Section 1001 of the American Recovery
Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2 provided funding for fiscal year 2022
(FY22) to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to
maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency.
The purpose of the Food Supply Chain (FSC) Guaranteed loan is to
make funds available to qualified applicants and projects to
facilitate financing for the start-up or expansion of activities in
the middle of the food supply chain, particularly the aggregation,
processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or
distribution of food, to increase capacity and help create a more
resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain.
An emergency clearance
approval for this information collection is requested due to the
need to effectively implement the program as quickly as possible to
benefit rural communities. Additionally, this program serves as a
pilot program to inform other programs under the Build Back Better
Initiative, including the Meat & Poultry Supply Chain
Resiliency Initiative and other programs authorized under Section
1001 of the American Rescue Plan. In a congressional hearing, the
Secretary of Agriculture stated that these other programs would be
operational by March 2022. Data from the FSC Guaranteed Loan
Program is critical to the programs' development and success and is
needed to help the Department meet this timeline.
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.