U.S. Code > Title 7 Agriculture > CHAPTER 41—FOOD FOR PEACE (§§ 1691—1738r) > SUBCHAPTER III—EMERGENCY AND PRIVATE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS (§§ 1721—1726c) > § 1726a. Administration

§ 1726a. Administration

(a) Proposals
(1) Recipient countries
A proposal to enter into a nonemergency food assistance agreement under this subchapter shall identify the recipient country or countries that are the subject of the agreement.
(2) Timing
Not later than 120 days after the date of receipt by the Administrator of a proposal submitted by an eligible organization under this subchapter, the Administrator shall determine whether to accept the proposal.
(3) Denial
If a proposal under paragraph (1) is denied, the response shall specify the reasons for denial.
(b) Notice and comment
Not later than 30 days prior to the issuance of a final guideline or annual policy guidance to carry out this subchapter, the Administrator shall—
(1) provide notice of the existence of a proposed guideline or annual policy guidance, and that such guideline or annual policy guidance is available for review and comment, to eligible organizations that participate in programs under this subchapter, and to other interested persons;
(2) make the proposed guideline or annual policy guidance available, on request, to the eligible organizations and other persons referred to in paragraph (1); and
(3) take any comments received into consideration prior to the issuance of the final guideline or annual policy guidance.
(c) Regulations
(1) In general
The Administrator shall promptly issue all necessary regulations and make revisions to agency guidelines with respect to changes in the operation or implementation of the program established under this subchapter.
(2) Requirements
The Administrator shall develop regulations with the intent of—
(A) simplifying procedures for participation in the programs established under this subchapter;
(B) reducing paperwork requirements under such programs;
(C) establishing reasonable and realistic accountability standards to be applied to eligible organizations participating in the programs established under this subchapter, taking into consideration the problems associated with carrying out programs in developing countries; and
(D) providing flexibility for carrying out programs under this subchapter.
(d) Timely provision of commodities
The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, shall develop procedures that ensure expedited processing of commodity call forwards in order to provide commodities overseas in a timely manner and to the extent feasible, according to planned delivery schedules.
(e) Timely approval
The Administrator is encouraged to finalize program agreements and resource requests for programs under this section before the beginning of each fiscal year.
(f) Program oversight, monitoring, and evaluation
(1) Duties of Administrator
The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, shall establish systems and carry out activities—
(A) to determine the need for assistance provided under this subchapter; and
(B) to improve, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the assistance provided under this subchapter to maximize the impact of the assistance.
(2) Requirements of systems and activities
The systems and activities described in paragraph (1) shall include—
(A) program monitors in countries that receive assistance under this subchapter;
(B) country and regional food aid impact evaluations;
(C) the identification and implementation of best practices for food aid programs;
(D) the evaluation of monetization programs;
(E) early warning assessments and systems to help prevent famines; and
(F) upgraded information technology systems.
(3) Implementation report
Not later than 180 days after June 18, 2008, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on efforts undertaken by the Administrator to conduct oversight of nonemergency programs under this subchapter.
(4) Government Accountability Office report
Not later than 270 days after the date of submission of the report under paragraph (3), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that contains—
(A) a review of, and comments addressing, the report described in paragraph (3); and
(B) recommendations relating to any additional actions that the Comptroller General of the United States determines to be necessary to improve the monitoring and evaluation of assistance provided under this subchapter.
(5) Contract authority
(A) In general
Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), in carrying out administrative and management activities relating to each activity carried out by the Administrator under paragraph (1), the Administrator may enter into contracts with 1 or more individuals for personal service to be performed in recipient countries or neighboring countries.
(B) Prohibition
An individual who enters into a contract with the Administrator under subparagraph (A) shall not be considered to be an employee of the Federal Government for the purpose of any law (including regulations) administered by the Office of Personnel Management.
(C) Personal service
Subparagraph (A) does not limit the ability of the Administrator to enter into a contract with any individual for personal service under section 1722 (a) of this title.
(6) Funding
(A) In general
Subject to section 1722 (h)(3) of this title, in addition to other funds made available to the Administrator to carry out the monitoring of emergency food assistance, the Administrator may implement this subsection using up to $22,000,000 of the funds made available under this subchapter for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012, except for paragraph (2)(F), for which only $2,500,000 shall be made available during fiscal year 2009.
(B) Limitations
(i) In general Subject to clause (ii), of the funds made available under subparagraph (A), for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012, not more than $8,000,000 may be used by the Administrator to carry out paragraph (2)(E).
(ii) Condition No funds shall be made available under subparagraph (A), in accordance with clause (i), unless not less than $8,000,000 is made available under chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) for such purposes for such fiscal year.
(g) Project reporting
(1) In general
In submitting project reports to the Administrator, a private voluntary organization or cooperative shall provide a copy of the report in such form as is necessary for the report to be displayed for public use on the website of the United States Agency for International Development.
(2) Confidential information
An organization or cooperative described in paragraph (1) may omit any confidential information from the copy of the report submitted for public display under that paragraph.