Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels for the Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities, 47756-47769 [2010-19509]
Download as PDF
47756
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
designed in consideration of the fuels
hazard reduction management
recommendations and guidelines
provided by the Pennington County
Community Wildfire Protection Plan of
2007.
Proposed Action
Proposed actions include the
following:
• Thin and harvest approximately
8,556 acres of pine stands using a
variety of methods to treat MPB infested
stands, reduce the overall density of
pine trees and create a mosaic of
structural stages across the landscape.
Both commercial and non-commercial
sized trees would be removed utilizing
multiple contracts including
stewardship, timber sale, and service
contracts.
• Disrupt the continuity of surface
and canopy fuels to help reduce the
potential for large-scale, intense wildfire
spread. Treatment could include
thinning, lopping, chipping, crushing,
piling, and burning; restoring natural
fuel breaks by removing conifers that
have encroached upon meadows and
hardwood stands on approximately
1,562 acres; creating fuel breaks along
roads and adjacent to private property—
particularly those properties with
houses and subdivisions. Prescribed
broadcast and pile burning of up to
5,037 acres is also planned to reduce the
natural, as well as the managementcaused accumulation of fuels and to
benefit big game and other wildife
resources.
• Use of existing road templates with
less than two miles of new construction.
Responsible Official
Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger,
Mystic Ranger District, Black Hills
National Forest, 8221 South Highway
16, Rapid City, South Dakota 57702
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The decision to be made is whether or
not to implement the proposed action or
possible alternative at this time.
Scoping Process
Comments and input regarding the
proposal will be received via direct
mailing from the public, other groups,
and agencies during the initial public
comment period in August 2010. If you
would like to be more involved, a public
meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,
August 24, 2010, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
at the Silver City Community Hall,
Silver City, South Dakota. Comments
submitted based on this NOI will be
most useful if received within 30 days
from the date of this notice. Response to
the draft EIS will be sought from the
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
interested public beginning in
November 2010.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent provides
information that the agency will prepare
an environmental impact statement in
response to public comment and
feedback during the August 2010,
scoping period. Comments received will
assist the planning team to develop the
mailing list for the draft EIS and help
identify key issues and opportunities
used to refine the proposal or possible
alternative and mitigation measures.
Comments on the DEIS will be
requested during the 45 day comment
period following the Notice of
Availability, expected to be published
in the Federal Register in November
2010 (See discussion below).
Early Notice of Importance of Public
Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review
The Forest Service believes, at this
early stage, it is important to give
reviewers notice of several court rulings
related to public participation in the
environmental review process. First,
reviewers of draft environmental impact
statements must structure their
participation in the environmental
review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the
reviewer’s position and contentions.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v.
NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also,
environmental objections that could be
raised at the draft environmental impact
statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion of the final
environmental impact statement may be
waived or dismissed by the courts. City
of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016,
1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin
Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp.
1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of
these court rulings, it is very important
that those interested in this proposed
action participate by the close of the 45day comment period so that substantive
comments and objections are made
available to the Forest Service at a time
when it can meaningfully consider them
and respond to them in the final
environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in
identifying and considering issues and
concerns on the proposed action,
comments on the draft environmental
impact statement should be as specific
as possible. It is also helpful if
comments refer to specific pages or
chapters of the draft statement.
Comments may also address the
adequacy of the draft environmental
impact statement or the merits of the
alternatives formulated and discussed in
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
the statement. Reviewers may wish to
refer to the Council on Environmental
Quality Regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act at 40
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22;
Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section
21.
Dated: July 27, 2010.
Craig Bobzien,
Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest.
[FR Doc. 2010–19532 Filed 8–6–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–11–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Announcement of Grant Application
Deadlines and Funding Levels for the
Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural
Communities
Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
Notice of funding availability
(NOFA).
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Rural Utilities Service
(RUS), an agency of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA),
announces the availability of $15.5
million in Fiscal Year 2010 for
competitive grants to assist
communities with extremely high
energy costs. This grant program is
authorized under section 19 of the Rural
Electrification Act of 1936 (RE Act) (7
U.S.C. 918a) and program regulations at
7 CFR Part 1709. The grant funds may
be used to acquire, construct, extend,
upgrade, or otherwise improve energy
generation, transmission, or distribution
facilities serving communities in which
the average residential expenditure for
home energy exceeds 275 percent of the
national average. Eligible applicants
include persons, States, political
subdivisions of States, and other entities
organized under State law. Federallyrecognized Indian Tribes and Tribal
entities are eligible applicants. This
notice describes the eligibility and
application requirements, the criteria
that will be used by the Agency to
award funding, and information on how
to obtain application materials. The
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number for this program is
10.859. You may obtain the Application
Guide and materials for the Assistance
to High Energy Cost Rural Communities
Grant Program via the Internet at the
following Web site: https://
www.usda.gov/rus/electric/hecgp/
index.htm. You may also request the
Application Guide and materials from
RUS by contacting the individual listed
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
Overview Information
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this notice.
You may submit completed grant
applications on paper or electronically
according to the following deadlines:
• Paper applications must be
postmarked and mailed, shipped, or
sent overnight, no later than September
8, 2010, or hand delivered to RUS by
this deadline, to be eligible under this
NOFA. Late or incomplete applications
will not be eligible for FY 2010 grant
funding.
• Electronic applications must be
submitted through Grants.gov no later
than September 8, 2010 to be eligible
under this NOFA for FY 2010 grant
funding. Late or incomplete electronic
applications will not be eligible.
Applications will not be accepted by
electronic mail. Applications will be
accepted on publication of this notice.
DATES:
You may submit completed
applications for grants on paper or
electronically to the following
addresses:
• Paper applications are to be
submitted to the Rural Utilities Service,
Electric Programs, United States
Department of Agriculture 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., STOP
1560, Room 5165 South Building,
Washington, DC 20250–1560.
Applications should be marked
‘‘Attention: High Energy Cost Grant
Program.’’
• Applications may be submitted
electronically through Grants.gov.
Information on how to submit
applications electronically is available
on the Grants.gov Web site (https://
www.Grants.gov). Applicants must
successfully pre-register with Grants.gov
to use the electronic applications
option. Application information may be
downloaded from Grants.gov without
pre-registration.
ADDRESSES:
Application Guides and materials may
be obtained electronically through:
https://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/hecgp/
index.htm. Call the RUS Electric
Programs at (202) 720–9545 to request
paper copies of Application Guides and
other materials.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Karen Larsen, Management Analyst,
Rural Utilities Service, Electric
Programs, United States Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165
South Building, Washington, DC 20250–
1560. Telephone 202–720–9545, Fax
202–690–0717, e-mail
energy.grants@wdc.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
Federal Agency Name: United States
Department of Agriculture, Rural
Utilities Service, Assistant
Administrator, Electric Programs.
Funding Opportunity Title: Assistance
to High Energy Cost Rural Communities.
Announcement Type: Initial
announcement.
Funding Opportunity Number: RD–
RUS–HECG10.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.859. The
CFDA title for this program is
‘‘Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural
Communities.’’
Dates: Applications must be
postmarked and mailed or shipped, or
hand delivered to the RUS, or filed with
Grants.gov by September 8, 2010.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is
making available $15.5 million in
competitive grants under section 19 of
the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (the
‘‘RE Act’’) (7 U.S.C. 918a). Under section
19, the RUS Administrator is authorized
to make grants to ‘‘acquire, construct,
extend, upgrade, and otherwise improve
energy generation, transmission, or
distribution facilities’’ serving extremely
high energy cost communities. Eligible
communities are those in which the
average residential expenditure for
home energy is at least 275 percent of
the national average residential
expenditure for home energy under one
or more of the benchmarks published in
this notice. Program regulations are
codified at 7 CFR part 1709.
The purpose of this grant program is
provide financial assistance for a broad
range of energy facilities, equipment
and related activities to offset the
impacts of extremely high residential
energy costs on eligible communities.
Grant funds may be used to purchase,
construct, extend, repair, upgrade and
otherwise improve energy generation,
transmission, or distribution facilities
serving eligible communities. Eligible
facilities include on-grid and off-grid
renewable energy systems and
implementation of cost-effective
demand side management and energy
conservation programs that benefit
eligible communities. Grant funds may
not be used to pay utility bills or to
purchase fuel. Grant projects under this
program must provide community
benefits and not be for the sole benefit
of an individual applicant, household,
or business.
Eligible applicants include for-profit
and non-profit businesses, cooperatives,
and associations, States, political
subdivisions of States, and other entities
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47757
organized under the laws of States,
Indian Tribes, Tribal entities, and
individuals. Eligible applicants also
include entities located in U.S.
Territories and other areas authorized
by law to participate in the Agency’s
programs or programs under the RE Act.
No cost sharing or matching funds are
required as a condition of eligibility
under this grant program. However, the
RUS will consider other financial
resources available to the applicant and
any voluntary commitment of matching
funds or other contributions in assessing
the applicant’s capacity to carry out the
grant program successfully. The RUS
will award additional evaluation points
to any proposals that include such
contributions.
As a further condition of each grant,
section 19(b)(2) of the RE Act requires
that planning and administrative
expenses of the grantee not directly
related to the project may not exceed 4
percent of the grant funds.
This NOFA provides an overview of
the grant program, and the eligibility
and application requirements, and
selection criteria for grant proposals.
This NOFA includes changes to
eligibility benchmarks and to scoring
criteria. Applicants are encouraged to
review the notice carefully. RUS is also
making available an Application Guide
with more detailed information on
application requirements and copies of
all required forms and certifications.
The Application Guide is available on
the Internet from the Agency Web site
at: https://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/
hecgp/index.htm. The Application
Guide may also be requested from the
contact listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
notice. For additional information,
applicants should consult the program
regulations at 7 CFR part 1709.
Definitions
Consult the program regulations at 7
CFR part 1709 and the Application
Guide for additional definitions used in
this program. As used in this NOFA:
Agency means the Rural Utilities
Service (RUS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture.
Application Guide means the
Application Guide prepared by the
Agency for the High Energy Cost Grant
program containing detailed
instructions for determining eligibility
and preparing grant applications, and
copies of required forms,
questionnaires, and model
certifications.
Extremely high energy costs means
community average residential energy
costs that meet or exceed one or more
home energy cost benchmarks
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
47758
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
established by the Administrator at 275
percent of the national average
residential energy expenditures as
reported by the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) of the United
States Department of Energy.
Home energy means any energy
source or fuel used by a household for
purposes other than transportation,
including electricity, natural gas, fuel
oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas
(propane), other petroleum products,
wood and other biomass fuels, coal,
wind, and solar energy. Fuels used for
subsistence activities in remote rural
areas are also included.
High energy cost benchmarks means
the criteria established by the
Administrator for eligibility as an
extremely high energy cost community.
Home energy cost benchmarks are
calculated for total annual household
energy expenditures; total annual
expenditures for individual fuels;
annual average per unit energy costs for
primary home energy sources and are
set at 275 percent of the relevant
national average household energy
expenditures.
Indian Tribe means a Federally
recognized Tribe as defined under
section 4 of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b) to
include ‘‘* * * any Indian Tribe, band,
nation, or other organized group or
community, including any Alaska
Native village or regional or village
corporation as defined in or established
pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.],
that is recognized as eligible for the
special programs and services provided
by the United States to Indians because
of their status as Indians.’’
Person means any natural person,
firm, corporation, association, or other
legal entity, and includes Indian Tribes
and Tribal entities.
Primary home energy source means
the energy source that is used for space
heating or cooling, water heating,
cooking, and lighting. A household or
community may have more than one
primary home energy source.
State rural development initiative
means a rural economic development
program funded by or carried out in
cooperation with a State agency or
Indian Tribe.
Target area means the geographic area
to be served by the grant.
Target community means the unit or
units of local government in which the
target area is located.
Tribal entity means a legal entity that
is owned, controlled, sanctioned, or
chartered by the recognized governing
body of an Indian Tribe.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
II. Award Information
The total amount of funds available
for grants in Fiscal Year 2010 under this
notice is $15.5 million. The maximum
amount of grant assistance that will be
considered for funding in a grant
application under this notice is
$5,000,000. The minimum amount of
assistance for a grant application under
this program is $75,000. The number of
grants awarded under this NOFA will
depend on the number of applications
submitted, the amount of grant funds
requested, the quality and
competitiveness of applications
submitted, and the availability of funds.
The funding instrument available
under this NOFA will be a grant
agreement. Grants awarded under this
notice must comply with all applicable
USDA and Federal regulations
concerning financial assistance, with
the terms of this notice, and with the
requirements of section 19 of the RE
Act. Grants made under this NOFA will
be administered under the Agency
program regulations at 7 CFR part 1709
and USDA financial assistance
regulations at 7 CFR parts 3015, 3016,
3017, 3018, 3019, and 3052, as
applicable. The award period will
generally be for 36 months, however,
longer periods may be approved
depending on the project involved.
Grantees may request project
extensions.
A new applicant must provide a
narrative grant proposal prepared
according to the instructions in this
NOFA along with all required forms and
information in order to submit a
complete application.
Any prior applicant that submitted a
project proposal in response to the
NOFA published on January 28, 2008
(73 FR 4,778) may request
reconsideration of the earlier
application if the applicant was notified
in writing by the RUS that the
application was accepted as complete
and timely, but was not selected for
funding. The RUS has retained these
original applications. These 2008
eligible applicants may submit
additional information for consideration
of their 2008 applications as described
later in this notice. Applicants under
the 2008 NOFA that were rejected as
incomplete or ineligible may submit
new or revised applications that meet
the requirements of this NOFA.
All timely submitted and complete
applications will be reviewed for
eligibility and rated according to the
criteria described in this NOFA.
Applications will be ranked in order of
their numerical scores on the rating
criteria and forwarded to the RUS
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Administrator. The Administrator will
review the rankings and the
recommendations of the rating panel.
The Administrator will then fund grant
applications in rank order. The Agency
reserves the right in its sole discretion
to make additional awards to
applications submitted under this
announcement through reprogramming
available program funds.
The RUS reserves the right not to
award any or all the funds made
available under this notice, if in the sole
opinion of the Administrator, the grant
proposals submitted are not deemed
feasible under program requirements.
The RUS also reserves the right to
partially fund grants if grant
applications exceed the available funds.
The RUS will advise applicants if it
cannot fully fund a grant request.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
Under Section 19 eligible applicants
include ‘‘Persons, States, political
subdivisions of States, and other entities
organized under the laws of States’’ (7
U.S.C. 918a). Under section 13 of the RE
Act, the term ‘‘Person’’ means ‘‘any
natural person, firm, corporation, or
association’’ (7 U.S.C. 913). Examples of
eligible business applicants include: forprofit and non-profit business entities,
including but not limited to
corporations, associations, partnerships,
limited liability partnerships (LLPs),
cooperatives, trusts, and sole
proprietorships. Eligible government
applicants include State and local
governments, counties, cities, towns,
boroughs, or other agencies or units of
State or local governments; and other
agencies and instrumentalities of States
and local governments. Indian Tribes,
other Tribal entities and Alaska Native
Corporations are also eligible
applicants.
An individual is an eligible applicant
under this program; however, the
proposed grant project must provide
community benefits and not be for the
sole benefit of an individual applicant
or an individual household or business.
All applicants must demonstrate the
legal capacity to enter into a binding
grant agreement with the Federal
Government at the time of the award
and to carry out the proposed grant
funded project according to its terms.
The Office of Management and Budget
requires that all applicants for Federal
grants with the exception of individuals
other than sole proprietorships must
provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B)
Data Universal Numbering System
(DUNS) number with their applications.
Consistent with this Federal policy
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
directive, any organization or sole
proprietorship that applies for a high
energy cost grant must use its DUNS
number on the application and in the
field provided on the revised Standard
Form 424 (SF 424) ‘‘Application for
Federal Assistance’’ to be eligible to
apply. DUNS numbers are available for
free to Federal Grant applicants on line
at https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform or
may be obtained through a short phone
call to D&B. Please see the ‘‘Get
Registered’’ section on Grants.gov for
more information on how to obtain a
DUNS number or how to verify if your
organization already has a DUNS
number. If you already have obtained a
DUNS number in connection with the
Federal acquisition process or requested
or had one assigned to you for another
purpose, you should use that number on
all of your applications. It is not
necessary to request another DUNS
number from D&B.
2. Cost Sharing and Matching
No cost sharing or matching funds are
required as a condition of eligibility
under this grant program. However, the
RUS will consider other financial
resources available to the grant
applicant and any voluntary pledge of
matching funds or other contributions
in assessing the applicant’s commitment
and capacity to carry out the grant
program successfully and will award
additional evaluation points to
proposals that include such
contributions. If a successful applicant
proposes to use matching funds or other
cost contributions in its project to obtain
additional evaluation points, the grant
agreement will include conditions
requiring documentation of the
availability of the matching funds and
actual expenditure of matching funds or
cost contributions. The Agency may
require the applicant to provide
additional documentation confirming
the availability of any matching
contribution offered prior to approval of
project selection. If an applicant fails to
provide timely documentation of the
availability of matching contributions,
the RUS may, in its sole discretion,
disallow any points awarded for
matching contributions and rescore the
project, or decline to award the project
if uncertainties over availability of the
match render the project financially
infeasible; and/or impose additional
conditions.
3. Other Eligibility Requirements
A. Eligible Projects
Grantees must use grant funds for
eligible grant purposes. Grant funds may
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
be used to acquire, construct, extend,
upgrade, or otherwise improve energy
generation, transmission, or distribution
facilities serving eligible communities.
All energy generation, transmission, and
distribution facilities and equipment,
used to provide electricity, natural gas,
home heating fuels, and other energy
service to eligible communities are
eligible. Projects providing or improving
energy services to eligible communities
through on-grid and off-grid renewable
energy projects, energy efficiency, and
energy conservation projects are
eligible. A grant project is eligible if it
improves, or maintains energy services,
or reduces the costs of providing energy
services to eligible communities. Grant
funds may not be used to pay utility
bills or to purchase fuels.
Grants may cover up to the full costs
of any eligible projects subject to the
statutory condition that no more than 4
percent of grant funds may be used for
the planning and administrative
expenses of the grantee. The program
regulations at 7 CFR part 1709 provide
more detail on allowable uses of grant
funds, limitations on grant funds, and
ineligible grant purposes.
The project must serve communities
that meet the extremely high energy cost
eligibility requirements described in
this NOFA. The applicant must
demonstrate that the proposed project
will benefit the eligible communities.
Projects that primarily benefit a single
household or business are not eligible.
Additional information and examples of
eligible project activities are contained
in the Application Guide.
Grant funds cannot be used for:
Preparation of the grant application, fuel
purchases, routine maintenance or other
operating costs, and purchase of
equipment, structures, or real estate not
directly associated with provision of
residential energy services. In general,
grant funds may not be used to support
projects that primarily benefit areas
outside of eligible target communities.
However, grant funds may be used to
finance an eligible target community’s
proportionate share of a larger energy
project.
Each grant applicant must
demonstrate the economic and technical
feasibility of its proposed project.
Activities or equipment that would
commonly be considered as research
and development activities, or
commercial demonstration projects for
new energy technologies will not be
considered as technologically feasible
projects and would, thus, be ineligible
grant purposes. However, grant funds
may be used for projects that involve the
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47759
innovative use or adaptation of energyrelated technologies that have been
commercially proven.
B. Eligible Communities
The grant project must benefit
communities with extremely high
energy costs. The RE Act defines an
extremely high energy cost community
as one in which ‘‘the average residential
expenditure for home energy is at least
275 percent of the national average
residential expenditure for home
energy’’ 7 U.S.C. 918a. The benchmarks
are set based on the latest available
information from the Energy
Information Administration (EIA)
residential energy surveys.
The statutory requirement that
community residential expenditures for
home energy exceed 275 percent of
national average establishes a very high
threshold for eligibility under this
program. The Agency has calculated
high energy cost benchmarks based on
the most recent EIA national average
home energy expenditure data. The
current benchmarks are shown in Table
1. These benchmarks have been revised
since publication of the 2008 NOFA.
New applicants must demonstrate that
proposed target communities must meet
one or more high energy cost
benchmarks to qualify as an eligible
beneficiary of a grant under this
program. All applications submitted
after publication of this announcement
must meet these current eligibility
benchmarks. Eligible applications
submitted under the January 28, 2008
and requesting reconsideration will
retain eligibility established under the
prior benchmarks. Based on available
published information on residential
energy costs, the Agency anticipates that
only those communities with the
highest energy costs across the country
will qualify under this congressionallymandated standard.
The EIA’s Residential Energy
Consumption and Expenditure Surveys
(RECS) and reports provide the baseline
national average household energy costs
that were used for establishing
extremely high energy cost community
eligibility criteria for this grant program.
The RECS data base and reports provide
national and regional information on
residential energy use, expenditures,
and housing characteristics. EIA
published its latest available RECS
home energy expenditure survey results
in 2009. These estimates of home energy
usage and expenditures are based on
national surveys conducted in 2005
survey data and are shown in Table 1
as follows:
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
47760
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
TABLE 1—NATIONAL AVERAGE ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD ENERGY EXPENDITURES AND EXTREMELY HIGH ENERGY COST
ELIGIBILITY BENCHMARKS EFFECTIVE FOR APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED ON OR AFTER AUGUST 9, 2010
EIA 2005
national annual
average household
expenditure
$ per year
Fuel
RUS extremely
high energy cost
benchmark
275% of national
average
$ per year
Average Annual Household Expenditure
Electricity ........................................................................................................................................................
Natural Gas ....................................................................................................................................................
Fuel Oil ..........................................................................................................................................................
LPG/Propane .................................................................................................................................................
Total Household Energy Use ........................................................................................................................
$1,123
754
1,518
875
1,810
$3,010
1,988
3,921
2,256
4,860
EIA 2005
national average
unit cost
$ per unit
Fuel (units)
RUS extremely
high energy cost
benchmark 275%
of national
average
$ per unit
$0.10
11.24
2.04
1.92
19.07
$0.264
30.30
5.54
5.10
51.62
Annual Average per Unit Residential Energy Costs
Electricity (kilowatt hours) ..............................................................................................................................
Natural Gas (thousand cubic feet) ................................................................................................................
Fuel Oil (gallons) ...........................................................................................................................................
LPG/Propane (gallons) ..................................................................................................................................
Total Household Energy (million Btus) ..........................................................................................................
Sources: Energy Information Administration, United States Department of Energy, 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey—Detailed Tables, available at: https://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recs2005/c&e/detailed_tables2005c&e.html. The RUS benchmarks calculations include adjustments to reflect the uncertainties inherent in EIA’s statistical methodology for estimating home energy costs. The benchmarks are set based
on the EIA’s lower range estimates using the specified EIA methods.
Extremely high energy costs in rural
and remote communities typically result
from a combination of factors including
high energy consumption, high per unit
energy costs, limited availability of
energy sources, extreme climate
conditions, and housing characteristics.
The relative impacts of these conditions
exhibit regional and seasonal diversity.
Market factors have created an
additional complication in recent years
as the prices of the major commercial
residential energy sources—electricity,
fuel oil, natural gas, and LPG/propane—
have fluctuated dramatically in some
areas.
The applicant must demonstrate that
each community in the grant project’s
proposed target area exceeds one or
more of these high energy cost
benchmarks to be eligible for assistance
under this program.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
i. High Energy Cost Benchmarks
The benchmarks measure extremely
high energy costs for residential
consumers. These benchmarks were
calculated using EIA’s estimates of
national average residential energy
expenditures per household and by
primary home energy source. The
benchmarks recognize the diverse
factors that contribute to extremely high
home energy costs in rural
communities. The benchmarks allow
VerDate Mar<15>2010
18:09 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
extremely high energy cost communities
several alternatives for demonstrating
eligibility. Communities may qualify
based on: Total annual household
energy expenditures; Total annual
expenditures for commercially-supplied
primary home energy sources, i.e.,
electricity, natural gas, oil, or propane;
or average annual per unit home energy
costs. By providing alternative measures
for demonstrating eligibility, the
benchmarks reduce the burden on
potential applicants created by the
limited public availability of
comprehensive data on local
community energy consumption and
expenditures.
A target community or target area will
qualify as an extremely high cost energy
community if it meets one or more of
the energy cost eligibility benchmarks
described below.
a. Extremely High Average Annual
Household Expenditure for Home
Energy. The target area or community
exceeds one or more of the following:
• Average annual residential
electricity expenditure of $3,010 per
household;
• Average annual residential natural
gas expenditure of $1,988 per
household;
• Average annual residential
expenditure on fuel oil of $3,921 per
household;
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
• Average annual residential
expenditure on propane or liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) as a primary home
energy source of $2,256 per household;
or
• Average annual residential energy
expenditure (for all non-transportation
uses) of $4,860 per household.
b. Extremely High Average per unit
energy costs. The average residential per
unit cost for major commercial energy
sources in the target area or community
exceeds one or more of the following:
• Annual average revenues per
kilowatt hour for residential electricity
customers of $0.264 per kilowatt hour
(kWh);
• Annual average residential natural
gas price of $30.30 per thousand cubic
feet;
• Annual average residential fuel oil
price of $5.54 per gallon;
• Annual average residential price of
propane or LPG as a primary home
energy source of $5.10 per gallon; or
• Total annual average residential
energy cost on a Btu basis of $51.62 per
million Btu.1
1 Note: Btu is the abbreviation for British thermal
unit, a standard energy measure. A Btu is the
quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of
one pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit at or near
39.2 degrees Fahrenheit. In estimating average
household per unit energy cost on a Btu basis, the
costs of different home energy sources are
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
ii. Supporting Energy Cost Data
The applicant must include
information that demonstrates its
eligibility under the Agency’s high
energy cost benchmarks for the target
communities and the target areas. The
applicant must supply documentation
or references for its sources for actual or
estimated home energy expenditures or
equivalent measures to support
eligibility. Generally, the applicant will
be expected to use historical residential
energy cost or expenditure information
for the local energy provider serving the
target community or target area to
determine eligibility. Other potential
sources of home energy related
information include Federal and State
agencies, local community energy
providers such as electric and natural
gas utilities and fuel dealers, and
commercial publications. The
Application Guide includes a list of EIA
resources on residential energy
consumption and costs that may be of
assistance.
The grant applicant must establish
eligibility for each community in the
project’s target area. To determine
eligibility, the applicant must identify
each community included in whole or
in part within the target areas and
provide supporting actual or estimated
energy expenditure data for each
community. The smallest area that may
be designated as a target area is a 2000
Census block. This minimum size is
necessary to enable a determination of
population size.
Potential applicants can compare the
benchmark criteria to available
information about local energy use and
costs to determine their eligibility.
Applicants should demonstrate their
eligibility using historical energy use
and cost information. Where such
information is unavailable or does not
adequately reflect the actual costs of
supporting average home energy use in
a local community, the Agency will
consider estimated commercial energy
costs. The Application Guide includes
examples of circumstances where
estimated energy costs are used.
EIA does not collect or maintain data
on home energy expenditures in
sufficient detail to identify specific rural
localities as extremely high energy cost
communities. Therefore, grant
applicants will have to provide
information on local community energy
costs from other sources to support their
applications.
converted to a standard Btu basis. The Application
Guide contains additional information on
calculating per unit costs on a Btu basis for major
home energy sources.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
In many instances, historical
community energy cost information can
be obtained from a variety of public
sources or from local utilities and other
energy providers. For example, EIA
publishes monthly and annual reports
of residential prices by State and by
service area for electric utilities and
larger natural gas distribution
companies. Average residential fuel oil
and propane prices are reported
regionally and for major cities by
government and private publications.
Many State agencies also compile and
publish information on residential
energy costs to support State programs.
iii. Use of Estimated Home Energy Costs
Where historical community energy
cost data are incomplete or lacking or
where community-wide data do not
accurately reflect the costs of providing
home energy services in the target area,
the applicant may substitute estimates
based on engineering standards. The
estimates should use available
community, local, or regional data on
energy expenditures, consumption,
housing characteristics and population.
Estimates are also appropriate where the
target area does not presently have
centralized commercial energy services
at a level that is comparable to other
residential customers in the State or
region. For example, local commercial
energy cost information may not be
available where the target area is
without local electric service because of
the high costs of connection.
Engineering cost estimates reflecting the
incremental costs of extending service
could reasonably be used to establish
eligibility for areas without gridconnected electric service. Estimates
also may be appropriate where
historical energy costs do not reflect the
costs of providing a necessary upgrade
or replacement of energy infrastructure
to maintain or extend service that would
raise costs above one or more of
benchmarks.
Information to support high energy
cost eligibility is subject to independent
review by the Agency. Applications that
contain information that is not
reasonably based on credible sources of
information and sound estimates will be
rejected. Where appropriate, the Agency
may consult standard sources to confirm
the reasonableness of information and
estimates provided by applicants in
determining eligibility, technical
feasibility, and adequacy of proposed
budget estimates.
C. Coordination With State Rural
Development Initiatives
USDA encourages the coordination of
grant projects under this program with
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47761
State development initiatives. There is
no requirement that the grant proposal
receive the concurrence or approval of
State officials as a condition of
eligibility under this program. The
Agency will, however, award additional
points to proposals that are coordinated
with and support rural development
initiatives within a State. The applicant
should describe how the proposed
project will support State rural
development initiatives and provide
documentation evidencing any project
relationship to State initiatives.
If an applicant is an entity directly
involved in rural development efforts,
such as a State, local, or Tribal rural
development agency, the applicant may
qualify for additional points by
describing how its proposed project
supports its efforts.
D. Limitations on Grant Awards
a. Statutory Limitation on Planning and
Administrative Expenses
Section 19 of the RE Act provides that
no more than 4 percent of the grant
funds for any project may be used for
the planning and administrative
expenses of the grantee that are not
directly related to the grant project.
ii. Ineligible Grant Purposes
Grant funds cannot be used for:
Preparation of the grant application, fuel
purchases, routine maintenance or other
operating costs, and purchase of
equipment, structures, or real estate not
directly associated with provision of
residential energy services. In general,
grant funds may not be used to support
projects that primarily benefit areas
outside of eligible target communities.
However, grant funds may be used to
finance an eligible target community’s
proportionate share of a larger energy
project.
Consistent with USDA policy and
program regulations, grant funds
awarded under this program generally
cannot be used to replace other USDA
assistance or to refinance or repay
outstanding loans under the RE Act.
Grant funds may, however, be used in
combination with other USDA
assistance programs including electric
loans. Grants may be applied toward
grantee contributions under other USDA
programs depending on the terms of
those programs. For example, an
applicant may propose to use grant
funds to offset the costs of electric
system improvements in extremely high
cost areas by increasing the utility’s
contribution for line extensions or
system expansions to its distribution
system financed in whole or part by an
electric loan under the RE Act. An
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
47762
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
applicant may propose to finance a
portion of an energy project for an
extremely high energy cost community
through this grant program and secure
the remaining project costs through a
loan or loan guarantee or grant from the
Agency or other sources.
iii. Maximum and Minimum Awards
The maximum amount of grant
assistance that will be considered for
funding per grant application under this
notice is $5,000,000. The minimum
amount of assistance for a competitive
grant application under this program is
$75,000.
IV. Application and Submission
Information
All applications must be prepared and
submitted in compliance with this
NOFA and the Application Guide. The
Application Guide contains additional
information on the grant program,
sources of information for use in
preparing applications, examples of
eligible projects, and copies of the
required application forms.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
1. Address To Request an Application
Package
Applications materials and the
Application Guide are available for
download through https://
www.Grants.gov (under CFDA No.
10.859) and on the Electric Programs
Web site at: https://www.usda.gov/rus/
electric/hecgp/index.htm.
Application packages, including
required forms, may be also be
requested from: Karen Larsen,
Management Analyst, United States
Department of Agriculture, Rural
Development Utilities Programs,
Electric Program, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165
South Building, Washington, DC 20250–
1560. Telephone 202–720–9545, Fax
202–690–0717, e-mail
energy.grants@wdc.usda.gov.
2. Content and Form of Application
Submission
There are different application
requirements for first-time applicants
and for prior applicants requesting
reconsideration. First-time applicants
are those that did not submit a timely
and complete application or request for
reconsideration in response to the
January 28, 2008 (73 FR 4778) NOFA.
First-time applicants should follow the
directions in this notice and the
Application Guide in preparing their
applications and narrative proposals.
The completed application package
should be assembled in the order
specified with all pages numbered
sequentially or by section. If you
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
submitted an application in 2003, 2004,
2005, or 2007, but did not submit a
request for reconsideration in 2008, you
must submit a complete new
application package meeting current
eligibility and content requirements.
Prior 2008 applicants should follow the
special instructions for reconsideration
of their applications and submit a
revised Standard Form 424 (SF–424), a
letter requesting reconsideration, and
any supplemental material by the
deadline.
A. Application Contents for New
Applications
First-time applicants must submit the
following information for the
application to be complete and
considered for funding:
i. Part A. A Completed SF 424,
‘‘Application for Federal Assistance.’’
This form must be signed by a person
authorized to submit the proposal on
behalf of the applicant. Note: SF 424 has
recently been revised to include new
required data elements, including a
DUNS number. You must submit the
revised form. Copies of this form are
available in the application package
available on line through the Agency
Web site or through Grants.gov, or by
request from the Agency contact listed
above.
ii. Part B. Grant Proposal. The grant
proposal is a narrative description
prepared by the applicant that
establishes the applicant’s eligibility,
identifies the eligible extremely high
energy cost communities to be served by
the grant, and describes the proposed
grant project, the potential benefits of
the project, and a proposed budget. The
grant proposal should contain the
following sections in the order
indicated.
1. Executive Summary. The Executive
Summary is a one to two page narrative
summary that: (a) Identifies the
applicant, project title, and the key
contact person with telephone and fax
numbers, mailing address and e-mail
address; (b) specifies the amount of
grant funds requested; (c) provides a
brief description of the proposed project
including the eligible rural communities
and residents to be served, activities and
facilities to be financed, and how the
grant project will offset or reduce the
target community’s extremely high
energy costs; and (d) identifies the
associated State rural development
initiative, if any, that the project
supports. The Executive Summary
should also indicate whether the
applicant is claiming additional points
under any of the criteria designated as
USDA priorities under this NOFA.
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
2. Table of Contents. The application
package must include a table of contents
immediately after the Executive
Summary with page numbers for all
required sections, forms, and
appendices.
3. Applicant Eligibility. This section
includes a narrative statement that
identifies the applicant and supporting
evidence establishing that the applicant
has or will have the legal authority to
enter into a financial assistance
relationship with the Federal
Government. Examples of supporting
evidence of applicant’s legal existence
and eligibility include: A reference to or
copy of the relevant statute, regulation,
executive order, or legal opinion
authorizing a State, local, or Tribal
government program, articles of
incorporation or certificates of
incorporation for corporate applicants,
partnership or trust agreements, board
resolutions. Applicants must also be
free of any debarment or other
restriction on their ability to contract
with the Federal Government.
4. Community Eligibility. This section
provides a narrative description of the
community or communities to be served
by the grant and supporting information
to establish eligibility. The narrative
must show that the proposed grant
project’s target area or areas are located
in one or more communities where the
average residential energy costs exceed
one or more of the benchmark criteria
for extremely high energy costs as
described in this NOFA. The narrative
should clearly identify the location and
population of the areas to be aided by
the grant project and their energy costs
and the population of the local
government division in which they are
located. Local energy providers and
sources of high energy cost data and
estimates should be clearly identified.
Neither the applicant nor the project
must be physically located in the
extremely high energy cost community,
but the funded project must serve an
eligible community.
The population estimates should be
based on the results of the 2000 Census
available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Additional information and exhibits
supporting eligibility may include
maps, summary tables, and references to
statistical information from the U.S.
Census, the Energy Information
Administration, other Federal and State
agencies, or private sources. The
Application Guide includes additional
information and sources that the
applicant may find useful in
establishing community eligibility.
5. Coordination with State Rural
Development Initiatives. In this section
the applicant must describe how the
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
proposed grant is coordinated with and
supports any rural development efforts.
The applicant should provide
supporting references or documentation
of any relationship or contribution to
State rural development initiatives.
6. Project Overview. This section
includes the applicant’s narrative
overview of its proposed project. The
narrative must address the following:
a. Project Design: This section must
provide a narrative description of the
project including a proposed scope of
work identifying major tasks and
proposed schedules for task completion,
a detailed description of the equipment,
facilities and associated activities to be
financed with grant funds, the location
of the eligible extremely high energy
cost communities to be served, and an
estimate of the overall duration of the
project. The Project Design description
should be sufficiently detailed to
support a finding of technical
feasibility. Proposed projects involving
construction, repair, replacement, or
improvement of electric generation,
transmission, and distribution facilities
must generally be consistent with the
standards and requirements for projects
financed with loans and loan guarantees
under the RE Act as set forth in the
Agency’s Electric Programs Regulations
and Bulletins and may reference these
requirements.
b. Project Management: This section
must provide a narrative describing the
applicant’s capabilities and project
management plans. The description
should address the applicant’s
organizational structure, method of
funding, legal authority, key personnel,
project management experience,
financial management systems, staff
resources, the goals and objectives of the
program or business, and any related
services provided to the project
beneficiaries. A current financial
statement and other supporting
documentation may be referenced here
and included under the Supplementary
Material section. If the applicant
proposes to use affiliated entities,
contractors, or subcontractors to provide
services funded under the grant, the
applicant must describe the identities,
relationship, qualifications, and
experience of these affiliated entities.
The experience and capabilities of these
entities will be reviewed by the rating
panel. If the applicant proposes to
secure equipment, design, construction,
or other services from non-affiliated
entities, the applicant must briefly
describe how it plans to procure and/or
contract for such equipment or services.
The applicant should provide
information that will support a finding
that the combination of management
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
team’s experience, financial
management capabilities, resources and
project structure will enable successful
completion of the project. Applicants
are encouraged to review the financial
management requirements for Federal
grantees in 7 CFR part 1709 and USDA
financial assistance regulations at 7 CFR
parts 3015, 3016, 3017, 3018, 3019, and
3052, as applicable, and to address their
ability to comply with these
requirements in their applications.
c. Regulatory and other approvals:
The applicant must identify any other
regulatory or other approvals required
by other Federal, State, local, or Tribal
agencies, or by private entities as a
condition of financing that are necessary
to carry out the proposed grant project
and its estimated schedule for obtaining
the necessary approvals.
d. Benefits of the proposed project.
The applicant should describe how the
proposed project would benefit the
target area and eligible communities.
The description must specifically
address how the project will improve
energy generation, transmission, or
distribution facilities serving the target
area. The applicant should clearly
identify how the project addresses the
energy needs of the community and
include appropriate measures of project
success such as, for example, expected
reductions in household or community
energy costs, avoided cost increases,
enhanced reliability, or economic or
social benefits from improvements in
energy services available to the target
community. The applicant should
include quantitative estimates of cost or
energy savings and other benefits. The
applicant should provide
documentation or references to support
its statements about cost-effectiveness
savings and improved services. The
applicant should also describe how it
plans to measure and monitor the
effectiveness of the program in
delivering its projected benefits.
7. Proposed Project Budget. The
applicant must submit a proposed
budget for the grant program on SF
424A, ‘‘Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs’’ or SF–424C,
‘‘Standard Form for Budget InformationConstruction Programs,’’ as applicable.
All applicants that submit applications
through Grants.gov must use SF–424A.
The applicant should supplement the
budget summary form with more
detailed information describing the
basis for cost estimates. The detailed
budget estimate should itemize and
explain major proposed project cost
components such as, but not limited to,
the expected costs of design and
engineering and other professional
services, personnel costs (salaries/wages
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47763
and fringe benefits), equipment,
materials, property acquisition, travel (if
any), and other direct costs, and indirect
costs, if any. The budget must document
that planned administrative and other
expenses of the project sponsor that are
not directly related to performance of
the grant will not total more than 4
percent of grant funds. The applicant
must also identify the source and
amount of any other Federal or nonFederal contributions of funds or
services that will be used to support the
proposed project. This program does not
require supplemental or matching funds
for eligibility; however, the Agency will
award additional rating points for
programs that include a match of other
funds or like-kind contributions to
support the project.
8. Supplementary Material. The
applicant may append any additional
information relevant to the proposal or
which may qualify the application for
extra points under the evaluation
criteria described in this NOFA.
iii. Part C. Additional Required Forms
and Certifications. In order to establish
compliance with other Federal
requirements for financial assistance,
the applicant must execute and submit
with the initial application the
following forms and certifications:
• SF 424B, ‘‘Assurances—NonConstruction Programs’’ or SF 424D,
‘‘Assurances—Construction Programs’’
(as applicable). All applicants applying
through Grants.gov must use form SF
424B.
• SF LLL, ‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying
Activities.’’
• ‘‘Certification Regarding Debarment,
Suspension and Other Responsibility
Matter—Primary Covered Transactions’’
as required under 7 CFR part 3017,
Appendix A. Certifications for
individuals, corporations, nonprofit
entities, Indian Tribes, partnerships.
• Environmental Profile. The Agency
environmental profile template
included in the Application Guide
solicits information about project
characteristics and site-specific
conditions that may involve
environmental, historic preservation,
and other resources. The profile will be
used by the Agency’s environmental
staff to identify selected projects that
may require additional environmental
reviews, assessments, or environmental
impact statements before a final grant
award may be approved. A copy of the
environmental profile and instructions
for completion are included in the
Application Guide and may be
downloaded from the Agency Web site
or Grants.gov.
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
47764
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
B. Special Requirements for Applicants
Requesting Reconsideration of an
Application Submitted in 2008
Applicants that submitted
applications in response to the NOFA
published on January 28, 2008 (73 FR
4,778) and that later received a letter
from the RUS with their scores and
advising them that the application was
determined to be eligible and complete,
may request reconsideration of their
2008 applications in this round of
competitive funding. To request
reconsideration, the applicant must
submit a new original Standard Form SF
424, including mandatory data elements
(DUNS number, fax number, and e-mail
address) along with a brief signed letter
requesting reconsideration and
identifying any additional information
that they wish to be considered by the
rating panel in reviewing their
application along with supporting
documentation. Community eligibility
for these prior applications was
determined under the eligibility
benchmarks for the 2008 NOFA. These
accepted and complete applications will
be grandfathered under this NOFA.
The required application package for
reconsideration will consist of the
original signed SF 424, the request for
reconsideration, and any additional
supporting documents, plus the original
application package submitted to the
RUS in 2008. The Agency has
maintained these prior applications on
file and will add the newly submitted
material to the existing application
package for review by the rating panel.
You do not need to send a copy of the
2008 application package. Because this
abbreviated application package differs
from the general application package for
first time applicants available through
Grants.gov, applicants requesting
reconsideration should submit their
requests directly to the RUS by the
application deadline and not through
Grants.gov. Applicants that submitted
an application in 2008 also have the
option of submitting an entirely new
complete application package for their
project under the requirements of this
NOFA.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
3. Additional Information Requests
In addition to the information
required to be submitted in the
application package, the RUS may
request that successful grant applicants
provide additional information,
analyses, forms and certifications as a
condition of pre-award clearance,
including any environmental reviews or
other reviews or certifications required
under USDA and Government-wide
assistance regulations. The RUS will
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
advise the applicant in writing of any
additional information required.
4. Submitting the Application
Applicants that are submitting paper
application packages must submit one
original application package that
includes original signatures on all
required forms and certifications and
two copies. Applications should be
submitted on 8 1⁄2 by 11 inch white
paper. Supplemental materials, such as
maps, charts, plans, and photographs
may exceed this size requirement.
A completed paper application
package must contain all required parts
in the order indicated in the above
section on ‘‘Content and Form of
Application Submission.’’ The
application package should be
paginated either sequentially or by
section. Applicants are requested to
provide the application package in
single-sided format for ease of copying.
Applicants that are submitting
application packages electronically
through the Federal grants portal
Grants.gov (https://www.Grants.gov)
must follow the application
requirements and procedures and
submit all the forms in the application
package provided there. The Grants.gov
Web site contains full instructions on all
required registration, passwords,
credentialing and software required to
submit applications electronically.
Grants.gov has streamlined the
registration and credentialing process
and now requires separate application
processes for individuals and
organizations. Individual applicants,
including individuals applying on
behalf of an organization, should follow
the special directions for individuals on
the Grants.gov Web site. Organizational
applicants and sole proprietorships
should follow the instructions for
organizations.
Organizational applicants are advised
that completion of the requirements for
registration with Grants.gov, with the
Central Contractor Registry, and eAuthentication required under
Grants.gov may take a week or more and
may be delayed. Accordingly, the
Agency strongly recommends that you
complete your organization’s
registration with Grants.gov well in
advance of the deadline for submitting
applications.
USDA encourages both individual
and organizational applicants who wish
to apply through Grants.gov to submit
their applications well in advance of the
deadlines. Early submittal will give you
time to resolve any system problems or
technical difficulties with an electronic
application through the customer
support resources available at the
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Grants.gov Web site while preserving
the option of submitting a timely paper
application if any difficulties cannot be
resolved.
5. Disclosure of Information
All material submitted by the
applicant may be made available to the
public in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and
USDA’s implementing regulations at 7
CFR part 1.
6. Submission Dates and Times
Applications must be postmarked or
hand delivered to the RUS or posted to
Grants.gov by September 8, 2010. The
Agency will begin accepting
applications on the date of publication
of this NOFA. The Agency will accept
for review all applications postmarked
or delivered to us by this deadline. Late
applications will not be considered and
will be returned to the applicant.
For the purposes of determining the
timeliness of an application the RUS
will accept the following as a valid
postmarks: the date stamped by the
United States Postal Service on the
outside of the package containing the
application delivered by U.S. Mail; the
date the package was received by a
commercial delivery service as
evidenced by the delivery label; the date
received via hand delivery to the RUS
headquarters; and the date an electronic
application was posted for submission
to Grants.gov.
7. Intergovernmental Review
This program is not subject to the
requirements of Executive Order 12372,
‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs,’’ as implemented under
USDA’s regulations at 7 CFR part 3015.
8. Funding Restrictions
Section 19 of the RE Act provides that
no more than 4 percent of the grant
funds may be used for the planning and
administrative expenses of the grantee
not directly related to the grant project.
9. Other Submission Requirements
Applicants that are submitting paper
applications must submit one original
application package that includes
original signatures on all required forms
and certifications and two copies.
Applications should be single-sided and
submitted on 81⁄2 by 11-inch white
paper. Supplemental materials, such as
maps, charts, plans, and photographs
may exceed this size requirement.
A completed application for first-time
applicants must contain all required
parts in the order indicated in the above
section on ‘‘Content and Form of
Application Submission.’’ The
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
application package should be
paginated either sequentially or by
section. Applicants seeking
reconsideration should follow the
special instructions above.
The completed paper application
package and two copies must be
delivered to the RUS headquarters in
Washington, DC using United States
Mail, overnight delivery service, or by
hand to the following address: Rural
Utilities Service, Electric Programs,
United States Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165
South Building, Washington, DC 20250–
1560. Applications should be marked
‘‘Attention: High Energy Cost
Community Grant Program.’’
Applicants are advised that regular
mail deliveries to Federal Agencies,
especially of oversized packages and
envelopes, continue to be delayed
because of increased security screening
requirements. Applicants may wish to
consider using Express Mail or a
commercial overnight delivery service
instead of regular mail. Applicants
wishing to hand deliver or use courier
services for delivery should contact the
Agency representative in advance to
arrange for building access. The RUS
advises applicants that because of
intensified security procedures at
government facilities that any electronic
media included in an application
package may be damaged during
security screening. If an applicant
wishes to submit such materials, they
should contact the agency
representative for additional
information.
The RUS will accept electronic
applications through the Federal Web
portal at https://www.Grants.gov.
Applicants wishing to submit electronic
applications through Grants.gov must
follow the application procedures and
submission requirements detailed on
that Web site at https://www.Grants.gov.
Applicants that file through Grants.gov
should receive electronic confirmation
from Grants.gov that their applications
have been received within 48 hours of
submitting the application. Grants.gov
will send a second electronic message
that the application has either been
successfully accepted by the system for
transmission to the grantor agency OR
has been rejected due to errors. After the
grant application deadline has passed,
USDA will send an electronic
confirmation acknowledging that the
application has been received by the
RUS from Grants.gov. Grants.gov will
not accept applications for filing after
the deadline has passed. The Agency
will not accept applications directly
over the Internet, by e-mail, or fax.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
Applicants should be aware that
Grants.gov requires that applicants
complete several preliminary
registrations and e-authentication
requirements before being allowed to
submit applications electronically.
Applicants should consult the
Grants.gov Web site and allow ample
time to complete the steps required for
registration before submitting their
applications. Applicants may download
application materials and complete
forms online through Grants.gov
without completing the registration
requirements. Application materials
prepared online may be printed and
submitted in paper to the Agency as
detailed above.
10. Multiple Applications
Eligible applicants may submit only
one application per project. Multiple
tasks and localities may be included in
a single proposed grant project. No more
than $5 million in grant funds will be
awarded per project application.
Applicants may, however, submit
applications for more than one project.
V. Application Review Information
All applications for grants must be
delivered to the Agency at the address
listed above or postmarked no later than
September 8, 2010 to be eligible. After
the deadline has passed, the Agency
will review each timely submitted
application to determine whether it is
complete and meets all of the eligibility
requirements described in this NOFA.
After the application closing date, the
Agency will not consider any
unsolicited information from the
applicant. The RUS may contact the
applicant for additional information or
to clarify statements in the application
required to establish applicant or
community eligibility and
completeness. Only applications that
are complete and meet the eligibility
criteria will be considered. The RUS
will not accept or solicit any additional
information relating to the technical
merits and/or economic feasibility of the
grant proposal after the application
closing date.
If the RUS determines that an
application package was not delivered
to the Agency, or postmarked on or
before the deadline of September 8,
2010, the application will be rejected as
untimely and returned to the applicant.
After review, the RUS will reject any
application package that it determines is
incomplete or that does not demonstrate
that the applicant, community or project
is eligible under the requirements of this
NOFA and program regulations. The
Assistant Administrator, Electric
Programs will notify the applicant of the
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47765
rejection in writing and provide a brief
explanation of the reasons for rejection.
Applicants may appeal the rejection
pursuant to program regulations on
appeals at 7 CFR 1709.6. The appeal
must be made in writing to the Agency
Administrator within 10 days after the
applicant is notified of the
determination to reject the application.
The appeal must state the basis for the
appeal. Under 7 CFR 1709.6, appeals
must be directed to the Administrator,
Rural Utilities Service, United States
Department of Agriculture, 1400
Independence Ave., SW., STOP 1500,
Washington, DC 20250–1500. The
Administrator will review the appeal to
determine whether to sustain, reverse,
or modify the original determination by
the Assistant Administrator. The
Administrator’s decision shall be final.
A written copy of the Administrator’s
decision will be furnished promptly to
the applicant.
The RUS may establish one or more
rating panels to review and rate the
eligible grant applications. These panels
may include persons not currently
employed by USDA.
The panel will evaluate and rate all
complete applications that meet the
eligibility requirements using the
selection criteria and weights described
in this NOFA. As part of the proposal
review and ranking process, panel
members may make comments and
recommendations for appropriate
conditions on grant awards to promote
successful performance of the grant or to
assure compliance with other Federal
requirements. The decision to include
panel recommendations on grant
conditions in any grant award will be at
the sole discretion of the RUS
Administrator.
All applications will be scored and
ranked according to the evaluation
criteria and weightings described in this
Notice. The evaluation criteria and
weights in this NOFA differ from those
used in prior NOFAs. For this reason,
the ratings panel will review and revise
scores of any prior applications that are
being reconsidered according to the new
criteria. The rating panel may revise the
score upward based on any updated
information submitted by the applicant.
The RUS will use the ratings and
recommendations of the panel to rank
applicants against other applicants. All
applicants will be ranked according to
their scores in this round. The rankings
and recommendations will then be
forwarded to the Administrator for final
review and selection.
Decisions on grant awards will be
made by the RUS Administrator based
on the application, and the rankings and
recommendations of the rating panel.
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
47766
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
The Administrator will fund grant
requests in rank order to the extent of
available funds. If sufficient funds are
not available to fund the next ranked
project, the Administrator may, in his
sole discretion, offer a partial award to
the next project, or skip over that project
to the next ranking project that can be
supported with available funding. The
Administrator may in his sole
discretion, make additional awards to
unfunded applications submitted under
this NOFA in rank order.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
1. Criteria
The RUS will use the selection
criteria described in this NOFA to
evaluate and rate applications and will
award points up to the maximum
number indicated under each criterion.
Applicants should carefully read the
information on the rating criteria in this
NOFA and the Application Guide and
address all criteria. The maximum
number of points that can be awarded
is 100 points. The RUS will award up
to 65 points for project design and
technical merit criteria and up to 35
points based on priority criteria for
project or community characteristics
that support USDA Rural Development
and RUS program priorities.
A. Project Design and Technical Merit
Criteria
Reviewers will consider the
soundness of the applicant’s approach,
the technical feasibility of the project,
the adequacy of financial and other
resources, the competence and
experience of the applicant and its team,
the project goals and objectives, and
community needs and benefits. A total
of 65 points may be awarded under
these criteria.
1. Comprehensiveness and feasibility
of approach. (Up to 30 points) Raters
will assess the technical and economic
feasibility of the project and how well
its goals and objectives address the
challenges of the extremely high energy
cost community. The panel will review
the proposed design, construction,
equipment, and materials for the
community energy facilities in
establishing technical feasibility.
Reviewers may propose additional
conditions on the grant award to assure
that the project is technically sound.
Reviewers will consider the adequacy of
the applicant’s budget and resources to
carry out the project as proposed and
how the applicant proposes to manage
available resources such as other grants,
program income, and any other
financing sources to maintain and
operate a financially viable project once
the grant period has ended. Reviewers
may give higher scores to projects that
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
are substantially ready to proceed with
construction or implementation than to
those that are early in the project
development process.
2. Demonstrated experience. (Up to 10
points) Reviewers will consider whether
the applicant and its project team have
demonstrated experience in successfully
administering and carrying out projects
that are comparable to that proposed in
the grant application. The RUS supports
and encourages emerging organizations
that desire to develop the internal
capacity to improve energy services in
rural communities. In evaluating the
capabilities of entities without extensive
experience in carrying out such projects,
the Agency will consider the experience
of the project team and the effectiveness
of the program design in compensating
for lack of extensive experience.
3. Community Needs. (Up to 15
points) Reviewers will consider the
applicant’s identification and
documentation of eligible communities,
their populations, and assessment of
community energy needs to be
addressed by the grant project.
Information on the severity of physical
and economic challenges affecting
eligible communities will be
considered. Reviewers will weigh: (1)
the applicant’s analysis of community
energy challenges and (2) why the
applicant’s proposal presents a greater
need for Federal assistance than other
competing applications. In assessing the
applicant’s demonstration of
community needs, the rating panel will
consider information in the narrative
proposal addressing:
(a) the burden placed on the community
and individual households by extremely high
energy costs as evidenced by such
quantitative measures as, for example, total
energy expenditures, per unit energy costs,
energy cost intensity for occupied space, or
energy costs as a share of average household
income, and persistence of extremely high
energy costs compared to national or
statewide averages.
(b) the hardships created by limited access
to reliable and affordable energy services;
(c) the availability of other resources to
support or supplement the proposed grant
funding: and
(d) indications of community support for
this solution to their energy challenges.
4. Project Evaluation Methods. (Up to
5 points) Reviewers will consider the
applicant’s plan to evaluate and report
on the success and cost-effectiveness of
financed activities and whether the
results obtained will contribute to
program improvements for the applicant
or for other entities interested in similar
programs.
5. Coordination with State Rural
Development Initiatives. (Up to 5 points)
Raters will assess how effectively the
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
proposed project is coordinated with
State rural development initiatives, if
any, and is consistent with and supports
these efforts. [Note: The term ‘‘State
rural development initiatives’’ refers to
State or Tribal programs and not to
USDA Rural Development programs.]
The RUS will consider the
documentation submitted for
coordination efforts, community
support, and State or local government
recommendations. Applicants should
identify the extent to which the project
is dependent on or tied to other rural
development initiatives, funding, and
approvals. Applicants are advised that
they should address this criterion
explicitly even if only to report that the
project is not coordinated with or
supporting a State rural development
initiative. Failure to address this
criterion will result in zero points
awarded.
B. Priority Criteria
In addition to the points awarded for
project design and technical merit, all
proposals will be reviewed and awarded
additional points based on certain
characteristics of the project or the
target community. USDA Rural
Development Mission Area policies
generally encourage agencies to give
priority in their programs to rural areas
of greatest need and to support other
Federal policy initiatives. In furtherance
of these policies, the RUS will award
additional points for the priorities
identified in this notice. The priority
criteria and point scores used in this
NOFA are consistent with the program
regulations in 7 CFR part 1709. The
Agency will give priority consideration
to smaller rural and remote
communities, areas suffering significant
economic hardship, areas with
inadequate community energy services,
and areas where the condition of
community energy facilities (or absence
thereof) presents an imminent hazard to
public health or safety. Priority points
will also be awarded for proposals that
include cost sharing. A maximum of 35
total points may be awarded under these
priority criteria.
1. Economic Hardship. (Up to 15
points) The community experiences one
or more economic hardship conditions
that impair the ability of the community
and/or its residents to provide basic
energy services or to reduce or limit the
costs of these services. Economic
hardship will be assessed using either
the objective measure of county median
income under Option A below or
subjectively under Option B based on
the applicant’s description of the
community’s economic hardships and
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
supporting materials. Applicants may
elect either measure, but not both.
a. Option A. Economically Distressed
Communities (up to 15 points). The
target community is an economically
distressed county or Indian reservation
where the median household income is
significantly below the State average.
Points will be awarded based on the
county percentage of State median
household income (or reservation
percentage of State median household
income in the case of Federally
recognized Indian reservations)
according to the following:
(1) Less than 70 percent of the State
median household income, 15 points;
(2) 70 to 80 percent of the State
median household income, 12 points;
(3) 80 to 90 percent of the State
median household income, 10 points;
(4) 90 to 95 percent of the State
median household income, 5 points; or
(5) Over 95 percent of the State
median household income, 0 points
Information on State and county
median income is available online from
the USDA Economic Research Service at
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data/
unemployment/. Information on Indian
reservations is available through the
U.S. Census at https://www.census.gov.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Note on Alternative Economic Data for
Eligible Insular Areas: RUS recognizes that
comparable economic and household income
information may not be available for eligible
areas that are not States. Applicants from
these areas should provide any public
information that is readily available on
territorial or national median household
income and local community economic
characteristics and other indication of
economic challenge posed by extremely high
energy costs. Applications from these areas
will be scored under Option B ‘‘Other
Economic Hardship.’’
b. Option B. Other Economic
Hardship (up to 15 points). The
community suffers from other
conditions creating a severe economic
hardship that is adequately described
and documented by the applicant.
Examples include but are not limited to
natural disasters, financially distressed
local industry, and loss of major local
employer, persistent poverty,
outmigration, or other conditions
adversely affecting the local economy,
or contributing to unserved or
underserved energy infrastructure needs
that affect the economic health of the
community. Applications from eligible
areas that are not States will be scored
under this alternative using information
provided in the Application. The rating
panel may assign points under this
criterion, in lieu of awarding points
based on the percentage of median
household income
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
2. Rurality. (Up to 14 points)
Consistent with the USDA Rural
Development policy to target resources
to rural communities with significant
needs and recognizing that smaller and
remote communities are often
comparatively disadvantaged in seeking
assistance, reviewers will award
additional points based on the rurality
(as measured by population) of the
target communities to be served with
grant funds under one of two options
below.
a. Option A. Applications from the
Fifty States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands. Applications from any one of
the fifty States, Puerto Rico, or the U.S.
Virgin Islands will be scored based on
the population of the largest
incorporated cities, towns, or villages,
or census designated places included
within the grant’s proposed target area.
Points will be awarded on the
population of the largest target
community within the proposed target
area as follows:
(A) 2,500 or less, 14 points;
(B) Between 2,501 and 5,000,
inclusive, 12 points;
(C) Between 5,001 and 10,000,
inclusive, 8 points;
(D) Between 10,001 and 15,000,
inclusive, 5 points;
(E) Between 15, 001 and 20,000,
inclusive, 2 points; and
(F) Above 20,000, 0 points.
Applicants must use the latest
available population figures from
Census 2000 available at https://
www.census.gov/main/www/
cen2000.html for every incorporated
city, town, or village, or Census
designated place included in the target
area.
b. Option B. Alternative Rurality
Scoring for Applications from Pacific
Insular Areas. The priority scoring
criteria are intended to carry out Rural
Development policy to give priority to
areas most challenged by extremely high
energy costs and those without access to
substantial alternative economic and
institutional resources to address these
challenges, particularly rural, remote,
and substantially-underserved areas.
The original priority scoring criteria
were established using Census data for
population and economic characteristics
as proxy measures for rurality,
remoteness, and economic challenges.
As the program has been implemented,
it became evident that comparable U.S.
Census population information is often
not easily available or unavailable for
communities in Pacific insular areas.
Moreover, reliance on population as
proxy for remoteness and the difficulties
in addressing energy challenges did not
adequately capture the impacts of vast
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47767
distances of open ocean separating these
insular areas. After consideration, the
RUS has decided to adopt an alternative
for scoring eligible applications from
Pacific insular areas. Accordingly,
effective with this NOFA, the RUS will
assign a rurality score of ‘‘14’’ to
applications from eligible insular areas
in the Pacific. This policy will place
these applications on an equal footing
with competing applications from other
rural and remote areas.
3. Unserved Energy Needs (2 points)
Consistent with the purposes of the RE
Act, projects that meet unserved or
underserved energy needs will be
eligible for 2 points. Examples of
proposals that may qualify under this
priority include projects that extend or
improve electric or other energy services
to communities and customers that do
not have reliable centralized or
commercial service or where many
homes remain without such service
because the costs are unaffordable.
4. Imminent hazard (2 points) If the
grant proposal involves a project to
correct a condition posing an imminent
hazard to public safety, welfare, the
environment, or to a critical community
or residential energy facility, raters may
award 2 points. Examples include
community energy facilities in
immediate danger of failure because of
deteriorated condition, capacity
limitations, damage from natural
disasters or accidents, or other
conditions where impending failure of
existing facilities or absence of energy
facilities creates a substantial threat to
public health or safety, or to the
environment.
5. Cost Sharing (2 points) This grant
program does not require any cost
contribution. In addition to their
assessment of the economic feasibility
and sustainability of the project under
the project evaluation factors above,
raters may award 2 points for cost
sharing. These points will be awarded
when the proposal documents
supplemental contributions of funds,
property, equipment, services, or other
in kind contributions for the project
evidencing the applicant’s and/or
community’s commitment to the project
that taken together exceed 10 percent of
the total project costs. The applicant
must be able to supply written
confirmation of the availability of the
offered cost share on Agency request or
the points will be disallowed. The
applicant must specifically request
additional points for cost sharing.
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
47768
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
2. Review and Selection Process
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
A. Scoring and Ranking of Applications
Following the evaluation and rating of
individual applications under the above
criteria, the rating panel will rank the
applications in numerical order
according to their total scores. The
scored and ranked applications and the
raters’ comments will then be forwarded
to the Administrator for review and
selection of grant awards.
B. Selection of Grant Awards and
Notification of Applicants
The RUS Administrator will review
the rankings and recommendations of
the applications provided by the rating
panel for consistency with the
requirements of this NOFA. The
Administrator may return any
application to the rating panel with
written instruction for reconsideration
if, in his sole discretion, he finds that
the scoring of an application is
inconsistent with this NOFA and the
directions provided to the rating panel.
Following any adjustments to the
project rankings as a result of
reconsideration, the Administrator will
select projects for funding in rank order.
If funds remain after funding the highest
ranking application, the Agency may
fund all or part of the next highest
ranking application. The RUS will
advise an applicant if it cannot fully
fund a grant request and ask whether
the applicant will accept a reduced
award.
The Administrator may decide based
on the recommendations of the rating
panel or in his sole discretion that a
grant award may be made fully or
partially contingent upon the applicant
satisfying certain conditions or
providing additional information and
analyses. For example, the Agency may
defer approving a final award to a
selected project—such as projects
requiring more extensive environmental
review and mitigation, preparation of
detailed site specific engineering studies
and designs, or requiring local
permitting, or availability of
supplemental financing—until any
additional conditions are satisfied. In
the event that a selected applicant fails
to comply with the additional
conditions within the time set by the
Agency, the selection will be vacated
and the next ranking project will be
considered.
If a selected applicant turns down a
grant award offer, or fails to conclude a
grant agreement acceptable to the RUS,
or to provide required information
requested by the Agency within the time
period established in the notification of
selection for grant award, the
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
Administrator may select for funding
the next highest ranking application
submitted in response to this NOFA. If
sufficient funds are not available to fund
the next ranked project, the
Administrator may in his sole
discretion, offer a partial award to the
next project, or skip over that project to
the next ranking project that can be
supported with available funding. The
Administrator may in his sole
discretion, make additional awards to
unfunded applications submitted under
this NOFA in rank order as provided
above.
The RUS will notify each applicant in
writing whether or not it has been
selected for an award. The RUS written
notice to a successful applicant of the
amount of the grant award based on the
approved application will constitute the
Agency’s preliminary acceptance of a
project for an award, subject to
compliance with all post-selection
requirements including but not limited
to completion of any environmental
reviews and negotiation and execution
of a grant agreement satisfactory to the
RUS. This preliminary acceptance does
not bind the Government to making a
final grant award. Only a final grant
award and agreement executed by the
Administrator will constitute a binding
obligation and commitment of Federal
funds. Funds will not be awarded or
disbursed until all requirements have
been satisfied and are contingent on the
continued availability of funds at the
time of the award. The RUS will advise
selected applicants of additional
requirements or conditions.
C. Adjustments to Funding
The RUS reserves the right to fund
less than the full amount requested in
a grant application to ensure the fair
distribution of the funds and to ensure
that the purposes of a specific program
are met. The Agency will not fund any
portion of a grant request that is not
eligible for funding under Federal
statutory or regulatory requirements,
that does not meet the requirements of
this NOFA, or that may duplicate other
RUS-funded activities, including
electric loans. Only the eligible portions
of a successful grant application will be
funded.
Grant assistance cannot exceed the
lower of:
(a) The qualifying percentage of
eligible project costs requested by the
applicant; or
(b) The minimum amount sufficient to
provide for the economic feasibility of
the project as determined by the RUS.
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices
The RUS will notify all applicants in
writing whether they have been selected
for an award. Successful applicants will
be advised in writing of their selection
as award finalists. Successful applicants
will be required to negotiate a grant
agreement acceptable to the Agency and
complete additional grant forms and
certifications required by USDA as part
of the pre-award process.
Depending on the nature of the
activities proposed by the application,
the grantee may be asked to provide
information and certifications necessary
for compliance with the RUS
environmental policy regulations and
procedures for Electric Programs at 7
CFR part 1794. Following completion of
the environmental review, selected
applicants will receive a letter of
conditions establishing any projectspecific conditions to be included in the
grant agreement and asked to execute a
letter of intent to meet the grant
conditions or to detail why such
conditions can’t be met and to propose
alternatives. Grant funds will not be
advanced unless and until the applicant
has executed a grant agreement
acceptable to the RUS.
The RUS will require each successful
applicant to agree to the specific terms
of each grant agreement, a project
budget, and other program
requirements. In cases where the
Agency cannot successfully conclude
negotiations with a selected applicant or
a selected applicant fails to provide
requested information within the time
specified, an award will not be made to
that applicant. The selection will be
revoked and the Agency may offer an
award to the next highest ranking
applicant, and proceed with
negotiations with the next highest
ranking applicant, subject to the
availability of funds.
2. Administrative and National Policy
Requirements
A. Environmental Review and
Restriction on Certain Activities
Grant awards are required to comply
with 7 CFR part 1794, which sets forth
RUS regulations implementing the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). Grantees must also agree to
comply with any other Federal or State
environmental laws and regulations
applicable to the grant project.
If the proposed grant project involves
physical development activities or
property acquisition, the applicant is
generally prohibited from acquiring,
rehabilitating, converting, leasing,
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Notices
repairing or constructing property or
facilities, or committing or expending
Agency or non-Agency funds for
proposed grant activities until the RUS
has completed any environmental
review in accordance with 7 CFR part
1794 or determined that no
environmental review is required.
Successful applicants will be advised
whether additional environmental
review and requirements apply to their
proposals.
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
B. Other Federal Requirements
Other Federal statutes and regulations
apply to grant applications and to grant
awards. These include, but are not
limited to, requirements under 7 CFR
part 15, subpart A—Nondiscrimination
in Federally Assisted Programs of the
Department of Agriculture—Effectuation
of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964.
Certain Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) circulars also apply to
USDA grant programs and must be
followed by a grantee under this
program. The policies, guidance, and
requirements of the following, or their
successors, may apply to the award,
acceptance and use of assistance under
this program and to the remedies for
noncompliance, except when
inconsistent with the provisions of the
Agriculture, Rural Development and
Related Agencies Appropriations Acts,
other Federal statutes or the provisions
of this NOFA:
• OMB Circular No. A–87 (Cost
Principles Applicable to Grants,
Contracts and Other Agreements with
State and Local Governments);
• OMB Circular A–21 (Cost Principles
for Education Institutions);
• OMB Circular No. A–122 (Cost
Principles for Nonprofit Organizations);
• OMB Circular A–133 (Audits of
States, Local Governments, and NonProfit Organizations);
• 7 CFR part 3015 (Uniform Federal
Assistance Regulations);
• 7 CFR part 3016 (Uniform
Administrative Requirements for Grants
and Cooperative Agreements to State,
Local, and Federally recognized Indian
Tribal governments);
• 7 CFR part 3017 (Government-wide
debarment and suspension (nonprocurement) and
• Government-wide requirements for
drug-free workplace (grants));
• 7 CFR part 3018 (New restrictions
on Lobbying);
• 7 CFR part 3019 (Uniform
administrative requirements for grants
and Agreements with Institutions of
Higher Education, Hospitals, and other
Non-Profit Organizations); and
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:01 Aug 06, 2010
Jkt 220001
47769
• 7 CFR part 3052 (Audits of States,
local governments, and non-profit
organizations).
Compliance with additional OMB
Circulars or government-wide
regulations may be specified in the grant
agreement.
53704. The public meeting on August
20, 2010, will be held at the Doubletree
Hotel Atlanta Airport, 3400 Norman
Berry Drive, Atlanta, GA 30344. The
public meeting on August 24, 2010, will
be held at the Red Lion Hotel, 2525
North 20th Avenue, Pasco, WA 99301.
3. Reporting
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
The grantee will be required to
provide periodic financial and
performance reports under USDA grant
regulations and program rules and to
submit a final project performance
report. The nature and frequency of
required reports are established in
USDA grant regulations and the projectspecific grant agreements.
VII. Agency Contact
The Agency Contact for this grant
announcement is Karen Larsen,
Management Analyst, Rural Utilities
Service, Electric Programs, United
States Department of Agriculture, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., STOP
1560, Room 5165 South Building,
Washington, DC 20250–1560.
Telephone 202–720–9545, Fax 202–
690–0717, e-mail
Karen.Larsen@wdc.usda.gov.
Dated: July 12, 2010.
Jonathan Adelstein,
Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. 2010–19509 Filed 8–6–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0050]
Animal Traceability; Public Meetings
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings.
AGENCY:
This is a notice to inform the
public of upcoming meetings in
Madison, WI, Atlanta, GA, and Pasco,
WA, to provide an opportunity for
stakeholders to offer their input on the
new framework being developed for
animal disease traceability. The
meetings are being organized by the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service.
SUMMARY:
The meetings will be held on
August 18, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
and August 20, and 24, 2010, from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting on
August 18, 2010, will be held at the
Crowne Plaza Madison, 4402 East
Washington Avenue, Madison, WI
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Mr.
Neil Hammerschmidt, Program
Manager, Animal Disease Traceability,
VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 46,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 7345571.
The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
currently developing a new, flexible
framework for animal disease
traceability in the United States. In
keeping with its commitment to
partnering with States, Tribal Nations,
and industry to address many of the
details of the infrastructure of this
program, including possible regulations,
the USDA took the initial step of hosting
a State/Tribal forum on animal disease
traceability in Kansas City, MO, on
March 18 and 19, 2010. Information on
the proceedings of the State/Tribal
forum is available to the public for
review and comment at (https://
www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/forum/
index.shtml). In addition, we hosted
several public meetings to discuss
animal disease traceability. The
meetings took place in Kansas City, MO,
Riverdale, MD, Denver, CO, Salt Lake
City, UT, and Fort Worth, TX, on May
11, May 13, May 17, June 24, and July
1, 2010, respectively. We are now
planning to host three additional public
meetings, which will take place in
Madison, WI, on August 18, 2010,
Atlanta, GA, on August 20, 2010, and
Pasco, WA, on August 24, 2010 (see
ADDRESSES).
Tentative topics to be discussed at the
upcoming meetings include:
1. The framework for a proposed
animal disease traceability rule.
2. Specific details that would help
form the animal disease traceability
rule.
Written statements on meeting topics,
as well as on the proceedings of the
March 2010 State/Tribal forum, may be
filed with the USDA through August 30,
2010, via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at (https://www.regulations.gov/
fdmspublic/component/
main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2010-0050) or by sending them to the
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0050 when
submitting your statements.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\09AUN1.SGM
09AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 152 (Monday, August 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47756-47769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19509]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels
for the Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of funding availability (NOFA).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the availability of
$15.5 million in Fiscal Year 2010 for competitive grants to assist
communities with extremely high energy costs. This grant program is
authorized under section 19 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936
(RE Act) (7 U.S.C. 918a) and program regulations at 7 CFR Part 1709.
The grant funds may be used to acquire, construct, extend, upgrade, or
otherwise improve energy generation, transmission, or distribution
facilities serving communities in which the average residential
expenditure for home energy exceeds 275 percent of the national
average. Eligible applicants include persons, States, political
subdivisions of States, and other entities organized under State law.
Federally-recognized Indian Tribes and Tribal entities are eligible
applicants. This notice describes the eligibility and application
requirements, the criteria that will be used by the Agency to award
funding, and information on how to obtain application materials. The
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number for this program
is 10.859. You may obtain the Application Guide and materials for the
Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities Grant Program via the
Internet at the following Web site: https://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/hecgp/index.htm. You may also request the Application Guide and
materials from RUS by contacting the individual listed
[[Page 47757]]
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
DATES: You may submit completed grant applications on paper or
electronically according to the following deadlines:
Paper applications must be postmarked and mailed, shipped,
or sent overnight, no later than September 8, 2010, or hand delivered
to RUS by this deadline, to be eligible under this NOFA. Late or
incomplete applications will not be eligible for FY 2010 grant funding.
Electronic applications must be submitted through
Grants.gov no later than September 8, 2010 to be eligible under this
NOFA for FY 2010 grant funding. Late or incomplete electronic
applications will not be eligible. Applications will not be accepted by
electronic mail. Applications will be accepted on publication of this
notice.
ADDRESSES: You may submit completed applications for grants on paper or
electronically to the following addresses:
Paper applications are to be submitted to the Rural
Utilities Service, Electric Programs, United States Department of
Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165 South
Building, Washington, DC 20250-1560. Applications should be marked
``Attention: High Energy Cost Grant Program.''
Applications may be submitted electronically through
Grants.gov. Information on how to submit applications electronically is
available on the Grants.gov Web site (https://www.Grants.gov).
Applicants must successfully pre-register with Grants.gov to use the
electronic applications option. Application information may be
downloaded from Grants.gov without pre-registration.
Application Guides and materials may be obtained electronically
through: https://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/hecgp/index.htm. Call the RUS
Electric Programs at (202) 720-9545 to request paper copies of
Application Guides and other materials.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Larsen, Management Analyst,
Rural Utilities Service, Electric Programs, United States Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165 South
Building, Washington, DC 20250-1560. Telephone 202-720-9545, Fax 202-
690-0717, e-mail energy.grants@wdc.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview Information
Federal Agency Name: United States Department of Agriculture, Rural
Utilities Service, Assistant Administrator, Electric Programs.
Funding Opportunity Title: Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural
Communities.
Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
Funding Opportunity Number: RD-RUS-HECG10.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.859. The
CFDA title for this program is ``Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural
Communities.''
Dates: Applications must be postmarked and mailed or shipped, or
hand delivered to the RUS, or filed with Grants.gov by September 8,
2010.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is making available $15.5 million
in competitive grants under section 19 of the Rural Electrification Act
of 1936 (the ``RE Act'') (7 U.S.C. 918a). Under section 19, the RUS
Administrator is authorized to make grants to ``acquire, construct,
extend, upgrade, and otherwise improve energy generation, transmission,
or distribution facilities'' serving extremely high energy cost
communities. Eligible communities are those in which the average
residential expenditure for home energy is at least 275 percent of the
national average residential expenditure for home energy under one or
more of the benchmarks published in this notice. Program regulations
are codified at 7 CFR part 1709.
The purpose of this grant program is provide financial assistance
for a broad range of energy facilities, equipment and related
activities to offset the impacts of extremely high residential energy
costs on eligible communities. Grant funds may be used to purchase,
construct, extend, repair, upgrade and otherwise improve energy
generation, transmission, or distribution facilities serving eligible
communities. Eligible facilities include on-grid and off-grid renewable
energy systems and implementation of cost-effective demand side
management and energy conservation programs that benefit eligible
communities. Grant funds may not be used to pay utility bills or to
purchase fuel. Grant projects under this program must provide community
benefits and not be for the sole benefit of an individual applicant,
household, or business.
Eligible applicants include for-profit and non-profit businesses,
cooperatives, and associations, States, political subdivisions of
States, and other entities organized under the laws of States, Indian
Tribes, Tribal entities, and individuals. Eligible applicants also
include entities located in U.S. Territories and other areas authorized
by law to participate in the Agency's programs or programs under the RE
Act.
No cost sharing or matching funds are required as a condition of
eligibility under this grant program. However, the RUS will consider
other financial resources available to the applicant and any voluntary
commitment of matching funds or other contributions in assessing the
applicant's capacity to carry out the grant program successfully. The
RUS will award additional evaluation points to any proposals that
include such contributions.
As a further condition of each grant, section 19(b)(2) of the RE
Act requires that planning and administrative expenses of the grantee
not directly related to the project may not exceed 4 percent of the
grant funds.
This NOFA provides an overview of the grant program, and the
eligibility and application requirements, and selection criteria for
grant proposals. This NOFA includes changes to eligibility benchmarks
and to scoring criteria. Applicants are encouraged to review the notice
carefully. RUS is also making available an Application Guide with more
detailed information on application requirements and copies of all
required forms and certifications. The Application Guide is available
on the Internet from the Agency Web site at: https://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/hecgp/index.htm. The Application Guide may also be requested
from the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this notice. For additional information, applicants should consult
the program regulations at 7 CFR part 1709.
Definitions
Consult the program regulations at 7 CFR part 1709 and the
Application Guide for additional definitions used in this program. As
used in this NOFA:
Agency means the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture.
Application Guide means the Application Guide prepared by the
Agency for the High Energy Cost Grant program containing detailed
instructions for determining eligibility and preparing grant
applications, and copies of required forms, questionnaires, and model
certifications.
Extremely high energy costs means community average residential
energy costs that meet or exceed one or more home energy cost
benchmarks
[[Page 47758]]
established by the Administrator at 275 percent of the national average
residential energy expenditures as reported by the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) of the United States Department of Energy.
Home energy means any energy source or fuel used by a household for
purposes other than transportation, including electricity, natural gas,
fuel oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (propane), other petroleum
products, wood and other biomass fuels, coal, wind, and solar energy.
Fuels used for subsistence activities in remote rural areas are also
included.
High energy cost benchmarks means the criteria established by the
Administrator for eligibility as an extremely high energy cost
community. Home energy cost benchmarks are calculated for total annual
household energy expenditures; total annual expenditures for individual
fuels; annual average per unit energy costs for primary home energy
sources and are set at 275 percent of the relevant national average
household energy expenditures.
Indian Tribe means a Federally recognized Tribe as defined under
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 450b) to include ``* * * any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or
other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village
or regional or village corporation as defined in or established
pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.], that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and
services provided by the United States to Indians because of their
status as Indians.''
Person means any natural person, firm, corporation, association, or
other legal entity, and includes Indian Tribes and Tribal entities.
Primary home energy source means the energy source that is used for
space heating or cooling, water heating, cooking, and lighting. A
household or community may have more than one primary home energy
source.
State rural development initiative means a rural economic
development program funded by or carried out in cooperation with a
State agency or Indian Tribe.
Target area means the geographic area to be served by the grant.
Target community means the unit or units of local government in
which the target area is located.
Tribal entity means a legal entity that is owned, controlled,
sanctioned, or chartered by the recognized governing body of an Indian
Tribe.
II. Award Information
The total amount of funds available for grants in Fiscal Year 2010
under this notice is $15.5 million. The maximum amount of grant
assistance that will be considered for funding in a grant application
under this notice is $5,000,000. The minimum amount of assistance for a
grant application under this program is $75,000. The number of grants
awarded under this NOFA will depend on the number of applications
submitted, the amount of grant funds requested, the quality and
competitiveness of applications submitted, and the availability of
funds.
The funding instrument available under this NOFA will be a grant
agreement. Grants awarded under this notice must comply with all
applicable USDA and Federal regulations concerning financial
assistance, with the terms of this notice, and with the requirements of
section 19 of the RE Act. Grants made under this NOFA will be
administered under the Agency program regulations at 7 CFR part 1709
and USDA financial assistance regulations at 7 CFR parts 3015, 3016,
3017, 3018, 3019, and 3052, as applicable. The award period will
generally be for 36 months, however, longer periods may be approved
depending on the project involved. Grantees may request project
extensions.
A new applicant must provide a narrative grant proposal prepared
according to the instructions in this NOFA along with all required
forms and information in order to submit a complete application.
Any prior applicant that submitted a project proposal in response
to the NOFA published on January 28, 2008 (73 FR 4,778) may request
reconsideration of the earlier application if the applicant was
notified in writing by the RUS that the application was accepted as
complete and timely, but was not selected for funding. The RUS has
retained these original applications. These 2008 eligible applicants
may submit additional information for consideration of their 2008
applications as described later in this notice. Applicants under the
2008 NOFA that were rejected as incomplete or ineligible may submit new
or revised applications that meet the requirements of this NOFA.
All timely submitted and complete applications will be reviewed for
eligibility and rated according to the criteria described in this NOFA.
Applications will be ranked in order of their numerical scores on the
rating criteria and forwarded to the RUS Administrator. The
Administrator will review the rankings and the recommendations of the
rating panel. The Administrator will then fund grant applications in
rank order. The Agency reserves the right in its sole discretion to
make additional awards to applications submitted under this
announcement through reprogramming available program funds.
The RUS reserves the right not to award any or all the funds made
available under this notice, if in the sole opinion of the
Administrator, the grant proposals submitted are not deemed feasible
under program requirements. The RUS also reserves the right to
partially fund grants if grant applications exceed the available funds.
The RUS will advise applicants if it cannot fully fund a grant request.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
Under Section 19 eligible applicants include ``Persons, States,
political subdivisions of States, and other entities organized under
the laws of States'' (7 U.S.C. 918a). Under section 13 of the RE Act,
the term ``Person'' means ``any natural person, firm, corporation, or
association'' (7 U.S.C. 913). Examples of eligible business applicants
include: for-profit and non-profit business entities, including but not
limited to corporations, associations, partnerships, limited liability
partnerships (LLPs), cooperatives, trusts, and sole proprietorships.
Eligible government applicants include State and local governments,
counties, cities, towns, boroughs, or other agencies or units of State
or local governments; and other agencies and instrumentalities of
States and local governments. Indian Tribes, other Tribal entities and
Alaska Native Corporations are also eligible applicants.
An individual is an eligible applicant under this program; however,
the proposed grant project must provide community benefits and not be
for the sole benefit of an individual applicant or an individual
household or business.
All applicants must demonstrate the legal capacity to enter into a
binding grant agreement with the Federal Government at the time of the
award and to carry out the proposed grant funded project according to
its terms.
The Office of Management and Budget requires that all applicants
for Federal grants with the exception of individuals other than sole
proprietorships must provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) number with their applications. Consistent with
this Federal policy
[[Page 47759]]
directive, any organization or sole proprietorship that applies for a
high energy cost grant must use its DUNS number on the application and
in the field provided on the revised Standard Form 424 (SF 424)
``Application for Federal Assistance'' to be eligible to apply. DUNS
numbers are available for free to Federal Grant applicants on line at
https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform or may be obtained through a short phone
call to D&B. Please see the ``Get Registered'' section on Grants.gov
for more information on how to obtain a DUNS number or how to verify if
your organization already has a DUNS number. If you already have
obtained a DUNS number in connection with the Federal acquisition
process or requested or had one assigned to you for another purpose,
you should use that number on all of your applications. It is not
necessary to request another DUNS number from D&B.
2. Cost Sharing and Matching
No cost sharing or matching funds are required as a condition of
eligibility under this grant program. However, the RUS will consider
other financial resources available to the grant applicant and any
voluntary pledge of matching funds or other contributions in assessing
the applicant's commitment and capacity to carry out the grant program
successfully and will award additional evaluation points to proposals
that include such contributions. If a successful applicant proposes to
use matching funds or other cost contributions in its project to obtain
additional evaluation points, the grant agreement will include
conditions requiring documentation of the availability of the matching
funds and actual expenditure of matching funds or cost contributions.
The Agency may require the applicant to provide additional
documentation confirming the availability of any matching contribution
offered prior to approval of project selection. If an applicant fails
to provide timely documentation of the availability of matching
contributions, the RUS may, in its sole discretion, disallow any points
awarded for matching contributions and rescore the project, or decline
to award the project if uncertainties over availability of the match
render the project financially infeasible; and/or impose additional
conditions.
3. Other Eligibility Requirements
A. Eligible Projects
Grantees must use grant funds for eligible grant purposes. Grant
funds may be used to acquire, construct, extend, upgrade, or otherwise
improve energy generation, transmission, or distribution facilities
serving eligible communities. All energy generation, transmission, and
distribution facilities and equipment, used to provide electricity,
natural gas, home heating fuels, and other energy service to eligible
communities are eligible. Projects providing or improving energy
services to eligible communities through on-grid and off-grid renewable
energy projects, energy efficiency, and energy conservation projects
are eligible. A grant project is eligible if it improves, or maintains
energy services, or reduces the costs of providing energy services to
eligible communities. Grant funds may not be used to pay utility bills
or to purchase fuels.
Grants may cover up to the full costs of any eligible projects
subject to the statutory condition that no more than 4 percent of grant
funds may be used for the planning and administrative expenses of the
grantee. The program regulations at 7 CFR part 1709 provide more detail
on allowable uses of grant funds, limitations on grant funds, and
ineligible grant purposes.
The project must serve communities that meet the extremely high
energy cost eligibility requirements described in this NOFA. The
applicant must demonstrate that the proposed project will benefit the
eligible communities. Projects that primarily benefit a single
household or business are not eligible. Additional information and
examples of eligible project activities are contained in the
Application Guide.
Grant funds cannot be used for: Preparation of the grant
application, fuel purchases, routine maintenance or other operating
costs, and purchase of equipment, structures, or real estate not
directly associated with provision of residential energy services. In
general, grant funds may not be used to support projects that primarily
benefit areas outside of eligible target communities. However, grant
funds may be used to finance an eligible target community's
proportionate share of a larger energy project.
Each grant applicant must demonstrate the economic and technical
feasibility of its proposed project. Activities or equipment that would
commonly be considered as research and development activities, or
commercial demonstration projects for new energy technologies will not
be considered as technologically feasible projects and would, thus, be
ineligible grant purposes. However, grant funds may be used for
projects that involve the innovative use or adaptation of energy-
related technologies that have been commercially proven.
B. Eligible Communities
The grant project must benefit communities with extremely high
energy costs. The RE Act defines an extremely high energy cost
community as one in which ``the average residential expenditure for
home energy is at least 275 percent of the national average residential
expenditure for home energy'' 7 U.S.C. 918a. The benchmarks are set
based on the latest available information from the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) residential energy surveys.
The statutory requirement that community residential expenditures
for home energy exceed 275 percent of national average establishes a
very high threshold for eligibility under this program. The Agency has
calculated high energy cost benchmarks based on the most recent EIA
national average home energy expenditure data. The current benchmarks
are shown in Table 1. These benchmarks have been revised since
publication of the 2008 NOFA. New applicants must demonstrate that
proposed target communities must meet one or more high energy cost
benchmarks to qualify as an eligible beneficiary of a grant under this
program. All applications submitted after publication of this
announcement must meet these current eligibility benchmarks. Eligible
applications submitted under the January 28, 2008 and requesting
reconsideration will retain eligibility established under the prior
benchmarks. Based on available published information on residential
energy costs, the Agency anticipates that only those communities with
the highest energy costs across the country will qualify under this
congressionally-mandated standard.
The EIA's Residential Energy Consumption and Expenditure Surveys
(RECS) and reports provide the baseline national average household
energy costs that were used for establishing extremely high energy cost
community eligibility criteria for this grant program. The RECS data
base and reports provide national and regional information on
residential energy use, expenditures, and housing characteristics. EIA
published its latest available RECS home energy expenditure survey
results in 2009. These estimates of home energy usage and expenditures
are based on national surveys conducted in 2005 survey data and are
shown in Table 1 as follows:
[[Page 47760]]
Table 1--National Average Annual Household Energy Expenditures and
Extremely High Energy Cost Eligibility Benchmarks Effective for
Applications Submitted on or after August 9, 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EIA 2005
national annual RUS extremely
average high energy cost
Fuel household benchmark 275% of
expenditure $ national average
per year $ per year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average Annual Household Expenditure
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electricity........................ $1,123 $3,010
Natural Gas........................ 754 1,988
Fuel Oil........................... 1,518 3,921
LPG/Propane........................ 875 2,256
Total Household Energy Use......... 1,810 4,860
------------------------------------------------------------------------
RUS extremely
EIA 2005 high energy cost
Fuel (units) national average benchmark 275% of
unit cost $ per national average
unit $ per unit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Average per Unit Residential Energy Costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electricity (kilowatt hours)....... $0.10 $0.264
Natural Gas (thousand cubic feet).. 11.24 30.30
Fuel Oil (gallons)................. 2.04 5.54
LPG/Propane (gallons).............. 1.92 5.10
Total Household Energy (million 19.07 51.62
Btus).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources: Energy Information Administration, United States Department of
Energy, 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey--Detailed Tables,
available at: https://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recs2005/c&e/detailed_tables2005c&e.html. The RUS benchmarks calculations include
adjustments to reflect the uncertainties inherent in EIA's statistical
methodology for estimating home energy costs. The benchmarks are set
based on the EIA's lower range estimates using the specified EIA
methods.
Extremely high energy costs in rural and remote communities
typically result from a combination of factors including high energy
consumption, high per unit energy costs, limited availability of energy
sources, extreme climate conditions, and housing characteristics. The
relative impacts of these conditions exhibit regional and seasonal
diversity. Market factors have created an additional complication in
recent years as the prices of the major commercial residential energy
sources--electricity, fuel oil, natural gas, and LPG/propane--have
fluctuated dramatically in some areas.
The applicant must demonstrate that each community in the grant
project's proposed target area exceeds one or more of these high energy
cost benchmarks to be eligible for assistance under this program.
i. High Energy Cost Benchmarks
The benchmarks measure extremely high energy costs for residential
consumers. These benchmarks were calculated using EIA's estimates of
national average residential energy expenditures per household and by
primary home energy source. The benchmarks recognize the diverse
factors that contribute to extremely high home energy costs in rural
communities. The benchmarks allow extremely high energy cost
communities several alternatives for demonstrating eligibility.
Communities may qualify based on: Total annual household energy
expenditures; Total annual expenditures for commercially-supplied
primary home energy sources, i.e., electricity, natural gas, oil, or
propane; or average annual per unit home energy costs. By providing
alternative measures for demonstrating eligibility, the benchmarks
reduce the burden on potential applicants created by the limited public
availability of comprehensive data on local community energy
consumption and expenditures.
A target community or target area will qualify as an extremely high
cost energy community if it meets one or more of the energy cost
eligibility benchmarks described below.
a. Extremely High Average Annual Household Expenditure for Home
Energy. The target area or community exceeds one or more of the
following:
Average annual residential electricity expenditure of
$3,010 per household;
Average annual residential natural gas expenditure of
$1,988 per household;
Average annual residential expenditure on fuel oil of
$3,921 per household;
Average annual residential expenditure on propane or
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a primary home energy source of $2,256
per household; or
Average annual residential energy expenditure (for all
non-transportation uses) of $4,860 per household.
b. Extremely High Average per unit energy costs. The average
residential per unit cost for major commercial energy sources in the
target area or community exceeds one or more of the following:
Annual average revenues per kilowatt hour for residential
electricity customers of $0.264 per kilowatt hour (kWh);
Annual average residential natural gas price of $30.30 per
thousand cubic feet;
Annual average residential fuel oil price of $5.54 per
gallon;
Annual average residential price of propane or LPG as a
primary home energy source of $5.10 per gallon; or
Total annual average residential energy cost on a Btu
basis of $51.62 per million Btu.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Note: Btu is the abbreviation for British thermal unit, a
standard energy measure. A Btu is the quantity of heat needed to
raise the temperature of one pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit at
or near 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit. In estimating average household per
unit energy cost on a Btu basis, the costs of different home energy
sources are converted to a standard Btu basis. The Application Guide
contains additional information on calculating per unit costs on a
Btu basis for major home energy sources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 47761]]
ii. Supporting Energy Cost Data
The applicant must include information that demonstrates its
eligibility under the Agency's high energy cost benchmarks for the
target communities and the target areas. The applicant must supply
documentation or references for its sources for actual or estimated
home energy expenditures or equivalent measures to support eligibility.
Generally, the applicant will be expected to use historical residential
energy cost or expenditure information for the local energy provider
serving the target community or target area to determine eligibility.
Other potential sources of home energy related information include
Federal and State agencies, local community energy providers such as
electric and natural gas utilities and fuel dealers, and commercial
publications. The Application Guide includes a list of EIA resources on
residential energy consumption and costs that may be of assistance.
The grant applicant must establish eligibility for each community
in the project's target area. To determine eligibility, the applicant
must identify each community included in whole or in part within the
target areas and provide supporting actual or estimated energy
expenditure data for each community. The smallest area that may be
designated as a target area is a 2000 Census block. This minimum size
is necessary to enable a determination of population size.
Potential applicants can compare the benchmark criteria to
available information about local energy use and costs to determine
their eligibility. Applicants should demonstrate their eligibility
using historical energy use and cost information. Where such
information is unavailable or does not adequately reflect the actual
costs of supporting average home energy use in a local community, the
Agency will consider estimated commercial energy costs. The Application
Guide includes examples of circumstances where estimated energy costs
are used.
EIA does not collect or maintain data on home energy expenditures
in sufficient detail to identify specific rural localities as extremely
high energy cost communities. Therefore, grant applicants will have to
provide information on local community energy costs from other sources
to support their applications.
In many instances, historical community energy cost information can
be obtained from a variety of public sources or from local utilities
and other energy providers. For example, EIA publishes monthly and
annual reports of residential prices by State and by service area for
electric utilities and larger natural gas distribution companies.
Average residential fuel oil and propane prices are reported regionally
and for major cities by government and private publications. Many State
agencies also compile and publish information on residential energy
costs to support State programs.
iii. Use of Estimated Home Energy Costs
Where historical community energy cost data are incomplete or
lacking or where community-wide data do not accurately reflect the
costs of providing home energy services in the target area, the
applicant may substitute estimates based on engineering standards. The
estimates should use available community, local, or regional data on
energy expenditures, consumption, housing characteristics and
population. Estimates are also appropriate where the target area does
not presently have centralized commercial energy services at a level
that is comparable to other residential customers in the State or
region. For example, local commercial energy cost information may not
be available where the target area is without local electric service
because of the high costs of connection. Engineering cost estimates
reflecting the incremental costs of extending service could reasonably
be used to establish eligibility for areas without grid-connected
electric service. Estimates also may be appropriate where historical
energy costs do not reflect the costs of providing a necessary upgrade
or replacement of energy infrastructure to maintain or extend service
that would raise costs above one or more of benchmarks.
Information to support high energy cost eligibility is subject to
independent review by the Agency. Applications that contain information
that is not reasonably based on credible sources of information and
sound estimates will be rejected. Where appropriate, the Agency may
consult standard sources to confirm the reasonableness of information
and estimates provided by applicants in determining eligibility,
technical feasibility, and adequacy of proposed budget estimates.
C. Coordination With State Rural Development Initiatives
USDA encourages the coordination of grant projects under this
program with State development initiatives. There is no requirement
that the grant proposal receive the concurrence or approval of State
officials as a condition of eligibility under this program. The Agency
will, however, award additional points to proposals that are
coordinated with and support rural development initiatives within a
State. The applicant should describe how the proposed project will
support State rural development initiatives and provide documentation
evidencing any project relationship to State initiatives.
If an applicant is an entity directly involved in rural development
efforts, such as a State, local, or Tribal rural development agency,
the applicant may qualify for additional points by describing how its
proposed project supports its efforts.
D. Limitations on Grant Awards
a. Statutory Limitation on Planning and Administrative Expenses
Section 19 of the RE Act provides that no more than 4 percent of
the grant funds for any project may be used for the planning and
administrative expenses of the grantee that are not directly related to
the grant project.
ii. Ineligible Grant Purposes
Grant funds cannot be used for: Preparation of the grant
application, fuel purchases, routine maintenance or other operating
costs, and purchase of equipment, structures, or real estate not
directly associated with provision of residential energy services. In
general, grant funds may not be used to support projects that primarily
benefit areas outside of eligible target communities. However, grant
funds may be used to finance an eligible target community's
proportionate share of a larger energy project.
Consistent with USDA policy and program regulations, grant funds
awarded under this program generally cannot be used to replace other
USDA assistance or to refinance or repay outstanding loans under the RE
Act. Grant funds may, however, be used in combination with other USDA
assistance programs including electric loans. Grants may be applied
toward grantee contributions under other USDA programs depending on the
terms of those programs. For example, an applicant may propose to use
grant funds to offset the costs of electric system improvements in
extremely high cost areas by increasing the utility's contribution for
line extensions or system expansions to its distribution system
financed in whole or part by an electric loan under the RE Act. An
[[Page 47762]]
applicant may propose to finance a portion of an energy project for an
extremely high energy cost community through this grant program and
secure the remaining project costs through a loan or loan guarantee or
grant from the Agency or other sources.
iii. Maximum and Minimum Awards
The maximum amount of grant assistance that will be considered for
funding per grant application under this notice is $5,000,000. The
minimum amount of assistance for a competitive grant application under
this program is $75,000.
IV. Application and Submission Information
All applications must be prepared and submitted in compliance with
this NOFA and the Application Guide. The Application Guide contains
additional information on the grant program, sources of information for
use in preparing applications, examples of eligible projects, and
copies of the required application forms.
1. Address To Request an Application Package
Applications materials and the Application Guide are available for
download through https://www.Grants.gov (under CFDA No. 10.859) and on
the Electric Programs Web site at: https://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/hecgp/index.htm.
Application packages, including required forms, may be also be
requested from: Karen Larsen, Management Analyst, United States
Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Utilities Programs,
Electric Program, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165
South Building, Washington, DC 20250-1560. Telephone 202-720-9545, Fax
202-690-0717, e-mail energy.grants@wdc.usda.gov.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
There are different application requirements for first-time
applicants and for prior applicants requesting reconsideration. First-
time applicants are those that did not submit a timely and complete
application or request for reconsideration in response to the January
28, 2008 (73 FR 4778) NOFA. First-time applicants should follow the
directions in this notice and the Application Guide in preparing their
applications and narrative proposals. The completed application package
should be assembled in the order specified with all pages numbered
sequentially or by section. If you submitted an application in 2003,
2004, 2005, or 2007, but did not submit a request for reconsideration
in 2008, you must submit a complete new application package meeting
current eligibility and content requirements. Prior 2008 applicants
should follow the special instructions for reconsideration of their
applications and submit a revised Standard Form 424 (SF-424), a letter
requesting reconsideration, and any supplemental material by the
deadline.
A. Application Contents for New Applications
First-time applicants must submit the following information for the
application to be complete and considered for funding:
i. Part A. A Completed SF 424, ``Application for Federal
Assistance.'' This form must be signed by a person authorized to submit
the proposal on behalf of the applicant. Note: SF 424 has recently been
revised to include new required data elements, including a DUNS number.
You must submit the revised form. Copies of this form are available in
the application package available on line through the Agency Web site
or through Grants.gov, or by request from the Agency contact listed
above.
ii. Part B. Grant Proposal. The grant proposal is a narrative
description prepared by the applicant that establishes the applicant's
eligibility, identifies the eligible extremely high energy cost
communities to be served by the grant, and describes the proposed grant
project, the potential benefits of the project, and a proposed budget.
The grant proposal should contain the following sections in the order
indicated.
1. Executive Summary. The Executive Summary is a one to two page
narrative summary that: (a) Identifies the applicant, project title,
and the key contact person with telephone and fax numbers, mailing
address and e-mail address; (b) specifies the amount of grant funds
requested; (c) provides a brief description of the proposed project
including the eligible rural communities and residents to be served,
activities and facilities to be financed, and how the grant project
will offset or reduce the target community's extremely high energy
costs; and (d) identifies the associated State rural development
initiative, if any, that the project supports. The Executive Summary
should also indicate whether the applicant is claiming additional
points under any of the criteria designated as USDA priorities under
this NOFA.
2. Table of Contents. The application package must include a table
of contents immediately after the Executive Summary with page numbers
for all required sections, forms, and appendices.
3. Applicant Eligibility. This section includes a narrative
statement that identifies the applicant and supporting evidence
establishing that the applicant has or will have the legal authority to
enter into a financial assistance relationship with the Federal
Government. Examples of supporting evidence of applicant's legal
existence and eligibility include: A reference to or copy of the
relevant statute, regulation, executive order, or legal opinion
authorizing a State, local, or Tribal government program, articles of
incorporation or certificates of incorporation for corporate
applicants, partnership or trust agreements, board resolutions.
Applicants must also be free of any debarment or other restriction on
their ability to contract with the Federal Government.
4. Community Eligibility. This section provides a narrative
description of the community or communities to be served by the grant
and supporting information to establish eligibility. The narrative must
show that the proposed grant project's target area or areas are located
in one or more communities where the average residential energy costs
exceed one or more of the benchmark criteria for extremely high energy
costs as described in this NOFA. The narrative should clearly identify
the location and population of the areas to be aided by the grant
project and their energy costs and the population of the local
government division in which they are located. Local energy providers
and sources of high energy cost data and estimates should be clearly
identified. Neither the applicant nor the project must be physically
located in the extremely high energy cost community, but the funded
project must serve an eligible community.
The population estimates should be based on the results of the 2000
Census available from the U.S. Census Bureau. Additional information
and exhibits supporting eligibility may include maps, summary tables,
and references to statistical information from the U.S. Census, the
Energy Information Administration, other Federal and State agencies, or
private sources. The Application Guide includes additional information
and sources that the applicant may find useful in establishing
community eligibility.
5. Coordination with State Rural Development Initiatives. In this
section the applicant must describe how the
[[Page 47763]]
proposed grant is coordinated with and supports any rural development
efforts. The applicant should provide supporting references or
documentation of any relationship or contribution to State rural
development initiatives.
6. Project Overview. This section includes the applicant's
narrative overview of its proposed project. The narrative must address
the following:
a. Project Design: This section must provide a narrative
description of the project including a proposed scope of work
identifying major tasks and proposed schedules for task completion, a
detailed description of the equipment, facilities and associated
activities to be financed with grant funds, the location of the
eligible extremely high energy cost communities to be served, and an
estimate of the overall duration of the project. The Project Design
description should be sufficiently detailed to support a finding of
technical feasibility. Proposed projects involving construction,
repair, replacement, or improvement of electric generation,
transmission, and distribution facilities must generally be consistent
with the standards and requirements for projects financed with loans
and loan guarantees under the RE Act as set forth in the Agency's
Electric Programs Regulations and Bulletins and may reference these
requirements.
b. Project Management: This section must provide a narrative
describing the applicant's capabilities and project management plans.
The description should address the applicant's organizational
structure, method of funding, legal authority, key personnel, project
management experience, financial management systems, staff resources,
the goals and objectives of the program or business, and any related
services provided to the project beneficiaries. A current financial
statement and other supporting documentation may be referenced here and
included under the Supplementary Material section. If the applicant
proposes to use affiliated entities, contractors, or subcontractors to
provide services funded under the grant, the applicant must describe
the identities, relationship, qualifications, and experience of these
affiliated entities. The experience and capabilities of these entities
will be reviewed by the rating panel. If the applicant proposes to
secure equipment, design, construction, or other services from non-
affiliated entities, the applicant must briefly describe how it plans
to procure and/or contract for such equipment or services. The
applicant should provide information that will support a finding that
the combination of management team's experience, financial management
capabilities, resources and project structure will enable successful
completion of the project. Applicants are encouraged to review the
financial management requirements for Federal grantees in 7 CFR part
1709 and USDA financial assistance regulations at 7 CFR parts 3015,
3016, 3017, 3018, 3019, and 3052, as applicable, and to address their
ability to comply with these requirements in their applications.
c. Regulatory and other approvals: The applicant must identify any
other regulatory or other approvals required by other Federal, State,
local, or Tribal agencies, or by private entities as a condition of
financing that are necessary to carry out the proposed grant project
and its estimated schedule for obtaining the necessary approvals.
d. Benefits of the proposed project. The applicant should describe
how the proposed project would benefit the target area and eligible
communities. The description must specifically address how the project
will improve energy generation, transmission, or distribution
facilities serving the target area. The applicant should clearly
identify how the project addresses the energy needs of the community
and include appropriate measures of project success such as, for
example, expected reductions in household or community energy costs,
avoided cost increases, enhanced reliability, or economic or social
benefits from improvements in energy services available to the target
community. The applicant should include quantitative estimates of cost
or energy savings and other benefits. The applicant should provide
documentation or references to support its statements about cost-
effectiveness savings and improved services. The applicant should also
describe how it plans to measure and monitor the effectiveness of the
program in delivering its projected benefits.
7. Proposed Project Budget. The applicant must submit a proposed
budget for the grant program on SF 424A, ``Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs'' or SF-424C, ``Standard Form for Budget
Information-Construction Programs,'' as applicable. All applicants that
submit applications through Grants.gov must use SF-424A. The applicant
should supplement the budget summary form with more detailed
information describing the basis for cost estimates. The detailed
budget estimate should itemize and explain major proposed project cost
components such as, but not limited to, the expected costs of design
and engineering and other professional services, personnel costs
(salaries/wages and fringe benefits), equipment, materials, property
acquisition, travel (if any), and other direct costs, and indirect
costs, if any. The budget must document that planned administrative and
other expenses of the project sponsor that are not directly related to
performance of the grant will not total more than 4 percent of grant
funds. The applicant must also identify the source and amount of any
other Federal or non-Federal contributions of funds or services that
will be used to support the proposed project. This program does not
require supplemental or matching funds for eligibility; however, the
Agency will award additional rating points for programs that include a
match of other funds or like-kind contributions to support the project.
8. Supplementary Material. The applicant may append any additional
information relevant to the proposal or which may qualify the
application for extra points under the evaluation criteria described in
this NOFA.
iii. Part C. Additional Required Forms and Certifications. In order
to establish compliance with other Federal requirements for financial
assistance, the applicant must execute and submit with the initial
application the following forms and certifications:
SF 424B, ``Assurances--Non-Construction Programs'' or SF
424D, ``Assurances--Construction Programs'' (as applicable). All
applicants applying through Grants.gov must use form SF 424B.
SF LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.''
``Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension and Other
Responsibility Matter--Primary Covered Transactions'' as required under
7 CFR part 3017, Appendix A. Certifications for individuals,
corporations, nonprofit entities, Indian Tribes, partnerships.
Environmental Profile. The Agency environmental profile
template included in the Application Guide solicits information about
project characteristics and site-specific conditions that may involve
environmental, historic preservation, and other resources. The profile
will be used by the Agency's environmental staff to identify selected
projects that may require additional environmental reviews,
assessments, or environmental impact statements before a final grant
award may be approved. A copy of the environmental profile and
instructions for completion are included in the Application Guide and
may be downloaded from the Agency Web site or Grants.gov.
[[Page 47764]]
B. Special Requirements for Applicants Requesting Reconsideration of an
Application Submitted in 2008
Applicants that submitted applications in response to the NOFA
published on January 28, 2008 (73 FR 4,778) and that later received a
letter from the RUS with their scores and advising them that the
application was determined to be eligible and complete, may request
reconsideration of their 2008 applications in this round of competitive
funding. To request reconsideration, the applicant must submit a new
original Standard Form SF 424, including mandatory data elements (DUNS
number, fax number, and e-mail address) along with a brief signed
letter requesting reconsideration and identifying any additional
information that they wish to be considered by the rating panel in
reviewing their application along with supporting documentation.
Community eligibility for these prior applications was determined under
the eligibility benchmarks for the 2008 NOFA. These accepted and
complete applications will be grandfathered under this NOFA.
The required application package for reconsideration will consist
of the original signed SF 424, the request for reconsideration, and any
additional supporting documents, plus the original application package
submitted to the RUS in 2008. The Agency has maintained these prior
applications on file and will add the newly submitted material to the
existing application package for review by the rating panel. You do not
need to send a copy of the 2008 application package. Because this
abbreviated application package differs from the general application
package for first time applicants available through Grants.gov,
applicants requesting reconsideration should submit their requests
directly to the RUS by the application deadline and not through
Grants.gov. Applicants that submitted an application in 2008 also have
the option of submitting an entirely new complete application package
for their project under the requirements of this NOFA.
3. Additional Information Requests
In addition to the information required to be submitted in the
application package, the RUS may request that successful grant
applicants provide additional information, analyses, forms and
certifications as a condition of pre-award clearance, including any
environmental reviews or other reviews or certifications required under
USDA and Government-wide assistance regulations. The RUS will advise
the applicant in writing of any additional information required.
4. Submitting the Application
Applicants that are submitting paper application packages must
submit one original application package that includes original
signatures on all required forms and certifications and two copies.
Applications should be submitted on 8 \1/2\ by 11 inch white paper.
Supplemental materials, such as maps, charts, plans, and photographs
may exceed this size requirement.
A completed paper application package must contain all required
parts in the order indicated in the above section on ``Content and Form
of Application Submission.'' The application package should be
paginated either sequentially or by section. Applicants are requested
to provide the application package in single-sided format for ease of
copying.
Applicants that are submitting application packages electronically
through the Federal grants portal Grants.gov (https://www.Grants.gov)
must follow the application requirements and procedures and submit all
the forms in the application package provided there. The Grants.gov Web
site contains full instructions on all required registration,
passwords, credentialing and software required to submit applications
electronically. Grants.gov has streamlined the registration and
credentialing process and now requires separate application processes
for individuals and organizations. Individual applicants, including
individuals applying on behalf of an organization, should follow the
special directions for individuals on the Grants.gov Web site.
Organizational applicants and sole proprietorships should follow the
instructions for organizations.
Organizational applicants are advised that completion of the
requirements for registration with Grants.gov, with the Central
Contractor Registry, and e-Authentication required under Grants.gov may
take a week or more and may be delayed. Accordingly, the Agency
strongly recommends that you complete your organization's registration
with Grants.gov well in advance of the deadline for submitting
applications.
USDA encourages both individual and organizational applicants who
wish to apply through Grants.gov to submit their applications well in
advance of the deadlines. Early submittal will give you time to resolve
any system problems or technical difficulties with an electronic
application through the customer support resources available at the
Grants.gov Web site while preserving the option of submitting a timely
paper application if any difficulties cannot be resolved.
5. Disclosure of Information
All material submitted by the applicant may be made available to
the public in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.
552) and USDA's implementing regulations at 7 CFR part 1.
6. Submission Dates and Times
Applications must be postmarked or hand delivered to the RUS or
posted to Grants.gov by September 8, 2010. The Agency will begin
accepting applications on the date of publication of this NOFA. The
Agency will accept for review all applications postmarked or delivered
to us by this deadline. Late applications will not be considered and
will be returned to the applicant.
For the purposes of determining the timeliness of an application
the RUS will accept the following as a valid postmarks: the date
stamped by the United States Postal Service on the outside of the
package containing the application delivered by U.S. Mail; the date the
package was received by a commercial delivery service as evidenced by
the delivery label; the date received via hand delivery to the RUS
headquarters; and the date an electronic application was posted for
submission to Grants.gov.
7. Intergovernmental Review
This program is not subject to the requirements of Executive Order
12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,'' as implemented
under USDA's regulations at 7 CFR part 3015.
8. Funding Restrictions
Section 19 of the RE Act provides that no more than 4 percent of
the grant funds may be used for the planning and administrative
expenses of the grantee not directly related to the grant project.
9. Other Submission Requirements
Applicants that are submitting paper applications must submit one
original application package that includes original signatures on all
required forms and certifications and two copies. Applications should
be single-sided and submitted on 8\1/2\ by 11-inch white paper.
Supplemental materials, such as maps, charts, plans, and photographs
may exceed this size requirement.
A completed application for first-time applicants must contain all
required parts in the order indicated in the above section on ``Content
and Form of Application Submission.'' The
[[Page 47765]]
application package should be paginated either sequentially or by
section. Applicants seeking reconsideration should follow the special
instructions above.
The completed paper application package and two copies must be
delivered to the RUS headquarters in Washington, DC using United States
Mail, overnight delivery service, or by hand to the following address:
Rural Utilities Service, Electric Programs, United States Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165 South
Building, Washington, DC 20250-1560. Applications should be marked
``Attention: High Energy Cost Community Grant Program.''
Applicants are advised that regular mail deliveries to Federal
Agencies, especially of oversized packages and envelopes, continue to
be delayed because of increased security screening requirements.
Applicants may wish to consider using Express Mail or a commercial
overnight delivery service instead of regular mail. Applicants wishing
to hand deliver or use courier services for delivery should contact the
Agency representative in advance to arrange for building access. The
RUS advises applicants that because of intensified security procedures
at government facilities that any electronic media included in an
application package may be damaged during security screening. If an
applicant wishes to submit such materials, they should contact the
agency representative for additional information.
The RUS will accept electronic applications through the Federal Web
portal at https://www.Grants.gov. Applicants wishing to submit
electronic applications through Grants.gov must follow the application
procedures and submission requirements detailed on that Web site at
https://www.Grants.gov. Applicants that file through Grants.gov should
receive electronic confirmation from Grants.gov that their applications
have been received within 48 hours of submitting the application.
Grants.gov will send a second electronic message that the application
has either been successfully accepted by the system for transmission to
the grantor agency OR has been rejected due to errors. After the grant
application deadline has passed, USDA will send an electronic
confirmation acknowledging that the application has been received by
the RUS from Grants.gov. Grants.gov will not accept applications for
filing after the deadline has passed. The Agency will not accept
applications directly over the Internet, by e-mail, or fax.
Applicants should be aware that Grants.gov requires that applicants
complete several preliminary registrations and e-authentication
requirements before being allowed to submit applications
electronically. Applicants should consult the Grants.gov Web site and
allow ample time to complete the steps required for registration before
submitting their applications. Applicants may download application
materials and complete forms online through Grants.gov without
completing the registration requirements. Application materials
prepared online may be printed and submitted in paper to the Agency as
detailed above.
10. Multiple Applications
Eligible applicants may submit only one application per project.
Multiple tasks and localities may be included in a single proposed
grant project. No more than $5 million in grant funds will be awarded
per project application. Applicants may, however, submit applications
for more than one project.
V. Application Review Information
All applications for grants must be delivered to the Agency at the
address listed above or postmarked no later than September 8, 2010 to
be eligible. After the deadline has passed, t