FSA Template for Submission for Solution for Solicitation for Funding Opportunity Announcement

OMB Control Number: 0503-0028

Exp. Date: November 2025

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Solution for Funding Opportunity Announcement”

TITLE: Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Grant Program.

USDA Agency: Farm Service Agency.

Alignment with Information Collection Package: (Check one)

[X] One-Time Pilot Program.

[ ] One-Time Funding Announcement of New Program.

Purpose: (Briefly describe the program. Explain the information to be collected to clearly describe to OMB the requirements and burden on the respondents. For example, if the table below shows 150 burden hours for project summary, provide additional detail elaborating on what the respondents are required to provide to meet that requirement.)

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) anticipates providing up to $65,000,000 to be allocated to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for a pilot program targeted at driving U.S. economic recovery and safeguarding domestic food security by addressing current labor shortages in agriculture; reducing irregular migration through the expansion of legal pathways; and improving labor protections for farmworkers.

As part of the pilot, FSA will conduct a competitive grant process to select qualifying employers. Selected awardees will be offered incentives to (1) support their ability to uphold robust worker protections, as defined by the grant agreement, for both their U.S. and H-2A workforce and (2) support the recruitment, travel, and application process for qualifying employers to hire seasonal H-2A visa farmworkers from Northern Central American countries. The designated worker protections and employer incentives will be informed by agricultural associations and employers, as well as Federal partners (Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security, and others) and labor organizations to support safe and fair labor conditions across the agri-food supply chain and ensure that any visa programs, such as H-2A, have fair and adequate protections and pay for workers.

To start, FSA received applications for the grants, using the following forms in the Grants.gov: Request for Advance or Reimbursement (OMB #4040-0012), SF-270, Application for Federal Assistance (OMB #4040-0020), SF-424, Budget Information for Non-Construction (OMB #4040-0006), Federal Financial Report (OMB # 4040-0014) SF-425/SF425A, and Certificate Regarding Lobby (OMB #4040-0013) and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (OMB # 4040-0013), SF-LLL.

USDA will submit the Request for Common Forms (RCFs) in ROCIS for the additional information collection for the applications.

Announcement Dates: May 15, 2023. The acceptance of applications is anticipated to close by July 15, 2023. FSA anticipates making selections by fall 2023 and expects to execute awards by fall 2023.

Type of Collection: (Check one)

[ X] Grant.

[ ] Cooperative agreement.

[ ] Other: ____________________________________________

How will information collected be submitted to the agency?
[X ] Grants.gov

[ ] Other:_______________________

Does the agency need to collect information, such as progress reports, beyond the expiration of this generic ICR (November 2025)? If so, will the agency be submitting a regular ICR package?

[X ] Yes. [ ] No.

Announcement:

[X ] Notice of Funding of Opportunity (NOFO)

[X ] Grants.gov Announcement

[ ] Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

[ ] Request for Application (RFA)

[ ] Notice of Funding of Announcement (NOFA) (Announced in the Federal Register)

[ ] Notice of Solicitation of Application (NOSA)

[ ] Notice of Awards

[ ] Other Funding Announcement Types: __________________________________

Is the agency asking any questions of a sensitive nature? If yes, provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. Include the reasons justifying why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

[ ] Yes. [X ] No.

If yes, additional info:

Certification:

I certify this grant or cooperative agreement to be true:

[X ] Yes. [ ] No.

This Gen IC is requesting approval for the Notification of Award (Signature Only) issues to the applicants to grant the award.

Brief description of information being collected (project summary, NOA, etc.)	Forms number	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per respondent	Total Annual Responses	Burden hours per responses	Total Burden hours
Notification of Award (Signature Only)	FSA-093	200	1	200	0.08	16
Total Burden hours				200		16

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