PART 63—NATIONAL SHEEP INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENT CENTER Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627. Source: 75 FR 43034, July 23, 2010, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—General Provisions Definitions § 63.1 Act. Act [79 FR 31845, June 3, 2014] § 63.2 Board. Board § 63.3 Department or USDA. Department USDA § 63.4 Eligible entity. Eligible entity § 63.5 Eligible organization. Eligible organization § 63.6 Fiscal year. Fiscal year § 63.7 Fund. Fund § 63.8 NSIIC. NSIIC Center § 63.9 Part. Part § 63.10 Secretary. Secretary § 63.11 Under Secretary for Rural Development. Under Secretary for Rural Development § 63.12 Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics § 63.13 United States. United States Board of Directors § 63.100 Establishment and membership. There is hereby established a National Sheep Industry Improvement Center Board. The Board is composed of seven voting members and two non-voting members. Voting members of the Board shall be appointed by the Secretary from nominations submitted in accordance with this part. The Board shall consist of the following: (a) Voting members. (2) Two members shall have expertise in finance and management; and (3) One member shall have expertise in lamb, wool, goat, or goat product marketing. (b) Non-voting members. (2) One member shall be the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, USDA. § 63.101 Nominations. All nominations authorized under this section shall be made in the following manner: (a) Nominations shall be obtained by the Secretary from national organizations eligible under § 63.105. An eligible organization shall submit to the Secretary for consideration at least two nominations for one or more voting member seats on the Board. If two nominations for each voting member seat are not submitted by such organization(s), then the Secretary may solicit nominations from other sources. (b) After the establishment of the initial Board, USDA shall announce when a vacancy does or will exist. Nomination for subsequent Board members shall be submitted to the Secretary not less than sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the terms of the members whose terms are expiring, in the manner as described in this section. In the case of vacancies due to reasons other than the expiration of a term of office, successor Board members shall be appointed pursuant to § 63.104. (c) If more than one eligible organization exists, they may caucus and jointly nominate at least two qualified persons for each position. If joint agreement is not reached with respect to any such nominations, or if no caucus is held, each eligible organization may submit to the Secretary at least two nominees for each appointment to be made. § 63.102 Nominee's agreement to serve. Any person nominated to serve on the Board shall file with the Secretary at the time of the nomination a written agreement to: (a) Serve on the Board if appointed; (b) Disclose any relationship that may create a conflict of interest under § 63.112; and (c) Withdraw from participation in deliberations, decision-making, or voting on matters which concern any relationship disclosed under paragraph (b) of this section. § 63.103 Appointment. From the nominations made pursuant to § 63.101, the Secretary shall appoint the members of the Board. § 63.104 Vacancies. To fill any vacancy occasioned by the death, removal, resignation, or disqualification of any member of the Board, the Secretary shall appoint a successor from the most recent list of nominations for the position or the Secretary shall request nominations for a successor pursuant to § 63.101 and such successor shall be appointed pursuant to § 63.103. § 63.105 Nominating organizations. (a) In general. (b) Basis for eligibility. (1) The membership of the organization consists primarily of active sheep or goat producers in the United States; and (2) The primary interest of the organization is the production of sheep or goats in the United States. § 63.106 Term of office. (a) The voting members of the Board shall serve for a term of three years; except that persons (other than the chairperson) appointed to the initial Board shall serve staggered terms of one, two, and three years, as determined by the Secretary. (b) No member may serve more than two consecutive full terms. § 63.107 Compensation. Board members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in performing their duties as members of the Board. § 63.108 Removal. If the Secretary determines that any person appointed under this part fails or refuses to perform his or her duties properly or engages in acts of dishonesty or willful misconduct, the Secretary shall remove the person from office. A person appointed under this part or any employee of the Board may be removed by the Secretary if the Secretary determines that the person's continued service would be detrimental to the purposes of the Act. § 63.109 Procedure. (a) At a Board meeting, it will be considered a quorum when a simple majority of the voting representatives are present. (b) A decision of the Board shall be made by a majority of the voting members of the board. (c) The Board shall meet not less than once each fiscal year at the call of the chairperson or at the request of the executive director. (d) The location of the meeting shall be established by the Board. (e) A chairperson shall be selected from among the voting members of the Board and all serve a term of office of two years. (f) All Board members and the Secretary will be notified at least 30 days in advance of all Board meetings, unless an emergency meeting is declared. (g) In lieu of voting at a properly convened meeting and, when in the opinion of the chairperson of the Board such action is necessary, the Board may take action if supported by a simple majority of the Board representatives by mail, telephone, electronic mail, facsimile, or any other means of communication. In that event, all representatives must be notified and provided the opportunity to vote. Any action so taken shall have the same force and effect as though such action had been taken at a properly convened meeting of the Board. All telephone votes shall be confirmed promptly in writing. All votes shall be recorded in Board minutes. (h) There shall be no voting by proxy. (i) The organization of the Board and the procedures for conducting meetings of the Board shall be in accordance with its bylaws, which shall be established by the Board and approved by the Secretary. § 63.110 Powers and duties of the Board. The management of the NSIIC shall be vested in the Board of Directors. The Board shall have the following powers and duties: (a) Be responsible for the general supervision of the NSIIC; (b) Review any grant or contract agreement to be made or entered into by the NSIIC and any financial assistance provided to the NSIIC; (c) Make the final decision, by majority vote, on whether or not to provide grants to an eligible entity in accordance with the strategic plan; (d) Develop and establish a budget plan and long-term operating plan to carry out the goals of the NSIIC; (e) Adopt, and amend as appropriate, bylaws as necessary for the proper management and functioning of the NSIIC; (f) Provide a system of organization to fix responsibility and promote efficiency in carrying out the functions of the NSIIC; (g) Appoint and establish compensation for an executive director, who will serve at the pleasure of the Board, to be the chief executive officer of the NSIIC; (h) Appoint other officers, attorneys, employees, and agents as necessary and set forth their respective duties and powers; (i) Delegate, by resolution, to the chairperson, the executive director, or any other officer or employee any function, power, or duty of the Board—other than voting on a grant, contract, agreement, budget, or annual strategic plan; and (j) Consult with the following entities to carry out this part: (1) State departments of agriculture; (2) Federal departments and agencies; (3) Nonprofit development corporations; (4) Colleges and universities; (5) Banking and other credit-related agencies; (6) Agriculture and agribusiness organizations, and (7) Regional planning and development organizations. § 63.111 Prohibited activities. The Board may not engage in, and shall prohibit the employees and agents of the Board from engaging in: (a) Any action that is a conflict of interest under § 63.112; (b) Using funds to undertake any action for the purpose of influencing legislation or governmental action or policy, by local, State, national, and foreign governments, other than recommending to the Secretary amendments to the Order; and (c) Any activity that is false, misleading, or disparaging to another agricultural commodity. § 63.112 Conflict of interest. (a) In general. (b) Validity of action. (c) Disclosure. (d) Remands. (1) In the case of any violation and remand of a funding decision to the Board, the Secretary shall inform the Board of the reasons for the remand. (2) If a decision with respect to the matter is remanded to the Board by reason of a conflict of interest faced by a Board member, the member may not participate in any subsequent decision with respect to the matter. National Sheep Industry Improvement Center § 63.200 NSIIC establishment and purpose. (a) There is hereby established a National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to: (1) Promote strategic development activities and collaborative efforts by private and State entities to maximize the impact of Federal assistance to strengthen and enhance production and marketing of sheep or goat products in the United States; (2) Optimize the use of available human capital and resources within the sheep or goat industries; (3) Provide assistance to meet the needs of the sheep or goat industry for infrastructure development, business development, production, resource development, and market and environmental research; (4) Advance activities that empower and build the capacity of the U.S. sheep or goat industry to design unique responses to the special needs of the sheep or goat industries on both a regional and national basis; and (5) Adopt flexible and innovative approaches to solving the long-term needs of the United States sheep and goat industry. (b) The NSIIC shall submit to the Secretary an annual strategic plan for the delivery of financial assistance provided by the NSIIC. A strategic plan shall identify: (1) Goals, methods, and a benchmark for measuring the success of carrying out the plan and how the plan relates to the national and regional goals of the NSIIC; (2) The amount and sources of Federal and non-Federal funds that are available for carrying out the plan; (3) Funding priorities; (4) Selection criteria for funding; and (5) A method of distributing funding. Revolving Fund § 63.300 Establishment. The NSIIC Revolving Fund established in the Treasury shall be available to the NSIIC, without fiscal year limitation, to carry out the authorized programs and activities of the NSIIC under this part. There shall be deposited in the Fund: (a) Such amounts as may be appropriated, transferred, or otherwise made available to support programs and activities of the NSIIC; (b) Payments received from any source for products, services, or property furnished in connection with the activities of the NSIIC; (c) Fees and royalties collected by the NSIIC from licensing or other arrangements relating to commercialization of products developed through projects funded, in whole or part, by grants or contracts executed by the NSIIC; (d) Donations or contributions accepted by the NSIIC to support authorized programs and activities. Such contributions shall be free from any encumbrance by the donor and the NSIIC shall retain complete control of their use; and (e) Any other funds acquired by the NSIIC. § 63.301 Use of fund. The NSIIC shall use the Fund to: (a) Make grants to eligible entities in accordance with a strategic plan submitted under § 63.310 of this part. Specifically, amounts in the Fund may be used to: (1) Participate with Federal and State agencies in financing activities that are in accordance with the strategic plan, including participation with several States in a regional effort; (2) Participate with other public and private funding sources in financing activities that are in accordance with the strategic plan, including participation in a regional effort; (3) Accrue interest; (4) Serve broad geographic areas and regions of diverse production, to the maximum extent practicable; (5) Only to supplement and not supplant Federal, State, and private funds expended for rural development; (6) For administration purposes, with a maximum 10 percent of the NSIIC Fund balance at the beginning of each fiscal year for the administration of the NSIIC; (b) Provide funds to eligible entities contingent upon that entity agreeing to account for the amounts using generally accepted accounting principles and to provide access to the Secretary for inspection and audit of such records. [75 FR 43034, July 23, 2010, as amended at 79 FR 31845, June 3, 2014] Reports, Books, and Records § 63.400 Books and records. The Board and NSIIC shall: (a) Maintain such books and records, which shall be made available to the Secretary for inspection and audit as is appropriate for the administration or enforcement of the Act or rules and regulations issued thereunder; (b) Prepare and submit to the Secretary, from time to time, such reports as the Secretary may prescribe; and (c) Account for the receipt and disbursement of all funds entrusted to it. The NSIIC shall cause its books and records to be audited by an independent auditor at the end of each fiscal year, and a report of such audit to be submitted to the Secretary. § 63.401 Use of information. Information from records or reports required pursuant to this part shall be made available to the Secretary as is appropriate for the administration or enforcement of the Act or rules and regulation issued thereunder. § 63.402 Confidentiality. All information obtained from books, records, reports, or any other material obtained under the Act and this part, shall be kept confidential by all persons, including employees and former employees of the NSIIC. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the issuance of general statements based upon the reports or the statistical data, which statements do not identify the information furnished by any entity. Miscellaneous § 63.500 Compliance. The Secretary shall review and monitor compliance by the Board and the NSIIC with the Act and this part. § 63.501 Patents, copyrights, inventions, trademarks, information, publications, and product formulations. Any patents, copyrights, inventions, trademarks, information, publications, or product formulations developed through the use of funds collected by the Board under the provisions of this subpart shall be the property of the U.S. Government, as represented by the Board, and shall, along with any rents, royalties, residual payments, or other income from the rental, sales, leasing, franchising, or other uses of such patents, copyrights, inventions, trademarks, information, publications, or product formulations, inure to the benefit of the Board; shall be considered income subject to the same fiscal, budget, and audit controls as other funds of the Board; and may be licensed subject to approval by the Secretary. Should patents, copyrights, inventions, trademarks, information, publications, or product formulations be developed through the use of funds collected by the Board under this part and funds contributed by another organization or person, ownership and related rights to such patents, copyrights, inventions, trademarks, information, publications, or product formulations shall be determined by agreement between the Board and the party contributing funds towards the development of such patents, copyrights, inventions, trademarks, information, publications, or product formulations in a manner consistent with this paragraph. § 63.502 Personal liability. No member or employee of the Board shall be held personally responsible, either individually or jointly, in any way whatsoever to any person for errors in judgment, mistakes, or other acts, either of commission or omission, as such member or employee, except for acts of dishonesty or willful misconduct. § 63.503 Separability. If any provision of the part is declared invalid or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this subpart, or the applicability thereof to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. § 63.504 Amendments. Amendments to this part may be proposed, from time to time, by the Board or by any interested persons affected by the provisions of the Act, including the Secretary. § 63.505 OMB control number. The control number assigned to the information collection requirements of this part by the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, is OMB control number 0505-new. Subpart B [Reserved]