II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1056

To authorize grants for community telecommunications infrastructure

planning, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 14, 2001

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms.

LANDRIEU, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

A BILL

To authorize grants for community telecommunications

infrastructure planning, 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 ‘‘Community Tele5 communications Planning Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLANNING

7 GRANTS.

8 (a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—Each Secretary

9 concerned may, using amounts authorized to be appro-
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1 priated by the applicable paragraph of subsection (f),

2 make grants to eligible entities described in subsection (b)

3 for the community telecommunications infrastructure

4 planning purposes described in subsection (c).

5 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible for a

6 grant under this section is any local or tribal government,

7 local non-profit entity, cooperative, public utility, or other

8 public entity that proposes to use the amount of the grant

9 for the community telecommunications infrastructure

10 planning purposes described in subsection (c).

11 (c) COMMUNITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRA12 STRUCTURE PLANNING.—Amounts under a grant under

13 this section shall be used for purposes of facilitating the

14 development of a telecommunications infrastructure plan

15 for a locality by various means, including—

16 (1) by encouraging the involvement in the devel17 opment of the plan of interested elements of the

18 community concerned, including the business com19 munity, governments, telecommunications providers,

20 and secondary and, where applicable, post-secondary

21 educational institutions and their students;

22 (2) by enhancing the focus of the development

23 of the plan on a wide range of telecommunications

24 needs in the community concerned, including needs
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1 relating to local business, education, health care, and

2 government;

3 (3) by enhancing the identification of a wide

4 range of potential solutions for such needs through

5 advanced telecommunications infrastructure; and

6 (4) by any other means that the Secretary con7 cerned considers appropriate.

8 (d) GRANT PRIORITY FOR PLANNING FOR RURAL

9 AND UNDERSERVED AREAS.—In awarding grants under

10 this section, each Secretary concerned shall give a priority

11 to eligible entities that propose to use the grants for com12 munity telecommunications infrastructure planning for

13 rural areas or underserved areas.

14 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—Each Secretary concerned

15 shall establish such administrative requirements for grants

16 under this section, including requirements for applications

17 for such grants, as such Secretary considers appropriate.

18 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

19 (1) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’

20 means any county having a population density of

21 less than 300 people per square mile as determined

22 in the 2000 decennial census.

23 (2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec24 retary concerned’’ means each of the following:

25 (A) The Secretary of Commerce.
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1 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture.

2 (C) The Secretary of Education.

3 (3) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘‘under4 served area’’ means any census tract as determined

5 in the 2000 decennial census which is located in—

6 (A) an empowerment zone or enterprise

7 community designated under section 1391 of

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

9 (B) the District of Columbia Enterprise

10 Zone established under section 1400 of the In11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986;

12 (C) a renewal community designated under

13 section 1400E of the Internal Revenue Code of

14 1986; or

15 (D) a low-income community designated

16 under section 45D of the Internal Revenue

17 Code of 1986.

18 (g) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

19 is hereby authorized to be appropriated for purposes of

20 making grants under this section the following:

21 (1) For the Department of Commerce—

22 (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and

23 (B) such sums as may be necessary for fis24 cal years after fiscal year 2002.

25 (2) For the Department of Agriculture—
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1 (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and

2 (B) such sums as may be necessary for fis3 cal years after fiscal year 2002.

4 (3) For the Department of Education—

5 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and

6 (B) such sums as may be necessary for fis7 cal years after fiscal year 2002.

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