Signed into law on February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5 ) provided $7.2 billion for broadband grant and loan programs at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The ARRA directed broadband grant and loan funding in the following way: $4.7 billion to NTIA/DOC for a broadband grant program including broadband infrastructure grants, grants for expanding public computer capacity, and grants to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service. The NTIA grant program is called the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP). $2.5 billion to RUS/USDA for broadband grants, loans, and loan/grant combinations. The law stated that 75% of the area to be served by an eligible project must be a rural area. The RUS broadband grant and loan program is called the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP). Subsequently, P.L. 111-226 , signed into law on August 10, 2010, rescinded $302 million of unobligated BTOP money from NTIA. There were two rounds of ARRA broadband funding. Both NTIA and RUS evaluated and scored each application based on the proposed project's purpose, benefits, viability, budget, and sustainability. The ARRA mandated that all funding be obligated and awarded by September 30, 2010, and as of October 1, 2010, all ARRA broadband funds were awarded. For both BTOP and BIP, all projects will be closed out and unobligated funds returned to the U.S. Treasury on September 30, 2015. As of October 1, 2010, all BTOP and BIP awards were announced. In total, NTIA and RUS announced awards for 553 projects, constituting $7.465 billion in federal funding. This included 233 BTOP projects (totaling $3.936 billion) and 320 BIP projects (totaling $3.529 billion). Of the $7.465 billion total announced, $6.273 billion was grant funding, and $1.192 billion was loan funding. Table A-1 in the Appendix shows a state-by-state breakdown of BTOP and BIP funding, while Table A-2 shows per capita BTOP and BIP funding by state. Funding is associated with a state based on the service area covered by the project. For BTOP grants, amounts shown may include the NTIA-estimated per-state share of any awards that impact multiple states. Table 1 and Table 2 show BTOP and BIP awards by the type of entity that received the awards. Most BTOP awards went to government entities (states and localities) and nonprofit organizations, while a quarter of awards went to for-profit entities. By contrast, the vast majority of BIP infrastructure awards (90%) went to for-profit corporations or cooperatives (primarily private telecommunications providers offering last-mile rural broadband service). Table 3 and Table 4 provide breakdowns of BTOP and BIP awards by project type. Most of the BTOP infrastructure projects were for "middle mile"—that is, a broadband infrastructure project that does not predominantly provide broadband service to end users or to end-user devices, and may include interoffice transport, backhaul, Internet connectivity, or special access. In contrast, most BIP awards were for "last-mile" projects, which is any infrastructure project the predominant purpose of which is to provide broadband access to end users or end-user devices. Deployment of broadband infrastructure can encompass a number of different types of technologies, including fiber, wireless, cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL), satellite, and others. Table 5 and Table 6 show the types of technologies that are being deployed by funded BTOP and BIP infrastructure projects. Most BTOP projects (92%) are either fiber or fiber in tandem with wireless technology. This reflects the fact that most BTOP projects are middle mile. Pursuant to statute, both NTIA and RUS are preparing to close out all BTOP and BIP projects by September 30, 2015. Section 1306 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ( P.L. 111-203 ) requires that any and all unspent monies be returned to the U.S. Treasury for the purpose of deficit reduction. Unspent BIP or BTOP money cannot be reallocated for other purposes, programs, or projects. Both BIP and BTOP projects draw down funds as they progress. Concerns have been raised that some BTOP and BIP projects may not be completed by the September 30, 2015, deadline, and that all funding not yet drawn down will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. Under this scenario, any uncompleted projects would have to find alternate sources of funding if they are to be completed after September 30, 2015. According to the latest Broadband Initiatives Quarterly Report , 297 broadband infrastructure project loans and grants were awarded by RUS. Of this amount, there were 42 rescissions (14% of the total), accounting for $325 million returned to the U.S. Treasury. As of March 31, 2015, of the remaining 255 active projects, 180 were partially operational (meaning service is provided to some of the project's proposed service territory); 68 were fully operational or complete; and 7 were under construction. Out of the $3.1 billion awarded to active projects, $2.560 billion had been advanced by RUS as of March 31, 2015. Concerns have arisen in Congress that all projects may not be completed before the funding deadline of September 30, 2015. At a House Committee on Agriculture hearing held on July 29, 2014, the RUS Administrator stated that "June of 2015 is our contractual requirement that [projects] be substantially complete, and by the end of September by statute the funds will be no longer available." On July 28, 2015, Politico released an investigative report stating that "roughly half of the nearly 300 projects RUS approved as part of the 2009 Recovery Act have not yet drawn down the full amounts they were awarded," and that "as much as $277 million in still-untapped federal funds" remain with the September 30, 2015, deadline approaching. On August 2, 2015, RUS Administrator Brandon McBride issued a statement to Telecompetitor stating that "[m]ore than 90 percent of the funding has been drawn down and all but a few projects will meet their goals before the fiscal year is over." According to the 24 th BTOP Quarterly R eport , as of December 31, 2014, 12 BTOP grant projects were still active, while 212 BTOP projects had completed their project activities. As of December 31, 2014, grant recipients drew down $3.65 billion, or 91%, of federal grant funds. With regard to project completion, the primary area of concern is the public safety broadband projects. In 2010, NTIA awarded seven public safety grants to construct interoperable communications networks for first responders. However, with the passage of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( P.L. 112-96 ), which authorized and funded a national public safety broadband network (FirstNet), the seven BTOP public safety projects were partially suspended pending spectrum leasing agreements between each project and FirstNet. Ultimately, four projects reached a spectrum leasing agreement (Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Los Angeles), one was able to move forward without a spectrum leasing agreement (Charlotte, NC), and two (Mississippi and Motorola) were unable to reach a spectrum leasing agreement and are in the process of closing out their awards. The partial suspension of the public safety projects has presented challenges to the successful completion of these projects by September 30, 2015. According to the 24 th BTOP Quarterly Report , as of December 31, 2014, $274 million or 72% of the funds allocated to the public safety projects had not yet been drawn down. With the awards phase completed, the focus shifted to oversight and monitoring of funded projects. For each project, federal funds are drawn down incrementally as various milestones are reached (for example, meeting environmental and historic preservation requirements, resolving rights of way issues, arriving at various phases of construction, etc.). Recipients and subrecipients are monitored by agency staff to ensure that project goals, performance, timelines, milestones, budgets, and other requirements are being met. In cases where NTIA or RUS detects waste, fraud, or abuse, or where it is determined that the awardee is not fulfilling the terms of the award conditions, the agencies have the authority to take back the funding (deobligate) and return the money to the U.S. Treasury. The ARRA directed that all award recipients file quarterly and annual reports with the corresponding funding agency. Reports provide detailed financial and project deployment information. NTIA is mandated by ARRA to report every 90 days on the status of BTOP to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The ARRA required the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on planned spending and actual obligations, describing the use of ARRA funds for the RUS broadband programs, not later than 90 days after enactment, and quarterly thereafter until all funds were obligated. As directed by the ARRA, NTIA maintains a publicly available website that provides, for each BTOP grant, detailed project descriptions, all quarterly progress reports from the recipient to NTIA, all official award documentation (including the project application), and environmental documents. By contrast, RUS provides only brief (single-paragraph) project summaries for each award.