[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1676 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1676

 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

                             July 31, 2017

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'' or the ``B-CROP Act''.

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) give priority to 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 
                        applications for projects to provide broadband 
                        service to the greatest proportion of rural 
                        households that are within unserved 
                        communities, as identified by the Secretary in 
                        accordance with subparagraph (C);
                            ``(iii) provide equal consideration to all 
                        eligible entities, including those that have 
                        not previously received grants, loans, or loan 
                        guarantees under paragraph (1); and
                            ``(iv) with respect to two or more 
                        applications that are given the same priority 
                        under clause (ii), give priority to an 
                        application that requests less grant funding 
                        than loan funding.
                    ``(B) Other.--After giving priority to the 
                applications described in subparagraph (A)(ii), the 
                Secretary shall then give priority to applications--
                            ``(i) for projects to provide broadband 
                        service to rural communities--
                                    ``(I) with a population of less 
                                than 10,000 permanent residents;
                                    ``(II) that are experiencing 
                                outmigration;
                                    ``(III) with a high percentage of 
                                low income families or persons (as 
                                defined in section 501(b) of the 
                                Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 
                                1471(b)); or
                                    ``(IV) that are isolated from other 
                                significant population centers; and
                            ``(ii) that were developed with the 
                        participation of, and will receive a 
                        substantial portion of the funding for the 
                        project from, one or more 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.
                    ``(C) Identification of unserved communities.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall 
                        identify unserved communities for purposes of 
                        subparagraph (A)(ii) using broadband coverage 
                        data that is--
                                    ``(I) collected by the Federal 
                                Communications Commission; and
                                    ``(II) reviewed and refined by the 
                                Secretary using a thorough evidentiary 
                                review process.
                            ``(ii) Adjustments.--Not less often than 
                        once every 2 years, the Secretary shall review, 
                        and may adjust through notice published in the 
                        Federal Register, the unserved communities 
                        identified under clause (i).
            ``(3) Grant amounts.--
                    ``(A) Definition of development costs.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `development costs' means costs 
                of--
                            ``(i) construction, including labor and 
                        materials;
                            ``(ii) project applications; and
                            ``(iii) other development activities, as 
                        determined by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) 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.
                    ``(C) 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.
                    ``(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--
                            ``(i) an area of rural households described 
                        in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and
                            ``(ii) a rural community described in any 
                        of subclauses (I) through (IV) of paragraph 
                        (2)(B)(i).'';
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (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)--
                                            (aa) by striking ``the loan 
                                        application'' and inserting 
                                        ``the application''; and
                                            (bb) by striking ``proceeds 
                                        from the loan made or 
                                        guaranteed under this section 
                                        are'' and inserting 
                                        ``assistance under this section 
                                        is''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Relation to universal service high-cost 
                support.--The Secretary shall coordinate with the 
                Federal Communications Commission to ensure that any 
                grants, loans, or loan guarantees made under this 
                section complement and do not conflict with universal 
                service high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 
                of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
                successor regulation) provided by the Commission.'';
                    (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'';
                    (G) by redesignating paragraph (7) as subparagraph 
                (B) and indenting appropriately;
                    (H) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
            ``(7) Application process.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide to 
                an applicant of a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under 
                this section feedback and decisions on funding in a 
                timely manner.'';
                    (I) in paragraph (7)(B) (as so redesignated), by 
                striking ``may seek a determination of area eligibility 
                prior to preparing a loan application under this 
                section.'' and inserting the following: ``may, before 
                preparing an application under this section--
                            ``(i) seek a determination of area 
                        eligibility; and
                            ``(ii) submit to the Secretary a proposal 
                        for a project, on which the Secretary shall 
                        provide feedback regarding how the proposal 
                        could be changed to improve the likelihood that 
                        the Secretary would approve the application.''; 
                        and
                    (J) 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.--As a condition of receiving a 
grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this section, a recipient of 
assistance shall provide to the Secretary complete, reliable, and 
precise geolocation information 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 not later 
than 30 days after the earlier of--
            ``(1) the date of completion of any project milestone 
        established by the Secretary; or
            ``(2) the date of completion of the project.'';
            (8) 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''.
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