‘‘(iv) the Rural Development Act of
1972 (86 Stat. 657);
‘‘(v) the Rural Development Policy
Act of 1980 (94 Stat. 1171);
‘‘(vi) the Rural Electrification Act of
1936 (2 U.S.C. 901 et seq.);
‘‘(vii) amendments made to section
334 of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 254g) by the Rural Health Clinics
Act of 1983 (97 Stat. 1345); and
‘‘(viii) the Rural Housing Amend-
ments of 1983 (97 Stat. 1240) and the
amendments made by the Rural Housing
Amendments of 1983 to title V of the
Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et
seq.); or
‘‘(B) administers programs that have a
significant impact on rural areas, including—
‘‘(i) the Appalachian Regional Com-
mission;
‘‘(ii) the Department of Agriculture;
‘‘(iii) the Department of Commerce;
‘‘(iv) the Department of Defense;
‘‘(v) the Department of Education;
‘‘(vi) the Department of Energy;
‘‘(vii) the Department of Health and
Human Services;
‘‘(viii) the Department of Housing
and Urban Development;
‘‘(ix) the Department of the Interior;
‘‘(x) the Department of Justice;
‘‘(xi) the Department of Labor;
‘‘(xii) the Department of Transpor-
tation;
‘‘(xiii) the Department of the Treas-
ury;
‘‘(xiv) the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs;
‘‘(xv) the Environmental Protection
Agency;
‘‘(xvi) the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Administration;
‘‘(xvii) the Small Business Adminis-
tration;
‘‘(xviii) the Social Security Adminis-
tration;
‘‘(xix) the Federal Reserve System;
‘‘(xx) the United States Postal Serv-
ice;
‘‘(xxi) the Corporation for National
Service;
‘‘(xxii) the National Endowment for
the Arts and the National Endowment for
the Humanities; and
‘‘(xxiii) other agencies, commissions,
and corporations.
‘‘(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the
National Rural Development Council established by
subsection (c).
‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘Partnership’
means the National Rural Development Partnership
established by subsection (b).
‘‘(4) RURAL
AREA.—The term ‘rural area’
means—
‘‘(A) all the territory of a State that is not
within the boundary of any standard metropoli-
tan statistical area, as designated by the Direc-
tor of the Office of Management and Budget;
‘‘(B) all territory within any standard met-
ropolitan statistical area described in subpara-
graph (A) within a census tract having a popu-
lation density of less than 20 persons per
square mile, as determined by the Secretary ac-
cording to the most recent census of the United
States as of any date; and
‘‘(C) such areas as a State Rural Develop-
ment Council may identify as rural.
‘‘(5) STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.—
The term ‘State rural development council’ means a
State rural development council that meets the re-
quirements of subsection (d).
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Na-
tional Rural Development Partnership composed
of—
‘‘(A) the National Rural Development
Council established under subsection (a); and
‘‘(B) State rural development councils es-
tablished under subsection (d).
‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Partner-
ship are—
‘‘(A) to empower and build the capacity of
States and rural communities within States to
design unique responses to their own special
rural development needs, with local determina-
tions of progress and selection of projects and
activities;
‘‘(B) to encourage participants to be flexi-
ble and innovative in establishing new partner-
ships and trying fresh, new approaches to rural
development issues, with responses to rural de-
velopment that use different approaches to fit
different situations; and
‘‘(C) to encourage all 5 partners of the
Partnership (Federal, State, local, and tribal
governments, the private sector, and nonprofit
organizations) to be fully engaged and share
equally in decisions.
‘‘(3) ROLE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The
role of the Federal Government in the Partnership
should be that of a partner, coach, and facilitator,
with Federal agencies authorized—
‘‘(A) to cooperate closely with States to
implement the Partnership;
‘‘(B) to provide States with the technical
and administrative support necessary to plan
and implement tailored rural development strat-
egies to meet local needs;
‘‘(C) to delegate decisionmaking to other
levels;
‘‘(D) to ensure that the head of each de-
partment and agency specified in subsection
(a)(1)(B) designates a senior-level agency offi-
cial to represent the department or agency, re-
spectively, on the Council and directs appro-
priate field staff to participate fully with the
State rural development council within their ju-
risdiction; and
‘‘(E) to enter into cooperative agreements
with, and to provide grants and other assistance
to, State rural development councils, regardless
of the form of legal organization of a State
rural development council and notwithstanding
any other provision of law.
‘‘(4) ROLE OF PRIVATE AND NONPROFIT SEC-
TOR ORGANIZATIONS.—Private and nonprofit sector
organizations are encouraged—
‘‘(A) to act as full partners in the Partner-
ship and State rural development councils; and
‘‘(B) to cooperate with participating gov-
ernment organizations in developing innovative
problem approaches to rural development.
‘‘(c) NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a
National Rural Development Council.
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be com-
posed of—
‘‘(A) 1 representative of each agency with
rural responsibilities that elects to participate in
the Council; and
‘‘(B) representatives of local, regional,
State, tribal, and nongovernmental profit and
nonprofit organizations that elect to participate
in the activities of the Council.
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Council shall—
‘‘(A) provide support for the work of the
State rural development councils;
‘‘(B) facilitate coordination among Federal
programs and activities, and with State, local,
tribal, and private programs and activities, af-
fecting rural development;
‘‘(C) enhance the effectiveness, responsive-
ness, and delivery of Federal programs in rural
areas;
‘‘(D) gather and provide to Federal au-
thorities information and input for the develop-
ment and implementation of Federal programs
impacting rural economic and community devel-
opment;
‘‘(E) review and comment on policies, reg-
ulations, and proposed legislation that affect or
would affect rural areas;
‘‘(F) provide technical assistance to State
rural development councils for the implementa-
tion of Federal programs; and
‘‘(G) develop and facilitate strategies to re-
duce or eliminate administrative and regulatory
impediments.
‘‘(4) ELECTION
NOT
TO
PARTICIPATE.—An
agency with rural responsibilities that elects not to
participate in the Partnership shall submit to Con-
gress a report that describes—
‘‘(A) how the programmatic responsibilities
of the Federal agency that target or have an
impact on rural areas are better achieved with-
out participation by the agency in the Partner-
ship; and
‘‘(B) a more effective means of partner-
ship-building and collaboration to achieve the
programmatic responsibilities of the agency.
‘‘(5) PERFORMANCE
EVALUATIONS.—In con-
ducting a performance evaluation of an employee of
an agency with rural responsibilities, the agency
shall consider any comments submitted by a State
rural development council.
‘‘(d) STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Each State may elect
to participate in the Partnership by entering into a
memorandum of agreement with the Secretary to es-
tablish a State rural development council.
‘‘(2) STATE DIVERSITY.—Each State rural de-
velopment council shall—
‘‘(A) have a nonpartisan and nondiscrim-
inatory membership that is broad and rep-
resentative of the economic, social, and political
diversity of the State; and
‘‘(B) carry out programs and activities in
a manner that reflects the diversity of the
State.
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—Each State rural development
council shall—
‘‘(A) facilitate collaboration among Fed-
eral, State, local, and tribal governments and
the private and nonprofit sectors in the plan-
ning and implementation of programs and poli-
cies that target or have an impact on rural
areas of the State;
‘‘(B) enhance the effectiveness, responsive-
ness, and delivery of Federal and State pro-
grams in rural areas of the State;
‘‘(C) gather and provide to the Council and
other appropriate organizations information on
the condition of rural areas in the State;
‘‘(D) monitor and report on policies and
programs that address, or fail to address, the
needs of the rural areas of the State;
‘‘(E) facilitate the formulation of local
needs assessments for the rural areas of the
State and participate in the development of cri-
teria for the distribution of Federal funds to
the rural areas of the State;
‘‘(F) provide comments to the Council and
other appropriate organizations on policies, reg-
ulations, and proposed legislation that affect or
would affect the rural areas of the State;
‘‘(G) in conjunction with the Council, fa-
cilitate the development of strategies to reduce
or eliminate conflicting or duplicative adminis-
trative or regulatory requirements of Federal,
State, local, and tribal governments;
‘‘(H) use grant or cooperative agreement
funds available to the Partnership to—
‘‘(i) retain an Executive Director and
such support staff as are necessary to fa-