FR PRA 60 Day Notice

48428

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 143 / Thursday, July 27, 2023 / Notices

To implement the statutory
requirements of FSRIA, USDA will
gather relevant product information on
biobased products for which
manufacturers and vendors seek
certification to use the label.
Participation in the Voluntary Labeling
Program is entirely voluntary.
The information collected will enable
USDA to evaluate the qualifications of
biobased products to carry the USDA
Certified Biobased Product label and to
ensure that the label is used properly
and in accordance with the
requirements specified in 7 CFR part
3202. To the extent feasible, the
information sought by USDA can be
transmitted electronically using the
website http://www.biopreferred.gov. If
electronic transmission of information is
not practical for some applicants, USDA
will provide technical assistance to
support the transmission of information
to USDA.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 2.4 hours per
response.
Respondents: Manufacturers and
vendors who wish to apply the ‘‘USDA
Certified Biobased Product’’ label to
their biobased products. Participation is
voluntary.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
300.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 2.75.
Estimated Number of Responses: 825.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 1,988 hours.
Copies of this information collection
can be obtained from Katherine Anne
Mathis, Rural Development Innovation
Center—Regulations Management
Division, at (202) 713–7565. Email:
[email protected].
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
also become a matter of public record.
Karama Neal,
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative
Service, USDA Rural Development.
[FR Doc. 2023–15880 Filed 7–26–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
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Rural Business-Cooperative Service
[DOCKET #: RBS–23–NONE–0016]

Notice of Revision of a Currently
Approved Information Collection
Rural Business-Cooperative
Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:

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In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 the
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
(RBCS) announces its intention to
request a revision of a currently
approved information collection
package for Guidelines for Designating
Biobased Products for Federal
Procurement.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by September 25, 2023 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted electronically by the Federal
eRulemaking Portal, http://
www.regulations.gov. In the ‘‘Search for
dockets and documents on agency
actions’’ box enter the Docket No. RBS–
23–NONE–0016 and click the ‘‘Search’’
button. From the search results, click on
or locate the document title: ‘‘Notice of
Request of a Currently Approved
Information Collection’’ and select the
‘‘Comment’’ button. Before inputting
comments, commenters may review the
‘‘Commenter’s Checklist’’ (optional).
Insert comments under the ‘‘Comment’’
title, click ‘‘Browse’’ to attach files (if
available), input email address and
select ‘‘Submit Comment.’’
Information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for accessing
documents, submitting comments, and
viewing the docket after the close of the
comment period, is available through
the site’s ‘‘FAQ’’ link.
All comments will be available for
public inspection online at the Federal
eRulemaking Portal (https://
www.regulations.gov).
Other Information: Additional
information about Rural Development
and its programs is available on the
internet at https://www.rd.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katherine Anne Mathis, Rural
Development Innovation Center—
Regulations Management Division, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20250, Telephone: 202–713–7565,
email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office
of Management and Budget’s (OMB)
regulation (5 CFR part 1320)
implementing provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.
L. 104–13) requires that interested
members of the public and affected
agencies have an opportunity to
comment on information collection and
recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR
1320.8(d)). This notice identifies an
information collection that the Agency
is submitting to OMB for revision.
Comments are invited on (a) whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
SUMMARY:

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of the functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of
the Agency’s estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Title: Guidelines for Designating
Biobased Products for Federal
Procurement.
OMB Control Number: 0570–0073.
Type of Request: Revision of a
currently approved information
collection.
Abstract: The USDA BioPreferred
Program provides that qualifying
biobased products that fall under
product categories (generic groups of
biobased products) that have been
designated for preferred procurement by
rule making are required to be
purchased by Federal agencies in lieu of
their fossil energy-based counterparts,
with certain limited exceptions. Further,
USDA is required by section 9002 of the
Farm Security and Rural Investment Act
of 2002, as amended by the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
and the Agricultural Act of 2014, and
the Agricultural Improvement Act of
2018, to provide certain information on
qualified biobased products to Federal
agencies. To meet these statutory
requirements, USDA will gather that
information from manufacturers and
vendors of biobased products. The
information sought by USDA can be
transmitted electronically using the
website http://www.biopreferred.gov. If
for any reason the requested information
cannot be electronically transmitted,
USDA will provide technical assistance
to support the transmission of
information to USDA. The information
collected will enable USDA to meet
statutory information requirements that
will then permit USDA to designate
product categories for preferred
procurement under the BioPreferred
Program. Once product categories are
designated, manufacturers and vendors
of qualifying biobased products that fall
under these designated product
categories will benefit from preferred
procurement by Federal agencies.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 40 hours per
response.

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 143 / Thursday, July 27, 2023 / Notices
Respondents: Manufacturers and
vendors of biobased products.
Participation is voluntary.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
220.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: One per manufacturer or
vendor.
Estimated Number of Responses: 220.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 8,800 hours, one time
only. Manufacturers and vendors are
only asked to respond once for each
stand-alone product or product family.
Therefore, there is no ongoing annual
paperwork burden on respondents
unless they wish to add additional
stand-alone products or product
families. Furthermore, their
participation in the BioPreferred
Program is entirely voluntary.
Copies of this information collection
can be obtained from Katherine Anne
Mathis, Rural Development Innovation
Center—Regulations Management
Division, at (202) 713–7565. Email:
[email protected].
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
also become a matter of public record.
Karama Neal,
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative
Service, USDA Rural Development.
[FR Doc. 2023–15884 Filed 7–26–23; 8:45 am]
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reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
emissions while advancing the longterm resiliency, reliability, and
affordability of rural electric systems.
This Notice announces an update on
how to submit an LOI, additional
information that must be submitted and
an extension of time to submit LOIs.
DATES: The Agency will begin accepting
LOIs for the New ERA Program
beginning at 11:59 a.m. Eastern Time
(ET) on July 31, 2023, and until 11:59
p.m. ET on September 15, 2023. Letters
of Interest will not be accepted after
11:59 p.m. ET on September 15, 2023.
ADDRESSES: All LOIs must be submitted
to RUS electronically at www.grants.gov.
Additional information and resources
are available at https://
www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/
electric-programs/empowering-ruralamerica-new-era-program. The Inflation
Reduction Act of 2022 funding for Rural
Development website is located at
https://www.rd.usda.gov/inflationreduction-act.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher McLean, Assistant
Administrator, Electric Program, Rural
Utilities Service, Rural Development,
United States Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue
SW, STOP 1568, Washington, DC
20250–1560; Telephone: 202–690–4492.
Email to: SM.RD.RUS.IRA.Questions@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: The New ERA Program is
authorized under the Inflation
Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117–169,
‘‘IRA’’), Subtitle C, Section 22004.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
[DOCKET #: RUS–23–ELECTRIC–0005]

Empowering Rural America (New ERA)
Program
Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
Notice; announcement of the
opening of the online application
window for the New ERA Program.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

The Rural Utilities Service, a
Rural Development agency of the United
States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), hereinafter referred to as
‘‘RUS’’ or ‘‘the Agency’’ announced its
intent to solicit Letters of Interest (LOI)
for applications under the Empowering
Rural America (New ERA) Program in a
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
on May 16, 2023, in the Federal
Register. In addition, the NOFO also
announced the eligibility requirements,
application process and deadlines, and
the criteria that RUS will use to assess
New ERA Applications. The New ERA
funds will be used to assist Eligible
Entities in achieving the greatest

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SUMMARY:

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Overview
Federal Awarding Agency Name:
Rural Utilities Service.
Funding Opportunity Title:
Empowering Rural America (New ERA)
Program.
Announcement Type: Announcement
of the Opening of the On-Line
Application Window for the New ERA
Program.
Assistance Listing Number: 10.758.
Funding Opportunity Number: RUS–
NewERA–2023
LOI submission information: RUS will
accept electronic submission of LOIs
through Grants.gov. RUS will not accept
paper, facsimile, or email transmission.
I. Background
On August 16, 2022, The Biden Harris
Administration and the United State
Congress passed the Inflation Reduction
Act of 2022 which authorized the New
ERA Program. The goal of the New ERA
Program is to provide financial
assistance to Eligible Entities to achieve

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48429

the greatest reductions in GHG
emissions through the cooperatives’
voluntary transformation of rural
electric systems in a way that promotes
resiliency and reliability of rural electric
systems and affordability for their
members.
On May 16, 2023, the Agency
published a NOFO in the Federal
Register (88 FR 31218) that solicited
LOIs for applications under the New
ERA Program and announced the
application process as well as provided
deadlines for applications from Eligible
Entities. The NOFO also informed
potential Applicants that the Agency
would finalize the specific requirements
of submitting an LOI through the on-line
application window by a separate notice
in the Federal Register and on the RUS
website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/
programs-services/electric-programs/
empowering-rural-america-new-eraprogram. In response to stakeholder
requests, RUS is extending the deadline
for accepting LOI submissions from
August 31, 2023, to September 15, 2023,
to provide stakeholders more time to
prepare their LOIs.
II. Letter of Interest Requirements and
Submission
A. Letter of Interest Requirements
The Agency has added the
requirement to submit an Application
for Federal Assistance (SF 424) to the
list of items needed for a complete LOI
in order to accept the LOI’s through
Grants.gov. In addition to the SF 424,
Applicants will still be required to
provide the information included in
Section D.2.i. of the NOFO that
published in the Federal Register on
May 16, 2023, (88 FR 31218). The RUS
New ERA website will include an LOI
Guide at https://www.rd.usda.gov/
programs-services/electric-programs/
empowering-rural-america-new-eraprogram. The LOI Guide will provide
details on the submission of the LOI on
Grants.gov, including how to provide
attachments. In addition, the LOI Guide
will detail how Applicants should use
the RUS geospatial mapping tool to
draw the service areas associated with
each New ERA project and then upload
Shapefiles to Grants.gov as part of an
LOI Application. The LOI Guide will
also indicate where to attach the
additional requirements for the LOI,
such as a copy of the Applicant’s
balance sheet and income statements.
B. Letter of Interest Submission
1. Application of General Assistance.
Prior to official submission of an LOI,
Applicants may request general
assistance from the Agency if such

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