II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3353 

To provide temporary financial relief for rural school districts adversely 

impacted by the current energy crisis, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29 (legislative day, JULY 28), 2008 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide temporary financial relief for rural school districts 

adversely impacted by the current energy crisis, 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 Fuel for School 

5 Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Many rural schools are in sparsely popu9 lated areas, leading to problems such as high transVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3353.IS S3353

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1 portation costs and limited access to cultural and 

2 educational resources. 

3 (2) Rural schools have severe fiscal constraints 

4 due to declining enrollment and a limited tax base 

5 to generate revenue. 

6 (3) In 2006, the National Center for Education 

7 Statistics determined that there were approximately 

8 7,900 rural school districts in the United States. 

9 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol10 lowing: 

11 (1) To provide temporary financial relief for 

12 rural local educational agencies adversely impacted 

13 by the current energy crisis. 

14 (2) To establish a temporary grant program to 

15 provide eligible local educational agencies with 

16 grants to help cover the cost of transporting elemen17 tary and secondary students. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

21 The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means 

22 a local educational agency that— 

23 (A) is classified as fringe rural, distant 

24 rural, or remote rural by the National Center 

25 for Education Statistics; and 


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1 (B) meets 1 or more of the following con2 ditions: 

3 (i) The agency has experienced an in4 crease in annual fuel costs of not less than 

5 20 percent compared to the previous fiscal 

6 year. 

7 (ii) The agency has experienced an in8 crease in contract transportation costs of 

9 not less than 20 percent compared to the 

10 previous fiscal year. 

11 (iii) The Secretary certifies that the 

12 agency has experienced extreme hardship 

13 in providing transportation to elementary 

14 and secondary students due to increased 

15 fuel prices. 

16 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

17 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

18 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

20 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Education. 

22 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 

24 to eligible local educational agencies to enable the eligible 


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1 local educational agencies to continue providing transpor2 tation to elementary and secondary students. 

3 (b) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Secretary shall publish a 

4 notice announcing a grant competition under this Act, and 

5 solicit proposals for grants, not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (c) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall award 

8 grants under this Act in such a manner as to assist as 

9 many eligible local educational agencies as possible. 

10 (d) LIMITATIONS.— 

11 (1) FREQUENCY.—An eligible local educational 

12 agency shall only receive a grant under this Act once 

13 in a 3 year period. 

14 (2) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—Each grant under 

15 this Act shall be in an amount that is not less than 

16 10 percent and not more than 50 percent of an eligi17 ble local educational agency’s annual total transpor18 tation costs for the previous fiscal year. 

19 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local educational agen21 cy that desires a grant under this Act shall submit to the 

22 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

23 and accompanied by such information as the Secretary 

24 may require. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under 

2 subsection (a) shall— 

3 (1) describe the activities for which assistance 

4 under this section is sought; and 

5 (2) provide such additional assurances as the 

6 Secretary determines to be necessary to ensure com7 pliance with this section. 

8 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

9 Not later than 1 year after the end of the grant pe10 riod, each eligible local educational agency receiving a 

11 grant under this Act shall submit a report to the Secretary 

12 detailing the eligible local educational agency’s perform13 ance of the activities described in section 5(b)(1). 

14 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this Act— 

17 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal years 2009 through 

18 2013; and 

19 (2) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

20 SEC. 8. SUNSET PROVISION. 

21 The authority to make grants under this Act shall 

22 expire on December 31, 2013. 

Æ 


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