§ 1726a — Administration

(1) A proposal to enter into a nonemergency food assistance agreement under this subchapter shall identify the recipient country or countries that are the subject of the agreement. (2) Not later than 120 days after the date of receipt by the Administrator of a proposal submitted by an eligible organization under this subchapter, the Administrator shall determine whether to accept the proposal. (3) If a proposal under paragraph (1) is denied, the response shall specify the reasons for denial. (b) Not later than 30 days prior to the issuance of a final guideline or annual policy guidance to carry out this subchapter, the Administrator shall— (1) provide notice of the existence of a proposed guideline or annual policy guidance, and that such guideline or annual policy guidance is available for review and comment, to eligible organizations that participate in programs under this subchapter, and to other interested persons; (2) make the proposed guideline or annual policy guidance available, on request, to the eligible organizations and other persons referred to in paragraph (1); and (3) take any comments received into consideration prior to the issuance of the final guideline or annual policy guidance. (1) The Administrator shall promptly issue all necessary regulations and make revisions to agency guidelines with respect to changes in the operation or implementation of the program established under this subchapter. Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the Administrator shall issue all regulations and revisions to agency guidance necessary to implement the amendments made to this subchapter by such Act. (2) The Administrator shall develop regulations and guidance with the intent of— (A) simplifying procedures for participation in the programs established under this subchapter; (B) reducing paperwork requirements under such programs; (C) establishing reasonable and realistic accountability standards to be applied to eligible organizations participating in the programs established under this subchapter, taking into consideration the problems associated with carrying out programs in developing countries; and (D) providing flexibility for carrying out programs under this subchapter. (d) The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, shall develop procedures that ensure expedited processing of commodity call forwards in order to provide commodities overseas in a timely manner and to the extent feasible, according to planned delivery schedules. (e) The Administrator is encouraged to finalize program agreements and resource requests for programs under this section before the beginning of each fiscal year. (1) The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, shall establish systems and carry out activities— (A) to determine the need for assistance provided under this subchapter; and (B) to improve, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the assistance provided under this subchapter to maximize the impact of the assistance. (2) The systems and activities described in paragraph (1) shall include— (A) program monitors in countries that receive assistance under this subchapter; (B) country and regional food aid impact evaluations; (C) the identification and implementation of best practices for food aid programs; (D) the evaluation of monetization programs; (E) early warning assessments and systems to help prevent famines; and (F) maintenance of information technology systems. (A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), in carrying out administrative and management activities relating to each activity carried out by the Administrator under paragraph (1), the Administrator may enter into contracts with 1 or more individuals for personal service to be performed in recipient countries or neighboring countries. (B) An individual who enters into a contract with the Administrator under subparagraph (A) shall not be considered to be an employee of the Federal Government for the purpose of any law (including regulations) administered by the Office of Personnel Management. (C) Subparagraph (A) does not limit the ability of the Administrator to enter into a contract with any individual for personal service under section 1722(a) of this title. (A) Subject to section 1722(h)(3) of this title, in addition to other funds made available to the Administrator to carry out the monitoring of emergency food assistance, the Administrator may implement this subsection using up to 1.5 percent, but not less than $17,000,000, of the funds made available under this subchapter for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2023, except for paragraph (2)(F), for which not more than $500,000 shall be made available for each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2023. (i) Subject to clause (ii), of the funds made available under subparagraph (A), for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2023, not more than $8,000,000 may be used by the Administrator to carry out paragraph (2)(E). (ii) No funds shall be made available under subparagraph (A), in accordance with clause (i), unless not less than $8,000,000 is made available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) for such purposes for such fiscal year. (1) In submitting project reports to the Administrator, a private voluntary organization or cooperative shall provide a copy of the report in such form as is necessary for the report to be displayed for public use on the website of the United States Agency for International Development. (2) An organization or cooperative described in paragraph (1) may omit any confidential information from the copy of the report submitted for public display under that paragraph.