[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 104 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31299-31300]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13303]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Request for Applications for the Veterinary Medicine Loan
Repayment Program
AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is
announcing the release of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program (VMLRP) Request for Applications (RFA) at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
DATES: The FY 2011 Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
application package has been made available at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp and applications are due by Friday, July 8,
2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Sherman; National Program Leader,
Veterinary Science; National Institute of Food and Agriculture; U.S.
Department of Agriculture; STOP 2240; 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.;
Washington, DC 20250-2240; Voice: 202-401-4952; Fax: 202-401-6156; E-
mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 1, 2009, the Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) became the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as mandated by the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, section 7511(f) [Pub. L. 110-
246]. Accordingly, the authority to administer the VMLRP transferred
from CSREES to NIFA.
[[Page 31300]]
Background and Purpose
In January 2003, the National Veterinary Medical Service Act
(NVMSA) was passed into law adding section 1415A to the National
Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1997
(NARETPA). This law established a new Veterinary Medicine Loan
Repayment Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing the Secretary of
Agriculture to carry out a program of entering into agreements with
veterinarians under which they agree to provide veterinary services in
veterinarian shortage situations. In November 2005, the Agriculture,
Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-97) appropriated $495,000 for
CSREES to implement the VMLRP and represented the first time funds had
been appropriated for this program.
In February 2007, the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution,
2007 (Pub. L. 110-5) appropriated an additional $495,000 to CSREES for
support of the program, in December 2007, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2008 appropriated an additional $868,875 to CSREES
for support of this program, in March 2009, the Omnibus Appropriations
Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8) was enacted, providing an additional
$2,950,000 for the VMLRP, and in October 2009, the Agriculture, Rural
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-80) appropriated an additional
$4,800,000 for the VMLRP. On April 15, 2011, the President signed into
law, Public Law 112-10, Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2011, which, after the .2% rescission, appropriated
an additional $4,790,400 for the VMLRP.
Section 7105 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008,
Public Law 110-246, (FCEA) amended section 1415A to revise the
determination of veterinarian shortage situations to consider (1)
Geographical areas that the Secretary determines have a shortage of
veterinarians; and (2) areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary
determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as food animal
medicine, public health, epidemiology, and food safety. This section
also added that priority should be given to agreements with
veterinarians for the practice of food animal medicine in veterinarian
shortage situations.
NARETPA section 1415A requires the Secretary, when determining the
amount of repayment for a year of service by a veterinarian to consider
the ability of USDA to maximize the number of agreements from the
amounts appropriated and to provide an incentive to serve in veterinary
service shortage areas with the greatest need. This section also
provides that loan repayments may consist of payments of the principal
and interest on government and commercial loans received by the
individual for the attendance of the individual at an accredited
college of veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent. This program is not authorized
to provide repayments for any government or commercial loans incurred
during the pursuit of another degree, such as an associate or bachelor
degree. Loans eligible for repayment include educational loans made for
one or more of the following: Loans for tuition expenses; other
reasonable educational expenses, including fees, books, and laboratory
expenses, incurred by the individual; and reasonable living expenses as
determined by the Secretary. In addition, the Secretary is directed to
make such additional payments to participants as the Secretary
determines appropriate for the purpose of providing reimbursements to
participants for individual tax liability resulting from participation
in this program. Finally, this section requires USDA to promulgate
regulations within 270 days of the enactment of FCEA (i.e., June 18,
2008). The Secretary delegated the authority to carry out this program
to NIFA.
The final rule was published in the Federal Register on April 19,
2010 [75 FR 20239-20248]. Based on comments received during the 60-day
comment period upon publication of the interim rule [74 FR 32788-32798,
July 9, 2009], NIFA reconsidered the policy regarding individuals who
consolidated their veterinary school loans with other educational loans
(e.g. undergraduate) and their eligibility to apply for the VMLRP. NIFA
will allow these individuals to apply for and receive a VMLRP award;
however, only the eligible portion of the consolidation will be repaid
by the VMLRP. Furthermore, applicants with consolidated loans will be
asked to provide a complete history of their student loans from the
National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS), a central database for
student aid operated by the U.S. Department of Education. The NSLDS
website can be found at http://www.nslds.ed.gov. Individuals who
consolidated their DVM loans with non-educational loans or loans
belonging to an individual other than the applicant, such as a spouse
or child, will continue to be ineligible for the VMLRP.
In 2010, VMLRP announced its first funding opportunity and received
260 applications from which NIFA issued 53 VMLRP awards totaling
$5,186,000. Consequently, up to $8,000,000 is available to support this
program in FY 2011. The eligibility criteria for applicants and the
application forms and associated instructions needed to apply for a
VMLRP award can be viewed and downloaded from the VMLRP Web site at
http://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
Done in Washington, DC, this 24th day of May 2011.
Meryl Broussard,
Deputy Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2011-13303 Filed 5-27-11; 8:45 am]
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