32788 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, notice of 

proposed rulemaking and opportunity 

for comment are not required for this 

rule, and it may be made effective less 

than 30 days after publication in the 

Federal Register. In addition, under 5 

U.S.C. 804, this rule is not subject to 

congressional review under the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, Public Law 104– 

121. Finally, this action is not a rule as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, and thus is 

exempt from the provisions of that Act. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule contains no 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Agriculture, Antitrust, 

Claims, Cooperatives, Courts, Equal 

access to justice, Fraud, Freedom of 

information, Government employees, 

Lawyers, Motion pictures, Penalties, 

Privacy. 

■ Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR 

part 1 as follows: 

PART 1—ADMINISTRATIVE 

REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, unless otherwise 

noted. 

Subpart H—Rules of Practice 

Governing Formal Adjudicatory 

Proceedings Instituted by the 

Secretary Under Various Statutes 

§ 1.131 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 1.131 is amended as 

follows: 

■ a. In paragraph (a), by removing the 

entries for ‘‘Act of May 29, 1884, 

commonly known as the Animal 

Industry Act, section 7, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 117).’’, ‘‘Act of August 30, 1890, 

section 6, as amended (21 U.S.C. 104).’’, 

‘‘Act of February 2, 1903, commonly 

known as the Cattle Contagious Diseases 

Act of 1903, section 3, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 122).’’, ‘‘Act of March 3, 1905, 

section 6, as amended (21 U.S.C. 127).’’, 

‘‘Act of July 2, 1962, section 6(a), as 

amended (21 U.S.C. 134e).’’, and ‘‘Act of 

May 6, 1970, section 2, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 135a).’’. 

■ b. In paragraph (a), by adding, in 

alphabetical order, an entry for 

‘‘Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection 

Act of 2002, section 212(i) (7 U.S.C. 

8401(i)).’’. 

■ c. In paragraph (b)(2), by removing the 

words ‘‘Animal Quarantine and Related 

Laws (21 U.S.C. 111 et seq.)’’ and 

adding the words ‘‘Animal Health 

Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.)’’ 

in their place. 

Dated: June 29, 2009. 

Thomas J. Vilsack, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. E9–16195 Filed 7–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service 

7 CFR Part 3431 

RIN 0524–AA43 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) 

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule and request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This interim final rule 

establishes the process and procedures 

for designating veterinarian shortage 

situations, specifically for the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) authorized by the 

National Veterinary Medical Service Act 

(NVMSA) and administered by the 

Cooperative State Research, Education, 

and Extension Service (CSREES) of the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture. CSREES 

will designate geographic and practice 

areas that have a shortage of food supply 

veterinarians in order to carry out the 

VMLRP goals of strengthening the 

nation’s animal health infrastructure 

and supplementing the Federal response 

during animal health emergencies. 

CSREES will carry out NVMSA by 

entering into educational loan 

repayment agreements with 

veterinarians who agree to provide 

veterinary services in veterinarian 

shortage situations for a determined 

period of time. CSREES is establishing 

Subpart A for the designation of the 

veterinarian shortage situations and 

Subpart B for the administration of the 

VMLRP. 

DATES: This rule is effective July 9, 

2009. The Agency must receive 

comments by September 8, 2009 for 

them to be considered in the final rule. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0524–AA43, by any of 

the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

E-mail: vmlrp@csrees.usda.gov. 

Include Regulatory Information Number 

(RIN) number 0524–AA43 in the subject 

line of the message. 

Fax: 202–401–7752. 

Mail: Paper, disk or CD–ROM 

submissions should be submitted to 

Cooperative State Research, Education, 

and Extension Service; U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, STOP 2299, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–2299. 

Hand Delivery/Courier: Cooperative 

State Research, Education, and 

Extension Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Room 2258, Waterfront 

Centre, 800 9th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and the 

RIN for this rulemaking. All comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary 

Sherman, National Program Leader, 

Veterinary Science, Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

STOP 2220, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250– 

2220; Voice: 202–401–4952; Fax: 202– 

401–6156; e-mail: 

gsherman@csrees.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose 

In January 2003, the National 

Veterinary Medical Service Act 

(NVMSA) was passed into law, adding 

section 1415A to the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Teaching Policy Act of 1997 

(NARETPA). This law established a new 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing 

the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out 

a program of entering into agreements 

with veterinarians under which they 

agree to provide veterinary services in 

veterinarian shortage situations. In 

November 2005, the Agriculture, Rural 

Development, Food and Drug 

Administration, and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109– 

97) appropriated $495,000 for CSREES 

to implement the Veterinary Medicine 

Loan Repayment Program and 

represented the first time funds had 

been appropriated for this program. In 

February 2007, the Revised Continuing 

Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (Pub. 

L. 110–5) appropriated an additional 

$495,000 to CSREES for support of the 

program, and in December 2007, the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 32789 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 

appropriated an additional $868,875 to 

CSREES for support of this program. On 

March 11, 2009, the Omnibus 

Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111– 

8) was enacted, providing an additional 

$2,950,000 for the VMLRP. 

Consequently, there is a cumulative 

total of approximately $4.8 million 

available for CSREES to administer this 

program. Funding for future years will 

be based on annual appropriations and 

balances from prior years, and will 

likely vary from year to year. 

Section 7105 of the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, 

Public Law 110–246 (FCEA) amended 

section 1415A to revise the 

determination of veterinarian shortage 

situations to consider (1) geographical 

areas that the Secretary determines have 

a shortage of veterinarians; and (2) areas 

of veterinary practice that the Secretary 

determines have a shortage of 

veterinarians, such as food animal 

medicine, public health, epidemiology, 

and food safety. This section also added 

that priority should be given to 

agreements with veterinarians for the 

practice of food animal medicine in 

veterinarian shortage situations. 

NARETPA section 1415A requires the 

Secretary, when determining the 

amount of repayment for a year of 

service by a veterinarian, to consider the 

ability of USDA to maximize the 

number of agreements from the amounts 

appropriated and to provide an 

incentive to serve in veterinary service 

shortage areas with the greatest need. 

This section also provides that loan 

repayments may consist of payments of 

the principal and interest on 

government and commercial loans 

received by the individual for the 

attendance of the individual at an 

accredited college of veterinary 

medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor 

of Veterinary Medicine or the 

equivalent. Please note that this 

program is not authorized to provide 

repayments for any government or 

commercial loans incurred during the 

pursuit of another degree, such as an 

associate or bachelor degree and, 

consequently, any consolidated loans 

(e.g., combined loans for bachelor and 

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees). 

Loans eligible for repayment include 

educational loans made for one or more 

of the following: Loans for tuition 

expenses; other reasonable educational 

expenses, including fees, books, and 

laboratory expenses, incurred by the 

individual; and reasonable living 

expenses as determined by the 

Secretary. In addition, the Secretary is 

directed to make such additional 

payments to participants as the 

Secretary determines appropriate for the 

purpose of providing reimbursements to 

participants for individual tax liability 

resulting from participation in this 

program. Finally, this section requires 

USDA to promulgate regulations within 

270 days of the enactment of FCEA (i.e., 

June 18, 2008). The Secretary delegated 

the authority to carry out this program 

to CSREES. 

Solicitation of Stakeholder Input 

On August 29, 2008, CSREES 

published a Federal Register notice [73 

FR 50928–50929] announcing a public 

meeting to be held on Monday, 

September 15, 2008, at the Waterfront 

Centre in Washington, DC, to solicit 

stakeholder input as well as the 

instructions on how to submit written 

comments by Tuesday, September 30, 

2008, on the implementation of VMLRP. 

CSREES received oral and written 

comments from the following veterinary 

professional associations and 

organizations: American Veterinary 

Medical Association (AVMA), 

Association of American Veterinary 

Medical Colleges (AAVMC), American 

College of Veterinary Microbiologists 

(ACVM), American Association of 

Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians 

(AAVLD), American College of 

Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), 

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association 

(NCBA), Texas Cattle Feeders 

Association (TCFA), and Ohio’s 

Cattlemen Association (OCA) as well as 

a comprehensive joint statement from 

AVMA and the AAVMC. In addition, 

CSREES received 27 comments from 

individuals, most of whom were 

students at veterinary colleges. CSREES 

considered all comments received in the 

development of this interim rule. 

As the trade association of America’s 

cattle farmers and ranchers, the NCBA 

commented that the implementation of 

VMLRP would ‘‘ease the shortage of 

veterinarians in rural areas, encourage 

more veterinarians to go into food 

animal practice, retain food animal 

veterinarians in rural practices, and 

help better protect our nation’s livestock 

herds.’’ The NCBA further commented 

that livestock producers rely on their 

local veterinarian for guidance to ensure 

herd management, disease control, and 

food product safety; and that the 

increased complexity of pharmaceutical 

and biological product use requires 

additional veterinarian supervision for 

producers. The NCBA believes that 

practicing food animal veterinarians is 

the veterinarian shortage situation with 

the greatest need. In addition, NCBA 

feels strongly that the program must be 

simple and uncomplicated and that 

administrative costs must be minimized 

to maximize the number of agreements 

executed. The TCFA submitted a 

comment stating that they agree with 

and support the NCBA comments. 

The OCA urged USDA not to stray 

from the original intent of the legislation 

to increase the number of practicing 

food animal veterinarians in rural areas. 

OCA also stated that Ohio has a very 

significant shortage of food animal 

veterinarians and that this program 

would provide an incentive for 

veterinarians to practice in underserved 

rural areas. OCA encouraged flexibility 

in determining the veterinarian shortage 

situation as sometimes the lack of food 

animal veterinarians actually 

contributes to a reduced number of 

livestock in the area. Finally, OCA 

commented on the important role that 

food animal veterinarians play in the 

production of a safe and wholesome 

food supply. 

The ACVM, the AAVLD, and the 

ACVP commented that there are acute 

shortages of trained veterinarians in 

disciplines such as pathology, 

microbiology, toxicology, and 

parasitology and that often these 

specialized disciplines require an 

additional three years of study which 

contributes to the student debt load, 

thus presenting a potential barrier to 

students wishing to pursue further 

study in these disciplines. These 

disciplines contribute to the animal, 

human, and environmental health and 

the economic well-being of society by 

engaging in some of the following 

objectives and activities: Diagnosing 

disease in food-producing and 

companion animals (i.e., pets); ensuring 

safety in food, pharmaceuticals and 

biological products; and maintaining 

vigilance against outbreaks of new and 

emerging diseases. The AAVLD 

commented that it has recognized for a 

number of years a severe shortage of 

veterinarians to staff its diagnostic 

laboratories. AAVLD laboratories work 

with USDA in surveillance for, response 

to, and recovery from foreign animal 

diseases, and recognition of emerging 

diseases, primarily through the National 

Animal Health Laboratory Network 

(NAHLN). According to AAVLD, many 

of its laboratories work closely with the 

Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the 

Laboratory Response Network (LRN), or 

with the Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) in the Food Emergency Response 

Network (FERN). All three organizations 

commented that they wished the 

VMLRP would be made available to 

veterinarians willing to pursue 

residencies or advanced degrees in the 

above-mentioned disciplines. 

In their joint comprehensive set of 

comments, the AVMA and the AAVMC 


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stated that it is essential for the nation 

to address the well documented critical 

workforce shortages in veterinarians 

pursuing careers in food animal science, 

food safety, and public health. They 

continued their veterinary shortage 

discussion by commenting that the 

VMLRP will help address the growing 

disparities in the numbers and types of 

veterinarians practicing in rural and 

other underserved locations across the 

country as well as in areas of veterinary 

practice with a shortage of veterinarians. 

According to the statistics provided by 

the AVMA and the AAVMC, only about 

10 percent of the veterinarians 

practicing in the United States today 

work in the food animal practice versus 

100 percent at the beginning of the last 

century. In addition, there will continue 

to be a shortage of veterinarians in food 

safety and public health. They also cited 

the significant number of new 

veterinarians electing to enter 

companion animal medicine for several 

reasons, one of which is that the salary 

level is often higher than in food animal 

medicine. AVMA and AAVMC also 

stated that ‘‘one of the most daunting 

obstacles standing in the way of 

students pursuing a career in food 

animal medicine is educational debt.’’ 

They noted that the average student 

debt for a veterinary school graduate 

exceeded $106,000 in 2007 and to repay 

that sum over a 10-year period would 

average about $1,200 a month. The 

AVMA and AAVMC concluded their 

discussion of the need for the VMLRP 

by stating that the highest paying jobs in 

each of the practice categories are 

typically determined by geography and 

that jobs in rural areas, where most of 

the food animal practitioners are in the 

highest demand, often pay less due to 

demographics and other economic 

conditions. 

The AVMA and the AAVMC 

recommended that the loan repayment 

agreements be for four years with the 

average annual loan repayment 

(exclusive of payments for tax liability) 

ranging from $25,000 to $40,000 per 

year over the agreement period. They 

recommended that 90 percent of the 

agreements be targeted to veterinarians 

practicing food animal medicine in any 

underserved area and to food animal 

medicine veterinarians practicing in 

rural areas (i.e., with a mixed practice in 

which at least 30 percent of the practice 

is devoted to food animals). They 

further recommended that 10 percent be 

used to attract and retain veterinarians 

to critical veterinarian shortage 

situations in food safety and public 

health. 

The AVMA and the AAVMC 

recommended that the Secretary, under 

the guidance of the Federal and state 

veterinarians, designate the veterinary 

shortage situations. They felt that these 

shortage situations are best determined 

at the state level. With regard to 

designation of a veterinary shortage 

situation, the AVMA and the AAVMC 

recommended that the nominations for 

these situations address risk, activity, 

and objective. They recommended 

CSREES assemble an official review 

panel of qualified individuals to review 

the nominations for designation of 

various shortage situations submitted by 

the states. In 2007, the AVMA compiled 

the Food Supply Veterinary Medicine 

Data Maps which can be found at 

http://www.avma.org/fsvm/maps/ 

default.asp. As part of their joint 

comments, AVMA suggested that the 

data compiled in these maps may be 

useful in designating veterinarian 

shortage areas, particularly those related 

to food animal practices, and they stated 

that they were committed to keeping 

this information up-to-date. AVMA and 

AAVMC also made specific comments 

on the solicitation, selection criteria, 

and the administration of these loan 

repayment agreements, particularly the 

terms and conditions of these awards. 

For example, they recommended that 

eligibility not be limited to recent 

graduates and that CSREES explore the 

possibility of entering into an agreement 

with a service provider to administer 

the program. 

Twenty-three of the 27 comments 

received were from veterinary medical 

students who discussed at great length 

their significant future debt loads after 

graduation, averaging from $100,000 to 

more than $300,000 in some cases when 

combined with the debt incurred during 

their undergraduate education. Most 

student respondents would be willing to 

locate to an underserved rural area or 

other critical veterinarian shortage 

situation (e.g., food safety or public 

health) to practice food animal 

medicine. They also would be willing 

on average to agree to serve in that area 

from three to six years if a significant 

amount of their student loan debt was 

repaid through this program, at the rate 

of $20,000 per year. Many felt that the 

combined financial commitment by 

USDA and a time commitment by the 

veterinarian to practicing in the 

veterinarian shortage situation would 

result in the practicing veterinarian 

making a long-term commitment to the 

community. Most student respondents 

either had a desire or a potential interest 

in practicing food animal medicine fulltime or in a mixed animal practice. Most 

indicated that they would probably 

continue serving in the community after 

the expiration of their service 

agreement. Most indicated that the 

looming debt and the monthly payments 

as well as their start-up costs (personal 

and professional) were driving them to 

consider other practices and other 

geographic areas to attain a certain level 

of income sufficient to make their 

monthly student loan payments. 

One student recommended that the 

loan repayments be tax free. However, 

the authorizing act, National Veterinary 

Medicine Service Act, while not making 

these payments non-taxable, does 

include a provision for USDA to pay the 

tax liability incurred by VMLRP 

participants as a result of receiving 

these loan repayments. There was also 

a suggestion to allow participants to 

transfer from one shortage situation to 

another within the period of the service 

agreement. 

In response to stakeholder input, 

CSREES will be awarding VMLRP loan 

repayment agreements in amounts 

ranging up to $25,000 for the first three 

or four years (with a minimum of three 

years). In addition, CSREES will be 

paying an amount up to 39 percent of 

the total amount of loan repayments 

made in a calendar year to reimburse 

program participants for the tax liability 

incurred as a result of their participation 

in VMLRP. Consequently, for each 

VMLRP participant, the loan repayment 

amounts plus the tax liability payments 

would be reported as income on the 

form 1099–G, Certain Government 

Payments, each calendar year. 

In addition, CSREES is considering a 

small pilot program to implement the 

service in an emergency component of 

the VMLRP for a limited number of 

agreements. Potential agreements will 

be identified during the designation of 

the veterinary shortage situations. The 

emergency situations referred to in this 

Part are emergencies related to 

pandemics, zoonotic outbreaks, or other 

food supply emergencies, as determined 

by the Secretary, and do not include 

emergencies related to armed conflict. 

Successful applicants for these annual 

agreements may receive an additional 

loan repayment amount of up to $5,000 

per year, plus an amount up to 39 

percent of the amount of annual loan 

repayment made under the program, 

and will be required to serve no more 

than 60 days per year. Emergency 

responders will receive a salary for the 

period of emergency service, as 

determined by the Secretary, and will be 

reimbursed for travel and per diem 

expenses as appropriate for the duration 

of service. These agreements will be in 

addition to the primary VMLRP 

agreement. CSREES will identify which 

veterinarian shortage situations are 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 32791 

eligible for this type of agreement in the 

Request for Applications (RFA) for the 

VMLRP loan repayment applications 

from individual veterinarians. 

Based on the stakeholder input 

received, the available funding for the 

program at this time, experiences of 

other Federal loan repayment programs, 

such as the NIH Division of Loan 

Repayment extramural programs, and 

the goals of the VMLRP program, 

CSREES believes that $25,000, per year 

in loan repayments for a minimum of 

three or four years, plus an amount 

sufficient to cover the additional tax 

liability, is an adequate incentive for 

VMLRP participants to relocate to 

veterinarian shortage situations critical 

to the security of our Nation’s food 

supply and the health and safety of 

people, food animals, and the 

environment. CSREES anticipates that 

about 40 VMLRP agreements with be 

executed the first year. This approach 

will allow individual participants to 

reduce their qualifying educational debt 

within a 3- or 4-year time period and 

meet their additional tax liability while 

serving in shortage areas with the 

greatest need. 

As recommended by AVMA and 

AAVMC, CSREES is negotiating with 

the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 

Division of Loan Repayment (DLR) to 

provide certain administrative services 

and support. These services may 

include the receipt of individual 

applications, initial administrative 

review of applications, verification and 

certification of selected applicants as 

being eligible to participate, payments 

to actual loan providers, tax liability 

payments, and monitoring and reporting 

functions. CSREES has entered into an 

interagency agreement with the NIH 

DLR to determine the feasibility of NIH 

DLR performing some of these functions 

for CSREES. The NIH DLR currently 

manages a portfolio of eight NIH loan 

repayment programs, five of which are 

extramural programs, with an annual 

budget of approximately $75 million. 

For the NIH extramural programs, the 

NIH DLR received over 3,000 

applications and made over 1,600 

awards in fiscal year (FY) 2007. The 

NIH DLR maintains a state-of-the-art 

system that manages the entire process 

from application through close-out. 

CSREES feels that it is in the best 

interest of potential applicants and 

VMLRP participants, as well as the 

Federal government, for CSREES to 

work with the NIH DLR on this 

initiative. Please note that CSREES will 

still be responsible for the 

determination of the veterinarian 

shortage situations, peer review of the 

individual VMLRP applications, and 

overall oversight and coordination of 

the VMLRP. The CSREES Web site for 

the VMLRP is available at http:// 

wwww.csrees.usda.gov/nea/education/ 

in_focus/vmlrp/html and will be 

updated, as appropriate. Please note that 

any VMLRP applicant and participant 

interfaces will be conducted via the 

CSREES Web site. Additional 

information about the NIH DLR is 

available at http://www.lrp.nih.gov. 

Consideration of Stakeholder Input and 

the Interim Process and Procedures for 

the Designation of Veterinarian 

Shortage Situations 

CSREES was very appreciative of the 

stakeholder input that was received 

during the recent comment period. 

Based on these comments and other 

research and analysis conducted, 

CSREES has determined to issue two 

subparts for this Part: Subpart A, 

Designation of Veterinarian Shortage 

Situations, and Subpart B, 

Administration of the VMLRP. As 

recommended by the AVMA and the 

AAVMC, CSREES will solicit, via a 

notice (published in the Federal 

Register and on the CSREES Web site), 

the veterinarian shortage situations from 

the State animal health official in each 

state. Nominators will be requested to 

submit to a designated e-mail box a 

Form—CSREES XXXX, VMLRP 

Veterinarian Shortage Situation 

Nomination, which will be available on 

the CSREES Web site at http:// 

www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/education/ 

in_focus/vmlrp.html. 

Respondents will be required to 

identify the geographic location of the 

veterinarian shortage situation, as well 

as the area of practice. The area of 

practice includes private food animal 

science medicine (at least 80 percent of 

the practice), private mixed animal 

medicine (at least 30 percent of the 

practice dedicated to food animal 

medicine), food safety (identify 

employer and position), epidemiology 

(identify employer and position), public 

health (identify employer and position), 

and other (identify practice, employer, 

and position). The practice of private 

mixed animal medicine will only be 

considered for a veterinarian shortage 

situation in a rural area as defined in 7 

CFR 3431.3. For the purposes of the 

VMLRP, CSREES is adopting the 

definition of rural area found in section 

343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 

Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

1991(a)(13)(A)). Respondents will then 

be requested to address four additional 

questions about the objectives, 

activities, and risk associated with the 

situation/position not being secured or 

retained as well as past efforts to recruit 

for and/or retain this position. Finally, 

respondents will be asked to identify if, 

how, and why this position may be 

considered for a secondary loan 

repayment agreement for service in an 

emergency. 

CSREES intends to solicit these 

nominations for a 60-day period. 

Shortly thereafter, CSREES will convene 

a panel of food supply veterinary 

medicine experts from Federal and state 

agencies, as well as institutions 

receiving Animal Health and Disease 

Research Program funds under section 

1433 of NARETPA, who will review the 

nominations and make 

recommendations to the CSREES 

Program Manager. CSREES explored the 

possibly of including experts from 

professional organizations for this 

process, but under the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Teaching Policy Act (NARETPA) section 

1409A(e), panelists for the purposes of 

this process are limited to Federal and 

State agencies and cooperating state 

institutions (i.e., NARETPA section 

1433 recipients). 

The VMLRP Program Manager will 

then review the recommendations and 

designate the VMLRP shortage 

situations. The list of shortage situations 

will be published in the Federal 

Register and will be made available on 

the CSREES Web site at http:// 

csrees.usda.gov/nea/education/ 

in_focus/vmlrp.html. 

Upon designation of the veterinarian 

shortage situations, CSREES will 

publish in the Federal Register and on 

the Agency’s Web site a Request for 

Applications (RFA) for the VMLRP with 

applications due within 90 days. This is 

the same length of time that the NIH 

provides applicants under its loan 

repayment programs. Applicants would 

then submit an application through the 

CSREES VMLRP Web site. A loan 

repayment service provider will work 

with the CSREES Office of Extramural 

Programs (OEP), the office responsible 

for administration and payment of all 

CSREES Federal assistance awards, 

throughout the application and 

administration of the VMLRP. Ineligible 

applicants will be notified. Applications 

from eligible applicants will be 

forwarded to CSREES. CSREES will 

submit the applications to a peer review 

panel comprised of food supply 

veterinary medicine experts from the 

Federal and state agencies, colleges and 

universities, professional organizations, 

and other interested stakeholders. This 

peer review panel will review and 

evaluate applications from individual 

veterinarians and make 

recommendations to the VMLRP 

Program Manager. After the VMLRP 


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32792 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Program Manager prepares the final list 

of potential awardees for each shortage 

situation, a second level review is 

conducted to ensure fairness and 

integrity of the process. This final list of 

potential awardees is forwarded to OEP 

for a final administrative review and 

execution of the VMLRP loan repayment 

agreements. As noted previously, 

Subpart B of this Part will provide the 

policies and procedures from the RFA 

through the closeout of the agreement, 

such as tax liability payments, 

reporting, payment schedule, and terms 

and conditions for the agreements. 

For the purposes of this regulation, 

CSREES is adopting the definition of 

‘‘food supply veterinary medicine’’ from 

the Food Supply Veterinary Medicine 

(FSVM) Coalition Report entitled 

‘‘Estimating FSVM Demand and 

Maintaining the Availability of 

Veterinarians for Careers in Food 

Supply Related Disciplines in the 

United States and Canada,’’ and the 

‘‘practice of veterinary medicine’’ from 

the Model Veterinary Practice Act 

(Approved by the AVMA Executive 

Board, November 2003, revised April 

2007, November 2007). CSREES 

developed a definition of ‘‘practice of 

food supply veterinary medicine’’ to 

include the practices contributing to the 

production of a safe and wholesome 

food supply and to animal, human, and 

environmental health. This definition 

incorporates the legislative intent of 

VMLRP and the adopted definition of 

‘‘food supply veterinary medicine.’’ 

CSREES also adopted a definition of 

‘‘food animal’’ for the purposes of this 

regulation so that it was clear to the 

public what is a ‘‘food animal,’’ while 

providing flexibility to the Secretary to 

consider other ‘‘food animals,’’ if 

appropriate. 

USDA appreciates the efforts of the 

AVMA in compiling the Food Supply 

Veterinary Medicine Data Maps which 

can be found at http://www.avma.org/ 

fsvm/maps/default.asp and will be 

encouraging States to use the data 

contained in these maps to justify their 

veterinarian shortage situation. 

Consideration of Stakeholder Input and 

Administration of the VMLRP 

CSREES considered and included 

many of the recommendations of the 

AVMA and the AAVMC in the 

development of the administrative 

provisions for the VMLRP. USDA is 

initially capping annual loan repayment 

of principal and interest of qualifying 

loans to $25,000 and the payments for 

the additional tax liability incurred to 

no more than 39 percent of the annual 

loan repayments. This will allow 

CSREES to maximize the number of 

service agreements in accordance with 

the authorizing program legislation, 

while providing sufficient debt relief to 

attract potential VMLRP participants 

committed to serve in veterinarian 

shortage situations. However, these 

interim regulations allow the Secretary 

of Agriculture to adjust the cap under 

§ 3431.13(b), if appropriate. Any 

changes in the caps will be addressed in 

the RFA. 

Please note that the solicitation for 

veterinary shortage situations and the 

VMLRP RFA will provide more specific 

details on the administration of the 

program. In addition, CSREES will 

establish a dedicated set of Web pages 

to the VMLRP similar to the Web pages 

established for the NIH loan repayment 

programs. 

Timeline for Implementing the Program 

This regulation is being published as 

‘‘final interim’’ to allow CSREES to 

implement the program immediately. 

CSREES felt confident that this was the 

best approach for all given the delays in 

program implementation; the statutory 

requirement to promulgate regulations 

within 270 days of the enactment of the 

FCEA; the consideration and adoption 

of the stakeholder input received during 

the public meeting and comment 

period; the adoption, to the extent 

practical, of the NIH DLR best business 

practices for loan repayment programs; 

and the potential partnering of CSREES 

with the NIH DLR on this effort. 

However, CSREES is soliciting 

comments to consider and incorporate 

in the final rule. 

CSREES anticipates soliciting for the 

veterinarian shortage situations via a 

Federal Register notice in September 

2009 (open for 60 days) after the 

conclusion of the comment period for 

the associated information collection 

and approval by OMB of this 

information collection. At the same 

time, CSREES will continue to work 

with the NIH DLR on adapting the NIH 

DLR application forms for use by 

VMLRP as well as developing the other 

associated business processes (e.g., 

reporting, payments). CSREES 

anticipates soliciting for VMLRP 

participants in late fall 2009 or early 

winter 2010 (open for 90 days). 

Although this interim regulation 

addresses most of the policies 

associated with this program, CSREES 

plans to create informational Web pages 

(providing detailed information and 

procedures) for the program similar to 

the pages created for the NIH DLR 

programs. 

Administrative Requirements for the 

Interim Rulemaking 

Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has reviewed this interim rule because 

while it is not economically significant, 

it partially implements the Veterinary 

Medicine Loan Repayment Program 

(VMLRP). This interim rule will not 

materially alter the budgetary impact of 

entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan 

programs; nor will it have an annual 

effect on the economy of $100 million 

or more; nor will it adversely affect the 

economy, a sector of the economy, 

productivity, competition, jobs, the 

environment, public health or safety, or 

State, local, or tribal governments or 

communities in a material way. 

Furthermore, it does not raise a novel 

legal or policy issue arising out of legal 

mandates, the President’s priorities or 

principles set forth in the Executive 

Order. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 

This interim rule has been reviewed 

in accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended by 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 

U.S.C. 601–612. The Department 

concluded that the rule does not involve 

regulatory and informational 

requirements regarding businesses, 

organizations, and governmental 

jurisdictions subject to regulation. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, 

et seq.) and Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) implementing regulations 

(5 CFR part 1320), this notice announces 

the Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service’s 

(CSREES) intention to request approval 

to establish an information collection 

for the purposes of submitting a 

nomination for the designation of a 

veterinarian shortage situation in 

response to a solicitation requesting 

nominations from the animal health 

official in each state. 

Written comments on this notice must 

be received by September 8, 2009 to be 

assured of consideration. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

You may submit comments, identified 

by Docket ID# CSREES–2009–0004, by 

any of the following methods: Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 

for submitting comments. E-mail: 

jhitchcock@csrees.usda.gov; Mail: Jason 

Hitchcock, Information Systems and 

Technology Management, USDA/ 


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CSREES, STOP 2216, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–2216; Hand 

Delivery/Courier: Jason Hitchcock, 

Information Systems and Technology 

Management, USDA/CSREES, 800 9th 

Street, SW., Room 4217, Waterfront 

Centre, Washington, DC 20024; Fax: 

202–720–0857. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jason Hitchcock, (202) 720–4343. 

Information is also available at http:// 

www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/education/ 

in_focus/vmlrp.html. 

Title: VMLRP Veterinarian Shortage 

Situation Nomination. 

OMB Number: 0524–00XX. 

Type of Request: Intent to request 

approval to establish an information 

collection. 

Abstract: CSREES is establishing the 

process and procedures for designating 

veterinarian shortage situations for the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) as authorized under 

section 1415A of the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Teaching Policy Act of 1977 

(NARETPA). This information 

collection applies to Subpart A of 7 CFR 

part 3431. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

CSREES will be requesting the animal 

health official in each state to submit 

the VMLRP Veterinarian Shortage 

Situation Nomination Form, for each 

situation or position for which there is 

a critical shortage of practicing 

veterinarians. CSREES plans to publish 

a solicitation for these veterinarian 

shortage situations, requesting that State 

animal health officials provide 

nominations by submitting this form. 

This form will be available at the 

CSREES Web site as a PDF-fillable 

document (to be e-mailed, faxed, or 

mailed), and includes questions 

requiring check boxes or text with a 

word limitation to minimize the burden. 

These nomination forms will be 

reviewed and evaluated by a panel 

according to the criteria identified in the 

published solicitation. From these 

evaluations, the VMLRP Program 

Director may designate the most highly 

recommended shortage situations 

according to criteria identified in the 

solicitation. These situations will later 

be identified in the Request for 

Applications (RFA) for VMLRP loan 

repayment applications (from 

individual veterinarians). 

Estimate of Burden: It is estimated 

that it will take approximately two 

hours to complete this PDF-fillable form 

with checkboxes and text-limiting fields 

to minimize the overall burden. 

Respondents: Animal Health Official 

in each State. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 57 

respondents. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 114 

responses (average of 2 per State). 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 228 hours. 

Comments: 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 will 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; (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 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Obtaining a Copy of the Information 

Collection: A copy of the information 

collection and related instructions may 

be obtained free of charge by contacting 

Jason Hitchcock by telephone, (202) 

720–4343, or by e-mail, 

jhitchcock@csrees.usda.gov. Information 

also is available at http:// 

www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/education/ 

in_focus/lvmlrp.html. When the VMLRP 

application forms and participant 

reporting requirements (i.e., the 

information collection requirements 

under Subpart B) are finalized, CSREES 

intends to publish another Federal 

Register notice announcing its intent to 

seek OMB approval for the information 

collection requirements under Subpart 

B. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

This interim regulation applies to the 

following Federal assistance program 

administered by CSREES, Catalog of 

Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) 

No. 10.313, Veterinary Medicine Loan 

Repayment Program (VMLRP). 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

and Executive Order 13132 

The Department has reviewed this 

interim rule in accordance with the 

requirements of Executive Order No. 

13132, 64 FR 43225 (August 10, 1999) 

and the Unfunded Mandates Act of 

1995, 2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq., and has 

found no potential or substantial direct 

effects on the States, on the relationship 

between the national government and 

the States, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government. As there 

is no Federal mandate contained herein 

that could result in increased 

expenditures by State, local tribal 

governments or by the private sector, 

the department has not prepared a 

budgetary impact statement. 

Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

The Department has reviewed this 

interim rule in accordance with 

Executive Order 13175, 65 FR 67249 

(Nov. 9, 2000), and has determined that 

it does not have ‘‘tribal implications.’’ 

The interim rule does not ‘‘have 

substantial direct effects on one or more 

Indian tribes, on the relationship 

between the Federal government and 

Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal government and Indian tribes.’’ 

Clarity of This Regulation 

Executive Order 12866, 58 FR 51735 

(September 30, 1993), and the 

President’s memorandum of June 1, 

1998, require each agency to write all 

rules in plain language. The Department 

invites comments on how to make this 

interim rule easier to understand. 

List of Subjects in Part 3431 

Administrative practice and 

procedure; Agricultural research, 

education, extension; Veterinarians; 

Federal assistance. 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service amends Chapter XXXIV of Title 

7 of the Code of Federal Regulations to 

add Part 3431 to read as follows. 

PART 3431—VETERINARY MEDICINE 

LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM 

Subpart A—Designation of Veterinarian 

Shortage Situations 

Sec. 

3431.1 Applicability of regulations. 

3431.2 Purpose. 

3431.3 Definitions and acronyms. 

3431.4 Solicitation of stakeholder input. 

3431.5 Solicitation of veterinarian shortage 

situations. 

3431.6 Review of nominations. 

3431.7 Notification and use of designated 

veterinarian shortage situations. 

Subpart B—Administration of the Veterinary 

Medicine Loan Repayment Program 

3431.8 Purpose and scope. 

3431.9 Eligibility to apply. 

3431.10 Eligibility to participate. 

3431.11 Application. 

3431.12 Selection of applicants. 

3431.13 Terms of loan repayment and 

length of service requirements. 

3431.14 Priority. 

3431.15 Qualifying loans. 

3431.16 Certifications and verifications. 

3431.17 VMLRP service agreement offer. 


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3431.18 Service agreement. 

3431.19 Payment and tax liability. 

3432.20 Administration. 

3432.21 Breach. 

3432.22 Waiver. 

3432.23 Service to Federal government in 

emergency situations. 

3431.24 Reporting requirements, 

monitoring, and close-out. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 3151a; Public Law 

106–107 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 

§ 3431.1 Applicability of regulations. 

This part establishes the process and 

procedures for designating veterinarian 

shortage situations as well as the 

administrative provisions for the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) authorized by the 

National Veterinary Medical Service Act 

(NVMSA), 7 U.S.C. 3151a. 

§ 3431.2 Purpose. 

The Secretary will follow the 

processes and procedures established in 

Subpart A to designate veterinarian 

shortage situations for the VMLRP. 

Applications for the VMLRP will be 

accepted from eligible veterinarians 

who agree to serve in one of the 

designated shortage situations in 

exchange for the repayment of an 

amount of the principal and interest of 

the veterinarian’s qualifying educational 

loans. The administrative provisions for 

the VMLRP, including the application 

process, are established in Subpart B. 

§ 3431.3 Definitions and acronyms. 

(a) General definitions. 

Act means the National Veterinary 

Medical Service Act, as amended. 

Agency or CSREES means the 

Cooperative State Research, Education, 

and Extension Service. 

Department means the United States 

Department of Agriculture. 

Food animal means the following 

species: bovine, porcine, ovine/camelid, 

cervid, poultry, and any other species as 

determined by the Secretary. 

Food supply veterinary medicine 

means all aspects of veterinary 

medicine’s involvement in food supply 

systems, from traditional agricultural 

production to consumption. 

Insular area means the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands, the 

Federated States of Micronesia, the 

Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 

Republic of Palau, and the Virgin 

Islands of the United States. 

NVMSA means the National 

Veterinary Medicine Service Act. 

Practice of food supply veterinary 

medicine includes corporate/private 

practices devoted to food animal 

medicine, mixed animal medicine 

located in a rural area (at least 30 

percent of practice devoted to food 

animal medicine), food safety, 

epidemiology, public health, and other 

practices that contribute to the 

production of a safe and wholesome 

food supply. 

Practice of veterinary medicine 

means: 

(1) To diagnose, treat, correct, change, 

alleviate, or prevent animal disease, 

illness, pain, deformity, defect, injury, 

or other physical, dental, or mental 

conditions by any method or mode; 

including: 

(i) The prescription, dispensing, 

administration, or application of any 

drug, medicine, biologic, apparatus, 

anesthetic, or other therapeutic or 

diagnostic substance or medical or 

surgical technique, or 

(ii) The use of complementary, 

alternative, and integrative therapies, or 

(iii) The use of any manual or 

mechanical procedure for reproductive 

management, or 

(iv) The rendering of advice or 

recommendation by any means 

including telephonic and other 

electronic communications with regard 

to any of paragraphs (1)(i),(ii),(iii), or 

(iv) of this definition. 

Rural area means any area other than 

a city or town that has a population of 

50,000 inhabitants and the urbanized 

area contiguous and adjacent to such a 

city or town. 

Secretary means the Secretary of 

Agriculture and any other officer or 

employee of the Department to whom 

the authority involved has been 

delegated. 

Service area means geographic area in 

which the veterinarian will be providing 

veterinary medical services. 

State means any one of the fifty states, 

the District of Columbia, and the insular 

areas of the United States, including the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Guam; 

American Samoa; the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands; the 

Federated States of Micronesia; the 

Republic of the Marshall Islands; the 

Republic of Palau; and the Virgin 

Islands of the United States. 

State animal health official means the 

State veterinarian, or equivalent, who 

will be responsible for nominating and 

certifying veterinarian shortage 

situations within the State. 

Veterinarian means a person who has 

received a professional veterinary 

medicine degree from an accredited 

college of veterinary medicine. 

Veterinary medicine means all 

branches and specialties included 

within the practice of veterinary 

medicine. 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program or VMLRP means the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program authorized by the National 

Veterinary Medical Service Act. 

Veterinarian shortage situation means 

any of the following situations in which 

the Secretary, in accordance with the 

process in Subpart A, determines has a 

shortage of veterinarians: 

(1) Geographical areas that the 

Secretary determines have a shortage of 

food supply veterinarians; and 

(2) Areas of veterinary practice that 

the Secretary determines have a 

shortage of food supply veterinarians, 

such as food animal medicine, public 

health, epidemiology, and food safety. 

(b) Definitions applicable to Subpart 

B. 

Applicant means an individual who 

applies to and meets the eligibility 

criteria for the VMLRP. 

Breach of agreement results when a 

participant fails to complete the service 

agreement obligation required under the 

terms and conditions of the agreement 

and will be subject to assessment of 

monetary damages and penalties as 

determined in the service agreement, 

unless a waiver has been granted or an 

exception applies. 

Current payment status means that a 

qualified educational loan is not past 

due in its payment schedule as 

determined by the lending institution. 

Debt threshold means the minimum 

amount of qualified student debt an 

individual must have, on their program 

eligibility date, in order to be eligible for 

program benefits, as determined by the 

Secretary. 

Program eligibility date means the 

date on which an individual’s VMLRP 

agreement is executed by the Secretary. 

Program participant means an 

individual whose application to the 

VMLRP has been approved and whose 

service agreement has been accepted 

and signed by the Secretary. 

Qualifying educational expenses 

means the costs of attendance of the 

applicant at an accredited college of 

veterinary medicine, exclusive of the 

tuition and reasonable living expenses. 

Educational expenses may include fees, 

books, laboratory expenses and 

materials, as required by an accredited 

college or school of veterinary medicine 

as part of a Doctor of Veterinary 

Medicine degree program, or the 

equivalent. The program participant 

must submit sufficient documentation, 

as required by the Secretary, to 

substantiate the school requirement for 

the educational expenses incurred by 

the program participant. 

Qualifying educational loans means 

loans that are issued by any U.S. 


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government (i.e., Federal, state, or local) 

entity, accredited U.S. academic 

institution(s), and/or commercial 

lender(s) that are subject to examination 

and supervision in their capacity as 

lending institutions by an agency of the 

United States or the state in which the 

lender has its principal place of 

business. Loans must have been made 

for one or more of the following: School 

tuition, other qualifying educational 

expenses, or reasonable living expenses 

relating to the obtainment of a degree of 

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from an 

accredited college or school of 

veterinary medicine. Such loans must 

have documentation which is 

contemporaneous with the training 

received in a college or school of 

veterinary medicine. If qualifying 

educational loans are refinanced, the 

original documentation of the loan(s) 

will be required to be submitted to the 

Secretary to establish the 

contemporaneous nature of such loans. 

Reasonable living expenses means the 

ordinary living costs incurred by the 

program participant while attending the 

college of veterinary medicine, 

exclusive of tuition and educational 

expenses. Reasonable living expenses 

must be incurred during the period of 

attendance and may include food and 

lodging expenses, insurance, 

commuting and transportation costs. 

Reasonable living expenses must be 

equal to or less than the sum of the 

school’s estimated standard student 

budgets for living expenses for the 

degree veterinary medicine for the 

year(s) during which the program 

participant was enrolled in the school. 

However, if the school attended by the 

program participant did not have a 

standard student budget or if a program 

participant requests repayment for 

living expenses which are in excess of 

the standard student budgets described 

in the preceding sentence, the program 

participant must submit documentation, 

as required by the Secretary, to 

substantiate the reasonableness of living 

expenses incurred. To the extent that 

the Secretary determines, upon review 

of the program participant’s 

documentation, that all or a portion of 

the living expenses are reasonable, these 

expenses will qualify for repayment. 

Service agreement means the 

agreement, which is signed by an 

applicant and the Secretary for the 

VMLRP wherein the applicant agrees to 

accept repayment of qualifying 

educational loans and to serve in 

accordance with the provisions of 

NVMSA for a prescribed period of 

obligated service. 

Termination means a waiver of the 

service obligation granted by the 

Secretary when compliance by the 

participant is impossible, would involve 

extreme hardship, or where enforcement 

with respect to the individual would be 

unconscionable (see breach of 

agreement). 

Withdrawal means a request by a 

participant for withdrawal from 

participation in the VMLRP after signing 

the service agreement, but prior to 

VMLRP making the first annual 

payment on behalf of the participant. A 

withdrawal is without penalty to the 

participant and without obligation to 

the Program. 

§ 3431.4 Solicitation of stakeholder input. 

The Secretary will solicit stakeholder 

input on the process and procedures 

used to designate veterinarian shortage 

situations prior to the publication of the 

solicitation for nomination of 

veterinarian shortage situations. A 

notice may be published in the Federal 

Register, on the Agency’s Web site, or 

other appropriate format or forum. This 

request for stakeholder input may 

include the solicitation of input on the 

administration of VMLRP and its impact 

on meeting critical veterinarian shortage 

situations. All comments will be made 

available and accessible to the public. 

§ 3431.5 Solicitation of veterinarian 

shortage situations. 

(a) General. The Secretary will follow 

the procedures described in this part to 

solicit veterinarian shortage situations 

as the term is defined in § 3431.3. 

(b) Solicitation. The Secretary will 

publish a solicitation for nomination of 

veterinarian shortage situations in the 

Federal Register, on the Agency’s Web 

site, or other appropriate format or 

forum. 

(c) Frequency. Contingent on the 

availability of funds, the Secretary will 

normally publish a solicitation on a 

biennial basis. However, the Secretary 

reserves the right to solicit veterinarian 

shortage situations every year or every 

three years, as appropriate. 

(d) Content. The solicitation will 

describe the nomination process, the 

review criteria and process, and include 

the form used to submit a nomination. 

The solicitation may specify the 

maximum number of nominations that 

may be submitted by each State animal 

health official. 

(e) Nominations. Nominations shall 

identify the veterinarian shortage 

situation and address the criteria in the 

nomination form which may include the 

objectives of the position, the activities 

of the position, and the risk posed if the 

position is not secured. 

(f) Nominating Official. The State 

animal health official in each state may 

nominate and certify veterinarian 

shortage situations within the State. It is 

anticipated that the State animal health 

official of each State will involve the 

leading health animal experts in the 

State in the nomination process. 

§ 3431.6 Review of nominations. 

(a) Peer panel. State nominations will 

be evaluated by a peer panel of experts 

in animal health convened by the 

Secretary. The panel will evaluate 

nominations according to the criteria 

identified in the solicitation. The panel 

will consider the objectives and 

activities of the veterinarian position in 

the veterinary service shortage situation 

and the risks associated with not 

securing or retaining the position and 

make a recommendation regarding each 

nomination. 

(b) Agency review. The Secretary will 

evaluate the recommendations of the 

peer panel and designate shortage 

situations for the VMLRP. 

§ 3431.7 Notification and use of 

designated veterinarian shortage situations. 

The Secretary will publish the 

designated veterinarian shortage 

situations on the Agency’s Web site and 

will use the designated veterinarian 

shortage situations to solicit VMLRP 

loan repayment applications from 

individual veterinarians in accordance 

with Subpart B. 

Subpart B—Administration of the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program 

§ 3432.8 Purpose and scope. 

(a) Purpose. The regulations of this 

subpart apply to the award of veterinary 

medicine loan repayments under the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) authorized by the 

National Veterinary Medicine Service 

Act, 7 U.S.C. 3151a. 

(b) Scope. Under the VMLRP, the 

Secretary enters into service agreements 

with licensed veterinarians to pay 

principal and interest on education 

loans of veterinarians who agree to work 

in veterinary shortage situations for a 

prescribed period of time. In addition, 

program participants may enter into an 

agreement to provide services to the 

Federal government in emergency 

situations in exchange for salary, travel, 

per diem expenses, and additional 

amounts of loan repayment assistance. 

The purpose of the program is to ensure 

an adequate supply of trained food 

animal veterinarians in shortage 

situations and provide USDA with a 

pool of veterinary specialists to assist in 

the control and eradication of animal 

disease outbreaks. 


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§ 3431.9 Eligibility to apply. 

(a) General. To be eligible to apply to 

the VMLRP an applicant must: 

(1) Have a degree of Doctor of 

Veterinary Medicine (DVM), or the 

equivalent, from an accredited college of 

veterinary medicine; 

(2) Have qualifying educational loan 

debt as defined in § 3431.3 of this title; 

(3) Secure an offer of employment or 

establish and/or maintain a practice in 

a veterinary shortage situation, as 

determined by the Secretary in 

accordance with the procedures in 

Subpart A, within the time period 

specified in the VMLRP service 

agreement offer; and 

(4) Provide certifications and 

verifications in accordance with 

§ 3431.16 of this Part. 

(b) Non-eligibility. The following 

individuals are ineligible to apply to the 

VLMRP: 

(1) An individual who owes an 

obligation for veterinary service to the 

Federal government, a State, or other 

entity under an agreement with such 

Federal, State, or other entity is 

ineligible for the VMLRP unless such 

obligation will be completely satisfied 

prior to the beginning of service under 

the VMLRP; 

(2) An individual who has a Federal 

judgment lien against his/her property 

arising from Federal debt; and 

(3) An individual who has 

consolidated qualifying loans with loans 

not qualifying for repayment under the 

VMLRP. 

§ 3431.10 Eligibility to participate. 

To be eligible to participate in the 

VMLRP, a participant must meet the 

following criteria: 

(a) Meet the eligibility criteria of 

§ 3431.9 for applying to the VMLRP; 

(b) Be selected for participation by the 

Secretary pursuant to § 3431.12. 

(c) Be a licensed veterinarian in the 

jurisdiction in which he or she proposes 

to practice; 

(d) Be a citizen, national, or 

permanent resident of the United States; 

(e) Sign a service agreement to 

provide veterinary services in one of the 

veterinarian shortage situations; and 

(f) Comply with the terms and 

conditions of the Service Agreement. 

§ 3431.11 Application. 

Individuals who meet the eligibility 

criteria of § 3431.9 may submit an 

online program application or any other 

application process provided by the 

Secretary. 

§ 3431.12 Selection of applicants. 

(a) Review of applications. Upon 

receipt, applications for the VMLRP will 

be reviewed for eligibility and 

completeness by the appropriate staff as 

determined by the Secretary. Incomplete 

or ineligible applications will not be 

processed or reviewed. 

(b) Peer review. Applications for the 

VMLRP that are deemed eligible and 

complete will be referred to the VMLRP 

peer panel for peer review. In evaluating 

the application, reviewers are directed 

to consider the following components, 

as well as any other criteria identified 

in the RFA, and how they relate to the 

likelihood that the applicant will meet 

the terms and conditions of the VMLRP 

agreement, continue to serve in a 

veterinary shortage situation, or pursue 

a career in food animal veterinary 

medicine: 

(1) Major or emphasis areas(s) during 

formal post-secondary training (e.g., 

bachelors degree major, minor); 

(2) Major or emphasis area(s) during 

formal training for DVM/VMD degree; 

(3) Specialty training area/discipline 

(e.g., board certification or graduate 

degree); 

(4) Non-degree/non-board 

certification training or certifications 

(e.g., animal agrosecurity coursework 

and certifications); 

(5) Applicant’s personal statement; 

(6) Awards; 

(7) Letters or recommendation, if 

applicable; and 

(8) Other documentation or criteria, as 

specified in the RFA. 

§ 3431.13 Terms of loan repayment and 

length of service requirements. 

(a) Loan repayment. For each year of 

obligated service in a veterinary 

shortage situation, as determined by the 

Secretary, with a minimum of 3 years 

(and maximum of 4 years) of obligated 

service, the Secretary may pay: 

(1) An amount not exceeding $25,000 

per year of a program participant’s 

qualifying loans; and 

(2) An additional amount not 

exceeding $5,000 per year of a program 

participant’s qualifying loans, if the 

program participant has already been 

selected for participation in the VMLRP 

and agrees to enter into a one-year 

agreement for each year of service to 

provide up to 60 days of obligated 

service to the Federal government in 

animal health emergency situations, as 

determined by the Secretary, provided 

the shortage situation in which the 

participant has agreed to serve has been 

designated as suitable for the Federal 

obligated service. 

(b) To maximize the number of 

agreements and to encourage qualified 

veterinarians to participate in the 

VMLRP, the Secretary may establish a 

loan repayment cap that differs from the 

cap established under paragraph (a)(1) 

and (a)(2) of this section when it is in 

the best interest of VMLRP. This will be 

identified in the RFA. 

(c) The Secretary will determine the 

debt threshold in the RFA. 

(d) Loan repayments will be made 

directly to the loan provider on a 

quarterly basis, starting with the end of 

the first quarter after the program 

eligibility date of the service agreement. 

(e) Once a service agreement has been 

signed by both parties, the Secretary 

will obligate such funds as will be 

necessary to ensure that sufficient funds 

will be available to make loan 

repayments and tax payments, as 

specified in the service agreement, for 

the duration of the period of obligated 

service. Reimbursements for tax 

liabilities in excess of the amount 

provided (not to exceed 39 percent of 

the amount of loan repayment) will be 

subject to the availability of funds. 

These additional tax payments, if 

available to the VMLRP participants, 

will be identified in the RFA and in the 

participant service agreement. 

(f) Participants are required to keep 

payments current on all qualifying 

VMLRP loans. 

(g) Travel expenditures. The VMLRP 

will not reimburse a program 

participant for expenses associated with 

traveling from the program participant’s 

residence to the prospective practice 

site for the purpose of evaluating such 

site or the expenses of relocating from 

the program participant’s temporary or 

permanent residence to a practice site. 

§ 3431.14 Priority. 

Pursuant to NVMSA, the Secretary 

will give priority to agreements with 

veterinarians for the practice of food 

animal medicine in veterinarian 

shortage situations, as determined by 

the Secretary. The Secretary may 

establish additional criteria in the RFA 

for assigning priority levels to 

veterinarian shortage situations 

nominated for award. 

§ 3431.15 Qualifying loans. 

(a) General. Loan repayments 

provided under the VMLRP may consist 

of payments on behalf of participating 

individuals of the principal and interest 

on qualifying educational loans received 

by the individual for attendance of the 

individual at an accredited college of 

veterinary medicine resulting in a 

degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, 

or the equivalent, which loans were 

made for one or more of the following: 

(1) Tuition expenses; 

(2) All other reasonable educational 

expenses, as defined in this part and as 

determined by the Secretary; and 


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(3) Reasonable living expenses, as 

defined in this part and as determined 

by the Secretary. 

(b) Non-eligible loans. The following 

loans are ineligible for repayment under 

the VMLRP: 

(1) Loans not obtained from a bank, 

credit union, savings and loan 

association, not-for-profit organization, 

insurance company, school, and other 

financial or credit institution which is 

subject to examination and supervision 

in its capacity as lending institution by 

an agency of the United States or of the 

State in which the lender has its 

principal place of business; 

(2) Loans for which supporting 

documentation is not available; 

(3) Loans that have been consolidated 

with loans of other individuals, such as 

spouses or children; 

(4) Loans that have been consolidated 

with loans obtained to attend an 

educational institution other than an 

accredited veterinary medical school; 

(5) Loans or portions of loans 

obtained for educational or living 

expenses which exceed the standard of 

reasonableness as determined by the 

participant’s standard school budget for 

the year in which the loan was made, 

and are not determined by the Secretary 

to be reasonable based on additional 

documentation provided by the 

individual; 

(6) Loans, financial debts, or service 

obligations incurred under another loan 

repayment or scholarship program, or 

similar programs, which provide loans, 

scholarships, loan repayments, or other 

awards in exchange for a future service 

obligation; 

(7) Non-educational loans, including 

home equity loans; and 

(8) Any loan in default, delinquent, or 

not in a current payment status. 

§ 3431.16 Certifications and verifications. 

(a) The application for the loan 

repayment program shall include a 

personal statement describing how the 

applicant would meet the requirements 

of: 

(i) The veterinary service shortage 

situations as defined in the RFA; 

(ii) The eligibility criteria for 

application of section § 3431.9 of this 

part; and 

(iii) The selection priority of section 

§ 3431.14 of this part. 

(b) The applicant shall provide 

sufficient documentation to establish 

that the applicant has qualifying loans 

as described in section § 3431.15 of this 

part. 

(c) The applicant shall provide 

sufficient documentation to establish 

that the applicant has the capacity to 

secure an offer of employment or 

establish and/or maintain a veterinary 

practice in a veterinary service shortage 

situation as defined in Subpart A. 

(d) The applicant shall provide, if 

applicable, sufficient documentation to 

establish that the applicant is licensed 

to practice veterinary medicine in the 

jurisdiction in which the applicant has 

an offer of employment. 

(e) The applicant shall provide, if 

applicable, the required documentation 

to establish whether the applicant 

receives payments under any other 

Federal, State, institutional, or private 

loan repayment programs. 

(f) The applicant shall provide the 

required documentation to show that 

he/she has completed, or is in the 

process of completing, the National 

Veterinary Accreditation Program 

(NVAP). 

(g) The applicant shall provide 

authorization to the appropriate staff as 

designated by the Secretary to obtain a 

copy of the participant’s credit report. 

§ 3431.17 VMLRP service agreement offer. 

The Secretary will make an offer to 

successful applicants to enter into an 

agreement with the Secretary to provide 

veterinary services under the VMLRP. 

As part of the offer, successful VMLRP 

applicants will be provided a specific 

period of time, as defined in the RFA, 

to secure an offer of employment or 

establish and/or maintain a veterinary 

practice in a veterinary shortage 

situation. 

§ 3431.18 Service agreement. 

(a) The service agreement shall be 

signed by the program participant and 

the Secretary after acceptance of the 

terms and conditions of the loan 

repayment program by the program 

participant. 

(b) The service agreement shall 

specify the period of obligated service. 

(c) The service agreement shall 

specify the amount of loan repayment to 

be paid for each year of obligated 

service. 

(d) The service agreement shall 

contain a provision defining when a 

breach of the agreement by the program 

participant has occurred. 

(e) The service agreement shall 

provide remedies for the breach of a 

service agreement by a program 

participant, including repayment or 

partial repayment of financial assistance 

received, with interest. 

(f) The service agreement shall 

include provisions addressing the 

granting of a waiver by the Secretary in 

case of hardship. 

(g) Payments under the service 

agreement do not exempt a program 

participant from the responsibility and/ 

or liability for any loan(s) for which he 

or she is obligated, as the Secretary is 

not obligated to the lender/note holder 

for its commitment to the program 

participant. 

(h) During the term of the service 

agreement, the program participant shall 

agree that the Secretary or the 

designated VMLRP service provider is 

authorized to verify the status of each 

loan for which the Secretary will be 

reimbursing the participant. 

(i) The service agreement shall 

contain certifications, as determined by 

the Secretary. 

(j) The service agreement shall 

contain provisions addressing the 

income tax liability of the program 

participant and the availability of 

reimbursement of taxes incurred as a 

result of an individual’s participation in 

the VMLRP. 

(k) Renewal. The service agreement 

will indicate whether the existing 

service agreement may be renewed. 

However, renewal applications are 

subject to peer review and approval, 

acceptance is not guaranteed, and the 

position must still be considered a 

veterinarian shortage situation at the 

time of application for renewal. The 

Secretary may request additional 

documentation in connection with the 

review and approval of a renewal 

application. The Secretary reserves the 

right not to offer renewals. Any requests 

for renewal applications will be 

solicited via the RFA. 

(l) The service agreement shall 

contain participant reporting 

requirements (e.g., quarterly, annual, 

and/or close-out) to allow for program 

monitoring and evaluation. 

§ 3431.19 Payment and tax liability. 

(a) Loan repayment. Loan repayments 

pursuant to a service agreement are 

made directly to a participant’s lender(s) 

by the Secretary or the VMLRP service 

provider. If there is more than one 

outstanding qualified educational loan, 

the Secretary will repay the loans in the 

following order, unless the Secretary 

determines significant savings to the 

program would result from paying loans 

in a different order of priority: 

(1) Loans guaranteed by the U.S. 

Department of Education; 

(2) Loans made or guaranteed by a 

State; 

(3) Loans made by a School; and 

(4) Loans made by other entities, 

including commercial loans. 

(b) Tax Liability Payments. The 

Secretary may make payments of an 

amount not to exceed 39 percent of the 

actual annual loan repayments made in 

a calendar year for all or part of the 

increased Federal, State, and local tax 


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liability resulting from loan repayments 

received under the VMLRP. 

Supplementary payments for increased 

tax liability may be made for the actual 

amount of tax liability associated with 

the receipt of loan repayments under the 

VMLRP. Availability of these additional 

tax liability payments (i.e., in excess of 

39 percent) will be identified in the RFA 

and in the participant service 

agreement. Program participants 

wishing to receive tax liability payments 

will be required to submit their requests 

for such payments in a manner 

prescribed by the Secretary and must 

provide the Secretary with any 

documentation the Secretary determines 

is necessary to establish a program 

participant’s increased tax liability. Tax 

liability payments in excess of 39 

percent will be made on a 

reimbursement basis only. 

(c) Under § 3431.19(a) and (b), the 

Secretary will make loan and tax 

liability payments to the extent 

appropriated funds are available for 

these purposes. 

§ 3431.20 Administration. 

The VMLRP will be administered by 

CSREES, Office of Extramural Programs 

(OEP). OEP may carry out this program 

directly or enter into agreements with 

another Federal agency or other service 

provider to assist in the administration 

of the VMLRP. However, the 

determination of the veterinarian 

shortage areas, peer review of individual 

VMLRP applications, and the overall 

VMLRP oversight and coordination will 

reside with the Secretary. 

§ 3432.21 Breach. 

(a) General. If a program participant 

fails to complete the period of obligated 

service incurred under the service 

agreement, including failing to comply 

with the applicable terms and 

conditions of a waiver granted by the 

Secretary, the program participant must 

pay to the United States an amount as 

determined in the service agreement. 

Payment of this amount shall be made 

within 90 days of the date that the 

program participant failed to complete 

the period of obligated service, as 

determined by the Secretary. 

(b) Exceptions. 

(1) A termination of service for 

reasons that are beyond the control of 

the program participant will not be 

considered a breach. 

(2) A transfer of service from one 

shortage situation to another, if 

approved by the Secretary, will not be 

considered a breach. 

(3) A call or order to active duty will 

not be considered a breach. 

(c) The Secretary may renegotiate the 

terms of a participant’s service 

agreement in the event of a transfer, 

termination or call to active duty 

pursuant to subsection (b). 

(d) Amount of repayment. The service 

agreement shall provide the method for 

the calculation of the amount owned by 

a program participant who has breached 

a service agreement. 

(e) Debt collection. Individuals in 

breach of a service agreement entered 

into under this part are considered to 

owe a debt to the United States for the 

amount of repayment. Any such debt 

will be collected pursuant to the 

Department’s Debt Management 

regulations at 7 CFR part 3. 

§ 3432.22 Waiver. 

(a) A program participant may seek a 

waiver or suspension of the service or 

payment obligations incurred under this 

part by written request to the Secretary 

setting forth the bases, circumstances, 

and causes which support the requested 

action. 

(b) The Secretary may waive any 

service or payment obligation incurred 

by a program participant whenever 

compliance by the program participant 

is impossible or would involve extreme 

hardship to the program participant and 

if enforcement of the service or payment 

obligation would be against equity and 

good conscience. 

(1) Compliance by a program 

participant with a service or repayment 

obligation will be considered impossible 

if the Secretary determines, on the basis 

of information and documentation as 

may be required: 

(i) That the program participant 

suffers from a physical or mental 

disability resulting in the permanent 

inability of the program participant to 

perform the service or other activities 

which would be necessary to comply 

with the obligation; or 

(ii) That the employment of the 

program participant has been 

terminated involuntarily for reasons 

unrelated to job performance. 

(2) In determining whether 

compliance by a program participant 

with the terms of a service or repayment 

obligation imposes an extreme hardship, 

the Secretary may, on the basis of 

information and documentation as may 

be required, take into consideration the 

nature of the participant’s personal 

problems and the extent to which these 

affect the participant’s ability to perform 

the obligation. 

(c) All requests for waivers must be 

submitted to the Secretary in writing. 

(d) A program participant who is 

granted a waiver in accordance with this 

section will be notified by the Secretary 

in writing. 

(e) Any obligation of a program 

participant for service or payment will 

be canceled upon the death of the 

program participant. 

§ 3431.23 Service to Federal Government 

in emergency situations. 

(a) The Secretary may enter into 

agreements of 1 year duration with 

veterinarians who have service 

agreements for such veterinarians to 

provide services to the Federal 

Government in emergency situations, as 

determined by the Secretary, under 

terms and conditions specified in the 

agreement. 

(b) Pursuant to a service agreement 

under this section, the Secretary shall 

pay an amount, in addition to the 

amount paid, as determined by the 

Secretary and specified in the 

agreement, of the principal and interest 

of qualifying educational loans of the 

veterinarians. This amount will be 

provided in the RFA. 

(c) Agreements entered into under 

this paragraph shall include the 

following: 

(1) A veterinarian shall not be 

required to serve more than 60 working 

days per year of the agreement. 

(2) A veterinarian who provides 

service pursuant to the agreement shall 

receive a salary commensurate with the 

duties and shall be reimbursed for travel 

and per diem expenses as appropriate 

for the duration of the service. 

§ 3431.24 Reporting requirements, 

monitoring, and close-out. 

VMLRP participants will be required 

to submit periodic reports per the terms 

and conditions of their service 

agreements. In addition, the Secretary is 

responsible for ensuring that a VMLRP 

participant is complying with the terms 

and conditions of their service 

agreement, including any additional 

reporting or close-out requirements. 

Signed at Washington, DC, on June 26, 

2009. 

Colien Hefferan, 

Administrator, Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–15596 Filed 7–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


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