Department of Agriculture March 1, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice announces that the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) is accepting applications for the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program. Approximately $17 million is currently available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 along with about $2.75 million in COVID-19 relief funds carried over from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the FY 2021 Appropriations Act) for a total of $19.75 million in funding. The Agency may also utilize any funding that becomes available through enactment of the FY 2022 appropriations. The Agency will publish the program funding level on the Rural Development website, https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/federal-funding-opportunitie s. The COVID-19 relief funds allow for a reduced cost- share match of 10 percent of the grant amount (i.e., at least $1 from the applicant for every $10 in Agency grant funds) for these funds during the public health emergency. In the event the public health emergency ends, applicants would have to meet the VAPG program statutory match of 100 percent of the grant for these funds. You are not required to demonstrate how your business operations were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a project proposed by Badger State Solar, LLC is available for public review and comment. RUS is publishing the Draft EIS to inform interested parties and the general public about the project proposal and to invite the public to comment on the scope, Proposed Action, and other issues addressed in the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA, and RUS, Environmental Policies and Procedures and evaluates the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects related to providing financial assistance for the Badger State Solar, LLC's Alternating Current solar project (Project). Badger State Solar intends to request financial assistance from RUS for the Proposed Action and information contained in the EIS will serve as a basis for the decision regarding whether to provide the requested financial assistance. RUS has determined that its action regarding the Proposed Action is an undertaking subject to review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and its implementing regulation, ``Protection of Historic Properties'' and as part of its broad environmental review process, RUS must take into account the effect of the Proposed Action on historic properties. With this notice, RUS invites any affected federal, state, and local agencies, Tribes, and other interested persons to comment on the scope, alternatives, and significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS.