1. SUMMARY OF USDA-RURAL DEVELOPMENT FARM BILL FUNDING Section 9006: RE/EE program a. Draft regulation including new guaranteed loan and direct loan components will be published soon b. There will be a 60 day public comment period after the draft regulation is posted c. The draft regulation will be posted on the Federal Register and the National USDA RBS website d. 2004 RE/EE applications will be requested after the public comment period has expired e. Requests for applications will be posted on the Federal Register, and the National USDA RBS website f. Estimate Sprint/Summer of 2004

2. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding 2003 RE/EE Funding Levels a. Over 21 million dollars in projects funded in the RE/EE program nationwide in FY 2003 b. 114 funded projects in 24 states 35 projects supporting wind energy 46 projects supporting anaerobic digesters 6 projects supporting solar energy c. Utah only received two RE/EE applications- neither application was funded

3. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding 2004 RE/EE Funding Levels a. Funding levels for the RE/EE program in 2004 are currently undetermined b. USDA-Rural Development still does not have an approved budget c. Congress reconvenes on 1/20/04 to discuss budget and other issues

4. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding Section 6401: VAPG program a. Final regulation should be posted soon in the Federal Register, and at the National USDA RBS website b. Proposed regulation posted June 27, 2003 and public comment period closed August 12, 2003 c. Application requests will likely be requested at the same time the final regulation is posted. Likely late Spring/early Summer

5. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding 2003 VAPG Funding Levels a. Over 28.7 million dollars in projects funded in the VAPG program nationwide in FY 2003 b. 184 projects in 40 states c. Utah received 6 applications, but none were selected for funding

6. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding 2004 VAPG Funding Levels a. Funding levels for the VAPG program in 2004 are currently undetermined b. USDA-Rural Development still does not have an approved budget c. Congress reconvenes on 1/20/04 to discuss budget and other issues

7. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding Section 6029: RBIP Program a. Rural Venture capital program b. Funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation to support $280 million in guaranteed debentures and grants for technical assistance c. USDA has signed a MOU with the SBA to administer this program d. Administration and program guidelines currently being developed e. Washington intends to solicit RBIP applications sometime this year- probably will be this Summer

8. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding CONTACT INFORMATION Richard Carrig Rural Business Programs Director USDA-Rural Development Phone: (801) 524-4328 Email: Richard.Carrig@ut.usda.gov Mailing Address: USDA-Rural Development Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building Room 4311 Salt Lake City, Utah 84138

9. Summary of USDA-Rural Development Farm Bill funding WEBSITES: National USDA-Rural Development 2002 Farm Bill website: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/farmbill/9006resour ces.html National USDA-Rural Development website: http://rurdev.usda.gov/ National USDA RBS website: http://rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/