[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3842 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3842

To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program 
to provide assistance to certain entities in rural communities, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2020

  Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program 
to provide assistance to certain entities in rural communities, 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 ``Rural Infrastructure Advancement Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. RURAL ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish within the 
        Build America Bureau a pilot program, to be known as the 
        ``Rural Assistance Pilot Program'', to provide to eligible 
        entities, through the services of expert firms described in 
        subsection (c), assistance and information described in 
        paragraph (2).
            (2) Assistance and information.--In carrying out the Rural 
        Assistance Pilot Program, the Secretary may provide the 
        following:
                    (A) Financial, technical, and legal assistance to 
                evaluate potential projects eligible to receive funding 
                or financing assistance under an eligible program.
                    (B) Assistance with development phase activities, 
                including--
                            (i) project planning;
                            (ii) feasibility studies;
                            (iii) revenue forecasting and funding and 
                        financing options analysis;
                            (iv) environmental review;
                            (v) preliminary engineering and design 
                        work;
                            (vi) economic assessments and cost-benefit 
                        analyses;
                            (vii) public benefit studies;
                            (viii) statutory and regulatory framework 
                        analyses;
                            (ix) value for money studies;
                            (x) evaluations of costs to sustain the 
                        project;
                            (xi) evaluating opportunities for private 
                        financing and project bundling; and
                            (xii) any other activity determined to be 
                        appropriate by the Secretary.
                    (C) Information about innovative financing best 
                practices and case studies if the eligible entity is 
                interested in using innovative financing methods.
    (b) Eligible Entities.--An entity eligible for assistance under the 
Rural Assistance Pilot Program is an entity that--
            (1) is located in an area that is outside of an urbanized 
        area (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) with a population 
        greater than 150,000 individuals; or
            (2) may pursue a project located in an area described in 
        paragraph (1).
    (c) Assistance From Expert Firms.--The Secretary may retain the 
services of expert firms, including counsel, in the field of municipal 
and project finance to assist in providing financial, technical, and 
legal assistance to eligible entities.
    (d) Website.--
            (1) Description of program.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall make publicly 
                available on the website of the Department a 
                description of the Rural Assistance Pilot Program, 
                including the resources available to eligible entities.
                    (B) Clearinghouse.--The Secretary may establish a 
                clearinghouse for tools, templates, and best practices 
                on the page of the website of the Department that 
                contains the information described in subparagraph (A).
            (2) Application processes.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
                establish a process for submitting an application.
                    (B) Online portal.--The Secretary shall develop and 
                make available to the public an online portal through 
                which the Secretary may receive, on a rolling basis, 
                applications.
                    (C) Review of applications.--
                            (i) In general.--Not later than 60 days 
                        after the date on which the Secretary receives 
                        an application, the Secretary shall notify each 
                        eligible entity that submitted the application 
                        of the approval or disapproval of the 
                        application.
                            (ii) Additional written notification.--
                                    (I) In general.--Not later than 30 
                                days after the date on which the 
                                Secretary initially notifies an 
                                eligible entity under clause (i), the 
                                Secretary shall provide to the eligible 
                                entity an additional written 
                                notification of the approval or 
                                disapproval of the application.
                                    (II) Disapproved applications.--If 
                                an application is not approved, a 
                                written notification under subclause 
                                (I) shall include an offer for a 
                                written or telephonic debrief by the 
                                Secretary that will provide an 
                                explanation of, and guidance on, the 
                                reasons that the application was not 
                                approved.
                            (iii) Incomplete applications.--The 
                        Secretary shall not approve an application if 
                        the application does not meet the criteria 
                        established under this section.
            (3) Dashboard.--The Secretary shall post on the website of 
        the Department a monthly report that includes, for each 
        application--
                    (A) the type of entity that submitted the 
                application;
                    (B) the location of the potential project or 
                projects;
                    (C) a brief description of the assistance 
                requested;
                    (D) the date on which the Secretary received the 
                application; and
                    (E) the date on which the Secretary provided notice 
                of approval or disapproval under paragraph (2)(C)(i).
    (e) Experts.--An eligible entity that receives assistance under the 
Rural Assistance Pilot Program may retain the services of any expert 
for any phase of a project, including project development, regardless 
of whether the expert was retained by the Secretary under subsection 
(c).
    (f) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--For each of fiscal years 2021 through 
        2025, the Secretary may use to carry out the Rural Assistance 
        Pilot Program, including to retain the services of expert 
        firms, any amounts made available to the Secretary that are 
        used to provide credit assistance under eligible programs and 
        not otherwise obligated, not to exceed--
                    (A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2021;
                    (B) $2,400,000 for fiscal year 2022;
                    (C) $3,200,000 for fiscal year 2023;
                    (D) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and
                    (E) $5,200,000 for fiscal year 2025.
            (2) Geographic distribution.--Not more than 20 percent of 
        the amounts made available for grants under this subsection for 
        a fiscal year may be used to make grants for projects in any 1 
        State.
    (g) Sunset.--The Rural Assistance Pilot Program shall terminate on 
the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (h) Administration of Application Process by the Build America 
Bureau.--Section 116(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) The Rural Assistance Pilot Program 
                established under the Rural Infrastructure Advancement 
                Act of 2020.''.
    (i) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Application.--The term ``application'' means an 
        application for assistance under the Rural Assistance Pilot 
        Program submitted by an eligible entity to the Secretary in 
        such form and containing such information as the Secretary may 
        require.
            (2) Build america bureau.--The term ``Build America 
        Bureau'' means the National Surface Transportation and 
        Innovative Finance Bureau established under section 116 of 
        title 49, United States Code.
            (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Transportation.
            (4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an 
        entity described in subsection (b).
            (5) Eligible program.--The term ``eligible program'' means 
        a program described in any of subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D) 
        of section 116(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.
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