17940 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 74 / Monday, April 20, 2009 / Notices 

Summary of Collection: The Animal 

Health Protection Act (AHPA) of 2002 is 

the primary Federal law governing the 

protection of animal health. The AHPA 

is contained in Title X, subtitle E, 

sections 10401–18, of Public Law 107– 

171, May 13, 2002, the Farm Security 

and Rural Investment Act of 2002. The 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) is responsible for, 

among other things, protecting the 

health of our Nation’s livestock and 

poultry populations by preventing the 

introduction and spread of serious 

diseases and pests of livestock and 

poultry and for eradicating such 

diseases and pests from the United 

States when feasible. The regulations in 

9 CFR part 92, Importation of Animals 

and Animal Products: Procedures for 

Requesting Recognition of Regions, set 

out the process by which a foreign 

government may request recognition of 

the animal health status of a region or 

approval to export animals or animal 

products to the United States based on 

the risk associated with animals or 

animal products from that region. Each 

request must include information about 

the region. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

APHIS will collection information that 

might include: (1) The authority, 

organization, and infrastructure of the 

Veterinary Service Organization in the 

region; (2) disease status; (3) the status 

of adjacent regions with respect to the 

agent; (4) the extent of an active disease 

control program, if any, if the agent is 

known to exist in the region; (5) the 

vaccination status of the region, when 

the last vaccination, what is the extent 

of vaccination if it is currently used, and 

what vaccine is being used; (6) the 

degree to which the region is separated 

from adjacent regions of higher risk 

through physical or other barriers; (7) 

the extent to which movement of animal 

and animal products is controlled from 

regions of higher risk, and the level of 

biosecurity regarding such movements; 

(8) livestock demographics and 

marketing practices in the region; (9) the 

type and extent of surveillance in the 

region, e.g., is it passive and/or active, 

what is the quantity and quality of 

sampling and testing; (10) diagnostic 

laboratory capabilities, and (11) policies 

and infrastructure for animal disease 

control in the region, i.e., emergency 

response capacity. Without the 

information the U.S. livestock and 

poultry industries could suffer serious 

economic losses as the result of such an 

incursion, since the value of their 

products would be diminished both 

domestically and internationally. 

Description of Respondents: Federal 

Government. 

Number of Respondents: 3. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 120. 

Ruth Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–9010 Filed 4–17–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

Designation for the Unassigned Areas 

of East Texas 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: GIPSA is announcing the 

designation of the following 

organization to provide official services 

under the United States Grain Standards 

Act, as amended (USGSA): Central 

Illinois Grain Inspection (Central 

Illinois) d/b/a Lone Star Grain 

Inspection in Texas. 

DATES: Effective Date: April 20, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: USDA, GIPSA, Karen 

Guagliardo, Chief, Review Branch, 

Compliance Division, STOP 3604, Room 

1647–S, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20250–3604. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karen Guagliardo at 202–720–7312, email Karen.W.Guagliardo@usda.gov. 

Read Applications: All applications 

and comments will be available for 

public inspection at the office above 

during regular business hours (7 CFR 

1.27(b)). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

September 29, 2008, Federal Register 

(73 FR 56546), GIPSA requested 

applications for designation to provide 

official services in the geographic area 

named above. Applications were due by 

October 29, 2008. 

There were two applicants for the east 

Texas area: Central Illinois and Gulf 

Country Inspection Service, Inc. (Gulf 

Country); both applied for the entire 

area open for designation. Central 

Illinois is currently designated as an 

official service provider and has been 

providing services in the designation 

area on an interim basis since July 1, 

2008. Gulf Country is a proposed official 

service provider owned by Tyrone 

Robichaux, Richard Maynard, Pat 

LaCour, and Dan Williams. GIPSA asked 

for comments on Central Illinois and 

Gulf Country in the December 1, 2008, 

Federal Register (73 FR 72762). 

Comments were due by December 31, 

2008. GIPSA received a total of 3 

comments by the closing date all in 

support of Central Illinois. The 

comments received were from grain 

companies located in the area of 

designation. 

GIPSA evaluated all available 

information regarding the designation 

criteria in section 7(f)(l) of the USGSA 

(7 U.S.C. 79(f)) and determined that 

Central Illinois is better able to provide 

official services in the geographic areas 

specified in the September 2, 2008, 

Federal Register, for which they 

applied. This designation action to 

provide official services in the specified 

area is effective March 12, 2009. Central 

Illinois’ current designation, which 

terminates on March 31, 2011, will be 

amended to include the east Texas area. 

Interested persons may obtain official 

services by calling the telephone 

numbers listed below. 

Official agency Headquarters location and telephone Designation 

start 

Designation 

end 

Central Illinois .................................... Bloomington, IL, 309–827–7121. Additional Locations: Pekin, IL, Saginaw, TX, 817–306–8124.4/1/2008 3/31/2011 

Section 7(f)(1) of the USGSA 

authorizes GIPSA’s Administrator to 

designate a qualified applicant to 

provide official services in a specified 

area after determining that the applicant 

is better able than any other applicant 

to provide such official services (7 

U.S.C. 79 (f)(1)). 

Under section 7(g)(1) of the USGSA, 

designations of official agencies are 

effective for 3 years unless terminated 

by the Secretary but may be renewed 

according to the criteria and procedures 

prescribed in section 7(f) of the Act. 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 74 / Monday, April 20, 2009 / Notices 17941 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87k. 

Alan R. Christian, 

Acting Administrator, Grain Inspection, 

Packers, and Stockyards Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–9019 Filed 4–17–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–KD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Announcement of Grant Application 

Deadlines and Funding Levels 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of funds availability and 

solicitation of applications. 

SUMMARY: The United States Department 

of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities 

Service (RUS) announces its 

Community Connect Grant Program 

application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 

2009. In addition, RUS announces the 

minimum and maximum amounts for 

Community Connect grants applicable 

for the fiscal year. The Community 

Connect Grant Program regulations can 

be found at 7 CFR 1739, subpart A. 

DATES: You may submit completed 

applications for grants on paper or 

electronically according to the following 

deadlines: 

• Paper copies must carry proof of 

shipping no later than June 19, 2009 to 

be eligible for FY 2009 grant funding. 

Late applications are not eligible for FY 

2009 grant funding. 

• Electronic copies must be received 

by June 19, 2009 to be eligible for FY 

2009 grant funding. Late applications 

are not eligible for FY 2009 grant 

funding. 

ADDRESSES: You may obtain application 

guides and materials for the Community 

Connect Grant Program via the Internet 

at the following Web site: http:// 

www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/ 

commconnect.htm. You may also 

request application guides and materials 

from RUS by contacting the appropriate 

individual listed in section VII of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this notice. 

Submit completed paper applications 

for grants to the Rural Utilities Service, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Ave., SW., Room 2870, 

STOP 1599, Washington, DC 20250– 

1599. Applications should be marked 

‘‘Attention: Director, Broadband 

Division, Rural Utilities Service.’’ 

Submit electronic grant applications 

at http://www.grants.gov (Grants.gov), 

following the instructions you find on 

that Web site. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kenneth Kuchno, Director, Broadband 

Division, Rural Utilities Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, telephone: 

(202) 690–4673, fax: (202) 690–4389. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

Federal Agency: Rural Utilities 

Service (RUS). 

Funding Opportunity Title: 

Community Connect Grant Program. 

Announcement Type: Initial 

announcement. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.863. 

Dates: You may submit completed 

applications for grants on paper or 

electronically according to the following 

deadlines: 

• Paper copies must carry proof of 

shipping no later than June 19, 2009, to 

be eligible for FY 2009 grant funding. 

Late applications are not eligible for FY 

2009 grant funding. 

• Electronic copies must be received 

by June 19, 2009, to be eligible for FY 

2009 grant funding. Late applications 

are not eligible for FY 2009 grant 

funding. 

Items in Supplementary Information 

I. Funding Opportunity: Brief introduction 

to the Community Connect Grant Program. 

II. Award Information: Available funds and 

minimum and maximum amounts. 

III. Eligibility Information: Who is eligible, 

what kinds of projects are eligible, what 

criteria determine basic eligibility. 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information: Where to get application 

materials, what constitutes a completed 

application, how and where to submit 

applications, deadlines, items that are 

eligible. 

V. Application Review Information: 

Considerations and preferences, scoring 

criteria, review standards, selection 

information. 

VI. Award Administration Information: 

Award notice information, award recipient 

reporting requirements. 

VII. Agency Contacts: Web, phone, fax, email, contact name. 

I. Funding Opportunity 

The provision of broadband 

transmission service is vital to the 

economic development, education, 

health, and safety of rural Americans. 

The purpose of the Community Connect 

Grant Program is to provide financial 

assistance in the form of grants to 

eligible applicants that will provide 

currently unserved areas, on a 

‘‘community-oriented connectivity’’ 

basis, with broadband transmission 

service that fosters economic growth 

and delivers enhanced educational, 

health care, and public safety services. 

Rural Utilities Service will give priority 

to rural areas that it believes have the 

greatest need for broadband 

transmission services, based on the 

criteria contained herein. 

Grant authority will be used for the 

deployment of broadband transmission 

service to extremely rural, lower-income 

communities on a ‘‘community-oriented 

connectivity’’ basis. 

The ‘‘community-oriented 

connectivity’’ concept will stimulate 

practical, everyday uses and 

applications of broadband facilities by 

cultivating the deployment of new 

broadband transmission services that 

improve economic development and 

provide enhanced educational and 

health care opportunities in rural areas. 

Such an approach will also give rural 

communities the opportunity to benefit 

from the advanced technologies that are 

necessary to achieve these goals. Please 

see 7 CFR 1739, subpart A for specifics. 

This notice has been formatted to 

conform to a policy directive issued by 

the Office of Federal Financial 

Management (OFFM) of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), 

published in the Federal Register on 

June 23, 2003. This Notice does not 

change the Community Connect Grant 

Program regulation (7 CFR 1739, subpart 

A). 

II. Award Information 

A. Available Funds 

1. General. The Administrator has 

determined that the following amounts 

are available for grants in FY 2009 

under 7 CFR 1739.2(a). 

2. Grants: 

a. $13,406,000 is available for grants. 

Under 7 CFR 1739.2, the Administrator 

has established a minimum grant 

amount of $50,000 and a maximum 

grant amount of $1,000,000 for FY 2009. 

b. Assistance instrument: Rural 

Development will execute grant 

documents appropriate to the project 

prior to any advance of funds with 

successful applicants. 

B. Community Connect grants cannot 

be renewed. Award documents specify 

the term of each award. Applications to 

extend existing projects are welcomed 

(grant applications must be submitted 

during the application window) and 

will be evaluated as new applications. 

III. Eligibility Information 

A. Who is eligible for grants? (See 7 CFR 

1739.10.) 

1. Only entities legally organized as 

one of the following are eligible for 

Community Connect Grant Program 

financial assistance: 

a. An incorporated organization, 

b. An Indian tribe or tribal 

organization, as defined in 25 U.S.C. 

450b(b) and (c), 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with NOTICES