The Agency plans to consolidate and update three regulations, 7 CFR 1942-A, 1942-C, and 3570-B, into a new regulation, 7 CFR 3570-A. This new regulation will be used to administer the Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant programs. It will also incorporate the Tribal College and Economic Impact Initiative grant programs. The existing regulations 7 CFR 1942-A, 7 CFR 1942-C, and 7 CFR 3570-B will be obsolete upon publication of the new 7 CFR 3570-A. The proposed action includes the following: * Remove references to the RUS water and waste disposal program, which was moved to 7 CFR 1780-A in 1997. * Update scoring priorities to reflect current needs in rural America. * Incorporate information from staff instructions and guidance that have been renewed and republished for many years. * Make pre-application optional for small (under $300,000) projects. * Clarify and coordinate applicant and project eligibility requirements among the Community Facilities Guarantee, Direct and Grant regulations. * Update the regulation to reflect recent legal opinions/determinations. * Update audit requirements in accordance with the latest OMB directives. * Add "Exception Authority" to allow for the granting of exceptions by the Administrator to portions of regulations that are not statutory. The granting of exceptions is allowed in other Rural Development regulations under very defined and controlled circumstances.