Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 16519 

Dated: March 16, 2012. 

Jeffrey J. Tribiano, 

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6786 Filed 3–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Tongass National Forest Wrangell 

Ranger District; Alaska; Wrangell 

Island Project Environmental Impact 

Statement 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Corrected Notice of Intent to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement; Correction. 

SUMMARY: A Corrected Notice of Intent 

(NOI) to prepare an environmental 

impact Statement was published in the 

Federal Register (77 FR 14727) on 

March 13, 2012 concerning a request for 

scoping comments. The document 

contained incorrect dates. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim 

Piazza, Team Leader, Federal Building, 

Ketchikan, AK 99901, (907) 228–6318. 

Correction 

In the Federal Register of March 13, 

2012 (77 FR 14727), on page 14727, in 

the third column, correct the DATES

caption to read: 

DATES: Comments received during the 

initial scoping period in 2010–2011 will be 

considered in the preparation of this EIS. 

New or additional comments must be 

received April 27, 2012. The draft 

environmental impact statement is expected 

in December 2012, and the final 

environmental impact statement is expected 

in June 2013. 

Dated: March 13, 2012. 

Forrest Cole, 

Forest Supervisor, Tongass National Forest. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6780 Filed 3–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) 

Inviting Applications for the Rural 

Community Development Initiative 

(RCDI) for Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal 

Year 2012 

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This Notice announces the 

availability of $8,611,000 of FYs 2011 

and 2012 funding of competitive grant 

funds for the RCDI program through the 

Rural Housing Service (RHS), an agency 

within the USDA Rural Development 

mission area (Agency). Appropriation 

Acts made available $4,990,000 in FY 

2011 and $3,621,000 in FY 2012 for the 

RCDI program for a total of $8,611,000 

for the two fiscal years. 

The RCDI grant program includes an 

initiative called the Rural Jobs and 

Innovation Accelerator Challenge. For 

FY 2011 and the FY 2012 RCDI funds 

will be divided between the traditional 

RCDI Program and the Rural Jobs and 

Innovation Accelerator Challenge as 

follows: $2,500,000 of the FY 2011 

funds and $1,811,000 of the FY 2012 

funds will be available for the 

traditional RCDI program and 

$2,490,000 of the FY 2011 funds and 

$1,810,000 of the FY 2012 will be 

reserved for awards through a Federal 

Funding Opportunity Announcement in 

partnership with the Department of 

Commerce Economic Development 

Administration (EDA) for the Rural Jobs 

and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. 

An application for ‘‘Rural Jobs and 

Innovation Accelerator Challenge’’ 

funds must be submitted to both USDA 

and EDA by an organization or a team 

of organizations that is individually or 

collectively eligible to receive funding 

from USDA and EDA. Additional 

information regarding the Rural Jobs 

and Innovation Accelerator Challenge 

can be found in Part VI and Part VII of 

this NOFA. Requirements outlined in 

Parts II, III, VIII, IX, X, and XI of this 

NOFA apply to both the Traditional 

RCDI Program and the Rural Jobs and 

Innovation Accelerator Challenge. 

All applicants must provide matching 

funds in an amount at least equal to the 

Federal grant. These grants will be made 

to qualified intermediary organizations 

that will provide financial and technical 

assistance to recipients to develop their 

capacity and ability to undertake 

projects related to housing, community 

facilities, or community and economic 

development. This Notice lists the 

information needed to submit an 

application for these funds. 

DATES: The deadline for receipt of an 

application—May 9, 2012. The 

application date is firm. The Agency 

will not consider any application 

received after the deadline. Applicants 

intending to mail applications must 

provide sufficient time to permit 

delivery on or before the closing 

deadline date and time. Acceptance by 

the United States Postal Service or 

private mailer does not constitute 

delivery. Facsimile (FAX) and postage 

due applications will not be accepted. 

ADDRESSES: Entities wishing to apply for 

assistance may download the 

application documents and 

requirements delineated in this Notice 

from the RCDI Web site: http:// 

www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/rcdi/ 

index.htm. Application information for 

electronic submissions may be found at 

http://www.grants.gov. Applicants may 

also request paper application packages 

from the Rural Development office in 

their state. A list of Rural Development 

offices is included in this Notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Rural Development office for the state 

the applicant is located in. A list of 

Rural Development State Office contacts 

is included in this Notice. 

Programs Affected 

This program is listed in the Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance under 

Number 10.446. This program is not 

subject to the provisions of Executive 

Order 12372, which requires 

intergovernmental consultation with 

State and local officials because it is not 

listed by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

pursuant to 7 CFR 3015.302, as a 

covered program. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The paperwork burden has been 

cleared by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control 

Number 0575–0180. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

This Notice has been reviewed in 

accordance with 7 CFR part 1940, 

subpart G, ‘‘Environmental Program.’’ 

Rural Development has determined that 

an Environmental Impact Statement is 

not required because the issuance of 

regulations and instructions, as well as 

amendments to them, describing 

administrative and financial procedures 

for processing, approving and 

implementing the Agency’s financial 

programs is categorically excluded in 

the Agency’s NEPA regulation found at 

7 CFR 1940.310(e)(3) of Subpart G, 

Environmental Program. Thus, in 

accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347), Rural 

Development has determined that this 

NOFA does not constitute a major 

Federal action significantly affecting the 

quality of the human environment. 

Furthermore, individual awards under 

this NOFA are hereby classified as 

Categorical Exclusions according to 

1940.310(e), the award of financial 

assistance for planning purposes, 

management and feasibility studies, or 

environmental impact analysis, which 

do not require any additional 

documentation. 


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16520 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

Federal Agency: Rural Housing 

Service. 

Funding Opportunity Title: Rural 

Community Development Initiative. 

Announcement Type: Initial 

Announcement. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 10.446. 

Part I—Funding Opportunity 

Description 

Congress initially created the RCDI in 

Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 to develop the 

capacity and ability of nonprofit 

organizations, low-income rural 

communities, or federally recognized 

tribes to undertake projects related to 

housing, community facilities, or 

community and economic development 

in rural areas. 

Part II—Award Information 

Appropriation Acts have made 

available a total of $8,611,000 for RCDI 

for FYs 2011 and 2012. The FY 2011 

and the FY 2012 appropriated RCDI 

funds will be divided between the 

traditional RCDI Program and the Rural 

Jobs and Innovation Accelerator 

Challenge as follows: $2,500,000 of the 

FY 2011 funds and $1,811,000 of the FY 

2012 funds will be available for the 

traditional RCDI program and 

$2,490,000 of the FY 2011 funds and 

$1,810,000 of the FY 2012 will be 

reserved for awards through a Federal 

Funding Opportunity Announcement in 

partnership with the Department of 

Commerce Economic Development 

Administration for the Rural Jobs and 

Innovation Accelerator Challenge. The 

Rural Jobs Accelerator provides 

resources to support the development of 

clusters in approximately 20 regions, 

selected through a competitive interagency grant process, and assist rural 

distressed communities accelerate job 

creation by: leveraging local assets, 

building stronger communities, and 

creating regional linkages. 

Opportunities for accelerated job 

creation in rural regions can be found in 

numerous high-potential industry 

clusters, including renewable energy, 

food production, rural tourism, natural 

resources, and advanced manufacturing. 

Qualified private, nonprofit and 

public (including tribal) intermediary 

organizations proposing to carry out 

financial and technical assistance 

programs will be eligible to receive the 

funding. The intermediary will be 

required to provide matching funds in 

an amount at least equal to the RCDI 

grant. The respective minimum and 

maximum grant amount per 

intermediary is $50,000 and $300,000. 

The intermediary must provide a 

program of financial and technical 

assistance to a private nonprofit, 

community-based housing and 

development organization, a lowincome rural community or a federally 

recognized tribe. 

Part III—Eligibility Information 

A. Eligible Applicants 

1. Qualified private, nonprofit, 

including faith-based and community 

organizations, in accordance with 7 CFR 

part 16, and public (including tribal) 

intermediary organizations. Definitions 

that describe eligible organizations and 

other key terms are listed below. 

2. RCDI grantees that have an 

outstanding grant over 3 years old, as of 

the application due date in this Notice, 

will not be eligible to apply for this 

round of funding. Grant and matching 

funds must be utilized in a timely 

manner to ensure that the goals and 

objectives of the program are met. 

B. Program Definitions 

Agency—The Rural Housing Service 

(RHS) or its successor. 

Beneficiary—Entities or individuals 

that receive benefits from assistance 

provided by the recipient. 

Capacity—The ability of a recipient to 

implement housing, community 

facilities, or community and economic 

development projects. 

Federally recognized tribes—Tribal 

entities recognized and eligible for 

funding and services from the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs, based on the current 

notice in the Federal Register published 

by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tribally 

Designated Housing Entities are eligible 

RCDI recipients. 

Financial assistance—Funds, not to 

exceed $10,000 per award, used by the 

intermediary to purchase supplies and 

equipment to build the recipient’s 

capacity. 

Funds—The RCDI grant and matching 

money. 

Intermediary—A qualified private, 

nonprofit (including faith-based and 

community organizations), or public 

(including tribal) organization that 

provides financial and technical 

assistance to multiple recipients. 

Low-income rural community—An 

authority, district, economic 

development authority, regional 

council, or unit of government 

representing an incorporated city, town, 

village, county, township, parish, or 

borough whose median household 

income is at or below 80% of either the 

state or national Median Household 

Income as measured by the 2000 

Census. 

Recipient—The entity that receives 

the financial and technical assistance 

from the Intermediary. The recipient 

must be a private, non-profit 

community-based housing and 

development organization, a lowincome rural community or a federally 

recognized Tribe. 

Regional collaboration—Multijurisdictional areas typically within a 

State, territory, or Federally designated 

Tribal land but which can cross State, 

territory, or Tribal boundaries. The 

Regional Collaboration approach is 

intended to combine the resources of 

the Agency with those of State and local 

governments, educational institutions, 

and the private and nonprofit sectors to 

implement regional economic and 

community development strategies. 

Rural and rural area—Any area other 

than (i) a city or town that has a 

population of greater than 50,000 

inhabitants; and (ii) the urbanized area 

contiguous and adjacent to such city or 

town. 

Technical assistance—Skilled help in 

improving the recipient’s abilities in the 

areas of housing, community facilities, 

or community and economic 

development. 

C. Cost Sharing or Matching 

Matching funds—Cash or confirmed 

funding commitments. Matching funds 

must be at least equal to the grant 

amount and committed for a period of 

not less than the grant performance 

period. These funds can only be used 

for eligible RCDI activities. In-kind 

contributions such as salaries, donated 

time and effort, real and nonexpendable 

personal property and goods and 

services cannot be used as matching 

funds. Grant funds and matching funds 

must be used in equal proportions. This 

does not mean funds have to be used 

equally by line item. The request for 

advance or reimbursement and 

supporting documentation must show 

that RCDI fund usage does not exceed 

the cumulative amount of matching 

funds used. Grant funds will be 

disbursed pursuant to relevant 

provisions of 7 CFR parts 3015, 3016, 

and 3019, as applicable. Verification of 

matching funds must be submitted with 

the application. 

The intermediary is responsible for 

demonstrating that matching funds are 

available, and committed for a period of 

not less than the grant performance 

period to the RCDI proposal. Matching 

funds may be provided by the 

intermediary or a third party. Other 

Federal funds may be used as matching 

funds if authorized by statute and the 

purpose of the funds is an eligible RCDI 

purpose. Matching funds must be used 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 16521 

to support the overall purpose of the 

RCDI program. RCDI funds will be 

disbursed on an advance or 

reimbursement basis. Matching funds 

cannot be expended prior to execution 

of the RCDI Grant Agreement. No 

reimbursement will be made for any 

funds expended prior to execution of 

the RCDI Grant Agreement unless the 

intermediary is a non-profit or 

educational entity and has requested 

and received written Agency approval 

of the costs prior to the actual 

expenditure. This exception is 

applicable for up to 90 days prior to 

grant closing and only applies to 

grantees that have received written 

approval but have not executed the 

RCDI Grant Agreement. The Agency 

cannot retroactively approve 

reimbursement for expenditures prior to 

execution of the RCDI Grant Agreement. 

D. Other Program Requirements 

1. The recipient and beneficiary, but 

not the intermediary, must be located in 

an eligible rural area. The physical 

location of the recipient’s office that 

will be receiving the financial and 

technical assistance must be in an 

eligible rural area. If the recipient is a 

low-income community, the median 

household income of the area where the 

office is located must be at or below 80 

percent of the State or national median 

household income, whichever is higher. 

The applicable Rural Development State 

Office can assist in determining the 

eligibility of an area. A listing of Rural 

Development State Offices is included 

in this Notice. A map showing eligible 

rural areas can be found at the following 

link: http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/

eligibility/welcome

Action.do?pageAction

=RBSmenu&NavKey=property@13. 

2. The recipients must be private 

nonprofit, including faith-based 

organizations, community-based 

housing and development organizations, 

low-income rural communities, or 

federally recognized tribes based on the 

RCDI definitions of these groups. 

3. Documentation must be submitted 

to verify recipient eligibility. Acceptable 

documentation varies depending on the 

type of recipient. Private nonprofit, faith 

or community-based organizations must 

provide a certificate of incorporation 

and good standing from the Secretary of 

the State of incorporation, or other 

similar and valid documentation of 

nonprofit status. For low-income rural 

community recipients, the Agency 

requires evidence that the entity is a 

public body and census data verifying 

that the median household income of 

the community where the office 

receiving the financial and technical 

assistance is located is at, or below, 80 

percent of the State or national median 

household income, whichever is higher. 

For Federally recognized tribes, the 

Agency needs the page listing their 

name from the current Federal Register 

list of tribal entities recognized and 

eligible for funding services (see the 

definition of federally recognized tribes 

in this Notice for details on this list). If 

a tribe has been federally recognized 

since the last list of federally recognized 

tribes was published in the Federal 

Register, appropriate documentation 

from the Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Indian Affairs must be 

submitted that legally verifies that 

recognition. 

4. Individuals cannot be recipients. 

5. The intermediary must provide 

matching funds at least equal to the 

amount of the grant. Verification of 

matching funds must be submitted with 

the application. Matching funds must be 

committed for a period equal to the 

grant performance period. 

6. The intermediary must provide a 

program of financial and technical 

assistance to the recipient. 

7. The intermediary organization must 

have been legally organized for a 

minimum of 3 years and have at least 

3 years prior experience working with 

private nonprofit community-based 

housing and development organizations, 

low-income rural communities, or tribal 

organizations in the areas of housing, 

community facilities, or community and 

economic development. 

8. Proposals must be structured to 

utilize the grant funds within 3 years 

from the date of the award. 

9. Each applicant, whether singularly 

or jointly, may submit one application 

for the traditional RCDI funds and one 

application for the Jobs Accelerator 

funds under this NOFA. This restriction 

does not preclude the applicant from 

providing matching funds for other 

applications. 

10. Recipients can benefit from more 

than one RCDI application; however, 

after grant selections are made, the 

recipient can only benefit from multiple 

RCDI grants if the type of financial and 

technical assistance the recipient will 

receive is not duplicative. Funding for 

services to the same recipients must 

have separate and identifiable accounts 

for compliance purposes. 

11. The intermediary and the 

recipient cannot be the same entity. The 

recipient can be a related entity to the 

intermediary, if it meets the definition 

of a recipient, provided the relationship 

does not create a conflict of interest that 

cannot be resolved to Rural 

Development’s satisfaction. 

12. A nonprofit recipient must 

provide evidence that it is a valid 

nonprofit when the intermediary 

applies for the RCDI grant. 

Organizations with pending requests for 

nonprofit designations are not eligible. 

13. If the recipient is a low-income 

rural community, identify the unit of 

government to which the financial and 

technical assistance will be provided, 

e.g., town council or village board. The 

financial and technical assistance must 

be provided to the organized unit of 

government representing that 

community, not the community at large. 

14. If a grantee has an outstanding 

RCDI grant over 3 years old, as of the 

application due date in this Notice, it is 

not eligible to apply for this round of 

funding. 

15. The indirect cost category in the 

project budget should be used only 

when a grant applicant has a federally 

negotiated indirect cost rate. A copy of 

the current rate agreement must be 

provided with the application. 

16. Grant applicants must obtain a 

Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal 

Numbering System (DUNS) number and 

register in the Central Contractor 

Registration (CCR) prior to submitting a 

pre-application pursuant to 2 CFR 

25.200(b). In addition, an entity 

applicant must maintain registration in 

the CCR database at all times during 

which it has an active Federal award or 

an application or plan under 

construction by the Agency. Similarly, 

all recipients of Federal financial 

assistance are required to report 

information about first-tier sub-awards 

and executive compensation in 

accordance to 2 CFR part 170. So long 

as an entity applicant does not have an 

exception under 2 CFR 170.110(b), the 

applicant must have the necessary 

processes and systems in place to 

comply with the reporting requirements 

should the applicant receive funding. 

See 2 CFR 170.200(b). 

Eligible Fund Uses 

Fund uses must be consistent with the 

RCDI purpose. A nonexclusive list of 

eligible grant uses includes the 

following: 

1. Provide technical assistance to 

develop recipients’ capacity and ability 

to undertake projects related to housing, 

community facilities, or community and 

economic development, i.e., the 

intermediary hires a staff person to 

provide technical assistance to the 

recipient or the recipient hires a staff 

person, under the supervision of the 

intermediary, to carry out the technical 

assistance provided by the intermediary. 

2. Develop the capacity of recipients 

to conduct community development 


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programs, e.g., homeownership 

education or training for business 

entrepreneurs. 

3. Develop the capacity of recipients 

to conduct development initiatives, e.g., 

programs that support micro-enterprise 

and sustainable development. 

4. Develop the capacity of recipients 

to increase their leveraging ability and 

access to alternative funding sources by 

providing training and staffing. 

5. Develop the capacity of recipients 

to provide the technical assistance 

component for essential community 

facilities projects. 

6. Assist recipients in completing predevelopment requirements for housing, 

community facilities, or community and 

economic development projects by 

providing resources for professional 

services, e.g., architectural, engineering, 

or legal. 

7. Improve recipient’s organizational 

capacity by providing training and 

resource material on developing 

strategic plans, board operations, 

management, financial systems, and 

information technology. 

8. Purchase of computers, software, 

and printers, limited to $10,000 per 

award, at the recipient level when 

directly related to the technical 

assistance program being undertaken by 

the intermediary. 

9. Provide funds to recipients for 

training-related travel costs and training 

expenses related to RCDI. 

Ineligible Fund Uses 

1. Pass-through grants, capacity 

grants, and any funds provided to the 

recipient in a lump sum that are not 

reimbursements. 

2. Funding a revolving loan fund 

(RLF). 

3. Construction (in any form). 

4. Salaries for positions involved in 

construction, renovations, 

rehabilitation, and any oversight of 

these types of activities. 

5. Intermediary preparation of 

strategic plans for recipients. 

6. Funding prostitution, gambling, or 

any illegal activities. 

7. Grants to individuals. 

8. Funding a grant where there may be 

a conflict of interest, or an appearance 

of a conflict of interest, involving any 

action by the Agency. 

9. Paying obligations incurred before 

the beginning date without prior Agency 

approval or after the ending date of the 

grant agreement. 

10. Purchasing real estate. 

11. Improvement or renovation of the 

grantee’s, or recipient’s office space or 

for the repair or maintenance of 

privately owned vehicles. 

12. Any other purpose prohibited in 

7 CFR parts 3015, 3016, and 3019, as 

applicable. 

13. Using funds for recipient’s general 

operating costs. 

14. Using grant or matching funds for 

Individual Development Accounts. 

15. Purchasing vehicles. 

Program Examples and Restrictions 

The purpose of this initiative is to 

develop or increase the recipient’s 

capacity through a program of financial 

and technical assistance to perform in 

the areas of housing, community 

facilities, or community and economic 

development. Strengthening the 

recipient’s capacity in these areas will 

benefit the communities they serve. The 

RCDI structure requires the 

intermediary (grantee) to provide a 

program of financial and technical 

assistance to recipients. The recipients 

will, in turn, provide programs to their 

communities (beneficiaries). The 

following are examples of eligible and 

ineligible purposes under the RCDI 

program. (These examples are 

illustrative and are not meant to limit 

the activities proposed in the 

application. Activities that meet the 

objectives of the RCDI program will be 

considered eligible.) 

1. The intermediary must work 

directly with the recipient, not the 

ultimate beneficiaries. As an example: 

The intermediary provides training to 

the recipient on how to conduct 

homeownership education classes. The 

recipient then provides ongoing 

homeownership education to the 

residents of the community—the 

ultimate beneficiaries. This ‘‘train the 

trainer’’ concept fully meets the intent 

of this initiative. The intermediary is 

providing technical assistance that will 

build the recipient’s capacity by 

enabling them to conduct 

homeownership education classes for 

the public. This is an eligible purpose. 

However, if the intermediary directly 

provided homeownership education 

classes to individuals in the recipient’s 

service area, this would not be an 

eligible purpose because the recipient 

would be bypassed. 

2. If the intermediary is working with 

a low-income community as the 

recipient, the intermediary must 

provide the technical assistance to the 

entity that represents the low-income 

community and is identified in the 

application. Examples of entities 

representing a low-income community 

are a village board or a town council. If 

the intermediary provides technical 

assistance to the Board of the lowincome community on how to establish 

a cooperative, this would be an eligible 

purpose. However, if the intermediary 

works directly with individuals from 

the community to establish the 

cooperative, this is not an eligible 

purpose. The recipient’s capacity is 

built by learning skills that will enable 

them to support sustainable economic 

development in their communities on 

an ongoing basis. 

3. The intermediary may provide 

technical assistance to the recipient on 

how to create and operate a revolving 

loan fund. The intermediary may not 

monitor or operate the revolving loan 

fund. RCDI funds, including matching 

funds, cannot be used to fund revolving 

loan funds. 

4. The intermediary may work with 

recipients in building their capacity to 

provide planning and leadership 

development training. The recipients of 

this training would be expected to 

assume leadership roles in the 

development and execution of regional 

strategic plans. The intermediary would 

work with multiple recipients in 

helping communities recognize their 

connections to the greater regional and 

national economies. 

5. The intermediary could provide 

training and technical assistance to the 

recipients on developing emergency 

shelter and feeding, short-term housing, 

search and rescue, and environmental 

accident, prevention, and cleanup 

program plans. For longer term disaster 

and economic crisis responses, the 

intermediary could work with the 

recipients to develop job placement and 

training programs, and develop 

coordinated transit systems for 

displaced workers. 

Part IV—Application and Submission 

Information for the Traditional RCDI 

Program 

A. Address To Request Application 

Package 

Entities wishing to apply for 

assistance may download the 

application documents and 

requirements delineated in this Notice 

from the RCDI Web site: http:// 

www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/rcdi. 

Application information for electronic 

submissions may be found at http:// 

www.grants.gov. Applicants may also 

request paper application packages from 

the Rural Development office in their 

state. A list of Rural Development State 

offices is included in this Notice. 

B. Content and Form of Application 

Submission 

If the applicant is ineligible or the 

application is incomplete, the Agency 

will inform the applicant in writing of 

the decision, reasons therefore, and its 


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appeal rights and no further evaluation 

of the application will occur. 

A complete application for RCDI 

funds must include the following: 

1. A summary page, double-spaced 

between items, listing the following: 

(This information should not be 

presented in narrative form.) 

a. Applicant’s name, 

b. Applicant’s address, 

c. Applicant’s telephone number, 

d. Name of applicant’s contact person 

and telephone number, 

e. Applicant’s fax number, 

f. County where applicant is located, 

g. Congressional district number 

where applicant is located, 

h. Amount of grant request, and 

i. Number of recipients 

2. A detailed Table of Contents 

containing page numbers for each 

component of the application. 

3. A project overview, no longer than 

five pages, including the following 

items, which will also be addressed 

separately and in detail under ‘‘Building 

Capacity’’ of the ‘‘Evaluation Criteria.’’ 

a. The type of technical assistance to 

be provided to the recipients and how 

it will be implemented. 

b. How the capacity and ability of the 

recipients will be improved. 

c. The overall goals to be 

accomplished. 

d. The benchmarks to be used to 

measure the success of the program. 

Benchmarks should be specific and 

quantifiable. 

4. Organizational documents, such as 

a certificate of incorporation and a 

current good standing certification from 

the Secretary of State where the 

applicant is incorporated and other 

similar and valid documentation of nonprofit status, from the intermediary that 

confirms it has been legally organized 

for a minimum of 3 years as the 

applicant entity. 

5. Verification of source and amount 

of matching funds, i.e., a copy of a bank 

statement if matching funds are in cash 

or a copy of the confirmed funding 

commitment from the funding source. 

The verification must show that 

matching funds are available for the 

duration of the grant performance 

period. The verification of matching 

funds must be submitted with the 

application or the application will be 

considered incomplete. 

The applicant will be contacted by the 

Agency prior to grant award to verify 

that the matching funds provided with 

the application continue to be available. 

The applicant will have 15 working 

days from the date contacted to submit 

verification that matching funds 

continue to be available. If the applicant 

is unable to provide the verification 

within that timeframe, the application 

will be considered ineligible. The 

applicant must maintain bank 

statements on file or other 

documentation for a period of at least 

three years after grant closing except 

that the records shall be retained 

beyond the three-year period if audit 

findings have not been resolved. 

6. The following information for each 

recipient: 

a. Recipient’s entity name, 

b. Complete address (mailing and 

physical location, if different), 

c. County where located, 

d. Number of Congressional district 

where recipient is located, 

e. Contact person’s name and 

telephone number, and 

f. Form RD 400–4, ‘‘Assurance 

Agreement.’’ If the Form RD 400–4 is 

not submitted for a recipient, the 

recipient will be considered ineligible. 

No information pertaining to that 

recipient will be included in the income 

or population scoring criteria and the 

requested funding may be adjusted due 

to the deletion of the recipient. 

7. Submit evidence that each recipient 

entity is eligible: 

a. Nonprofits—provide a current valid 

letter confirming non-profit status from 

the Secretary of the State of 

incorporation or the IRS, a current good 

standing certification from the Secretary 

of the State of incorporation, or other 

valid documentation of nonprofit status 

of each recipient. 

b. Low-income rural community— 

provide evidence the entity is a public 

body, and a copy of the 2000 census 

data to verify the population, and 

evidence that the median household 

income is at, or below, 80 percent of 

either the State or the national income. 

We will only accept data and printouts 

from http://www.census.gov. The 

specific instructions to retrieve data 

from this site are detailed under the 

‘‘Evaluation Criteria’’ for ‘‘Population’’ 

and ‘‘Income.’’ 

c. Federally recognized tribes— 

provide the page listing their name from 

the Federal Register list of tribal entities 

published by the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs on October 1, 2010 (75 FR 

60810) or a subsequent updated list or 

supplement in the Federal Register. If a 

tribe has been federally recognized since 

the last list of federally recognized tribes 

was published in the Federal Register, 

appropriate documentation from the 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Indian Affairs must be submitted that 

legally verifies that recognition. 

8. Each of the ’’Evaluation Criteria’’ 

must be addressed specifically and 

individually by category. Present these 

criteria in narrative form. 

Documentation must be limited to three 

pages per criterion. The ‘‘Population’’ 

and ‘‘Income’’ criterions for recipient 

locations can be provided in the form of 

a list; however, the source of the data 

must be included on the page(s). 

9. A timeline identifying specific 

activities and proposed dates for 

completion. 

10. A detailed project budget that 

includes the RCDI grant amount and 

matching funds. This should be a lineitem budget, by category. Categories 

such as salaries, administrative, other, 

and indirect costs that pertain to the 

proposed project must be clearly 

defined. Supporting documentation 

listing the components of these 

categories must be included. The budget 

should be dated: year 1, year 2, year 3, 

as applicable. 

11. Form SF–424, ‘‘Application for 

Federal Assistance.’’ (Do not complete 

Form SF–424A, ‘‘Budget Information.’’ 

A separate line-item budget should be 

presented as described in No. 10 of this 

section.) 

12. Form SF–424B, ‘‘Assurances— 

Non-Construction Programs.’’ 

13. Form AD–1047, ‘‘Certification 

Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and 

Other Responsibility Matters—Primary 

Covered Transactions.’’ 

14. Form AD–1048, ‘‘Certification 

Regarding Debarment, Suspension, 

Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion— 

Lower Tier Covered Transactions.’’ 

15. Form AD–1049, ‘‘Certification 

Regarding Drug-Free Workplace 

Requirements.’’ 

16. Certification of Non-Lobbying 

Activities. 

17. Standard Form LLL, ‘‘Disclosure 

of Lobbying Activities,’’ if applicable. 

18. Form RD 400–4, ‘‘Assurance 

Agreement,’’ for the applicant. 

19. Identify and report any association 

or relationship with Rural Development 

employees. 

20. For grants, the applicant’s Dun 

and Bradstreet Data Universal 

Numbering Systems (DUNS) number 

and registration in the Central 

Contractor Registration (CCR) database 

in accordance with 2 CFR part 25. As 

required by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB), all grant 

applications must provide a DUNS 

number when applying for Federal 

grants, on or after October 1, 2003. 

Organizations can receive a DUNS 

number at no cost by calling the 

dedicated toll-free number at 1–866– 

705–5711 or via Internet at 

http:www.dnb.com/us/. Additional 

information concerning this 

requirement can be obtained on the 

Grants.gov Web Site at http:// 

www.grants.gov. Similarly, applicants 


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may register for the CCR at https:// 

uscontractingregistration.com or by 

calling 1–877–252–2700. 

The required forms and certifications 

can be downloaded from the RCDI Web 

site at: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/ 

rcdi. 

C. Other Submission Information 

Survey on Ensuring Equal 

Opportunity for Applicants, OMB No. 

1894–0010 Exp. 05/31/2012 (applies 

only to non-profit applicants only— 

submission is optional). 

The original application package must 

be submitted to the Rural Development 

State Office where the applicant’s 

headquarters is located. A listing of 

Rural Development State Offices is 

included in this Notice. Applications 

will not be accepted via FAX or 

electronic mail. 

Applicants may file an electronic 

application at http://www.grants.gov. 

Grants.gov contains full instructions on 

all required passwords, credentialing, 

and software. Follow the instructions at 

Grants.gov for registering and 

submitting an electronic application. 

If a system problem or technical 

difficulty occurs with an electronic 

application, please use the customer 

support resources available at the 

Grants.gov Web site. 

Technical difficulties submitting an 

application through Grants.gov will not 

be a reason to extend the application 

deadline. If an application is unable to 

be submitted through Grants.gov, a 

paper application must be received in 

the appropriate Rural Development 

State Office by the deadline noted 

previously. 

First time Grants.gov users should 

carefully read and follow the 

registration steps listed on the Web site. 

These steps need to be initiated early in 

the application process to avoid delays 

in submitting your application online. 

In order to register with the Central 

Contractor Registry (CCR), your 

organization will need a DUNS number. 

Be sure to complete the Marketing 

Partner ID (MPID) and Electronic 

Business Primary Point of Contact fields 

during the CCR registration process. 

These are mandatory fields that are 

required when submitting grant 

applications through Grants.gov. 

Additional application instructions for 

submitting an electronic application can 

be found by selecting this funding 

opportunity on Grants.gov. 

The deadline for receipt of an 

application is May 9 by 4 p.m. local 

time. The application deadline date and 

time are firm and apply to submission 

of the original application to the Rural 

Development State Office where the 

applicant’s headquarters is located. The 

Agency will not consider any 

application received after the deadline. 

A listing of Rural Development State 

Offices, their addresses, telephone 

numbers, and contact person is 

provided elsewhere in this Notice. 

Applicants intending to mail 

applications must allow sufficient time 

to permit delivery on or before the 

closing deadline date and time. 

Acceptance by the United States Postal 

Service or private mailer does not 

constitute delivery. Fax, electronic mail 

or postage due applications will not be 

accepted. 

D. Funding Restrictions 

Meeting expenses. In accordance with 

31 U.S.C. 1345, ‘‘Expenses of Meetings,’’ 

appropriations may not be used for 

travel, transportation, and subsistence 

expenses for a meeting. RCDI grant 

funds cannot be used for these meetingrelated expenses. Matching funds may 

be used to pay for these expenses. RCDI 

funds may be used to pay for a speaker 

as part of a program, equipment to 

facilitate the program, and the actual 

room that will house the meeting. RCDI 

funds can be used for travel, 

transportation, or subsistence expenses 

for program-related training and 

technical assistance purposes. Any 

training not delineated in the 

application must be approved by the 

Agency to verify compliance with 31 

U.S.C. 1345. Travel and per diem 

expenses will be similar to those paid to 

Agency employees. Rates are based 

upon location. Rate information can be 

obtained from the applicable Rural 

Development State Office. 

Grantees and recipients will be 

restricted to traveling coach class on 

common carrier airlines. When lodging 

is not available at the government rate, 

grantees and recipients may exceed the 

Government rate for lodging by a 

maximum of 20 percent. Meals and 

incidental expenses will be reimbursed 

at the same rate used by Agency 

employees. Mileage and gas 

reimbursement will be the same rate 

used by Agency employees. This rate 

may be obtained from the applicable 

Rural Development State Office. 

Part V—Application Review 

Information for the Traditional RCDI 

Program 

A. Evaluation Criteria 

Applications will be evaluated using 

the following criteria and weights: 

1. Building Capacity—Maximum 60 

Points 

The applicant must demonstrate how 

they will improve the recipients’ 

capacity, through a program of financial 

and technical assistance, as it relates to 

the RCDI purposes. Capacity-building 

financial and technical assistance 

should provide new functions to the 

recipients or expand existing functions 

that will enable the recipients to 

undertake projects in the areas of 

housing, community facilities, or 

community and economic development 

that will benefit the community. The 

program of financial and technical 

assistance provided, its delivery, and 

the measurability of the program’s 

effectiveness will determine the merit of 

the application. All applications will be 

competitively ranked with the 

applications providing the most 

improvement in capacity development 

and measurable activities being ranked 

the highest. Capacity-building financial 

and technical assistance may include, 

but is not limited to: training to conduct 

community development programs, e.g., 

homeownership education, or the 

establishment of minority business 

entrepreneurs, cooperatives, or microenterprises; organizational 

development, e.g., assistance to develop 

or improve board operations, 

management, and financial systems; 

instruction on how to develop and 

implement a strategic plan; instruction 

on how to access alternative funding 

sources to increase leveraging 

opportunities; staffing, e.g., hiring a 

person at intermediary or recipient level 

to provide technical assistance to 

recipients. 

a. The narrative response must: 

i. Describe the nature of financial and 

technical assistance to be provided to 

the recipients and the activities that will 

be conducted to deliver the technical 

assistance; 

ii. Explain how financial and 

technical assistance will develop or 

increase the recipient’s capacity. 

Indicate whether a new function is 

being developed or if existing functions 

are being expanded or performed more 

effectively; 

iii. Identify which RCDI purpose areas 

will be addressed with this assistance: 

housing, community facilities, or 

community and economic development; 

and 

iv. Describe how the results of the 

technical assistance will be measured. 

What benchmarks will be used to 

measure effectiveness? Benchmarks 

should be specific and quantifiable. 


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b. The maximum 60 points for this 

criterion will be broken down as 

follows: 

i. Type of financial and technical 

assistance and implementation 

activities. 35 points. 

ii. An explanation of how financial 

and technical assistance will develop 

capacity. 10 points. 

iii. Identification of the RCDI purpose. 

5 points. 

iv. Measurement of outcomes. 10 

points. 

2. Expertise—Maximum 30 Points 

The applicant must demonstrate that 

it has conducted programs of financial 

and technical assistance and achieved 

measurable results in the areas of 

housing, community facilities, or 

community and economic development 

in rural areas. Provide the name, contact 

information, and the type and amount of 

the financial and technical assistance 

the applicant organization has provided 

to the following for the last 3 years: 

a. Nonprofit organizations in rural 

areas. 

b. Low-income communities in rural 

areas, (also include the type of entity, 

e.g., city government, town council, or 

village board). 

c. Federally recognized tribes or any 

other culturally diverse organizations. 

3. Population—Maximum 30 Points 

Population is based on the average 

population from the 2000 census data 

for the communities in which the 

recipients are located. The physical 

address, not mailing address, for each 

recipient must be used for this criterion. 

Community is defined for scoring 

purposes as a city, town, village, county, 

parish, borough, or census-designated 

place where the recipient’s office is 

physically located. The applicant must 

submit the census data from the 

following Web site in the form of a 

printout of the applicable ‘‘Fact Sheet’’ 

to verify the population figures used for 

each recipient. The data can be accessed 

on the Internet at http:// 

www.census.gov; click on ‘‘American 

FactFinder’’ from the left menu; click on 

‘‘Fact Sheet’’ from the left menu; at the 

right, fill in one or more fields and click 

‘‘Go’’; the name and population data for 

each recipient location must be listed in 

this section. The average population of 

the recipient locations will be used and 

will be scored as follows: 

Population Scoring 

(points) 

5,000 or less ............................... 30 

5,001 to 10,000 .......................... 20 

10,001 to 20,000 ........................ 10 

20,001 to 50,000 ........................ 5 

4. Income—Maximum 30 Points 

The average of the median household 

income for the communities where the 

recipients are physically located will 

determine the points awarded. The 

physical address, not mailing address, 

for each recipient must be used for this 

criterion. Applicants may compare the 

average recipient median household 

income to the State median household 

income or the national median 

household income, whichever yields the 

most points. The national median 

household income to be used is $41,994. 

The applicant must submit the income 

data in the form of a printout of the 

applicable information from the 

following Web site to verify the income 

for each recipient. The data being used 

is from the 2000 census. The data can 

be accessed on the Internet at http:// 

www.census.gov; click on ‘‘American 

FactFinder’’ from the left menu; click on 

‘‘Fact Sheet’’ from the left menu; at the 

right, fill in one or more fields and click 

‘‘Go’’; the name and income data for 

each recipient location must be listed in 

this section. Points will be awarded as 

follows: 

Average recipient median 

income 

Scoring 

(points) 

Less than 60 percent of state or 

national median household income ....................................... 30 

From 60 to 70 percent of state 

or national median household 

income ..................................... 20 

Greater than 70 to 80 percent of 

state or national median 

household income ................... 10 

In excess of 80 percent of state 

or national median household 

income ..................................... 0 

5. Soundness of Approach—Maximum 

50 Points 

The applicant can receive up to 50 

points for soundness of approach. The 

overall proposal will be considered 

under this criterion. Applicants must 

list the page numbers in the application 

that address these factors. 

The maximum 50 points for this 

criterion will be broken down as 

follows: 

a. The ability to provide the proposed 

financial and technical assistance based 

on prior accomplishments has been 

demonstrated. 10 Points. 

b. The proposed financial and 

technical assistance program is clearly 

stated and the applicant has defined 

how this proposal will be implemented. 

The plan for implementation is viable. 

10 Points. 

c. Cost effectiveness will be evaluated 

based on the budget in the application. 

The proposed grant amount and 

matching funds should be utilized to 

maximize capacity building at the 

recipient level. 15 points. 

d. The proposal fits the objectives for 

which applications were invited. 15 

points. 

6. Technical Assistance for the 

Development of Renewable Energy 

Systems and Energy Efficiency 

Improvements—Maximum 20 Points 

The applicant must demonstrate how 

they will improve the recipients’ 

capacity to carry out activities related to 

the development of renewable energy 

systems and energy efficiency 

improvements for housing, community 

facilities, or community and economic 

development. 

7. Regional Collaboration 

Applications—Maximum 20 Points 

The Agency encourages applications 

that promote substantive economic 

growth, including job creation, as well 

as specifically addressing the 

circumstances of those sectors within 

the region that have fewer prospects and 

the greatest need for improved 

economic opportunity. 

A Regional Collaboration project 

should implement goals, objectives or 

actions identified in a Regional Strategic 

Plan which addresses priorities 

specified at a regional scale. 

Applications should demonstrate: 

a. Clear leadership at the Intermediary 

level in organizing and coordinating a 

regional initiative; 

b. Evidence that the Recipient’s region 

has a common economic basis that 

supports the likelihood of success in 

implementing its strategy; 

c. Evidence that technical assistance 

will be provided that will increase the 

Recipient’s capacity to assess their 

circumstance, determine a long term 

sustainable vision for the region, and 

implement a comprehensive strategic 

plan, including identifying performance 

measures and establishing a system to 

collect the data to allow assessment of 

those performance measures. 

8. Local Investment Points—Maximum 

20 Points 

Intermediaries must be physically 

located in an eligible rural community 

and must include evidence of 

investment in the community. The 

intent is to ensure that RCDI funds are 

expended in the rural community. 

9. State Director’s Points Based on 

Project Merit—Maximum 20 Points 

This criterion does not have to be 

addressed by the applicant. Up to 20 

points may be awarded by the Rural 


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Development State Director. Points may 

be awarded to more than one 

application per state or jurisdiction. The 

total points awarded under this 

criterion, to all applications, will not 

exceed 20. Assignment of points will 

include a written justification and be 

tied to and awarded based on how 

closely they align with the Rural 

Development State Office’s strategic 

plan. 

10. Proportional Distribution Points—20 

Points 

This criterion does not have to be 

addressed by the applicant. After 

applications have been evaluated and 

awarded points under the first 9 criteria, 

the Agency may award 20 points per 

application to promote an even 

distribution of grant awards between the 

ranges of $50,000 to $300,000. 

B. Review and Selection Process 

Rating and ranking. Applications will 

be rated and ranked on a national basis 

by a review panel based on the 

‘‘Evaluation Criteria’’ contained in this 

Notice. If there is a tied score after the 

applications have been rated and 

ranked, the tie will be resolved by 

reviewing the scores for ‘‘Building 

Capacity’’ and the applicant with the 

highest score in that category will 

receive a higher ranking. If the scores for 

‘‘Building Capacity’’ are the same, the 

scores will be compared for the next 

criterion, in sequential order, until one 

highest score can be determined. 

Initial screening. The Agency will 

screen each application to determine 

eligibility during the period 

immediately following the application 

deadline. Listed below are examples of 

reasons for rejection from previous 

funding rounds. The following reasons 

for rejection are not all inclusive; 

however, they represent the majority of 

the applications previously rejected. 

1. Recipients were not located in 

eligible rural areas based on the 

definition in this Notice. 

2. Applicants failed to provide 

evidence of recipient’s status, i.e., 

documentation supporting nonprofit 

evidence of organization. 

3. Applicants failed to provide 

evidence of committed matching funds 

or matching funds were not committed 

for a period at least equal to the grant 

performance period. 

4. Application did not follow the 

RCDI structure with an intermediary 

and recipients. 

5. Recipients were not identified in 

the application. 

6. Intermediary did not provide 

evidence it had been incorporated for at 

least 3 years as the applicant entity. 

7. Applicants failed to address the 

‘‘Evaluation Criteria.’’ 

8. The purpose of the proposal did not 

qualify as an eligible RCDI purpose. 

9. Inappropriate use of funds (e.g., 

construction or renovations). 

10. The applicant proposed providing 

financial and technical assistance 

directly to individuals. 

11. The application package not 

received by closing date and time. 

Part VI—Rural Jobs Accelerator and 

Innovation Challenge Application 

Process 

An application for ‘‘Rural Jobs and 

Innovation Accelerator Challenge’’ 

funds must be submitted to USDA and 

EDA by an organization or a team of 

organizations that is individually or 

collectively eligible to receive funding 

from USDA and EDA. 

Required Application Forms and 

Content 

To be considered complete, an 

application package must consist of: 

(1) Required forms as discussed 

below; 

(2) Project Narrative; and 

(3) Addenda to the Project Narrative. 

Applications that do not contain all 

required forms listed below, or that fail 

to adhere to the instructions in this 

Notice, will be considered nonresponsive and will not be considered 

for funding. Additional application 

materials not requested under this 

Notice will not be reviewed or 

evaluated. 

Applicants are advised to carefully 

read the instructions contained in this 

Notice and in all forms contained in the 

application package. It is the sole 

responsibility of each applicant to 

ensure that a complete application 

package is received. 

Required Forms 

All applicants are required to submit 

the following forms at the time of 

application. The forms should be 

uploaded as separate portable document 

format (PDF) files. Forms are available 

in the application package at 

www.grants.gov or on the Rural Jobs 

Accelerator Web site under ‘application 

submission information’. 

Each USDA applicant must submit 

the following forms. 

• Form SF–424—Application for 

Federal Assistance for the applicant 

• Form SF–424A—Budget InformationNon-Construction Programs for the 

applicant 

• Form SF–424B—Assurances—NonConstruction Programs for the 

applicant 

• Form CD–511—Certification 

Regarding Lobbying for the USDA and 

EDA applicant 

• Form RD–400–4—Assurance 

Agreement, for the applicant and each 

RCDI Recipient 

• Form AD–1047—Certification 

Regarding Debarment, Suspension, 

and Other Responsibility Matters— 

Primary Covered Transactions 

• Form AD–1048—Certification 

Regarding Debarment, Suspension, 

Ineligibility, and Voluntary 

Exclusion—Lower Tier Covered 

Transactions 

• Form AD–1049—Certification 

Regarding Drug-Free Workplace 

Requirements 

• Identity and report any association or 

relationship with Rural Development 

employees. 

• Survey on Ensuring Equal 

Opportunity for Applicants, OMB No. 

1894–0010 Exp. 05/13/2012 (applies 

only to non-profit applicants— 

submission is optional) 

• Form SF–LLL—Disclosure of 

Lobbying Activities, if applicable 

Project Description 

The Project Description must 

demonstrate the applicant’s capability 

to implement the proposed activities in 

accordance with the requirements of 

this NOFA. The Project Description 

must demonstrate how each scope of 

work (individually funded by each 

Funding Agency) is integrated into an 

overarching project. 

The full Project Description must 

include the following components: 

Executive Summary: 

Not to exceed two pages, the 

Executive Summary will serve as a 

summary of the proposed project and 

may be shared publicly in the form 

originally submitted; therefore, 

applicants should not include 

proprietary, confidential commercial/ 

business, and personally identifiable 

information. The Executive Summary 

must include the following sections: (a) 

The project name; (b) the organizations 

composing the Applicant Team; (c) the 

identified region and cluster; (d) a 

summary of the integrated project and 

project objectives; (e) a brief description 

of the scopes of work to be funded by 

each funding source and the associated 

performance measures; and (f) a 

summary of how the capacity of the 

recipients will be improved and the 

regional strength will be increased. 

Project Narrative: 

The Project Narrative should be a 

detailed description of all activities that 

will be undertaken by all sources of 

funds requested under this solicitation. 

Within the Project Narrative, applicants 


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should address all the evaluation 

criteria, as outlined in section VI.A: 

1. Region and Cluster of Focus; 

2. Integrated Project Concept/ 

Overview; 

3. Building Community and Regional 

Capacity (USDA scope of work); 

4. Developing Regional Links (EDA 

scope of work); 

5. ARC or DRA scope of work (only 

applicable to applicants seeking funding 

from ARC or DRA); 

6. Project Impact and Measurable 

Outcomes; and 

7. Soundness of Approach. 

The length of the Project Narrative is 

limited to 25 double-spaced, 8.5 x 11 

inch pages with 12-point font and 1- 

inch margins. Applicants may include a 

map delineating the region at the end of 

the Project Narrative, which will not 

count towards the 25 page limit. Any 

Project Narrative text beyond the 

specified page limit will not be read. 

Applicants must number the pages of 

the Project Narrative, beginning with 

page number 1. The Project Narrative 

should be submitted as one PDF file, 

and only one Project Narrative should 

be submitted per application. Note: the 

page limit described in this section may 

be increased to 30 pages if the Applicant 

Team is also seeking funding from ARC 

or DRA. 

Integrated Work Plan 

Applicants must input details of 

proposed activities under each scope of 

work from the Project Narrative, as well 

as expected/estimated impacts of the 

activities, into an Integrated Work Plan. 

Budget Description 

A separate budget narrative must be 

created and submitted to support the 

scope of work for each Funding Agency, 

and each narrative must provide a 

description of costs associated with 

each line item on each Form SF–424A 

over the project period. Supporting 

documentation listing the components 

of these categories must be included. 

The budget should be dated: Year 1, 

Year 2, Year 3, as applicable. The 

budget narrative should include a 

personnel plan listing all positions that 

will be charged to the Federal and nonFederal portion of the budget for each 

year of the applicable project period. 

The personnel plan must include the 

position titles, salaries, percentage of 

time dedicated to the project, and 

amount of salary charged to the project 

for each staff member assigned to the 

project. The sum of all salaries charged 

to the project must equal the amount on 

the ‘‘Personnel’’ budget line item on 

Form SF–424A. The personnel plan 

should provide a description of how the 

personnel will carry out the proposed 

plan, including the adequacy and 

previous performance of the proposed 

team to carry out project activities. 

Addenda to the Project Description 

The applicant must also submit the 

following required addenda to the 

Project Description in PDF file. 

The required addenda to the Project 

Description are: 

• Resumes of Key Personnel (by 

Funding Agency): Applicants must 

provide resumes for key personnel staff 

which generally should not exceed two 

pages in length (per resume). Applicants 

also should provide a 2 page summary 

description of all personnel (performing 

for the applicant) and contractors 

named in the application. Resumes 

should be uploaded as one PDF file. 

• Verification of Matching Funds 

Æ Verification of source and amount 

of matching funds: Each USDA 

applicant must provide verification of 

source and amount of matching funds, 

i.e., a copy of a bank statement if 

matching funds are in cash or a copy of 

the confirmed funding commitment 

from the funding source. The 

verification must show that matching 

funds are available for the duration of 

the grant performance period. The 

verification of matching funds must be 

submitted with the application or the 

application will be considered 

incomplete. 

Applicant Team Written Agreement: If 

the USDA Applicant is applying for 

funds under this Notice in partnership 

with and EDA applicant, the Applicant 

Team must provide a copy of the 

written agreement signed by each team 

member that reflects a binding 

commitment to undertake the proposed 

project, the respective scopes of work, 

and perform the roles and 

responsibilities identified in the Project 

Narrative. The Agreement must include 

the project title and list each applicant 

and the source of funds they are 

applying for. 

• Facilities and Administrative or 

Indirect Cost Rate Agreement 

Æ The indirect cost category in the 

project budget should be used only 

when a grant applicant has a federally 

negotiated indirect cost rate. A copy of 

the current rate agreement must be 

provided with the application. 

• Non-profit organizations: Nonprofit organizations applying for 

funding must submit the following, 

addition to all items listed above. 

Æ Organization documents, such as a 

certificate of incorporation and a current 

good standing certification from the 

Secretary of State where the applicant is 

incorporated and other similar and valid 

documentation of non-profit status, 

from the intermediary that confirms it 

has been legally organized for a 

minimum of 3 years as the applicant 

entity. 

• Recipient Information: Applicants 

must provide the following information 

for each recipient. Please combine into 

a single PDF file. 

1. A summary page, double-spaced 

between items, listing the following for 

each recipient (this information should 

not be presented in narrative form): 

a. Recipient’s entity name; 

b. Complete address (mailing and 

physical location, if different); 

c. County where located; 

d. Number of Congressional district 

where recipient is located; and 

e. Contact person’s name and 

telephone number. 

2. Submit evidence that each recipient 

entity is eligible: 

a. Nonprofits—provide a current valid 

letter confirming non-profit status from 

the Secretary of the State of 

incorporation or the IRS, a current good 

standing certification from the Secretary 

of the State of incorporation, or other 

valid documentation of nonprofit status 

of each recipient. 

b. Low-income rural community— 

provide evidence the entity is a public 

body, and a copy of the most recent 

available census data to verify the 

population, and evidence that the 

median household income is at, or 

below, 80 percent of the national 

median household income. We will 

only accept data and printouts from 

http://www.census.gov. The specific 

instructions to retrieve data from this 

site are detailed under the ‘‘Evaluation 

Criteria’’ for ‘‘Population’’ and 

‘‘Income.’’ 

c. Federally recognized tribes— 

provide the page listing their name from 

the Federal Register list of tribal entities 

published by the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs on October 1, 2010 (75 FR 

60810) or a subsequent updated list or 

supplement in the Federal Register. If a 

tribe has been federally recognized since 

the last list of federally recognized tribes 

was published in the Federal Register, 

appropriate documentation from the 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Indian Affairs must be submitted that 

legally verifies that recognition. 

Part VII—Application Review Process 

for the Rural Jobs Accelerator 

Challenge 

Evaluation Criteria 

Applications will be evaluated based 

on their ability to satisfy the following 

core evaluation criteria, with each 

criterion assigned the points indicated. 


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1Regions can be non-contiguous (e.g., cluster 

‘‘anchor’’ in one region with networked assets such 

as research partnerships with federal labs or supply 

chain linkages in other regions). 

1. Region and Cluster of Focus (15 

Points) 

The applicant must describe the 

region of focus (see page 4) for which 

the funding is requested, including the 

economics, clusters, and the networks 

and assets that contribute to the region’s 

competitiveness and potential for 

growth. 

The narrative response must: 

• Clearly describe the geographic 

region of the proposed project. Regions 

may be single or multi-jurisdictional 

areas. Applicants have the flexibility to 

define their region based on quantitative 

and qualitative information about where 

and how the cluster targeted for 

development operates.1 The region 

description should include the location 

of project recipients for the Building 

Community and Regional Capacity 

activity. Applicants should provide 

information about areas and/or sectors 

of economic distress. 

• Present a compelling description of 

the economics of the region and the 

specific cluster that will be targeted by 

the proposed project. This should 

demonstrate that the region possesses 

unique assets to support the cluster and 

has a competitive advantage in the 

identified industry and identify any 

specific economic needs and 

opportunities for growth. Applicants 

should include evidence of a 

concentration of firms in the identified 

industry sector, available industryspecific infrastructure that support the 

cluster, and clear leadership at the 

regional level in organizing and 

coordinating a region-wide initiative. 

Æ Fully describe existing regional 

partnerships that directly engaged in 

supporting the targeted cluster, 

including a discussion of the extent of 

participation and effectiveness: 

Æ Private sector leadership and 

significant participation in cluster 

activities; 

Æ Any and all cluster intermediary 

organization, such as an economic 

development organization, workforce 

development board, business incubator 

or accelerator, chamber of commerce, or 

a university-based consortium; 

Æ Universities, federally funded labs, 

or privately funded research and 

development centers; 

Æ Federally funded program or 

center, such as a Manufacturing 

Extension Partnership Center (MEP), 

Small Business Development Center, 

and Preferred Sustainability Status 

holders within the Partnership for 

Sustainable Communities; 

Æ Venture development 

organizations, venture capital firms, 

revolving loan funders, angel 

investment groups, community lenders, 

community development financial 

institutions, and other institutions 

focused on expanding access to capital; 

Æ Local and municipal governments, 

workforce development entities, 

communities colleges, and communitybased organizations; and 

Æ Private foundations focused on 

economic or community development, 

science, business, and innovation. 

2. Integrated Project Concept (10 Points) 

Applicants must provide an 

Integrated Project Concept, which is a 

narrative summary that describes the 

proposed project with a maximum of 5 

pages. 

The narrative response must: 

a. Present how the applicant intends 

to leverage and utilize multiple 

resources to meet project objectives, 

address identified needs and capitalize 

on opportunities; 

b. Clearly express how the proposed 

scopes of work will complement each 

other in accelerating competitiveness in 

rural regions; 

c. Describe how the project will 

promote substantive economic growth, 

including job creation. 

Note: Applicants requesting ARC or DRA 

funds must also include or incorporate the 

proposed ARC or DRA scopes of work in 

their Integrated Project Concept. 

3. Building Community and Regional 

Capacity (20 Points) 

The applicant must demonstrate how 

they will apply USDA funds to improve 

the recipients’ capacity, through a 

program of financial and technical 

assistance, as it related to the RCDI 

purposes. Capacity-building financial 

and technical assistance should provide 

new functions to the recipients or 

expand existing functions that will 

enable the recipients to undertake 

projects in the areas of housing, 

community facilities, or community and 

economic development that will benefit 

the community. The proposed program 

of financial and technical assistance 

provided, its delivery, and the 

measurability of its effectiveness will 

determine the merit of the application. 

Capacity-building financial and 

technical assistance may include: 

Training to conduct community 

development programs, e.g., the 

establishment of minority business 

entrepreneurs, cooperatives, or microenterprises; organizational 

development, e.g., assistance to develop 

or improve board operations, 

management, and financial systems; 

instruction on how to develop and 

implement a strategic plan; instruction 

on how to access alternative funding 

sources to increase leveraging 

opportunities; staffing, e.g., hiring a 

person at intermediary or recipient level 

to provide technical assistance to 

recipients. 

The narrative response must: 

a. Describe the nature of financial and 

technical assistance to be provided to 

the recipients and the activities that will 

be conducted to deliver the technical 

assistance; 

b. Explain how financial and 

technical assistance will develop or 

increase the recipient’s capacity. 

Indicate whether a new function is 

being developed or if existing functions 

are being expanded or performed more 

effectively; 

c. Identify which RCDI purpose areas 

will be addressed with this assistance: 

Housing, community facilities, or 

community and economic development. 

d. Demonstrate that the applicant has 

conducted programs of financial and 

technical assistance and achieved 

measurable results in the areas of 

housing, community facilities, or 

community and economic development 

in rural areas. Provide the name, contact 

information, and the type and amount of 

the financial and technical assistance 

the applicant organization has provided 

to the following for the last 3 years: 

Æ Nonprofit organizations in the rural 

areas. 

Æ Low-income communities in rural 

areas (also include the type of entity, 

e.g., city government, town council or 

village board). 

Æ Federally recognized tribes or any 

other culturally diverse organizations. 

4. Linking to Regional Clusters and 

Opportunities (20 Points) 

The applicant must demonstrate how 

they will utilize EDA funds to link rural 

communities to markets, networks, 

industry clusters, and other regional 

opportunities and assets to improve the 

rural regions’ competitiveness, 

repatriate U.S. jobs, foster job creation, 

retain existing jobs, support innovation, 

and promote private investment in the 

regional economy. 

The narrative response must: 

a. Describe the proposed activity to be 

implemented by the applicant and how 

it will link rural regions to the identified 

clusters and opportunities; 

b. Explain how the proposed activity 

will address an identified need or 

opportunity to meet activity objectives, 


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including supporting innovation and job 

growth; 

c. Explain how the activity will 

implement goals, objectives or actions 

identified in a Comprehensive 

Economic Development Strategy or 

Regional Strategic Plan which addresses 

priorities specified at a regional scale; 

d. Note the entity or entities that will 

oversee activity development and 

implementation and demonstrate that 

these entities have experience in the 

proposed activities and achieved 

measurable results in the areas of 

regional development and cluster 

development; and 

e. Demonstrate financial resources to 

ensure institutional capacity to support 

the projects in the long-term, without 

significant future Federal funding. 

5. Project Impact and Measurable 

Outcomes (20 Points) 

Applications funded under this 

competitive solicitation are expected to 

identify clear goals and demonstrate 

potential for substantial benefits. While 

each funding source will identify 

performance metrics that applicants 

must track and report, applicants are 

encouraged to identify additional 

metrics that can be used to assess the 

impact of requested funding. Applicants 

must also describe mechanisms for 

tracking and reporting on these 

outcomes. 

Applicants are required to submit an 

Integrated Work Plan (IWP) as part of 

their submission package. The IWP is 

designed to document the key activities 

that will be supported by Funding 

Agency, the anticipated dates these 

activities will be completed, and the 

anticipated core impacts that each 

activity is expected to yield in the shortterm (during the 3 year project period) 

and the long-term (within three years 

after project end date). The impacts set 

forth in the IWP should be forecasts 

based on each activity; grantees will be 

required to report on progress towards 

reaching these forecasts throughout the 

life of the project. 

Applicants should utilize the Excelbased IWP template available on the 

Rural Jobs Accelerator Web site, http:// 

www.rurdev.usda.gov/ 

RuralJobsAccelerator. Each measure 

should be broken down by funding 

source (i.e. EDA, USDA, ARC, and 

DRA), clearly linking proposed funding 

to specific outcomes. A copy of the IWP 

template is included as Attachment A to 

this FFO for reference (please note how 

activities, expected deadlines, and 

anticipated impacts are separately 

reported for each funding agency). 

All applicants are required to utilize 

and include the following measures in 

their IWP to report on anticipated 

project impacts: 

• Jobs Created during the Project 

Period—Applicants should include an 

estimate of the number of jobs that will 

be created during the three year project 

period as a direct result of funding from 

one of the Funding Partners. 

Anticipated jobs created should be 

reported as full time equivalent (FTE) or 

equivalents which are annualized for 

the entire project period. 

• Jobs Retained during the Project 

Period—Applicants should include an 

estimate of the number of jobs expected 

to be retained during the three year 

project period as a direct result of 

funding from each of the Funding 

Partners. Anticipated jobs retained 

should be reported as FTEs or 

equivalents which are annualized for 

the entire project period. 

• Private Investment Leverage during 

the Project Period—Applicants should 

include an estimate of the amount of 

private investment that will be 

leveraged during the three year project 

period as a direct result of funding from 

one of the Funding Partners. 

• Businesses Assisted during the 

Project Period—Applicants should 

include an estimate of the number of 

businesses expected to be assisted 

during the three year project period as 

a direct result of funding from one of the 

Funding Partners. 

• Engagement and Collaboration of 

Regional Organizations—Applicants 

should include an estimate of the 

number and types of organizations 

within the region expected to be 

engaged in the project during the three 

year project period. 

• Long-term Jobs Created— 

Applicants should include an estimate 

of the number of jobs expected to be 

created within three years after project 

is completed (within six years from 

project inception) that result from 

funding from one of the Funding 

Partners. Anticipated long-term jobs 

created should be reported as FTEs or 

equivalents which are annualized for 

the entire six year period since the 

original grant award. 

• Long-term Jobs Retained— 

Applicants should include an estimate 

of the number of jobs expected to be 

retained within three years after project 

is completed (within six years from 

project inception) that result from 

funding from one of the Funding 

Partners. Anticipated long-term jobs 

retained should be reported as FTEs or 

equivalents which are annualized for 

the entire six year period since the 

original grant award. 

• Long-term Private Investment 

Leveraged—Applicants should include 

an estimate of the amount of private 

investment that will be leveraged within 

three years after project is completed 

(within six years from project inception) 

that result from funding from one of the 

Funding Partners. Funds reported 

should reflect the cumulative amount of 

private investment anticipated to be 

leveraged for the entire six year period 

since the original grant award. 

• Long-term Businesses Assisted— 

Applicants should include an estimate 

of the number of businesses that will be 

assisted three years after project is 

completed (within six years from project 

inception) that result from funding from 

one of the Funding Partners. 

Additionally, applicants are 

encouraged to provide other selfidentified measures within the IWP 

which are specific to their proposed 

project activities. Such measures should 

align with the objectives of the 

individual project, as well as the overall 

Rural Jobs Accelerator initiative. For 

example, applicants may consider the 

following types of measures: 

• Cooperation: 

Æ Number of organizations actively 

engaged in the cluster (and new ones 

added to the network) 

Æ Number of symposia held by the 

cluster 

Æ Number of further cooperative 

agreements as a result of the supported 

activity 

• Innovation: 

Æ Number of new projects developed 

Æ Number of education and training 

activities related to innovation 

Æ Number of workshops and seminars 

related to innovation 

• Workforce Skills: 

Æ Percentage of employees for which 

training was provided by this project 

Æ Average number of qualified 

applicants per job 

Æ Number of recruitment events at 

universities and community colleges 

• Business Creation: 

Æ Number of newly formed 

businesses as a result of the supported 

activity 

Æ Number of jobs relocated from 

outside the U.S. to the region 

• Housing Support: 

Æ Change in available housing units 

in supported communities 

• Access to Capital: 

Æ Amount and number of new equity 

investments in cluster firms 

Æ Amount and number of new loans 

to cluster firms 

• Market Development: 

Æ Dollar increase in exports resulting 

from the project activities 

Applicants should note that the 

submitted IWP and associated 

information will form the basis by 


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which selected projects will be 

monitored. Grantees will be required to 

submit regular reports to the Funding 

Partners which document project 

progress against the scopes of work, 

deadlines, and short-term measures 

outlined in the original IWP. Reporting 

requirements will be outlined in the 

terms and conditions of the grant award. 

Applicant teams requesting funding 

from ARC or DRA should include 

measures for those funding agencies in 

the IWP. 

Evaluation criterion for this section 

will be based on the following: 

a. Includes specific and quantifiable 

measures of project impacts that benefit 

the regional economy and will support 

the cluster; 

b. Presents measures that are relevant 

to the proposed scopes of work and 

objectives; 

c. Presents measures that will help 

monitor progress towards meeting the 

objectivities of the Rural Jobs 

Accelerator; and 

d. Presents practical and clear 

tracking and reporting mechanisms. 

6. Soundness of Approach (15 Points) 

The overall proposal will be 

considered under this criterion. 

Applicants must list the page numbers 

in the application that address these 

factors. 

The narrative response must 

demonstrate: 

a. The ability to implement the 

proposed scopes of work based on prior 

accomplishments has been 

demonstrated for both Building 

Community and Regional Capacity and 

Regional Linkages scopes of work. 

b. The proposed technical assistance 

program and regional linkages program 

is clearly stated and the application has 

defined how this proposal will be 

implemented. The plan for 

implementation is viable for both 

Building Community and Regional 

Capacity and Regional Linkages scopes 

of work. 

c. Cost effectiveness will be evaluated 

based on the budget in the application 

for both Building Community and 

Regional Capacity and Regional 

Linkages scopes of work. For the 

Building Community and Regional 

Capacity activity the proposed grant 

amount and matching funds should be 

utilized to maximize capacity building 

at the recipient level. 

d. The proposal fits the objectives for 

which applications were invited. 

Application and Eligibility Review 

Each Funding Agency will conduct an 

initial application and eligibility review 

of applications submitted and received 

by the deadline Each Funding Agency 

will independently review applications 

to ensure compliance with its agencyspecific requirements. This review will 

determine if the application satisfies: (a) 

All requirements for a complete 

submission (including all required 

forms, documentation of matching 

funds, and addenda to the Project 

Description); (b) agency-specific 

eligibility criteria; and (c) agencyspecific requirements for permitted 

activities. Applications found to be 

responsive will be forwarded for merit 

review. 

Merit Review Panels 

Upon completion of the application 

and eligibility review, Merit Review 

Panels comprised of Federal employees 

from the Funding Agencies, who will 

review and evaluate applications 

deemed responsive. Merit Review 

Panels may also include experts from 

Support Agencies. The Merit Review 

Panels will evaluate the applications 

against the evaluation criteria 

enumerated. The Merit review Panels 

will award up to 100 points to each 

application, rank the applications by 

consensus, and forward the evaluation 

findings and rankings to the Policy 

Review and Recommendation 

Committee. 

Policy Review and Recommendation 

Committee 

Upon completion of the merit review, 

the Policy Review and Recommendation 

Committee composed of senior officials 

from the Primary Funding Agencies will 

review the top 30 ranked applications, 

or approximately 5 per EDA Region. 

This Committee will evaluate the 

applications based on how well they 

meet the purposes of the Rural Job 

Accelerator initiative. They may 

consider such factors as, geographic 

balance in distribution of program 

funds, balance of diverse project types 

in the distribution of program funds, 

balanced funding for a diverse group of 

organizations including smaller and 

rural organizations that may form part of 

a broader consortium to serve diverse 

populations, the availability of funds, 

the applicant’s performance under 

previous Federal financial assistance 

awards, and the extent to which the 

applicant integrates and leverages 

multiple Federal resources to effectively 

support rural region and cluster 

development. For projects based within 

regions serviced by the Delta Regional 

Authority and the Appalachian Regional 

Commission, the Policy Review and 

Recommendation Committee will give 

additional consideration to projects that 

fully integrate and leverage the 

resources provided by these agencies. 

Based on these combined factors, the 

Policy Review and Recommendation 

Committee will recommend 

approximately twenty applications to 

the agency principals and selecting 

officials. 

Agency Principals and Selecting 

Officials 

Agency principals and selecting 

officials will work together to make the 

final award determinations. The agency 

principals for the Primary Funding 

agencies include the Assistant Secretary 

of Commerce for Economic 

Development and the Undersecretary for 

Rural Development of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

Selecting officials are authorized to 

finalize funding decisions and make 

awards. The USDA selecting official 

will be the Tammye Trevino, 

Administrator for Rural Housing 

Service. 

Selecting officials may follow the 

recommendations of the Policy Review 

and Recommendation Committee, or 

may consider additional information in 

making their selections. If a selecting 

official makes a selection of an 

application that is not included in the 

set of applications recommended by the 

Policy Review and Recommendation 

Committee, the selecting official must 

document the rationale for the decision 

in writing. 

Unsuccessful Competition 

On occasion, competitive solicitations 

or competitive panels produce less than 

optimum results, such as a competition 

resulting in the receipt of no 

applications, a competition resulting in 

the receipt of only unresponsive or 

unqualified applications, or too few 

highly rated applications. In the event 

that these conditions arise, the Funding 

Agencies shall take the most time- and 

cost-effective approach available that is 

in the best interest of the Federal 

government. This includes (1) Recompetition, (2) re-paneling, or (3) 

formal negotiation. 

Transparency 

The agencies and bureaus involved in 

this initiative are committed to 

conducting a transparent grant award 

process and publicizing information 

about investment decisions. Applicants 

are advised that their respective 

applications and information related to 

its review and evaluation may be shared 

publicly as permitted by law. In 

addition, information about the grant 

award progress and related results may 

also be made publicly available. USDA 

may release a list of Rural Jobs 


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Accelerator applicants including 

organization, project name, city and 

state. 

Additional information regarding the 

‘‘Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator 

Challenge’’ can be found at http:// 

www.rurdev.usda.gov/ 

RuralJobsAccelerator.html. 

Submission of Applications 

An applicant may obtain the 

appropriate application package 

electronically at Grants.gov. All 

components of the appropriate 

application package may be accessed 

and downloaded (in a screen-fillable 

format) at www.grants.gov/applicants/ 

apply_for_grants.jsp. The preferred 

electronic file format for attachments is 

PDF; however, electronic files in 

Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or 

Microsoft Excel will also be accepted. 

The applicant must complete the 

Grants.gov registration process to 

submit applications through Grants.gov; 

however, please note that registration is 

not required for an applicant to access, 

view, or download the application 

packages. Alternatively, an applicant 

may request a paper application package 

by contacting the USDA Rural 

Development State Office listed in this 

Notice. 

Electronic Submission 

The Primary Funding Agencies 

encourage electronic submission of 

applications through Grants.gov. 

Applicants should not wait until the 

application closing date to begin the 

registration and submission process. In 

order to submit an application through 

Grants.gov, applicants first must register 

for a Grants.gov user id and password. 

Note that this registration process can 

take between three to five business days 

or as long as two weeks if all steps are 

not completed in a timely manner (see 

http://www.grants.gov/applicants/ 

get_registered.jsp). Applicants should 

register as organizations, not as 

individuals. Please note that 

organizations already registered with 

Grants.gov do not need to re-register; 

however, all registered organizations 

must keep their Central Contractor 

Registration (CCR) database registration 

up-to-date and must designate the 

person submitting the application on 

behalf of the organization as an 

Authorized Organizational 

Representative (AOR). See the following 

discussion of AOR requirements in this 

section. 

An application that is not validated 

and time-stamped by Grants.gov by the 

applicable deadline will not be 

processed. 

Applicants need to be aware that once 

an application is submitted, it 

undergoes a validation process through 

Grants.gov in which the application 

may be accepted or rejected by the 

system. The validation process may take 

24 to 48 hours to complete. 

Applications that contain errors will be 

rejected by Grants.gov and will not be 

forwarded to the Funding Agencies for 

review. The applicant must correct the 

error before Grants.gov will accept and 

validate the application. The Funding 

Agencies will not accept late 

applications that were rejected by 

Grants.gov due to errors. Accordingly, 

the Funding Agencies strongly suggest 

that applicants submit their applications 

at least four to five days before the 

application deadline to allow the 

application to be accepted and validated 

by Grants.gov and to allow time for 

errors to be corrected. The Funding 

Agencies will consider the time-stamp 

on the validation from Grants.gov as the 

official submission time. 

AOR requirement. Applicants must 

register as organizations, not as 

individuals, and must register at least 

one Authorized Organizational 

Representative (AOR) for your 

organization. AORs registered at 

Grants.gov are the only officials with the 

authority to submit applications via 

Grants.gov. If the application is 

submitted to Grants.gov by anyone other 

than your organization’s AOR, it will be 

rejected by Grants.gov and cannot be 

considered. Please note: An Applicant 

Team must submit its application 

package using the registered AOR for 

the organization applying for EDA 

funds. 

The Funding Agencies will not accept 

late submissions caused by Grants.gov 

registration issues, including CCR and 

AOR issues. 

The following instructions provide 

step-by-step instructions for accessing, 

completing, and submitting an 

application via Grants.gov. Save the 

application package at regular intervals 

to avoid losing work. 

a. Navigate to the URL 

www.grants.gov. 

b. Select ‘‘Apply for Grants’’ from the 

left-hand menu at Grants.gov. 

c. Ensure that you have installed a 

Grants.gov compatible version of Adobe 

Acrobat Reader on your computer. 

Incompatible versions of Adobe Acrobat 

Reader may cause errors. Please see 

compatible versions of Adobe Reader at 

http://grants.gov/help/ 

download_software.jsp#adobe811. 

d. Select the link ‘‘Download a Grant 

Application’’ package. 

e. Enter [[‘‘Rural Jobs Accelerator 

2012’’]] as the Funding Opportunity 

Number and click on ‘‘Download 

Package.’’ 

f. Click on the ‘‘Download’’ link. 

g. Click on ‘‘Download Application 

Package.’’ 

h. Save the application package to 

your computer or network drive. Note 

that the application package file can be 

shared among multiple users; however, 

each user must have a Grants.gov 

compatible version of Adobe Acrobat 

Reader installed in order to save 

changes to the application package. 

i. Click on each of the documents in 

the ‘‘Mandatory Documents’’ box and, 

after selecting each one, click on the 

arrow to move these into the 

‘‘Mandatory Documents for 

Submission’’ box. 

j. In the ‘‘Optional Documents’’ box, 

click on Form SF–LLL if non-Federal 

funds have been or are planned to be 

used for lobbying in connection with a 

covered federal transaction, including 

this competitive solicitation and then 

move this to the ‘‘Optional Documents 

for Submission’’ box. If you will submit 

your application via Grants.gov, also 

click on ‘‘Attachments’’ and move this 

to the ‘‘Optional Documents for 

Submission’’ box. The Attachments 

Form also allows applicants to attach 

the Project Description documents, 

forms, and other documents required as 

addenda under this competition. Note 

that if the applicant is not submitting 

electronically, the Project Description 

documents and other required forms 

and addenda all must be printed and 

submitted in hard copy via a CD or 

paper. 

k. The application package should 

pre-populate with all selected forms 

embedded. Complete all mandatory 

fields (highlighted in yellow) on the 

forms. Note that mandatory fields will 

vary based on the type of applicant and 

the type of assistance sought. On Form 

CD–511, type ‘‘not awarded yet’’ in the 

‘‘project number’’ field. 

l. Attach the Project Description 

documents and other required forms 

and addenda. Note, the mandatory 

USDA forms can be found on the ‘‘Full 

Announcement’’ tab, and must be 

included as attachments to the 

application. The preferred electronic 

file format for the required attachments 

is PDF; however, the Funding Agencies 

will accept electronic files in Microsoft 

Word, WordPerfect, or Excel formats. 

m. When all mandatory fields have 

been completed, scroll to the top and 

click on ‘‘Check Package for Errors.’’ 

n. Click ‘‘Save.’’ 

o. Click ‘‘Save and Submit.’’ At this 

point, the registered AOR for the EDA 

applicant must be connected to the 

Internet and will be prompted to enter 


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the appropriate Grants.gov user id and 

password in order to electronically 

submit the application. 

Verify submission was successful. 

Applicants should save and print 

written proof of an electronic 

submission made at Grants.gov. 

Applicants can expect to receive 

multiple emails regarding the status of 

their submission. Since email 

communication can be unreliable, 

applicants must proactively check on 

the status of their application if they do 

not receive email notifications within a 

day of submission. The first email 

should confirm receipt of the 

application, and the second should 

indicate that the application has either 

been successfully validated by the 

system before transmission to the 

Funding Agencies or has been rejected 

due to errors. Please note: That it can 

take up to two business days after 

Grants.gov receives an application for 

applicants to receive email notification 

of an error. An applicant will receive a 

third email once EDA has retrieved an 

application from Grants.gov. 

Applicants should refrain from 

submitting multiple copies of the same 

application package. Applicants should 

save and print both the submitted 

application confirmation screen 

provided on Grants.gov, and the 

confirmation email sent by Grants.gov 

when the application has been 

successfully received and validated in 

the system. If an applicant receives an 

email from Grants.gov indicating that 

the application was received and 

subsequently validated, but does not 

receive an email from Grants.gov 

indicating that EDA has retrieved the 

application package within 72 hours of 

that email, the applicant may contact 

the appropriate person listed in 

Appendix F. of this FFO to inquire if 

EDA is in receipt of the submission. 

It is the applicant’s responsibility to 

verify that its submission was received 

and validated successfully at 

Grants.gov. To see the date and time 

your application was received, log on to 

Grants.gov and click on the ‘‘Track My 

Application’’ link from the left-hand 

menu. For a successful submission, the 

application must be received and 

validated by Grants.gov, and an agency 

tracking number assigned. If your 

application has a status of ‘‘Received’’ it 

is awaiting validation by Grants.gov. 

Once validation is complete, the status 

will change to ‘‘Validated’’ or ‘‘Rejected 

with Errors.’’ If the status is ‘‘Rejected 

with Errors,’’ your application has not 

been received successfully. Some of the 

reasons Grants.gov may reject an 

application can be found at http:// 

www.grants.gov/applicants/ 

submit_application_faqs.jsp. 

Systems issues. If you experience a 

Grants.gov ‘‘systems issue’’ (technical 

problems or glitches with the Grants.gov 

Web site) that you believe threatens 

your ability to complete a submission, 

please (a) print any error message 

received and (b) call the Grants.gov 

Contact Center at 1–800–518–4726 for 

immediate assistance. Ensure that you 

obtain a case number regarding your 

communications with Grants.gov. 

Please note: Problems with an applicant 

organization’s computer system or 

equipment are not considered ‘‘systems 

issues.’’ Similarly, an applicant’s failure 

to (a) complete the registration, (b) 

ensure that a registered AOR with the 

EDA applicant submits the application, 

or (c) notice receipt of an email message 

from Grants.gov, are not considered 

systems issues. A Grants.gov ‘‘systems 

issue’’ is an issue occurring in 

connection with the operations of 

Grants.gov itself, such as the temporary 

loss of service by Grants.gov due to an 

unexpected volume of traffic or failure 

of information technology systems, both 

of which are highly unlikely. 

Applicants should access the 

following link for assistance in 

navigating Grants.gov and for a list of 

useful resources: http://www.grants.gov/ 

help/help.jsp. Also, the following link 

lists frequently asked questions (FAQs): 

www.grants.gov/applicants/ 

submit_application_faqs.jsp. If you do 

not find an answer to your question 

under the ‘‘Applicant FAQs,’’ try 

consulting the ‘‘Applicant User Guide’’ 

or contacting Grants.gov via email at 

support@grants.gov or telephone at 1– 

800–518–4726. The Grants.gov Contact 

Center is open 24 hours a day, seven 

days a week. 

Entities wishing to apply for 

assistance may download the 

application documents and 

requirements delineated in this Notice 

from the RCDI Web site: http:// 

www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/rcdi. 

Application information for electronic 

submissions may be found at http:// 

www.grants.gov. 

Applicants may also request paper 

application packages from the Rural 

Development office in their state. 

Applicants have the option of 

submitting their application on a CD or 

a completed paper application. 

Proposals submitted via CD or paper 

must be received at or before 5 p.m. 

Eastern time on May 9, 2012 at the 

following address: Attn: Terry D’Addio, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14th 

and Independence Avenue SW., Room 

6015–S, Washington, DC 20250. 

Proposals shall be submitted in sealed 

envelopes or packages with a cover page 

labeled with ‘‘Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 

Rural Jobs Accelerator,’’ the project 

name; and the organizations included in 

the application. One original and two 

copies of the CD or paper submission 

must be delivered via postal mail or 

courier service with a postmark or 

courier service’s time and date stamp on 

or before the deadline. USDA mail 

security measures may delay receipt of 

United States Postal Service mail for up 

to three weeks. Therefore, applicants 

that submit via paper or CD are strongly 

advised to use carriers with guaranteed 

delivery services and that provide 

confirmation that indicates the 

application was delivered by the 

deadline. 

CDs must be labeled with the project 

name and verified as virus free. The 

Funding Agencies will not review any 

proposals submitted on CDs on which 

viruses are detected. 

The CD or paper submission must 

include all the required forms, Project 

Description documents and addenda for 

all applicants proposing scopes of work 

for the joint project (see section V.C. of 

this FFO for application content 

requirements). 

The applicant may download the 

appropriate application package in a 

screen-fillable format from http:// 

www.grants.gov/applicants/ 

apply_for_grants.jsp, save it 

electronically, and upload it onto the 

CD. 

If your application is received after 

the deadline, it will not be reviewed. 

Selection of an organization under 

this FFO does not constitute approval of 

the proposed project as submitted. 

Before any funds are awarded, the 

Funding Agencies may enter into 

negotiations about such items as 

program components, staffing and 

funding levels, and administrative 

systems in place to support 

implementation of the award. The 

amount of available funding may 

require the final award amount to be 

less than that requested by the 

applicant. If the negotiations do not 

result in a mutually acceptable 

submission, the Grants Officer for the 

applicable Funding Agency reserves the 

right to terminate the negotiations and 

decline to fund the application. The 

Funding Agencies reserve the right not 

to fund any application received under 

this competitive solicitation. 

Unsuccessful Competition 

On occasion, competitive solicitations 

or competitive panels produce less than 

optimum results, such as a competition 

resulting in the receipt of no 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 16533 

applications, a competition resulting in 

the receipt of only unresponsive or 

unqualified applications, or too few 

highly rated applications. In the event 

that these conditions arise, the Funding 

Agencies shall take the most time- and 

cost-effective approach available that is 

in the best interest of the Federal 

government. This includes (1) Recompetition, (2) re-paneling, or (3) 

formal negotiation. 

Part VIII—Award Administration 

Information 

A. General Information 

Within the limit of funds available for 

such purpose, the awarding official of 

the Agency shall make grants in ranked 

order to eligible applicants under the 

procedures set forth in this Notice. 

B. Award Notice 

Applicants will be notified of 

selection by letter. Unsuccessful 

applicants will receive notification 

including appeal rights by mail. In 

addition, selected applicants will be 

requested to verify that components of 

the application have not changed at the 

time of selection and on the award 

obligation date, if requested by the 

Agency. The award is not approved 

until all information has been verified, 

and the awarding official of the Agency 

has signed Form RD 1940–1, ‘‘Request 

for Obligation of Funds.’’ 

C. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements 

Grantees will be required to do the 

following: 

1. Execute a Rural Community 

Development Initiative Grant 

Agreement. 

2. Execute Form RD 1940–1. 

3. Use Form SF 270, ‘‘Request for 

Advance or Reimbursement,’’ to request 

reimbursements. Provide receipts for 

expenditures, timesheets and any other 

documentation to support the request 

for reimbursement. 

4. Provide financial status and project 

performance reports on a quarterly basis 

starting with the first full quarter after 

the grant award. 

5. Maintain a financial management 

system that is acceptable to the Agency. 

6. Ensure that records are maintained 

to document all activities and 

expenditures utilizing RCDI grant funds 

and matching funds. Receipts for 

expenditures will be included in this 

documentation. 

7. Provide annual audits or 

management reports on Form RD 442– 

2, ‘‘Statement of Budget, Income and 

Equity,’’ and Form RD 442–3, ‘‘Balance 

Sheet,’’ depending on the amount of 

Federal funds expended and the 

outstanding balance. 

8. Collect and maintain data provided 

by recipients on race, sex, and national 

origin and ensure recipients collect and 

maintain the same data on beneficiaries. 

Race and ethnicity data will be collected 

in accordance with OMB Federal 

Register notice, ‘‘Revisions to the 

Standards for the Classification of 

Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,’’ 

(62 FR 58782), October 30, 1997. Sex 

data will be collected in accordance 

with Title IX of the Education 

Amendments of 1972. These items 

should not be submitted with the 

application but should be available 

upon request by the Agency. 

9. Provide a final project performance 

report. 

10. Identify and report any association 

or relationship with Rural Development 

employees. 

11. The intermediary and recipient 

must comply with Title VI of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1968, Title IX of the 

Education Amendments of 1972, 

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 

1975, Executive Order 12898, Executive 

Order 12250 and RD Instruction 7 CFR 

part 1901–E. 

12. The grantee must comply with 

policies, guidance, and requirements as 

described in the following applicable 

OMB Circulars and Code of Federal 

Regulations: 

a. OMB Circular A–87 (Cost 

Principles for State, Local, and Indian 

Tribal Government); 

b. OMB Circular A–122 (Cost 

Principles for Non-profit Organizations); 

c. OMB Circular A–133 (Audits of 

States, Local Governments, and NonProfit Organizations); 

d. 7 CFR part 3015 (Uniform Federal 

Assistance Regulations); 

e. 7 CFR part 3016 (Uniform 

Administrative Requirements for Grants 

and Cooperative Agreements to State 

and Local Governments); 

f. 2 CFR parts 417 and 180 

(Government-wide Debarment and 

Suspension (Nonprocurement); 

g. 7 CFR part 3019 (Uniform 

Administrative Requirements for Grants 

and Agreements with Institutions of 

Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other 

Non-profit Organizations); and 

h. 7 CFR part 3052 (Audits of States, 

Local Governments, and Non-Profit 

Organizations). 

Additional Requirements 

No Obligation for Future Funding 

If an applicant is awarded funding 

under this Notice, USDA is not under 

any obligation to provide any additional 

future funding in connection with that 

award or to make future award(s). 

Amendment or renewal of an award to 

increase funding or to extend the period 

of performance is at the discretion of 

USDA. 

Freedom of Information Act Disclosure 

The Freedom of Information Act (5 

U.S.C. 552) (FOIA) and the USDA’s 

implementing regulations at 7 CFR part 

1, subpart A set forth the rules and 

procedures to make requested material, 

information and records publicly 

available. Unless prohibited by law and 

to the extent permitted under FOIA, 

contents of applications submitted by 

applicants may be released in response 

to FOIA requests. 

Past Performance and Non-Compliance 

With Award Provisions 

Unsatisfactory performance under 

prior Federal awards may result in an 

application not being considered for 

funding. Failure to comply with any or 

all of the provisions of an award may 

have a negative impact on future 

funding by the USDA and may be 

considered grounds for any or all of the 

following actions: (1) Establishing an 

account receivable; (2) withholding 

payments to the recipient under any 

USDA award(s); (3) changing the 

method of payment from advance to 

reimbursement only; (4) imposing other 

special award conditions; (5) 

suspending any active USDA award(s); 

and (6) terminating any active USDA 

award(s). 

Part IX—Agency Contact 

Contact the Rural Development office 

in the state where the applicant’s 

headquarters is located. A list of Rural 

Development State Offices is included 

in this Notice. 

Part X—Nondiscrimination Statement 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(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 


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16534 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 

USDA, Director, Office of 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. 

Part XI—Appeal Process 

All adverse determinations regarding 

applicant eligibility and the awarding of 

points as part of the selection process 

are appealable pursuant to 7 CFR part 

11. Instructions on the appeal process 

will be provided at the time an 

applicant is notified of the adverse 

decision. 

Grant Amount Determination 

In the event the applicant is awarded 

a grant that is less than the amount 

requested, the applicant will be required 

to modify its application to conform to 

the reduced amount before execution of 

the grant agreement. The Agency 

reserves the right to reduce or withdraw 

the award if acceptable modifications 

are not submitted by the awardee within 

15 working days from the date the 

request for modification is made. Any 

modifications must be within the scope 

of the original application. 

Rural Development State Office 

Contacts 

Note: Telephone numbers listed are not 

toll-free. 

Alabama State Office 

Suite 601, Sterling Centre, 4121 

Carmichael Road, Montgomery, AL 

36106–3683, (334) 279–3400, TDD (334) 

279–3495, Allen Bowen. 

Alaska State Office 

800 West Evergreen, Suite 201, Palmer, AK 

99645, (907) 761–7778, TDD (907) 761– 

8905, Merlaine Kruse. 

Arizona State Office 

230 North 1st Avenue, Suite 206, Phoenix, 

AZ 85003, (602) 280–8747, TDD (602) 

280–8705, Leonard Gradillas. 

Arkansas State Office 

700 W. Capitol Ave., Rm. 3416, Little Rock, 

AR 72201–3225, (501) 301–3265, TDD 

(501) 301–3200, Stephen Lagasse. 

California State Office 

430 G Street, Agency 4169, Davis, CA 

95616–4169, (530) 792–5810, TDD (530) 

792–5848, Janice Waddell. 

Colorado State Office 

Denver Federal Center, Building 56, Room 

2300, P.O. Box 25426*, Denver, CO 

80225–0426, (720) 544–2927, TDD (720) 

544–2976, Jerry Tamlin. 

Connecticut 

Served by Massachusetts State Office. 

Delaware and Maryland State Office 

1221 College Park Dr., Suite 200, Dover, DE 

19904–8713, (302) 857–3627, TDD (302) 

857–3585, Denise MacLeish. 

Florida & Virgin Islands State Office 

4440 NW. 25th Place, P.O. Box 147010, 

Gainesville, FL 32614–7010, (352) 338– 

3485, TDD (352) 338–3499, Michael 

Langston. 

Georgia State Office 

Stephens Federal Building, 355 E. Hancock 

Avenue, Athens, GA 30601–2768, (706) 

546–2171, TDD (706) 546–2034, Jerry M. 

Thomas. 

Guam 

Served by Hawaii State Office. 

Hawaii, Guam, & Western Pacific Territories 

State Office 

Room 311, Federal Building, 154 

Waianuenue Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720, 

(808) 933–8317, TDD (808) 933–8321, 

Alton Kimura. 

Idaho State Office 

9173 West Barnes Dr., Suite A1, Boise, ID 

83709, (208) 378–5617, TDD (208) 378– 

5600, David A. Flesher. 

Illinois State Office 

2118 West Park Court, Suite A, Champaign, 

IL 61821, (217) 403–6209, TDD (217) 

403–6240, Michael Wallace. 

Indiana State Office 

5975 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 

46278–1996, (317) 290–3100 (ext. 407), 

TDD (317) 290–3343, Rochelle Owen. 

Iowa State Office 

873 Federal Building, 210 Walnut Street, 

Des Moines, IA 50309, (515) 284–4459, 

TDD (515) 284–4858, Karla Peiffer. 

Kansas State Office 

1303 SW. First American Place, Suite 100, 

Topeka, KS 66604–4040, (785) 271–2728, 

TDD (785) 271–2767, Kent Evans. 

Kentucky State Office 

771 Corporate Drive, Suite 200, Lexington, 

KY 40503, (859) 224–7415, TDD (859) 

224–7300, Vernon Brown. 

Louisiana State Office 

3727 Government Street, Alexandria, LA 

71302, (318) 473–7965, TDD (318) 473– 

7920, Richard Hoffpauir. 

Maine State Office 

967 Illinois Ave., Suite 4, P.O. Box 405, 

Bangor, ME 04402–0405, (207) 990– 

9124, TDD (207) 942–7331, Ron Lambert. 

Maryland 

Served by Delaware State Office. 

Massachusetts, Connecticut, & Rhode Island 

State Office 

451 West Street, Suite 2, Amherst, MA 

01002–2999, (413) 253–4300, TDD (413) 

253–7068, Daniel R. Beaudette. 

Michigan State Office 

3001 Coolidge Road, Suite 200, East 

Lansing, MI 48823, (517) 324–5208, TDD 

(517) 337–6795, Christine M. Maxwell. 

Minnesota State Office 

410 Farm Credit Service Building, 375 

Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101–1853, 

(651) 602–7800, TDD (651) 602–3799, 

Terry Louwagie. 

Mississippi State Office 

Federal Building, Suite 831, 100 W. Capitol 

Street, Jackson, MS 39269, (601) 965– 

4326, TDD (601) 965–5850, Darnella 

Smith-Murray. 

Missouri State Office 

601 Business Loop 70 West, Parkade 

Center, Suite 235, Columbia, MO 65203, 

(573) 876–0976, TDD (573) 876–9480, 

Clark Thomas. 

Montana State Office 

2229 Boot Hill Court, Bozeman, MT 59715, 

(406) 585–2520, TDD (406) 585–2545, 

Steve Troendle. 

Nebraska State Office 

Federal Building, Room 152, 100 

Centennial Mall N., Lincoln, NE 68508, 

(402) 437–5559, TDD (402) 437–5551, 

Denise Brosius-Meeks. 

Nevada State Office 

1390 South Curry Street, Carson City, NV 

89703–9910, (775) 887–1222 (ext. 113), 

TDD 7–1–1, Cheryl Couch. 

New Hampshire 

Served by Vermont State Office. 

New Jersey State Office 

8000 Midlantic Drive, 5th Floor North, 

Suite 500, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, (856) 

787–7753, Kenneth Drewes. 

New Mexico State Office 

6200 Jefferson St. NE., Room 255, 

Albuquerque, NM 87109, (505) 761– 

4954, TDD (505) 761–4938, Martha 

Torrez. 

New York State Office 

The Galleries of Syracuse, 441 S. Salina 

Street, Suite 357, Syracuse, NY 13202– 

2541, (315) 477–6400, TDD (315) 477– 

6447, Gail Giannotta. 

North Carolina State Office 

4405 Bland Road, Suite 260, Raleigh, NC 

27609, (919) 873–2063, TDD (919) 873– 

2003, William A. Hobbs. 

North Dakota State Office 

Federal Building, Room 208, 220 East 

Rosser Ave., P.O. Box 1737, Bismarck, 

ND 58502–1737, (701) 530–2029, TDD 

(701) 530–2113, Mark Wax. 

Ohio State Office 

Federal Building, Room 507, 200 North 

High Street, Columbus, OH 43215–2418, 

(614) 255–2391, TDD (614) 255–2554, 

David M. Douglas. 

Oklahoma State Office 

100 USDA, Suite 108, Stillwater, OK 

74074–2654, (405) 742–1061, TDD (405) 

742–1007, Jerry Efurd. 

Oregon State Office 

1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 801, Portland, 

OR 97232, (503) 414–3362, TDD (503) 

414–3387, Sam Goldstein. 

Pennsylvania State Office 

One Credit Union Place, Suite 330, 

Harrisburg, PA 17110–2996, (717) 237– 

2281, TDD (717) 237–2281, Susanne 

Gantz. 

Puerto Rico State Office 

654 Mun ̃ oz Rivera Avenue, Suite 601, San 

Juan, PR 00918–6106, (787) 766–5095, 

TDD (787) 766–5332, Nereida Rodriguez. 

Rhode Island 

Served by Massachusetts State Office. 

South Carolina State Office 

Strom Thurmond Federal Building, 1835 

Assembly Street, Room 1007, Columbia, 

SC 29201, (803) 253–3425, TDD (803) 

765–5697, Jesse T. Risher. 

South Dakota State Office 

Federal Building, Room 210, 200 Fourth 

Street SW., Huron, SD 57350, (605) 352– 

1145, TDD (605) 352–1147, Doug Roehl. 

Tennessee State Office 

Suite 300, 3322 West End Avenue, 

Nashville, TN 37203–1071, (615) 783– 

1345, TDD (615) 783–1397, Keith Head. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Notices 16535 

Texas State Office 

Federal Building, Suite 102, 101 South 

Main, Temple, TX 76501, (254) 742– 

9787, TDD (254) 742–9749, Michael B. 

Canales. 

Utah State Office 

Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, 125 

South State Street, Room 4311, P.O. Box 

11350, Salt Lake City, UT 84138, (801) 

524–4326, TDD (801) 524–3309, Debra 

Meyer. 

Vermont State Office 

City Center, 3rd Floor, 89 Main Street, 

Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 828–6033, 

TDD (802) 223–6365, Rhonda Shippee. 

Virgin Islands 

Served by Florida State Office. 

Virginia State Office 

Culpeper Building, Suite 238, 1606 Santa 

Rosa Road, Richmond, VA 23229, (804) 

287–1577, TDD (804) 287–1753, Kent 

Ware. 

Washington State Office 

1835 Black Lake Boulevard, SW., Suite B, 

Olympia, WA 98512–5715, (360) 704– 

7737, Peter McMillin. 

Western Pacific Territories 

Served by Hawaii State Office. 

West Virginia State Office 

1550 Earl Core Road, Suite 101, 

Morgantown, WV 26505, (304) 284– 

4886, TDD (304) 284–4836, Janna 

Lowery. 

Wisconsin State Office 

4949 Kirschling Court, Stevens Point, WI 

54481, (715) 345–7615, TDD (715) 345– 

7610, Brian Deaner. 

Wyoming State Office 

Federal Building, Room 1005, 100 East B 

Street, P.O. Box 11005, Casper, WY 

82602–5006, (307) 233–6700, TDD (307) 

233–6719, Alana Cannon. 

Washington, DC 

Stop 0787, Room 0175, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250– 

0787, (202) 205–9685, Shirley J. 

Stevenson. 

Dated: March 14, 2012. 

Cristina Chiappe, 

Acting Administrator, Rural Housing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6611 Filed 3–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XV–P 

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS 

Agenda and Notice of Public Meeting 

of the New Hampshire Advisory 

Committee 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the rules and 

regulations of the U.S. Commission on 

Civil Rights (Commission), and the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA), that a planning meeting of the 

New Hampshire Advisory Committee to 

the Commission will convene at 12:30 

p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, April 4, 

2012, at the University of New 

Hampshire, 400 Commercial Street, 

Room 255, Manchester, New 

Hampshire. The purpose of the planning 

meeting is to consider next steps after 

their January briefing. 

Members of the public are entitled to 

submit written comments. The 

comments must be received in the 

regional office by Friday, May 4, 2012. 

Comments may be mailed to the Eastern 

Regional Office, U.S. Commission on 

Civil Rights, 624 9th Street NW., Suite 

740, Washington, DC 20425, faxed to 

(202) 376–7548, or emailed to 

ero@usccr.gov. Persons who desire 

additional information may contact the 

Eastern Regional Office at 202–376– 

7533. 

Persons needing accessibility services 

should contact the Eastern Regional 

Office at least ten (10) working days 

before the scheduled date of the 

meeting. 

Records generated from this meeting 

may be inspected and reproduced at the 

Eastern Regional Office, as they become 

available, both before and after the 

meeting. Persons interested in the work 

of this advisory committee are advised 

to go to the Commission’s Web site, 

www.usccr.gov, or to contact the Eastern 

Regional Office at the above phone 

number, email or street address. 

The meetings will be conducted 

pursuant to the provisions of the rules 

and regulations of the Commission and 

FACA. 

Dated in Washington, DC, March 16, 2012. 

Peter Minarik, 

Acting Chief, Regional Programs 

Coordination Unit. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6774 Filed 3–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of the Census 

Request for Nominations of Members 

To Serve on the Census Bureau 

National Advisory Committee on 

Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations 

AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of request for 

nominations. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of the Census 

(Census Bureau) is requesting 

nominations of individuals and 

organizations to serve on the Census 

Bureau National Advisory Committee 

on Racial, Ethnic, and Other 

Populations. The Census Bureau will 

consider nominations received in 

response to this notice, as well as from 

other sources. The SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this notice 

provides committee and membership 

criteria. 

DATES: Please submit nominations by 

April 20, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit nominations 

to Jeri Green, Chief, Office of External 

Engagement, U.S. Census Bureau, Room 

8H182, 4600 Silver Hill Road, 

Washington, DC 20233. Nominations 

also may be submitted via fax at 301– 

763–8609, or by email to 

jeri.green@census.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeri 

Green, Chief, Office of External 

Engagement, U.S. Census Bureau, Room 

8H182, 4600 Silver Hill Road, 

Washington, DC 20233, telephone 

(301) 763–2070. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Census Bureau National Advisory 

Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other 

Populations (‘‘Advisory Committee’’) 

was established in accordance with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Title 

5, United States Code (U.S.C.), 

Appendix 2). The following provides 

information about the committee, 

membership, and the nomination 

process. 

Objectives and Duties 

1. The Advisory Committee advises 

the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau 

on the full range of economic, housing, 

demographic, socioeconomic, linguistic, 

technological, methodological, 

geographic, behavioral, and operational 

variables affecting the cost, accuracy, 

and implementation of Census Bureau 

programs and surveys, including the 

decennial census. 

2. The Advisory Committee advises 

the Census Bureau on the identification 

of new strategies for improved census 

operations, survey and data collection 

methods, including identifying cost 

efficient ways to increase census 

participation. 

3. The Advisory Committee addresses 

census policies, research and 

methodology, tests, operations, 

communications/messaging, and other 

activities to ascertain needs and best 

practices to improve censuses, surveys, 

operations, and programs. This 

expertise is necessary to ensure that the 

Census Bureau continues to provide 

relevant and timely statistics used by 

federal, state, and local governments as 

well as business and industry in an 

increasingly technologically-oriented 

society. 

4. The Advisory Committee functions 

solely as an advisory body under the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

5. The Advisory Committee reports to 

the Director. 


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