Notice of Request for Applications for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, 22094-22095 [2014-08938]
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22094
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 76 / Monday, April 21, 2014 / Notices
ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
questionnaires to the respondents at
least twice and may use autodial or a
postcard reminder, before attempting
phone or personal interviews to collect
the data.
Respondents: Version 1—farm
operators: Version 2 landlords who rent
out farm land but do not operate farms.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
45,000 farm or ranch operators and
45,000 landlords who do not operate
farms or ranches.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 132,000 hours. In order to
minimize data collection costs, NASS
will attempt to collect data by utilizing
an internet version of the questionnaire
as well as the U.S. Postal Service. NASS
will then attempt to collect the data
from non-respondents by either phone
or personal enumeration. With the
initial mailing, respondents will be
provided with instructions on how to
access the internet and complete the
questionnaire on line.
The primary objectives of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service are to
prepare and issue State and national
estimates of crop production, livestock
production, economic statistics, and
environmental statistics related to
agriculture and to conduct the Census of
Agriculture and it’s follow on surveys,
which includes the TOTAL surveys.
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 used;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, through
the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, technological or
other forms of information technology
collection methods.
All responses to this notice will
become a matter of public record and be
summarized in the request for OMB
approval.
Signed at Washington, DC, April 10, 2014.
Joseph T. Reilly,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014–09007 Filed 4–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–20–P
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture
Notice of Request for Applications for
the Veterinary Medicine Loan
Repayment Program
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The National Institute of Food
and Agriculture (NIFA) is announcing
the release of the Veterinary Medicine
Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
Request for Applications (RFA) at
www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
DATES: The fiscal year (FY) 2014
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program (VMLRP) application package
will be available at www.nifa.usda.gov/
vmlrp on Monday, April 21, 2014 and
applications are due by Friday, June 6,
2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary
Sherman; National Program Leader,
Veterinary Science; National Institute of
Food and Agriculture; U.S. Department
of Agriculture; STOP 2240, 1400
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20250–2240; Voice:
202–401–4952; Fax: 202–401–6156;
Email: gsherman@nifa.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
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.
On January 17, 2014, the President
signed into law the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2014 (Pub. L. 113–
76), which appropriated $4,790,000 for
the VMLRP.
Section 7105 of 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
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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. 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. 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
NIFA.
The final rule was published in the
Federal Register on April 19, 2010 (75
FR 20239–20248). Based on comments
received during the 60-day comment
period upon publication of the interim
rule on July 9, 2009 (74 FR 32788–
32798), NIFA reconsidered the policy
regarding individuals who consolidated
their veterinary school loans with other
educational loans (e.g. undergraduate)
and their eligibility to apply for the
VMLRP. NIFA will allow these
individuals to apply for and receive a
VMLRP award; however, only the
eligible portion of the consolidation will
be repaid by the VMLRP. Furthermore,
applicants with consolidated loans will
be asked to provide a complete history
of their student loans from the National
Student Loan Database System (NSLDS),
a central database for student aid
E:\FR\FM\21APN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 76 / Monday, April 21, 2014 / Notices
operated by the U.S. Department of
Education. The NSLDS Web site can be
found at www.nslds.ed.gov. Individuals
who consolidated their DVM loans with
non-educational loans or loans
belonging to an individual other than
the applicant, such as a spouse or child,
will continue to be ineligible for the
VMLRP.
In FY 2010, NIFA announced its first
funding opportunity for the VMLRP and
in the four program cycles since, NIFA
has received 695 applications from
which 240 VMLRP awards totaling
$20,723,720 were issued. Consequently,
up to $4,500,000 is available to support
this program in FY 2014. Funding for
future years will be based on annual
appropriations and balances, if any,
remaining from prior years. The
eligibility criteria for applicants and the
application forms and associated
instructions needed to apply for a
VMLRP award can be viewed and
downloaded from the VMLRP Web site
at https://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
Done in Washington, DC, this 10th day of
April, 2014.
Sonny Ramaswamy,
Director, National Institute of Food and
Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2014–08938 Filed 4–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation
Service
[Docket No. NRCS–2014–0002]
Notice of Proposed Changes to the
National Handbook of Conservation
Practices for the Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability of
proposed changes in the NRCS National
Handbook of Conservation Practices for
public review and comment.
AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given of the
intention of NRCS to issue a series of
revised conservation practice standards
in the National Handbook of
Conservation Practices. These standards
include: Access Road (Code 560),
Agrichemical Handling Facility (Code
309), Grade Stabilization Structure
(Code 410), Precision Land Forming
(Code 462), Short Term Storage of
Animal Waste and Byproducts (Code
318), Terraces (Code 600), Trails and
Walkways (Code 575), Watering Facility
(Code 614) and Water Well (Code 642).
NRCS State Conservationists who
choose to adopt these practices for use
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SUMMARY:
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15:19 Apr 18, 2014
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within their States will incorporate
them into section IV of their respective
electronic Field Office Technical Guide.
These practices may be used in
conservation systems that treat highly
erodible land (HEL) or on land
determined to be a wetland. Section 343
of the Federal Agriculture Improvement
and Reform Act of 1996 requires NRCS
to make available for public review and
comment all proposed revisions to
conservation practice standards used to
carry out HEL and wetland provisions of
the law.
DATES: Effective Date: This is effective
April 21, 2014.
Comment Date: Submit comments on
or before May 21, 2014. Final versions
of these new or revised conservation
practice standards will be adopted after
the close of the 30-day period and after
consideration of all comments.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
submitted, identified by Docket Number
NRCS–2014–0002, using any of the
following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail or hand-delivery: Public
Comments Processing, Attention:
Regulatory and Agency Policy Team,
Strategic Planning and Accountability,
Natural Resources Conservation Service,
5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Building 1–
1112D, Beltsville, Maryland 20705.
NRCS will post all comments on
https://www.regulations.gov. In general,
personal information provided with
comments will be posted. If your
comment includes your address, phone
number, email, or other personal
identifying information, your
comments, including personal
information, may be available to the
public. You may ask in your comment
that your personal identifying
information be withheld from public
view, but this cannot be guaranteed.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Wayne Bogovich, National Agricultural
Engineer, Conservation Engineering
Division, Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service,
1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room
6136 South Building, Washington, DC
20250.
Electronic copies of the proposed
revised standards are available through
https://www.regulations.gov by accessing
Docket No. NRCS–2014–0002.
Alternatively, copies can be
downloaded or printed from the
following Web site: https://go.usa.gov/
TXye. Requests for paper versions or
inquiries may be directed to Emil
Horvath, National Practice Standards
Review Coordinator, Natural Resources
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
22095
Conservation Service, Central National
Technology Support Center, 501 West
Felix Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76115.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
amount of the proposed changes varies
considerably for each of the
conservation practice standards
addressed in this notice. To fully
understand the proposed changes,
individuals are encouraged to compare
these changes with each standard’s
current version as shown at: https://
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/
detailfull/national/technical/cp/ncps/
?cid=nrcs143026849. To aid in this
comparison, following are highlights of
some of the proposed revisions to each
standard:
Access Road (Code 560)—The agency
revised the definition. The chart for the
location of cross slope drainage features
was modified to include a variety of
soils rather than a single soil.
Agrichemical Handling Facility (Code
309)—The agency added new criteria
under which lowering the water table
would be allowable, expanded sizing
criteria of the agrichemical handling
pad, clarified language under the storage
capacity criteria, added new criteria for
an equipment wash bay, and updated
and added clarification to the criteria for
concrete exposed to agrichemicals.
Grade Stabilization Structure (Code
410)—The agency refined the definition,
modified criteria, and updated
terminology related to hazard
classification.
Precision Land Forming (Code 462)—
The agency updated the operation and
maintenance section and references.
Short Term Storage of Animal Waste
and Byproducts (Code 318)—The
agency created this new conservation
practice standard.
Terraces (Code 600)—The agency
clearly defined pressure flow and
gravity flow, added tractive stress
references, updated the operation and
maintenance section, and added
references.
Trails and Walkways (Code 575)—The
agency incorporated Trails and
Walkways (Code 568) into Animal Trails
and Walkways (Code 575) under the
name Trails and Walkways (Code 575).
These standards were combined into
one because many of the criteria are
very similar. The practice name,
definition, purpose, and conditions
where practice applies were modified
accordingly.
Watering Facility (Code 614)—The
agency revised the definition of this
practice and a purpose was added. The
criteria for watering ramps were added.
There is more emphasis on water
storage tanks.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22094-22095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08938]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Notice of Request for Applications for the Veterinary Medicine
Loan Repayment Program
AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is
announcing the release of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program (VMLRP) Request for Applications (RFA) at www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
DATES: The fiscal year (FY) 2014 Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program (VMLRP) application package will be available at
www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp on Monday, April 21, 2014 and applications are
due by Friday, June 6, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Sherman; National Program Leader,
Veterinary Science; National Institute of Food and Agriculture; U.S.
Department of Agriculture; STOP 2240, 1400 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20250-2240; Voice: 202-401-4952; Fax: 202-401-6156;
Email: gsherman@nifa.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.
On January 17, 2014, the President signed into law the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2014 (Pub. L. 113-76), which appropriated
$4,790,000 for the VMLRP.
Section 7105 of 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. 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. 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 NIFA.
The final rule was published in the Federal Register on April 19,
2010 (75 FR 20239-20248). Based on comments received during the 60-day
comment period upon publication of the interim rule on July 9, 2009 (74
FR 32788-32798), NIFA reconsidered the policy regarding individuals who
consolidated their veterinary school loans with other educational loans
(e.g. undergraduate) and their eligibility to apply for the VMLRP. NIFA
will allow these individuals to apply for and receive a VMLRP award;
however, only the eligible portion of the consolidation will be repaid
by the VMLRP. Furthermore, applicants with consolidated loans will be
asked to provide a complete history of their student loans from the
National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS), a central database for
student aid
[[Page 22095]]
operated by the U.S. Department of Education. The NSLDS Web site can be
found at www.nslds.ed.gov. Individuals who consolidated their DVM loans
with non-educational loans or loans belonging to an individual other
than the applicant, such as a spouse or child, will continue to be
ineligible for the VMLRP.
In FY 2010, NIFA announced its first funding opportunity for the
VMLRP and in the four program cycles since, NIFA has received 695
applications from which 240 VMLRP awards totaling $20,723,720 were
issued. Consequently, up to $4,500,000 is available to support this
program in FY 2014. Funding for future years will be based on annual
appropriations and balances, if any, remaining from prior years. The
eligibility criteria for applicants and the application forms and
associated instructions needed to apply for a VMLRP award can be viewed
and downloaded from the VMLRP Web site at https://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
Done in Washington, DC, this 10th day of April, 2014.
Sonny Ramaswamy,
Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2014-08938 Filed 4-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-22-P
