7 U.S.C. § 2279: Transparency and accountability for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers

The purpose of this section is to ensure compilation and public disclosure of data to assess and hold the Department of Agriculture accountable for the nondiscriminatory participation of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in programs of the Department. In this section, the term “socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” has the meaning given the term in section 2003(e) of this title . raw numbers of applicants and participants by race, ethnicity, and gender, subject to appropriate privacy protections, as determined by the Secretary; and the application and participation rate, by race, ethnicity, and gender, as a percentage of the total participation rate of all agricultural producers and landowners. The heads of the agencies of the Department of Agriculture shall collect and transmit to the Secretary any data, including data on race, gender, and ethnicity, that the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out paragraph (1). the entire United States; each State; and each county in each State. The Secretary shall maintain and make readily available to the public, via website and otherwise in electronic and paper form, the report described in paragraph (3). In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall not disclose the names or individual data of any program participant. The data under this section shall be used exclusively for the purposes described in subsection (a). Except as otherwise provided, the data under this section shall not be used for the evaluation of individual applications for assistance. the date, place, and subject of the request; and the action taken, not taken, or recommended to the producer or landowner.