Rural Utilities Service February 28, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 6401 of the Agricultural Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) enables the Secretary of Agriculture to provide priority to projects that support Strategic Economic and Community Investment plans. The 2018 Farm Bill re-authorized the Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) priority, Section 6025 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) with some modifications. Until the rulemaking process is finalized to incorporate the new changes, SECD will continue to operate using the existing regulation. In FY 2020, the Agency implements SECD through reserving funds from the ``underlying programs''. This Notice applies to applicants who will be submitting applications for the ``underlying programs''. This notice establishes the above mentioned priority effective upon the publication of this notice.