I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5350 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize 

the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to benefit the Appalachia 

region, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2018 

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

and the Workforce, 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 amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award 

grants to benefit the Appalachia region, 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 ‘‘Appalachia Oppor5 tunity Grants Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPALACHIA INNOVATION GRANTS. 

2 Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De3 velopment Act (7 U.S.C. 1981 et seq.) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 379I. APPALACHIA INNOVATION GRANTS. 

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

7 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en8 tity’ means a unit of local government in the region. 

9 ‘‘(2) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means the 

10 Appalachian region (as defined in section 14102(a) 

11 of title 40, United States Code). 

12 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary may award grants to 

13 eligible entities to convene groups of public and private 

14 entities to collaborate in carrying out regional projects to 

15 accomplish positive economic and community impacts in 

16 the region. 

17 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATIVE GROUPS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

19 grant under subsection (b), an eligible entity— 

20 ‘‘(A) shall convene as part of the collabo21 rative group representatives of each of— 

22 ‘‘(i) a local economic development 

23 board or office in the region; 

24 ‘‘(ii) a private company or association; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an institution of higher edu2 cation (as defined in section 101 of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1001)) in the region; and 

5 ‘‘(B) may convene as part of the collabo6 rative group representatives of other entities 

7 (such as venture capital firms, nonprofit organi8 zations, and philanthropic organizations) that 

9 the eligible entity determines are important to 

10 the goal of the regional project described in 

11 subsection (d)(2). 

12 ‘‘(2) REFERRAL PROCESS.— 

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

14 assist in the formation of a collaborative group 

15 under paragraph (1) by establishing a referral 

16 process under which a private company or asso17 ciation seeking to invest in a particular area in 

18 the region is matched with an eligible entity lo19 cated in that area. 

20 ‘‘(B) DATABASE OF POTENTIAL INVES21 TORS.—In carrying out subparagraph (A), the 

22 Secretary may— 

23 ‘‘(i) establish and maintain a database 

24 of private companies and associations seek25 ing to invest in the region; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) coordinate with other Federal 

2 agencies, including the Department of 

3 Commerce, to register inquiries— 

4 ‘‘(I) that are made to those agen5 cies by private companies and associa6 tions seeking to invest in the region; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) in the database described in 

9 clause (i). 

10 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—A regional project 

11 carried out by a collaborative group under subsection (b) 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) involve not fewer than 2 municipalities 

14 that share a border; and 

15 ‘‘(2) complete a specific activity that has as a 

16 goal— 

17 ‘‘(A) job creation in the region; 

18 ‘‘(B) expansion of the capacity of post-sec19 ondary education in the region; 

20 ‘‘(C) growth of tourism in the region; 

21 ‘‘(D) improving public health in the region; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(E) upgrading regional infrastructure. 

24 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that has 

2 convened a collaborative group described in sub3 section (c)(1) and identified an activity for a re4 gional project described in subsection (d)(2) may 

5 submit to the Secretary an application that in6 cludes— 

7 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of— 

8 ‘‘(i) a timeline for the completion of 

9 the regional project; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the responsibilities of each mem11 ber of the collaborative group in carrying 

12 out the regional project; 

13 ‘‘(B) evidence that the collaborative group 

14 is a public-private partnership; 

15 ‘‘(C) evidence that the collaborative group 

16 will maintain intermunicipality cooperation; 

17 ‘‘(D) a description of the reasons that the 

18 eligible entity requires Federal funds; 

19 ‘‘(E) evidence that the eligible entity has 

20 previously sought funding from State, local, or 

21 private programs; 

22 ‘‘(F) a description of the source of non23 Federal funds for the regional project; 


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1 ‘‘(G) a description of the positive economic 

2 or community impact (including relating to edu3 cation) of the regional project; 

4 ‘‘(H) an assessment of the assets and 

5 weaknesses of the community in which the re6 gional project will be implemented; 

7 ‘‘(I) a regional strategic plan that— 

8 ‘‘(i) takes into account the assessment 

9 described in subparagraph (H); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) includes an analysis of the align11 ment of the regional project with the re12 gional strategic plan; and 

13 ‘‘(J) evidence, with full transparency and 

14 credibility, of minimal obstruction to the com15 pletion of the project design phase described in 

16 subsection (f)(2)(A) by not later than 1 year 

17 after the date on which the eligible entity re18 ceives the grant. 

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri20 ority to applications submitted under paragraph (1) 

21 that describe a positive, measurable economic im22 pact. 

23 ‘‘(f) GRANT FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant 

2 for a regional project under subsection (b) shall be 

3 not more than $2,000,000. 

4 ‘‘(2) PHASES.—A grant under subsection (b) 

5 shall be awarded in the following 2 phases: 

6 ‘‘(A) PROJECT DESIGN.—An eligible entity 

7 may use 50 percent of the grant during the pe8 riod beginning on the date on which the eligible 

9 entity receives the grant and ending not later 

10 than 1 year after that date to continue the 

11 planning and design of the regional project, in12 cluding activities such as— 

13 ‘‘(i) workforce training; 

14 ‘‘(ii) building design; 

15 ‘‘(iii) permit approvals; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) real estate arrangements. 

17 ‘‘(B) PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.—An eligi18 ble entity that completes the planning and de19 sign of the regional project under subparagraph 

20 (A) may use the remaining grant funds for the 

21 completion of the construction and implementa22 tion of the regional project. 

23 ‘‘(3) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.—An el24 igible entity that receives a grant under subsection 


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1 (b) shall provide non-Federal funding equal to not 

2 less than 10 percent of the amount of the grant. 

3 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION OF GRANT FUNDS.—The 

4 Secretary shall reserve 20 percent of the funds made 

5 available under subsection (h) for each fiscal year to 

6 award grants to eligible entities that convene col7 laborative groups that include a representative of a 

8 private company or association that is located in the 

9 region. 

10 ‘‘(g) REVIEW OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

12 REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 

13 States shall conduct a review of the implementation 

14 of this section for— 

15 ‘‘(A) the 2-year period beginning on the 

16 date on which the Secretary begins to accept 

17 applications for grants under this section; and 

18 ‘‘(B) each 4-year period thereafter. 

19 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

20 shall submit to Congress an annual report describ21 ing— 

22 ‘‘(A) funding decisions under this section; 

23 ‘‘(B) a justification for each grant awarded 

24 under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) with respect to each regional project 

2 that has received a grant under this section, the 

3 extent to which— 

4 ‘‘(i) benchmarks for the project have 

5 been met in accordance with the timeline 

6 for the project; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the project may be considered an 

8 example to other municipalities desiring a 

9 grant under this section. 

10 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.—Of amounts made available for the 

11 Dislocated Worker National Reserve fund under section 

12 132(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor13 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3172(a)(2)(A)), $100,000,000 shall 

14 be used to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 

15 2018 through 2027.’’. 

Æ 


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