II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 863 

To reauthorize and improve the Appalachian regional development program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2015 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and improve the Appalachian regional 

development program, 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 ‘‘Appalachian Regional 

5 Development Amendments Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF APPALACHIAN REGIONAL 

7 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

8 Section 14703 of title 40, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts made 

4 available by section 14501 and any other amounts made 

5 available for the Appalachian development highway system 

6 program under any other provision of law, there are au7 thorized to be appropriated to the Appalachian Regional 

8 Commission to carry out this subtitle $100,000,000 for 

9 fiscal years 2016 through 2020.’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

11 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(c) HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INI15 TIATIVE.—Of the amounts made available under sub16 section (a), $10,000,000 shall be used to carry out section 

17 14509.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA19 TIVE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 145 of 

21 subtitle IV of title 40, United States Code, is amended 

22 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 14509. High-speed broadband deployment initia2 tive 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Appalachian Regional Com4 mission may provide technical assistance, make grants, 

5 enter into contracts, or otherwise provide amounts to per6 sons or entities in the Appalachian region for projects and 

7 activities— 

8 ‘‘(1) to increase affordable access to broadband 

9 networks throughout the Appalachian region; 

10 ‘‘(2) to conduct research, analysis, and training 

11 to increase broadband adoption efforts in the Appa12 lachian region; 

13 ‘‘(3) to provide technology assets, including 

14 computers, smartboards, and video projectors to 

15 educational systems throughout the Appalachian re16 gion; 

17 ‘‘(4) to increase distance learning opportunities 

18 throughout the Appalachian region; 

19 ‘‘(5) to increase the use of telehealth tech20 nologies in the Appalachian region; and 

21 ‘‘(6) to promote e-commerce applications in the 

22 Appalachian region. 

23 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON AVAILABLE AMOUNTS.—Of the 

24 cost of any activity eligible for a grant under this section, 

25 not more than— 


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1 ‘‘(1) 50 percent may be provided from amounts 

2 appropriated to carry out this section; 

3 ‘‘(2) in the case of a project to be carried out 

4 in a county for which a distressed county designa5 tion is in effect under section 14526, 80 percent 

6 may be provided from amounts appropriated to 

7 carry out this section; or 

8 ‘‘(3) in the case of a project to be carried out 

9 in a county for which an at-risk designation is in ef10 fect under section 14526, 70 percent may be pro11 vided from amounts appropriated to carry out this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(c) SOURCES OF ASSISTANCE.—Subject to sub14 section (b), grants provided under this section may be pro15 vided from amounts made available to carry out this sec16 tion in combination with amounts made available under 

17 other Federal programs or from any other source. 

18 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.—Notwithstanding any provi19 sion of law limiting the Federal share under any other 

20 Federal program, amounts made available to carry out 

21 this section may be used to increase that Federal share, 

22 as the Appalachian Regional Commission determines is 

23 appropriate.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

25 chapter 145 of title 40, United States Code, is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 14508 the 

2 following: 

‘‘14509. High-speed broadband deployment initiative.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. TERMINATION. 

4 Section 14704 of title 40, United States Code, is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘2012’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

6 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 

8 effect on October 1, 2015. 

Æ 


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