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Special Grants
Program Rulemaking Proposal A proposed rule to amend the Administrative Provisions for the Special Grants Program (7 CFR Part 3400) will be published in the Federal Register during the week of March 15, 1999. A 30-day period will be provided for submission of public comments to be considered in the development of the final rule. The rulemaking implements the provisions of Section 212 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act (AREERA) of 1998 as follows: (a) shortens the maximum potential award period from 5 to 3 years; (b) includes extension and educational activities under the Special Grant authority; and (3) requires grantees to arrange for scientific peer review of their proposed research activities and merit review of their proposed extension and education activities prior to CSREES issuing awards for both competitive and noncompetitive grants issued under this authority. CSREES anticipates publishing the final rule in May. To meet the AREERA requirements, CSREES cannot award FY 1999 Special Grants until the final rule is published and the recipients have certified to CSREES that they have conducted scientific peer reviews of the proposed projects in accordance with the provisions of the final rule. Therefore, the earliest date that Special Grants could be issued is May 1999. Special Grant recipients are reminded that they may choose to incur pre-award costs but this is done at their own risk. Upon the issuance of a grant, if the pre-award costs were incurred within 90 days of the effective date of the grant such costs may be approved by the grantee’s Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). If the pre-award costs were incurred prior to the 90-day period, the AOR must request approval from CSREES. While the rulemaking process is taking place, CSREES is proceeding with the internal review of proposals and the preparation of grants for signature to minimize delays in making awards. Food Safety and Quality Education CSREES recently announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the $7.365 million FY99 Food Safety and Quality National Initiative Program. Projects must support the development of innovative educational programs in food safety in each of eight competitive categories chosen to address high priority needs in food safety and quality education, including: food handler education for consumers; food handler certification; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) programs for meat and poultry plants and other small food processing plants; food preservation; national evaluation of program impact; integrating food safety education into programs in water quality, animal waste management, integrated pest management, small farms management and sustainable agriculture; and capacity-building in food safety education at the 1994 Land-grant universities (tribal colleges). Multistate or multi-institution projects are highly encouraged. Proposals are due on April 26, 1999. The RFP is available on the Food Safety and Quality National
Initiative website at the following URL:
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