[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
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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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