Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program
| Published date | 04 October 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 54587 |
| Record Number | 2021-21504 |
| Section | Rules and Regulations |
| Court | Rural Business-cooperative Service |
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents.
Rules and Regulations Federal Register
54587
Vol. 86, No. 189
Monday, October 4, 2021
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
7 CFR Part 4280
[Docket Number: RBS–20–BUSINESS–0044]
RIN 0570–AB02
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance
Program
AGENCY
: Rural Business-Cooperative
Service, Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
ACTION
: Final rule; confirmation.
SUMMARY
: The Rural Business-
Cooperative Service, a Rural
Development agency of USDA,
hereinafter referred to as ‘‘RBCS’’ or
‘‘the Agency,’’ published in the Federal
Register on May 14, 2021, a final rule
with request for comments. This
document presents the opportunity for
the Agency to provide its responses to
the public comments received on the
final rule and to confirm the final rule
as published.
DATES
: October 4, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
David Chestnut, Program Management
Division, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue
SW, Washington, DC 20250–3201;
telephone: (202) 692–5233; email:
david.chestnut@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: RBCS
published a final rule with request for
comments in the Federal Register on
May 14, 2021, at 86 FR 26348. The final
rule modified the interim rule with
comment published in the Federal
Register on May 28, 2010 (75 FR 30114),
as amended by the correcting
amendments published in the Federal
Register on July 19, 2010 (75 FR 41695),
and incorporated amendments to the
Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act (ConAct) made by the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
(2018 Farm Bill). The Agency
implemented other changes to make the
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance
Program (RMAP) run more efficiently,
be more user-friendly and be more
consistent with other RBCS programs.
Within the preamble to the final rule,
the Agency addressed each of the 29
public comments that were received on
the interim rule. RBCS carefully
reviewed each of the comments and
modified the regulation based on
analysis of the responsive comments
received as well as program delivery
experience. The final rule allowed the
Agency to: (a) Implement changes
required by the 2018 Farm Bill, (b)
address comments received after
publication of the interim rule, and (c)
implement the final regulation.
Due to the length of time that
transpired between the publication of
the interim rule and the final rule, the
Agency invited comments from the
public on the provisions outlined in the
final rule. The comment period on the
final rule closed July 13, 2021.
Comments were received from four
respondents. The comments provided
and Agency responses are as follows:
Comment: ‘‘All the mandatory grants
should be funded at the authorized 25
percent of the loan balances. We
support this change. It can be difficult
for financial intermediaries to secure
adequate funding for technical
assistance programs. This is a concern
for any potential MDO that may
consider utilizing the RMAP program
for the first time. The adjustment
recorded here will help minimize a
clear disincentive by making it easier for
a new entrant to manage necessary
costs.’’
Agency Response: The Agency agrees
and the regulation at § 4280.313(a) was
modified to allow for microlenders to
receive up to 25 percent of their new
loan amount as a technical assistance
grant. Previously, this was limited to 25
percent of the first $400,000, then 5
percent of any amount above $400,000.
The 2018 Farm Bill amended Section
379E of the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act (Contact) to
require that annual grant amounts to
Microenterprise Development
Organizations (MDOs) be in an amount
equal to not less than 20 percent and not
more than 25 percent of the total
outstanding balance of microloans made
by MDOs. The Agency clarified the
annual grant process at § 4280.313(a)(1)
to enact this change. The previous
regulation did not have a minimum
threshold percentage for the
replenishment of an MDO’s technical
assistance funds.
Comment: ‘‘USDA should relinquish
its first lien position on all funds in the
Rural Microentrepreneur revolving fund
except those derived from the Rural
Microenterprise loan itself. We
recommend that USDA implement a
process by which MDOs can request a
drawdown of accumulated interest
earnings within the Rural
Microentrepreneur Revolving Fund
(RMRF). The collateral provided to
USDA by the cash in the RMRF, the
loans outstanding, and the cash in the
Loan Loss Reserve Fund (LLRF), should
be adequate to protect USDA from
losses. MDOs typically use the interest
earnings from microloans to help cover
costs of operating programs. Because
USDA maintains a first lien position on
all assets in the RMRF and does not
provide a process by which MDOs can
request a drawdown of accumulated
earnings, MDOs are unable to use
earnings from RMAP loans to help cover
operating costs. This may dissuade
some MDOs from utilizing the RMAP
program, and we have heard at least one
MDO identify this as the reason they left
the program.’’
Agency Response: The Agency
disagrees with the release of its lien
position in the revolving loan funds.
The accounts serve as collateral for the
Agency loan to the MDO, which is a
debt obligation of the MDO and protects
the Agency in cases of default by the
MDO. The Agency disagrees with the
commenter that MDOs are unable to use
earnings from RMAP loans to help cover
costs of operating programs. MDOs may
use interest and fee earnings to make
principal and interest payments to the
Agency loan and to help cover operating
costs in accordance with their annual
operating budget. In addition, the
Agency does permit the use of up to 10
percent of their technical assistance
grant funds for administrative expenses
from which they can operate their
RMAP and other programs.
Comment: ‘‘The current methodology
of calculating the annual MDO grant
based on the amount of outstanding
loan balances is inadequate. We
recommend an adjustment to the
methodology used to calculate the
annual technical assistance grants to
MDOs. At current, USDA calculates the
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54588
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 189 / Monday, October 4, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
technical assistance grant for the
following fiscal year on June 30 of the
prior fiscal year. USDA then subtracts
the unspent balance from the prior year
award from the new award. USDA is
making this calculation 9 months into a
12-month grant contract. An MDO
seeking to use their technical assistance
award to support staff to provide
continuous technical assistance to
clients over a 12-month period receives
a penalty for having 3 months of funds
remaining when there are 3 months
remaining in the contract. We
recommend that USDA instead calculate
the grant based on the loans outstanding
on June 30 without regard for funds
remaining in the prior year grant. USDA
already requires grant spending to take
place within the 12-month contract
period, so there is no need to calculate
the remaining balance at the end of 9
months from the grant for the following
year.’’
Agency Response: The Agency has a
consistent process for the calculation of
an MDO annual grant with its annual
June 30 calculation date. An MDO can
use their grant funds in each month of
the year, thus the 9-month comment for
use of the funds is not relevant. The
annual grant award calculation must
include the amount of any unused/
remaining technical assistance funds
from prior years to ensure that the total
amount of awarded and available grant
funds to an MDO does not exceed the
25 percent maximum amount.
Comment: ‘‘§ 4280.313(a)(1). We
support this change. Technical
assistance needs are ongoing. According
to the Aspen Institute, the business
owners who participate in technical
assistance and training have higher rates
of business survival, revenue growth,
and employment growth than those who
do not. Of the new business owners who
receive technical assistance, 84 percent
will still be operating their business five
years later. The median revenue of these
businesses will grow by 60 percent. Our
ability to make ongoing technical
assistance available can be the
difference between business failure and
success.’’
Agency Response: Thank you for the
comment.
Comment: ‘‘Rural Microentrepreneur
Assistance Program—Seeking
clarification on eligibility of
microbusiness as it relates to location.
Rural areas are growing and
microbusinesses are expanding. Please
provide feedback on the following
scenarios. 1. Owners of business live in
a rural area and business in located in
an urban area. 2. Business has a location
in an urban area and is expanding to a
rural area and owners live in an urban
area. Is there language to clarify
eligibility?’’
Agency Response: The eligible rural
area determination is made by where
the project is located and where the
RMAP funds will be used. Businesses
located in an urbanized area are not
eligible to receive funding from this
Rural Development program. A business
located in an urbanized area that is
expanding to a rural area may use
RMAP funds only for the project and
expenses in the rural area location. The
location of the business owner has no
impact on the project eligibility.
The Agency did not receive any
significant adverse comments during the
public comment period on the final
rule, and therefore confirms the rule
without change.
Karama Neal,
Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative
Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–21504 Filed 10–1–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 25
[Docket No. FAA–2021–0894; Special
Conditions No. 25–791–SC]
Special Conditions: Boeing
Commercial Airplanes Model 777–9
Airplane; Operation Without Normal
Electrical Power
AGENCY
: Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION
: Final special conditions; request
for comments.
SUMMARY
: These special conditions are
issued for the Boeing Commercial
Airplanes (Boeing) Model 777–9 series
airplane. This airplane will have a novel
or unusual design feature when
compared to the state of technology
envisioned in the airworthiness
standards for transport category
airplanes. This design feature is
electrical and electronic systems that
perform critical functions, the loss of
which could be catastrophic to the
airplane. The applicable airworthiness
regulations do not contain adequate or
appropriate safety standards for this
design feature. These special conditions
contain the additional safety standards
that the Administrator considers
necessary to establish a level of safety
equivalent to that established by the
existing airworthiness standards.
DATES
: This action is effective on Boeing
on October 4, 2021. Send comments on
or before November 18, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: Send comments identified
by Docket No. FAA–2021–0894 using
any of the following methods:
•Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow
the online instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
•Mail: Send comments to Docket
Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Room W12–140, West
Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC
20590–0001.
•Hand Delivery or Courier: Take
comments to Docket Operations in
Room W12–140 of the West Building
Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
•Fax: Fax comments to Docket
Operations at 202–493–2251.
Privacy: Except for Confidential
Business Information (CBI) as described
in the following paragraph, and other
information as described in 14 CFR
11.35, the FAA will post all comments
received without change to https://
www.regulations.gov/, including any
personal information you provide. The
FAA will also post a report
summarizing each substantive verbal
contact received about these special
conditions.
Confidential Business Information:
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
is commercial or financial information
that is both customarily and actually
treated as private by its owner. Under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
(5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from
public disclosure. If your comments
responsive to these special conditions
contain commercial or financial
information that is customarily treated
as private, that you actually treat as
private, and that is relevant or
responsive to these special conditions, it
is important that you clearly designate
the submitted comments as CBI. Please
mark each page of your submission
containing CBI as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA
will treat such marked submissions as
confidential under the FOIA, and the
indicated comments will not be placed
in the public docket of these special
conditions. Submissions containing CBI
should be sent to Steve Slotte, Aircraft
Systems, AIR–623, Technical
Innovation Policy Branch, Policy and
Innovation Division, Aircraft
Certification Service, Federal Aviation
Administration, 2200 South 216th
Street, Des Moines, Washington 98198;
telephone and fax 206–231–3160;
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