[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 863 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 863

    To reauthorize and improve the Appalachian regional development 
                    program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2015

Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Capito, and Mrs. Gillibrand) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To reauthorize and improve the Appalachian regional development 
                    program, 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 ``Appalachian Regional Development 
Amendments Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF APPALACHIAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

    Section 14703 of title 40, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--In addition to amounts made available by section 
14501 and any other amounts made available for the Appalachian 
development highway system program under any other provision of law, 
there are authorized to be appropriated to the Appalachian Regional 
Commission to carry out this subtitle $100,000,000 for fiscal years 
2016 through 2020.'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) High-Speed Broadband Deployment Initiative.--Of the amounts 
made available under subsection (a), $10,000,000 shall be used to carry 
out section 14509.''.

SEC. 3. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIATIVE.

    (a)  In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 145 of subtitle IV of 
title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
``Sec. 14509. High-speed broadband deployment initiative
    ``(a) In General.--The Appalachian Regional Commission may provide 
technical assistance, make grants, enter into contracts, or otherwise 
provide amounts to persons or entities in the Appalachian region for 
projects and activities--
            ``(1) to increase affordable access to broadband networks 
        throughout the Appalachian region;
            ``(2) to conduct research, analysis, and training to 
        increase broadband adoption efforts in the Appalachian region;
            ``(3) to provide technology assets, including computers, 
        smartboards, and video projectors to educational systems 
        throughout the Appalachian region;
            ``(4) to increase distance learning opportunities 
        throughout the Appalachian region;
            ``(5) to increase the use of telehealth technologies in the 
        Appalachian region; and
            ``(6) to promote e-commerce applications in the Appalachian 
        region.
    ``(b) Limitation on Available Amounts.--Of the cost of any activity 
eligible for a grant under this section, not more than--
            ``(1) 50 percent may be provided from amounts appropriated 
        to carry out this section;
            ``(2) in the case of a project to be carried out in a 
        county for which a distressed county designation is in effect 
        under section 14526, 80 percent may be provided from amounts 
        appropriated to carry out this section; or
            ``(3) in the case of a project to be carried out in a 
        county for which an at-risk designation is in effect under 
        section 14526, 70 percent may be provided from amounts 
        appropriated to carry out this section.
    ``(c) Sources of Assistance.--Subject to subsection (b), grants 
provided under this section may be provided from amounts made available 
to carry out this section in combination with amounts made available 
under other Federal programs or from any other source.
    ``(d) Federal Share.--Notwithstanding any provision of law limiting 
the Federal share under any other Federal program, amounts made 
available to carry out this section may be used to increase that 
Federal share, as the Appalachian Regional Commission determines is 
appropriate.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 145 of title 
40, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 14508 the following:

``14509. High-speed broadband deployment initiative.''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION.

    Section 14704 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``2012'' and inserting ``2020''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect on October 
1, 2015.
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