USDA today released the notice of funding availability (NOFA) for 2013 for the Rural Energy for America (REAP) program.  The NOFA appears in the March 29 edition of the Federal Register.

REAP provides financial assistance, both grants and loans, to farmers and rural small businesses for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

REAP grant or combination grant and loan proposals are due by April 30, as are applications for renewable energy system feasibility studies.  Guaranteed loan applications, without any grant component, are due by July 15.

Since passage of the 2008 Farm Bill, REAP has funded over 6,800 energy conservation and renewable energy production projects.

This year, feasibility study grants are capped at $250,000.  Other grants are capped at $500,000.  Loan guarantees are available on loans of up to $25 million.

REAP is one of the many programs that Congress failed to extend in the farm bill extension passed on January 1.  Like the other programs left stranded by the farm bill extension, REAP currently has no mandatory farm bill funding for 2013.

However, unlike most of the other stranded programs, REAP does have a small discretionary appropriation of just over $3 million available to it that USDA is using for this 2013 REAP NOFA cycle.  A portion of that appropriation will be used for grants, with the balance creating a guaranteed loan pool to back about $50 million worth of loans.

Read the NOFA in the Federal Register for full details on how to apply.