Title: A bill to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to improve access to grants and loans for evidence-based substance use disorder treatment services in rural areas, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
This bill amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, with respect to the Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program, to require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prioritize loans and grants for substance use disorder treatment services.
(Under current law, the program provides funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas.) The bill requires USDA to prioritize grants and loans for entities: (1) to develop facilities to provide substance use disorder (including opioid substance use disorder) prevention, treatment, or recovery services; and (2) that employ staff with appropriate expertise and training to identify and treat individuals with substance use disorders.
An entity that receives funds pursuant to this bill may use the funds for the development of telemedicine facilities and systems to provide telemedicine for substance use disorder treatment.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1678 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1678

  To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to improve 
 access to grants and loans for evidence-based substance use disorder 
       treatment services in rural areas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 2017

  Mr. Donnelly (for himself and Mr. Roberts) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to improve 
 access to grants and loans for evidence-based substance use disorder 
       treatment services in rural areas, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. COMMUNITY FACILITIES DIRECT LOANS AND GRANTS.

    Section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(27) Direct loans and grants for substance use disorder 
        treatment services.--
                    ``(A) Selection priority.--In selecting recipients 
                of loans or grants (not including loans guaranteed by 
                the Secretary) for the development of essential 
                community facilities under this section, the Secretary 
                shall give priority to entities eligible for those 
                loans or grants--
                            ``(i) to develop facilities to provide 
                        substance use disorder (including opioid 
                        substance use disorder)--
                                    ``(I) prevention services;
                                    ``(II) treatment services;
                                    ``(III) recovery services; or
                                    ``(IV) any combination of those 
                                services; and
                            ``(ii) that employ staff that have 
                        appropriate expertise and training in how to 
                        identify and treat individuals with substance 
                        use disorders.
                    ``(B) Use of funds.--An eligible entity described 
                in subparagraph (A) that receives a loan or grant 
                described in that subparagraph may use the loan or 
                grant funds for the development of telemedicine 
                facilities and systems to provide telemedicine for 
                substance use disorder treatment.''.
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