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.

Notices Federal Register

20806 

Vol. 87, No. 68 

Friday, April 8, 2022 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Agriculture has 

submitted the following information 

collection requirement(s) to OMB for 

review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Comments are 

required regarding; whether the 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden including 

the validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection received by May 9, 2022 will 

be considered. Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and the agency informs 

potential persons who are to respond to 

the collection of information that such 

persons are not required to respond to 

the collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Farm Service Agency 

Title: Market Facilitation Program. 

OMB Control Number: 0560–0292. 

Summary of Collection: This 

information collection is required for 

the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to make 

Market Facilitation Program (MFP) 

payments to domestic crop and 

commodity producers. Specifically, the 

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) 

Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714c) authorizes 

CCC to assist in the disposition of 

surplus commodities and to increase the 

domestic consumption of agricultural 

commodities by expanding or aiding in 

the expansion of domestic markets or by 

developing or aiding in the 

development of new and additional 

markets, marketing facilities, and uses 

for such commodities. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

information collected is needed to 

provide assistance through the MFP 

with respect to commodities that have 

been significantly impacted by actions 

of foreign governments resulting in the 

loss of traditional exports. To determine 

whether a producer is eligible for MFP 

and to calculate a payment, a producer 

is required to submit the following 

forms: CCC–910—MFP Application, 

CCC–902—Farm Operating Plans for an 

Individual, CCC–941—Average 

Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) 

Certification and Consent to Disclosure 

of Tax Information, FSA 578—Report of 

Acreage, and AD–1026—Highly 

Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and 

Wetland Conservation Certification. 

Lack of adequate information to make 

the determination could result in the 

improper administration and 

appropriation of CCC funds. 

Description of Respondents: Farms. 

Number of Respondents: 898,600. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting; 

Other (one-time). 

Total Burden Hours: 669,850. 

Dated: April 5, 2022. 

Ruth Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2022–07524 Filed 4–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Solicitation of Nominations for 

Membership on the Rural Community 

Economic Development (RCED) 

Subcommittee of the USDA Equity 

Commission 

AGENCY: United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Solicitation of nominations for 

membership on the RCED 

Subcommittee of the USDA Equity 

Commission. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 

1006 of the American Rescue Plan Act 

of 2021, USDA Secretary Thomas 

Vilsack established an Equity 

Commission. The USDA Equity 

Commission will advise the Secretary of 

Agriculture by facilitating identification 

of critical USDA programs, policies, 

systems, structures, and practices that 

contribute to barriers to inclusion or 

access, systemic discrimination, or 

exacerbate or perpetuate racial, 

economic, health and social disparities. 

The USDA Equity Commission is 

governed under the American Rescue 

Plan Act of 2021, and by the provisions 

of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA). A Rural Community Economic 

Development (RCED) Subcommittee is 

being formed and will be charged with 

providing recommendations on issues 

and concerns related to rural 

development, persistent poverty, and 

underserved communities. 

DATES: We will consider applications 

that are received by May 6, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit nominations 

to Cecilia Hernandez, Designated 

Federal Officer (DFO), Office of the 

Deputy Secretary, Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW, Room 6006–S, Washington, DC 

20250; or send by email to: 

equitycommission@usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit 

www.usda.gov/equity-commission or 

email: equitycommission@usda.gov, or 

Cecelia Hernandez, telephone: 202– 

913–5907. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

While USDA’s expansive presence in 

rural communities is one of its greatest 

strengths, it is increasingly clear that the 

decentralized, local nature of 

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 68 / Friday, April 8, 2022 / Notices 20807 

1Persistent poverty counties are counties that 

have had poverty rates of 20% or greater for at least 

30 years. For more information, visit: https://

crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45100. 

making can be problematic, especially 

for underserved communities and nontraditional customers. For example, 

local and regional food systems is a 

complex industry with significant upfront costs including land, seed, labor, 

fertilizer, and other inputs. In addition 

to assistance accessing affordable 

capital, producers often need assistance 

with business plan development, tax 

planning, expand market, or simply 

navigating the complexity of the 

financial institutions from which they 

are seeking to secure credit, be that 

USDA or elsewhere. These challenges 

are compounded in rural communities 

of persistent poverty where race and 

location combined have resulted in 

structural exclusion from financial 

systems and other ladders of 

opportunity. 

Underserved communities and 

populations are disproportionately 

impacted by the effects of economic and 

environmental shocks. As the world 

continues to experience the impacts of 

a pandemic and the devastating impacts 

of climate change, including drought, 

flooding, wildfire, and increased 

severity of storms, these communities 

are often on the front lines. Historic 

inequities have often left such 

communities and populations with low 

capacity to deal with these challenges. 

In fact, two-thirds of over 3,000 counties 

in the United States are rural and 310 

of those rural communities have high 

and persistent levels of poverty. Rural 

communities are generally closer to land 

and water, making its residents, 

housing, businesses, and infrastructure 

more vulnerable to the impacts of 

climate change. Of the 310, 86% or 267 

counties are rural and concentrated in 

persistently poor areas of the Delta 

Region, Appalachia, the Southern 

Border Region, Puerto Rico and other 

insular areas, and on Native American 

lands. The majority (60%) of people 

living in persistent poverty 1 counties 

are people of color. Since investments 

have historically lagged in these areas, 

their already vulnerable position is 

made worse by the inadequate and 

affordable access to reliable 

infrastructure, public services, and 

community economic development 

opportunities. 

The American Rescue Plan Act 

provides USDA a generational 

opportunity to leverage the Equity 

Commission and empower rural 

stakeholders to make recommendations 

to the Secretary in advancing equity at 

USDA and its programs. Launched on 

February 28, 2022, to kick off its 

Subcommittee for Agriculture, the 

Equity Commission in collaboration 

with USDA determined a need for an 

additional Subcommittee focused on 

RCED issues. 

Scope and Purpose of the RCED 

Subcommittee 

The RCED Subcommittee will be 

focused on providing recommendations 

that would enable underserved 

communities to have equitable access to 

USDA programs and increase their 

capacity to break the cycle of persistent 

poverty. USDA programs may include 

those that support or affect the 

following rural issues: 

• Local and regional food 

• Workforce development 

• Small businesses 

• Cooperative development 

• Capacity building 

• Community planning 

• Technical assistance 

• Data management 

• Housing 

• Community facilities 

• Telecommunication and broadband 

• Electric and clean energy 

• Recreational economy 

• Water, wastewater, and solid waste 

• Lending and lender relationships 

• Tribal 

• Healthcare 

USDA programs that support the 

topics above are administered by Rural 

Development (Rural Business Service, 

Rural Housing Service, and Rural 

Utilities Service) mission area and some 

programs within the Natural Resource 

and Environment (U.S. Forest Service), 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

(e.g., Agricultural Marketing Service) 

and Research Education and Economics 

(e.g., National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture and Extension) mission 

areas. Understanding barriers and 

needed improvements in programs will 

assist USDA to provide economic 

opportunities in places that need help 

the most and ensure that investments 

equitably benefit underserved 

communities. 

Membership 

The RCED Subcommittee will be 

comprised of 15 members. Two 

members of the USDA Equity 

Commission will serve in the RCED 

subcommittee. Membership 

representation will come from the 

following: 

• 4 representatives from communitybased organizations; 

• 2 representatives from lending 

institutions; 

• 2 representatives from small 

business or cooperatives; 

• 1 representative from a tribal entity; 

• 1 university, community college, or 

trades personnel; 

• 3 individuals selected at the 

discretion of the Secretary; and, 

• 2 members from the EC (as 

explained above). 

Members must adhere to required 

background investigation, ethics, and 

onboarding requirements prior to formal 

appointment. Although all tasks are 

performed on a voluntary basis without 

compensation, USDA will be 

reimbursed for travel expenses, 

including per diem instead of 

subsistence, authorized by 5 U.S.C. 

5703, in the same manner as a person 

employed intermittently in the 

Government service. 

Subcommittee membership expires 

along with the parent Equity 

Commission on March 2024 unless 

extended. 

Criteria for Selection 

In order to better represent the 

targeted population, criteria considered 

for membership on the RCED 

Subcommittee will include combined 

experience and expertise in various 

topics under Scope and Purpose. To 

achieve membership balance, USDA 

will consider diversity of perspectives 

including but not limited to geographic 

representation as well as deep life and 

professional experiences serving rural 

and underserved communities across 

the country. 

Applicants who previously submitted 

a complete application for the Equity 

Commission or Agriculture 

Subcommittee, please do not submit 

your applications again, USDA will 

consider and review your existing 

application. No further action is 

required at this time. 

Meetings 


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20808 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 68 / Friday, April 8, 2022 / Notices 

The subcommittee will meet as 

deemed necessary by the USDA Equity 

Commission co-chairs and may meet in 

person and/or by teleconference or by 

computer-based conferencing. The 

subcommittee may invite technical 

experts to present information for 

consideration. The subcommittee 

meetings will not be announced in the 

Federal Register, only the public 

meetings of the USDA Equity 

Commission overseeing and deliberating 

the subcommittees’ progress. All data 

and records available to the full USDA 

Equity Commission are expected to be 

available to the public via 

www.usda.gov/equity-commission and 

the www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/apex/ 

FACAPublicCommittee?id=a10t000000E

rJLmAAN when the full Equity 

Commission reviews and approves the 

work of the subcommittee. 

The RCED subcommittee will report 

back to the parent committee—USDA 

Equity Commission and will not 

provide advice or work products 

directly to USDA or any of its agencies. 

Ethics Requirements 

To maintain the highest levels of 

honesty, integrity and ethical conduct, 

no subcommittee member shall 

participate in any ‘‘specific party 

matters’’ (i.e., matters are narrowly 

focused and typically involve specific 

transactions between identified parties) 

such as a lease, license, permit, contract, 

claim, grant, agreement, or related 

litigation with the Department in which 

the member has a direct financial 

interest. This includes the requirement 

for Subcommittee members to 

immediately disclose to the DFO (for 

discussion with USDA’s Office of 

Ethics) any specific party matter in 

which the member’s immediate family, 

relatives, business partners or employer 

would be directly seeking to financially 

benefit from the Committee’s 

recommendations. 

All members will receive ethics 

training to identify and avoid any 

actions that would cause the public to 

question the integrity of the 

subcommittee’s advice and 

recommendations. Members who are 

appointed as ‘‘Representatives’’ are not 

subject to Federal ethics laws because 

such appointment allows them to 

represent the point(s) of view of a 

particular group, business sector or 

segment of the public. 

Members appointed as ‘‘Special 

Government Employees’’ (SGEs) are 

considered intermittent Federal 

employees and are subject to Federal 

ethics laws. SGE’s are appointed due to 

their personal knowledge, academic 

scholarship, background or expertise. 

No SGE may participate in any activity 

in which the member has a prohibited 

financial interest. Appointees who are 

SGEs are required to complete and 

submit a Confidential Financial 

Disclosure Report (OGE–450 form) via 

the FDonline e-filing database system. 

Upon request USDA will assist SGEs in 

preparing these financial reports. To 

ensure the highest level of compliance 

with applicable ethical standards USDA 

will provide ethics training to SGEs on 

an annual basis. The provisions of these 

paragraphs are not meant to 

exhaustively cover all Federal ethics 

laws and do not affect any other 

statutory or regulatory obligations to 

which advisory committee members are 

subject. 

Application Process 

Individuals who wish to be 

considered for the RCED Subcommittee 

must the following: 

1. [Required] A resume or curriculum 

vitae (CV) providing the nominee’s 

background, experience, educational 

qualifications, and nominees preferred 

role (not to exceed 15 pages). 

2. [Required] A completed 

background disclosure form (Form AD– 

755) signed by the nominee on page 2 

following item 19: https://www.usda.

gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad755.pdf. 

Application is open to the public, 

including minorities, LGBTQI+ 

individuals, women, and persons with 

disabilities in areas designated within 

the United States, Caribbean Area 

(Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 

Islands), and the Pacific Basin Area 

(Guam, American Samoa, and the 

Commonwealth of the Northern 

Marianna Islands). 

All submissions must be typed and 

legible. Please send required application 

documents by email to 

equitycommission@usda.gov or by mail 

to Attn: Cecilia Hernandez, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 6006– 

S, Washington, DC 20250; telephone: 

(202) 913–5907. 

Equal Opportunity Statement 

USDA prohibits discrimination in all 

of its programs and activities based on 

race, sex, color, national origin, gender, 

religion, age, sexual orientation, or 

disability. Additionally, discrimination 

based on political beliefs and marital 

status, or family status is also prohibited 

by statutes enforced by USDA (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 Technology and Accessible 

Resources Give Employment Today 

Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and 

TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider and employer. 

Dated: April 1, 2022. 

Cikena Reid, 

Committee Management Officer, USDA. 

[FR Doc. 2022–07260 Filed 4–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2022–0001] 

Notice of Request for a New 

Information Collection: Salmonella 

Control Strategies Pilot Projects 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing 

its intention to request a new 

information collection for pilot projects 

that test different control strategies for 

Salmonella contamination in poultry 

products. This is a new information 

collection with an estimated annual 

burden of 310 hours. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

June 7, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested 

persons to submit comments on this 

Federal Register notice. Comments may 

be submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This 

website provides commenters the ability 

to type short comments directly into the 

comment field on the web page or to 

attach a file for lengthier comments. Go 

to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the on-line instructions at that site for 

submitting comments. 

• Mail: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Food Safety 

and Inspection Service, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 

3758, Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

• Hand- or courier-delivered 

submittals: Deliver to 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–3700. 

Instructions: All items submitted by 

mail or electronic mail must include the 

Agency name and docket number FSIS– 

2022–0001. Comments received in 

response to this docket will be made 

available for public inspection and 

posted without change, including any 


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