33826 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service

Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders

on Agricultural Research, Extension,

and Education Grant Programs

Administered by the Cooperative State

Research, Education, and Extension

Service

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service.

ACTION: Notice of listening sessions.

SUMMARY: Section 102(b) of the

Agricultural Research, Extension, and

Education Reform Act of 1998

(AREERA) (7 U.S.C. 7612) requires the

Cooperative State Research, Education,

and Extension Service (CSREES) in

establishing priorities for agricultural

research, extension, and education

activities conducted or funded by

CSREES to solicit and consider input

and recommendations from persons

who conduct or use agricultural

research, extension, or education.

CSREES is planning to conduct listening

sessions in four different geographic

locations in the United States over the

next six months to solicit stakeholder

input. As part of this stakeholder input

process, CSREES also will be soliciting

input and comments on the

effectiveness of existing agricultural

research, education, and extension

programs administered by CSREES in

meeting current and future challenges to

the United States’ food and agriculture

system. This notice announces the first

two listening sessions. The remaining

two listening sessions will be

announced in the Federal Register at a

later date. They will be held in the

southern and western regions of the

United States.

DATES AND ADDRESSES: The first

listening session will be held on

Thursday, July 12, 2001, from 8:30 a.m.

to 5:00 p.m. at the Lancaster Host Resort

and Conference Center; 2300 Lincoln

Highway East; Lancaster, PA 17602.

Attendees must make their own hotel

arrangements. A block of sleeping rooms

at a conference rate is being held until

June 30, 2001, listed under the name of

USDA. Rooms can be reserved by

calling the hotel directly at 717–299–

5500.

The second listening session will be

held on Thursday, July 26, 2001, from

8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Embassy

Suites Hotel, Minneapolis airport; 7901

34th Avenue South; Bloomington, MN

55425. Attendees must make their own

hotel arrangements. A block of sleeping

rooms at a conference rate is being held

until June 27, 2001, listed under the

name of USDA. Rooms can be reserved

by calling the hotel directly at 952–854–

2101.

To aid participants in scheduling

their attendance, the following schedule

is anticipated for each listening session:

8:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m.—Introductory

Remarks and Background.

9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.—Scheduled 5-

Minute Comment Periods.

1:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m.—Breakout Group

Meetings.

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.—Reports from

Breakout Group Meetings and General

Discussion.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Persons wishing to present oral

comments at these meetings and/or

attend the afternoon breakout sessions

are requested to pre-register by

contacting Ms. Mary H. Humphreys at

(202) 720–6012, by fax at (202) 720–

6199 or by e-mail to

mhumphreys@reeusda.gov. CSREES is

particularly interested in receiving

comments during the 5-minute

comment periods that address one or

more of the topics listed in the ‘‘Topics

to Address’’ section below. When

making a reservation for a 5-minute

comment period, participants should

provide a title for their presentation.

More time may be available in the

morning session, depending on the

number of people wishing to make a

presentation and the time needed for

questions following the presentations.

Reservations will be confirmed on a

first-come, first-served basis. To

facilitate the afternoon breakout

sessions, it is requested that participants

pre-register for one of the five breakout

sessions listed below. Although preregistration is not required to attend the

listening sessions, it is strongly

recommended to ensure that adequate

accommodations are available. Written

comments also may be submitted for the

record by mailing to: Ms. Mary

Humphreys; Office of the Administrator;

Cooperative State Research, Education,

and Extension Service; U.S. Department

of Agriculture; STOP 2201; 1400

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250–2201. Please

provide three copies of the comments.

Comments also may be faxed or sent via

e-mail to Ms. Humphreys.

The initial two, as well as subsequent,

listening sessions will follow the same

general format and comments from all

sessions will be compiled and

considered. All written comments from

the July 12 and July 26 sessions must be

received by November 15, 2001, to be

considered. Information gathered from

the Listening Sessions will be available

for review on the CSREES web page

(http://www.reeusda.gov). Participants

who require a sign language interpreter

or other special accommodations should

contact Ms. Humphreys as directed

above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

Section 102(b) of AREERA requires

that CSREES, in establishing priorities

for agricultural research, extension, and

education activities conducted or

funded by CSREES, solicit and consider

input and recommendations from

persons who conduct or use agricultural

research, extension, or education. As

part of these listening sessions, CSREES

simultaneously will be soliciting input

and comments on the effectiveness of

the existing agricultural research,

education and extension programs

administered by CSREES in meeting

current and future challenges in the

food and agricultural sciences.

Section 1402 of the National

Agricultural Research, Extension, and

Teaching Policy Act of 1977

(NARETPA), 7 U.S.C. 3101, specifies

that the purposes of agricultural

research, extension, and education are

to (1) enhance competitiveness of the

United States agriculture and food

industry in an increasingly competitive

world environment; (2) increase the

long-term productivity of the United

States agriculture and food industry

while maintaining and enhancing the

natural resource base on which rural

America and the United States

agricultural economy depend; (3)

develop new uses and new products for

agricultural commodities, such as

alternative fuels, and develop new

crops; (4) support agricultural research

and extension to promote economic

opportunity in rural communities and to

meet the increasing demand for

information and technology transfer

throughout the United States agriculture

industry; (5) improve risk management

in the United States agriculture

industry; (6) improve the safe

production and processing of, and

adding value to, United States food and

fiber resources using methods that

maintain the balance between yield and

environmental soundness; (7) support

higher education in agriculture to give

the next generation of Americans the

knowledge, technology, and

applications necessary to enhance the

competitiveness of United States

agriculture; and (8) maintain an

adequate, nutritious, and safe supply of

food to meet human nutritional needs

and requirements.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2001 / Notices 33827

Section 1404 of NARETPA, 7 U.S.C.

3103, defines ‘‘Food and Agricultural

Sciences’’ as meaning basic, applied,

and developmental research, extension,

and teaching activities in food and fiber,

agricultural, renewable natural

resources, forestry, and physical and

social sciences, including activities

relating to the following: (1) Animal

Health, production, and well-being, (2)

Plant health and production, (3) Animal

and plant germ plasm collection and

preservation, (4) Aquaculture, (5) Food

safety, (6) Soil and water conservation

and improvement, (7) Forestry,

horticulture, and range management, (8)

Nutritional sciences and promotion, (9)

Farm enhancement, including financial

management, input efficiency, and

profitability, (10) Home economics, (11)

Rural human ecology, (12) Youth

development and agricultural

education, including 4–H clubs, (13)

Expansion of domestic and international

markets for agricultural commodities

and products, including agricultural

trade barrier identification and analysis,

(14) Information management and

technology transfer related to

agriculture, (15) Biotechnology related

to agriculture, and (16) The processing,

distributing, marketing, and utilization

of food and agricultural products.

CSREES currently supports

agricultural research, extension and

education activities through a broad

array of programs which includes both

formula funded and competitively

awarded grant programs. The formula

funded programs include the

agricultural research programs

authorized under the Hatch Act (7

U.S.C. 361a et seq.) for the State

Agricultural Experiment Stations;

section 1445 of NARETPA (7 U.S.C.

3222) for the 1890 Land-Grant

Institutions including Tuskegee

University; McIntire-Stennis

Cooperative Forestry Act (16 U.S.C.

582a et seq.); and section 1433 of

NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3195) for the

Animal Health and Disease Research

program. The agricultural extension

programs are funded under section 3 of

the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343) for

the cooperative extension services at the

1862 Land-Grant Institutions; section

3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C.

343(d)) for targeted, national programs;

and section 1444 of NARETPA (7 U.S.C.

3221) for the 1890 Land-Grant

Institutions including Tuskegee

University. West Virginia State College

also receives funding for agricultural

research and extension programs.

Section 534(a) of the Equity in

Educational Land-Grant Status Act of

1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note) authorizes

funding for the 1994 Institutions to

strengthen their teaching programs in

food and agricultural sciences.

The CSREES competitive grant

programs include the National Research

Initiative authorized under section 2(b)

of the Competitive, Special, and

Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C.

450i); Initiative for Future Agriculture

and Food Systems authorized under

section 401 of AREERA (7 U.S.C. 7621);

Integrated Research, Education, and

Extension Competitive Grants Program

authorized under section 406 of

AREERA (7 U.S.C. 7626); Food and

Agricultural Sciences National Needs

Graduate Fellowship Grants Program

authorized under section 1417(b)(6) of

NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(6)); Higher

Education Challenge Grants Program

authorized under section 1417(b)(1) of

NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(1));

Secondary Agriculture Education

Challenge Grants Program authorized

under section 1417(j) of NARETPA (7

U.S.C. 3152(j)); and Hispanic-Serving

Institutions Education Grants Program

authorized under section 1455 of

NAREPTA (7 U.S.C. 3241). In addition,

sections 535 and 536 of the Equity in

Educational Land-Grant Status Act of

1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note) authorize

competitive capacity building and

research grant programs for the 1994

Institutions. Further information about

CSREES grant programs is available

through the CSREES web page at

http://www.reeusda.gov as the above

list of CSREES grant programs is not

exhaustive.

A majority of the agricultural

research, extension, and education

activities funded by CSREES are

conducted through the 1862 Land-Grant

Institutions which were established

under the First Morrill Act (7 U.S.C. 301

et seq.); the 1890 Land-Grant

Institutions under the Second Morrill

Act (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.); and the 1994

Institutions under the Equity in

Educational Land-Grant Status Act of

1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note).

Topics to Address

To ensure that Federally-supported

agricultural research, extension and

education activities remain effective in

addressing priorities in United States

food and agriculture, CSREES

specifically is requesting input and

recommendations on the following topic

areas from persons who conduct or use

agricultural research, extension and

education. However, comments are not

limited to these topics.

(1) The use of agricultural research,

extension, and education programs to

generate the science and educational

programs necessary to address

challenges facing United States food and

fiber production.

(2) The development of human

capacity (e.g., scientists, educators, and

extension agents and specialists) in the

food and agricultural sciences.

(3) The changes which should and

could be made, if any, in the current

funding mechanisms (i.e., formula

funded and competitive grants) to more

efficiently and effectively engage the

agricultural research, extension, and

education system in meeting the

modern challenges to United States food

and fiber production.

(4) The most effective methods for

ensuring that agricultural research,

education, and extension programs

address the highest priority needs of the

United States food and fiber system.

(5) The best means by which

agricultural research, education, and

extension programs can quickly respond

to rapidly emerging challenges to the

United States food and fiber system.

(6) The coordination of agricultural

research, education, and extension

activities with the activities of other

Federal agencies to use scientific

advances in other fields (e.g., health,

information technology, geospatial, and

sociological research) as well as

disseminate information through

educational and outreach programs.

(7) The application of agricultural

research, education, and extension

programs to economic development and

revitalization needs of rural America.

Written comments should be

submitted as directed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of

this notice.

Breakout Session Workgroup Meetings

CSREES will conduct Breakout

Session Workgroup Meetings at each

listening session in the afternoon in the

following specific subject areas: (1)

Developing 21st Century Plant, Animal,

and Forest Production System, (2)

Revitalizing Rural America, (3)

Managing and Conserving Natural

Resources, (4) Linking Agriculture,

Nutrition, and Health, (5) Improving

Opportunities for Family and Youth

Development, and (6) Developing

Human Capacity in Agricultural

Research, Extension and Education for

the 21st Century. Listening session

participants are encouraged to preregister for one of these sessions as

noted under the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this

notice. The Breakout Session

Workgroups will provide an

opportunity for participants to address

the above topics in relation to specific

issues related to the food and

agricultural sciences. Each Breakout

33828 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2001 / Notices

Session Workgroup will provide a

summary of their discussions to the

overall group.

Done at Washington, DC, this 20th day of

June 2001.

Colien Hefferan,

Administrator, Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service.

[FR Doc. 01–15983 Filed 6–21–01; 1:08 pm]

BILLING CODE 3410–22–P