Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 72 / Thursday, April 14, 2022 / Notices 22169 

reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. To be sure someone is there to 

help you, please call (202) 799–7039 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Rebecca Gordon, Senior Staff Officer, 

Regionalization Evaluation Services, 

Veterinary Services, APHIS, 920 Main 

Campus Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606; (919) 

855–7741; email: AskRegionalization@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations in 9 CFR part 92 subpart B, 

‘‘Importation of Animals and Animal 

Products; Procedures for Requesting 

BSE Risk Status Classification With 

Regard To Bovines’’ (referred to below 

as the regulations), set forth the process 

by which the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) classifies 

regions for bovine spongiform 

encephalopathy (BSE) risk. Section 92.5 

of the regulations provides that all 

countries of the world are considered by 

APHIS to be in one of three BSE risk 

categories: Negligible risk, controlled 

risk, or undetermined risk. These risk 

categories are defined in § 92.1. Any 

region that is not classified by APHIS as 

presenting either negligible risk or 

controlled risk for BSE is considered to 

present an undetermined risk. The list 

of those regions classified by APHIS as 

having either negligible risk or 

controlled risk can be accessed on the 

APHIS website at https://www.aphis.

usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/ 

animal-and-animal-product-importinformation/animal-health-status-ofregions. The list can also be obtained by 

writing to APHIS at Regionalization 

Evaluation Services, Veterinary 

Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 

38, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Under the regulations, APHIS may 

classify a region for BSE in one of two 

ways. One way is for regions that have 

not received a risk classification from 

the World Organization for Animal 

Health (OIE) to request classification by 

APHIS. The other way is for APHIS to 

concur with the classification given to a 

country or region by the OIE. 

If the OIE has classified a region as 

either BSE negligible risk or BSE 

controlled risk, APHIS will seek 

information to support concurrence 

with the OIE classification. This 

information may be publicly available 

information, or APHIS may request that 

regions supply the same information 

given to the OIE. APHIS will announce 

in the Federal Register, subject to 

public comment, its intent to concur 

with an OIE classification. 

In accordance with this process, we 

are giving notice in this document that 

APHIS intends to concur with the OIE 

risk classification of the country of 

Ireland as a region of negligible risk for 

BSE. 

The OIE recommendation regarding 

Ireland can be viewed at https://

www.oie.int/en/disease/bovinespongiform-encephalopathy/. The 

conclusions of the OIE Scientific 

Commission for Animal Diseases, with 

regard to Ireland, can be viewed in the 

‘‘Report of the Meeting of the OIE 

Scientific Commission for Animal 

Diseases, February 1–11, 2021’’ at 

https://www.oie.int/app/uploads/2021/ 

05/a-scad-feb2021.pdf (page 41). 

After reviewing any comments that 

we receive, we will announce our final 

determination regarding the BSE 

classification of Ireland in the Federal 

Register, along with a discussion of and 

response to pertinent issues raised by 

commenters. If APHIS recognizes 

Ireland as negligible risk for BSE, the 

Agency will include this country on the 

list of regions of negligible risk for BSE 

that is available to the public on the 

Agency’s website at https://www.aphis.

usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/ 

animal-and-animal-product-importinformation/animal-health-status-ofregions. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622 and 8301– 

8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 

9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of 

April 2022. 

Anthony Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08027 Filed 4–13–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—Rapid Cycle 

Evaluation of Operational 

Improvements in Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

Employment & Training (E&T) 

Programs 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice invites the general public and 

other public agencies to comment on the 

proposed information collection. This is 

a new collection for the contract Rapid 

Cycle Evaluation of Operational 

Improvements in Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

Employment & Training Programs 

(SNAP E&T RCE). The purpose of SNAP 

E&T RCE is to test small-scale 

interventions in SNAP E&T operations 

or service delivery using rapid cycle 

evaluation (RCE). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before June 13, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: 

Mehreen Ismail, Food and Nutrition 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, 

Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may 

also be submitted via email to 

Mehreen.Ismail@usda.gov. Comments 

will also be accepted through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov, and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments electronically. All responses 

to this notice will be summarized and 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget approval. All 

comments will be a matter of public 

record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of this information collection 

should be directed to Mehreen Ismail at 

703–305–2960. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments 

are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions that were 

used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Title: Rapid Cycle Evaluation of 

Operational Improvements in 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program Employment & Training 

Programs (SNAP E&T RCE). 

Form Number: N/A. 

OMB Number: 0584–NEW. 

Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined. 

Type of Request: New Collection. 

Abstract: In addition to providing 

nutrition assistance benefits to millions 

of low-income individuals experiencing 

economic hardship, the Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

provides work supports through 

Employment and Training (E&T) 


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22170 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 72 / Thursday, April 14, 2022 / Notices 

programs that help SNAP participants 

gain skills and find work. State agencies 

are required to operate an E&T program 

and have considerable flexibility to 

determine the services they offer and 

populations they serve. The U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s Food and 

Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks to ensure 

the quality of the services and activities 

offered through SNAP E&T programs by 

investing resources and providing 

technical assistance to help States build 

capacity, create more robust services, 

and increase engagement in their 

programs. 

The Rapid Cycle Evaluation of 

Operational Improvements in SNAP 

E&T Programs (SNAP E&T RCE) 

evaluation will use rapid cycle 

evaluation (RCE) to test small-scale 

interventions in SNAP E&T operations 

or service delivery to determine their 

effectiveness in improving program 

engagement and service take-up. RCE is 

an approach that involves cycles of 

identifying, testing, and refining smallscale, low-cost operational interventions 

to determine their effectiveness. SNAP 

E&T RCE has partnered with eight sites 

to identify the main challenges their 

SNAP E&T programs face: (1) Colorado 

Department of Human Services, (2) 

Connecticut: Community Colleges, (3) 

District of Columbia Department of 

Human Services, (4) Kansas Division of 

Children and Families, (5) Minnesota 

Department of Human Services, (6) 

Minnesota: Hennepin County 

Department of Human Services, (7) 

Massachusetts Department of 

Transitional Assistance, and (8) Rhode 

Island Department of Human Services. 

Objectives for this study include: (a) 

Describing how RCE can be used to 

improve SNAP E&T operations, service 

delivery and program outcomes; (b) 

designing and implementing RCEs to 

obtain impact estimates of small-scale 

interventions on SNAP E&T outcomes; 

(c) conducting an implementation 

evaluation; (d) assessing the scalability 

of small-scale interventions to SNAP 

E&T operations and services delivery to 

other SNAP E&T programs; and (e) 

determining and documenting the costs 

associated with implementing and 

maintaining small-scale interventions. 

The SNAP E&T RCE team is using the 

Learn, Innovate, and Improve (LI2) 

framework to collaborate with sites, 

identify the challenges they want to 

address, and eventually design and test 

the interventions. The Learn phase 

focuses on assessing sites’ needs and 

readiness to make changes, which 

informs development of solutions or 

strategies—the focus of the Innovate 

phase. The challenges the eight sites 

identified through the Learn phase 

generally involve recruitment and 

outreach or participant engagement and 

receipt of services. The SNAP E&T RCE 

team worked with each site to co-create 

an intervention addressing one of these 

challenges through the Innovate phase. 

Examples of interventions the sites plan 

to test include sending text messages 

and emails to participants to encourage 

enrollment in SNAP E&T or attendance 

at appointments or activities, using 

assessments of work readiness to 

improve participant referrals, or 

enhancing case management. 

After identifying challenges in each 

site and designing interventions for 

addressing them, the SNAP E&T RCE 

team will work with each site to define 

operational plans for implementing the 

interventions and testing, refining, and 

retesting selected strategies in the 

Improve phase. Most interventions will 

be evaluated using randomized control 

trials in which individuals eligible for 

the intervention will be randomly 

assigned to a treatment group that 

receives the intervention or a control 

group that does not. The control group 

will be offered the existing approach to 

recruiting, outreach, and engagement, 

depending on the focus of intervention. 

Once interventions have been 

successfully piloted to ensure they 

operate smoothly for the site, the SNAP 

E&T RCE team will provide technical 

assistance to sites while they implement 

the intervention for a period of about 

three to four months. 

The study will gather data from 

administrative records, State and local 

SNAP administrators, and SNAP 

participants to evaluate the 

interventions’ effectiveness in 

improving recruitment and program 

engagement. Where appropriate, the 

study will create a system for 

enrollment into the evaluation and 

random assignment. Data collected in 

this system may include demographic 

and socioeconomic characteristics, 

contact information, and the collection 

of service use data. The study will 

conduct a 10-minute participant survey 

among a total of 4,000 participants in 

four of the eight sites. The participant 

survey will be used to collect 

information on barriers to engaging with 

services and seeking employment, 

program satisfaction, and reasons for 

engagement decisions for both 

individuals who engaged in the E&T 

program and those who either never 

engaged or disengaged. 

The study will also collect data for the 

implementation evaluation across all 

eight sites using a combination of semistructured interviews with 

administrators, focus groups with 

participants, and staff characteristics 

questionnaires with frontline 

intervention staff. In addition, the study 

will conduct in-depth interviews with 

participants in four of the eight sites. 

Data collected from administrators and 

staff will be used to describe how the 

interventions were implemented, assess 

the fidelity of the implementation and 

costs of the intervention, and identify 

implications for future application of 

similar types of changes. Additional 

data collected from participants will 

provide context to the administrative 

data and survey responses related to 

participant decisions, satisfaction, and 

barriers, as well as give a voice to 

participant backgrounds and 

experiences. 

Affected Public: Members of the 

public affected by the data collection 

include Individuals and Households 

and State, Local, and Tribal 

Governments from eight sites. 

Respondent groups identified include: 

(1) Individuals eligible for SNAP E&T 

participation; (2) directors and managers 

from State and local government 

agencies supporting the SNAP E&T 

programs; and (3) staff from State and 

local government agencies providing 

direct services to SNAP E&T 

participants. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The estimated total number of 

respondents and nonrespondents is 

91,910, including 73,566 respondents 

and 18,344 non-respondents. The 

sample includes 91,528 individuals, 135 

State program staff, and 247 local 

program staff. As part of the site 

interventions, FNS will contact 91,528 

SNAP participants across all eight sites, 

out of whom 18,306 will be nonrespondents. 

As part of data collection activities for 

the evaluation, FNS will contact 

approximately 4,000 SNAP participants 

to conduct the participant survey, 2,000 

of whom will have also received the 

intervention offered to the treatment 

group and 2,000 in the control group 

who did not receive the intervention. 

We expect that 80 percent of the 4,000 

individuals contacted will complete the 

participant survey (800 will be nonrespondents). Among individuals 

participating in the site interventions, 

FNS will recontact a total of 800 

individuals to participate in focus 

groups (160 will be focus group 

respondents and 640 will be considered 

non-respondents). Among individuals 

participating in the site interventions, 

240 individuals will also be recontacted 

for in-depth-interviews (including 60 

respondents and 180 non-respondents). 

FNS will also contact 382 SNAP 

program staff for administrative data 

requests, semi-structured interviews, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 72 / Thursday, April 14, 2022 / Notices 22171 

and a staff characteristics survey; of the 

382 contacted, 135 will be State staff 

and 247 will be local staff. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: SNAP participants will be 

asked to participate in an intervention 

(which includes several possible 

notifications), as well as a possible indepth interview, survey (which includes 

several possible notifications), and focus 

group for an average total of 3.40 

responses across all instruments or 

activities. State and local program staff 

will respond to a semi-structured 

interview, administrate data request, or 

a brief questionnaire for a total of 1.63 

responses each. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

249,401. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

estimated time of response for 

respondents varies from 1 minute to 8 

hours depending on the respondent 

group, with an average estimated time of 

0.062 hours (3.72 minutes). 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: The total estimated 

burden on respondents and nonrespondents is 17,254 hours (1,035,235 

minutes). The total burden on 

respondents, excluding nonrespondents, 

is 15,458 hours (927,458 minutes). 

Cynthia Long, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08011 Filed 4–13–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Business-Cooperative Service 

[Docket #RBS–22–CO–OP–0008] 

Notice of Solicitation of Applications 

for the Socially Disadvantaged Groups 

Grant 

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Solicitation of 

Applications. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces that 

the Rural Business-Cooperative Service 

(Agency) is inviting fiscal year (FY) 

2022 applications for the Socially 

Disadvantaged Groups Grant (SDGG) 

program, subject to the availability of 

funding. This notice is being issued in 

order to allow applicants sufficient time 

to leverage financing, prepare and 

submit their applications, and give the 

Agency time to process applications 

within FY 2022. 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. Detailed information can be 

found on the SDGG website located at 

https://www.rd.usda.gov/programsservices/socially-disadvantaged-groupsgrant. Expenses incurred in developing 

applications are the responsibility of the 

applicant. An announcement on the 

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

newsroom/federal-fundingopportunities will identify the amount 

available in FY 2022 for SDGG 

applications. All applicants are 

responsible for any expenses incurred in 

developing their applications. 

DATES: Completed applications for 

grants must be submitted electronically 

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

June 13, 2022, 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. 

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: Arti 

Kshirsagar, Program Management 

Division, Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, United States Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW, Mail Stop-3226, Washington, DC 

20250–3226, (202) 720–1400 or by email 

at: arti.kshirsagar@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

Federal Agency Name: USDA Rural 

Business-Cooperative Service. 

Funding Opportunity Title: Socially 

Disadvantaged Groups Grant. 

Announcement Type: Notice of 

Solicitation of Applications (NOSA). 

Assistance Listing Number: 10.871. 

Funding Opportunity Number: RBCS– 

SDGG–2022. 

Dates: Application Deadline. Your 

electronic application must be received 

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

11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, by June 13, 

2022, or it will not be considered for 

funding. 

Administrative: The following apply 

to this NOSA: 

(i) Key Priorities. The Agency 

encourages applicants to consider 

projects that will advance the following: 

• Assisting Rural communities 

recover economically from the impacts 

of the COVID–19 pandemic, particularly 

disadvantaged communities; 

• Ensuring all rural residents have 

equitable access to RD programs and 

benefits from RD funded projects; and 

• Reducing climate pollution and 

increasing resilience to the impacts of 

climate change through economic 

support to rural communities. 

(ii) Technical Assistance. 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 May 16, 

2022. Agency contact information can 

be found in section D (Application and 

Submission Information) of this Notice. 

(iii) 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 in accordance 

with Subtitle G of the Agricultural 

Marketing Act of 1946, as amended (7 

U.S.C. 1621 et seq.). 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. 

(iv) Persistent Poverty Counties. 

Section 736 of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 

116–260, designates funding for projects 


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