[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3842 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3842
To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program
to provide assistance to certain entities in rural communities, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2020
Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program
to provide assistance to certain entities in rural communities, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Infrastructure Advancement Act
of 2020''.
SEC. 2. RURAL ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish within the
Build America Bureau a pilot program, to be known as the
``Rural Assistance Pilot Program'', to provide to eligible
entities, through the services of expert firms described in
subsection (c), assistance and information described in
paragraph (2).
(2) Assistance and information.--In carrying out the Rural
Assistance Pilot Program, the Secretary may provide the
following:
(A) Financial, technical, and legal assistance to
evaluate potential projects eligible to receive funding
or financing assistance under an eligible program.
(B) Assistance with development phase activities,
including--
(i) project planning;
(ii) feasibility studies;
(iii) revenue forecasting and funding and
financing options analysis;
(iv) environmental review;
(v) preliminary engineering and design
work;
(vi) economic assessments and cost-benefit
analyses;
(vii) public benefit studies;
(viii) statutory and regulatory framework
analyses;
(ix) value for money studies;
(x) evaluations of costs to sustain the
project;
(xi) evaluating opportunities for private
financing and project bundling; and
(xii) any other activity determined to be
appropriate by the Secretary.
(C) Information about innovative financing best
practices and case studies if the eligible entity is
interested in using innovative financing methods.
(b) Eligible Entities.--An entity eligible for assistance under the
Rural Assistance Pilot Program is an entity that--
(1) is located in an area that is outside of an urbanized
area (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) with a population
greater than 150,000 individuals; or
(2) may pursue a project located in an area described in
paragraph (1).
(c) Assistance From Expert Firms.--The Secretary may retain the
services of expert firms, including counsel, in the field of municipal
and project finance to assist in providing financial, technical, and
legal assistance to eligible entities.
(d) Website.--
(1) Description of program.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make publicly
available on the website of the Department a
description of the Rural Assistance Pilot Program,
including the resources available to eligible entities.
(B) Clearinghouse.--The Secretary may establish a
clearinghouse for tools, templates, and best practices
on the page of the website of the Department that
contains the information described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Application processes.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
establish a process for submitting an application.
(B) Online portal.--The Secretary shall develop and
make available to the public an online portal through
which the Secretary may receive, on a rolling basis,
applications.
(C) Review of applications.--
(i) In general.--Not later than 60 days
after the date on which the Secretary receives
an application, the Secretary shall notify each
eligible entity that submitted the application
of the approval or disapproval of the
application.
(ii) Additional written notification.--
(I) In general.--Not later than 30
days after the date on which the
Secretary initially notifies an
eligible entity under clause (i), the
Secretary shall provide to the eligible
entity an additional written
notification of the approval or
disapproval of the application.
(II) Disapproved applications.--If
an application is not approved, a
written notification under subclause
(I) shall include an offer for a
written or telephonic debrief by the
Secretary that will provide an
explanation of, and guidance on, the
reasons that the application was not
approved.
(iii) Incomplete applications.--The
Secretary shall not approve an application if
the application does not meet the criteria
established under this section.
(3) Dashboard.--The Secretary shall post on the website of
the Department a monthly report that includes, for each
application--
(A) the type of entity that submitted the
application;
(B) the location of the potential project or
projects;
(C) a brief description of the assistance
requested;
(D) the date on which the Secretary received the
application; and
(E) the date on which the Secretary provided notice
of approval or disapproval under paragraph (2)(C)(i).
(e) Experts.--An eligible entity that receives assistance under the
Rural Assistance Pilot Program may retain the services of any expert
for any phase of a project, including project development, regardless
of whether the expert was retained by the Secretary under subsection
(c).
(f) Funding.--
(1) In general.--For each of fiscal years 2021 through
2025, the Secretary may use to carry out the Rural Assistance
Pilot Program, including to retain the services of expert
firms, any amounts made available to the Secretary that are
used to provide credit assistance under eligible programs and
not otherwise obligated, not to exceed--
(A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2021;
(B) $2,400,000 for fiscal year 2022;
(C) $3,200,000 for fiscal year 2023;
(D) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and
(E) $5,200,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(2) Geographic distribution.--Not more than 20 percent of
the amounts made available for grants under this subsection for
a fiscal year may be used to make grants for projects in any 1
State.
(g) Sunset.--The Rural Assistance Pilot Program shall terminate on
the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
(h) Administration of Application Process by the Build America
Bureau.--Section 116(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(E) The Rural Assistance Pilot Program
established under the Rural Infrastructure Advancement
Act of 2020.''.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Application.--The term ``application'' means an
application for assistance under the Rural Assistance Pilot
Program submitted by an eligible entity to the Secretary in
such form and containing such information as the Secretary may
require.
(2) Build america bureau.--The term ``Build America
Bureau'' means the National Surface Transportation and
Innovative Finance Bureau established under section 116 of
title 49, United States Code.
(3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Transportation.
(4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an
entity described in subsection (b).
(5) Eligible program.--The term ``eligible program'' means
a program described in any of subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D)
of section 116(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
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