[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 198 (Thursday, October 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63143-63144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25827]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
RIN 0524-AA43
Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders Regarding Administration
of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for stakeholder input.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is
soliciting stakeholder input on the recent implementation of the
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) authorized under
section 1415A of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3151a). The purpose of this
program is for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into
agreements with veterinarians under which the veterinarians agree to
provide, for a specific period of time as identified in the agreement,
veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations. As part of the
stakeholder input process, NIFA is conducting a public meeting to
solicit comments regarding the processes developed and implemented for
the first application cycle that concluded with the first group of
awards under this program in September 2010. Input collected will be
used to modify and improve processes for subsequent calls of shortage
situation nominations and request for applications.
DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, November 8, 2010, from 9
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. All comments must be received by close of business
Monday, November 15, 2010, to be considered.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in room 1410 A-B-C-D of the
Waterfront Centre Building, National Institute of Food and Agriculture,
United States Department of Agriculture, 800 9th St., SW., Washington,
DC 20024. Meeting participants will need to provide photo
identification to be admitted to the building. Please allow sufficient
time to go through security. You may submit comments, identified by
NIFA-2011-0001, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected]. Include NIFA-2011-0001 in the subject
line of the message.
Fax: 202-720-6486.
Mail: Paper, disk or CD-ROM submissions should be submitted to
VMLRP, Plant and Animal Systems (PAS) Unit, National Institute of Food
and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture; STOP 2220, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-2220.
Hand Delivery/Courier: VMLRP; Plant and Animal Systems (PAS) Unit,
National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Room 3153, Waterfront Centre, 800 9th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20024.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and NIFA-2011-0001. All comments received will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lisa Stephens, (202) 401-6438, or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Additional Meeting and Comment Procedures
Because of the diversity of subjects, and to aid participants in
scheduling their attendance, the following schedule is anticipated for
the November 8, 2010, meeting:
9-9:30 a.m.-- Introduction and Background of VMLRP.
9:30-12 p.m.--Identification and prioritization of veterinarian
shortage situations.
1-3:30 p.m.--Administration of the VMLRP, including application forms;
timing and length of VMLRP application period; application
prioritization and review; execution of VMLRP agreements; agreement
terms and conditions; and monitoring and oversight of VMLRP agreements.
Persons wishing to present oral comments at this meeting are
requested
[[Page 63144]]
to pre-register by contacting Ms. Lisa Stephens at (202) 401-6438, by
fax at (202) 401-6156 or by e-mail to [email protected].
Participants may reserve one 5-minute comment period per topic area,
and should indicate the topic area(s) for which they are registering
(i.e., identification of veterinarian shortage situations and/or
administration of the VMLRP). For any participant who may require only
one 5-minute period to fully present testimony regarding both topic
areas, the participant should indicate this intention and may reserve
their 5-minute comment period under one of the two topic areas. More
time may be available, depending on the number of people wishing to
make a presentation and the time needed for questions following
presentations. Reservations will be confirmed on a first-come, first-
served basis. All other attendees may register at the meeting. Written
comments may also be submitted for the record at the meeting. All
comments must be received by close of business Monday, November 15,
2010, to be considered. All comments and the official transcript of the
meeting, when they become available, may be reviewed on the NIFA Web
site for six months. Participants who require a sign language
interpreter or other special accommodations should contact Ms. Stephens
as directed above.
Background and Purpose
Note: On October 1, 2009, the Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) became the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as mandated by the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA), section 7511(f).
In December 2003, the National Veterinary Medical Service Act
(NVMSA) was passed into law adding section 1415A to the National
Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977
(NARETPA). This law established a new Veterinary Medicine Loan
Repayment Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing the Secretary of
Agriculture (Secretary) to carry out a program of entering into
agreements with veterinarians under which they agree to provide
veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations. In November
2005, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-97),
appropriated $495,000 to implement the Veterinary Medicine Loan
Repayment Program (VMLRP) and represented the first time funds had been
appropriated for this program. In February 2007, the Revised Continuing
Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (Pub. L. 110-5), appropriated an
additional $495,000 for support of the program, and in December 2007,
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-161),
appropriated an additional $868,875 for support of this program, and on
March 11, 2009, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8)
was enacted, providing an additional $2,950,000, for the VMLRP. In
October 2009, the President signed into law, Pub. L. 111-80,
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010, which appropriated
$4,800,000 for the VMLRP. Consequently, there was a cumulative total of
approximately $9.6 million available for NIFA to administer this
program when NIFA rolled out its first Request for Applications for
this program on April 30, 2010.
The first VMLRP application period resulted in 260 applications in
which 62 applications were selected for loan repayment awards totaling
$5,988,086.
Section 7105 of the FCEA amended section 1415A to revise the
determination of veterinarian shortage situations to consider (1)
geographical areas that the Secretary determines have a shortage of
veterinarians; and (2) areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary
determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as food animal
medicine, public health, epidemiology, and food safety. This section
also added that priority should be given to agreements with
veterinarians for the practice of food animal medicine in veterinarian
shortage situations.
NARETPA section 1415A requires the Secretary, when determining the
amount of repayment for a year of service by a veterinarian, to
consider the ability of USDA to maximize the number of agreements from
the amounts appropriated and to provide an incentive to serve in
veterinary service shortage areas with the greatest need. This section
also provides that loan repayments may consist of payments of the
principal and interest on government and commercial loans received by
the individual for the attendance of the individual at an accredited
college of veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent. This program is not authorized
to provide repayments for any government or commercial loans incurred
during the pursuit of another degree, such as an associate or bachelor
degree. Loans eligible for repayment include educational loans made for
one or more of the following: Loans for tuition expenses; other
reasonable educational expenses, including fees, books, and laboratory
expenses, incurred by the individual; and reasonable living expenses as
determined by the Secretary. In addition, the Secretary is directed to
make such additional payments to participants as the Secretary
determines appropriate for the purpose of providing reimbursements to
participants for individual tax liability resulting from participation
in this program. The Secretary delegated the authority to carry out
this program to NIFA.
NIFA is holding a public meeting to obtain comments to use in
improving the administration of the VMLRP. The meeting is open to the
public. Written comments and suggestions on issues that may be
considered during the meeting may be submitted to the NIFA Docket Clerk
at the address above.
Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of October 2010.
Meryl Broussard,
Deputy Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2010-25827 Filed 10-13-10; 8:45 am]
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