I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4232 
To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide grants for access 
to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 2, 2017 
Mr. POCAN (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. HUFFMAN, and 
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide 
grants for access to broadband telecommunications serv-
ices in rural areas, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Broadband Connec-
tions for Rural Opportunities Program Act’’ or the ‘‘B- 
CROP Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS. 
Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 
(7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘loans and’’ 
and inserting ‘‘grants, loans, and’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘LOANS AND’’ and inserting ‘‘GRANTS, LOANS, 
AND’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘make 
grants and’’ after ‘‘Secretary shall’’; and 
(C) by striking paragraph (2) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In making grants, 
loans, or loan guarantees under paragraph (1), 
the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) give priority to grants, loans, and 
loan guarantees to all or part of rural com-
munities that do not have residential 
broadband service that meets the minimum 
acceptable level of broadband service estab-
lished under subsection (e); 
‘‘(ii) give the highest priority to appli-
cations for projects to provide broadband 
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service to the greatest proportion of rural 
households that are within unserved com-
munities, as identified by the Secretary in 
accordance with subparagraph (C); 
‘‘(iii) provide equal consideration to 
all eligible entities, including those that 
have not previously received grants, loans, 
or loan guarantees under paragraph (1); 
and 
‘‘(iv) with respect to 2 or more appli-
cations that are given the same priority 
under clause (ii), give priority to an appli-
cation that requests less grant funding 
than loan funding. 
‘‘(B) OTHER.—After giving priority to the 
applications described in subparagraph (A)(ii), 
the Secretary shall then give priority to applica-
tions— 
‘‘(i) for projects to provide broadband 
service to rural communities— 
‘‘(I) with a population of less 
than 10,000 permanent residents; 
‘‘(II) that are experiencing out-
migration; 
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‘‘(III) with a high percentage of 
low income families or persons (as de-
fined in section 501(b) of the Housing 
Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471(b))); or 
‘‘(IV) that are isolated from 
other significant population centers; 
and 
‘‘(ii) that were developed with the par-
ticipation of, and will receive a substantial 
portion of the funding for the project from, 
1 or more stakeholders, including— 
‘‘(I) State, local, and tribal gov-
ernments; 
‘‘(II) nonprofit institutions; 
‘‘(III) community anchor institu-
tions, such as— 
‘‘(aa) public libraries; 
‘‘(bb) 
elementary 
schools 
and secondary schools (as defined 
in section 8101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 
‘‘(cc) institutions of higher 
education; and 
‘‘(dd) health care facilities; 
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‘‘(IV) private entities; and 
‘‘(V) philanthropic organizations. 
‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATION OF UNSERVED COM-
MUNITIES.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall identify unserved communities for 
purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii) using 
broadband coverage data that is— 
‘‘(I) collected by the Federal 
Communications Commission; and 
‘‘(II) reviewed and refined by the 
Secretary 
using 
a 
thorough 
evi-
dentiary review process. 
‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENTS.—Not less often 
than once every 2 years, the Secretary 
shall review, and may adjust through no-
tice published in the Federal Register, the 
unserved communities identified under 
clause (i). 
‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 
‘‘(A) 
DEFINITION
OF
DEVELOPMENT 
COSTS.—In this paragraph, the term ‘develop-
ment costs’ means costs of— 
‘‘(i) construction, including labor and 
materials; 
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‘‘(ii) project applications; and 
‘‘(iii) other development activities, as 
determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a 
grant under this section, the project that is the 
subject of the grant shall be carried out in a 
rural area. 
‘‘(C) MAXIMUM.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (D), the amount of any grant 
made under this section shall not exceed 50 
percent of the development costs of the project 
for which the grant is provided. 
‘‘(D) SECRETARIAL
AUTHORITY
TO
AD-
JUST.—The Secretary may make grants of up 
to 75 percent of the development costs of the 
project for which the grant is provided to an el-
igible entity if the Secretary determines that 
the project serves— 
‘‘(i) an area of rural households de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and 
‘‘(ii) a rural community described in 
any of subclauses (I) through (IV) of para-
graph (2)(B)(i).’’; 
(3) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
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(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in the matter preceding clause 
(i), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 
(II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a 
loan application’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
application’’; and 
(III) in clause (iii)— 
(aa) by striking ‘‘the loan 
application’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
application’’; and 
(bb) by striking ‘‘proceeds 
from the loan made or guaran-
teed under this section are’’ and 
inserting ‘‘assistance under this 
section is’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) RELATION
TO
UNIVERSAL
SERVICE 
HIGH-COST SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall co-
ordinate with the Federal Communications 
Commission to ensure that any grants, loans, or 
loan guarantees made under this section com-
plement and do not conflict with universal serv-
ice high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 
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of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
successor regulation) provided by the Commis-
sion.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in the matter preceding clause 
(i)— 
(aa) by striking ‘‘the pro-
ceeds of a loan made or guaran-
teed’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance’’; 
and 
(bb) by striking ‘‘for the 
loan or loan guarantee’’ and in-
serting ‘‘of the eligible entity’’; 
and 
(II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘3’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
clause (ii) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—Clause (i) shall 
not apply if the applicant is eligible for 
funding under another title of this Act.’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3), in subparagraph (A), 
by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and inserting ‘‘grant, 
loan, or’’; 
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(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘loan 
or’’ and inserting ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 
(E) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter 
preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and 
inserting ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 
(F) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ 
and inserting ‘‘grant, loan, or’’; 
(G) by redesignating paragraph (7) as sub-
paragraph (B) and indenting appropriately; 
(H) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 
following: 
‘‘(7) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
provide to an applicant of a grant, loan, or loan 
guarantee under this section feedback and deci-
sions on funding in a timely manner.’’; 
(I) in paragraph (7)(B) (as so redesig-
nated), by striking ‘‘may seek a determination 
of area eligibility prior to preparing a loan ap-
plication under this section.’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘may, before preparing an applica-
tion under this section— 
‘‘(i) seek a determination of area eligi-
bility; and 
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‘‘(ii) submit to the Secretary a pro-
posal for a project, on which the Secretary 
shall provide feedback regarding how the 
proposal could be changed to improve the 
likelihood that the Secretary would approve 
the application.’’; and 
(J) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(11) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
AND
TRAIN-
ING.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
provide to eligible entities described in para-
graph (1) technical assistance and training— 
‘‘(i) to prepare reports and surveys 
necessary to request grants, loans, and 
loan guarantees under this section for 
broadband deployment; 
‘‘(ii) to improve management, includ-
ing financial management, relating to the 
proposed broadband deployment; 
‘‘(iii) to prepare applications for 
grants, loans, and loan guarantees under 
this section; or 
‘‘(iv) to assist with other areas of 
need identified by the Secretary. 
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‘‘(B) FUNDING.—Not less than 3 percent 
and not more than 5 percent of amounts appro-
priated to carry out this section for a fiscal year 
shall be used for technical assistance and train-
ing under this paragraph.’’; 
(4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘make a loan 
or loan guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘provide assist-
ance’’; 
(5) in subsection (j)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘loan and loan guarantee’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘grants 
and’’ after ‘‘number of’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘loan’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘loans and’’ and inserting ‘‘grants, loans, 
and’’; and 
(D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘loan’’; 
(6) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as 
subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 
(7) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(k) BROADBAND BUILDOUT DATA.—As a condition 
of receiving a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this 
section, a recipient of assistance shall provide to the Sec-
retary complete, reliable, and precise geolocation informa-
tion that indicates the location of new broadband service 
that is being provided or upgraded within the service terri-
tory supported by the grant, loan, or loan guarantee not 
later than 30 days after the earlier of— 
‘‘(1) the date of completion of any project mile-
stone established by the Secretary; or 
‘‘(2) the date of completion of the project.’’; 
(8) subsection (l) (as redesignated by paragraph 
(6))— 
(A) 
in 
paragraph 
(1), 
by 
striking 
‘‘$25,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000,000’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 
used for— 
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‘‘(I) conducting oversight under 
this section; and 
‘‘(II) implementing accountability 
measures and related activities au-
thorized under this section.’’; and 
(9) in subsection (m) (as redesignated by para-
graph (6)), by striking ‘‘loan or’’ and inserting 
‘‘grant, loan, or’’. 
Æ 
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