Pursuant to the Federal Agricultural
Improvement Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127), the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) received authorization from Congress under 7
U.S.C. 2204b(b)(4) to enter into cooperative agreements for the
purpose of improving the coordination and effectiveness of programs
that benefit rural areas. This authority is referred to as the
Rural Development Cooperative Agreement (RDCA) program. There are
three agencies within USDA that administer programs that
specifically target rural areas: the Rural Business-Cooperative
Service (RBS), the Rural Housing Service (RHS), and the Rural
Utilities Service (RUS).
Since the last submission there
has been a decrease of 360 in the number of responses and a
decrease of 594 in burden hours due to the decrease in the number
of respondents.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.