110 HR 2035 IH: Rural Broadband Improvement U.S. House of Representatives 2007-04-25 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2035 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 25, 2007 Ms. Herseth Sandlin (for herself, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Moran of Kansas, Mr. Smith of Nebraska, and Mr. Pomeroy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To tailor the rural broadband program to better serve those living in rural areas.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Rural Broadband Improvement Act.

2.

Rural broadband program improvements

Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— (1)in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: (2)

Eligible rural community

The term eligible rural community means any area of the United States that is not— (A)included within the boundaries of any city, town, borough, or village, whether incorporated or unincorporated, with a population of more than 15,000 inhabitants; (B)included within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban cluster; or (C)located within 10 miles of the boundary of any such city, village, borough, or town or any urbanized area or urban cluster. (3)

Urbanized area

The term urbanized area has the meaning given the term on page 11667 of the Federal Register for March 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 51). (4)

Urban cluster

The term urban cluster has the meaning given the term on page 11667 of the Federal Register for March 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 51), except that 15,000 shall be substituted for 2,500. (5)

Unserved

The term unserved means, with respect to a household, that broadband service is unavailable to the household, and that broadband facilities that would serve the household are not under construction. ; (2)in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following: (3)

Amount of loan or loan guarantee

The amount of the loan or loan guarantee for which an entity is otherwise eligible under this section for a project shall, subject to any general limitation on funding a project imposed by the Secretary, be an amount equal to— (A)if at least 50 percent of the households in the eligible rural community to be served by the project are unserved at the time the entity applied for the loan or loan guarantee, the total cost of the project; or (B)in any other case, the total costs of the project multiplied by the percentage of households in the eligible rural community to be served by the project represented by those that are unserved. ; and (3)in subsection (g)— (A)by striking and at the end of paragraph (1)(B); (B)by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting ; and; and (C)by adding at the end the following: (3)be repayable to the Secretary in full (with interest and reasonable administrative costs) if the project for which the loan or loan guarantee is provided is not completed throughout the entire area in which the project is proposed to be carried out, within 3 years after the date the loan or loan guarantee is approved. .