(a) Assistance from outside experts and professionals can be secured for the purpose of completing EIS, assessments, or portions of them. Such assistance will be secured according to the Federal and Agriculture Procurement Regulations contained in chapters 1 and 4 of title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) The contractor will be selected by FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 in consultation with any cooperating agencies. In order to avoid any conflict of interest, contractors competing for the work will be required to execute a disclosure statement specifying that they have no financial or other interest in the outcome of the project.
(c) The Administrator will provide the State Director with a proposed scope of work for use in securing such professional services.
(d) Applicants will not be required to pay the costs of these professional services. Secs. 1940.337-1940.349 [Reserved]