Documents › Agency rules › 2026-20178
Agriculture Department, Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Unleashing American Energy and Economic Prosperity; Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)
Published October 1, 2026. Takes effect October 16, 2026, printed at 91 FR 62600, amending 7 CFR 4280. 35,071 words.
What the Rule Says It Does
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or the Agency), an agency of the Rural Development (RD) mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing a final rule with comment period. Implementation of this action will simplify and streamline requirements and processes in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Under the new REAP structure, projects must already be fully built and operational before the applicant ever applies. Applicants then apply, submitting actual energy production or savings data for the prior 12 months, alongside 12 months of pre-installation data. The Agency evaluates applications for completeness, eligibility, risk, and merit and will award grants subject to the availability of funds and criteria provided in an annual notice. This new approach changes the program to a post completion, performance validated model. All RES and EEI awards will now be based on actual documented output, energy savings, costs, and system performance. Bottlenecks leading to application processing backlogs such as the technical merit review clearance process have been removed from the Agency's purview. Multilocation projects and specific application of certain technologies are now ineligible, and the program proposes to eliminate state level competitions in favor of a single national scoring and selection process. The result is a streamlined but significantly different process intended to reduce risk to the program, simplify administration, and prioritize projects delivering verifiable results. The result of these changes, combined with the release of a planned online application portal, will significantly decrease burden for applicants by shortening application length and review times across the program.
This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.
The Orders It Names
- Executive Order 14276: Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness
- Executive Order 14315: Ending Market Distorting Subsidies for Unreliable, Foreign-Controlled Energy Sources
The rule names these orders itself. What it does about them is a reading, and none is recorded here.
On the Face of the Rule
- As filed
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 189 (Thursday, October 1, 2026)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 62600-62633] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-20178]
Vol. 91
Thursday,
No. 189
October 1, 2026
Part II
Department of Agriculture
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
7 CFR Part 4280
Unleashing American Energy and Economic Prosperity; Rural Energy for America Program (REAP); Final Rule
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
7 CFR Part 4280
[Docket No. RBS-26-Business-0529] RIN 0570-AB13
Unleashing American Energy and Economic Prosperity; Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)
- AGENCY
Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA.
- ACTION
Final rule with comment period.
- DATES
Effective date: This final rule is effective October 16, 2026.
Comment date: Comments must be submitted on or before November 2, 2026.
- ADDRESSES
Comments may be submitted by going to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov/and in the “Search Documents” box, enter the Docket Number or the Regulatory Information Number (RIN) provided above in the headings to the final rule, and click the “Search” button. To submit a comment, choose the “Comment” button associated with the rule. Information on using Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket after the close of the comment period, is available under the “FAQ” tab at the bottom of the Home page.
All submissions received must include the Agency name and docket number or RIN for this rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Other Information: Additional information about Rural Development and its programs is available at https://www.rd.usda.gov/.
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Natalie Melton, Program Management Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-3201; telephone (202) 690-1371; email: [email protected].
The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.
Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
The information presented in this preamble is organized as follows:
The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.
What the Rule Contains
Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 25 headings, 35,071 words in all.
- AGENCYOn its face · 5 words
- ACTIONOn its face · 6 words
- SUMMARYOn its face · 256 words
- DATESOn its face · 23 words
- ADDRESSESOn its face · 135 words
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 26 words
- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 12 words
- I. Authority II. Background III. Stakeholder Engagement IV. Summary of ChangesPreamble · 45 words
- I. AuthorityPreamble · 84 words
- II. BackgroundPreamble · 490 words
- IV. Summary of Changes to the RulePreamble · 7,000 words
- B. Subpart C--Energy Audit and Renewable Energy Development Assistance GrantsPreamble · 1,816 words
- V. Executive Orders/ActsPreamble · 601 words
- Civil Rights Impact AnalysisPreamble · 115 words
- Congressional Review ActPreamble · 36 words
- E-Government Act CompliancePreamble · 63 words
- National Environmental Policy ActPreamble · 87 words
- Paperwork Reduction ActPreamble · 76 words
- DATESOn its face · 17 words
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 28 words
- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 631 words
- Regulatory Flexibility ActPreamble · 81 words
- SeverabilityPreamble · 82 words
- USDA Non-Discrimination StatementPreamble · 267 words
- List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 4280Regulatory text · 22,998 words
The Rest of the Text
This rule runs to 35,071 words. The rest of it is set out over 2 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.
- Text 1 of 2: I. Authority II. Background III. Stakeholder Engagement IV. Summary of Changes to USDA Non-Discrimination Statement17 headings · 11,519 words
- Text 2 of 2: List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 42801 heading · 22,998 words
- The rule itself
Agriculture Department, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, “Unleashing American Energy and Economic Prosperity; Rural Energy for America Program (REAP),” 91 FR 62600 (October 1, 2026). Effective October 16, 2026.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/01/2026-20178/unleashing-american-energy-and-economic-prosperity-rural-energy-for-america-program-reap - This page
“Unleashing American Energy and Economic Prosperity; Rural Energy for America Program (REAP),” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2026-20178/ (retrieved October 1, 2026).
Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.
How This Rule Is Set Out
Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 2 pages rather than one.
Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.