I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1291 
To provide for loans to critical rural utility service providers to ensure contin-
ued service and safe operation of rural utility systems during certain 
emergencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 
Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To provide for loans to critical rural utility service providers 
to ensure continued service and safe operation of rural 
utility systems during certain emergencies, 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 ‘‘Reinforcing Utility 
Restoration After Losses (RURAL) Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. RURAL UTILITY BRIDGE LOANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Rural Electrifica-
tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950cc–950cc–2) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 704. RURAL UTILITY BRIDGE LOANS. 
‘‘(a) LINE OF CREDIT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 
an eligible borrower with a line of credit from which 
a loan may be made to replace qualified losses as a 
result of a covered emergency. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of the line of cred-
it shall be the lesser of— 
‘‘(A) 25 percent of the total revenue re-
ceived by the borrower during the 12-month pe-
riod ending with the day before the date of the 
determination referred to in subsection (c)(3) 
with respect to the covered emergency; or 
‘‘(B) $5,000,000. 
‘‘(b) LOANS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On receipt by the Secretary 
of documentation that the eligible borrower has a 
qualified loss as a result of a covered emergency, the 
Secretary shall make a loan to the borrower from 
the line of credit in an amount equal to the lesser 
of— 
‘‘(A) the qualified loss; or 
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‘‘(B) the unused amount of the line of 
credit. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY OF QUALIFIED LOSS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, a qualified 
loss is eligible for a loan made from the line of 
credit if the loss is incurred not more than 180 
days after the date of the determination re-
ferred to in subsection (c)(3) with respect to 
the covered emergency. 
‘‘(B) AUTHORITY TO ADJUST.—The Sec-
retary may— 
‘‘(i) on request of the eligible bor-
rower, reduce the length of eligibility pe-
riod described in subparagraph (A); or 
‘‘(ii) on a determination that the bor-
rower is continuing to incur significant 
qualified losses as a result of a covered 
emergency, increase the length of the pe-
riod. 
‘‘(3) LOAN TERMS.— 
‘‘(A) NO
PAYMENT
REQUIRED
DURING 
EMERGENCY.—During the covered emergency, 
interest on the loan shall not accrue, and repay-
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ment of principal on the loan shall not be re-
quired. 
‘‘(B) LOAN CONSOLIDATION AFTER EMER-
GENCY ENDS.—Unless the Secretary determines 
that the borrower requires additional time to 
submit documentation of qualified losses, on the 
date that is 60 days after the eligibility period 
described in paragraph (2) ends, the Secretary 
shall close the line of credit, and consolidate all 
loans made to the borrower under this section 
with respect to the emergency into a single loan 
with the following terms: 
‘‘(i) GRACE PERIOD.—During the 2- 
year period that begins with the date the 
consolidated loan is made, interest on the 
consolidated loan shall not accrue, and re-
payment of principal on the consolidated 
loan shall not be required. 
‘‘(ii) INTEREST.—Interest on the con-
solidated loan shall accrue at a rate of 1 
percent per year during the 3-year period 
that begins at the end of that 2-year pe-
riod. 
‘‘(iii) REPAYMENT PERIOD.—The loan 
shall be repayable in full by the end of the 
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5-year period that begins with the date the 
consolidated loan is made. 
‘‘(C) NO
FEE
OR
PREPAYMENT
PEN-
ALTY.—The Secretary may not impose a fee or 
prepayment penalty with respect to any loan 
made under this section. 
‘‘(4) FORGIVENESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), if the borrower makes 1 or 
more qualified write-offs after the 1-year period 
that begins with the date a consolidated loan is 
made to the borrower under this section, the 
Secretary shall forgive repayment of a portion 
of the loan, in an amount equal to— 
‘‘(i) 90 percent of the first $500,000 
of the total amount of the qualified write- 
offs; 
‘‘(ii) 
percent 
of 
the 
next 
$1,000,000 of the total amount of the 
qualified write-offs; and 
‘‘(iii) 
percent 
of 
the 
next 
$1,000,000 of the total amount of the 
qualified write-offs. 
‘‘(B) INELIGIBILITY OF BORROWER WHO 
INTERRUPTS SERVICE DURING EMERGENCY.— 
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Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect 
to the borrower if, during the covered emer-
gency, the borrower suspends or interrupts util-
ity service to any customer or subscriber of the 
borrower for non-payment of an amount owed 
to the borrower. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The term ‘eligible 
borrower’ means an entity that— 
‘‘(A) provides electric, telecommunications, 
clean water, waste water, or waste disposal 
services; and 
‘‘(B) is eligible for assistance under— 
‘‘(i) section 4, 201, or 601 of the 
Rural Electrification Act of 1936; or 
‘‘(ii) section 306(a) of the Consoli-
dated Farm and Rural Development Act. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED LOSS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the term ‘qualified loss’ means, with 
respect to a borrower and a covered emer-
gency— 
‘‘(i) an amount owed to the borrower 
for services provided during the emergency, 
which are more than 15 days past due; and 
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‘‘(ii) an amount not received by the 
borrower because of reduced demand for 
services sold by the borrower on a per-unit 
basis, to the extent that the reduction is 
attributable to the emergency. 
‘‘(B) REDUCTION.—The total amount de-
termined under subparagraph (A) shall be re-
duced by the fair market value of any assist-
ance received by the borrower from any source 
while the line of credit is open, for the purpose 
of offsetting the loss of routine operating rev-
enue or covering the cost of routine operating 
expenses, during the covered emergency, exclud-
ing any assistance provided to repair, recover, 
or rebuild from damage due to the emergency. 
‘‘(3) COVERED
EMERGENCY.—The term ‘cov-
ered emergency’ means— 
‘‘(A) a major disaster or emergency, as de-
termined by the President under the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act; 
‘‘(B) a natural disaster, as determined by 
the Secretary of Agriculture; or 
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‘‘(C) an emergency involving Federal pri-
mary responsibility determined to exist by the 
President under the section 501(b) of such Act. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED WRITE-OFF.—The term ‘quali-
fied write-off’ means, with respect to a borrower— 
‘‘(A) an amount described in paragraph 
(2)(A)(i), if the borrower assigns to the Sec-
retary the right to any payment of the amount; 
and 
‘‘(B) 90 percent of an amount described in 
paragraph (2)(A)(ii). 
‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may, on an ex-
pedited basis, prescribe such regulations as are necessary 
to carry out the preceding provisions of this section. 
‘‘(e) RURAL UTILITY BRIDGE LOAN FUND.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 
the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund 
to be known as the ‘Rural Utility Bridge Loan 
Fund’ (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’). 
‘‘(2) DEPOSITS AND CREDITS.—There shall be 
deposited in, or credited to, the Fund the following: 
‘‘(A) All amounts appropriated to the 
Fund. 
‘‘(B) All amounts paid as principal or in-
terest on a loan made under this section. 
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‘‘(C) All interest on, and proceeds from the 
sale or redemption of, any obligations invested 
in under paragraph (4). 
‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amounts in the 
Fund shall be available for the cost of making 
loans under this section without further appro-
priation. 
‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE
EXPENSES.—With 
respect to each covered emergency, the Sec-
retary may use amounts in the Fund for admin-
istrative expenses, as follows: 
‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
LINES
OF 
CREDIT.—For expenses incurred in estab-
lishing lines of credit under this section, an 
amount equal to 1 percent of the Fund 
balance as of the date of the determination 
referred to in subsection (c)(3) with re-
spect to the covered emergency. 
‘‘(ii) MAKING
AND
SERVICING
OF 
LOANS.—During each fiscal year, for ex-
penses incurred in making and servicing 
loans (including consolidated loans) under 
this section, an amount equal to 3 percent 
of the average total amount of loans out-
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standing under this section during the fis-
cal year with respect to the covered emer-
gency. 
‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—In addition, the 
Secretary 
may 
not 
use 
more 
than 
$30,000,000 during each fiscal year for 
any administrative expense incurred in car-
rying out this section. 
‘‘(4) INVESTMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may re-
quest the Secretary of the Treasury to invest 
the portion of the Fund that is not, in the judg-
ment of the Secretary of Agriculture, required 
to meet the current needs of the Fund. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE
INVESTMENTS.—On re-
ceipt of such a request, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall invest the amount involved in 
obligations of the United States or obligations 
that are guaranteed as to principal and interest 
by the United States, with maturities suitable 
to the needs of the Fund as determined by the 
Secretary of Agriculture.’’. 
(b) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any amounts in the 
Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 
there are appropriated to the Rural Utility Bridge Loan 
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Fund $5,000,000,000, without fiscal year limitation. For 
purposes of section 704(e)(3)(B)(i) of the Rural Elec-
trification Act of 1936, with respect to a covered emer-
gency declared in response to the COVID–19 pandemic, 
the Fund balance is deemed to be the amount specified 
in the preceding sentence. 
Æ 
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