector that has faced 

significant challenges due to recent 

natural disasters, pandemic-related 

market disruptions, and other factors. 

USDA requests input on how to further 

support the industry’s domestic 

marketing and consumption, to further 

support the industry’s competitiveness 

internationally, to further support 

research that will serve the industry, to 

increase producers’ awareness of and 

access to relevant USDA programs, to 

enhance USDA programs that serve the 

specialty crops industry, to aid the 

evaluation of existing programs, and to 

understand current and future 

challenges faced by the industry. USDA 

is asking for comments on interactions 

with USDA programs. All comments 

will be aggregated, summarized, and 

shared with USDA Leadership. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

March 8, 2024 to be assured of 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments concerning 

this notice by either of the following 

methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID AMS–SC–23–0073. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. Comments should reference 

the document number and the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

• Email: Please submit any email 

responses to SCCIPartners@usda.gov in 

the body of an email or as a Word or 

PDF attachment. Include ‘‘SCCI RFI’’ in 

the subject line of the email. 

All comments submitted in response 

to this notice will be included in the 

record, will be made available to the 

public, and can be viewed at: https://

www.regulations.gov. Please be advised 

that the identity of the individuals or 

entities submitting the comments will 

be made available to the public on the 

internet at the address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Heather M. Pichelman, Agricultural 

Marketing Service, Specialty Crops 

Program, Email: heather.pichelman@

usda.gov or Telephone: (202) 720–4722. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USDA has 

heard growing concern from the 

specialty crops industry regarding their 

ability to remain competitive. Although 

the specialty crops industry includes a 

wide array of commodities, the 

challenges facing their markets are 

similar. USDA is actively partnering 

with specialty crops growers to increase 

the competitiveness of U.S. products in 

domestic and international markets, 

minimize costs, manage pests and 

diseases, strengthen supply chains, and 

support climate outcomes. 

In direct response to the industry’s 

request for support, USDA launched the 

Specialty Crops Competitiveness 

Initiative (SCCI). The goal of SCCI is to 

provide increased support to the 

specialty crops industry by identifying 

industry needs and taking appropriate 

available administrative action. 

This Request for Information (RFI) is 

part of the SCCI initiative, to provide 

stakeholders the opportunity to submit 

feedback on the industry’s needs and to 

provide information on how USDA can 

better administratively support the U.S. 

specialty crops industry to remain 

competitive. 

The SCCI is just one of multiple 

efforts across the Federal government to 

support the industry. On October 17, 

2023, the United States Trade 

Representative (USTR) published in the 

Federal Register, the ‘‘Notice of 

Establishment and Request for 

Nominations for the Seasonal and 

Perishable Agricultural Products 

Advisory Committee’’ (88 FR 71638). 

This Committee, established by USTR 

and USDA, intends to provide advice 

and recommendations in connection 

with U.S. trade policy that concern 

administrative actions and legislation 

that would promote the competitiveness 

of Southeastern U.S. producers of 

seasonal and perishable agricultural 

products. Whereas this Committee will 

be focused on a specific geographic U.S. 

region and on seasonal and perishable 

fruits and vegetables, the SCCI will have 

a nationwide focus on the needs of all 

specialty crops stakeholders to remain 

competitive in both domestic and 

international markets under USDA’s 

purview. 

Interested persons can refer to the 

new USDA web page at https://

www.usda.gov/specialty.crops, which 

contains a comprehensive snapshot of 

USDA’s resources and services relevant 

to specialty crops producers and 

businesses. The focus of this request is 

to collect feedback on existing USDA 

programs and how they might be 

improved, not on new programs that 

require legislative action to implement. 

Upon collection of feedback from the 

industry through this RFI and 

stakeholder meetings and events, a gap 

analysis will be conducted to address 

where USDA services can be enhanced 

to better support the specialty crops 

industry. Outcomes of the feedback will 

be communicated back to the specialty 

crops industry to continue to build 

awareness of USDA’s support for the 

industry. 

USDA is seeking feedback on all its 

services for the industry. Respondents 

may provide information for one or 

more of the questions or topics listed 

below, as desired. Additionally, 

respondents may provide commodityspecific or geographic-specific input on 

Department services for specialty crops. 

How can USDA administratively 

support specialty crop producers to 

enhance domestic marketing and 

increase consumption of domestically 

grown specialty crops? 

How can USDA administratively 

support specialty crop producers to 

improve their export performance to 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
77258 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Notices 

increase competitiveness of U.S. 

specialty crops in foreign markets? 

What research is needed to minimize 

costs and maximize returns to support 

the production and processing of 

specialty crops? What kind of research 

(spanning production, transportation, 

handling, or beyond) could USDA 

enhance or adapt to support the 

specialty crop industry? 

How could existing USDA specialty 

crops farm programs be adapted to 

address current and future challenges 

faced by the specialty crops industry? 

How could USDA increase awareness 

of available tools and resources to 

support broader participation and 

engagement by the specialty crops 

industry? 

How could USDA enhance or adapt 

currently offered programs (loans, 

grants, nutrition programs, conservation 

programs, insurance programs, food 

safety programs, pest management 

programs, etc.) to support the specialty 

crops industry to increase its 

competitiveness? 

How could USDA enhance or adapt 

procurement to support the specialty 

crops industry? 

Please share any ongoing or 

anticipated challenges in the specialty 

crops industry that impact your ability 

to maintain competitiveness. 

Please share any non-financial 

resources that would be useful to 

improve the specialty crop industry’s 

competitiveness. 

Erin Morris, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–24715 Filed 11–8–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Agriculture has 

submitted the following information 

collection requirement(s) to OMB for 

review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Comments are 

requested regarding: whether the 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden including 

the validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection received by December 11, 

2023 will be considered. Written 

comments and recommendations for the 

proposed information collection should 

be submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and the agency informs 

potential persons who are to respond to 

the collection of information that such 

persons are not required to respond to 

the collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Rural Housing Service 

Title: Rural Rental Housing Program, 

7 CFR part 3560. 

OMB Control Number: 0575–0189. 

Summary of Collection: The Rural 

Housing Service is revising this 

information collection to include a new 

form. The new form titled ‘‘Replacement 

Reserve Intercreditor Agreement’’ (ICA) 

is a supplement to the existing section 

515 Subordination Agreement. The ICA 

form will be used between the section 

515 RRH Borrower/Owner and the 

section 538 Lender to establish control 

and guidance on how the Reserve 

Account will be handled in a joint 

transaction. The ICA will add an 

additional 24 responses and 4 hours to 

the collection’s total burden. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

Information is completed by developers 

and potential borrowers seeking 

approval of rural rental housing loans 

with the assistance of professionals such 

as attorneys, architects, and contractors 

and the operation and management of 

the MFH properties in an affordable 

decent, safe and sanitary manner. The 

forms and information provide the basis 

for making determinations of eligibility 

and the need and feasibility of the 

proposed housing. 

The information provides the basis for 

determining that rents charged are 

appropriate, the housing is wellmaintained, and proper priority is given 

to those tenants eligible for occupancy. 

Information is collected to assure 

compliance with the terms and 

conditions of loan, grant and/or subsidy 

agreements. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for profit; Not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Number of Respondents: 589,500. 

Frequency of Responses: 

Recordkeeping; Reporting: On Occasion, 

Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 1,072,246. 

Levi S. Harrell, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–24792 Filed 11–8–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XV–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request; Reinstatement 

The Department of Agriculture has 

submitted the following information 

collection requirement(s) to OMB for 

review and reinstatement under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Comments are 

requested regarding: whether the 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden including 

the validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology Comments 

regarding these information collections 

are best assured of having their full 

effect if received by December 11, 2023. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and the agency informs 

potential persons who are to respond to 

the collection of information that such 

persons are not required to respond to 

the collection of information unless it 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1