Sec. 6104. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS
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## SEC. 6104 ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS ###
(a)In General Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— ####
(1)in subsection (c), by striking paragraph
(2)and inserting the following: > > #### “(2) Priority > > In making loans or loan guarantees under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— > > > ##### “(A) > > establish not less than 2 evaluation periods for each fiscal year to compare loan and loan guarantee applications and to prioritize loans and loan guarantees to all or part of rural communities that do not have residential broadband service that meets the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection (e); > > > ##### “(B) > > give the highest priority to applicants that offer to provide broadband service to the greatest proportion of unserved households or households that do not have residential broadband service that meets the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection (e), as— > > > ###### “(i) > > certified by the affected community, city, county, or designee; or > > > ###### “(ii) > > demonstrated on— > > > ###### “(I) > > the broadband map of the affected State if the map contains address-level data; or > > > ###### “(II) > > the National Broadband Map if address-level data is unavailable; and > > > ##### “(C) > > provide equal consideration to all qualified applicants, including applicants that have not previously received loans or loan guarantees under paragraph (1); and > > > ##### “(D) > > give priority to applicants that offer in the applications of the applicants to provide broadband service not predominantly for business service, if at least 25 percent of the customers in the proposed service territory are commercial interests.” > ; ####
(2)in subsection (d)— #####
(A)in paragraph (1)(A), by striking clause
(i)and inserting the following: > > ###### “(i) > > demonstrate the ability to furnish, improve in order to meet the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection (e), or extend broadband service to all or part of an unserved rural area or an area below the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection (e);” > ; #####
(B)in paragraph (2)— ######
(i)in subparagraph (A), by striking clause
(i)and inserting the following: > > ###### “(i) > > not less than 15 percent of the households in the proposed service territory are unserved or have service levels below the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection (e); and” > ; ######
(ii)in the heading of subparagraph (B), by striking “25”; and ######
(iii)in subparagraph (C)— ######
(I)in the subparagraph heading, by striking “3 or more”; and ######
(II)by striking clause
(i)and inserting the following: > > ###### “(i) In general > > Except as provided in clause (ii), subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not apply to an incumbent service provider in the portion of a proposed service territory in which the provider is upgrading broadband service to meet the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection
(e)for the existing territory of the incumbent service provider.” > ; #####
(C)in paragraph (3)(B), by adding at the end the following: > > ###### “(iii) Information > > Information submitted under this subparagraph shall be— > > > ###### “(I) > > certified by the affected community, city, county, or designee; or > > > ###### “(II) > > demonstrated on— > > > ###### “(aa) > > the broadband map of the affected State if the map contains address-level data; or > > > ###### “(bb) > > the National Broadband Map if address-level data is unavailable.” > ; #####
(D)by striking paragraph
(5)and inserting the following: > > #### “(5) Notice requirements > > The Secretary shall promptly provide a fully searchable database on the website of the Rural Utilities Service that contains, at a minimum— > > > ##### “(A) > > notice of each application for a loan or loan guarantee under this section describing the application, including— > > > ###### “(i) > > the identity of the applicant; > > > ###### “(ii) > > a description of each application, including— > > > ###### “(I) > > each area proposed to be served by the applicant; and > > > ###### “(II) > > the amount and type of support requested by each applicant; > > > ###### “(iii) > > the status of each application; > > > ###### “(iv) > > the estimated number and proportion relative to the service territory of households without terrestrial-based broadband service in those areas; and > > > ###### “(v) > > a list of the census block groups or proposed service territory, in a manner specified by the Secretary, that the applicant proposes to service; > > > ##### “(B) > > notice of each entity receiving assistance under this section, including— > > > ###### “(i) > > the name of the entity; > > > ###### “(ii) > > the type of assistance being received; > > > ###### “(iii) > > the purpose for which the entity is receiving the assistance; > > > ###### “(iv) > > each semiannual report submitted under paragraph (8)(A) (redacted to protect any proprietary information in the report); and > > > ##### “(C) > > such other information as is sufficient to allow the public to understand assistance provided under this section.” > ; #####
(E)by adding at the end the following: > > #### “(8) Reporting > > > ##### “(A) In general > > The Secretary shall require any entity receiving assistance under this section to submit a semiannual report for 3 years after completion of the project, in a format specified by the Secretary, that describes— > > > ###### “(i) > > the use by the entity of the assistance, including new equipment and capacity enhancements that support high-speed broadband access for educational institutions, health care providers, and public safety service providers (including the estimated number of end users who are currently using or forecasted to use the new or upgraded infrastructure); and > > > ###### “(ii) > > the progress towards fulfilling the objectives for which the assistance was granted, including— > > > ###### “(I) > > the number and location of residences and businesses that will receive new broadband service, existing network service improvements, and facility upgrades resulting from the Federal assistance; > > > ###### “(II) > > the speed of broadband service; > > > ###### “(III) > > the average price of broadband service in a proposed service area; > > > ###### “(IV) > > any changes in broadband service adoption rates, including new subscribers generated from demand-side projects; and > > > ###### “(V) > > any metrics the Secretary determines to be appropriate; > > > ##### “(B) Additional reporting > > The Secretary may require any additional reporting and information by any recipient of any assistance under this section so as to ensure compliance with this section. > > > #### “(9) Default and deobligation > > In addition to other authority under applicable law, the Secretary shall establish written procedures for all broadband programs administered by the Rural Utilities Service under this or any other Act that, to the maximum extent practicable— > > > ##### “(A) > > recover funds from loan defaults; > > > ##### “(B) > > deobligate any awards, less allowable costs that demonstrate an insufficient level of performance (including metrics determined by the Secretary) or fraudulent spending, to the extent funds with respect to the award are available in the account relating to the program established by this section; > > > ##### “(C) > > award those funds, on a competitive basis, to new or existing applicants consistent with this section; and > > > ##### “(D) > > minimize overlap among the programs. > > > #### “(10) Service area assessment > > The Secretary shall, with respect to an application for assistance under this section— > > > ##### “(A) > > provide not less than 15 days for broadband service providers to voluntarily submit information concerning the broadband services that the providers offer in the census block groups or tracts described in paragraph (5)(A)(v) so that the Secretary may assess whether the applications submitted meet the eligibility requirements under this section; and > > > ##### “(B) > > if no broadband service provider submits information under subparagraph (A), consider the number of providers in the census block group or tract to be established by using— > > > ###### “(i) > > the most current National Broadband Map of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; or > > > ###### “(ii) > > any other data regarding the availability of broadband service that the Secretary may collect or obtain through reasonable efforts.” > ; ####
(3)in subsection (e)— #####
(A)by redesignating paragraph
(2)as paragraph (3); and #####
(B)by striking paragraph
(1)and inserting the following: > > #### “(1) In general > > Subject to paragraph (2), for purposes of this section, the minimum acceptable level of broadband service for a rural area shall be at least— > > > ##### “(A) > > a 4-Mbps downstream transmission capacity; and > > > ##### “(B) > > a 1-Mbps upstream transmission capacity. > > > #### “(2) Adjustments > > > ##### “(A) In general > > At least once every 2 years, the Secretary shall review, and may adjust through notice published in the Federal Register, the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under paragraph
(1)to ensure that high quality, cost-effective broadband service is provided to rural areas over time. > > > ##### “(B) Considerations > > In making an adjustment to the minimum acceptable level of broadband service under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may consider establishing different transmission rates for fixed broadband service and mobile broadband service.” > ; ####
(4)in subsection (g), by striking paragraph
(2)and inserting the following: > > #### “(2) Terms > > In determining the term and conditions of a loan or loan guarantee, the Secretary may— > > > ##### “(A) > > consider whether the recipient is or would be serving an area that is unserved or has service levels below the minimum acceptable level of broadband service established under subsection (e); and > > > ##### “(B) > > if the Secretary makes a determination in the affirmative under subparagraph (A), establish a limited initial deferral period or comparable terms necessary to achieve the financial feasibility and long-term sustainability of the project.” > ; ####
(5)in subsection (j)— #####
(A)in paragraph (1), by inserting “, including any loan terms or conditions for which the Secretary provided additional assistance to unserved areas” before the semicolon at the end; #####
(B)in paragraph (5), by striking “and” after the semicolon at the end; #####
(C)in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and #####
(D)by adding at the end the following: > > #### “(7) > > the overall progress towards fulfilling the goal of improving the quality of rural life by expanding rural broadband access, as demonstrated by metrics, including— > > > ##### “(A) > > the number of residences and businesses receiving new broadband services; > > > ##### “(B) > > network improvements, including facility upgrades and equipment purchases; > > > ##### “(C) > > average broadband speeds and prices on a local and statewide basis; > > > ##### “(D) > > any changes in broadband adoption rates; and > > > ##### “(E) > > any specific activities that increased high speed broadband access for educational institutions, health care providers, and public safety service providers.” > ; and ####
(6)in subsections (k)(1) and (l), by striking “2012” each place it appears and inserting “2018”. ###
(b)Study on Providing Effective Data for National Broadband Map . ####
(1)In general The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, shall conduct a study of the ways that data collected under the broadband programs of the Secretary of Agriculture could be most effectively shared with the Commission to support the development and maintenance of the National Broadband Map by the Commission. ####
(2)Inclusions The study shall include a consideration of the circumstances under which address-level data could be collected by the Secretary and appropriately shared with the Commission. ####
(3)Completion Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the study required under this subsection. ####
(4)Report Not later than 60 days after the date of completion of the study, the Secretary shall submit a report describing the results of the study to— #####
(A)the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; #####
(B)the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; #####
(C)the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and #####
(D)the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
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Sec. 6104
ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS
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