(a) AMS means the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

(b) Application means the application for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program—Farm Bill (SCBGP-FB).

(c) Beginning farmer or rancher means an individual or entity who has not operated a farm or ranch for more than 10 years and substantially participates in the operation.

(d) Capital expenditures means expenditures for the acquisition cost of capital assets (equipment, buildings, land), or expenditures to make improvements to capital assets that materially increase their value or useful life. Acquisition cost means the cost of the asset including the cost to put it in place. Acquisition cost for equipment, for example, means the net invoice price of the equipment, including the cost of any modifications, attachments, accessories, or auxiliary apparatus necessary to make it usable for the purpose for which it is acquired. Ancillary charges, such as taxes, duty, protective in transit insurance, freight, and installation may be included in, or excluded from the acquisition cost in accordance with the governmental unit's regular accounting practices.

(e) Equipment means an article of nonexpendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the governmental unit for financial statement purposes, or $5000.

(f) General purpose equipment means equipment, which is not limited to research, scientific or other technical activities. Examples include office equipment and furnishings, telephone networks, information technology equipment and systems, reproduction and printing equipment, and motor vehicles.

(g) Grant period means the period of time from when the grant agreement is signed to the completion of all SCBGP-FB projects submitted in the State plan.

(h) Grantee means the government to which a grant is awarded and which is accountable for the use of the funds provided. The grantee is the entire legal entity even if only a particular component of the entity is designated in the grant agreement.

(i) Indirect costs means those costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved.

(j) Outcome measure means an event or condition that is external to the project and that is of direct importance to the intended beneficiaries and/or the public.

(k) Project means all proposed activities to be funded by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program—Farm Bill.

(l) Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher means a farmer or rancher who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. A “Socially Disadvantaged Group” is a group whose members have been subject to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program.

(m) Special purpose equipment means equipment which is used only for research, scientific, or other technical activities.

(n) Specialty crop means fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops (including floriculture).

(o) State means the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

(p) State department of agriculture means the agency, commission, or department of a state government responsible for agriculture within the state.

(q) Subgrantee means the government or other legal entity to which a subgrant is awarded and which is accountable to the grantee for the use of funds provided.

[74 FR 13316, Mar. 27, 2009]