(a) Section 118 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act authorizes the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 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 RDA 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 30 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 Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

(c) The following procedures have been established by the Department of Labor in consultation with the USDA for the issuance of labor certifications under this program. These procedures are designed to insure the orderly and expeditious review of the applications by the Department of Labor (DOL) within 30 days after they have been received from the USDA. It is anticipated that the procedure will permit completion of all cases within the 30-day legal maximum processing period permitted under the law.