[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6336 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6336

 To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide grants for 
access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2016

Mr. Pocan (for himself and Ms. Stefanik) 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 provide grants for 
access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Broadband Connections for Rural 
Opportunities Program Act of 2016'' or the ``B-CROP Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS.

    Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``loans and'' and 
        inserting ``grants, loans, and'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Loans 
                and'' and inserting ``Grants, Loans, and'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``make grants 
                and'' after ``Secretary shall''; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(2) Priority.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In making grants, loans, or loan 
                guarantees under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) establish one ongoing evaluation 
                        period for each fiscal year to compare grant, 
                        loan, and loan guarantee applications and to 
                        prioritize grants, loans, and loan guarantees 
                        to all or part of rural communities that do not 
                        have residential broadband service that meets 
                        the minimum acceptable level of broadband 
                        service established under subsection (e);
                            ``(ii) give the highest priority to 
                        applicants that offer to provide broadband 
                        service to the greatest proportion of unserved 
                        rural households or rural households that do 
                        not have residential broadband service that 
                        meets the minimum acceptable level of broadband 
                        service established under subsection (e), as--
                                    ``(I) certified by the affected 
                                community, city, county, or designee; 
                                or
                                    ``(II) demonstrated on--
                                            ``(aa) the broadband map of 
                                        the affected State if the map 
                                        contains address-level data; or
                                            ``(bb) the National 
                                        Broadband Map if address-level 
                                        data is unavailable; and
                            ``(iii) provide equal consideration to all 
                        qualified applicants, including those that have 
                        not previously received grants, loans, or loan 
                        guarantees under paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Other.--After giving priority to the 
                applicants described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                shall then give priority to projects that serve rural 
                communities--
                            ``(i) with a population of less than 10,000 
                        permanent residents;
                            ``(ii) experiencing outmigration;
                            ``(iii) with a high percentage of low-
                        income residents; and
                            ``(iv) that are isolated from other 
                        significant population centers.
            ``(3) Grant amounts.--
                    ``(A) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant 
                under this section, the project that is the subject of 
                the grant shall be carried out in a rural area.
                    ``(B) Maximum.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (D), the amount of any grant made under this section 
                shall not exceed 50 percent of the development costs of 
                the project for which the grant is provided.
                    ``(C) Grant rate.--The Secretary shall establish 
                the grant rate for each project in accordance with 
                regulations issued by the Secretary that shall provide 
                for a graduated scale of grant rates that establish 
                higher rates for projects in communities that have--
                            ``(i) remote locations;
                            ``(ii) low community populations;
                            ``(iii) low income levels;
                            ``(iv) developed the applications of the 
                        communities with the participation of 
                        combinations of stakeholders, including--
                                    ``(I) State, local, and tribal 
                                governments;
                                    ``(II) nonprofit institutions;
                                    ``(III) institutions of higher 
                                education;
                                    ``(IV) private entities; and
                                    ``(V) philanthropic organizations; 
                                and
                            ``(v) targeted funding to provide the 
                        minimum acceptable level of broadband service 
                        established under subsection (e) in all or part 
                        of an unserved community that is below that 
                        minimum acceptable level of broadband service.
                    ``(D) Secretarial authority to adjust.--The 
                Secretary may make grants of up to 75 percent of the 
                development costs of the project for which the grant is 
                provided to an eligible entity if the Secretary 
                determines that the project serves a remote or low 
                income area that does not have access to broadband 
                service from any provider of broadband service 
                (including the applicant).'';
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 
                        striking ``loan or'' and inserting ``grant, 
                        loan, or'';
                            (ii) by striking clause (i) and inserting 
                        the following:
                            ``(i) demonstrate the ability--
                                    ``(I) to furnish, improve in order 
                                to meet the minimum acceptable level of 
                                broadband service established under 
                                subsection (e), or extend broadband 
                                service to all or part of an unserved 
                                rural area or an area below the minimum 
                                acceptable level of broadband service 
                                established under subsection (e); or
                                    ``(II) to carry out a project under 
                                paragraph (4)(B)(ii);'';
                            (iii) in clause (ii), by striking ``a loan 
                        application'' and inserting ``an application''; 
                        and
                            (iv) in clause (iii)--
                                    (I) by striking ``the loan 
                                application'' and inserting ``the 
                                application''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``proceeds from 
                                the loan made or guaranteed under this 
                                section are'' and inserting 
                                ``assistance under this section is'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) in the matter preceding clause 
                                (i)--
                                            (aa) by striking ``the 
                                        proceeds of a loan made or 
                                        guaranteed'' and inserting 
                                        ``assistance''; and
                                            (bb) by striking ``for the 
                                        loan or loan guarantee'' and 
                                        inserting ``of the eligible 
                                        entity''; and
                                    (II) in clause (ii), by striking 
                                ``3'' and inserting ``2'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        clause (ii) and inserting the following:
                            ``(ii) Exceptions.--Clause (i) shall not 
                        apply if the applicant is eligible for funding 
                        under another title of this Act.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3), in subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``loan or'' and inserting ``grant, loan, or'';
                    (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ``loan or'' and 
                inserting ``grant, loan, or'';
                    (E) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by striking ``loan or'' and inserting 
                ``grant, loan, or'';
                    (F) in paragraph (6), by striking ``loan or'' and 
                inserting ``grant, loan, or''; and
                    (G) in paragraph (7), by striking ``a loan 
                application'' and inserting ``an application'';
            (4) in subsection (f), by striking ``make a loan or loan 
        guarantee'' and inserting ``provide assistance'';
            (5) in subsection (j)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``loan and loan guarantee'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``grants and'' 
                after ``number of'';
                    (C) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``loan''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``loans and'' and inserting ``grants, loans, 
                        and''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ``loan'';
            (6) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as subsections 
        (l) and (m), respectively;
            (7) by inserting after subsection (j) the following:
    ``(k) Broadband Buildout Data.--
            ``(1) In general.--As a condition of receiving a grant, 
        loan, or loan guarantee under this section, a recipient of 
        assistance shall provide to the Secretary address-level 
        broadband buildout data that indicates the location of new 
        broadband service that is being provided or upgraded within the 
        service territory supported by the grant, loan, or loan 
        guarantee--
                    ``(A) for purposes of inclusion in the semiannual 
                updates to the National Broadband Map that is managed 
                by the National Telecommunications and Information 
                Administration (referred to in this subsection as the 
                `Administration'); and
                    ``(B) not later than 30 days after the earlier of--
                            ``(i) the date of completion of any project 
                        milestone established by the Secretary; or
                            ``(ii) the date of completion of the 
                        project.
            ``(2) Address-level data.--Effective beginning on the date 
        the Administration receives data described in paragraph (1), 
        the Administration shall use only address-level broadband 
        buildout data for the National Broadband Map.
            ``(3) Corrections.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall submit to 
                the Administration any correction to the National 
                Broadband Map that is based on the actual level of 
                broadband coverage within the rural area, including any 
                requests for a correction from an elected or economic 
                development official.
                    ``(B) Incorporation.--Not later than 30 days after 
                the date on which the Administration receives a 
                correction submitted under subparagraph (A), the 
                Administration shall incorporate the correction into 
                the National Broadband Map.
                    ``(C) Use.--If the Secretary has submitted a 
                correction to the Administration under subparagraph 
                (A), but the National Broadband Map has not been 
                updated to reflect the correct by the date on which the 
                Secretary is making a grant or loan award decision 
                under this section, the Secretary may use the 
                correction submitted under that subparagraph for 
                purposes of make the grant or loan award decision.'';
            (8) subsection (l) (as redesignated by paragraph (6))--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$25,000,000'' 
                and inserting ``$100,000,000''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(A)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the period 
                        at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 
                        used for--
                                    ``(I) conducting oversight under 
                                this section; and
                                    ``(II) implementing accountability 
                                measures and related activities 
                                authorized under this section.''; and
            (9) in subsection (m) (as redesignated by paragraph (6)), 
        by striking ``loan or'' and inserting ``grant, loan, or''.
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