725 
‘‘(i) rural business opportunity grants, 
rural business enterprise grants, or rural 
educational network grants under section 
3601(a); or 
‘‘(ii) business and industry direct and 
guaranteed loans under section 3601(e). 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The reservation of funds 
described in paragraph (2) may only extend through 
June 30 of the fiscal year in which the funds were 
first made available. 
‘‘SEC. 3703. GUARANTEED RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOANS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide fi-
nancial assistance to a borrower for a purpose provided 
in this subtitle by guaranteeing a loan made by any Fed-
eral or State chartered bank, savings and loan association, 
cooperative lending agency, or other legally organized 
lending agency. 
‘‘(b) INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate payable by 
a borrower on the portion of a guaranteed loan that is 
sold by a lender to the secondary market under this sub-
title may be lower than the interest rate charged on the 
portion retained by the lender. 
‘‘(c) MAXIMUM GUARANTEE OF 90 PERCENT.—Ex-
cept as provided in subsections (d) and (e), a loan guar-
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antee under this subtitle shall be for not more than 90 
percent of the principal and interest due on the loan. 
‘‘(d) REFINANCED LOANS GUARANTEED AT 95 PER-
CENT.—The Secretary shall guarantee 95 percent of— 
‘‘(1) in the case of a loan that solely refinances 
a direct loan made under this subtitle, the principal 
and interest due on the loan on the date of the refi-
nancing; or 
‘‘(2) in the case of a loan that is used for mul-
tiple purposes, the portion of the loan that refi-
nances the principal and interest due on a direct 
loan made under this subtitle that is outstanding on 
the date on which the loan is guaranteed. 
‘‘(e) RISK OF LOSS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 
the Secretary may not make a loan under section 
3501 or 3601 unless the Secretary determines that 
no other lender is willing to make the loan and as-
sume 10 percent of the potential loss to be sustained 
from the loan. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
NONPROFIT
GROUPS.— 
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a public body or 
nonprofit association, including an Indian tribe. 
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‘‘SEC. 3704. RURAL DEVELOPMENT INSURANCE FUND. 
‘‘(a) 
DEFINITION
OF
RURAL
DEVELOPMENT 
LOAN.—In this section, the term ‘rural development loan’ 
means a loan provided for by section 3501 or 3601. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 
‘Rural Development Insurance Fund’ that shall be used 
by the Secretary to discharge the obligations of the Sec-
retary under contracts making or guaranteeing rural de-
velopment loans. 
‘‘SEC. 3705. RURAL ECONOMIC AREA PARTNERSHIP ZONES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may designate ad-
ditional areas as rural economic area partnership zones 
to be assisted under this chapter— 
‘‘(1) through an open, competitive process; and 
‘‘(2) with priority given to rural areas— 
‘‘(A) with excessive unemployment or 
underemployment, a high percentage of low-in-
come residents, or high rates of outmigration, 
as determined by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(B) that the Secretary determines have a 
substantial need for assistance. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall carry out 
those rural economic area partnership zones administra-
tively in effect on the date of enactment of the Agriculture 
Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 in accordance with 
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the terms and conditions contained in the memoranda of 
agreement entered into by the Secretary for the rural eco-
nomic area partnership zones. 
‘‘SEC. 3706. STREAMLINING APPLICATIONS AND IMPROV-
ING ACCESSIBILITY OF RURAL DEVELOP-
MENT PROGRAMS. 
‘‘The Secretary shall expedite the process of creating 
user-friendly and accessible application forms and proce-
dures prioritizing programs and applications at the indi-
vidual applicant level with an emphasis on utilizing cur-
rent technology including online applications and submis-
sion processes. 
‘‘SEC. 3707. STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY
WITH
RURAL
RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES.—The term ‘agency with rural responsibilities’ 
means any executive agency (as defined in section 
105 of title 5, United States Code) that implements 
a Federal law, or administers a program, targeted at 
or having a significant impact on rural areas. 
‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘Partnership’ 
means the State Rural Development Partnership 
continued by subsection (b). 
‘‘(3) STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.— 
The term ‘State rural development council’ means a 
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