HR3125-119

What This Bill Does

The Rural Broadband Assistance Act amends section 701 of the Rural Electrification Act to make broadband technical assistance a formal USDA grant activity. USDA must make grants to private, nonprofit, or public organizations to provide or receive assistance and training for rural broadband work. Eligible activities include preparing USDA broadband grant, loan, and loan-guarantee applications; identifying public and private financing sources; preparing feasibility studies, financial forecasts, market surveys, environmental studies, and technical design materials; preparing need and price reports; improving broadband-facility management and financial management; collecting broadband infrastructure data; and other USDA-identified needs. Eligible entities include federally recognized Tribes and Tribal entities, state and local governments, territories, higher education institutions including land-grant institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and HBCUs, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, cooperatives, corporations, and limited liability entities. USDA must prioritize organizations with experience in rural technical assistance and allow qualified organizations to apply solely to provide national or multistate on-site community technical assistance.

Who Benefits and How

Rural communities seeking broadband benefit because specialized organizations can help prepare applications, studies, financing plans, and infrastructure data. Federally recognized Tribes and Tribal entities benefit from eligibility to receive or provide technical assistance. Higher education institutions benefit because land-grant universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and HBCUs can participate in assistance work. Experienced rural technical assistance nonprofits benefit from priority in grant selection. Broadband cooperatives and local governments benefit from help navigating USDA broadband programs and financing options.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA Rural Utilities Service staff must award, prioritize, and monitor the technical assistance grants. Grant recipients must provide qualified broadband planning, finance, management, and application support. Rural applicants may need to assemble feasibility, market, environmental, financial, and technical materials to use the assistance effectively. Federal appropriators bear the cost of expanding USDA technical assistance work.

Key Provisions

• Adds broadband technical assistance to section 701 of the Rural Electrification Act.
• Authorizes grants for application preparation, financing support, feasibility studies, market surveys, environmental studies, technical design, management help, and infrastructure data collection.
• Makes Tribes, governments, territories, higher education institutions, nonprofits, cooperatives, corporations, and LLCs eligible.
• Prioritizes experienced technical assistance providers and permits national or multistate on-site assistance applications.