116 STAT. 366 PUBLIC LAW 107-171—MAY 13, 2002 "(2) COMPOSITION.—^A State rural development council shall— "(A) be composed of representatives of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, regional organizations, the private sector, and other entities committed to rural advancement; and "(B) have a nonpartisan and nondiscriminatory membership that— "(i) is broad and representative of the economic, social, and political diversity of the State; and "(ii) shall be responsible for the governance and operations of the State rural development council. "(3) DUTIES. —^A State rural development council shall— "(A) facilitate collaboration among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and the private and nonprofit sectors in the planning and implementation of programs and policies that have an impact on rural areas of the State; "(B) monitor, report, and comment on policies and programs that address, or fail to address, the needs of the rural areas of the State; "(C) as part of the Partnership, in conjunction with the Coordinating Committee, facilitate the development of strategies to reduce or eliminate conflicting or duplicative administrative or regulatory requirements of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments; and "(D)(i) provide to the Coordinating Committee an annual plan with goals and performance measures; and "(ii) submit to the Coordinating Committee an annual report on the progress of the State rural development council in meeting the goals and measures. "(4) FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS. — "(A) IN GENERAL.—^A State Director for Rural Development of the Department of Agriculture, other employees of the Department, and employees of other Federal agencies with rural responsibilities shall fully participate as voting members in the governance and operations of State rural development councils (including activities related to grants, contracts, and other agreements in accordance with this section) on an equal basis with other members of the State rural development councils. "(B) CONFLICTS.— Participation by a Federal employee in a State rural development council in accordance with this paragraph shall not constitute a violation of section 205 or 208 of title 18, United States Code. "(e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT OF THE PARTNERSHIP.— "(1) DETAIL OF EMPLOYEES.— "(A) IN GENERAL. — In order to provide experience in intergovernmental collaboration, the head of an agency with rural responsibilities that elects to participate in the Partnership may, and is encouraged to, detail to the Secretary for the support of the Partnership 1 or more employees of the agency with rural responsibilities without reimbursement for a period of up to 1 year. "(B) CIVIL SERVICE STATUS.—The detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.
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