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

32882 

Vol. 86, No. 118 

Wednesday, June 23, 2021 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

June 17, 2021. 

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 

requested 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 and other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection received by July 23, 2021 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. 

Forest Service 

Title: Small Business Timber SetAside Program: Appeal Procedures on 

Recomputation of Shares. 

OMB Control Number: 0596–0141. 

Summary of Collection: The Forest 

Service (FS) administers the Small 

Business Timber Sale Set-Aside 

Program in cooperation with the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) under 

the authorities of the Small Business 

Act (15 U.S.C. 631), which establishes 

Federal policy regarding assistance 

provided to small businesses; the 

National Forest Management Act of 

1976; the Administrative Procedures 

Act (5 U.S.C. 522); and SBA’s 

regulations found at 13 CFR part 121. 

The Set-Aside Program is designed to 

ensure that qualifying small business 

manufacturers can purchase a fair 

portion of National Forest System 

sawtimber offered for sale. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

Under the program, the FS must recompute the shares of timber sales to be 

set aside for qualifying small businesses 

every five years based on the actual 

volume of sawtimber purchased by 

small businesses. Re-computation of 

shares must occur if there is a change in 

manufacturing capability, if the 

purchaser size class changes, or if 

certain purchaser(s) discontinue 

operations. The appeal information is 

collected in writing and is possible, in 

most locations to be sent via email and 

attached documents to a Forest Service 

Officer. The collected information is 

reviewed by FS officials who use the 

information to render decisions related 

to re-computations of timber sale share 

to be set-aside for small business timber 

purchasers. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit. 

Number of Respondents: 40. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 800. 

Levi S. Harrell, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13171 Filed 6–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Business-Cooperative Service 

[Docket #RBS–21–CO–OP–0017] 

Inviting Applications for Socially 

Disadvantaged Groups Grants 

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of funding availability. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces that 

the Rural Business-Cooperative Service 

(Agency) is announcing fiscal year (FY) 

2021 funding for applications for the 

Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant 

(SDGG) program. The purpose of this 

program is to provide technical 

assistance to socially disadvantaged 

groups in rural areas. Eligible applicants 

include cooperatives, groups of 

cooperatives, and cooperative 

development centers. This program 

supports Rural Development’s (RD) 

mission of improving the quality of life 

for rural Americans and commitment to 

directing resources to those who most 

need them. The program funding level 

for FY 2021 is a total of $3.0 million. 

Detailed information can be found on 

the SDGG website located at https://

www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/ 

socially-disadvantaged-groups-grant. 

Expenses incurred in developing 

applications are the responsibility of the 

applicant. 

DATES: Completed applications for 

grants must be submitted electronically 

by no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time 

August 9, 2021, through https://

www.grants.gov to be eligible for grant 

funding. Please review the Grants.gov 

website at https://www.grants.gov/web/ 

grants/applicants/organizationregistration.html for instructions on the 

process of registering your organization 

as soon as possible to ensure that you 

are able to meet the electronic 

application deadline. Applications 

received after the deadline are not 

eligible for funding under this notice 

and will not be evaluated. 

ADDRESSES: You are encouraged to 

contact your USDA Rural Development 

State Office well in advance of the 

application deadline to discuss your 

project and ask any questions about the 

application process. Contact 

information for State Offices can be 

found at: https://www.rd.usda.gov/ 

contact-us/state-offices. 


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Program guidance as well as 

application templates may be obtained 

at https://www.rd.usda.gov/programsservices/socially-disadvantaged-groupsgrant or by contacting your State Office. 

To submit an electronic application, 

follow the instructions for the SDGG 

funding announcement located at 

https://www.grants.gov. You are 

strongly encouraged to file your 

application early and allow sufficient 

time to manage any technical issues that 

may arise. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Chestnut, Branch Chief, Program 

Management Division, Rural BusinessCooperative Service, United States 

Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Mail Stop3226, Washington, DC 20250–3226, 

(202) 720–1400 or by email at: 

david.chestnut@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

Federal Agency Name: USDA Rural 

Business-Cooperative Service. 

Funding Opportunity Title: Socially 

Disadvantaged Groups Grant. 

Announcement Type: Initial Notice. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance Number: 10.871. 

Dates: Application Deadline. Your 

electronic application must be received 

by https://www.grants.gov no later than 

11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, by August 9, 

2021, or it will not be considered for 

funding. 

The Application Template provides 

specific, detailed instructions for each 

item of a complete application. The 

Agency emphasizes the importance of 

including every item and strongly 

encourages applicants to follow the 

instructions carefully, using the 

examples and illustrations in the 

Application Template. Prior to official 

submission of applications, applicants 

may request technical assistance or 

other application guidance from the 

Agency, as long as such requests are 

made prior to July 23, 2021. Agency 

contact information can be found in 

section D (Application and Submission 

Information) of this document. 

Hemp Related Projects: Please note 

that no assistance or funding from this 

grant can be provided to a hemp 

producer unless they have a valid 

license issued from an approved State, 

Tribal or Federal plan as per Section 

10113 of the Agriculture Improvement 

Act of 2018, Public Law 115–334. 

Verification of valid hemp licenses will 

occur at the time of award. The purpose 

of this program is to provide technical 

assistance, so funding for the 

production of hemp or marketing hemp 

production is not eligible. 

Persistent Poverty Counties: Section 

736 of the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2021, Public Law 116–260, 

designates funding for projects in 

persistent poverty counties. Persistent 

poverty counties as defined in Section 

736 is ‘‘any county that has had 20 

percent or more of its population living 

in poverty over the past 30 years, as 

measured by the 1990 and 2000 

decennial censuses, and 2007–2011 

American Community Survey 5-year 

average, or any territory or possession of 

the United States’’. Another provision in 

Section 736 expands the eligible 

population in persistent poverty 

counties to include any county seat of 

such a persistent poverty county that 

has a population that does not exceed 

the authorized population limit by more 

than 10 percent. This provision expands 

the current 50,000 population limit to 

55,000 for only county seats located in 

persistent poverty counties. Therefore, 

applicants and/or beneficiaries of 

technical assistance services located in 

persistent poverty county seats with 

populations up to 55,000 (per the 2010 

Census) are eligible. 

The Agency will not solicit or 

consider new scoring or eligibility 

information that is submitted after the 

application deadline. The Agency 

reserves the right to contact applicants 

to seek clarification on materials 

contained in the submitted application. 

See the Application Guide for a full 

discussion of each item. For 

requirements of completed grant 

applications, refer to Section D 

(Application and Submission 

Information) of this document. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, the paperwork burden 

associated with this notice has been 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control 

Number 0570–0052. 

A. Program Description 

The SDGG program is authorized by 

the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932 (e)(11)), 

as amended by the Agriculture 

Improvement Act of 2018, Public Law 

115–334. The primary objective of the 

SDGG program is to provide technical 

assistance to socially disadvantaged 

groups. Grants are available for 

cooperative development centers, 

individual cooperatives, or groups of 

cooperatives (i) that serve socially 

disadvantaged groups and (ii) of which 

a majority of the board of directors or 

governing board is comprised of 

individuals who are members of socially 

disadvantaged groups. 

Definitions 

The definitions applicable to this 

notice are as follows: 

Agency—Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, an agency of the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Rural Development or a successor 

agency. 

Conflict of interest—A situation in 

which a person or entity has competing 

personal, professional, or financial 

interests that make it difficult for the 

person or business to act impartially. 

Federal procurement standards prohibit 

transactions that involve a real or 

apparent conflict of interest for owners, 

employees, officers, agents, or their 

immediate family members having a 

financial or other interest in the 

outcome of the project or that restrict 

open and free competition for 

unrestrained trade. Specifically, project 

funds may not be used for services or 

goods going to, or coming from, a person 

or entity with a real or apparent conflict 

of interest, including, but not limited to, 

owner(s) and their immediate family 

members. Examples of conflicts of 

interest include using grant funds to pay 

a member of the applicant’s board of 

directors to provide proposed technical 

assistance to socially disadvantaged 

groups, paying a cooperative member to 

provide proposed technical assistance to 

other members of the same cooperative, 

and paying an immediate family 

member of the applicant to provide 

proposed technical assistance to 

socially-disadvantaged groups. 

Cooperative—A business or 

organization that is owned and operated 

for the benefit of its members, with 

returns of residual earnings paid to such 

members on the basis of patronage. 

Eligible cooperatives for the SDGG 

program are those where a majority of 

the board of directors or governing 

board is comprised of individuals who 

are members of socially disadvantaged 

groups. 

Cooperative development center—A 

nonprofit corporation or institution of 

higher education operated by the 

grantee for cooperative or business 

development. An eligible cooperative 

development center for the SDGG 

program is one where a majority of the 

board of directors or governing board is 

comprised of individuals who are 

members of socially disadvantaged 

groups. It may or may not be an 

independent legal entity separate from 

the grantee. 

Feasibility study—An analysis of the 

economic, market, technical, financial, 

and management feasibility of a 

proposed project. 


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Group of cooperatives—A group of 

cooperatives whose primary focus is to 

provide assistance to socially 

disadvantaged groups; each cooperative 

must meet the eligibility requirements 

set forth in the definition of 

‘‘cooperative’’ herein. One of the 

cooperatives must be designated as the 

lead entity and have legal authority to 

contract with the federal government. 

Immediate family(ies)—A group of 

individuals who live in the same 

household or who are closely related by 

blood, marriage, or adoption, such as a 

spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, 

sibling, aunt, uncle, grandparent, 

grandchild, niece, nephew, or first 

cousin. 

Operating cost—The day-to-day 

expenses of running a business; for 

example: utilities, rent on the office 

space a business occupies, salaries, 

depreciation, marketing and advertising, 

and other basic overhead items. 

Participant support costs—Direct 

costs for items such as stipends or 

subsistence allowances, travel 

allowances, and registration fees paid to 

or on behalf of participants or trainees 

(but not employees) in connection with 

conferences or training projects. 

Project—Any activities to be funded 

by the Socially Disadvantaged Groups 

Grant. 

Rural and rural area—Any area of a 

state other than (a) a city or town that 

has a population of more than 50,000 

inhabitants, according to the latest 

decennial census of the United States 

and (b) any urbanized area contiguous 

and adjacent to a city or town described 

in clause (a), and urbanized areas that 

are rural in character defined by 7 

U.S.C.1991(a)(13)(D). For the purposes 

of this definition, cities and towns are 

incorporated population centers with 

definite boundaries, local selfgovernment, and legal powers set forth 

in a charter granted by the state. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

this paragraph, within the areas of the 

County of Honolulu, Hawaii, and the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

Secretary may designate any part of the 

areas as a rural area if the Secretary 

determines that the part is not urban in 

character, other than any area included 

in the Honolulu Census Designated 

Place or the San Juan Census Designated 

Place. 

Rural Development—A mission area 

within USDA consisting of the Office of 

Under Secretary for Rural Development, 

Rural Business-Cooperative Services, 

Rural Housing Service, and Rural 

Utilities Service and any successors. 

Socially disadvantaged group—A 

group whose members have been 

subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender 

prejudice because of their identity as 

members of a group without regard to 

their individual qualities. 

State—Includes each of the 50 states, 

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

Virgin Islands of the United States, 

Guam, American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, and, as may be determined by 

the Secretary to be feasible, appropriate, 

and lawful, the Federated States of 

Micronesia, the Republic of the 

Marshall Islands and the Republic of 

Palau. 

Technical assistance—An advisory 

service performed for the purpose of 

assisting cooperatives or groups that 

want to form cooperatives such as 

market research, product and/or service 

improvement, legal advice and 

assistance, feasibility study, business 

planning, marketing plan development, 

and training. 

B. Federal Award Information 

Type of Award: Competitive Grant. 

Fiscal Year Funds: FY2021. 

Total Funding: $3,000,000. 

Maximum Award: $175,000. 

Project Period: 1 year. 

Anticipated Award Date: September 

30, 2021. 

C. Eligibility Information 

Applicants must meet all the 

following eligibility requirements. 

Applications which fail to meet any of 

these requirements by the application 

deadline will be deemed ineligible and 

will not be evaluated further. 

1. Eligible applicants. Grants may be 

made to individual cooperatives, groups 

of cooperatives, or cooperative 

development centers that serve socially 

disadvantaged groups and of which a 

majority of the board of directors or 

governing board of the applicant is 

comprised of individuals who are 

members of socially disadvantaged 

groups. You must be able to verify your 

legal structure in the state or the tribe 

under which you are legally organized 

or incorporated. Grants may not be 

made to public bodies or to individuals. 

Your application must demonstrate that 

you meet all definition requirements for 

one of the three eligible applicant types 

as defined above. Federally recognized 

tribes have a government-to-government 

relationship with the United States and 

may have difficulty meeting the 

definition requirements. Therefore, it is 

recommended that they utilize a 

separate entity, such as a tribally owned 

business, tribal authority, tribal nonprofit, tribal college or university to 

apply for SDGG funding that would 

provide technical assistance to members 

of the tribe. This separate tribal entity 

must also demonstrate that it meets all 

definition requirements for one of the 

three eligible applicant types as defined 

above. 

(a) An applicant is ineligible if it has 

been debarred or suspended or 

otherwise excluded from or ineligible 

for participation in Federal assistance 

programs under Executive Order 12549, 

‘‘Debarment and Suspension.’’ The 

Agency will check the System for 

Award Management (SAM) to determine 

if the applicant has been debarred or 

suspended at the time of application 

and also prior to funding any grant 

award. In addition, an applicant will be 

considered ineligible for a grant due to 

an outstanding judgment obtained by 

the U.S. in a Federal Court (other than 

U.S. Tax Court), is delinquent on the 

payment of Federal income taxes, or is 

delinquent on Federal debt. The 

applicant must certify as part of the 

application that they do not have an 

outstanding judgment against them. The 

Agency will check the Do Not Pay 

System to verify this information at the 

time of application and also prior to 

funding any grant award. 

(b) Any corporation or cooperative (i) 

that has been convicted of a felony 

criminal violation under any Federal 

law within the past 24 months or (ii) 

that has any unpaid Federal tax liability 

that has been assessed, for which all 

judicial and administrative remedies 

have been exhausted or have lapsed, 

and that is not being paid in a timely 

manner pursuant to an agreement with 

the authority responsible for collecting 

the tax liability, is not eligible for 

financial assistance provided with funds 

appropriated by the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2021,Public Law 

116–260, unless a Federal agency has 

considered suspension or debarment of 

the corporation and has made a 

determination that this further action is 

not necessary to protect the interests of 

the Government. Certification of 

compliance with this provision is now 

completed during registration or annual 

recertification in SAM.gov via the 

Financial Assistance General 

Certifications and Representations. 

2. Cost sharing or matching. No 

matching funds are required. 

3. Other eligibility requirements. 

Use of funds: Your application must 

propose technical assistance that will 

benefit other socially disadvantaged 

groups. Any recipient of technical 

assistance must have a membership that 

consists of a majority of members from 

socially disadvantaged groups. Please 

review section D(6) (Funding 

Restrictions) of this notice carefully. 

Project eligibility: The proposed 

project must only serve members of 


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socially disadvantaged groups located in 

rural areas. 

Grant period eligibility: Your 

application must include a grant period 

of one-year or less or it will not be 

considered for funding. The proposed 

time frame should begin no earlier than 

October 1, 2021 and end no later than 

December 31, 2022. Applications that 

request funds for a time period ending 

after December 31, 2022, will not be 

considered for funding. You should note 

that the anticipated award date is 

September 30, 2021. Projects must be 

completed by December 31, 2022 or 

within the 12-months of award funding, 

whichever is earlier. 

The Agency may approve requests to 

extend the grant period for up to an 

additional 12 months at its discretion. 

However, you may not have more than 

one SDGG award during the same grant 

period. If you extend the period of 

performance for your current award, 

you may be deemed ineligible to receive 

a SDGG in the next grant cycle. Further 

guidance on grant period extensions 

will be provided in the award 

document. 

Satisfactory performance eligibility: If 

you have an existing SDGG award, you 

must be performing satisfactorily to be 

considered eligible for a new SDGG 

award. Satisfactory performance 

includes being up to date on all 

financial and performance reports as 

prescribed in the grant award and being 

current on tasks and timeframes for 

utilizing grant and matching funds as 

approved in the work plan and budget. 

If you have any unspent grant funds on 

SDGG awards from projects prior to 

September 30, 2019, your application 

will not be considered for funding. If 

your FY 2020 award has unspent funds 

of 50 percent or more than what your 

approved work plan and budget 

projected at the time of evaluation of 

your FY2020 application, your FY 2021 

application may not be considered for 

funding. The Agency will verify the 

performance status of any FY 2020 

awards and make a determination after 

the FY 2021 application period closes. 

Completeness eligibility: Your 

application must provide all the 

information requested in section D (2) 

(Content and form of application 

submission) of this notice. Applications 

lacking sufficient information to 

determine eligibility and scoring criteria 

will be considered ineligible. 

Duplication of current services. Your 

application must demonstrate that you 

are providing services to new customers 

or new services to current customers. If 

your work plan and budget is 

duplicative of your existing award, your 

application will not be considered for 

funding. If your work plan and budget 

is duplicative of a previous or existing 

Rural Cooperative Development Grant 

(RCDG) and/or SDGG award, your 

application will not be considered for 

funding. 

Multiple grant eligibility: You may 

only submit one SDGG grant application 

each funding cycle. If two applications 

are submitted (regardless of the 

applicant name) that include the same 

Executive Director and/or advisory 

boards or committees of an existing 

cooperative or cooperative development 

center, both applications will be 

determined ineligible for funding. 

D. Application and Submission 

Information 

1. Application Template 

The application template to assist you 

in applying for this funding opportunity 

is located at https://www.rd.usda.gov/ 

programs-services/sociallydisadvantaged-groups-grant. Use of the 

application template is strongly 

recommended to assist you with the 

application process. You may also 

contact your USDA RD State Office for 

more information. Contact information 

for State Offices is located at https://

www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/stateoffices. 

2. Content and Form of Application 

Submission 

You must submit your application 

electronically through Grants.gov. Your 

application must contain all required 

information. To apply electronically, 

you must follow the instructions for this 

funding announcement at https://

www.grants.gov. Please note that we 

cannot accept applications through mail 

or courier delivery, in-person delivery, 

email, or fax. 

You can locate the Grants.gov 

downloadable application package for 

this program by using a keyword, the 

program name, or the Catalog of Federal 

Domestic Assistance Number for this 

program. 

When you enter the Grants.gov 

website, you will find information about 

applying electronically through the site, 

as well as the hours of operation. 

To use Grants.gov, you must already 

have a DUNS number and you must also 

be registered and maintain registration 

in SAM. We strongly recommend that 

you do not wait until the application 

deadline date to begin the application 

process through Grants.gov. 

You must submit all application 

documents electronically through 

Grants.gov. Applications must include 

electronic signatures. Original 

signatures may be required if funds are 

awarded. 

After applying electronically through 

Grants.gov, you will receive an 

automatic acknowledgement from 

Grants.gov that contains a Grants.gov 

tracking number. 

Your application must also contain 

the following required forms and 

proposal elements: 

(a) Standard Form SF–424, 

‘‘Application for Federal Assistance,’’ to 

include your DUNS number. You must 

also provide your SAM Commercial and 

Government Entity (CAGE) Code and 

expiration date under the applicant 

eligibility discussion in your proposal 

narrative. If you do not include the 

CAGE code and expiration date and the 

DUNS number in your application, it 

will not be considered for funding. 

(b) Form SF–424A, ‘‘Budget 

Information-Non-Construction 

Programs.’’ This form must be 

completed and submitted as part of the 

application package. You no longer 

must complete the Form SF 424B, 

‘‘Assurances—Non- Construction 

Programs’’ as a part of your application. 

This information is now collected 

through your registration or annual 

recertification in SAM.gov through the 

Financial Assistance General 

Certifications and Representation. 

(c) You must certify that there are no 

current outstanding Federal judgments 

against your property and that you will 

not use grant funds to pay for any 

judgment obtained by the United States. 

You must also certify that you are not 

delinquent on the payment of Federal 

income taxes, or any Federal debt. There 

is no standard form to complete, but to 

satisfy the certification requirement, you 

should include this statement in your 

application: ‘‘[INSERT NAME OF 

APPLICANT] certifies that the United 

States has not obtained an unsatisfied 

judgment against its property, is not 

delinquent on the payment of Federal 

income taxes, or any Federal debt, and 

will not use grant funds to pay any 

judgments obtained by the United 

States.’’ A separate signature is not 

required. 

(d) Table of Contents. Your 

application must contain a detailed 

Table of Contents (TOC). The TOC must 

include page numbers for each part of 

the application. Page numbers should 

begin immediately following the TOC. 

(e) Executive Summary. A summary 

of the proposal, not to exceed one page, 

must briefly describe the project, tasks 

to be completed, and other relevant 

information that provides a general 

overview of the project. 

(f) Eligibility Discussion. A detailed 

discussion, not to exceed four pages, 

must describe how you meet the 

following requirements: 


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(1) Applicant Eligibility. You must 

describe how you meet the definition of 

a cooperative, group of cooperatives, or 

cooperative development center. Your 

application must also show that your 

individual cooperative, group of 

cooperatives or cooperative 

development center has a majority of its 

board of directors or governing board 

comprised of individuals who are 

members of socially disadvantaged 

groups and that the applicant serves 

socially disadvantaged groups. Your 

application must include a list of your 

board of directors/governing board and 

the percentage of board of directors/ 

governing board that are members of 

socially disadvantaged groups. Note: 

Your application will not be considered 

for funding if you fail to show that a 

majority of your board of directors/ 

governing board is comprised of 

individuals who are members of socially 

disadvantaged groups. 

You must verify your incorporation 

and status in the state that you have 

applied by providing the state’s or 

Tribe’s Certificate of Good Standing and 

your Articles of Incorporation. You may 

also submit your Bylaws if they provide 

additional information not included in 

your Articles of Incorporation that will 

help verify your legal status. If applying 

as an institution of higher education, 

documentation verifying your legal 

status is not required; however, you 

must demonstrate that you qualify as an 

Institution of Higher Education as 

defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001. You must 

apply as only one type of applicant. The 

requested verification documents 

should be included in Appendix A of 

your application. If they are not 

included, your application will not be 

considered for funding. 

(2) Use of Funds. You must provide 

a brief discussion on how the proposed 

project activities meet the definition of 

technical assistance and identify the 

socially disadvantaged groups that will 

be assisted. 

(3) Project Area. You must provide 

specific information that details the 

location of the Project area and explain 

how the area meets the definition of 

‘‘rural area.’’ 

(4) Grant Period. You must provide a 

time frame for the proposed project and 

discuss how the project will be 

completed within that time frame. Your 

project must have a time frame of one 

year or less. 

(5) Indirect Costs. Please indicate if 

you have a negotiated indirect cost rate 

agreement (NICRA), and if so, the rate. 

Your negotiated indirect cost rate 

approval does not need to be included 

in your application, but you will be 

required to provide it if a grant is 

awarded. Approval for indirect costs 

that are requested in an application 

without an approved indirect cost rate 

agreement is at the discretion of the 

Agency. 

(g) Scoring Criteria. Each of the 

scoring criteria in this notice must be 

addressed in narrative form, with a 

maximum of three pages for each 

individual scoring criterion, unless 

otherwise specified. Failure to address 

each scoring criteria will result in the 

application being determined ineligible. 

(h) The Agency has established 

annual performance evaluation 

measures to evaluate the SDGG 

program. You must provide estimates on 

the following performance evaluation 

measures as part of your narrative: 

(1) Number of cooperatives assisted; 

and 

(2) Number of socially disadvantaged 

groups assisted. 

3. DUNS Number and SAM 

To be eligible (unless you are 

excepted under 2 CFR 25.110(b), (c) or 

(d)), you are required to: 

(a) Provide a valid DUNS number in 

your application, which can be obtained 

at no cost via a toll-free request line at 

(866) 705–5711; 

(b) Register in SAM before submitting 

your application. You may register in 

SAM at no cost at: https://sam.gov/ 

SAM/ You must provide your SAM 

CAGE Code and expiration date in the 

application materials. When registering 

in SAM, you must indicate you are 

applying for a Federal financial 

assistance project or program or are 

currently the recipient of funding under 

any Federal financial assistance project 

or program; and 

(c) The SAM registration must remain 

active with current information at all 

times while the Agency is considering 

an application or while a Federal grant 

award or loan is active. To maintain the 

registration in the SAM database, the 

applicant must review and update the 

information in the SAM database 

annually from date of initial registration 

or from the date of the last update. The 

applicant must ensure that the 

information in the database is current, 

accurate, and complete. Applicants 

must ensure they complete the 

Financial Assistance General 

Certifications and Representations in 

SAM. 

If you have not fully complied with 

all applicable DUNS and SAM 

requirements, the Agency may 

determine that the applicant is not 

qualified to receive a Federal award and 

the Agency may use that determination 

as a basis for making an award to 

another applicant. Please refer to section 

F(2) (Administrative and national policy 

requirements) for additional submission 

requirements that apply to grantees 

selected for this program. 

4. Submission Dates and Times 

Application Deadline Date: August 9, 

2021. 

Explanation of Deadline: Electronic 

applications must be RECEIVED and 

accepted by https://www.grants.gov by 

11:59 p.m. Eastern Time August 9, 2021, 

to be eligible for funding. Please review 

the Grants.gov website at https://

www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/ 

organization-registration.html for 

instructions on the process of registering 

your organization as soon as possible to 

ensure you can meet the electronic 

application deadline. Grants.gov will 

not accept applications submitted after 

the deadline. 

5. Intergovernmental Review 

Executive Order (E.O.) 12372, 

‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs,’’ applies to this program. This 

E.O. requires that Federal agencies 

provide opportunities for consultation 

on proposed assistance with State and 

local governments. Many states have 

established a Single Point of Contact 

(SPOC) to facilitate this consultation. 

The Rural Development State Office 

where the project is located will provide 

compliance guidance to applicants. 

6. Funding Restrictions 

Grant funds must be used for 

technical assistance as defined. No 

funds made available under this 

solicitation shall be used to: 

(a) Plan, repair, rehabilitate, acquire, 

or construct a building or facility, 

including a processing facility; 

(b) Purchase, rent, or install fixed 

equipment, including processing 

equipment; 

(c) Purchase vehicles, including boats; 

(d) Pay for the preparation of the grant 

application; 

(e) Pay expenses not directly related 

to the funded Project; 

(f) Fund political or lobbying 

activities; 

(g) Fund any activities considered 

unallowable by the applicable grant cost 

principles, including 2 CFR part 200, 

subpart E and the Federal Acquisition 

Regulation (48 CFR 1); 

(h) Fund architectural or engineering 

design work for a specific physical 

facility; 

(i) Fund any direct expenses for the 

production of any commodity or 

product to which value will be added, 

including seed, rootstock, labor for 

harvesting the crop, and delivery of the 

commodity to a processing facility; 


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(j) Fund research and development; 

(k) Purchase land; 

(l) Duplicate current activities or 

activities paid for by other Federal grant 

programs; 

(m) Pay costs of the project incurred 

prior to the date of grant approval; 

(n) Pay for assistance to any private 

business enterprise that does not have at 

least 51 percent ownership by those 

who are either citizens of the United 

States or reside in the United States 

after being legally admitted for 

permanent residence; 

(o) Pay any judgment or debt owed to 

the United States; 

(p) Pay any operating costs of the 

cooperative, group of cooperatives, or 

cooperative development center not 

directly related to the project; 

(q) Pay expenses for applicant 

employee training or professional 

development not directly related to the 

project; 

(r) Pay for any goods or services from 

a person or entity who has a conflict of 

interest with the grantee; or 

(s) Pay for technical assistance 

provided to a cooperative that does not 

have a membership that consists of a 

majority of members from socially 

disadvantaged groups. 

In addition, your application will not 

be considered for funding if it does any 

of the following: 

(a) Requests more than the maximum 

grant amount; 

(b) Proposes ineligible costs that equal 

more than 10 percent of total grant 

funds requested; or 

(c) Proposes participant support costs 

that equal more than 10 percent of total 

grant funds requested. 

We will consider your application for 

funding if it includes ineligible costs of 

10 percent or less of total grant funds 

requested if it is determined eligible 

otherwise. However, if your application 

is successful, those ineligible costs must 

be removed and replaced with eligible 

costs before the Agency will make the 

grant award or the amount of the grant 

award will be reduced accordingly. If 

we cannot determine the percentage of 

ineligible costs, your application will 

not be considered for funding. 

7. Other Submission Requirements 

(a) Applications will not be accepted 

if the text is less than an 11-point font. 

You must submit your application 

electronically, through Grants.gov. You 

must follow the instructions for this 

funding announcement at https://

www.grants.gov. A password is not 

required to access the website. 

(b) National Environmental Policy 

Act. This notice has been reviewed in 

accordance with 7 CFR part 1970, 

‘‘Environmental Policies and 

Procedures.’’ We have determined that 

an Environmental Impact Statement is 

not required because the issuance of 

regulations and instructions, as well as 

amendments to them, describing 

administrative and financial procedures 

for processing, approving, and 

implementing the Agency’s financial 

programs is categorically excluded in 

the Agency’s National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) regulation found at 7 

CFR 1970.53(f). We have determined 

that this notice does not constitute a 

major Federal action significantly 

affecting the quality of the human 

environment. 

The Agency will review each grant 

application to determine its compliance 

with 7 CFR part 1970. The applicant 

may be asked to provide additional 

information or documentation to assist 

the Agency with this determination. 

(c) Civil Rights Compliance 

Requirements. All grants made under 

this notice are subject to Title VI of the 

Civil Rights Act of 1964 as required by 

the USDA (7 CFR part 15, subpart A) 

and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973. 

E. Application Review Information 

The State Offices will review 

applications to determine if they are 

eligible for assistance based on 

requirements in this notice, and other 

applicable Federal regulations. If 

determined eligible, your application 

will be scored by a panel of USDA 

employees in accordance with the point 

allocation specified in this notice. A 

recommendation will be submitted to 

the Administrator to fund applications 

in highest ranking order. Applications 

that cannot be fully funded may be 

offered partial funding at the Agency’s 

discretion. 

1. Scoring Criteria 

All eligible and complete applications 

will be evaluated based on the following 

criteria. Evaluators will base scores only 

on the information provided or crossreferenced by page number in each 

individual evaluation criterion. SDGG is 

a competitive program, so you will 

receive scores based on the quality of 

your responses. Simply addressing the 

criteria will not guarantee higher scores. 

The total points possible for the criteria 

are 105. 

(a) Technical Assistance (maximum 

score of 25 points)—Three-page limit. A 

panel of USDA employees will evaluate 

your application to determine your 

ability to assess the needs of and 

provide effective technical assistance to 

socially disadvantaged groups. You 

must discuss the: 

(1) Needs of the socially 

disadvantaged groups to be assisted and 

explain how those needs were 

determined, 

(2) Proposed technical assistance to be 

provided to the socially disadvantaged 

groups; and 

(3) Expected outcomes of the 

proposed technical assistance, including 

how socially disadvantaged groups will 

benefit from participating in the project. 

You will score higher on this criterion 

if you provide examples of past projects 

that demonstrate successful outcomes in 

identifying specific needs and providing 

technical assistance to socially 

disadvantaged groups. 

(b) Work Plan/Budget (maximum of 

25 points)—Six-page limit. Your work 

plan must provide specific and detailed 

descriptions of the tasks and the key 

project personnel that will accomplish 

the project’s goals. The budget will be 

reviewed for completeness. You must 

list what tasks are to be done, when it 

will be done, who will do it, and how 

much it will cost. Reviewers must be 

able to understand what is being 

proposed and how the grant funds will 

be spent. The budget must be a detailed 

breakdown of estimated costs. These 

costs should be allocated to each of the 

tasks to be undertaken. 

A panel of USDA employees will 

evaluate your work plan for detailed 

actions and an accompanying timetable 

for implementing the proposal. Clear, 

logical, realistic, and efficient plans that 

allocate costs to specific tasks using 

applicable budget object class categories 

provided on the Form SF–424A will 

result in a higher score. You must 

discuss at a minimum: 

(1) Specific tasks to be completed 

using grant funds; 

(2) How customers will be identified; 

(3) Key personnel and what tasks they 

are undertaking; and 

(4) The evaluation methods to be used 

to determine the success of specific 

tasks and overall project objectives. 

Please provide qualitative methods of 

evaluation. For example, evaluation 

methods should go beyond quantitative 

measurements of completing surveys or 

number of evaluations, such as 

discussion of evaluation methods per 

task. 

(c) Experience (maximum score of 25 

points)—Three-page limit. A panel of 

USDA employees will evaluate your 

experience, commitment, and 

availability for identified staff or 

consultants in providing technical 

assistance, as defined in this notice. You 

must describe the technical assistance 

experience for each identified staff 

member or consultant, as well as years 

of experience in providing that 


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assistance. You must also discuss the 

commitment and the availability of 

identified staff, consultants, or other 

professionals to be hired for the 

project—especially those who may be 

consulting on multiple SDGG/RCDG 

projects. If staff or consultants have not 

been selected at the time of application, 

you must provide specific descriptions 

of the qualifications required for the 

positions to be filled. In addition, 

resumes for each individual staff 

member or consultant must be included 

as an attachment in Appendix B. The 

attachments will not count toward the 

maximum page total. We will compare 

the described experience in this section 

and in the resumes to the work plan to 

determine relevance of the experience. 

Applications that do not include the 

attached resumes will not be considered 

for funding. Applications that 

demonstrate strong credentials, 

education, capabilities, experience, and 

availability of project personnel that 

will contribute to a high likelihood of 

project success will receive more points 

than those that demonstrate less 

potential for success in these areas. 

Points will be awarded as follows: 

(1) 0 points will be awarded if you do 

not substantively address the criterion. 

(2) 1–9 points will be awarded if 

qualifications and experience of some, 

but not all, staff is addressed and, if 

necessary, qualifications of unfilled 

positions are not provided. 

(3) 10–14 points will be awarded if (ii) 

is met, plus all project personnel are 

identified but do not demonstrate 

qualifications or experience relevant to 

the project. 

(4) 15–19 will be awarded if (ii) and 

(iii) are met, plus most, but not all, key 

personnel demonstrate strong 

credentials and/or experience, and 

availability indicating a reasonable 

likelihood of success. 

(5) 20–25 points will be awarded if 

(ii)–(iv) are met, plus all personnel 

demonstrate strong, relevant credentials 

or experience and availability indicating 

a high likelihood of project success. 

(d) Commitment (maximum of 10 

points)—Three-page limit. A panel of 

USDA employees will evaluate your 

commitment to providing technical 

assistance to socially disadvantaged 

groups in rural areas. You must list the 

number and location of socially 

disadvantaged groups that will directly 

benefit from the assistance provided. 

You must also define and describe the 

underserved and economically 

distressed areas within your service area 

and provide current and relevant 

statistics that support your description 

of the service area. Projects located in 

persistent poverty counties as defined in 

Section 736 of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 

116–260, will score higher on this 

factor. 

(e) Local support (maximum of 10 

points)—Three-page limit. A panel of 

USDA employees will evaluate your 

application for local support of the 

technical assistance activities. Your 

discussion on local support should 

include previous and/or expected local 

support and plans for coordinating with 

other developmental organizations in 

the proposed service area or with tribal, 

State, and local government institutions. 

You will score higher if you 

demonstrate strong support from 

potential beneficiaries and other 

developmental organizations. You may 

also submit a maximum of 10 letters of 

support or intent to coordinate with the 

application to verify your discussion. 

Points will be awarded as follows: 

(1) 0 points are awarded if you do not 

adequately address this criterion. 

(2) A range of 1–5 points are awarded 

if you demonstrate support from 

potential beneficiaries and other 

developmental organizations in your 

discussion but do not provide letters of 

support. 

(3) Additional 1 point is awarded if 

you provide 2–3 support letters that 

show support from potential 

beneficiaries and/or support from local 

organizations. 

(4) Additional 2 points are awarded if 

you provide 4–5 support letters that 

show support from potential 

beneficiaries and/or support from local 

organizations. 

(5) Additional 3 points are awarded if 

you provide 6–7 support letters that 

show support from potential 

beneficiaries and/or support from local 

organizations. 

(6) Additional 4 points are awarded if 

you provide 8–9 support letters that 

show support from potential 

beneficiaries and/or support from local 

organizations. 

(7) Additional 5 points are awarded if 

you provide 10 support letters that show 

support from potential beneficiaries 

and/or support from local organizations. 

You may submit a maximum of 10 

letters of support. Support letters should 

be signed and dated after the notice 

publication date and come from 

potential beneficiaries and other local 

organizations. Letters received from 

Congressional members and technical 

assistance providers will not be 

included in the count of support letters 

received. Additionally, identical form 

letters signed by multiple potential 

beneficiaries and/or local organizations 

will not be included in the count of 

support letters received. Support letters 

should be included as an attachment to 

the application in Appendix C and will 

not count against the maximum page 

total. Additional letters from industry 

groups, commodity groups, 

Congressional members, and similar 

organizations should be referenced, but 

not included in the application package. 

When referencing these letters, provide 

the name of the organization, date of the 

letter, the nature of the support, and the 

name and title of the person signing the 

letter. 

(f) Administrator Discretionary Points 

(maximum of 10 points)—In the event 

two projects have the same score; the 

Administrator may award points to the 

applicant that has not received SDGG 

funds in the past. The Administrator 

may also award points to applications to 

increase the geographic diversity of 

socially disadvantaged groups served by 

approved projects. 

2. Review and Selection Process 

Applications will be reviewed in the 

State Offices to determine if they are 

eligible for assistance based on 

requirements in this notice, and other 

applicable Federal regulations. If 

determined eligible, your application 

will be scored by a panel of USDA 

employees in accordance with the point 

allocation specified in this notice. The 

review panel will convene to reach a 

consensus on the scores for each of the 

eligible applications. The Administrator 

may choose to award up to 10 

Administrator priority points based on 

criterion (f) in section E(1) (Scoring 

Criteria) of this notice. These points will 

be added to the cumulative score for a 

total possible score of 105. Applications 

will be funded in highest ranking order 

until the funding limitation has been 

reached. Applications that cannot be 

fully funded may be offered partial 

funding at the Agency’s discretion. If 

your application is ranked and not 

funded, it will not be carried forward 

into the next competition. 

F. Federal Award Administration 

Information 

1. Federal Award Notices 

If you are selected for funding, you 

will receive a signed notice of Federal 

award by postal or electronic mail, 

containing instructions on requirements 

necessary to proceed with execution 

and performance of the award. 

If you are not selected for funding, 

you will be notified in writing via postal 

or electronic mail and informed of any 

review and appeal rights. Funding of 

successfully appealed applications will 

be limited to available FY 2021 funding. 


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2. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements 

Additional requirements that apply to 

grantees selected for this program can be 

found in 2 CFR parts 200, 215, 400, 415, 

417, 418, and 421. All recipients of 

Federal financial assistance are required 

to report information about first tier 

subawards and executive compensation 

(See 2 CFR part 170). You will be 

required to have the necessary processes 

and systems in place to comply with the 

Federal Funding Accountability and 

Transparency Act reporting 

requirements (See 2 CFR 170.200(b), 

unless you are exempt under 2 CFR 

170.110(b)). 

The following additional 

requirements apply to grantees selected 

for this program: 

(a) Execution of an Agency approved 

Grant Agreement. 

(b) Acceptance of a written Letter of 

Conditions. 

(c) Submission of Form RD 1940–1, 

‘‘Request for Obligation of Funds.’’ 

(d) Submission of Form RD 1942–46, 

‘‘Letter of Intent to Meet Conditions.’’ 

(e) Assurance Agreement. By signing 

the Financial Assistance General 

Certifications and Representations in 

SAM, grant recipients affirm that they 

will operate the program free from 

discrimination. The grant recipients will 

maintain the race and ethnic data on 

their board members and the 

beneficiaries of the program. The grant 

recipient will provide alternative forms 

of communication to persons with 

limited English proficiency. The Agency 

will conduct civil rights compliance 

reviews on grant recipients to identify 

the collection of racial and ethnic data 

on program beneficiaries. In addition, 

the compliance review will ensure that 

equal access to the program benefits and 

activities are provided for persons with 

disabilities and language barriers. 

3. Reporting 

After grant approval and through 

grant completion, you will be required 

to provide the following: 

(a) An SF–425, ‘‘Federal Financial 

Report,’’ and a project performance 

report will be required on a semiannual 

basis (due 30 calendar days after end of 

the semiannual period). The project 

performance reports shall include a 

comparison of actual accomplishments 

to the objectives established for that 

period; 

(b) A statement providing reasons 

why established objectives were not 

met, if applicable; 

(c) A statement providing reasons for 

any problems, delays, or adverse 

conditions, if any, which have affected 

or will affect attainment of overall 

project objectives, prevent meeting time 

schedules or objectives, or preclude the 

attainment of particular objectives 

during established time periods (This 

disclosure shall be accompanied by a 

statement of the action taken or planned 

to resolve the situation.); 

(d) Objectives and timetable 

established for the next reporting 

period; 

(e) A final project and financial status 

report within 90 days after the 

expiration or termination of the grant in 

accordance to 2 CFR 200.344; and 

(f) Outcome project performance 

reports and final deliverables. 

G. Agency Contacts 

For general questions about this 

announcement and for program 

technical assistance, please contact the 

appropriate State Office at https://

www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/stateoffices. You may also contact the David 

Chestnut, Branch Chief, Program 

Management Division, Rural BusinessCooperative Service, USDA at (202) 

720–1400 or by email at 

david.chestnut@usda.gov. 

H. Non-Discrimination Statement 

In accordance with Federal civil 

rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights 

regulations and policies, the USDA, its 

Agencies, offices, and employees, and 

institutions participating in or 

administering 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. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means of communication for 

program information (e.g., Braille, large 

print, audiotape, American Sign 

Language, etc.) should contact the 

responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and 

TTY) or contact USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

To file a program discrimination 

complaint, complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, AD– 

3027, found online at https://

www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and 

at any USDA office or write a letter 

addressed to USDA and provide in the 

letter all of the information requested in 

the form. To request a copy of the 

complaint form, call (866) 632–9992. 

Submit your completed form or letter to 

USDA by: 

(1) Mail: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410; 

(2) Email: OAC@usda.gov. 

Mark Brodziski, 

Acting Administrator, Rural BusinessCooperative Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13169 Filed 6–22–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P 

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS 

Sunshine Act Meeting Notice 

AGENCY: United States Commission on 

Civil Rights. 

ACTION: Notice of Commission Public 

Briefing, Civil Rights and Protections in 

the Federal Response to Hurricanes 

Marı ́a and Harvey. 

DATES: Friday, June 25, 2021, 12:00 p.m. 

ET. 

ADDRESSES: Virtual Briefing and 

Business Meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angelia Rorison: 202–376–7700; 

publicaffairs@usccr.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On Friday, 

June 25, 2021, at 12 p.m. Eastern Time, 

the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 

will hold a virtual briefing on the civil 

rights implications of the federal 

response and impact of Hurricanes 

Marı ́a in Puerto Rico and Harvey in 

Texas. At this public briefing, the 

Commissioners will hear from subject 

matter experts such as government 

officials, volunteer organizations, nongovernmental advocates, and academics. 

The Commission will accept written 

materials from the public for 

consideration as we prepare our report; 

submit to FEMAbriefing@usccr.gov no 

later than July 26, 2021. 

This briefing is open to the public via 

live-stream on the Commission’s 

YouTube Page at https://

www.youtube.com/user/USCCR/videos. 

(Streaming information subject to 

change.) Public participation is 

available for the event with view access, 

along with an audio option for listening. 

Written testimony and other materials 

can be found on the Commission’s 

website here. 


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