Applying for Broadband Grants through RUS

Yesterday’s blog focused on the broadband grant process at the Department of Commerce’s NTIA program. Today we take a look at the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program.  It should be noted that both departments issued a joint request for information and notice of public meetings, which will allow the public to submit comments on the broadband initiative. 

At Tuesday’s conference, the USDA’s Assistant Administrator for Telecommunications Programs, Dave Villano, said 75% of the designated stimulus money must be used in rural areas to foster rural economic development. The RUS program may distribute up to $2.5 billion for grants, loans, and loan guarantees. And unlike its counterpart at the Department of Commerce, RUS already has two existing programs for appropriating funding for broadband.  Because of the existing programs, they are expected to keep many of their process and eligibility rules in place.   

Similar to the NTIA, RUS will publish a Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) in the Federal Register.  They are also expected to have three notices of funding, which should give interested parties more time to apply for grants over the next few months.  In other words, no one is expecting that all of the money will be awarded in the first wave of acceptances.  The first NOFA is expected around the April-June 2009 timeframe. 

More Information on RUS Broadband:

• Applicants may apply for both RUS and NTIA grants; however, restrictions may apply on how the money is distributed for projects. 
• Unlike the NTIA’s September 2010 deadline, RUS does not have a deadline for distributing money.  However, they are expected to conduct their three waves of grant distribution over the next 18 months. 
• The current loan and grant programs at RUS focus on providing funding for “construction, improvement, and/or acquisition of facilities or equipment to expand broadband services to rural communities.” (Source: Dow Lohnes)
• Under current law, RUS must give priority to those entities proposing to provide service to areas lacking any service over applicants looking to expand access or broadband options. 
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act- the economic stimulus - allows the RUS to also prioritize applications based on: 1) if they provide choice of providers, 2) if they provide accessibility to the highest number possible of rural residents currently without any broadband access, and 3) if they were prior RUS borrowers. 
• Though RUS may distribute money through loans and grants, it is believed that most of the economic stimulus funding will be used for grants.
• Currently, grant applicants must demonstrate that they are able to provide broadband access to areas that currently do not have access.  Furthermore, they must be willing to supply service to “critical community facilities,” such as schools, libraries, and health centers.  Finally, they must offer broadband to all businesses and residences in their service area, and provide ten publicly available computers for at least two years.  These requirements are listed under current rules for broadband grants and may or may not apply to ARRA grants. 
• RUS applications have been prioritized based on how rural an area may be (40% of an application’s score), economic need in the proposed area (30% of the score), and the benefits a community may receive if provided with broadband access (30% of the score). (Source: Dow Lohnes)
• While RUS already has established rules and processes, it is worth mentioning that the USDA may adjust some of its rules for ARRA funding. The USDA is encouraging all interested parties to submit feedback through the NTIA web site.