7 USC 2662 - Programs authorized

View all text of Subchapter II [§ 2661 - § 2671]

§ 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

(b) Rural development research

(d) Small farm extension programs

(e) Special grants programs

(f), (g) Repealed. Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 792(a), title VIII, § 871, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1152, 1175

(h) Rural development extension work

(1) National program

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;

(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.

(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

(5) Coordination of assistance

(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

1 So in original. Probably should be “dermatitis;”.

(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.

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

(3) Dissemination of information

(4) Procedures and limitations

(5) Limitations on authorization of appropriations

(Pub. L. 92–419, title V, § 502, as added Pub. L. 97–98, title XIV, § 1444(a), Dec. 22, 1981, 95 Stat. 1323; amended Pub. L. 99–198, title XIV, § 1440(a), Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1560; Pub. L. 100–219, § 2, Dec. 29, 1987, 101 Stat. 1456; Pub. L. 101–624, title XXIII, §§ 2346, 2349, 2389(a)–(c)(1), 2390(b)(1), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4032, 4037, 4053–4055; Pub. L. 102–237, title IV, § 403(a), title VII, § 704, Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1863, 1881; Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 792(a), title VIII, §§ 871, 886, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1152, 1175, 1180; Pub. L. 110–234, title VII, § 7511(c)(6), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1267; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title VII, § 7511(c)(6), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2029; Pub. L. 115–334, title VI, § 6101(a)(3), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4727.)