II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1676 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide grants for access 

to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2017 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mrs. CAPITO) 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 provide 

grants for access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, 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’’ or the ‘‘B6 CROP Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

2 SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS. 

3 Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

4 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘loans and’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘grants, loans, and’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

9 ‘‘LOANS AND’’ and inserting ‘‘GRANTS, LOANS, 

10 AND’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘make 

12 grants and’’ after ‘‘Secretary shall’’; and 

13 (C) by striking paragraph (2) and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In making grants, 

17 loans, or loan guarantees under paragraph (1), 

18 the Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) give priority to grants, loans, and 

20 loan guarantees to all or part of rural com21 munities that do not have residential 

22 broadband service that meets the minimum 

23 acceptable level of broadband service estab24 lished under subsection (e); 

25 ‘‘(ii) give the highest priority to appli26 cations for projects to provide broadband 


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1 service to the greatest proportion of rural 

2 households that are within unserved com3 munities, as identified by the Secretary in 

4 accordance with subparagraph (C); 

5 ‘‘(iii) provide equal consideration to 

6 all eligible entities, including those that 

7 have not previously received grants, loans, 

8 or loan guarantees under paragraph (1); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iv) with respect to two or more ap11 plications that are given the same priority 

12 under clause (ii), give priority to an appli13 cation that requests less grant funding 

14 than loan funding. 

15 ‘‘(B) OTHER.—After giving priority to the 

16 applications described in subparagraph (A)(ii), 

17 the Secretary shall then give priority to applica18 tions— 

19 ‘‘(i) for projects to provide broadband 

20 service to rural communities— 

21 ‘‘(I) with a population of less 

22 than 10,000 permanent residents; 

23 ‘‘(II) that are experiencing out24 migration; 


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1 ‘‘(III) with a high percentage of 

2 low income families or persons (as de3 fined in section 501(b) of the Housing 

4 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471(b)); or 

5 ‘‘(IV) that are isolated from 

6 other significant population centers; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) that were developed with the par9 ticipation of, and will receive a substantial 

10 portion of the funding for the project from, 

11 one or more stakeholders, including— 

12 ‘‘(I) State, local, and tribal gov13 ernments; 

14 ‘‘(II) nonprofit institutions; 

15 ‘‘(III) community anchor institu16 tions, such as— 

17 ‘‘(aa) public libraries; 

18 ‘‘(bb) elementary schools 

19 and secondary schools (as defined 

20 in section 8101 of the Elemen21 tary and Secondary Education 

22 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 

23 ‘‘(cc) institutions of higher 

24 education; and 

25 ‘‘(dd) health care facilities; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) private entities; and 

2 ‘‘(V) philanthropic organizations. 

3 ‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATION OF UNSERVED COM4 MUNITIES.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

6 shall identify unserved communities for 

7 purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii) using 

8 broadband coverage data that is— 

9 ‘‘(I) collected by the Federal 

10 Communications Commission; and 

11 ‘‘(II) reviewed and refined by the 

12 Secretary using a thorough evi13 dentiary review process. 

14 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENTS.—Not less often 

15 than once every 2 years, the Secretary 

16 shall review, and may adjust through no17 tice published in the Federal Register, the 

18 unserved communities identified under 

19 clause (i). 

20 ‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT

22 COSTS.—In this paragraph, the term ‘develop23 ment costs’ means costs of— 

24 ‘‘(i) construction, including labor and 

25 materials; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) project applications; and 

2 ‘‘(iii) other development activities, as 

3 determined by the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a 

5 grant under this section, the project that is the 

6 subject of the grant shall be carried out in a 

7 rural area. 

8 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM.—Except as provided in 

9 subparagraph (D), the amount of any grant 

10 made under this section shall not exceed 50 

11 percent of the development costs of the project 

12 for which the grant is provided. 

13 ‘‘(D) SECRETARIAL AUTHORITY TO AD14 JUST.—The Secretary may make grants of up 

15 to 75 percent of the development costs of the 

16 project for which the grant is provided to an el17 igible entity if the Secretary determines that 

18 the project serves— 

19 ‘‘(i) an area of rural households de20 scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and 

21 ‘‘(ii) a rural community described in 

22 any of subclauses (I) through (IV) of para23 graph (2)(B)(i).’’; 

24 (3) in subsection (d)— 

25 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

2 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

3 (i), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 

5 (II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a 

6 loan application’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

7 application’’; and 

8 (III) in clause (iii)— 

9 (aa) by striking ‘‘the loan 

10 application’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

11 application’’; and 

12 (bb) by striking ‘‘proceeds 

13 from the loan made or guaran14 teed under this section are’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘assistance under this 

16 section is’’; and 

17 (ii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(C) RELATION TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE

20 HIGH-COST SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall co21 ordinate with the Federal Communications 

22 Commission to ensure that any grants, loans, or 

23 loan guarantees made under this section com24 plement and do not conflict with universal serv25 ice high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 


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1 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

2 successor regulation) provided by the Commis3 sion.’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

6 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

7 (i)— 

8 (aa) by striking ‘‘the pro9 ceeds of a loan made or guaran10 teed’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance’’; 

11 and 

12 (bb) by striking ‘‘for the 

13 loan or loan guarantee’’ and in14 serting ‘‘of the eligible entity’’; 

15 and 

16 (II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘3’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘2’’; 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

19 clause (ii) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—Clause (i) shall 

21 not apply if the applicant is eligible for 

22 funding under another title of this Act.’’; 

23 (C) in paragraph (3), in subparagraph (A), 

24 by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and inserting ‘‘grant, 

25 loan, or’’; 


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1 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘loan 

2 or’’ and inserting ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 

3 (E) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter 

4 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 

6 (F) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 

8 (G) by redesignating paragraph (7) as sub9 paragraph (B) and indenting appropriately; 

10 (H) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(7) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

14 provide to an applicant of a grant, loan, or loan 

15 guarantee under this section feedback and deci16 sions on funding in a timely manner.’’; 

17 (I) in paragraph (7)(B) (as so redesig18 nated), by striking ‘‘may seek a determination 

19 of area eligibility prior to preparing a loan ap20 plication under this section.’’ and inserting the 

21 following: ‘‘may, before preparing an applica22 tion under this section— 

23 ‘‘(i) seek a determination of area eligi24 bility; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) submit to the Secretary a pro2 posal for a project, on which the Secretary 

3 shall provide feedback regarding how the 

4 proposal could be changed to improve the 

5 likelihood that the Secretary would approve 

6 the application.’’; and 

7 (J) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(11) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAIN9 ING.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

11 provide to eligible entities described in para12 graph (1) technical assistance and training— 

13 ‘‘(i) to prepare reports and surveys 

14 necessary to request grants, loans, and 

15 loan guarantees under this section for 

16 broadband deployment; 

17 ‘‘(ii) to improve management, includ18 ing financial management, relating to the 

19 proposed broadband deployment; 

20 ‘‘(iii) to prepare applications for 

21 grants, loans, and loan guarantees under 

22 this section; or 

23 ‘‘(iv) to assist with other areas of 

24 need identified by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—Not less than 3 percent 

2 and not more than 5 percent of amounts appro3 priated to carry out this section for a fiscal year 

4 shall be used for technical assistance and train5 ing under this paragraph.’’; 

6 (4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘make a loan 

7 or loan guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘provide assist8 ance’’; 

9 (5) in subsection (j)— 

10 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

11 by striking ‘‘loan and loan guarantee’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘grants 

13 and’’ after ‘‘number of’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘loan’’; and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

18 ‘‘loans and’’ and inserting ‘‘grants, loans, 

19 and’’; and 

20 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘loan’’; 

21 (6) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as 

22 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 

23 (7) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(k) BROADBAND BUILDOUT DATA.—As a condition 

2 of receiving a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this 

3 section, a recipient of assistance shall provide to the Sec4 retary complete, reliable, and precise geolocation informa5 tion that indicates the location of new broadband service 

6 that is being provided or upgraded within the service terri7 tory supported by the grant, loan, or loan guarantee not 

8 later than 30 days after the earlier of— 

9 ‘‘(1) the date of completion of any project mile10 stone established by the Secretary; or 

11 ‘‘(2) the date of completion of the project.’’; 

12 (8) subsection (l) (as redesignated by paragraph 

13 (6))— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking 

15 ‘‘$25,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000,000’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

18 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe21 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (iii) by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 

25 used for— 


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1 ‘‘(I) conducting oversight under 

2 this section; and 

3 ‘‘(II) implementing accountability 

4 measures and related activities au5 thorized under this section.’’; and 

6 (9) in subsection (m) (as redesignated by para7 graph (6)), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘grant, loan, or’’. 

Æ 


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