[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3408 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3408

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 2016

Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 1 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 out-migration;
                            ``(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, and will 
                        receive a portion of the funding for the 
                        project from, combinations of stakeholders, 
                        including--
                                    ``(I) State, local, and tribal 
                                governments;
                                    ``(II) nonprofit institutions;
                                    ``(III) community anchor 
                                institutions, such as--
                                            ``(aa) public libraries;
                                            ``(bb) elementary schools 
                                        and secondary schools (as 
                                        defined in section 8101 of the 
                                        Elementary and Secondary 
                                        Education Act of 1965 (20 
                                        U.S.C. 7801));
                                            ``(cc) institutions of 
                                        higher education; and
                                            ``(dd) health care 
                                        facilities;
                                    ``(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) in clause (ii), by striking ``a loan 
                        application'' and inserting ``an application''; 
                        and
                            (iii) 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''; and
                            (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'';
                    (G) in paragraph (7), by striking ``a loan 
                application'' and inserting ``an application''; and
                    (H) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) Technical assistance and training.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide to 
                eligible entities described in paragraph (1) technical 
                assistance and training--
                            ``(i) to prepare reports and surveys 
                        necessary to request grants, loans, and loan 
                        guarantees under this section for broadband 
                        deployment;
                            ``(ii) to improve management, including 
                        financial management, relating to the proposed 
                        broadband deployment;
                            ``(iii) to prepare applications for grants, 
                        loans, and loan guarantees under this section; 
                        or
                            ``(iv) to assist with other areas of need 
                        identified by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Funding.--Not less than 3 percent and not 
                more than 5 percent of amounts appropriated to carry 
                out this section for a fiscal year shall be used for 
                technical assistance and training under this 
                paragraph.'';
            (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 Federal Communications Commission (referred to 
                in this subsection as the `Commission'); 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 Commission receives data described in paragraph (1), the 
        Commission shall use only address-level broadband buildout data 
        for the National Broadband Map.
            ``(3) Corrections.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall submit to 
                the Commission 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 Commission receives a correction 
                submitted under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall 
                incorporate the correction into the National Broadband 
                Map.
                    ``(C) Use.--If the Secretary has submitted a 
                correction to the Commission under subparagraph (A), 
                but the National Broadband Map has not been updated to 
                reflect the correction 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) in subsection (l) (as redesignated by paragraph (6))--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$25,000,000'' 
                and inserting ``$50,000,000''; 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''.
                                 <all>