Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2024 / Notices 10025 

speaking slot. Oral comments must be 

sent by email to monique.rea@usda.gov 

or via mail (i.e., postmarked) to 

Monique Rea, 360 Main Street, 

Weaverville, California 96093. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Monique Rea, RAC Coordinator, via 

email at monique.rea@usda.gov or via 

phone at 530–623–2121 or Tara Jones, 

Designated Federal Officer, via email at 

tara.jones@usda.gov or via phone at 

530–623–2121. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the meetings are to: 

1. Hear from Title II project 

proponents and discuss Title II project 

proposals; 

2. Make funding recommendations on 

Title II projects; 

3. Approve meeting minutes; and 

4. Schedule the next meeting. 

The agenda will include time for 

individuals to make oral statements of 

three minutes or less. Individuals 

wishing to make an oral statement 

should make a request in writing at least 

three days prior to the meeting date to 

be scheduled on the agenda for that 

particular meeting. Written comments 

may be submitted to the Forest Service 

up to 10 days after the meeting date 

listed under DATES. 

Please contact the person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, by 

or before the deadline, for all questions 

related to the meeting. All comments, 

including names and addresses when 

provided, are placed in the record and 

are available for public inspection and 

copying. The public may inspect 

comments received upon request. 

Meeting Accommodations: The 

meeting location is compliant with the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 

USDA provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you are 

a person requiring reasonable 

accommodation, please make requests 

in advance for sign language 

interpretation, assistive listening 

devices, or other reasonable 

accommodation to the person listed 

under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section or contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 

(voice and TTY) or USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, 

national origin, religion, sex, gender 

identity (including gender expression), 

sexual orientation, disability, age, 

marital status, family/parental status, 

income derived from a public assistance 

program, political beliefs, or reprisal or 

retaliation for prior civil rights activity, 

in any program or activity conducted or 

funded by USDA (not all bases apply to 

all programs). Remedies and complaint 

filing deadlines vary by program or 

incident. 

Equal opportunity practices in 

accordance with USDA’s policies will 

be followed in all appointments to the 

Committee. To ensure that the 

recommendations of the Committee 

have taken in account the needs of the 

diverse groups served by USDA, 

membership shall include to the extent 

possible, individuals with demonstrated 

ability to represent minorities, women, 

and persons with disabilities. USDA is 

an equal opportunity provider, 

employer, and lender. 

Dated: February 7, 2024. 

Egypt Simon, 

Acting USDA Committee Management 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02894 Filed 2–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Directive Publication Notice 

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service (Forest 

Service or Agency), U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, provides direction to 

employees through issuances in its 

Directive System, comprised of the 

Forest Service Manual and Forest 

Service Handbooks. The Agency must 

provide public notice of and 

opportunity to comment on any 

directives that formulate standards, 

criteria, or guidelines applicable to 

Forest Service programs. Once per 

quarter, the Agency provides advance 

notice of proposed and interim 

directives that will be made available 

for public comment during the next 

three months; proposed and interim 

directives that were previously 

published for public comment but not 

yet finalized and issued; and notice of 

final directives issued in the last three 

months. 

DATES: This notice identifies proposed 

and interim directives that will be 

published for public comment between 

January 1, 2024, and March 31, 2024; 

proposed and interim directives that 

were previously published for public 

comment but not yet finalized and 

issued; and final directives that have 

been issued since October 1, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Questions or comments may 

be submitted by email to the contact 

listed below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

JoLynn Anderson, 971–313–1718 or 

jolynn.anderson@usda.gov. Individuals 

who use telecommunications devices 

for the hearing impaired may call 711 to 

reach the Telecommunications Relay 

Service, 24 hours a day, every day of the 

year, including holidays. You may 

register to receive email alerts regarding 

Forest Service directives at https://www.

fs.usda.gov/about-agency/regulationspolicies. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed and Interim Directives 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1612(a) and 

36 CFR part 216, the Forest Service 

publishes for public comment Agency 

directives that formulate standards, 

criteria, and guidelines applicable to 

Forest Service programs. Agency 

procedures for providing public notice 

and opportunity to comment are 

specified in Forest Service Handbook 

(FSH) 1109.12, Chapter 30, Providing 

Public Notice and Opportunity to 

Comment on Directives. 

The following proposed directives are 

planned for publication for public 

comment from January 1, 2024, to 

March 31, 2024: 

1. Forest Service Manual (FSM) 2100, 

Environmental Management, Chapter 80, 

Mitigation of Adverse Impacts on Resources 

(planned for publication for public comment 

on November 8, 2023 (88 FR 77074)). 

2. FSH 2709.11, Special Uses Handbook, 

Chapter 70, Renewable Energy (currently 

entitled Wind Energy Uses, planned for 

publication for public comment on 

November 8, 2023 (88 FR 77074)). 

3. FSH 2109.15, Mitigation of Adverse 

Impacts on Resources, Chapter 10, Mitigation 

Principles and Compensatory Mitigation. 

The following proposed directives 

have been published for public 

comment but have not yet been 

finalized: 

1. FSM 2200, Rangeland Management, 

Chapters Zero Code; 2210, Rangeland 

Management Planning; 2220, Management of 

Rangelands (Reserved); 2230, Grazing Permit 

System; 2240, Rangeland Improvements; 

2250, Rangeland Management Cooperation; 

and 2270, Information Management and 

Reports; FSH 2209.13, Grazing Permit 

Administration Handbook, Chapters 10, 

Term Grazing Permits; 20, Grazing 

Agreements; 40, Livestock Use Permits; 50, 

Tribal Treaty Authorizations and Special Use 

Permits; and 90, Rangeland Management 

Decision-Making; and FSH 2209.16, 

Allotment Management Handbook, Chapter 

10, Allotment Management and 

Administration. 

2. FSM 3800, Landscape Scale Restoration 

Program. 


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10026 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2024 / Notices 

3. FSH 2409.12, Timber Cruising 

Handbook, Chapters 30, Cruising Systems; 

40, Cruise Planning, Data Recording, and 

Cruise Reporting; 60, Quality Control; and 

70, Designating Timber for Cutting; FSH 

2409.15, Timber Sale Administration 

Handbook, Chapters 20, Measuring and 

Accounting for Included Timber; 40, Rates 

and Payments; and 60, Operations and Other 

Provisions. 

4. FSH 5509.11, Title Claims, Sales, and 

Grants Handbook, Chapter 10, Title Claims 

and Encroachments. 

5. FSM 2000, National Forest Resource 

Management, Chapter 40, National Forest 

System Monitoring. 

6. FSM 2300, Recreation, Wilderness, and 

Related Resource Management, Chapter 50, 

section 55, Climbing Management. 

Final Directives That Have Been Issued 

Since October 1, 2023 

No final directives have been issued 

since October 1, 2023. 

Dated: February 7, 2024. 

JoLynn Anderson, 

Branch Lead, Directives, Information 

Collections and Government Clearance, 

Policy Office, National Forest System. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02853 Filed 2–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Business-Cooperative Service 

Rural Housing Service 

Rural Utilities Service 

[Docket No. RBS–23–BUSINESS–0025] 

Notice of Solicitation of Applications 

for the Strategic Economic and 

Community Development Program for 

FY 2024 

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, Rural Housing Service, and 

Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Under Secretary for Rural 

Development (RD or Agency) is seeking 

applications for the Strategic Economic 

and Community Development (SECD) 

priority, as reauthorized by section 6401 

of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 

2018 (2018 Farm Bill) for projects that 

support multi-jurisdictional and multisectoral strategic community investment 

plans. In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the 

covered RD programs will implement 

SECD by reserving loan and/or grant 

funds from the appropriations of the 

programs covered by this funding 

priority. This notice describes the 

requirements by which the RD programs 

will consider projects eligible for the 

covered programs’ reserved 

appropriated funds and the information 

needed to submit an application. This 

NOSA is being issued prior to passage 

of a final appropriations act for FY 2024 

to allow potential applicants time to 

submit applications for financial 

assistance under the covered programs 

and to give the RD programs time to 

process applications. Information on 

estimated FY 24 funding amounts can 

be found under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION, section B. Federal Award 

Information of this notice. 

DATES: Each of the participating covered 

programs has a different established 

deadline for receipt of applications. 

Please refer to the RD website or the 

appropriate covered program’s Federal 

Register Notice for application deadline 

information. 

ADDRESSES: SECD applications, except 

for the covered Water and Waste Loans 

and Grant Programs, must be submitted 

electronically to the USDA RD Office 

servicing the area where the project is 

located. Applications for Water and 

Waste Loans and Grants Programs must 

be submitted electronically at https://

rdapply.sc.egov.usda.gov/. For lenders 

assigned a CRM, SECD applications 

must be submitted to their assigned 

CRM. 

All applicants are responsible for any 

expenses incurred in preparing and 

submitting applications. 

To apply for SECD funding in FY 

2024, applicants must follow the 

instructions as published in this notice: 

• All applicants must submit the 

Form RD 1980–88, ‘‘Strategic Economic 

and Community Development (Section 

6401, Agriculture Improvement Act of 

2018 (Pub. L. 115–334)),’’ located at 

https://www.rd.usda.gov/programsservices/business-programs/strategiceconomic-and-community-development, 

with their program application to the 

appropriate covered program. 

• SECD applications, except for the 

Water and Waste Loans and Grant 

Program SECD applications, must be 

submitted electronically to the USDA 

RD Office servicing the area where the 

project is located. A list of the USDA RD 

State Offices can be found at: https://

www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/state-offices. 

• Water and Waste Loans and Grant 

Program must submit SECD applications 

electronically at https://rdapply.sc.egov.

usda.gov/. 

• For lenders assigned a OneRD Loan 

Guarantee Initiative Customer 

Relationship Manager (CRM), SECD 

applications must be submitted to their 

assigned CRM. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

more information, please contact your 

respective RD State Office listed here: 

https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/stateoffices. 

For all other inquiries, you may 

contact Dr. Gregory Batson, Rural 

Development Innovation Center, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 6138, 

Stop 0793, Washington, DC 20250, 

Telephone: (573) 239–2945, Email: 

gregory.batson@usda.gov. 

A checklist of all required application 

information for regional planning 

priority can be found at: https://www.rd.

usda.gov/programs-services/strategiceconomic-and-community-development. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

Federal Awarding Agency Name: 

Rural Business-Cooperative Service, 

Rural Housing Service, Rural Utilities 

Service. 

Funding Opportunity Title: Strategic 

Economic and Community 

Development. 

Announcement Type: Notice of 

Solicitation of Applications. 

Funding Opportunity Number: The 

following covered programs with their 

Assistance Listing (AL) numbers are 

listed as flows: 

• Community Facilities Loans; see 7 

CFR part 1942, subpart A. 

• Community Facilities Grants; see 7 

CFR part 3570, subpart B. 

• Community Facilities Guaranteed 

Loans; see 7 CFR part 5001. 

• Water and Waste Disposal Programs 

Guaranteed Loans; see 7 CFR part 5001. 

• Water and Waste Loans and Grants; 

see 7 CFR part 1780. 

• Rural Business Development 

Grants; see 7 CFR part 4280, subpart E. 

Dates: See information provided in 

the DATES section of this notice. 

Rural Development Key Priorities: The 

Agency encourages applicants to 

consider projects that will advance the 

following key priorities: 

• Addressing Climate Change and 

Environmental Justice. Reducing 

climate pollution and increasing 

resilience to the impacts of climate 

change through economic support to 

rural communities. 

• Advancing Racial Justice, PlaceBased Equity, and Opportunity. 

Ensuring all rural residents have 

equitable access to RD programs and 

benefits from RD funded projects. 

• Creating More and Better Market 

Opportunities. Assisting rural 

communities recover economically 

through more and better market 

opportunities and through improved 

infrastructure. 

For further information on FY 24 

Rural Development Priorities, please 

visit the following website: Rural 


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