I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6246 

To provide for loans to rural energy-producing communities in the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

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

Services, 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 provide for loans to rural energy-producing communities 

in the United States, 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 Energy Commu5 nities Development Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY COMMUNITIES LOAN PROGRAM. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 

8 make loans pursuant to section 306(a)(1) of the Consoli9 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926), 


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1 to eligible communities for essential community facilities 

2 (as such term is defined in section 3570.53 of title 7, Code 

3 of Federal Regulations or any successor regulation to such 

4 section), for any purpose described in subsection (c). 

5 (b) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITIES.—For purposes of this 

6 section, an eligible community— 

7 (1) is a city, town, or incorporated area that 

8 has a population of less than 20,000 individuals; and 

9 (2) has, during the period from January 1999 

10 through December 2009, experienced net job growth 

11 in the energy sector of not less than 20 percent, as 

12 determined by the Bureau of the Census or a State 

13 agency that collects information on such growth. 

14 (c) USE OF LOAN FUNDS.—An eligible community 

15 may use funds provided from a loan under this section 

16 for any of the following purposes: 

17 (1) Essential community facilities, including— 

18 (A) the conservation, development, use, 

19 and control of water; 

20 (B) the installation or improvement of 

21 drainage or waste disposal facilities; 

22 (C) transportation facilities; and 

23 (D) affordable housing (as determined by 

24 the Secretary). 

25 (2) Land acquisition for such facilities. 


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1 (3) Municipal staff necessary to carry out 

2 projects for such facilities. 

3 (4) Updates to comprehensive plans or housing 

4 plans of the community. 

5 (d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a loan 

6 under this section, an eligible community shall submit to 

7 the Secretary an application at such time and in such 

8 manner as the Secretary shall require that contains, in 

9 addition to any other information the Secretary may re10 quire, the following information: 

11 (1) The identification of projects for which loan 

12 funds will be used. 

13 (2) A certification that loan funds will be used 

14 only for the purposes described in subsection (c). 

15 (3) Documentation demonstrating the legal ca16 pacity and financial ability of the community to 

17 repay the loan. Such documentation shall include— 

18 (A) evidence that the community has a 

19 dedicated source of revenue from any energy 

20 tax revenue it receives from the State; 

21 (B) an estimate of any energy tax revenue 

22 the community expects to receive during the 10- 

23 year period beginning on the first day of the 

24 first fiscal year that begins after the date funds 

25 from the loan are made available to the eligible 


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1 community from the State office, if any, that 

2 distributes energy tax revenue to energy-pro3 ducing communities; and 

4 (C) documentation of any non-Federal sup5 plemental funds to be made available for essen6 tial community facilities to be funded with loan 

7 amounts received under this section. 

8 (e) PRIORITY TREATMENT.—In approving applica9 tions for loans under this section, the Secretary shall give 

10 priority to any applicant acting on behalf of an eligible 

11 community, that— 

12 (1) has submitted to the Secretary completed 

13 plans or studies that identify specific infrastructure 

14 or capacity needs that will be addressed by projects 

15 funded with the loan amounts received under this 

16 section; or 

17 (2) demonstrates that projects funded with loan 

18 amounts received under this section will be carried 

19 out with regional cooperation with adjacent jurisdic20 tions. 

21 (f) LOAN TERMS.— 

22 (1) AMOUNT.—The principal amount of any 

23 loan under this section may not exceed the lesser 

24 of— 

25 (A) $20,000,000; or 


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1 (B) 80 percent of the energy tax revenue 

2 that the applicant expects to receive during the 

3 period described in subsection (d)(2)(B). 

4 (2) INTEREST RATE.—Interest rates on loans 

5 under this section shall be subject to the provisions 

6 of section 307(a)(4) of the Consolidated Farm and 

7 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1927(a)(4)) appli8 cable to loans under sections 306(a)(1) and 310B of 

9 such Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a) and 1932). 

10 (3) TERM TO MATURITY.—The period for re11 payment of loans under this section shall not be 

12 longer than 15 years. 

13 (g) FORGIVENESS.—If an applicant is unable to 

14 repay the full balance of the loan it receives under this 

15 section because circumstances beyond the control of the 

16 applicant prevented the applicant from collecting the 

17 amount of expected energy tax revenue specified in the 

18 application submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary 

19 may forgive an amount that equals not more than 50 per20 cent of the remaining balance of such loan. 

21 (h) REPORT.—Each year, until the loan an eligible 

22 community receives under this section is repaid, such com23 munity shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture a re24 port. Each report shall contain a description of the 


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1 progress made on each project or investment financed with 

2 funds received from a loan under this section. 

3 (i) APPROPRIATIONS.—For costs (as such term is de4 fined under section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform Act 

5 of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a)) of loans under this section, there 

6 are authorized to be appropriated an aggregate of 

7 $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and 2012. 

8 (j) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF COMMITMENTS.—The Sec9 retary may not make loans under this section or enter into 

10 commitments to make such loans, the total amount of 

11 which, exceeds $400,000,000. 

12 (k) SUNSET.—The Secretary may not make or enter 

13 into a commitment to make a loan under this section after 

14 September 30, 2012. 

15 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF INCOME MAXIMUMS FOR SELECTED 

16 USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. 

17 (a) SECTION 502 LOANS.—For each of fiscal years 

18 2011 through 2016, with respect to an applicant for a di19 rect loan or a guaranteed loan under section 502 of the 

20 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472), who resides in 

21 an eligible community described in section 2(b)— 

22 (1) the Secretary shall waive any income limita23 tions related to obtaining a loan under section 502 

24 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1472); and 


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1 (2) the requirement related to eligibility of bor2 rowers under section 502(h)(3) of such Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 1472(h)(3)) shall not apply. 

4 (b) SITE LOANS; MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING LOANS.— 

5 For each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016, the following 

6 shall apply: 

7 (1) SECTION 524.—Any organization or tribe re8 ceiving a loan under section 524 of the Housing Act 

9 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490d) shall waive any income 

10 limitations related to the occupancy of any housing 

11 built on any building site that is located in an eligi12 ble community described in section 2(b) of this Act 

13 and that is financed by such loan. 

14 (2) SECTION 538.—Any organization, State 

15 agency, subdivision thereof, Indian tribe, or private 

16 entity that receives a loan under section 538 of such 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 1490p–2) shall waive any income 

18 limitations related to the occupancy of any housing 

19 that is located in an eligible community described in 

20 section 2(b) of this Act and for which the develop21 ment costs were funded by such a loan. 

Æ 


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