Sec. 31122. Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program
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Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Assistant Secretary begins awarding grants under section 31121(d), and not before that date, the Assistant Secretary shall establish in the Office the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program (referred to in this section as the Program ), the purpose of which is to award grants to support efforts to achieve digital equity, promote digital inclusion activities, and spur greater adoption of broadband service among covered populations. In establishing the Program under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary— may consult a State with respect to— the identification of groups described in subparagraphs
(A)through
(H)of section 31001(6) located in that State; and the allocation of grant funds within that State for projects in or affecting the State; and shall— consult with— the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; the Secretary of Education; the Secretary of Labor; the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Secretary of the Interior; the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior; the Commission; the Federal Trade Commission; the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the Administrator of the Small Business Administration; the Federal Cochairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission; and the head of any other Federal agency that the Assistant Secretary determines to be appropriate; and ensure that the Program complements and enhances, and does not conflict with, other Federal broadband service support programs and Universal Service Fund programs. The Assistant Secretary may award a grant under the Program to any of the following entities if the entity is not serving, and has not served, as the administering entity for a State under section 31121(b): A political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of a State, including an agency of a State that is responsible for administering or supervising adult education and literacy activities in the State. An Indian Tribe, a tribally designated entity, or a Native Hawaiian organization. An entity that is— a not-for-profit entity; and not a school. An anchor institution. A local educational agency. An entity that carries out a workforce development program. A consortium of any of the entities described in paragraphs
(1)through (6). A consortium of— an entity described in any of paragraphs
(1)through (6); and an entity that— the Assistant Secretary, by rule, determines to be in the public interest; and is not a school. An entity that wishes to be awarded a grant under the Program shall submit to the Assistant Secretary an application— at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Assistant Secretary may require; and that— provides a detailed explanation of how the entity will use any grant amounts awarded under the Program to carry out the purposes of the Program in an efficient and expeditious manner; identifies the period in which the applicant will expend the grant funds awarded under the Program; includes— a justification for the amount of the grant that the applicant is requesting; and for each fiscal year in which the applicant will expend the grant funds, a budget for the activities that the grant funds will support; demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Assistant Secretary that the entity— is capable of carrying out the project or function to which the application relates and the activities described in subsection (h)— in a competent manner; and in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws; and if the applicant is an entity described in subsection (b)(1), will appropriate or otherwise unconditionally obligate from non-Federal sources funds that are necessary to meet the requirements of subsection (e); discloses to the Assistant Secretary the source and amount of other Federal, State, or outside funding sources from which the entity receives, or has applied for, funding for activities or projects to which the application relates; and provides— the assurances that are required under subsection (f); and an assurance that the entity shall follow such additional procedures as the Assistant Secretary may require to ensure that grant funds are used and accounted for in an appropriate manner. In deciding whether to award a grant under the Program, the Assistant Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, consider— whether— an application will, if approved— increase access to broadband service and the adoption of broadband service among covered populations to be served by the applicant; and not result in unjust enrichment; and the applicant is, or plans to subcontract with, a socially and economically disadvantaged small business concern; the comparative geographic diversity of the application in relation to other eligible applications; and the extent to which an application may duplicate or conflict with another program. In addition to the activities required under subparagraph (B), an entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program shall use the grant amounts to support not less than one of the following activities: To develop and implement digital inclusion activities that benefit covered populations. To facilitate the adoption of broadband service by covered populations, including by raising awareness of subsidies available to increase affordability of such service (including subsidies available through the Lifeline program of the Commission), in order to provide educational and employment opportunities to those populations. To implement, consistent with the purposes of this chapter— training programs for covered populations that cover basic, advanced, and applied skills; or other workforce development programs. To make available equipment, instrumentation, networking capability, hardware and software, or digital network technology for broadband service to covered populations at low or no cost. To construct, upgrade, expend, or operate new or existing public access computing centers for covered populations through anchor institutions. To undertake any other project or activity that the Assistant Secretary finds to be consistent with the purposes for which the Program is established. An entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program shall use not more than 10 percent of the grant amounts to measure and evaluate the activities supported with the grant amounts. An entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program shall submit to the Assistant Secretary each measurement and evaluation performed under clause (i)— in a manner specified by the Assistant Secretary; not later than 15 months after the date on which the entity is awarded the grant amounts; and annually after the submission described in subclause
(II)for any year in which the entity expends grant amounts. An entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program may use not more than 10 percent of the amount of the grant for administrative costs in carrying out any of the activities described in subparagraph (A). With respect to a grant awarded to an entity under the Program, the entity— except as provided in clause (ii), shall expend the grant amounts during the 4-year period beginning on the date on which the entity is awarded the grant amounts; and during the 1-year period beginning on the date that is 4 years after the date on which the entity is awarded the grant amounts, may continue to measure and evaluate the activities supported with the grant amounts, as required under subparagraph (B). All laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the performance of construction, alteration, or repair work carried out, in whole or in part, with a grant under the Program shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a similar character in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. With respect to the labor standards in this subparagraph, the Secretary of Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United States Code. An employer to which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program shall remain neutral with respect to the exercise of employees and labor organizations of the right to organize and bargain under the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). The Assistant Secretary shall refer any alleged violation of an applicable labor and employment law to the appropriate Federal agency for investigation and enforcement, any alleged violation of subparagraph
(E)or
(F)to the National Labor Relations Board for investigation and enforcement, utilizing all appropriate remedies up to and including debarment from the Program. Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Federal share of any project for which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program may not exceed 90 percent. The Assistant Secretary may grant a waiver with respect to the limitation on the Federal share of a project described in paragraph
(1)if— the applicant with respect to the project petitions the Assistant Secretary for the waiver; and the Assistant Secretary determines that the petition described in subparagraph
(A)demonstrates financial need. When applying for a grant under this section, an entity shall include in the application for that grant assurances that the entity will— use any grant funds that the entity is awarded in accordance with any applicable statute, regulation, or application procedure; adopt and use proper methods of administering any grant that the entity is awarded, including by— enforcing any obligation imposed under law on any agency, institution, organization, or other entity that is responsible for carrying out a program to which the grant relates; correcting any deficiency in the operation of a program to which the grant relates, as identified through an audit or another monitoring or evaluation procedure; and adopting written procedures for the receipt and resolution of complaints alleging a violation of law with respect to a program to which the grant relates; cooperate with respect to any evaluation— of any program that relates to a grant awarded to the entity; and that is carried out by or for the Assistant Secretary or another Federal official; use fiscal control and fund accounting procedures that ensure the proper disbursement of, and accounting for, any Federal funds that the entity is awarded under the Program; submit to the Assistant Secretary any reports that may be necessary to enable the Assistant Secretary to perform the duties of the Assistant Secretary under the Program; and maintain any records and provide any information to the Assistant Secretary, including those records, that the Assistant Secretary determines is necessary to enable the Assistant Secretary to perform the duties of the Assistant Secretary under the Program. In addition to other authority under applicable law, the Assistant Secretary shall— terminate a grant awarded to an entity under this section if, after notice to the entity and opportunity for a hearing, the Assistant Secretary determines, and presents to the entity a rationale and supporting information that clearly demonstrates, that— the grant funds are not being used in a manner that is consistent with the application with respect to the grant submitted by the entity under subsection (c); the entity is not upholding assurances made by the entity to the Assistant Secretary under subsection (f); or the grant is no longer necessary to achieve the original purpose for which the Assistant Secretary awarded the grant; and with respect to any grant funds that the Assistant Secretary terminates under paragraph
(1)or under other authority under applicable law, competitively award the grant funds to another applicant (if such an applicant exists), consistent with the requirements of this section. The Assistant Secretary— shall— require any entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under the Program to, for each year during the period described in clause
(i)of subsection (d)(2)(D) with respect to the grant and during the period described in clause
(ii)of such subsection with respect to the grant if the entity continues to measure and evaluate the activities supported with the grant amounts during such period, submit to the Assistant Secretary a report, in a format specified by the Assistant Secretary, regarding— the use by the entity of the grant amounts; and the progress of the entity towards fulfilling the objectives for which the grant was awarded; establish mechanisms to ensure appropriate use of, and compliance with respect to all terms regarding, grant funds awarded under the Program; create and maintain a fully searchable database, which shall be accessible on the internet at no cost to the public, that contains, at a minimum— a list of each entity that has applied for a grant under the Program; a description of each application described in clause (i), including the proposed purpose of each grant described in that clause; the status of each application described in clause (i), including whether the Assistant Secretary has awarded a grant with respect to the application and, if so, the amount of the grant; each report submitted by an entity under subparagraph (A); and any other information that the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate to ensure that the public has sufficient information to understand and monitor grants awarded under the Program; and ensure that any entity with respect to which an award is terminated under subsection
(g)may, in a timely manner, appeal or otherwise challenge that termination; and may establish additional reporting and information requirements for any recipient of a grant under the Program. A grant awarded to an entity under the Program shall supplement, not supplant, other Federal or State funds that have been made available to the entity to carry out activities described in this section. From amounts made available in a fiscal year to carry out the Program, the Assistant Secretary shall reserve— not more than 5 percent for the implementation and administration of the Program, which shall include— providing technical support and assistance, including ensuring consistency in data reporting; providing assistance to entities to prepare the applications of those entities with respect to grants awarded under this section; developing the report required under section 31123(a); and conducting outreach to entities that may be eligible to be awarded a grant under the Program regarding opportunities to apply for such a grant; and not less than 5 percent to award grants directly to Indian Tribes, tribally designated entities, and Native Hawaiian organizations to allow those Tribes, entities, and organizations to carry out the activities described in this section. The Assistant Secretary may prescribe such rules as may be necessary to carry out this section. There are appropriated to the Assistant Secretary, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $625,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal year 2021, to remain available until expended.
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- 64 Stat. 1267
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