(a) Section 118 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act
authorizes the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture to make or guarantee loans to finance industrial and
business activities in rural areas (broadly defined to include any place
with a population of less than 50,000), 7 U.S.C. 1932(d). The Act also
permits FmHA to make grants to public bodies for measures designed to
facilitate the development of private business enterprises and for
pollution control and abatement projects.
(b) As a prior condition for the approval of such loans, guarantees
and grants, the Act further specifies that the Secretary of Labor must
certify to the Secretary of Agriculture within 60 days after referral,
that the loan or grant is not calculated to or likely to result in the
transfer from one area to another of any employment or business activity
provided by operations of the applicant and is not calculated to or
likely to result in an increase in the production of goods, materials,
or commodities, or the availability of services or facilities in the
area, when there is not sufficient demand for such goods, materials,
commodities, services, or facilities, to employ the efficient capacity
of existing competitive commercial or industrial enterprises, unless
such financial or other assistance will not have an adverse effect upon
existing competitive enterprises in the area. Responsibility within the
Department of Labor (DOL) for the review and certification process has
been assigned to the Manpower Administration (MA).
(c) The following procedures have been established by the Department
of Labor in consultation with the Department of Agriculture for the
issuance of labor certifications under this program. These procedures
are designed to insure the orderly and expeditious review of the
applications, with the objective of complying with the intent of the
Congress that most applications will be acted upon by the Department of
Labor (DOL) within 30 days after they have been received from the
Department of Agriculture. It is anticipated that the procedure will
permit completion of all cases within the 60-day legal maximum
processing period permitted under the law.
[40 FR 4394, Jan. 29, 1975]
