Texas Administrative Code › Title 34 - PUBLIC FINANCE › Part 1 - COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS › Chapter 16 - COMPTROLLER GRANT PROGRAMS › Subchapter B - TEXAS BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE › Division 2 - BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM › Section 16.36 - Application Process Generally

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) No award for
					 competitive grant funding will be disbursed by the office except pursuant to an
					 application submitted in accordance with this subchapter.
(b) An application for funding under this
					 subchapter shall be submitted on the forms and in the manner prescribed by the
					 office. The office may require that applications be submitted
					 electronically.
(c) Prior to
					 publication of application information pursuant to Government Code, §
											490I.0106(e),
					 the office may undertake an examination to determine whether the application
					 appears on its face to comply with applicable program requirements. The office
					 may reject and take no further action on an application that does not appear to
					 comply with applicable program requirements on its face.
(d) The office shall for a period of at least
					 30 days publish on its website information from each accepted application,
					 including the applicant's name, the project area targeted for expanded
					 broadband service access or adoption by the application, and any other
					 information the office considers relevant or necessary. The information will
					 remain on the website for a period of at least 30 days before the office makes
					 a decision on the application.
(e)
					 During the 30-day application protest period described by subsection (d) of
					 this section for an application, the office shall accept from any interested
					 party a written protest of the application relating to whether the applicant or
					 project is eligible for an award or should not receive an award based on the
					 criteria prescribed by the office. A protest of an application must be
					 submitted as provided under §
											16.41 of this
					 subchapter.
(f) Notwithstanding any
					 deadline for submitting an application, if the office upholds a protest on the
					 grounds that one or more of the broadband serviceable locations in a project
					 area is not eligible to receive funding, the applicant may resubmit an amended
					 application as provided under §
											16.41 of this subchapter without
					 the challenged broadband serviceable locations not later than 30 days after the
					 date that the office upheld the protest. An amended application may not include
					 additional areas or broadband serviceable locations not already included in the
					 original application.
(g) If the
					 office upholds a protest and the applicant resubmits an application in
					 accordance with subsection (f) of this section, the resubmitted application is
					 not subject to further protest.
(h)
					 For the purposes of this section "interested party" means a person, including
					 an individual, corporation, organization, government or governmental
					 subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association,
					 or any other legal entity, that resides, is located, or conducts business in
					 the project area subject to protest and also includes a broadband service
					 provider that is not located in the project area but who proposes to provide
					 broadband service in the project area.
(i) Notwithstanding subsection (e) of this
					 section, a broadband service provider who has not provided information
					 requested by the office under Government Code, §
											490I.0105 or §
											490I.01061, may not
					 submit a protest of an application made under this subchapter.