Request for Public Input About Implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act Funding, 70770-70772 [2022-25292]

Download as PDF 70770 Notices Federal Register Vol. 87, No. 223 Monday, November 21, 2022 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency statements of organization and functions are examples of documents appearing in this section. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13. Comments are requested regarding; whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency’s estimate of burden including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments regarding this information collection received by December 21, 2022 will be considered. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/ public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or by using the search function. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number, and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information that such persons are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it VerDate Sep<11>2014 21:25 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 259001 displays a currently valid OMB control number. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Title: Horse Protection Regulations. OMB Control Number: 0579–0056. Summary of Collection: The Horse Protection Act (HPA) of 1970 (Pub. L. 91–540), as amended July 13, 1976 (Pub. L. 94–360), was enacted to prevent showing, exhibiting, selling, or auctioning of ‘‘sore’’ horses, and certain transportation of sore horses in connection therewith, at horse shows, horse exhibitions, horse sales, and horse auctions. ‘‘Soring’’ is a process whereby chemical or mechanical agents, or a combination thereof, are applied to the limbs of a horse in order to exaggerate its gait. A ‘‘sore’’ horse is one that has been subjected to prohibited practices and, as a result, suffers, or can reasonably be expected to suffer, physical pain or distress, inflammation, or lameness when walking, trotting or otherwise moving. A horse that is ‘‘sore’’ is prohibited from entering or participating in HPA-regulated events because exhibitors, owners, and trainers of such horse may obtain unfair advantage over individuals exhibiting horses that are not ‘‘sore.’’ Need and Use of the Information: APHIS uses the following information collection activities to enforce the Horse Protection Act: Access to and Inspection of Event Management Records; Request for Certification of DQP Program and Detailed Outline of Such a Program, Including Standards of Conduct and Procedures for Enforcing Such Standards; List of DQPs and Notification to USDA of Changes to the List and Any Warnings or Revocations Issued to Any DQP; HIO Report of Violations and Recordkeeping; Certified DQP Program Written Warning to DQP of Unsatisfactory Performance; Certified DQP Program Cancellation of DQP License After Warning; Request by DQP to USDA to Appeal License Cancellation; Appeal of Revocation and DQP Access to Records (previously titled Appeal of Revocation); Written Notification to USDA and Certified DQP Programs by Event PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Management of Unsatisfactory DQP Performance; Records of Events Containing Tennessee Walking Horses or Racking Horses Maintained by Management; Providing Contact Information for Recordkeeper; Inspection of Horse Industry Organization Records; Management Report to USDA of Any Regulated Horse Event Involving Tennessee Walking Horses or Racking Horses; Management Report to USDA of Any Regulated Horse Event Not Involving Tennessee Walking Horses or Racking Horses; Required Information in Rulebooks and Rulebook Submission; Appeals and Reports; and Certified DQP Program Quarterly Reports on Disciplinary Action and Recordkeeping (previously titled Certified DQP Program Quarterly Reports on Disciplinary Actions); If the information were collected less frequently or not collected, APHIS would not be able to accurately assess compliance with the HPA. Description of Respondents: Business or not-for-profit; individuals and households. Number of Respondents: 442. Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; reporting. Total Burden Hours: 2,650. Ruth Brown, Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer. [FR Doc. 2022–25255 Filed 11–18–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–34–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service [Docket ID: NRCS–2022–0015] Request for Public Input About Implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act Funding Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. ACTION: Request for information. AGENCY: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) requests public input for NRCS to use to inform how NRCS will implement funds received under the Inflation Reduction SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\21NON1.SGM 21NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 223 / Monday, November 21, 2022 / Notices Act (IRA) to fund the deployment of climate-smart practices on US farms, ranches, and forestlands through four Farm Bill conservation programs. NRCS is also requesting input on funding to quantify carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions at the field scale. NRCS is specifically interested in public input and recommendations that NRCS can use to improve, expand, and/or build on scientifically-designed quantification systems to monitor and quantify improvements in soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production. In implementing the IRA, NRCS is interested in supporting program implementation and improving program delivery by effectively leveraging partners to increase outreach and expand access to underserved producers. This effort will help NRCS identify and prioritize process improvements for the delivery of funding made available under IRA and the overall administration of the NRCS conservation programs. NRCS will look to identify immediate changes that can be implemented for funding available for fiscal year (FY) 2023 and will continue to identify and adopt additional changes in future years. DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by December 21, 2022. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent possible. ADDRESSES: We invite you to send comments in response to this notice. You may send comments through the method below: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID: NRCS–2022–0015. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 Background On August 12, 2022, President Biden signed IRA, (Pub. L. 117–169) into law. IRA builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in rural America and furthers the commitment to rural communities demonstrated in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. 117–2) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also known as ‘‘Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’’ (Pub. L. 117–58). IRA is a oncein-a-generation opportunity to build critical infrastructure, to protect communities from wildfire and extreme heat and to drive climate-smart VerDate Sep<11>2014 21:25 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 259001 agriculture and renewable energy initiatives nationwide. Agriculture, in particular, is at the forefront of the United States’ effort to address climate change. From incentivizing the adoption of climatesmart agriculture, to supporting healthy forests and conservation, to clean energy tax credits, to biofuels, infrastructure and beyond, IRA provides the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) with significant additional resources to lead this historic charge. IRA provides unprecedented funding levels targeted to improve soil carbon, reduce nitrogen losses, or reduce, capture, avoid, or sequester carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production for several NRCS programs. The increased funding levels begin in FY 2023, and rapidly build over 4 years, resulting in the following total additional funds by program and NRCS administrative costs: • Environmental Quality Incentives Program—$8.45 billion; • Conservation Stewardship Program—$3.25 billion; • Regional Conservation Partnership Program—$4.95 billion; • Agricultural Conservation Easement Program—$1.4 billion; • Conservation Technical Assistance—$1 billion; • Greenhous Gas (GHG) Monitoring— $300 million; and • Administrative costs—$100 million. These funds provide NRCS with an unprecedented opportunity to implement practices and quantify greenhouse gas emission reductions. NRCS is soliciting public input and recommendations to determine how NRCS can maximize, target, monitor, and quantify improvements to soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production. To minimize complexity and ensure equity across NRCS program implementation, NRCS also requests recommendations on how to streamline and improve program delivery while also expanding access for underserved producers. NRCS will use the input provided in response to this request to implement IRA funding over the next several years. List of Questions for Commenters The list of questions below is nonexhaustive, but meant to assist members of the public in formulating comments on some of the most important issues that NRCS is considering as they implement the program. This list of PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 70771 questions is not intended to restrict the feedback that members of the public may provide: (1) What systems of quantification should NRCS use to measure the carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions outcomes associated with activities funded through IRA? • How should NRCS design a scientifically-based framework for fieldbased quantification and analysis that can integrate into USDA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Assessment Program? • What methods should NRCS use to quantify carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions? • What sources of information should NRCS consider in developing protocols or what preexisting, standardized protocols should be used to support field-based data collection and analysis? • What types of field-based data should be collected and analyzed to assess carbon sequestration and reduction in carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions outcomes associated with agricultural and conservation activities? • How should USDA monitor and track carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions trends and the effects of NRCS supported activities? • How or should the framework developed by NRCS to provide fieldbased quantification integrate with satellite data to provide a comprehensive picture of GHG emissions and removals from agricultural activities and conservation practice implementation? (2) How can NRCS engage the private sector and private philanthropy to leverage the IRA investments, including for systems of quantification? (3) How should NRCS target IRA funding to maximize improvements to soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production? (4) How should NRCS streamline and improve program delivery to increase efficiencies and expand access to IRA funded programs and projects for producers, particularly underserved producers? (5) How can NRCS expand capacity among partners to assist in providing outreach and technical assistance to support the implementation of IRA funding? E:\FR\FM\21NON1.SGM 21NON1 70772 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 223 / Monday, November 21, 2022 / Notices Review of Public Feedback lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 Maximizing the Value of Public Feedback NRCS plans to use the answers provided by the public to inform the approach to determining the best delivery of the IRA funds and the overall administration of NRCS conservation programs. NRCS encourages public comment on these questions and requests any other information or data commenters believe are relevant to this document. The type of feedback that is most useful to NRCS will be comments that identify specific data, policies, procedures or processes, and include actionable information and data, or viable alternatives that meet IRA and other programmatic goals and requirements. To be most useful to NRCS, comments need to do more than simply state that the commenter feels strongly that NRCS should change processes. Instead, to be most helpful, comments should state in plain language what change NRCS should consider or how a suggested change will meet specific goals and requirements, or otherwise improve existing processes. We highlight a few of those points here, noting that comments that will be most useful to NRCS are those that are guided by the following principles. Commenters should consider these principles as they respond to the questions in this document: • Specify, to the extent possible, the NRCS program, regulation, or policy at issue and provide the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) and NRCS Manual citation, where available or applicable. See https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov for NRCS current policy manuals and handbooks. • Explain, in the most specific and concise language, why an NRCS regulation, policy, form, or program process should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or removed, as well as specific suggestions about how NRCS can better achieve IRA objectives and reduce unnecessary burdens on producers and partners. • Provide data to support how specific recommendations would increase benefits achievable by the IRA funding. Commenters may also address how NRCS can best quantify or otherwise obtain and consider accurate, objective information and data about outcomes achieved through IRA funding. You may contact us by sending an email to: NRCS.IRA.Input@usda.gov if you have questions or concerns. Please specify the docket ID Docket ID: NRCS– 2022–0015 in the subject line. VerDate Sep<11>2014 21:25 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 259001 NRCS will use the public comments to improve our program delivery with the funds made available by IRA and to consider NRCS conservation program improvements more broadly. This document is issued solely for information and program-planning purposes. Public comments provided in response to this document will not bind NRCS to any further actions, including publication of any formal response or agreement to initiate a recommended change. NRCS will consider the feedback and make changes or process improvements at our sole discretion. Finally, comments submitted in response to this document will not be considered as petitions for rulemaking submitted as specified in the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(e)). USDA Non-Discrimination Policy In accordance with Federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights regulations and policies, USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family or parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (for example, braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and text telephone (TTY)) or dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text telephone users can initiate this call from any telephone). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD– 3027, found online at https:// www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-fileaprogram-discrimination-complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632–9992. PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250–9410 or email: OAC@ usda.gov. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. Terry Cosby, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service. [FR Doc. 2022–25292 Filed 11–17–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–16–P COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS Notice of Public Meeting of the South Carolina Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. ACTION: Announcement of business meeting. AGENCY: Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Commission) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, that the South Carolina Advisory Committee (Committee) to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a business meeting on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. (ET). The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the post-report stage of the Committee’s project on Civil Asset Forfeiture in South Carolina. DATES: The meeting will take place on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. (ET). Meeting Link (Audio/Visual): https:// tinyurl.com/2s64wdex. Telephone (Audio Only): Dial 1–833– 568–8864 USA Toll Free; Meeting ID: 160 518 4384. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Delaviez, DFO, at ero@usccr.gov or 1–202–529–8246. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Committee meetings are available to the public through the conference link above. Any interested member of the public may listen to the meeting. An open comment period will be provided to allow members of the public to make a statement as time allows. If joining via phone, callers can expect to incur regular charges for calls they initiate over wireless lines, according to their wireless plan. The Commission will not refund any incurred charges. Individuals who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing may also follow the proceedings by first calling the Federal Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 and SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\21NON1.SGM 21NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 223 (Monday, November 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70770-70772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25292]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service

[Docket ID: NRCS-2022-0015]


Request for Public Input About Implementation of the Inflation 
Reduction Act Funding

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA.

ACTION: Request for information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) requests 
public input for NRCS to use to inform how NRCS will implement funds 
received under the Inflation Reduction

[[Page 70771]]

Act (IRA) to fund the deployment of climate-smart practices on US 
farms, ranches, and forestlands through four Farm Bill conservation 
programs. NRCS is also requesting input on funding to quantify carbon 
sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions 
at the field scale. NRCS is specifically interested in public input and 
recommendations that NRCS can use to improve, expand, and/or build on 
scientifically-designed quantification systems to monitor and quantify 
improvements in soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the 
reduction, capture, avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, 
methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural 
production. In implementing the IRA, NRCS is interested in supporting 
program implementation and improving program delivery by effectively 
leveraging partners to increase outreach and expand access to 
underserved producers. This effort will help NRCS identify and 
prioritize process improvements for the delivery of funding made 
available under IRA and the overall administration of the NRCS 
conservation programs. NRCS will look to identify immediate changes 
that can be implemented for funding available for fiscal year (FY) 2023 
and will continue to identify and adopt additional changes in future 
years.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by December 21, 2022. 
Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent 
possible.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to send comments in response to this notice. 
You may send comments through the method below:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID: NRCS-2022-0015. Follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 12, 2022, President Biden signed IRA, (Pub. L. 117-169) 
into law. IRA builds on the Biden-Harris Administration's historic 
investments in rural America and furthers the commitment to rural 
communities demonstrated in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. 
L. 117-2) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also known as 
``Bipartisan Infrastructure Law'' (Pub. L. 117-58). IRA is a once-in-a-
generation opportunity to build critical infrastructure, to protect 
communities from wildfire and extreme heat and to drive climate-smart 
agriculture and renewable energy initiatives nationwide.
    Agriculture, in particular, is at the forefront of the United 
States' effort to address climate change. From incentivizing the 
adoption of climate-smart agriculture, to supporting healthy forests 
and conservation, to clean energy tax credits, to biofuels, 
infrastructure and beyond, IRA provides the United State Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) with significant additional resources to lead this 
historic charge.
    IRA provides unprecedented funding levels targeted to improve soil 
carbon, reduce nitrogen losses, or reduce, capture, avoid, or sequester 
carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with 
agricultural production for several NRCS programs. The increased 
funding levels begin in FY 2023, and rapidly build over 4 years, 
resulting in the following total additional funds by program and NRCS 
administrative costs:
     Environmental Quality Incentives Program--$8.45 billion;
     Conservation Stewardship Program--$3.25 billion;
     Regional Conservation Partnership Program--$4.95 billion;
     Agricultural Conservation Easement Program--$1.4 billion;
     Conservation Technical Assistance--$1 billion;
     Greenhous Gas (GHG) Monitoring--$300 million; and
     Administrative costs--$100 million.
    These funds provide NRCS with an unprecedented opportunity to 
implement practices and quantify greenhouse gas emission reductions. 
NRCS is soliciting public input and recommendations to determine how 
NRCS can maximize, target, monitor, and quantify improvements to soil 
carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, 
avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous 
oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production. To minimize 
complexity and ensure equity across NRCS program implementation, NRCS 
also requests recommendations on how to streamline and improve program 
delivery while also expanding access for underserved producers. NRCS 
will use the input provided in response to this request to implement 
IRA funding over the next several years.

List of Questions for Commenters

    The list of questions below is non-exhaustive, but meant to assist 
members of the public in formulating comments on some of the most 
important issues that NRCS is considering as they implement the 
program. This list of questions is not intended to restrict the 
feedback that members of the public may provide:
    (1) What systems of quantification should NRCS use to measure the 
carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide 
emissions outcomes associated with activities funded through IRA?
     How should NRCS design a scientifically-based framework 
for field-based quantification and analysis that can integrate into 
USDA's Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Assessment Program?
     What methods should NRCS use to quantify carbon 
sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions?
     What sources of information should NRCS consider in 
developing protocols or what preexisting, standardized protocols should 
be used to support field-based data collection and analysis?
     What types of field-based data should be collected and 
analyzed to assess carbon sequestration and reduction in carbon 
dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions outcomes associated with 
agricultural and conservation activities?
     How should USDA monitor and track carbon sequestration and 
greenhouse gas emissions trends and the effects of NRCS supported 
activities?
     How or should the framework developed by NRCS to provide 
field-based quantification integrate with satellite data to provide a 
comprehensive picture of GHG emissions and removals from agricultural 
activities and conservation practice implementation?
    (2) How can NRCS engage the private sector and private philanthropy 
to leverage the IRA investments, including for systems of 
quantification?
    (3) How should NRCS target IRA funding to maximize improvements to 
soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, 
avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous 
oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production?
    (4) How should NRCS streamline and improve program delivery to 
increase efficiencies and expand access to IRA funded programs and 
projects for producers, particularly underserved producers?
    (5) How can NRCS expand capacity among partners to assist in 
providing outreach and technical assistance to support the 
implementation of IRA funding?

[[Page 70772]]

Maximizing the Value of Public Feedback

    NRCS plans to use the answers provided by the public to inform the 
approach to determining the best delivery of the IRA funds and the 
overall administration of NRCS conservation programs. NRCS encourages 
public comment on these questions and requests any other information or 
data commenters believe are relevant to this document. The type of 
feedback that is most useful to NRCS will be comments that identify 
specific data, policies, procedures or processes, and include 
actionable information and data, or viable alternatives that meet IRA 
and other programmatic goals and requirements. To be most useful to 
NRCS, comments need to do more than simply state that the commenter 
feels strongly that NRCS should change processes. Instead, to be most 
helpful, comments should state in plain language what change NRCS 
should consider or how a suggested change will meet specific goals and 
requirements, or otherwise improve existing processes.
    We highlight a few of those points here, noting that comments that 
will be most useful to NRCS are those that are guided by the following 
principles. Commenters should consider these principles as they respond 
to the questions in this document:
     Specify, to the extent possible, the NRCS program, 
regulation, or policy at issue and provide the Code of Federal 
Regulation (CFR) and NRCS Manual citation, where available or 
applicable. See https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov for NRCS current 
policy manuals and handbooks.
     Explain, in the most specific and concise language, why an 
NRCS regulation, policy, form, or program process should be modified, 
streamlined, expanded, or removed, as well as specific suggestions 
about how NRCS can better achieve IRA objectives and reduce unnecessary 
burdens on producers and partners.
     Provide data to support how specific recommendations would 
increase benefits achievable by the IRA funding. Commenters may also 
address how NRCS can best quantify or otherwise obtain and consider 
accurate, objective information and data about outcomes achieved 
through IRA funding.
    You may contact us by sending an email to: [email protected] 
if you have questions or concerns. Please specify the docket ID Docket 
ID: NRCS-2022-0015 in the subject line.

Review of Public Feedback

    NRCS will use the public comments to improve our program delivery 
with the funds made available by IRA and to consider NRCS conservation 
program improvements more broadly.
    This document is issued solely for information and program-planning 
purposes. Public comments provided in response to this document will 
not bind NRCS to any further actions, including publication of any 
formal response or agreement to initiate a recommended change. NRCS 
will consider the feedback and make changes or process improvements at 
our sole discretion.
    Finally, comments submitted in response to this document will not 
be considered as petitions for rulemaking submitted as specified in the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(e)).

USDA Non-Discrimination Policy

    In accordance with Federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights 
regulations and policies, USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, 
and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are 
prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, 
religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual 
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family or parental 
status, income derived from a public assistance program, political 
beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in 
any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases 
apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by 
program or incident.
    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 
communication for program information (for example, braille, large 
print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the 
responsible Agency or USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 
text telephone (TTY)) or dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Service 
(both voice and text telephone users can initiate this call from any 
telephone). Additionally, program information may be made available in 
languages other than English.
    To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD- 3027, found online at 
https://www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA 
and provide in the letter all the information requested in the form. To 
request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your 
completed form or letter to USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or email: 
[email protected].
    USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Terry Cosby,
Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-25292 Filed 11-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P


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