[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2953 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2953

     To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve the 
 application process for the rural broadband program of the Department 
                            of Agriculture.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2007

  Mr. Space 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 amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve the 
 application process for the rural broadband program of the Department 
                            of Agriculture.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Broadband Access Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY.

    Section 601(b)(2) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 
U.S.C. 950bb(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Eligible rural community.--The term `eligible rural 
        community' means any area of the United States--
                    ``(A) which is not included within the boundaries 
                of any city, town, borough, or village, whether 
                incorporated or unincorporated, with a population of 
                more than 20,000 inhabitants;
                    ``(B) which is not in the urbanized area contiguous 
                and adjacent to such a city, town, borough, or village; 
                and
                    ``(C) the average median household income of which 
                is not more than 80 percent of the national average 
                median household income.''.

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO APPLICATION PROCESS.

    (a) Equity Requirements.--Section 601(c) of the Rural 
Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(c)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(3) Equity requirements.--The Secretary shall not approve 
        an application submitted pursuant to this section to serve--
                    ``(A) an area in which at least 40 percent of the 
                population does not have access to broadband service, 
                unless the value of the assets of the applicant not 
                pledged or hypothecated for any other purpose equals at 
                least 10 percent of the principal amount of the loan 
                which is the subject of the application; or
                    ``(B) any other area, unless value of the assets 
                referred to in subparagraph (A) equals at least 15 
                percent of the principal amount of the loan 
                involved.''.
    (b) Reduction in Application Paperwork.--Section 601(c) of such Act 
(7 U.S.C. 950bb(c)), as amended by subsection (a) of this section, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Paperwork reduction.--The Secretary shall take such 
        steps as are necessary to reduce the paperwork required of 
        applicants under this section.''.
    (c) Outreach.--Section 601 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended 
by redesignating subsections (i) through (k) as subsection (j) through 
(l), respectively, and inserting after subsection (h) the following:
    ``(i) Outreach.--The Secretary shall conduct outreach designed to 
inform the population of areas in which there is no or limited 
broadband service of the program carried out under this section.''.

SEC. 4. BAN ON LOAN OR LOAN GUARANTEE FOR NEW BROADBAND SERVICE IN 
              COMMUNITY WITH SEVERAL SERVICE PROVIDERS.

    Section 601(c) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb(c)), as amended by section 3 of this Act, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(5) Ban on loan or loan guarantee for new broadband 
        service in community with 3 or more service providers.--The 
        Secreary shall not approve an application for a loan or loan 
        guarantee under this section for the provision of new broadband 
        service to an eligible rural community in which the service is 
        provided by 3 or more entities.''.

SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY BASED ON NUMBER OF 
              SUBSCRIBER LINES.

    (a) In General.--Section 601(d) of the Rural Electrification Act of 
1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(d)) is amended by striking paragraph (3).
    (b) Limitations on Amounts Made Available for Entities With Various 
Shares of Installed Telephone Suscriber Lines.--Section 601(k) of such 
Act (7 U.S.C. 950bb(k)), as so redesignated by section 3(c) of this 
Act, is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Limitations on amounts made available for entities 
        with various shares of installed telephone suscriber lines.--
                    ``(A) Not more than 10 percent of the amounts made 
                available for each fiscal year under this subsection 
                may be used to provide loans or loan guarantees to 
                entities with more than 10 percent of the telephone 
                subscriber lines installed in the aggregate in the 
                United States.
                    ``(B) Not more than 40 percent of the amounts made 
                available for each fiscal year under this subsection 
                may be used to provide loans or loan guarantees to 
                entities with not less than 2 percent and not more than 
                10 percent of the telephone subscriber lines installed 
                in the aggregate in the United States.''.

SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON TERM OF LOANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES.

    Section 601(g)(2) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 
U.S.C. 950bb(g)(2)) is amended by striking ``the useful life of the 
assets constructed, improved, or acquired with the proceeds of the loan 
or extension of credit'' and inserting ``35 years''.

SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb), as amended by section 3(c) of this Act, is amended by 
redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as subsection (l) and (m), 
respectively, and inserting after subsection (j) the following:
    ``(k) Annual Reports.--Not later than October 1 of each year, the 
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the Senate a report on the status of the program under this 
section, which shall include, with respect to the period covered by the 
report--
            ``(1) the number of applications submitted pursuant to this 
        section;
            ``(2) the number of the applications that were approved;
            ``(3) the identity of the communities served by the 
        applicants with approved applications;
            ``(4) the type of services offered by applicants for, and 
        recipients of, loans or loan guarantees under this section;
            ``(5) the speed of the broadband service offered by the 
        applicants and recipients;
            ``(6) how long it took to respond to the applicants; and
            ``(7) the outreach efforts conducted by the Secretary under 
        subsection (i).''.
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