[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 55 (Thursday, March 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13470-13473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5198]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Business--Cooperative Service


Inviting Applications for Renewable Energy Systems and Energy 
Efficiency Improvements Grants and Guaranteed Loans

AGENCY: Rural Business--Cooperative Service (RBS), USDA

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Rural Business--Cooperative Service (RBS), an Agency within 
USDA Rural Development, announces it is accepting applications for 
fiscal year (FY) 2007 to purchase renewable energy systems and make 
energy efficiency improvements for agriculture producers and rural 
small businesses in eligible rural areas. Funding will be available in 
the form of grants, guaranteed loans, and combined guaranteed loans and 
grant applications.
    For renewable energy systems, the minimum grant request is $2,500 
and the maximum is $500,000. For energy efficiency improvements, the 
minimum grant request is $1,500 and the maximum is $250,000. The 
maximum amount of a guaranteed loan made to a borrower will be $10 
million. Fifty percent of the available grant funding will be reserved 
for the grant portion of combination grant and guaranteed loan 
applications. For FY 2007, the guarantee fee amount is 1 percent of the 
guaranteed portion of the loan and the annual renewal fee is 0.125 
percent (one-eighth of one percent) of the guaranteed portion of the 
loan.

DATES: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct 
one competitive grant solicitation in FY 2007.

[[Page 13471]]

Grants

    Applications must be completed and submitted to the appropriate 
USDA Rural Development State Office no later than May 18, 2007. Any 
unused guaranteed loan funding as of August 1, 2007, may be pooled and 
revert to grant funding. It is anticipated that grant award 
announcements will be made approximately 75 days following the 
submission deadline.

Guaranteed Loans and Combined Guaranteed Loans and Grants

    Applications for guaranteed loans as well as combined guaranteed 
loan and grant packages must be completed and submitted to the 
appropriate USDA Rural Development State Office no later than July 2, 
2007. Combined guaranteed loan and grant packages will compete and be 
awarded on a bi-weekly basis. Guaranteed loan applications will be 
accepted and processed in a rolling application manner.
    The application closing deadlines for grants, guaranteed loans and 
combined guaranteed loan and grant packages are firm. USDA Rural 
Development will not consider any application that is received after 
the closing deadline. In accordance with RD Instruction 1940-G, all 
environmental assessments must be completed before the State Office 
forwards the application to the National Office for funding 
consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submit applications to the USDA Rural Development State 
Office in the State where your project is located. A list of the USDA 
Rural Development State Offices and Energy Coordinators addresses and 
telephone numbers follow. For further information about this 
solicitation, please contact the applicable State Office. This document 
is available on our Web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/farmbill/index.html.

USDA State Rural Development Offices

Alabama

Mary Ann Clayton, USDA Rural Development, Sterling Centre, Suite 601, 
4121 Carmichael Road, Montgomery, AL 36106-3683, (334) 279-3615.

Alaska

Dean Stewart, USDA Rural Development, 800 West Evergreen, Suite 201, 
Palmer, AK 99645-6539, (907) 761-7722.

Arizona

Alan Watt, USDA Rural Development, 230 North First Avenue, Suite 206, 
Phoenix, AZ 85003-1706, (602) 280-8769.

Arkansas

Shirley Tucker, USDA Rural Development, 700 West Capitol Avenue, Room 
3416, Little Rock, AR 72201-3225, (501) 301-3280.

California

Charles Clendenin, USDA Rural Development, 430 G Street, AGCY 4169, 
Davis, CA 95616, (530) 792-5825.

Colorado

April Dahlager, USDA Rural Development, 655 Parfet Street, Room E-100, 
Lakewood, CO 80215, (720) 544-2909.

Delaware-Maryland

James Waters, USDA Rural Development, 1221 College Park Drive, Suite 
200, Dover, DE 19904, (302) 857-3626.

Florida/Virgin Islands

Joe Mueller, USDA Rural Development, 4440 NW. 25th Place, P.O. Box 
147010, Gainesville, FL 32614-7010, (352) 338-3482.

Georgia

J. Craig Scroggs, USDA Rural Development, 333 Phillips Drive, 
McDonough, GA 30253, (678) 583-0866.

Hawaii

Tim O'Connell, USDA Rural Development, Federal Building, Room 311, 154 
Waianuenue Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720, (808) 933-8313.

Idaho

Brian Buch, USDA Rural Development, 725 Jensen Grove Drive, Suite 1, 
Blackfoot, ID 83221, (208) 785-5840, Ext. 118.

Illinois

Molly Hammond, USDA Rural Development, 2118 West Park Court, Suite A, 
Champaign, IL 61821, (217) 403-6210.

Indiana

Jerry Hay, USDA Rural Development, 2411 N. 1250 W., Deputy, IN 47230, 
(812) 873-1100.

Iowa

Teresa Bomhoff, USDA Rural Development, 873 Federal Building, 210 
Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50309, (515) 284-4447.

Kansas

F. Martin Fee, USDA Rural Development, 1303 SW First American Place, 
Suite 100, Topeka, KS 66604-4040, (785) 271-2744.

Kentucky

Scott Mass, USDA Rural Development, 771 Corporate Drive, Suite 200, 
Lexington, KY 40503, (859) 224-7435.

Louisiana

Kevin Boone, USDA Rural Development, 905 Jefferson Street, Suite 320, 
Lafayette, LA 70501, (337) 262-6601.

Maine

John F. Sheehan, USDA Rural Development, 967 Illinois Avenue, Suite 4, 
P.O. Box 405, Bangor, ME 04402-0405, (207) 990-9168.

Massachusetts/Rhode Island/Connecticut

Sharon Colburn, USDA Rural Development, 451 West Street, Suite 2, 
Amherst, MA 01002-2999, (413) 253-4303.

Michigan,

Rick Vanderbeek, USDA Rural Development, 3001 Coolidge Road, Suite 200, 
East Lansing, MI 48823, (517) 324-5218.

Minnesota

Lisa Noty, USDA Rural Development, 1400 West Main Street, Albert Lea, 
MN 56007, (507) 373-7960 Ext. 120.

Mississippi

G. Gary Jones, USDA Rural Development, Federal Building, Suite 831, 100 
West Capitol Street, Jackson, MS 39269, (601) 965-5457.

Missouri

Matt Moore, USDA Rural Development, 601 Business Loop 70 West, Parkade 
Center, Suite 235, Columbia, MO 65203, (573) 876-9321.

Montana

John Guthmiller, USDA Rural Development, 900 Technology Blvd., Unit 1, 
Suite B, P.O. Box 850, Bozeman, MT 59771, (406) 585-2540.

Nebraska

Karissa Hagedorn, USDA Rural Development, 100 Centennial Mall North, 
Room 152, Federal Building, Lincoln, NE 68508, (402) 437-5568.

Nevada

Dan Johnson, USDA Rural Development, 555 West Silver Street, Suite 101, 
Elko, NV 89801, (775) 738-8468, Ext. 112.

New Hampshire (See Vermont)

New Jersey

Victoria Fekete, USDA Rural Development, 8000 Midlantic Drive,

[[Page 13472]]

5th Floor North, Suite 500, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, (856) 787-7753.

New Mexico

Eric Vigil, USDA Rural Development, 6200 Jefferson Street, NE, Room 
255, Albuquerque, NM 87109, (505) 761-4952.

New York

Thomas Hauryski, USDA Rural Development, 415 West Morris Street, Bath, 
NY 14810, (607) 776-7398 Ext. 132.

North Carolina

H. Rossie Bullock, USDA Rural Development, 4405 Bland Road, Suite 260, 
Raleigh, NC 27609, (910) 739-3349 Ext. 4.

North Dakota

Mark Wax, USDA Rural Development, Federal Building, Room 208, 220 East 
Rosser Avenue, P.O. Box 1737, Bismarck, ND 58502-1737, (701) 530-2029.

Ohio

Randy Monhemius, USDA Rural Development, Federal Building, Room 507, 
200 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215-2418, (614) 255-2424.

Oklahoma

Jody Harris, USDA Rural Development, 100 USDA, Suite 108, Stillwater, 
OK 74074-2654, (405) 742-1036.

Oregon

Don Hollis, USDA Rural Development, 1229 SE Third Street, Suite A, 
Pendleton, OR 97801-4198, (541) 278-8049, Ext. 129.

Pennsylvania

Bernard Linn, USDA Rural Development, One Credit Union Place, Suite 
330, Harrisburg, PA 17110-2996, (717) 237-2182 .

Puerto Rico

Luis Garcia, USDA Rural Development, IBM Building, 654 Munoz Rivera 
Avenue, Suite 601, Hato Rey, PR 00918-6106, (787) 766-5091, Ext. 251.

South Carolina

R. Gregg White, USDA Rural Development, Strom Thurmond Federal 
Building, 1835 Assembly Street, Room 1007, Columbia, SC 29201, (803) 
765-5881.

South Dakota

Gary Korzan, USDA Rural Development, Federal Building, Room 210, 200 
4th Street, SW., Huron, SD 57350, (605) 352-1142.

Tennessee

Will Dodson, USDA Rural Development, 3322 West End Avenue, Suite 300, 
Nashville, TN 37203-1084, (615) 783-1350.

Texas

Daniel Torres, USDA Rural Development, Federal Building, Suite 102, 
South Main Street, Temple, TX 76501, (254) 742-9756.

Utah

Richard Carrig, USDA Rural Development, Wallace F. Bennett Federal 
Building, 125 South State Street, Room 4311, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, 
(801) 524-4328.

Vermont/New Hampshire

Lyn Millhiser, USDA Rural Development, City Center, 3rd Floor, 89 Main 
Street, Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 828-6069.

Virginia

Laurette Tucker, USDA Rural Development, Culpeper Building, Suite 238, 
1606 Santa Rosa Road, Richmond, VA 23229, (804) 287-1594.

Washington

Tuana Jones, USDA Rural Development, 1835 Black Lake Blvd. SW., Suite 
B, Olympia, WA 98512, (360) 704-7707.

West Virginia

Cheryl Wolfe, USDA Rural Development, 75 High Street, Room 320, 
Morgantown, WV 26505-7500, (304) 284-4882.

Wisconsin

Kelley Oehler, USDA Rural Development, 4949 Kirschling Court, Stevens 
Point, WI 54481, (715) 345-7615, Ext. 141.

Wyoming

Milton Geiger, USDA Rural Development, Dick Cheney Federal Building, 
100 East B Street, Room 1005, P.O. Box 820, Casper, WY 82602, (307) 
672-5820 Ext. 4.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This solicitation is issued pursuant to 
Section 9006 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 
(2002 Act), which established the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy 
Efficiency Improvements Program. The program is designed to help 
agricultural producers and rural small businesses reduce energy costs 
and consumption and help meet the Nation's critical energy needs. The 
2002 Act mandates the maximum percentage USDA Rural Development will 
provide in funding for these types of projects. USDA Rural Development 
grants under this program will not exceed 25 percent of the eligible 
project costs. USDA Rural Development guaranteed loans will not exceed 
50 percent of the eligible project costs. USDA Rural Development 
combined grant and guaranteed loan funding packages will not exceed 50 
percent of eligible project cost, with the grant portion not to exceed 
25 percent of eligible project costs.
    As stated in 7 CFR 4280.108, projects must be for a pre-commercial 
or commercially available technology. In accordance with the definition 
of ``commercially available'' found in 7 CFR 4280.103, a proven 
operating history specific to the proposed application may be 
established domestically or outside of the United States (US). If the 
system is available commercially outside the U.S., applicants must 
provide authoritative evidence of the operating history, performance, 
and reliability. Additionally, applicants must provide evidence that 
professional service providers, trades, large construction equipment 
providers and labor are readily available domestically and familiar 
with installation procedures and practices, and spare parts and service 
are readily available in the U.S. to properly maintain and operate the 
system. All warranties must be valid in the U.S.
    In accordance with the definition of ``pre-commercial'' technology 
found in 7 CFR 4280.103, technical and economic potential for 
commercial application must be demonstrated to the Agency's 
satisfaction through a documented operating history which may be 
established domestically or outside of the U.S., specific to the 
proposed application and at scalable size. To demonstrate that the 
system has emerged through research and development as well as the 
demonstration process, applicants must provide to the Agency's 
satisfaction, authoritative evidence of the operating history, 
performance, and reliability past completion of start-up, shake-down, 
and/or commissioning. Typically, and inline with performance evaluation 
protocol, the documented operating history should provide performance 
data for a duration of 12 months. In accordance with demonstrating the 
potential for commercial application, applicants must provide evidence 
that professional service providers, trades, large construction 
equipment providers, and

[[Page 13473]]

labor are potentially available domestically and sufficiently familiar 
with installation procedures and practices, and spare parts and service 
are available in the U.S. to properly maintain and operate the system. 
Any warranties would have to be valid in the U.S.
    Information required to be in the grant application package is 
contained in 7 CFR 4280.111. Awards are made on a competitive basis 
using specific evaluation criteria contained in 7 CFR 4280.112(e). To 
ensure that projects are accurately scored by USDA, applicants are 
requested to tab and number each evaluation criteria and include in 
that section, its corresponding supporting documentation and 
calculations according to 7 CFR 4280.112. Only projects that have 
completed the environmental review process according to 7 CFR 
4280.114(d), demonstrated project eligibility according to 7 CFR 
4280.108, and demonstrated technical feasibility will be eligible for 
funding consideration.
    State Offices will submit eligible grant funding requests, with the 
State Office executed score sheets, including supporting documentation 
to the National Office for funding consideration.
    To reduce scoring bias by technology and scale, a standard 
statistical normalization process will be applied to all competitive 
grant application scores. All applicants will be notified by the USDA 
Rural Development State Offices of the Agency's decision on the awards.
    Information required to be in the guaranteed loan application and 
the combination guaranteed loan and grant application package is 
contained in 7 CFR 4280.128 and 7 CFR 4280.193(c), respectively. 
Guaranteed loan applications are received and processed on a rolling 
basis until funds are exhausted. Combined guaranteed loans and grant 
packages compete bi-weekly at the national level and are awarded on a 
bi-weekly basis until funds are exhausted. All applicants will be 
notified by the USDA Rural Development State Offices in regards to the 
Agency's decision on their application.
    This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under Number 10.775 and is subject to the provisions of 
Executive Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation 
with State and local officials.
    USDA is participating as a partner in the government-wide 
Grants.gov site. Applicants may submit grant-only applications to the 
Agency in either electronic or paper format. Please be mindful that the 
application deadline for electronic format differs from the deadline 
for paper format. The electronic format deadline will be based on 
Washington, DC time. The paper format deadline is local time for each 
USDA Rural Development State Office.
    Users of Grants.gov will be able to download a copy of the 
application package, complete it off line, and then upload and submit 
the application via the Grants.gov site. You may not e-mail an 
electronic copy of a grant application to USDA Rural Development; 
however, the Agency encourages your participation in Grants.gov.
    <bullet> When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find 
information about submitting an application electronically through the 
site as well as the hours of operation. USDA Rural Development strongly 
recommends that you do not wait until the application deadline date to 
begin the application process through Grants.gov. To use Grants.gov, 
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.
    <bullet> You may submit all documents electronically through the 
Web site, including all information typically included on the 
application for Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 
Improvements Program, and all necessary assurances and certifications. 
After electronically submitting an application through the Web site, 
the applicant will receive an automatic acknowledgement from Grants.gov 
that contains a Grants.gov tracking number.
    <bullet> USDA Rural Development may request that the applicant 
provide original signatures on forms at a later date.
    <bullet> If applicants experience technical difficulties on the 
closing date and are unable to meet the 5 p.m. (Washington, DC time) 
deadline, print out your application and submit it to your respective 
State Office. If applicants submit applications to a State Office, 
applicants must meet the closing date and local time deadlines.
    Applicants may access the electronic grant application for 
Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program at 
http://www.Grants.gov.
    Please note that applicants must locate the downloadable 
application package for this program by the CFDA Number or FedGrants 
Funding Opportunity Number, which can be found at http://www.Grants.gov.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the paperwork 
burden has been cleared by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
under OMB Control Number 0570-0050.

Nondiscrimination Statement

    USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on 
the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where 
applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, 
religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, 
reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived 
from any public assistance program. (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 TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 
(voice and TDD).
    To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, 
Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). 
``USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.''

    Dated: March 8, 2007.
Ben Anderson,
Acting Administrator, Rural Business--Cooperative Service.
[FR Doc. E7-5198 Filed 3-21-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XY-P