Rural Housing Service – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as amended, the Rural Utilities Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Housing Service, agencies that comprise the Rural Development Mission Area within the United States Department of Agriculture, announce their intention to request an extension of a currently approved information collection and invites comments on this information collection.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, is correcting a notice of funding availability (NOFA) that was published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2022, entitled, ``Section 514 Off-Farm Labor Housing Loans and Section 516 Off-Farm Labor Housing Grants to Improve, Repair, or Make Modifications to existing Off-Farm Labor Housing Properties for Fiscal Year 2022.'' The notice announced the acceptance of pre- applications for subsequent Section 514 Off-Farm Labor Housing (Off- FLH) loans and subsequent Section 516 Off-FLH grants to improve, repair, or make modifications to existing Off-Farm Labor Housing Properties for fiscal year 2022. The purpose of this notice is to correct the application deadline dates published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2022.

The Rural Housing Service (Agency), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces that it is accepting applications under the Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training (TAT) Grant program for fiscal year (FY) 2022. This NOSA is being issued prior to passage of a final appropriations act for FY 2022 to allow potential applicants time to submit applications for financial assistance under the program and to give the Agency time to process applications. Once the FY 2022 funding amount is determined, the Agency will publish it on its website at https:// www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/notices-solicitation-applications-no sas.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing a new fee structure for the Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program (GRRHP) initial and annual guarantee fees.

On December 10, 2021, Rural Development's Rural Business- Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and Rural Utilities Service, agencies of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), published a final rule with comment for the oneRD Guarantee Loan Program (oneRD). The final rule made necessary revisions to the policy and procedures that strengthened the oversight and management of the growing Community Facilities, Water and Waste Disposal, Business and Industry, and Rural Energy for America guarantee portfolios. The final rule had an omission of information in the preamble and contained errors in the amendatory language. This document corrects the final regulation.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is issuing a final rule to amend its Direct Single Family Housing Loans and Grants (DSFHLG) programs regulation. This final rule adopts most changes as presented in the proposed rule published on November 25, 2019, in the Federal Register. This final rule also addresses public comments received by the Agency and makes some modifications based on consideration of those comments, including revisions to the refinancing provisions which will help provide relief to homeowners who have difficulty keeping their accounts current (e.g., coming off a payment moratorium), based on the availability of funds and Agency priorities.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the availability of $1 million in grant funding, and the timeframe to submit applications for Off-Farm Labor Housing Technical Assistance (Off-FLH TA) grants. This NOFA solicits applications from eligible private and public nonprofit (NP) agencies to provide technical assistance (TA) to organizations and groups qualified to apply for Section 514 Off-Farm Labor Housing (Off-FLH) loans and Section 516 Off- FLH grants. Work performed under these grants is expected to increase the availability of decent, safe, and sanitary housing for farm laborers.

Rural Development's Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and Rural Utilities Service, agencies of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), are publishing this final rule for the oneRD Guarantee Loan Program (oneRD). The intent of this rule is to make necessary revisions to the policy and procedures which will strengthen oversight and management of the growing Community Facilities (CF), Water and Waste Disposal (WWD), Business and Industry (B&I), and Rural Energy for America (REAP) guarantee portfolios. This action is part of a continuing effort by the Agency to improve customer service for its lenders and create a more efficient work process for its staff.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and the Rural Utilities Service, agencies of the Rural Development mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency to request approval for a new information collection in support of compliance with applicable acts for planning and performing construction and other development work.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and the Rural Utilities Service, agencies of the Rural Development mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency to request approval for a new information collection in support of compliance with applicable acts for planning and performing construction and other development work.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the availability of up to $500 million in grant funding, appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, for the establishment of the Emergency Rural Health Care (ERHC) Grant Program. As authorized under Section 1002 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, funds will be made available and distributed between two tracks of funding to eligible applicants: Track One, Recovery grants to offer support for rural health care services in the form of immediate relief to address the economic conditions arising from the COVID-19 emergency; and Track Two, Impact grants to offer longer-term funding to advance ideas and solutions to support long-term sustainability of rural health.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the above-named agency to request Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a revision of a currently approved information collection in support of the Rural Rental Housing Program.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), agencies of the Rural Development mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency, offer loan guarantees through four programs: Community Facilities (CF) administered by RHS; Water and Waste Disposal (WWD) administered by the RUS; and Business and Industry (B&I) and Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) administered by the RBCS. This notice provides applicants with the Guarantee Fee rates, Guarantee percent for Guaranteed Loans, the Periodic Retention Fee, and Fee for Issuance of the Loan Note Guarantee Prior to Construction Completion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, to be used when applying for guaranteed loans under the aforementioned guaranteed loan types. This notice is being published prior to the passage of a FY 2022 appropriation. Should the fees need to be adjusted after passage of the FY 2022 appropriation bill, the agency will publish a subsequent notice in the Federal Register.

The Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development (RD) is seeking applications for the Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge (RPIC) from eligible entities to provide technical assistance and training to rural communities for placemaking planning and implementation. This funding opportunity will be administered by the USDA Rural Development Innovation Center and is authorized by the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021, to provide up to $3 million in competitive cooperative agreement funds. This announcement lists the information needed to submit an application.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's (RHS or Agency) intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the programs under the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces that it is soliciting competitive pre-applications for Section 514 Off-Farm Labor Housing (Off-FLH) loans and Section 516 Off-FLH grants for the construction of new Off-FLH units for domestic farm laborers, retired domestic farm laborers, or disabled domestic farm laborers. The program objective is to increase the supply of affordable housing for farm laborers. This Notice describes the method used to distribute funds, the pre-application and final application process, and submission requirements.

This Notice announces that the Rural Housing Service (Agency) is accepting Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 applications for the Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training (TAT) Grant program. The Agency will publish the amount of funding received in the final appropriations act on its website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/ notices-solicitation-applications-nosas. Awards will be made from available funding on or before September 15, 2021.

The Agriculture Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) re-authorized the Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) priority with some modifications. Section 6401 of the 2018 Farm Bill enables the Secretary of Agriculture to prioritize projects that support multi-jurisdictional and multi-sectoral strategic community investment plans, recently included in the existing regulation In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, the Agency implements SECD through reserving funds from covered program's appropriations. The purpose of this notice is to provide requirements to applicants submitting applications for the covered programs' reserved funds and to establish the above mentioned priority.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the program of the Agency's use of Supervised Bank Accounts (SBA).

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency) published a proposed rule, September 3, 2019, proposing to amend its regulation to remove the stated amount that the Agency will charge for the initial and annual guarantee fees. The regulation change will allow the Agency the flexibility to establish or make any future changes to the initial and annual guarantee fees without the need for a regulatory change. Through this action, RHS finalizes the proposed rule without any substantive revisions.

On July 14, 2020, Rural Development's Rural Business- Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and Rural Utilities Service referred to as ``the Agency'' or ``Agency'' promulgated the OneRD Guaranteed Loan regulation. Following final implementation of this final rule, the Agency found that corrections due to error, omissions, or need for clarity were necessary. This technical correction makes amendments to address these necessary changes.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and Rural Utilities Service, of the Rural Development (RD) mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency, is issuing this final rule to implement statutory provisions found in Section 6401 of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (``2018 Farm Bill'') that amends Section 379H of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. The intent of this rule is to amend the existing regulations governing Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) to implement Section 6401 of the 2018 Farm Bill. Additionally, conforming changes are being made to other regulations as a result of the aforementioned statutory changes. Finally, we are removing Farm Service Agency from a chapter in the CFR as they no longer use any of the parts under that chapter.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), agencies of the Rural Development mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency, offer loan guarantees through four programs: Community Facilities (CF) administered by RHS; Water and Waste Disposal (WWD) administered by the RUS; and Business and Industry (B&I) and Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) administered by the RBCS. This notice provides applicants with the Guarantee Fee rates, Guarantee percent for Guaranteed Loans, the Periodic Retention Fee, and Fee for Issuance of the Loan Note Guarantee Prior to Construction Completion for FY 2021, to be used when applying for guarantee loans under the aforementioned guarantee loan types. This notice is being published prior to the passage of a FY 2021 appropriation. Should the fees need to be adjusted after passage of the FY 2021 appropriation bill, the agency will publish a subsequent notice in the Federal Register.

This notice announces implementation of certain provisions published in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Pub. L. 116-94) related to persistent poverty counties served by Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBSC), Rural Housing Service (RHS) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) agencies of the Rural Development mission area of the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, sometimes collectively hereinafter referred to as ``Agency'' or ``the Agency.''