Justification Memo

United States
Department of
Agriculture
Farm Production
And Conservation
(FPAC)
Farm Service
Agency (FSA)
1400 Independence
Avenue, SW
Stop 0540
Washington, DC
20250-0540

DATE:

March 21, 2022

TO:

Eylse Greenwald
OMB Desk Officer

THROUGH: Ruth Brown
USDA Information Collection Officer
FROM:

Leslie Deavers
LESLIE DEE
Acting Director
DEAVERS
Office of Urban Agriculture and
Innovative Production, NCRS

Digitally signed by LESLIE DEE
DEAVERS
Date: 2022.03.22 10:14:06 -04'00'

SUBJECT: Request for Emergency Approval for an Information Collection Package—
Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP)
National Conservation Resource Service (NCRS) is requesting OMB review and
emergency approval of a collection for the FY22 Urban Agriculture and Innovative
Production (UAIP) Grant Program. This grant program, authorized as a pilot project by
the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill, Pub L. 115-334), directs the
Secretary to award competitive grants under which the local units of government are
awarded funds to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative
production, with a focus on food-insecure communities. In FY20 and FY21, NCRS
made 31 awards totaling just over $7.9 million to recipients across the United States. To
improve the ability of communities nationwide to implement projects that improve access
to local foods in areas where access to fresh, healthy food is limited or unavailable, the
UAIP program is substantially increasing its public investment via additional funding
and awards in FY22.
NRCS could not obtain OMB approval under the normal clearance under the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) to initiate the FY22 UAIP proposal process quickly enough to
receive, review, and select proposals, and to execute agreements, by the end of FY22 on
September 30. Also, this collection of information is needed sooner than the regular time
periods of the PRA to spend the fund as provided by the American Rescue Plan of 2021
(Pub L. 117-2) to assist local units of government in implementing projects that improve
access to local foods in areas where access to fresh, healthy food is limited or
unavailable.
Applications for the FY22 UAIP program will be accepted between March 31 and May
31, 2022. The Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be published in the
Federal Register to provide guidance and notify applicants of the sign-up period.
Eligibility requirements, program objectives, and application procedures for UAIP are
included in the NOFO. An informational webinar will be recorded and posted for
applicants. NRCS expects between 400-500 applications under this announcement.
Information collected under this funding announcement remains the same as that

collected under the prior two years’ funding announcements.
NRCS needs to collect the following information from all applicants:
•
•
•
•

Standard Form-424 (SF-424), Application for Federal Assistance (OMB #40400020);
SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (OMB #40400006);
SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (OMB #4040-0013); and
Project Summary (No standard form; narrative determined by applicant).

NRCS needs to collect the following information from some applicants:
•
•
•

SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (OMB #4040-0013), required only of
the small group of applicants who may be engaging in lobbying activities;
Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (No OMB control number), only for
applicants with a NICRA who are requesting reimbursement of indirect costs; or
De Minimus Rate Agreement (No OMB control number), only for applicants who
do not have a NICRA and who are requesting reimbursement of direct costs.

NRCS needs to collect the following information only from awardees:
•
•
•
•

Annual progress reports – No standard form; required annually of each awardee;
SF-425 Federal Financial Report (OMB #4040-0014), required annually of each
awardee; or
SF-270 Request for Advance or Reimbursement (OMB #4040-0012), required
quarterly of awardees in support of payment requests;
Notification of Award (NRCS-ADS-093), requires awardee signature before
agreement is considered final.

We are requesting emergency approval of an information collection package by March
25, 2022, to quickly provide assistance to local units of government that wish to
implement UAIP projects.
If there are any questions or concerns, please call Deirdre Holder at 202-205-5851 or
Mary Ann Ball at 202-720-4283.