32620 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2018 / Notices 

their participation; (2) a brief statement 

of the process used by the recipient 

institution to identify individuals and 

groups who are stakeholders and to 

collect input from them; and (3) a 

statement of how collected input was 

considered. There is no legislatively 

prescribed form or format for this 

reporting requirement. However, the 

1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions 

are required to report on their 

Stakeholder Input Process annually as 

part of their Annual Report of 

Accomplishments and Results. 

Section 103(e) of AREERA requires 

that the 1862, 1890, and 1994 land-grant 

institutions establish a merit review 

process, prior to October 1, 1999, in 

order to obtain agricultural research and 

extension funds. Section 104 of 

AREERA also stipulated that a scientific 

peer review process be established for 

research programs funded under section 

3(c)(3) of the Hatch Act (commonly 

referred to as Hatch Multistate Research 

Funds). 

This notice also revises the Plan of 

Work to include Extension Program 

Initiations and Annual Reports in the 

REEport platform in place of the current 

Planned Programs and make the current 

REEport Hatch and Evans-Allen 

approved Research Project Initiations 

and Annual Progress Reports as a part 

of the Plan of Work and Annual Report 

of Accomplishments. This will reduce 

the overall burden for Hatch and EvansAllen research grant recipients. The 

burden for Extension Grant recipients is 

estimated to remain the same. 

The revised Plan of Work will have 

the following sections: 

(1). Institutional Profile and Executive 

Summary 

(2). Merit Review Process 

(3). Stakeholder Input 

(4). Multistate Extension and 

Integrated Research and Extension 

(5). Critical Issues 

(6). Extension Program Initiations and 

Research Project Initiations in the 

REEport Platform 

I. Initial 5-Year Plan of Work 

Estimate of Burden: The Initial 5-Year 

Plan of Work as revised will submitted 

for the FY 2020–2024 Plan of Work in 

2019. The total reporting and record 

keeping requirements for the 

submission of the ‘‘Initial 5-Year Plan of 

Work’’ is estimated to average 64 hours 

per response. There are six components 

of this ‘‘5-Year Plan of Work’’: ‘‘Critical 

Issues,’’ ‘‘Extension Program and 

Research Project Initiations in the 

REEport Platform,’’ ‘‘Stakeholder Input 

Process,’’ ‘‘Merit Review Process,’’ 

‘‘Multi state Activities,’’ and ‘‘Integrated 

Activities.’’ 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

75. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 150. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 9,600 hours. 

Frequency of Responses: Annually. 

II. Annual Update to 5-Year Plan of 

Work 

Estimate of the Burden: The total 

reporting and record keeping 

requirements for the submission of the 

‘‘Annual Update to the 5-Year Plan of 

Work’’ is estimated to average 64 hours 

per response. There are six components 

of this ‘‘5-Year Plan of Work’’: ‘‘Critical 

Issues,’’ ‘‘Extension Program and 

Research Project Initiations in the 

REEport Platform,’’ ‘‘Stakeholder Input 

Process,’’ ‘‘Merit Review Process,’’ 

‘‘Multi state Activities,’’ and ‘‘Integrated 

Activities.’’ 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

75. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 150. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 9,600 hours. 

Frequency of Responses: Annually. 

III. Annual Report of Accomplishments 

and Results 

Estimate of the Burden: The total 

annual reporting and record keeping 

requirements of the ‘‘Annual Report of 

Accomplishments and Results’’ is 

estimated to average 260 hours per 

response. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

75. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 150. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 39,000 hours. 

Frequency of Responses: Annually. 

Comments: Comments are invited on: 

(a) Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

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. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

to OMB for approval. All comments will 

become a matter of public record. 

Done in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2018. 

Thomas G. Shanower, 

Acting Director, National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14997 Filed 7–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture 

Announcement of Requirements and 

Registration for U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) Innovations in 

Food and Agricultural Science and 

Technology (I–FAST) Prize 

Competition 

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA, is 

announcing the I–FAST prize 

competition (the ‘‘I–FAST Competition’’ 

or the ‘‘Competition’’) to develop and 

implement the Innovations in Food and 

Agricultural Science and Technology (I– 

FAST) Program. NIFA will partner with 

the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

Innovation Corps (I-Corps) to provide 

entrepreneurship training to NIFA 

grantees under this I–FAST pilot 

program. The goals are to identify 

valuable product opportunities that can 

emerge from NIFA supported academic 

research. Selected NIFA I–FAST project 

teams will participate in the educational 

programs with NSF I-Corps Program. 

Over a period of six months the NIFA 

supported teams in the I–FAST program 

will learn what it will take to achieve an 

economic impact with their particular 

innovation. The final goal of the I–FAST 

Competition is to facilitate technology 

transfer of innovations that can make an 

impact in the marketplace and the 

global economy. 

DATES: Competition Submission 

Period—Pre-Application and Evaluation 

Interviews: 

• Pre-Application Open Period: July 

10, 2018 to August 3, 2018. 

• Pre-Application Evaluation and 

Interviews: August 6, 2018 to August 9, 

2018. 

• Full Application Open Period: 

August 10, 2018 to August 17, 2018. 

• Final Evaluation and Judging—Full 

Application: August 20, 2018 to August 

22, 2018. 

• Verification of Winners: August 23, 

2018. 

• Announcement of Winner(s): 

August 24, 2018. 

NSF I-Corps Training for Winner(s): 

Winning team(s) will need to be 


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available to travel to and attend one of 

the following NSF I-Corps training 

sessions with the following dates and 

locations: 

Fall 2018 COHORTS: 

Fall Cohort #1: Location TBD (Likely 

Detroit, MI) 

• Kickoff (on-site): September (arrive 

25) 26–28, 2018. 

• Web sessions (online): Thursdays 

1:00–4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)— 

October 4, 11, 18, 25 and November 1, 

2018. 

Lessons Learned (on-site): November 

8–9, 2018. 

Fall Cohort #2: Location TBD (Likely 

Los Angeles or San Diego, CA) 

• Kickoff (on-site): September (arrive 

30) to October 1–3, 2018. 

• Web sessions (online): Mondays 

1:00–4:00 p.m. ET –October 10, 17, 24, 

31 and November 7, 2018. 

Lessons Learned (on-site): November 

15–16, 2018. 

The Pre-Application Phase 

Competition Submission Period begins 

July 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. ET and ends 

August 3, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

Pre-Application Interviews will take 

place August 6, 2018 to August 9, 2018. 

The Full-Application Phase 

Competition Submission Period begins 

August 10, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. ET and 

ends August 17, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

Competition dates are subject to 

change. Entries submitted before or after 

the Competition Submission Period will 

not be reviewed or considered for 

award. For more details, visit the 

www.challenge.gov website. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about the Competition can be 

directed to Scott Dockum at sdockum@

nifa.usda.gov, or phone 202–720–6346 

or Olivia Moreno at Olivia.moreno@

nifa.usda.gov, or 202–603–9186. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Subject of Challenge Competition 

The National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture (NIFA), USDA, mission is to 

invest in and advance agricultural 

research, education, and extension to 

solve societal challenges. As part of this 

mission NIFA is charged with providing 

grant funding for research, education, 

and extension that address key 

problems of national, regional, and 

multi-state importance in sustaining all 

components of agriculture. A majority of 

NIFA grant funding is provided to 

academic institutions to focus on 

developing research in the areas of farm 

efficiency and profitability, ranching, 

renewable energy, forestry (both urban 

and agroforestry), aquaculture, rural 

communities and entrepreneurship, 

human nutrition, food safety, 

biotechnology, and conventional 

breeding. 

NIFA will partner with the NSF 

Innovation Corps (I-Corps) who will 

provide an Entrepreneurial Immersion 

course and training to NIFA grantees 

through this I–FAST Competition. The 

goals of this Competition are to spur 

translation of fundamental research to 

the market place, to encourage 

collaboration between academia and 

industry, and to train NIFA-funded 

faculty, students and other researchers 

to understand innovation and 

entrepreneurship. 

The purpose of the I–FAST 

Competition is to identify NIFA-funded 

research teams (an I–FAST team 

includes the Principal Investigator (PI), 

the Entrepreneurial Lead, and the 

Mentor) who will receive additional 

support, in the form of mentoring, 

training, and funding to accelerate the 

translation of knowledge derived from 

fundamental research into emerging 

products and services that can attract 

subsequent third-party funding. NIFAfunded research teams will be required 

to participate in Entrepreneurial 

Immersion courses provided by the NSF 

I-Corps program. The NSF I-Corps is a 

program specifically designed to 

broaden the impact of select, basic 

research projects by preparing scientists 

and engineers to focus beyond the 

laboratory. Leveraging experience and 

guidance from established 

entrepreneurs and a targeted curriculum 

within the NSF I-Corp program, NIFA I– 

FAST teams will learn to identify 

valuable product opportunities that can 

emerge from NIFA supported academic 

research. The I–FAST Competition will 

help create a stronger national 

ecosystem for innovation that couples 

scientific discovery with technology 

development to address agricultural and 

societal needs. 

Each team that receives an I-FAST 

award is required to participate in the 

following NSF I-Corps activities: (1) 

Attendance by the entire team at an onsite three-day NSF I-Corps 

Entrepreneurial Immersion course; (2) 

Mandatory participation in the I-Corps 

weekly Webinars following the inperson three day on-site meeting; (3) 

Completion of approximately 15 hours 

of preparation per week over the 

duration of the program; (4) Attendance 

of a two day lessons learned in-person 

meeting at the end of the training. 

During the training, teams are expected 

to engage in at least 100 contacts with 

potential customers and provide a 5- 

page summary report back to NIFA on 

the outcome of the training and 

milestones to be met by the team (i.e., 

commercialization, market proposition, 

and lessons learned from the program). 

Team Eligibility Rules and 

Responsibilities for Participating in the 

Competition 

The I-FAST Competition is open to 

teams (‘‘Teams’’ or ‘‘Participants’’) that 

are made up of individuals from 

academic/university institutions that 

have received a prior NIFA award in a 

scientific or engineering field relevant to 

the proposed innovation that is 

currently active or that has been active 

within five years from the closing date 

of the Pre-Application Open Period. The 

prior award could range from a modest 

single-investigator award to a large, 

distributed center and also includes 

awards involving students. All 

individuals supported (i.e. Senior/Key 

Personnel or Other Personnel) under the 

prior award are eligible to serve on the 

Team. Individuals not eligible to serve 

on the Team include a Federal 

employee acting within the scope of 

their employment, individuals whose 

primary place of business is outside of 

the United States, and individuals who 

are not a citizen or permanent resident 

of the United States. 

Makeup of I-FAST Competition 

Teams: Each Team shall consist of three 

members: 

(1) Entrepreneurial Lead (EL) 

(2) I-FAST Team Mentor 

(3) Principal Investigator (PI) 

I-FAST teams are made up of 

individuals from an academic/ 

university institution except for the 

Mentor who may reside with a nonacademic institution as described 

below. Also described below, are the 

responsibilities of each team member 

should the Team be selected as a winner 

of the competition. 

The Entrepreneurial Lead (EL) could 

be a postdoctoral scholar, graduate, or 

other student with relevant knowledge 

of the technology located at the 

academic/university institution and a 

deep commitment to investigate the 

commercial landscape surrounding the 

innovation. The EL should also be 

capable and have the will to support the 

transition of the technology to 

commercial viability. The EL will be 

responsible for: (1) Developing the team 

to include the mentor and PI, (2) leading 

the development of the pre-application, 

participating in the I-FAST interviews 

and developing the full application, if 

selected, (3) starting and completing all 

training activities in the Entrepreneurial 

Immersion course provided by the NSF 

I-Corps program, (4) communicating and 

coordinating with team members to 

achieve the goals of the team, (5) 


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developing and monitoring team 

activity milestones from the 

Entrepreneurial Immersion course, (6) 

ensuring the team milestones are 

completed on time, and (7) ensuring the 

team is in communication with the 

NIFA I-FAST Competition Director and 

the NSF I-Corps Program Director as 

needed. 

Ideally, the I-FAST Teams Mentor 

will be an experienced or emerging 

entrepreneur with proximity to the 

academic/university institution and 

have prior experience developing and 

commercializing other products within 

the broader technology space related to 

the specific project under development. 

The Mentor should be selected as a 

third-party resource, or may be a person 

that has an established relationship with 

the team (e.g., Board Member, 

consultant), but cannot be an employee 

nor directly involved with the 

technology development. The EL will 

need to identify a Mentor that has 

business expertise in the proposed 

technology sector and has 

entrepreneurial experience. A Mentor 

will be someone with appropriate 

contacts in the technology area of 

commercialization which are critical for 

propelling the technology towards 

commercialization. The EL of the team 

should seek input from their University 

Technology Transfer Office for potential 

Mentors. The I-FAST Team’s Mentor 

will be responsible for guiding the team 

forward using existing entrepreneurial 

experience and tracking the team’s 

progress through regular 

communication with the EL, PI, the 

NIFA I-FAST competition director, and 

the NSF I-Corps Program Director, as 

needed. 

The PI is expected to have in-depth 

knowledge of the innovation developed 

under the prior NIFA Grant and, if 

selected, will be responsible for: (1) 

Coordinating with the university on the 

transfer of prize funds from NIFA, (2) 

tracking of the prize funding for team 

activities, (3) reporting to NIFA on 

disbursements and obligations of the 

prize funding, (4) guiding the EL and 

Mentor on technical aspects of the 

innovation, (5) communicating as 

needed with the NIFA I-FAST 

Competition Director and the NSF ICorps Program Director, (6) ensuring the 

EL meets the required milestones for the 

NSF I–CORP training, and (7) 

participating as a team member. The 

Principal Investigator who received the 

earlier NIFA grant for the technology is 

allowed to participate on the team, but 

cannot be the Entrepreneurial Lead. 

During the I-Corps course, each 

participating team, including all its 

team members, must: 

• Attend, in person, an evening 

reception and 3-day kick-off 

Entrepreneurial Immersion course; 

• Conduct approximately 100 

customer interviews over the 6-week 

program, and submit interview 

summary reports. This process of 

customer discovery includes in-person 

face to face meetings with potential 

customers and requires the team to be 

‘‘outside the building’’ for these 

activities. It is expected that the team 

will not use telephone or online 

conferencing during the customer 

discovery process. It is expected the 

team will require a minimum of 15 

hours and a maximum of 40 hours per 

week for at least five weeks following 

the in person training; 

• Participate in 5 weekly webinar 

sessions and submit regular updates to 

the team’s business model canvas. In 

addition, it is expected that I-Corps 

teams will take advantage of instructor 

office hours; and 

• Attend, in person, the final 2-day 

course close out/lessons learned session 

(to be held in the same region as the 

kick-off course). 

Teams are strongly encouraged to 

consider the time commitments and 

requirements of the program before 

submitting an application. If one or 

more team members cannot meet these 

requirements, the team should not 

submit an application. 

Selected I-FAST Teams that fail to 

meet the requirements of the program 

must provide NIFA documented 

justification for failing to meet the 

requirements. NIFA will determine 

based on the justification or no 

justification, whether the team is subject 

to reimbursing NIFA for any prize 

funding. 

Amount of the Prize 

The NIFA I-FAST Competition Prize 

Purse will be a maximum of $250,000 

which will be divided to provide 

$50,000 each to a maximum of five (5) 

teams. Prize Purse funds are required to 

be used by winning Teams to fully 

participate in the NSF I-Corps program 

curriculum. 

NIFA reserves the right to award less 

than the maximum number of available 

prizes. 

Payment of the Prize 

Prizes awarded under this 

Competition will be paid by electronic 

funds transfer to the academic/ 

university institution the Team(s) 

represent(s). Once prize winners are 

selected, NIFA will provide the winners 

with the forms and financial documents 

that must be completed and returned to 

NIFA to set up the electronic transfer. 

All Federal, state and local taxes are the 

sole responsibility of the winner(s). 

Submission Process for Participants 

The Competition will have a threephase selection process. Initially, Teams 

will submit a pre-application. From the 

pre-applications, NIFA will conduct 

phone interviews. Selected Teams will 

be invited to submit a full application. 

From the full applications, NIFA will 

select the winning Team(s). 

Teams can enter the contest by 

submitting the pre-application through 

the ‘‘Enter a Submission’’ function on 

www.Challenge.gov, and then send the 

pre-application, with name and contact 

info, to contest@nifa.usda.gov. The preapplication shall contain the following 

information: 

Prepare a three-page Executive 

Summary that describes the following: 

(1) Composition of the Team and roles 

(EL, Mentor, and PI) of the members 

proposing to undertake the 

commercialization feasibility research. 

(2) Contact information for ALL of the 

members. 

(3) Relevant current/previous NIFA 

award(s) including award number, Title 

of the Project, and the NIFA program the 

award was funded under. 

(4) Brief description of the potential 

commercial impact. 

(5) Brief description of the current 

commercialization plans for the 

innovation. 

After the interviews, Teams that are 

selected to submit a full application will 

submit it via challenge.gov through the 

‘‘Enter a Submission’’ function and then 

send the application with name and 

contact info to contest@nifa.usda.gov. 

The full application shall include the 

following project description 

information: 

1. I-Corps Team (one page limit). 

a. Briefly describe the I-Corps team 

and provide rationale for its formation, 

focusing on members’ entrepreneurial 

expertise, relevance to the innovation 

effort, and members’ experience in 

collaborating on previous projects. 

b. Include contact information for all 

team members. 

2. Lineage of the Proposed Innovation 

(one page limit). 

a. Provide the current/previous NIFA 

award(s) including award number, Title 

of Project and the NIFA program that 

funded the award. 

b. Briefly describe how this research 

has led the Team to believe that a 

commercial opportunity exists for the 

effort moving forward. 

3. Description of the Potential 

Commercial Impact (two page limit). 

a. Provide a brief profile of a typical 

customer of the proposed innovation. 


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b. Describe how the proposed 

innovation will meet the customer’s 

needs. 

c. Describe how the customer 

currently meets those needs. 

d. Your approach—What is the 

proposed innovation? How does it relate 

to the fundamental research already 

conducted under previous award(s)? 

e. How much do you think a customer 

would pay for your solution? 

4. Brief description of the project plan 

(one page limit). 

a. Current Status—In what stage is the 

development: proof-of-principle, proofof-concept, prototype (alpha, beta), etc. 

b. Provide a brief description of the 

proof-of-concept or technology 

demonstration that will be provided at 

the end of the project. 

The total page limit for the project 

description full application is five (5) 

pages. 

From the Teams submitting full 

applications, a maximum of five Teams 

will be selected as winners to enter into 

the I-FAST Program. 

Judging 

The information on the Competition 

will be provided via 

www.challenges.gov. 

NIFA will screen all entries for 

eligibility and completeness. Entries 

from Teams that do not meet the 

eligibility requirements and/or that fail 

to include required submission 

elements will not be evaluated or 

considered for award. Eligible and 

complete entries will be judged by a fair 

and impartial panel of individuals from 

NIFA and NSF (the ‘‘Judging Panel’’). 

Pre-Application Evaluation: The 

Judging Panel will evaluate the preapplication to determine the following: 

(1) Did the technology proposed 

receive past NIFA funding within the 

specified timeframe? 

(2) Does the team have the required 

team members and are the roles of each 

team member clearly described and 

meet the noted responsibilities? 

(3) Does the commercialization plan 

provide a good understanding of the 

team’s knowledge of the current state of 

the art and how the technology could 

enter into a potential market? 

(4) Were the page limits met? 

Following the evaluation, the Judging 

Panel will conduct a phone interview 

with each selected team. This will 

emphasize the time commitment and 

availability of the entire team to 

complete the NSF I–CORPS program 

during one of the fall 2018 cohorts. 

Full-Application Evaluation: The 

Judging Panel will evaluate the Fullapplication to determine the following 

and approximately equal consideration 

will be given to each criterion except for 

item (3), which will receive twice the 

value of any of the other items: 

1. I-Corps Team: Does the application 

clearly describe: the I-Corps team, the 

rationale for the team’s formation, 

members’ entrepreneurial expertise, 

relevance to the innovation effort, and 

members’ experience in collaborating? 

2. Lineage of the Proposed Innovation: 

Does the application provide a table of 

previous NIFA awards and identify the 

original Principle Investigator (PI)? Does 

the application clearly describe how 

this research has led the Team to believe 

that a commercial opportunity exists for 

the effort moving forward? 

3. Description of the Potential 

Commercial Impact: Does the 

application clearly describe the profile 

of a typical customer of the proposed 

innovation? Does the application 

describe the customer needs to be met 

by the proposed innovation? Does the 

application describe how the customer 

currently meets those needs with the 

current state of the art and does the 

customer believe this innovation is 

better than the current technology? Does 

the application clearly describe the 

proposed innovation and how it relates 

to the fundamental research already 

conducted under previous award(s)? 

Does the application describe how 

much a customer would pay for the 

solution? 

4. Project plan: Does the project plan 

clearly describe the current status 

including the stage of development? 

Does the application provide a 

description of the proof-of-concept or 

technology demonstration that will be 

provided at the end of the project? 

5. Page Limits: Did the application 

meet the required page limits? 

Additional Rules and Conditions 

A. General Conditions 

By entering the Competition, each 

Team certifies that its entry complies 

with all applicable Federal and State 

laws and regulations. 

Each Team warrants that its entry is 

free of viruses, spyware, malware, and 

any other malicious, harmful, or 

destructive device. Teams submitting 

entries containing any such device will 

be held liable and may be prosecuted to 

the fullest extent of the law. 

Entries containing any matter which, 

in the sole discretion of NIFA, is 

indecent, defamatory, in obvious bad 

taste, demonstrates a lack of respect for 

public morals or conduct, promotes 

discrimination in any form, shows 

unlawful acts being performed, is 

slanderous or libelous, adversely affects 

the reputations of NIFA or NSF, is 

unacceptable as determined by NIFA, 

then such entry shall be deemed 

disqualified and will not be evaluated 

or, if evaluated, will not be considered 

for award. 

The winning Team(s) must comply 

with all applicable laws and regulations 

regarding Prize Purse receipt and 

disbursement. 

NIFA’s failure to enforce any term of 

any applicable rule or condition shall 

not constitute a waiver of that term. 

B. Entry Conditions, Release & Liability 

By entering the Competition, each 

Team agrees to: 

(1) Comply with and be bound by all 

applicable rules and conditions, and the 

decisions of NIFA, which are binding 

and final in all matters relating to this 

Competition. 

(2) Release and hold harmless NIFA 

and NSF and all their respective past 

and present officers, directors, 

employees, agents, and representatives 

(collectively the ‘‘Released Parties’’) 

from and against any and all claims, 

expenses, and liability arising out of or 

relating to the Team’s entry or 

participation in the Competition and/or 

the Team’s acceptance, use, or misuse of 

the Prize Purse or recognition. Provided, 

however, that Participants are not 

required to waive claims arising out of 

the unauthorized use or disclosure by 

NIFA or NSF of the intellectual 

property, trade secrets, or confidential 

business information of the Participant. 

The Released Parties are not 

responsible for: (1) Any incorrect or 

inaccurate information, whether caused 

by Teams, printing errors, or by any of 

the equipment or programming 

associated with or used in the 

Competition; (2) technical failures of 

any kind, including, but not limited to, 

malfunctions, interruptions, or 

disconnections in phone lines or 

network hardware or software; (3) 

unauthorized human intervention in 

any part of the entry process for the 

Competition; (4) technical or human 

error that may occur in the 

administration of the Competition or the 

processing of entries; or (5) any injury 

or damage to persons or property that 

may be caused, directly or indirectly, in 

whole or in part, from Team’s 

participation in the Competition or 

receipt or use or misuse of the Prize 

Purse. If for any reason a Team’s entry 

is confirmed to have been deleted 

erroneously, lost, or otherwise 

destroyed or corrupted, that Team’s sole 

remedy is to submit another entry in the 

Competition. 


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C. Termination and Disqualification 

NIFA reserves the authority to cancel, 

suspend, and/or modify the 

Competition, or any part of it, if any 

fraud, technical failures, or any other 

factor beyond NIFA’s reasonable control 

impairs the integrity or proper 

functioning of the Competition, as 

determined by NIFA in its sole 

discretion. 

NIFA reserves the right to disqualify 

any Team it believes to be tampering 

with the entry process or the operation 

of the Competition or to be acting in 

violation of any applicable rule or 

condition. 

Any attempt by any person to 

undermine the legitimate operation of 

the Competition may be a violation of 

criminal and civil law, and, should such 

an attempt be made, NIFA reserves the 

authority to seek damages from any 

such person to the fullest extent 

permitted by law. 

D. Verification of Potential Winner(s) 

All potential Competition winners are 

subject to verification by NIFA whose 

decisions are final and binding in all 

matters related to the Competition. 

Potential winner(s) must continue to 

comply with all terms and conditions of 

the Competition rules, and winning is 

contingent upon fulfilling all 

requirements. The potential winner(s) 

will be notified by email and/or 

telephone. If a potential winner cannot 

be contacted, or if the notification is 

returned as undeliverable, the potential 

winner forfeits. In the event that a 

potential winner, or an announced 

winner, is found to be ineligible or is 

disqualified for any reason, NIFA may 

make award, instead, to the next runner 

up, as previously determined by the 

Judging Panel. 

Prior to awarding the Prize Purse, 

NIFA will verify that the potential 

winner(s) is/are not suspended, 

debarred, or otherwise excluded from 

doing business with the U.S. Federal 

Government. Suspended, debarred, or 

otherwise excluded parties are not 

eligible to win the Competition. 

E. Intellectual Property 

By entering the Competition, each 

Team certifies that it is the author and/ 

or authorized owner of its entry, and 

that the entry is wholly original with the 

Team (or is an improved version of an 

existing project plan the Team is legally 

authorized to enter into the 

Competition), and that the submitted 

entry does not infringe on any 

copyright, patent, or any other rights of 

any third party. Each Team agrees to 

hold the Released Parties harmless for 

any infringement of copyright, 

trademark, patent, and/or other real or 

intellectual property right that may be 

caused, directly or indirectly, in whole 

or in part, from that Team’s 

participation in the Competition. 

All legal rights in any materials 

produced or submitted in entering the 

Competition are retained by the Team 

and/or the legal holder of those rights. 

Entry into the Competition constitutes 

express authorization for NIFA, NSF, 

and the Judging Panel to review and 

analyze any and all aspects of submitted 

entries, including any trade secret or 

proprietary information contained in or 

evident from review of the submitted 

entries. 

F. Privacy & Disclosure Under Freedom 

of Information Act (FOIA) 

Personal and contact information is 

not collected for commercial or 

marketing purposes. Information 

submitted throughout the Competition 

will be used only to communicate with 

Teams regarding entries and/or the 

Competition. 

Teams’ entries to the Competition 

may be subject to disclosure under the 

FOIA. If a Team believes that all or part 

of its Competition entry is protected 

from release under FOIA (e.g., if the 

information falls under FOIA exemption 

#4 for ‘‘trade secrets and commercial or 

financial information obtained from a 

person [that is] privileged or 

confidential’’) the Team will be 

responsible for clearly marking the 

page(s)/section(s) of information it 

believes are protected. 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719. 

Done at Washington, DC, on July 3, 2018. 

Kim L. Hicks, 

Branch Chief, Grants and Agreements 

Management Branch USDA, Agricultural 

Research Service, Financial Management and 

Agreements Division. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14996 Filed 7–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

Notice To Implement a Guarantee 

Systems User Fee for Lender Use of 

the Single Family Housing Section 502 

Guaranteed Loan Program Automated 

Systems 

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Housing Opportunity 

Through Modernization Act of 2016 was 

signed into law on July 29, 2016. It 

created Section 502(i) in the Housing 

Act of 1949, later amended by Section 

758 of the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2018, which permits the Secretary 

to assess and collect a guarantee 

underwriting user fee (also known as a 

technology fee) from lenders for their 

use of the Rural Housing Service’s 

(Agency’s) automated guaranteed loan 

systems. The collection of the fee will 

enable the Agency to fund future 

information technology enhancements 

needed to improve program delivery 

and reduce burden to the public. The 

fee amount will be published in the 

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan 

Program (SFHGLP) Handbook HB–1– 

3555, available at https://

www.rd.usda.gov/publications/ 

regulations-guidelines/handbooks. 

The fee will not exceed $50 per loan, 

and constitutes a reasonable and 

customary cost that is an authorized 

loan purpose in accordance with the 

Guaranteed Rural Housing Program. The 

primary method of collecting the fee 

will be through the Agency’s Lender 

Loan Closing (LLC) system when a loan 

goes to closing. 

DATES: Written or email comments on 

the proposed rule must be received on 

or before September 11, 2018 to be 

assured for consideration. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this proposed rule by any one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

electronically. 

• Mail: Submit written comments via 

the U.S. Postal Service to the Branch 

Chief, Regulations and Paperwork 

Management Branch, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, STOP 0742, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–0742. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Submit 

written comments via Federal Express 

mail, or other courier service requiring 

a street address to the Branch Chief, 

Regulations and Paperwork 

Management Branch, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. 

SW, Washington, DC 20250–0742. 

All written comments will be 

available for public inspection during 

regular work hours at 1400 

Independence Ave. SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–0742. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Jensen, Finance and Loan Analyst, 

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan 

Division, STOP 0784, Room 2250, 

USDA Rural Development, South 

Agriculture Building, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–0784, telephone: (503) 894– 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES