I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4947 
To improve infrastructure in small towns and rural areas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2018 
Ms. ESTY of Connecticut (for herself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. FASO, and Mr. 
WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To improve infrastructure in small towns and rural areas. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Infrastructure 
Development and Partnerships Act’’. 
SEC. 2. RURAL PARTNERSHIPS OFFICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Department of Agriculture a Rural Partnerships Office (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 
(b) HEAD OF OFFICE.—The Office shall be headed 
by a Director appointed by the President. 
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(c) DIRECT REPORTING TO SECRETARY OF AGRI-
CULTURE.—The Director shall report directly to the Sec-
retary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’). 
(d) DUTIES.—The Secretary, through the Rural 
Partnerships Office, shall do the following: 
(1) RURAL
PARTNERS
PROGRAM.—Establish 
and run a program to provide technical assistance to 
improve delivery, financing, operations, and mainte-
nance of rural infrastructure, as follows: 
(A) Through a competitive process, select 
not more than 5 organizations to serve as ‘‘on- 
call’’ providers of on-site technical assistance to 
rural communities. 
(B) Solicit applications from rural commu-
nities for technical assistance with infrastruc-
ture planning, asset management, life-cycle ac-
counting, project delivery, financing, regional 
coordination, and project oversight. 
(C) Require an application for technical as-
sistance from the program to include only a 
statement of the type of assistance requested, 
and of how the applicant believes the assistance 
would improve rural infrastructure, and any 
other information necessary to demonstrate the 
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ability of the rural community to participate in 
the program. 
(D) Involve the Rural Liaison in each rel-
evant Federal agency in the review of each ap-
plication for technical assistance from the pro-
gram. 
(E) Assign a technical assistance team to 
each applicant for technical assistance from the 
program whose application is approved by the 
Secretary, which shall provide the assistance for 
a period of not more than 2 years, with the goal 
that technical assistance personnel will be on- 
site in the rural community for a significant 
portion of that period, and require the team to 
submit to the Secretary and the Rural Liaison 
in each relevant Federal agency quarterly re-
ports which summarize the activities of, and 
progress made by, the team during the quarter, 
including an accounting of for how much time 
the team spent in the community. 
(F) Coordinate the program with the Rural 
Water and Wastewater Circuit Rider Program 
carried out under section 306(a)(22) of the 
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(22)), technical assistance 
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provided out under section 1442 of the Safe 
Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–1), the 
program for assistance for capacity building for 
community development and affordable housing 
under section 4 of the HUD Demonstration Act 
of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 9816 note), and any other 
activities under which technical assistance may 
be provided so as to affect rural infrastructure, 
in order to avoid duplication of effort. 
(2) BEST PRACTICES CLEARINGHOUSE.—Estab-
lish an online clearinghouse of best practices specifi-
cally targeted to rural infrastructure planning, asset 
management, life-cycle accounting, project delivery, 
funding and financing, regional coordination, and 
project oversight, including resources prepared by 
Federal agencies and other sources. 
(3) GRANTS.—Make grants to assist rural com-
munities in developing cost-effective infrastructure 
projects, with particular focus on regionally coordi-
nated or bundled projects, and require an applica-
tion for such a grant to include only such docu-
mentation as is necessary to demonstrate the poten-
tial for a viable project, and to be submitted by the 
State, local, or regional governmental entity with 
primary responsibility for the project. 
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(4) COORDINATION OF RURAL LIASIONS.—Fa-
cilitate coordination of the Rural Liaisons to de-
velop, to the extent practical, common guidelines for 
rural funding or financing programs at the various 
Federal agencies, as well as to identify opportunities 
to work across agencies to support rural infrastruc-
ture needs. 
(5) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Within 60 days after 
the end of each fiscal year, publish an annual report 
on the activities of the Office during the preceding 
fiscal year, including the status of activities funded 
or assisted under the technical assistance program, 
and submit a copy of the report to the Committee 
on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
estry of the Senate. 
SEC. 3. RURAL LIAISONS. 
(a) DESIGNATION IN EACH FEDERAL AGENCY.—The 
head of each Federal agency that provides financial assist-
ance to a rural community for an activity related to rural 
infrastructure, shall designate a Rural Liaison in the 
agency. 
(b) DUTIES.—The Rural Liaison in a Federal agency 
shall do the following: 
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(1) Review regulations of, guidance provided by, 
and procedures of the agency to identify any that 
present a hardship for a rural community, and rec-
ommend ways to alleviate the hardship. 
(2) Participate in the review of applications re-
ferred to in section 2(d)(1)(C). 
(3) Serve as an ombudsperson for any rural 
community to which the agency is providing finan-
cial assistance, to help address issues and resolve 
problems. 
(4) Meet regularly with other Rural Liaisons to 
coordinate efforts and identify ways to work together 
to support rural infrastructure needs. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) RELEVANT FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘relevant Federal agency’’ means, with respect to an 
application for technical assistance, each Federal 
agency that provides financial assistance to a rural 
community for an activity related to rural infra-
structure with respect to which the technical assist-
ance is sought. 
(2) RURAL
AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 
means any area located outside an urbanized area 
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(as defined by the Bureau of the Census) with a 
population of 50,000 or more. 
(3) RURAL
COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘rural 
community’’ means any community located in a 
rural area. 
(4) 
RURAL
INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 
term 
‘‘rural infrastructure’’ means surface, maritime, air 
transportation, water, wastewater, broadband, and 
energy facilities and operations, and public build-
ings, including schools, in a rural area. 
Æ 
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