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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 205 (Thursday, October 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63377-63378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25270]

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Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
appearing in this section.

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / 
Notices

[[Page 63377]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Doc. # AMS-14-0073; TM-14-03]

Transportation and Marketing Program: Notice of Guidance 
Regarding the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, Multi-State Project 
Competition

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance with, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing the 
availability of a guidance document intended for use by State 
departments of agriculture in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 
States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands. The guidance document is entitled: Specialty Crop Block Grant 
Program, Multi-State Project Competition. This guidance document is 
intended to inform the public of the Transportation Marketing Program's 
(TM) current thinking on this topic and will be used to develop a 
Request for Applications (RFA). Comments are requested on the guidance.

DATES: To ensure that TM considers your comment on this guidance before 
it begins work on a RFA, submit written comments on the guidance by 
November 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit comments on these guidance 
documents using the following procedures:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Comments may be submitted by mail to: Arthur L. 
Neal, Jr., Deputy Administrator, Transportation and Marketing Program, 
USDA-AMS-TM, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., Room 4543 So., Ag Stop 0264, 
Washington, DC 20250-0264.
    Written comments responding to this request should be identified 
with the document number AMS-14-0073; TM-14-03. You should clearly 
indicate your position and the reasons for your position. If you are 
suggesting changes to the guidance document, you should include 
recommended language changes, as appropriate, along with any relevant 
supporting documentation.
    USDA intends to make available all comments, including names and 
addresses when provided, regardless of submission procedure used, on 
www.regulations.gov and at USDA, AMS, TM, Room 4543-South building, 
1400 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to noon and 
from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (except official Federal 
holidays). Persons wanting to visit the USDA South Building to view 
comments from the public to this notice are requested to make an 
appointment by calling (202) 690-1300.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arthur L. Neal, Jr., Deputy 
Administrator, Director, Transportation and Marketing Program, USDA-
AMS-TM, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., Room 4543 So., Ag Stop 0264, 
Washington, DC 20250-0264; Telephone: (202) 690-1300; Fax: (202) 205-
0338.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill) proposes a new multi-state 
project set-aside for projects that solely enhance the competitiveness 
of specialty crops under the amended Specialty Crops Competitiveness 
Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C 1621 note) USDA may use no-year funding of $1 
million in 2014, increasing $1 million per fiscal year to $5 million in 
2018 to support multi-state projects. Under subsection (j) of section 
101 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (the Act), USDA 
has been instructed to provide guidance on how grants will be made to 
multistate projects involving (1) food safety; (2) plant pests and 
disease; (3) research; (4) crop-specific projects addressing common 
issues; and (5) any other area that furthers the purposes of the 
section, as determined by the Secretary.
    This guidance describes the Transportation and Marketing Program's 
(TM) current thinking on the administration of the Specialty Crop Block 
Grant Program, Multi-State Project Competition (SCBG-MSPC), 
specifically, the framework for implementing the competitive grant 
program. The guidance describes parameters of the program including 
objectives and eligibility criteria for projects and applicants. AMS 
will use the guidance and comments received to develop a Request for 
Applications that meets the requirements of section 10010 of the 
Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), which amends Section 101 of the 
Specialty Crops Competiveness Act of 2004 to add grants for multistate 
projects (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Pub. L. 108-465).
    This guidance provides information to all State departments of 
agriculture in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States 
Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 
This guidance also informs organizations that desire to partner with 
States on multi-state specialty crop projects. It shares the definition 
of a multi-state project, the priority areas, indicators of successful 
applications, material regarding proposal development, award 
information, grant period duration, award size, eligibility 
information, and application review information. The guidance is 
available from AMS on its Specialty Crop Block Grant Program Web site 
at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/scbgp.

II. Significance of Guidance

    This guidance document is being issued in accordance with the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin on Agency Good Guidance 
Practices (GGPs) (January 25, 2007, 72 FR 3432-3440).
    The purpose of GGPs is to ensure that program guidance documents 
are developed with adequate public participation, are readily available 
to the public, and are not applied as binding requirements. This 
guidance represents TM's current thinking on the topic. It does not 
create or confer any rights for, or on, any person and does not operate 
to bind the TM or the public. Guidance documents are intended to 
provide a uniform method for operations to

[[Page 63378]]

comply that can reduce the burden of developing their own methods and 
simplify audits and inspections. Alternative approaches that can 
demonstrate compliance with the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act, as 
amended, (7 U.S.C. 1621 note) will be considered. As with any 
alternative approach, TM strongly encourages States and industry to 
discuss alternative approaches with TM before implementing them to 
avoid unnecessary or wasteful expenditures of resources and to ensure 
the proposed alternative approach complies with the Act.

III. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to Internet may obtain the guidance at either 
AMS' Specialty Crop Block Grant Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/scbgp or http://www.regulations.gov. Requests for hard copies 
of the guidance documents can be obtained by submitting a written 
request to the person listed in the ADDRESSES section of this Notice.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 note.

    Dated: October 20, 2014.
Rex A. Barnes,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-25270 Filed 10-22-14; 8:45 am]
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