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Notices Federal Register

75663

Vol. 65, No. 233

Monday, December 4, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[No. LS–00–11]

Market Promotion Funding—Lamb

Meat Adjustment Assistance Measures

Program

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice: Invitation to submit

proposals.

SUMMARY: Interested parties are invited

to submit proposals for the availability

of approximately $1 million in

competitive cooperative agreements to

carry out ‘‘The Summary of Assistance

Measures’’ of the Domestic Lamb

Industry Adjustment Assistance

Program. Approximately $3.85 million

was previously awarded for proposals

submitted under this program as

announced in the Federal Register,

Volume 65, Number 95, Tuesday, May

16, 2000. Funds have been made

available through a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) between the

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

and the National Sheep Industry

Improvement Center (NSIIC) to be

awarded in fiscal year (FY) 2001—with

projects completed by FY 2002. AMS

hereby request proposals for projects

from eligible entities interested in

applying for competitively awarded

cooperative agreements for lamb meat

marketing and promotion. The intent is

to fund a variety of marketing proposals

that will complement previously

awarded projects or demonstrate a new

strategy to increase the sale of U.S.

lamb.

DATES: Proposals must be received at the

address below by close of business

January 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Proposals (original and six

copies) should be mailed to: Barry L.

Carpenter, Deputy Administrator,

Livestock and Seed Program,

Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA,

Room 2092–S, Stop 0249, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250–0249; telephone

(202) 720–5705.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martin O’Connor, International

Marketing Specialist, Standardization

Branch on (202) 720–7046, E-mail:

Martin.OConnor@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Information

This program resulted from the

United States International Trade

Commission (USITC) findings in

Investigation Number TA–201–68 and

Presidential Proclamation 7208 of July

7, 1999, made subsequent to those

findings, which initiates a 3-year

assistance package for the domestic

lamb industry. The Secretary of

Agriculture outlined the assistance

measures that were then incorporated

by the Department of Agriculture

(USDA) and the Office of Management

and Budget into the Domestic Lamb

Industry Adjustment Assistance

proposal for the U.S. lamb industry.

AMS is the lead agency implementing

the assistance measures and will

administer funds that have been made

available through a MOU with the NSIIC

for the Marketing and Promotion section

of the Domestic Lamb Industry

Adjustment Assistance Program for the

U.S. lamb industry. AMS is authorized

under 7 U.S.C. 1622 of the Agricultural

Marketing Act to administer programs of

this nature.

The NSIIC is authorized to conduct

marketing and promotion programs

under section 375 of the Federal

Agriculture Improvement and Reform

Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 2008j). A fund is

established in the Treasury of the

United States, without fiscal year

limitation, to provide funds for the

enhancement and marketing of sheep or

goat products in the United States.

Cooperative agreements for these

purposes are authorized by section 375

of the Consolidated Farm and Rural

Development Act, 7 U.S.C. 2008j.

Under the terms of the MOU, a total

of up to $1 million in addition to funds

previously awarded will be provided in

competitive cooperative agreements

during FY 2001. Projects that are

submitted in the proposals should be

completed in a timely fashion as

provided in the proposal, but under no

circumstances later than July 21, 2002.

The primary objective of the Domestic

Lamb Industry Adjustment Assistance

Program is to fund a number of diverse

projects that will increase the sale of

U.S. lamb regionally, nationally or

internationally. The program is

administered through USDA, AMS, in

accordance with the MOU with NSIIC.

Eligible Applicants

An eligible entity is an organization

that promotes the betterment of the

United States sheep industry and that is:

(a) a public, private, or cooperative

organization; (b) an association,

including a corporation not operated for

profit; (c) a federally recognized Indian

Tribe; or (d) a public or quasi-public

agency. Under the Lobbying Disclosure

Act of 1995, an organization described

in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501

(c)(4)) which engages in lobbying

activities, is not eligible to apply.

Use of Funds

Use of funds should directly increase

the sale of U.S. lamb meat by focusing

on, but not limited to, marketing,

promotion, merchandizing, value-added

proposals, market feasibility analysis, or

market identification. Funds may not be

used to: (a) pay costs of preparing the

application package; (b) fund political

activities; or (c) pay costs incurred prior

to the effective date of the cooperative

agreement.

Available Funds and Award Limitations

The total amount of additional funds

available for cooperative agreements in

FYs 2001 and 2002 is approximately

$1.0 million. It is anticipated that all

funds will be awarded in FY 2001 for

projects that will be completed by July

21, 2002. It is expected that there will

be submissions that propose to address

a variety of needs in promoting U.S.

lamb. Proposals may be fully or partially

funded. Awards will be segregated so

that a variety of marketing strategies and

marketing situations will be addressed

by the funded proposals. Additionally,

proposals which further develop

projects previously awarded under AMS

Notice No. LS–00–07 will be considered

equally with other submissions. The

actual number of cooperative

agreements funded will depend on the

quality of proposals received and the

amount of funding requested. The

maximum amount of Federal funds

75664 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices

awarded for any one proposal will be

$250,000. Eligible entities will have the

option of withdrawing proposals that

are partially funded, if in their opinion,

the portion funded does not meet their

needs.

Selection Criteria

Initially, the proposal will be

reviewed to determine whether the

entity submitting the proposal meets the

eligibility requirements and whether the

proposal application contains the

information required. After this initial

evaluation, the following criteria will be

used to rate and rank proposals received

in response to this notice of funding

availability. Failure to address any of

the criteria will disqualify the proposal.

Equal weight shall be given to each of

the criteria listed below and points will

be awarded to each criterion on a scale

of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. A score of 5 indicates

that the proposal was judged to be

highly relevant to the criteria and a

score of 1 indicates that the proposal

was judged not to sufficiently address

the criteria. A proposal with an average

score from the evaluation panel of AMS

and NSIIC technical experts of less than

2 for any one criterion will disqualify

the proposal.

Each proposal criteria area will be

evaluated and judged on its own merits

using the following criteria:

(Clarification points are given in the

italicized format following each

question. They are not part of the

criteria, but are provided to help the

applicant better understand what the

criteria means.)

(1) Demonstrates the potential to

positively influence the U.S. lamb

market.

Does the promotion place U.S. lamb

on the center of the plate or position it

well in the market? Does the proposal

stress U.S. lamb?

(2) Demonstrates a merchandising

strategy to create new sales or expand

existing accounts.

Does the proposal address an

improvement in product quality or a

more consumer friendly product? Is this

a new or better merchandising strategy?

(3) Demonstrates a strategy to create

value-added linkages among various

industry sectors.

Is there a value-added component to

the plan? This could be coordination

between any two or more sectors of the

industry from producers through

retailers. Is there production-to-final

consumer or ‘‘gate-to-plate’’ component

to the proposal?

(4) Demonstrates how the marketing

proposal will coincide with the product

marketing cycles.

Does the marketing strategy identify

and address the cyclical nature of some

markets in the lamb industry? That is,

in some markets there is a surplus

autumn supply with increased demand

in the spring.

(5) Identifies coordination throughout

the marketing chain to insure supply of

the product being marketed in the

proposal.

What segment(s) of the marketing

chain does the proposal hope to

influence? Is there a supplier

commitment to provide the product to

be marketed?

(6) Provides a detailed analysis of the

product, geographic area and target

market that will be affected.

Does the proposal identify lamb in

general, a specific cut of lamb meat,

pelts or other lamb products or

processes that will be marketed? Is the

target market area well defined? This

could be local, regional, national, or

international. Are the demographics of

the proposed market area well defined

and understood? Does the demographic

information make the target audience a

good candidate for cost efficient

marketing?

(7) Provides a timetable and objectives

along with quantifiable benchmark and

expected results.

Does the proposal include: (a) a clear

objective; (b) well-defined tasks that

will accomplish the objectives; (c)

realistic benchmarks; and (d) a realistic

timetable for the completion of the

proposed tasks?

(8) Identifies how the proposal

coordinates with existing or previous

marketing programs.

Is there an existing marketing

campaign through a cooperative,

Federal Agency, industry group, packer,

breaker, or retailer that this proposal

compliments? Are there any previous

programs that this proposal will help

continue? If there is a sheep industry

checkoff, what is the likelihood that

they would continue this proposed

project? If there is no coordination; how

will this project make positive impact in

lamb marketing?

(9) Identifies the resources needed

and a management team with the ability

to administer the proposed project.

Does the proposal identify the

qualified personnel to complete the

proposed project?

What experience does the

management team have in marketing

this type of product? Does the

management team have the experience

needed to secure the supply of product

to be promoted? Is there a good

understanding of the marketing tools

being proposed? For example, if the

proposal calls for use of radio, show

how this fits into the overall marketing

strategy, cost, prior experience and

expected result.

(10) Identifies other resources that

will be used to leverage the funds

requested in the proposal.

Does this proposal augment an

existing program? Are there other

sources of funding or personnel being

used to complete the proposed project?

Selection Process

A panel of AMS and NSIIC technical

experts will evaluate proposal

applications. Applications will be

evaluated competitively and points

awarded as specified in the Selection

Criteria section of this notice.

Cooperative agreements will be awarded

on a competitive basis to eligible

entities. After assigning points upon

those criteria, applications will be listed

in rank order and presented, along with

funding level recommendations, to the

Administrator of AMS, who will make

the final decision on awarding

agreements. AMS reserves the right to

make selections out of rank order to

provide a diversity of projects targeting

various marketing situations, geographic

areas or subject matter distribution of

funded projects. With respect to any

approved proposal, the amount of

funding and the project period during

which the project may be funded and

will be completed, are subject to

negotiation prior to finalization of the

cooperative agreement.

Proposal Submission

All proposals are to be submitted on

standard 8.5x11 inch paper with typing

on one side of the page only. In

addition, margins must be at least 1

inch, type must be 12 characters per

inch (12 pitch or 10 point) or larger, no

more than 6 lines per inch.

Content of a Proposal

A proposal must contain the

following:

1. Form SF–424 ‘‘Application for

Federal Assistance.’’

2. Form SF–424A ‘‘Budget

Information-Non Construction

Programs.’’

3. Form SF–424B ‘‘Assurances-Non

Construction Programs.’’

4. Table of Contents—For ease of

locating information, each proposal

must contain detailed Table of Contents

immediately following the required

forms. The Table of Contents should

include page numbers for each

component of the proposal. Pagination

should begin immediately following the

Table of Contents.

5. Project Summary: The proposal

must contain a project summary of one

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices 75665

page or less on a separate page. This

page must include the title of the project

and the names of the primary project

contacts and the applicant organization,

followed by the summary. The summary

should be self-contained and should

describe the overall goals and relevance

of the project. The summary should also

contain a listing of all organizations

involved in the project. The Project

Summary should immediately follow

the Table of Contents.

6. Project Narrative: The narrative

portion of the Project Proposal is limited

to ten Pages of text and should contain

the following:

a. Introduction. A clear statement of

the goals and objectives of the project.

The problem should be set in context of

the present-day situation. Summarize

the body of knowledge which

substantiates the need for the proposed

project.

b. Rationale and Significance.

Substantiate the need for the proposed

project. Describe the impact of the

project on the United States lamb

market. Describe the project’s specific

relationship to the segment of lamb

market being addressed.

c. Objectives and Approach. Discuss

the specific objectives to be

accomplished under the project. A

detailed description of the approach

must include:

(1) techniques or procedures used to

carry out the proposed activities and for

accomplishing the objectives; and (2)

the results expected.

d. Timetable. Tentative schedule for

conducting the major steps of the

project.

e. Evaluation. Provide a plan for

assessing and evaluating the

accomplishments of the stated

objectives during the project and

describe ways to determine the

effectiveness (impact) of the end results

upon conclusion of the project.

Awardees will be required to submit

written project performance reports on a

quarterly basis.

f. Coordination and Management

Plan. Describe how the project will be

coordinated among various participants

and the nature of the collaborations.

Describe plans for management of the

project to ensure its proper and efficient

administration.

What To Submit

An original and 6 copies must be

submitted. Each copy must be stapled in

the upper left-hand corner. (DO NOT

BIND). All copies of the proposal must

be submitted in one package.

Other Federal Statutes and Regulations

That Apply

Several other Federal, statutes and

regulations apply to proposals

considered for review and to

cooperative agreements awarded under

this program. These include but are not

limited to:

7 CFR part 1.1—USDA implementation

of the Freedom of Information Act.

7 CFR part 15, subpart A—USDA

implementation of title VI of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

7 CFR part 3015—USDA Uniform

Federal Assistance Regulations.

7 CFR part 3016—Uniform

Administrative Requirements for

Grants and Cooperative Agreement to

State and Local Governments.

7 CFR part 3019—Uniform

Administrative Requirements for

Grant Agreements With Institutions of

Higher Education, Hospitals, and

Other Nonprofit Organizations.

7 CFR part 3051—Audits of Institutions

of Higher Education and Other

Nonprofit Institutions.

Public Burden in This Notice

Form SF–424, ‘‘Application for Federal

Assistance’’

This form is used by applicants as a

required face sheet for applications for

Federal assistance.

Form SF–424A, ‘‘Budget InformationNon Construction Programs’’

This form must be completed by

applicants to show the project’s budget

breakdown, both as to expense

categories and the division between

Federal and non-Federal sources.

Form SF–424B, ‘‘Assurances-Non

Construction Programs’’

This form must be completed by the

applicant to give the Federal

government certain assurances that the

applicant has the legal authority to

apply for Federal assistance and the

financial capability to pay the nonFederal share of project costs. The

applicant also gives assurance it will

comply with various legal and

regulatory requirements as described in

the form.

Reporting Requirements

Awardees will be required to submit

written project performance reports on a

quarterly basis and a final report at the

completion of the project. The project

performance report and final report

shall include, but need not be limited

to: (1) A comparison of timeline, tasks

and objectives outlined in the proposal

as compared to the actual

accomplishments; (2) If report varies

from the stated objectives or they were

not met, the reasons why established

objectives were not met; (3) Problems,

delays, or adverse conditions which will

materially affect attainment of planned

project objectives; (4) Objectives

established for the next reporting

period; and (5) Status of compliance

with any special conditions on the use

of awarded funds.

Dated: November 28, 2000.

Kathleen A. Merrigan,

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 00–30823 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic

Area, Oregon and Washington States;

Statutory Amendments Regarding

Appraisal Standards and Procedures

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: As required by the

Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001

for the Department of the Interior and

Related Agencies, the Forest Service

gives notice of the statutory

amendments made to the Columbia

River Gorge National Scenic Area of

November 17, 1986.

Among other things, the Act

authorized the Forest Service to acquire

lands within the designated boundaries

of the Columbia River Gorge National

Scenic Area. To facilitate those

acquisitions, Congress has recently

amended the Act as part of the Fiscal

Year 2001 appropriations act for the

Forest Service (Public Law 106–291).

These amendments provide special

direction for the valuation of some lands

being acquired by the Forest Service

within Special Management Areas of the

Scenic area. Generally, persons owning

land within a Special Management Area

as of September 1, 2000, who offer to

sell their land to the federal government

prior to April 1, 2001, will have their

land appraised without regard to the

effect of certain zoning and land use

restrictions enacted pursuant to the

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic

Area Act. After April 1, 2001, land will

be appraised considering all zoning and

land use restrictions. In addition to the

publication of this notice in the Federal

Register, notice of these amendments is

also being given via publication in

newspapers of general circulation in the

area and by direct mail to known

landowners in the area.