[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 71 (Friday, April 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14911-14912]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07345]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 71 / Friday, April 12, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 14911]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Broadband Pilot (ReConnect) Program
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice; amendment to Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and
solicitation of applications and program updates.
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SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) published a Funding
Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and solicitation of applications in the
Federal Register on Friday, December 14, 2018, announcing its general
policy and application procedures for funding under the broadband pilot
program (ReConnect) established pursuant to the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2018 which provides loans, grants, and loan/grant
combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. Since
the publication of the FOA, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019
(2019 Appropriations Act) became law on February 15, 2019. The purpose
of this notice is to inform the public of changes made to the ReConnect
Program, specifically the updated service area eligibility policies,
pursuant to the 2019 Appropriations Act, and other program updates.
DATES: Actions described in this notice take effect April 12, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general inquiries regarding the
ReConnect Program, contact Chad Parker, Assistant Administrator
Telecommunications Program, Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), email: [email protected], telephone (202)
720-9554. For inquiries regarding eligible service areas, please
contact ReConnect Program Staff at https://www.usda.gov/reconnect/contact-us.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On December 14, 2018, RUS published a Funding Opportunity
Announcement (FOA) and solicitation of applications in the Federal
Register at 83 FR 64315. The FOA provided the policy and application
procedures for the ReConnect Program. In support of the ReConnect
Program, the agency also established an eligibility area map and
application mapping tool designed to assist in the determination of
service area eligibility across the United States. These tools include
four categories of data that indicate potential eligibility of rural
areas, including data on the CAF II--Auction 903 winners, non-rural
areas, pending applications, and protected broadband borrower service
areas. On Monday, February 25, 2019, the Agency published a notice in
the Federal Register (84 FR 5981) to provide the final application
windows and clarification for the ReConnect Program.
Since the publication of the December 14, 2018 FOA, the 2019
Appropriations Act became law on February 15, 2019. The 2019
Appropriations Act requires that the Agency shall, in determining
whether an entity may overbuild, or duplicate broadband expansion
efforts made by any entity that has received a broadband loan from RUS,
not consider loans that were rescinded or defaulted on, or whose loan
terms and conditions were not met, if the new entity under
consideration has not previously defaulted on, or failed to meet the
terms and conditions of, an RUS loan or had an RUS loan rescinded. To
address these issues, the actions taken in this notice will: (1) Revise
the definition of Broadband loan in the FOA, as published in the
Federal Register on December 14, 2018, as required by the 2019
Appropriations Act; (2) describe any changes to the data used in the
protected broadband service areas mapping layer and, (3) announce the
criteria by which applicants may challenge the determination of service
area eligibility. These actions are being taken by the Agency to ensure
that all eligible service areas receive fair consideration for funding
under the ReConnect Program.
Summary of Program Changes
As required by the 2019 Appropriations Act, the Broadband loan
definition in the FOA published in the Federal Register on December 14,
2018 FOA, must be revised.
On page 64316, in the first column, seventh paragraph, revise the
definition of Broadband loan to read as follows:
Broadband loan means, for the purposes of this FOA, a loan that has
been approved or is currently under review by RUS after the beginning
of Fiscal Year 2000 in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Program,
Farm Bill Broadband Program, or the Broadband Initiatives Program.
Loans that were approved and then subsequently de-obligated or
otherwise rescinded or defaulted on, or whose loan terms and conditions
have not been met are not included in this definition.
RUS is also taking further actions to ensure that all eligible
service areas receive fair consideration for funding under the
ReConnect Program. These actions are as follows:
(a) Changes to the data used in the Protected Broadband Borrower
Service Areas mapping layer. To ensure that the mapping resources
available in the ReConnect Program are consistent with the revised
definition of Broadband loan, the Agency reviewed its loan portfolio
and identified loans that were fully rescinded or are in default, or
whose loan terms and conditions were not met. Data associated with
these loans have been removed from the Protected Broadband Borrower
Service Areas mapping layer, so that the associated service areas will
not appear ineligible according to this criterion. Both the eligibility
area map and the application mapping tool have been updated to reflect
these removals.
(b) Criteria by which applicants may challenge the determination of
service area eligibility. To enhance the accuracy of the ReConnect
Program's mapping resources, the Agency acknowledges the value of the
applicant's analysis of broadband access available in a given service
area. Therefore, an applicant may challenge the protected status of a
service area if the applicant believes that at least 75 percent of the
households in the part of the proposed funded service area in which
they are seeking ReConnect funds are not receiving broadband service at
the level for which an original RUS broadband loan was made. Note that
the lack of 10/1 Mbps in the service territory of older broadband loans
does not purport to non-compliance with their loan
[[Page 14912]]
agreement, due to then, existing service requirements. At the time the
challenge is made, the original RUS broadband loan must have been
rescinded, defaulted on, or the terms and conditions of the original
loan must not have been met.
(c) Until further changes to a challenge system can be made in
future rounds of funding, for the present round of funding, these
challenges will only be considered when submitted with an application
for ReConnect funding. Additionally, the agency will only validate the
challenge if the application is determined to be complete, feasible,
and, if applicable, scored high enough for funding consideration. The
agency will assess the ability to expand its challenge process for
future rounds of funding.
Dated: March 28, 2019.
Bette B. Brand,
Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-07345 Filed 4-11-19; 8:45 am]
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