I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1291 

To provide for loans to critical rural utility service providers to ensure continued service and safe operation of rural utility systems during certain 

emergencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 

Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To provide for loans to critical rural utility service providers 

to ensure continued service and safe operation of rural 

utility systems during certain emergencies, 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 ‘‘Reinforcing Utility 

5 Restoration After Losses (RURAL) Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RURAL UTILITY BRIDGE LOANS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Rural Electrifica3 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950cc–950cc–2) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 704. RURAL UTILITY BRIDGE LOANS. 

6 ‘‘(a) LINE OF CREDIT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 

8 an eligible borrower with a line of credit from which 

9 a loan may be made to replace qualified losses as a 

10 result of a covered emergency. 

11 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of the line of cred12 it shall be the lesser of— 

13 ‘‘(A) 25 percent of the total revenue re14 ceived by the borrower during the 12-month pe15 riod ending with the day before the date of the 

16 determination referred to in subsection (c)(3) 

17 with respect to the covered emergency; or 

18 ‘‘(B) $5,000,000. 

19 ‘‘(b) LOANS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On receipt by the Secretary 

21 of documentation that the eligible borrower has a 

22 qualified loss as a result of a covered emergency, the 

23 Secretary shall make a loan to the borrower from 

24 the line of credit in an amount equal to the lesser 

25 of— 

26 ‘‘(A) the qualified loss; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) the unused amount of the line of 

2 credit. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY OF QUALIFIED LOSS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, a qualified 

6 loss is eligible for a loan made from the line of 

7 credit if the loss is incurred not more than 180 

8 days after the date of the determination re9 ferred to in subsection (c)(3) with respect to 

10 the covered emergency. 

11 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY TO ADJUST.—The Sec12 retary may— 

13 ‘‘(i) on request of the eligible bor14 rower, reduce the length of eligibility pe15 riod described in subparagraph (A); or 

16 ‘‘(ii) on a determination that the bor17 rower is continuing to incur significant 

18 qualified losses as a result of a covered 

19 emergency, increase the length of the pe20 riod. 

21 ‘‘(3) LOAN TERMS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) NO PAYMENT REQUIRED DURING

23 EMERGENCY.—During the covered emergency, 

24 interest on the loan shall not accrue, and repayVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1291.IH H1291

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1 ment of principal on the loan shall not be re2 quired. 

3 ‘‘(B) LOAN CONSOLIDATION AFTER EMER4 GENCY ENDS.—Unless the Secretary determines 

5 that the borrower requires additional time to 

6 submit documentation of qualified losses, on the 

7 date that is 60 days after the eligibility period 

8 described in paragraph (2) ends, the Secretary 

9 shall close the line of credit, and consolidate all 

10 loans made to the borrower under this section 

11 with respect to the emergency into a single loan 

12 with the following terms: 

13 ‘‘(i) GRACE PERIOD.—During the 2- 

14 year period that begins with the date the 

15 consolidated loan is made, interest on the 

16 consolidated loan shall not accrue, and re17 payment of principal on the consolidated 

18 loan shall not be required. 

19 ‘‘(ii) INTEREST.—Interest on the con20 solidated loan shall accrue at a rate of 1 

21 percent per year during the 3-year period 

22 that begins at the end of that 2-year pe23 riod. 

24 ‘‘(iii) REPAYMENT PERIOD.—The loan 

25 shall be repayable in full by the end of the 


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1 5-year period that begins with the date the 

2 consolidated loan is made. 

3 ‘‘(C) NO FEE OR PREPAYMENT PEN4 ALTY.—The Secretary may not impose a fee or 

5 prepayment penalty with respect to any loan 

6 made under this section. 

7 ‘‘(4) FORGIVENESS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

9 subparagraph (B), if the borrower makes 1 or 

10 more qualified write-offs after the 1-year period 

11 that begins with the date a consolidated loan is 

12 made to the borrower under this section, the 

13 Secretary shall forgive repayment of a portion 

14 of the loan, in an amount equal to— 

15 ‘‘(i) 90 percent of the first $500,000 

16 of the total amount of the qualified write17 offs; 

18 ‘‘(ii) 60 percent of the next 

19 $1,000,000 of the total amount of the 

20 qualified write-offs; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) 30 percent of the next 

22 $1,000,000 of the total amount of the 

23 qualified write-offs. 

24 ‘‘(B) INELIGIBILITY OF BORROWER WHO

25 INTERRUPTS SERVICE DURING EMERGENCY.— 


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1 Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect 

2 to the borrower if, during the covered emer3 gency, the borrower suspends or interrupts util4 ity service to any customer or subscriber of the 

5 borrower for non-payment of an amount owed 

6 to the borrower. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The term ‘eligible 

9 borrower’ means an entity that— 

10 ‘‘(A) provides electric, telecommunications, 

11 clean water, waste water, or waste disposal 

12 services; and 

13 ‘‘(B) is eligible for assistance under— 

14 ‘‘(i) section 4, 201, or 601 of the 

15 Rural Electrification Act of 1936; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) section 306(a) of the Consoli17 dated Farm and Rural Development Act. 

18 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED LOSS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), the term ‘qualified loss’ means, with 

21 respect to a borrower and a covered emer22 gency— 

23 ‘‘(i) an amount owed to the borrower 

24 for services provided during the emergency, 

25 which are more than 15 days past due; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an amount not received by the 

2 borrower because of reduced demand for 

3 services sold by the borrower on a per-unit 

4 basis, to the extent that the reduction is 

5 attributable to the emergency. 

6 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION.—The total amount de7 termined under subparagraph (A) shall be re8 duced by the fair market value of any assist9 ance received by the borrower from any source 

10 while the line of credit is open, for the purpose 

11 of offsetting the loss of routine operating rev12 enue or covering the cost of routine operating 

13 expenses, during the covered emergency, exclud14 ing any assistance provided to repair, recover, 

15 or rebuild from damage due to the emergency. 

16 ‘‘(3) COVERED EMERGENCY.—The term ‘cov17 ered emergency’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) a major disaster or emergency, as de19 termined by the President under the Robert T. 

20 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist21 ance Act; 

22 ‘‘(B) a natural disaster, as determined by 

23 the Secretary of Agriculture; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) an emergency involving Federal pri2 mary responsibility determined to exist by the 

3 President under the section 501(b) of such Act. 

4 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED WRITE-OFF.—The term ‘quali5 fied write-off’ means, with respect to a borrower— 

6 ‘‘(A) an amount described in paragraph 

7 (2)(A)(i), if the borrower assigns to the Sec8 retary the right to any payment of the amount; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) 90 percent of an amount described in 

11 paragraph (2)(A)(ii). 

12 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may, on an ex13 pedited basis, prescribe such regulations as are necessary 

14 to carry out the preceding provisions of this section. 

15 ‘‘(e) RURAL UTILITY BRIDGE LOAN FUND.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

17 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund 

18 to be known as the ‘Rural Utility Bridge Loan 

19 Fund’ (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’). 

20 ‘‘(2) DEPOSITS AND CREDITS.—There shall be 

21 deposited in, or credited to, the Fund the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) All amounts appropriated to the 

23 Fund. 

24 ‘‘(B) All amounts paid as principal or in25 terest on a loan made under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(C) All interest on, and proceeds from the 

2 sale or redemption of, any obligations invested 

3 in under paragraph (4). 

4 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts in the 

6 Fund shall be available for the cost of making 

7 loans under this section without further appro8 priation. 

9 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—With 

10 respect to each covered emergency, the Sec11 retary may use amounts in the Fund for admin12 istrative expenses, as follows: 

13 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT OF LINES OF

14 CREDIT.—For expenses incurred in estab15 lishing lines of credit under this section, an 

16 amount equal to 1 percent of the Fund 

17 balance as of the date of the determination 

18 referred to in subsection (c)(3) with re19 spect to the covered emergency. 

20 ‘‘(ii) MAKING AND SERVICING OF

21 LOANS.—During each fiscal year, for ex22 penses incurred in making and servicing 

23 loans (including consolidated loans) under 

24 this section, an amount equal to 3 percent 

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1 standing under this section during the fis2 cal year with respect to the covered emer3 gency. 

4 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—In addition, the 

5 Secretary may not use more than 

6 $30,000,000 during each fiscal year for 

7 any administrative expense incurred in car8 rying out this section. 

9 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may re11 quest the Secretary of the Treasury to invest 

12 the portion of the Fund that is not, in the judg13 ment of the Secretary of Agriculture, required 

14 to meet the current needs of the Fund. 

15 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INVESTMENTS.—On re16 ceipt of such a request, the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury shall invest the amount involved in 

18 obligations of the United States or obligations 

19 that are guaranteed as to principal and interest 

20 by the United States, with maturities suitable 

21 to the needs of the Fund as determined by the 

22 Secretary of Agriculture.’’. 

23 (b) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any amounts in the 

24 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 

25 there are appropriated to the Rural Utility Bridge Loan 


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1 Fund $5,000,000,000, without fiscal year limitation. For 

2 purposes of section 704(e)(3)(B)(i) of the Rural Elec3 trification Act of 1936, with respect to a covered emer4 gency declared in response to the COVID–19 pandemic, 

5 the Fund balance is deemed to be the amount specified 

6 in the preceding sentence. 

Æ 


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