Funding

Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out the program, to the maximum extent practicable— Funds made available under subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. Of the funds made available for the program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall allocate— Except as provided in paragraph (2), none of the funds made available for the program, including for a partnership agreement funded through an alternative funding arrangement or grant agreement under section 3871c(d) of this title, may be used to pay for the administrative expenses of eligible partners. Under a partnership agreement that is not funded through an alternative funding arrangement or grant agreement under section 3871c(d) of this title, the Secretary may advance reasonable amounts of funding for not longer than 90 days for technical assistance to eligible partners to conduct project development and outreach activities in a project area, including— At the time of project selection, the Secretary shall identify and make publicly available the amount that the Secretary shall use to provide technical assistance under the terms of the partnership agreement. The Secretary shall limit costs of the Secretary for technical assistance to costs specific and necessary to carry out the objectives of the program. The Secretary shall develop and implement strategies to encourage third-party technical service providers to provide technical assistance to eligible partners pursuant to a partnership agreement.