§ 2662 — Programs Authorized

The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this subchapter as the “Secretary”) may conduct, in cooperation and coordination with colleges and universities, the following programs to carry out the purposes and achieve the goals of this subchapter. (a) Rural development extension programs shall consist of the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of useful information and knowledge from research and other sources to units of multistate regional agencies, State, county, municipal, and other units of government, multicounty planning and development districts, organizations of citizens contributing to community and rural development, businesses, Indian tribes on Federal or State reservations or other federally recognized Indian tribal groups, and industries that employ or may employ people in rural areas. The rural development extension programs shall also promote coordinated and integrated rural community initiatives that advance and empower capacity building through leadership development, entrepreneurship, business development and management training, and strategic planning to increase jobs, income, and quality of life in rural communities. These programs also shall include technical services and educational activities, including instruction for persons not enrolled as students in colleges or universities, to facilitate and encourage the use and practical application of this information. These programs may also include feasibility studies and planning assistance. (b) Rural development research shall consist of research, investigations, and basic feasibility studies in any field or discipline that may develop principles, facts, scientific and technical knowledge, new technology, and other information that may be useful to agencies of Federal, State, and local government, industries in rural areas, Indian tribes on Federal and State reservations or other federally recognized Indian tribal groups, and other organizations involved in community and rural development programs and activities in planning and carrying out such programs and activities or otherwise be practical and useful in achieving the purposes and goals of this subchapter. (c) Small farm research programs shall consist of programs of research to develop new approaches for initiating and upgrading small farm operations through management techniques, agricultural production techniques, farm machinery technology, new products, new marketing techniques, and small farm finance; to develop new enterprises that can use labor, skills, or natural resources available to the small farm family; or that will help to increase the quality and availability of services and facilities needed by the small farm family. (d) Small farm extension programs shall consist of extension programs to improve small farm operations, including management techniques, agricultural production techniques, farm machinery technology, marketing techniques and small farm finance; to increase use by small farm families of existing services offered by the Department of Agriculture and other public and private agencies and organizations; to assist small farm families in establishing and operating cooperatives for the purpose of improving their family income from farming or other economic activities; to increase the quality and availability of services and facilities needed by small farm families; and to develop new enterprises that can use labor, skills, or natural resources available to the small farm family. (e) Special grants programs shall consist of extension and research programs to strengthen research and education on national and regional issues in rural development, including the assessment of alternative policies and strategies for rural development and balanced growth; to develop alternative strategies for national and regional investment, and the creation of employment, in rural areas; to develop alternative energy policies to meet rural development needs; and to strengthen rural development programs of agencies of the Department of Agriculture and those in other Federal departments and agencies. (f) (1) The Secretary shall establish a national program, to be administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, to provide rural citizens with training in, technical and management assistance regarding, and educational opportunities to enhance their knowledge of— (A) beginning businesses through entrepreneurship; (B) the procedures necessary to establish new businesses in rural areas; (C) self-employment opportunities in rural areas; (D) the uses of modern telecommunications and computer technologies; (E) business and financial planning; and (F) such other training, assistance, and educational opportunities as the Secretary determines are necessary to carry out the program established under this subsection. (2) The program established under this subsection shall provide assistance designed to increase the leadership abilities of residents in rural areas. Such assistance shall include— (A) information relevant to the development of community goals; (B) instruction regarding the methods by which State or Federal funding for rural development projects might be obtained; (C) instruction regarding the successful writing of applications for loan or grant funds from government and private sources; (D) an updated listing of State, Federal, and other economic development programs available to rural areas; and (E) such other training, information, and assistance as the Secretary determines necessary to increase the leadership abilities of residents in rural areas. (3) The National Rural Information Center Clearinghouse of the National Agricultural Library, in cooperation with the Extension Service in each State, should develop, maintain, and provide to each community, and make accessible to any other interested party, a catalog of available State, Federal, or private programs that provide leadership training or other information or services similar or complementary to the training or services required by this subsection. Such catalog should include, at a minimum, the following entities within the State that provide such training or services: (A) Any rural electric cooperative. (B) Any nonprofit company development corporation. (C) Any economic development district that serves a rural community. (D) Any nonprofit subsidiary of any private entity. (E) Any nonprofit organization whose principal purpose is to promote economic development in rural areas. (F) Any investor or publicly owned electric utility. (G) Any small business development center or small business investment company. (H) Any regional development organization. (I) Any vocational or technical school. (J) Any Federal, State, or local government agency or department. (K) Any other entity that the Secretary deems appropriate. (4) The Secretary shall provide training for appropriate State extension service employees, assigned to programs other than rural development, to ensure that such employees understand the availability of rural development programs in their respective States and the availability of National Institute of Food and Agriculture staff qualified to provide to rural citizens and to State extension staff training and materials for technical, management, and educational assistance. (5) The Secretary shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that assistance provided under this subsection is coordinated with and delivered in cooperation with similar services or assistance provided by other Federal agencies or programs for rural residents. (A) The Secretary may make grants for the establishment of individual and family health education programs that shall provide individuals and families with— (i) information concerning the value of good health; (ii) information to increase the individual or families motivation to take more responsibility for their own health; (iii) access to health promotion activities; and (iv) training for volunteers and health services providers concerning health promotion and health care services, in cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Services. (B) The Secretary may make grants for the establishment of farm safety education programs that shall provide information and training to farm workers, timber harvesters, and farm families concerning safety in the work place, including information and training concerning— (i) the reduction of occupational injury and death rates; (ii) the reduction and prevention of exposure to farm chemicals; (iii) (iv) the reduction and prevention of noise induced hearing loss; (v) the occupational rehabilitation of farmers and timber harvesters with physical disabilities; and (vi) farm accident rescue procedures. (C) The Secretary, in consultation with the Office of Rural Health Policy of the Department of Health and Human Services, may make grants to academic medical centers or land grant colleges and universities, or any combination thereof, for the establishment of rural health leadership development education programs that shall assist rural communities in developing health care services and facilities that will provide the maximum benefit for the resources invested and assist community leaders and public officials in understanding their roles and responsibilities relative to rural health services and facilities, including— (i) community decisions regarding funding for and retention of rural hospitals; (ii) rural physician and allied health professionals recruitment and retention; (iii) the aging rural population and senior services required to care for the population; (iv) the establishment and maintenance of rural emergency medical services systems; and (v) the application of computer-assisted capital budgeting decision aids for rural health services and facilities. (2) Educational programs conducted with grants awarded under this subsection shall be coordinated with the State offices of rural health and other appropriate programs of the Department of Health and Human Services. (3) Educational programs conducted with grants awarded under this subsection shall provide leadership within the State for the dissemination of appropriate rural health and safety information resources possessed by the Rural Information Center established at the National Agricultural Library. (4) The Secretary shall establish policies, procedures and limitations that shall apply to States or entities described in paragraph (1)(C) that desire to receive a grant under this subsection. In States with land-grant colleges and universities that are eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), and the Act of August 30, 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University, and universities which receive Rural Health Research Center grants, such eligible institutions shall mutually determine the type of rural health and safety education program needed in the State within which such institutions reside. (5) For grants under this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1991, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1992, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, and $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and each subsequent fiscal year. Amounts appropriated under this subsection shall remain available until expended.