The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a final rule with comment period for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which gives agricultural producers and rural small businesses guaranteed loans and grants for energy systems and energy-efficiency improvements. The rule, issued by Rural Development through the Rural Business Cooperative Service, comes ahead of the program's next application window.
USDA says the rule simplifies the application process, reduces risk to the agency and protects taxpayer money. Under Secretary for Rural Development Glen R. Smith said it "cuts the red tape so that farmers and rural small businesses can spend less time and money navigating paperwork and more time investing in their operations."
Smith said the rule also protects productive farmland from oversized solar developments and ensures that taxpayer-supported energy investments do not put components from foreign adversaries on American farms. "REAP should work for rural America, not foreign supply chains or projects that take good farmland out of production," he said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins said the rule would restore integrity and stability to the program, arguing that many applicants had prioritised unreliable energy sources and had not fully delivered on their stated goals.
Applications whose Form 1940-1, the Request for Obligation of Funds, was signed by the applicant and the agency before the rule takes effect will still be processed if the project stays within the program's terms. Each person or entity is subject to a maximum amount of grant assistance per federal fiscal year, and entities that share management or ownership, directly or indirectly and at any percentage, count as one entity whose combined funding cannot exceed the limit.
USDA said the annual program notices announcing when the application window opens and closes will be published later. Farmers interested in the program are directed to their State Energy Coordinator.
Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: USDA
Comments
(0)