II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2275 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish a grant program 

within the rural broadband program of the Department of Agriculture, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2012 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish 

a grant program within the rural broadband program 

of the Department of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Broadband Connec5 tions for Rural Opportunities Program Act of 2012’’ or 

6 the ‘‘B-CROP Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BROADBAND CONNECTIONS FOR RURAL OPPORTU2 NITIES PROGRAM. 

3 Title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 

4 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 603. BROADBAND CONNECTIONS FOR RURAL OPPOR7 TUNITIES PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

10 ‘broadband service’ has the meaning given the term 

11 in section 601(b). 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en13 tity’ means an entity that is— 

14 ‘‘(A) a private sector provider of 

15 broadband telecommunications services; or 

16 ‘‘(B) a State, local, or tribal government, 

17 municipal provider, cooperative, institution of 

18 higher education, nonprofit organization, or 

19 public economic development organization. 

20 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY.—Unless 

21 the Secretary makes a finding in writing that an 

22 area is otherwise ‘rural in character’, the term ‘eligi23 ble rural community’ means any area of the United 

24 States that is not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) included within the boundaries of any 

2 incorporated city, village, borough, or town with 

3 a population in excess of 50,000 inhabitants; or 

4 ‘‘(B) the urbanized area contiguous and 

5 adjacent to a city, village, borough, or town de6 scribed in subparagraph (A), as defined by the 

7 Bureau of the Census using the latest available 

8 decennial census of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the grant program 

10 under this section are— 

11 ‘‘(1) to enhance the feasibility of providing 

12 broadband service to eligible rural communities; and 

13 ‘‘(2) to deploy broadband telecommunications 

14 networks and capabilities to areas in which there is 

15 not otherwise a business case for private investment 

16 in a broadband network, with a focus on unserved 

17 eligible rural communities. 

18 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

20 grants to eligible entities for deployment, identifica21 tion, or adoption of broadband services within eligi22 ble rural communities. 

23 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded to an eligible 

24 entity under this section may not be made in excess 


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1 of 50 percent of the eligible project development 

2 costs. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

4 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli5 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

6 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

7 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded to an eligible 

8 entity under this section shall be— 

9 ‘‘(1) used to facilitate the deployment of 

10 broadband telecommunications networks and capa11 bilities to areas in which there is not otherwise a 

12 business case for private investment in a broadband 

13 network, with a focus on unserved eligible rural com14 munities; or 

15 ‘‘(2) combined with loans to enhance economic 

16 feasibility of projects serving high cost areas in 

17 which there is not otherwise a business case for pri18 vate investment in a broadband network, with a 

19 focus on unserved eligible rural communities. 

20 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec21 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to project applica22 tions that— 

23 ‘‘(1) as a percentage of the total applications, 

24 provide service to the highest proportion of rural 


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1 residents that do not have access to broadband serv2 ice; 

3 ‘‘(2) will use broadband services to stimulate 

4 rural economic development, such as providing— 

5 ‘‘(A) connections between and among busi6 nesses and business incubators located in eligi7 ble rural communities; and 

8 ‘‘(B) connections that are integrated with 

9 county and regional organization plans. 

10 ‘‘(g) PROCESSING PERIOD.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date on which funds are appropriated to 

13 carry out this section, the Secretary shall publish a 

14 notice of funds availability. 

15 ‘‘(2) AWARDS.—Not later than the end of the 

16 fiscal year following the date on which a notice is 

17 published under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

18 announce grant awards under this section. 

19 ‘‘(h) REPORT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each recipient of a grant 

21 under this section shall submit to the Secretary a re22 port describing the use of the funds provided by the 

23 grant. 

24 ‘‘(2) SECRETARIAL REPORT.—Not later than 

25 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 


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1 and biannually thereafter until all funds are obli2 gated, the Secretary shall submit a report to the 

3 Committees on Appropriations of the House of Rep4 resentatives and the Senate that describes planned 

5 spending and actual obligations of the funds made 

6 available to carry out this section. 

7 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2012 

10 through 2014.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THE 

12 RURAL BROADBAND PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 601 of the Rural Elec14 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(3) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—The Secretary 

18 shall take such steps as are necessary to reduce the 

19 paperwork required of applicants under this section. 

20 ‘‘(4) PROCESSING PERIOD.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

22 days after the date on which funds are appro23 priated to carry out this section, the Secretary 

24 shall publish a notice of funds availability. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AWARDS.—Not later than the end of 

2 the end of the fiscal year following the date on 

3 which a notice is published under subparagraph 

4 (A), the Secretary shall announce grant awards 

5 under this section.’’; 

6 (2) by redesignating subsections (i) through (l) 

7 as subsections (k) through (n), respectively; and 

8 (3) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(i) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall conduct out11 reach designed to inform the population of areas in which 

12 there is no or limited broadband service of the program 

13 carried out under this section. 

14 ‘‘(j) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The Secretary, in the dis15 cretion of the Secretary, may use up to 20 percent of the 

16 budget authority appropriated to carry out this section to 

17 hire such additional administrative personnel, including 

18 general field representatives and legal staff, as are nec19 essary to carry out the administrative duties under this 

20 section.’’. 

21 (b) SIMPLIFICATION OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS

22 AND POST-APPLICATION AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) DEFINITION OF SUBSIDIARY.—In this sub24 section, the term ‘‘subsidiary’’ means a business enVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:10 Apr 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2275.IS S2275

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1 tity controlled, directly or indirectly, by another 

2 business entity or person. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out title VI 

4 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 

5 950bb et seq.), the Secretary of Agriculture, in con6 sultation with the Administrator of the Rural Utili7 ties Service, shall, to the maximum extent prac8 ticable— 

9 (A) remove any duplicative or unnecessary 

10 application or audit requirements under that 

11 title; 

12 (B) reduce the cost and paperwork associ13 ated with the application and audit require14 ments, including allowing parent companies, 

15 and the wholly owned subsidiaries of parent 

16 companies, to file a single consolidated applica17 tion or audit report, if the application or report 

18 includes all relevant financial information con19 cerning the project that is the subject of the 

20 grant, loan, or loan guarantee; 

21 (C) ensure that the Secretary examines— 

22 (i) the total business plan of each ap23 plicant for a grant, loan, or loan guarantee 

24 under that title, including the revenue the 

25 applicant generated from sources unrelated 


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1 to the broadband service of the applicant, 

2 but connected or otherwise related to the 

3 facilities financed by the grant, loan, or 

4 loan guarantee; and 

5 (ii) the requested information and 

6 projections provided by each applicant to 

7 ensure that there is no conflict with the 

8 regulatory obligations of the applicant to 

9 other Federal agencies including, at a min10 imum, to the Securities and Exchange 

11 Commission, the Federal Communications 

12 Commission, and the Federal Trade Com13 mission; and 

14 (D) require that any recipient of a grant, 

15 loan, or loan guarantee under that title uses the 

16 funds from the grant, loan, or loan guarantee 

17 not later than 5 years after date of receipt of 

18 the funds to complete the project for which the 

19 funds were approved, unless the Secretary de20 termines that the recipient was unable to ex21 pend the funds due to circumstances beyond the 

22 control of the recipient. 


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1 SEC. 4. RURAL BROADBAND PROGRAM COORDINATION. 

2 Title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 

3 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) (as amended by section 3) is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 604. CLEARINGHOUSE WEBSITE. 

6 ‘‘The Secretary may use up to 5 percent of the budg7 et authority made available to carry out this section for 

8 a national competition to create and maintain a com9 prehensive and interactive rural broadband clearinghouse 

10 accessible on the Internet at no cost to the public that 

11 describes options, opportunities, resources, successful pub12 lic-private partnerships, comprehensive funding sources, 

13 and technology tutorials for rural broadband, including— 

14 ‘‘(1) case studies; 

15 ‘‘(2) descriptions of best practices; 

16 ‘‘(3) assessments of various technology solu17 tions; 

18 ‘‘(4) feasibility studies; 

19 ‘‘(5) applications, including telework, telemedi20 cine, distance learning, training, homeland security, 

21 senior citizen connectivity and program development, 

22 and business and economic development; 

23 ‘‘(6) rural broadband options and policies anal24 ysis; 

25 ‘‘(7) support for networks among rural commu26 nities and economic development agencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(8) a comprehensive list of municipal, non2 profit, and private sector providers. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 605. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 ‘‘Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this section and subsequently not later than the date 

6 that is 3 years after the date of the submission of initial 

7 report, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

8 submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 

9 Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri10 tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report that includes— 

11 ‘‘(1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of all 

12 Federal broadband assistance programs and policies 

13 aimed at fostering broadband access in rural and 

14 unserved areas, such as identifying and tracking— 

15 ‘‘(A) rural areas in each State that do not 

16 have broadband service; 

17 ‘‘(B) the rate at which residential and 

18 business end users adopt broadband service 

19 when infrastructure is made available; 

20 ‘‘(C) possible suppliers of broadband serv21 ice; 

22 ‘‘(D) the speed of broadband service of23 fered in rural areas that do have access; 

24 ‘‘(E) barriers to the adoption of broadband 

25 service, including whether— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the demand for broadband service 

2 is absent; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the supply for broadband service 

4 is capable of meeting the demand for the 

5 service; 

6 ‘‘(F) proposals for promoting interagency 

7 coordination of Federal agencies in regards to 

8 policies, procedures, and targeted resources, 

9 and means to improve and streamline the poli10 cies, programs and services; and 

11 ‘‘(G) the adequacy of Federal and State 

12 universal service support programs and policies; 

13 ‘‘(2) an assessment of best practices employed 

14 at the State and local government level to foster 

15 broadband access in rural and underserved areas; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(3) an evaluation of methods to coordinate and 

18 harmonize, to the maximum extent practicable, the 

19 efforts of the Department of Agriculture, the De20 partment of Commerce, and the Federal Commu21 nications Commission to advance broadband deploy22 ment in rural areas throughout the United States.’’. 

Æ 


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