[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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