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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 813

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to

evaluate the feasibility of county-based rural development boards, develop

a strategy for adoption of national rural development goals and objectives, establish a training program for local county board leaders, providing roles and responsibilities for State rural development councils, substate regional organizations, and 1862 and 1890 land grant institutions,

and establish a grant program for financing various rural and small

community development initiatives, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1995

Mr. BAESLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a

pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of county-based

rural development boards, develop a strategy for adoption

of national rural development goals and objectives, establish a training program for local county board leaders,

providing roles and responsibilities for State rural development councils, substate regional organizations, and

1862 and 1890 land grant institutions, and establish

a grant program for financing various rural and small

community development initiatives, and for other

purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

5 (1) rural America has serious problems in need

6 of attention, including lack of off-farm opportunities,

7 lack of adequate capital for investment, nondiversity

8 of agriculture economy, declining farm work force,

9 outmigration of rural youth to urban centers, inad10 equate leadership development, and persistent pov11 erty;

12 (2) Federal and State policies dealing with non13 farm rural issues are fragmented;

14 (3) farming remains a most important element

15 of rural life, but a successful national rural policy

16 must address the entire spectrum of social, economic

17 and cultural needs of citizens living in rural

18 America;

19 (4) the creation of jobs and expansion of exist20 ing businesses are of vital importance to the long21 term stability of rural life;

22 (5) Americans have a right to choose a rural

23 life, beyond just farming, and consisting of a life of

24 opportunity in small communities with continued ties

25 to the land; and
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1 (6) because each rural area across America is

2 unique, there is no solution which can equally ad3 dress all rural areas, and a Federal initiative in

4 rural development is dependent on creating a mecha5 nism which allows for locally determined initiatives,

6 strategies, and solutions.

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

8 (1) establish a pilot program—

9 (A) to create and evaluate the feasibility of

10 using county-based rural development boards as

11 the local organizational entity through which

12 the United States Department of Agriculture

13 will facilitate funding of rural development ini14 tiatives;

15 (B) to determine whether county boards

16 can be used to create an understandable initia17 tive under which a comprehensive national pol18 icy for rural development can be devised, and

19 create a long-term viable local constituency for

20 development by tapping the energy and talent

21 at the local level;

22 (2) establish a time frame, process, and evalua23 tion procedure for the development of clear national

24 rural development goals;
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1 (3) provide for (through the encouragement of

2 funding) an expanded and more focused role in rural

3 development for Land Grant Institutions both the

4 ‘‘1862’’ and ‘‘1890’’ colleges and universities;

5 (4) create a grant program to provide funding

6 for rural development projects;

7 (5) create a national training program bringing

8 the expertise and knowledge of officials of the De9 partment of Agriculture directly to local county de10 velopment board leaders, State rural development

11 councils, substate regional organizations, and 1862

12 and 1890 land grant institutions at the start of the

13 pilot project; and

14 (6) provide for a coordinated program of co15 operation among the Department of Agriculture,

16 State rural development councils, substate regional

17 organizations, and local boards.

18 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO COUNTIES FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT.

19 (a) APPLICATIONS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified county rural de21 velopment board may apply to the Secretary for

22 grants for the purposes described in subsection (b).

23 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

24 under paragraph (1) shall include the following:

25 (A) A description of the board.
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1 (B) A description of the process by which

2 board members are selected, including a discus3 sion of how the process meets the requirement

4 of section 2(5).

5 (C) A description of the process used for

6 rural development strategic planning.

7 (D) A ranking of the priorities of the coun8 ty for which the board is established.

9 (E) A complete assessment of the resource

10 base of the county.

11 (F) A complete description of each rural

12 development project that the board plans to

13 carry out during the 1st 3 years of the grant,

14 including—

15 (i) a timetable for completion of the

16 project; and

17 (ii) the goals and expectations of the

18 project, including a discussion of how the

19 project would build on the resource

20 strengths of the county for which the

21 board is established, or correct or mod22 erate resource weaknesses of the county.

23 (G) A detailed budget for each rural devel24 opment project that the board plans to carry

25 out during the 1st year of the grant, which
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1 shall indicate the amount of funding for the

2 project, all other sources of funds for the

3 project, and the approval status of such other

4 sources of funds.

5 (H) A description of how each such project

6 will address regional needs and goals, as identi7 fied by regional planning or economic develop8 ment districts, rural development councils, or

9 economic development offices of the State in

10 which the county for which the board is estab11 lished is located.

12 (3) DEADLINE.—The Secretary may not con13 sider an application for grants under this section for

14 a fiscal year if the Secretary receives the application

15 after July 1 of the immediately preceding fiscal year.

16 (b) PURPOSES.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The purposes described in

18 this subsection are the following:

19 (A) Upgrading of industries.

20 (B) Development of new economic activity.

21 (C) Creation of opportunities for economic

22 diversification or revitalization.

23 (D) Alternative agricultural programs, in24 cluding products, facilities, and marketing

25 ventures.
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1 (E) Rural capital creation.

2 (F) Tourism.

3 (G) Technological linkages among edu4 cational institutions, libraries, and businesses.

5 (2) EXCLUDED PURPOSES.—The purposes de6 scribed in this subsection do not include the

7 following:

8 (A) Planning by the applicant.

9 (B) Reimbursement of operating expenses

10 of county rural development boards or local

11 governments.

12 (C) Reimbursement of costs associated

13 with application for a grant under this section

14 or the administration of grants made by county

15 rural development boards with funds provided

16 under this section.

17 (c) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 60 days after receipt

19 of an application submitted under this section, the

20 Secretary shall determine whether to approve or dis21 approve the application. If the Secretary disapproves

22 the application, the Secretary shall provide the appli23 cant with the reasons therefore and with suggestions

24 and recommendations for future applications for

25 grants under this section.
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1 (2) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In deter2 mining whether to approve applications for grants

3 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority

4 to those applications that document at least 4 of the

5 following:

6 (A) That the rural unemployment rate for

7 the county is greater than the national average

8 unemployment rate for the United States.

9 (B) That there is a significant level of

10 rural poverty in the county.

11 (C) That there is a record of rural environ12 mental degradation in the county.

13 (D) That there has been significant migra14 tion from the county.

15 (E) That the percentage of adult residents

16 of the county with high school diplomas is less

17 than the national average of adults with high

18 school diplomas.

19 (F) That the economy of the county is ex20 cessively dependent on tobacco or any other sin21 gle crop.

22 (G) That there has been a decline in the

23 manufacturing base of the county.

24 (H) How the proximity to, or the relation25 ship or economic linkages of the county to, a
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1 nearby central regional urban core could be

2 strengthened through the projects proposed in

3 the application so as to provide local stability.

4 (I) A history of improvements and local

5 commitment to the educational, social, library,

6 and financial systems of the county.

7 (J) That the economy of the county is de8 pendent on a single industry.

9 (3) FACTORS TO BE GIVEN GREATEST

10 WEIGHT.—In determining whether to approve appli11 cations for grants under this section, the Secretary

12 shall, subject to paragraph (4), give the greatest pri13 ority to applications that demonstrate—

14 (A) community commitment to the projects

15 proposed in the application;

16 (B) a long-term strategy for rural develop17 ment; and

18 (C) the ability of the county to achieve

19 rural economic and social improvement and

20 stability.

21 (4) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary

22 may not approve an application for grants under

23 this section unless the application demonstrates—

24 (A) that the applicant, the rural develop25 ment council of the State in which the applicant
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1 is located, the substate regional organization in

2 the region in which the applicant is located, and

3 1862 and 1890 land grant institutions in the

4 State in which the applicant is located have co5 operated in—

6 (i) identifying regional methods of col7 laboration;

8 (ii) assessing and documenting the

9 economic, social, and cultural connections

10 between rural areas and metropolitan

11 entities;

12 (iii) preparing regional resource as13 sessments;

14 (iv) encouraging and developing—

15 (I) collaborative efforts between

16 the 1862 and 1890 land grant institu17 tions and substate regional organiza18 tions in the State;

19 (II) memoranda of agreement

20 among such entities; and

21 (III) methods for coordination

22 and communication among such enti23 ties;

24 (v) developing methods of—
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1 (I) diversifying the rural econ2 omy;

3 (II) dealing with outmigration of

4 rural youth;

5 (III) equalizing rural education

6 to that received in urban areas;

7 (IV) obtaining long term employ8 ment opportunities for low income,

9 traditionally unemployed, seasonally

10 employed, or underemployed rural

11 residents; and

12 (V) delivering effective job train13 ing services to local communities;

14 (vi) preparing an assessment of the

15 capital needs, coordination, and financing

16 of rural telecommunications and other

17 rural infrastructure such as water and

18 sewer;

19 (vii) developing a plan for the effective

20 use and involvement of private sector re21 sources and skills to deal with rural prob22 lems;

23 (viii) reviewing and recommending to

24 the legislature of the State changes to

25 State government programs, policies, or
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1 regulations which may impede effective

2 rural development;

3 (ix) developing strategies for better

4 coordination of rural development efforts

5 among Federal, State, and local entities;

6 and

7 (x) designing the projects proposed in

8 the application;

9 (B) that the rural development projects

10 proposed in the application are to be carried

11 out in partnership with the rural development

12 council of the State in which the applicant is lo13 cated, the substate regional organization in the

14 region in which the applicant is located, and

15 such 1862 and 1890 land grant institutions

16 (acting in consultation with local offices of the

17 Agricultural Extension Service) as suggest a

18 multidisciplinary approach to methods of

19 project evaluation and assistance with a par20 ticular emphasis on development of a new and

21 expanded community service role for college and

22 university departments of agriculture with em23 phasis given to social and economic assistance;

24 (C) that the county in which the applicant

25 is located is able to begin implementation of the
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1 projects within 3 months after receiving a grant

2 under this section, and fully implement the

3 projects within 18 months after such receipt;

4 and

5 (D) how the funds provided to the appli6 cant under this section are to be used to obtain

7 funding from other sources on an ongoing

8 basis.

9 (5) FISCAL YEAR 1996.—The Secretary may

10 not, after September 15, 1996, approve an applica11 tion for grants under this section for fiscal year

12 1996.

13 (6) COORDINATION OF MULTICOUNTY

14 PROJECTS.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an appli16 cation for grants under this section that pro17 vides for a rural development project which is

18 to be coordinated between or among 2 or more

19 applicants for such grants, the Secretary shall

20 make the coordination of the activities of such

21 applicants a condition of approving the applica22 tion.

23 (B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec24 retary shall provide such technical assistance as

25 may be required to assist counties in coordinat-
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1 ing the planning, funding, and implementation

2 of rural development projects referred to in sub3 paragraph (A).

4 (d) GRANT AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary approves

5 an application for grants under this section, the Secretary

6 shall—

7 (1) make a grant to the applicant in an aggre8 gate amount equal to 80 percent of the total amount

9 of the grant;

10 (2) make a grant to the land grant institutions

11 identified in the application, in an aggregate amount

12 equal to 10 percent of such total amount;

13 (3) make a grant to the State rural develop14 ment councils identified in the application, in an ag15 gregate amount equal to 6 percent of such total

16 amount; and

17 (4) make a grant to the substate regional orga18 nizations identified in the application, in an aggre19 gate amount equal to 4 percent of such total

20 amount.

21 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of

22 each grant made under this section with respect to an ap23 proved application shall not exceed $1,000,000.

24 (f) TERM OF GRANT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make

2 grants under this section with respect to an ap3 proved application for not more than 3 years.

4 (2) MULTIYEAR GRANTS.—The Secretary may

5 make a grant under this section to a qualified coun6 ty rural development board for a period of more

7 than 1 year if the management capacity of the

8 board, the level of needs documented by the board,

9 and any necessary phasing-in of the project are such

10 that multi-year funding is necessary.

11 (g) USE OF GRANT.—Each entity to which a grant

12 is made under this section shall use the funds in accord13 ance with the approved application for the grant.

14 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Not later than

15 February 1, 1996, the Secretary shall—

16 (1) publish in the Federal Register a detailed

17 announcement of the grant program authorized by

18 this Act, and a schedule of activities of the Depart19 ment of Agriculture to meet the goals and require20 ments of this Act;

21 (2) notify State rural development councils and

22 train State rural development coordinators about the

23 grant program, schedule regional workshops for

24 county rural development boards and officials, and

25 establish a clearinghouse of rural development ideas
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1 and information available to county rural develop2 ment boards.

3 (i) REPORTS.—

4 (1) REGULAR REPORTS.—Not less frequently

5 than annually, each county rural development board

6 that receives a grant made under this section shall

7 submit to the Secretary a report that documents the

8 continued involvement of the public in the activities

9 of the board, and includes such information as the

10 Secretary may require to determine whether the

11 projects proposed in the approved application of the

12 board are progressing as described in the application

13 toward the goals set forth in the application.

14 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Upon the completion of

15 the projects described in an approved application for

16 a grant under this section, the applicant shall sub17 mit to the Secretary a final report on the projects.

18 (j) AUDITS.—The Secretary shall require each entity

19 that receives a grant made under this section to perform

20 annual audits of the financial management system and in21 ternal controls of the entity.

22 (k) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—Each entity that

23 receives a grant made under this section shall maintain

24 records and accounts sufficient to enable a determination

25 as to whether the grant has been used in accordance with
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1 the approved application and the requirements imposed by

2 or under this section.

3 (l) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act:

4 (1) QUALIFIED COUNTY RURAL DEVELOPMENT

5 BOARD.—The term ‘‘qualified county rural develop6 ment board’’ means a rural development board that

7 is established in accordance with the following re8 quirements:

9 (A) The board is an agency of county gov10 ernment.

11 (B) The county for which the board is es12 tablished does not contain a city with a popu13 lation of more than 35,000 individuals.

14 (C) The board has not less than 7 and not

15 more than 15 members.

16 (D) Not more than 50 percent of the board

17 members may be appointed by the county.

18 (E) The membership of the board is fully

19 representative of the population of the county.

20 (F) The meetings of the board are re21 quired to be open to the public, the board is re22 quired to notify the public not less than 7 days

23 and not more than 21 days in advance of board

24 meetings, the board is required to keep minutes

25 of its meetings, and the board is required to af-
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1 ford the public an opportunity to comment at

2 board meetings.

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

4 the Secretary of Agriculture.

5 (3) SUBSTATE REGIONAL ORGANIZATION.—The

6 term ‘‘substate regional organization’’ means a sub7 state regional multicounty planning and development

8 entity.

9 (m) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO10 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author11 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than—

12 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1996; and

13 (2) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1997

14 and 1998.

15 SEC. 3. NATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM.

16 The Secretary shall create a training and information

17 system utilizing 1862 and 1890 land grant institutions,

18 the Agricultural Extension Service, State rural develop19 ment councils, and substate regional organizations, which

20 shall include—

21 (1) advice and materials on local rural strategic

22 planning processes and procedures, which shall in23 clude how to study local economies, identify local

24 strengths and weaknesses, develop opportunities,
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1 profile resources, and identify the competence and

2 availability of the labor force and of local education;

3 (2) creation of a significant resource library

4 readily available to qualified county rural develop5 ment boards featuring comparative case studies,

6 Federal and State resource guides, and nonprofit

7 and community based development organization

8 guides;

9 (3) advice and guidance on how to facilitate cit10 izen involvement in the planning and implementation

11 of rural projects with respect to which grants are

12 made under section 2;

13 (4) techniques and methods to encourage re14 gional economic cooperation;

15 (5) leadership training;

16 (6) provision of detailed information and strate17 gies for development potential of various industries

18 including agriculture, timber, mining, tourism, and

19 manufacturing, with emphasis on the use of ad20 vanced technologies and processes and on adding

21 value to raw materials and component parts;

22 (7) financial information and advice on imple23 menting projects using grants, banks, venture cap24 ital companies, revolving loan funds and other meth25 ods of leveraging funding; and
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1 (8) a training and information network linking

2 together qualified county rural development boards

3 and State rural development councils for continued

4 support and information sharing.

5 SEC. 4. NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS; EVALUA6 TIONS; REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.

7 (a) RURAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS.—Not later than

8 July 1, 1996, the Secretary of Agriculture shall publish

9 in the Federal Register a statement of national rural de10 velopment goals, and shall provide for a period of public

11 comment on such goals.

12 (b) EVALUATIONS; REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—

13 Not later than October 1, 1999, the Secretary shall submit

14 to the Congress a report that evaluates the activities en15 gaged in under this Act and includes recommendations as

16 to the desirability of expanding the activities.

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