[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4947 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4947
To improve infrastructure in small towns and rural areas.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2018
Ms. Esty of Connecticut (for herself, Mr. Katko, Mr. Faso, and Mr.
Welch) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve infrastructure in small towns and rural areas.
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 Development and
Partnerships Act''.
SEC. 2. RURAL PARTNERSHIPS OFFICE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of
Agriculture a Rural Partnerships Office (in this section referred to as
the ``Office'').
(b) Head of Office.--The Office shall be headed by a Director
appointed by the President.
(c) Direct Reporting to Secretary of Agriculture.--The Director
shall report directly to the Secretary of Agriculture (in this section
referred to as the ``Secretary'').
(d) Duties.--The Secretary, through the Rural Partnerships Office,
shall do the following:
(1) Rural partners program.--Establish and run a program to
provide technical assistance to improve delivery, financing,
operations, and maintenance of rural infrastructure, as
follows:
(A) Through a competitive process, select not more
than 5 organizations to serve as ``on-call'' providers
of on-site technical assistance to rural communities.
(B) Solicit applications from rural communities for
technical assistance with infrastructure planning,
asset management, life-cycle accounting, project
delivery, financing, regional coordination, and project
oversight.
(C) Require an application for technical assistance
from the program to include only a statement of the
type of assistance requested, and of how the applicant
believes the assistance would improve rural
infrastructure, and any other information necessary to
demonstrate the ability of the rural community to
participate in the program.
(D) Involve the Rural Liaison in each relevant
Federal agency in the review of each application for
technical assistance from the program.
(E) Assign a technical assistance team to each
applicant for technical assistance from the program
whose application is approved by the Secretary, which
shall provide the assistance for a period of not more
than 2 years, with the goal that technical assistance
personnel will be on-site in the rural community for a
significant portion of that period, and require the
team to submit to the Secretary and the Rural Liaison
in each relevant Federal agency quarterly reports which
summarize the activities of, and progress made by, the
team during the quarter, including an accounting of for
how much time the team spent in the community.
(F) Coordinate the program with the Rural Water and
Wastewater Circuit Rider Program carried out under
section 306(a)(22) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(22)), technical
assistance provided out under section 1442 of the Safe
Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-1), the program for
assistance for capacity building for community
development and affordable housing under section 4 of
the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 9816
note), and any other activities under which technical
assistance may be provided so as to affect rural
infrastructure, in order to avoid duplication of
effort.
(2) Best practices clearinghouse.--Establish an online
clearinghouse of best practices specifically targeted to rural
infrastructure planning, asset management, life-cycle
accounting, project delivery, funding and financing, regional
coordination, and project oversight, including resources
prepared by Federal agencies and other sources.
(3) Grants.--Make grants to assist rural communities in
developing cost-effective infrastructure projects, with
particular focus on regionally coordinated or bundled projects,
and require an application for such a grant to include only
such documentation as is necessary to demonstrate the potential
for a viable project, and to be submitted by the State, local,
or regional governmental entity with primary responsibility for
the project.
(4) Coordination of rural liasions.--Facilitate
coordination of the Rural Liaisons to develop, to the extent
practical, common guidelines for rural funding or financing
programs at the various Federal agencies, as well as to
identify opportunities to work across agencies to support rural
infrastructure needs.
(5) Annual reports.--Within 60 days after the end of each
fiscal year, publish an annual report on the activities of the
Office during the preceding fiscal year, including the status
of activities funded or assisted under the technical assistance
program, and submit a copy of the report to the Committee on
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.
SEC. 3. RURAL LIAISONS.
(a) Designation in Each Federal Agency.--The head of each Federal
agency that provides financial assistance to a rural community for an
activity related to rural infrastructure, shall designate a Rural
Liaison in the agency.
(b) Duties.--The Rural Liaison in a Federal agency shall do the
following:
(1) Review regulations of, guidance provided by, and
procedures of the agency to identify any that present a
hardship for a rural community, and recommend ways to alleviate
the hardship.
(2) Participate in the review of applications referred to
in section 2(d)(1)(C).
(3) Serve as an ombudsperson for any rural community to
which the agency is providing financial assistance, to help
address issues and resolve problems.
(4) Meet regularly with other Rural Liaisons to coordinate
efforts and identify ways to work together to support rural
infrastructure needs.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Relevant federal agency.--The term ``relevant Federal
agency'' means, with respect to an application for technical
assistance, each Federal agency that provides financial
assistance to a rural community for an activity related to
rural infrastructure with respect to which the technical
assistance is sought.
(2) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' means any area
located outside an urbanized area (as defined by the Bureau of
the Census) with a population of 50,000 or more.
(3) Rural community.--The term ``rural community'' means
any community located in a rural area.
(4) Rural infrastructure.--The term ``rural
infrastructure'' means surface, maritime, air transportation,
water, wastewater, broadband, and energy facilities and
operations, and public buildings, including schools, in a rural
area.
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