7 U.S.C. § 2662 : US Code - Section 2662: Programs authorized

Search 7 U.S.C. § 2662 : US Code - Section 2662: Programs authorized

The Secretary of Agriculture 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
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
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
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
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
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), (g) Repealed. Pub. L. 104-127, title VII, Sec. 792(a), title
VIII, Sec. 871, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1152, 1175
(h) Rural development extension work
(1) National program
The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a national
program, to be administered by the Extension Service, 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) Leadership abilities
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) Catalog of programs
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.
The extension service in each State should include in the catalog
information on the specific training or services provided by each
entity in the catalog.
(4) Employee training
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 Extension Service staff qualified
to provide to rural citizens and to State extension staff
training and materials for technical, management, and educational
assistance.
(5) Coordination of assistance
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.
(i) Rural health and safety education programs
(1) Programs authorized
(A) Individual and family health education
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) Farm safety education
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) the reduction of agricultural respiratory diseases
and dermititis; (!1)
(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) Rural health leadership development
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) Coordination of programs
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) Dissemination of information
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) Procedures and limitations
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) Limitations on authorization of appropriations
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.