Department of Agriculture September 15, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to send comments regarding any aspect of this information collection. This notice announces the intention of the Economic Research Service to request a renewal to a currently approved information collection, namely a pilot generic clearance for experimental economic research.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the intention of the Foreign Agricultural Service to request approval for a new information collection for General Administrative Policy for Agreements to Conduct International Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching Activities.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) is an agency within the Rural Development mission area of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for administering the Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program. The B&I Guaranteed Loan Program is authorized by the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act and provides loan guarantees to banks and other approved lenders to finance private businesses located in rural areas. The Agency is proposing changes to refine the regulations for the B&I Guaranteed Loan Program in an effort to improve program delivery, clarify the regulations to make them easier to understand, and reduce delinquencies. The proposed changes to the program are expected to reduce the subsidy rate and thereby lower program subsidy costs over time as the proposed rule is implemented. By lowering the subsidy rate, the Agency may be able to provide greater leverage for the budget authority provided by Congress. This will allow the Agency to guarantee a higher total dollar amount of loan requests and, assuming the same average size of loans being guaranteed, to guarantee more loans. These changes could also result in increased lending activity, expanded business opportunities, and creation of more jobs in rural areas.