I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2569 

To codify certain changes proposed by the Department of Agriculture to 

the rules governing eligibility for the rural broadband access program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2007 

Mr. GRAVES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To codify certain changes proposed by the Department of 

Agriculture to the rules governing eligibility for the rural 

broadband access program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Broadband De5 ployment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CODIFICATION OF CERTAIN CHANGES PROPOSED 

2 BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO 

3 RULES GOVERNING ELIGIBILITY FOR THE 

4 RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 601(d) of the Rural Elec6 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(d)) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS.—In deter9 mining the eligibility of an applicant for a loan or 

10 loan guarantee under this section: 

11 ‘‘(A) RELAXATION OF MARKET SURVEY

12 REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall not re13 quire the applicant to submit a market survey 

14 for a service area proposed in the application if 

15 the applicant is projecting less than a 15 per16 cent penetration of households passed in the 

17 service area, by the end of the time period used 

18 in the study conducted by the Secretary to de19 termine whether the project proposed in the ap20 plication is financially feasible; and 

21 ‘‘(B) ELIMINATION OF CREDIT SUPPORT

22 REQUIREMENT, INCLUDING THE CASH ON HAND

23 REQUIREMENT.—In lieu of imposing the credit 

24 support requirements set forth in section 

25 1738.20 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, 

26 the Secretary— 


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1 ‘‘(i) except as provided in clause (ii), 

2 shall require the applicant to demonstrate 

3 a minimum equity position equal to 20 

4 percent of the requested loan amount at 

5 the time the application is submitted (or 

6 10 percent of the amount, if the applica7 tion proposes to serve an area in which at 

8 least 40 percent of the households do not 

9 have access to broadband service or are in 

10 an area in which broadband service is pro11 vided by only 1 provider); 

12 ‘‘(ii) may waive or modify the require13 ment of clause (i) to the extent that the 

14 waiver or modification— 

15 ‘‘(I) does not result in the appli16 cant having a projected negative cash 

17 position in any quarter in the time pe18 riod referred to in subparagraph (A); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(II) is required to enable the 

21 provision of broadband service in an 

22 area that does not have access to 

23 broadband service or in which 

24 broadband service is provided by only 

25 1 provider; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) shall notify the applicant if fi2 nancial analysis indicates that cash from 

3 operations and previous cash infusions 

4 would not be sufficient to enable to appli5 cant to sustain a positive cash position 

6 throughout the time period referred to in 

7 subparagraph (A), and that additional cash 

8 requirements are needed to support the 

9 feasibility of the loan. 

10 ‘‘(C) NOTICE ANDCOMMENT ON APPLICA11 TIONS.—As soon as is practicable after receipt 

12 of an application submitted pursuant to this 

13 section, the Secretary shall cause to be pub14 lished in the Federal Register a notice that the 

15 application has been submitted (which shall in16 clude a copy of the application), and that the 

17 Secretary will accept comments from the public 

18 on the application during the 30-day period 

19 after the date the notice is so published.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall take effect on December 1, 2007. 

Æ 


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