Broadband Initiatives Program - NOFA - 2nd round

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices

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interconnection requirements.200 In
opposition, some commenters request that
the requirements be applied to every
applicant, regardless of the nature of the
entity.201
Commenters express concern that NTIA’s
requirements would not mirror the rules that
are ultimately adopted in the Federal
Communications Commission’s (FCC)
ongoing rulemaking proceeding regarding a
Free and Open Internet.202 These
commenters argue that if the requirements
applicable to BTOP applicants are
inconsistent with those faced by other service
providers, then these additional
nondiscrimination obligations will prove
burdensome or duplicative for broadband
service providers receiving grant funds.203
Commenters suggest that NTIA declare a
sunset date for these requirements either
when the FCC finalizes its network neutrality
rules or at another reasonably foreseeable
date.204 Commenters also recommend that
NTIA declare that compliance with the FCC
rules would be sufficient to meet the
requirements of BTOP.205
A few commenters oppose the First
NOFA’s nondiscrimination and
interconnection requirements altogether.206
These commenters argue that the scope of
these requirements chilled participation in
the Program during the initial round of
funding 207 and that the requirements
conflicted with a private company’s ability to
manage its own network.208 Commenters also
argue that the current approach to the
requirements would pose an oversight
problem for NTIA and RUS and recommend
that compliance be left up to the grant
recipients.209
A few commenters also recommend that
NTIA clarify its interconnection
requirements in order to minimize cost and
controversy.210 These commenters are
especially concerned that the interconnection
and nondiscrimination rules during the
initial round of funding were unclear as
applied to contractors or subcontractors.211
NTIA agrees with commenters that support
maintaining the consistency of the
interconnection and nondiscrimination
200 See, e.g., Merit Networks at 9 (suggesting a
balancing test when applying the
nondiscrimination and interconnection
requirements).
201 See, e.g., Org. for the Promotion &
Advancement of Small Telecomms. Companies at
7–8; Indep. Tel. and Telecomms. Alliance at 10.
202 See, e.g., ADTRAN at 4–5; Telecomms. Indus.
Ass’n at 18; Indep. Tel. and Telecomms. Alliance
at 10; Open Range Commc’ns at 10–11; U.S.
Telecom at 32.
203 See, e.g., ADTRAN at 2; Telecomms. Indus.
Ass’n at 18; U.S. Telecom at 31–33.
204 See, e.g., Indep. Tel. and Telecomms. Alliance
at 10; Open Range Commc’ns at 10–11; ADTRAN
at 4–5.
205 See, e.g., ADTRAN at 4–5.
206 See, e.g., AT&T at 17–18; State of S.D. at 1;
AzulStar at 4.
207 See, e.g., AT&T at 17–18.
208 See, e.g., State of S.D. at 1; AzulStar at 4.
209 See, e.g., AT&T at 18.
210 See, e.g., Stratum Broadband at 24; Alaska
Commc’ns Sys. at 7–8; AT&T at 18–19; U.S.
Telecom at 33–34; CONXX at 16.
211 Id.

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requirements across the two rounds of
funding. Leaving the requirements
unchanged from the initial round of funding
will help to facilitate the administration of
the grants awarded during the first and
second rounds and avoid imposing differing
nondiscrimination and interconnection
standards on recipients. Accordingly, NTIA
has decided against making any significant
revisions to this section. Any changes made
to this section from the First NOFA are
intended only to clarify and not change the
applicants’ obligations.
Sale of Project Assets
Section IX.C.2 of the NOFA generally
prohibits the sale or lease of award-funded
broadband facilities, unless the sale or lease
meets certain conditions. Specifically, the
agencies may approve a sale or lease if it is
for adequate consideration, the purchaser
agrees to fulfill the terms and conditions
relating to the project, and either the
applicant includes the proposed sale or lease
in its application as part of its original
request for grant funds or the agencies waive
this provision for any sale or lease occurring
after the tenth year from the date the grant,
loan, or loan/grant award is issued.212 Some
stakeholders have suggested that this ‘‘tenyear holding rule’’ is overly restrictive and is
a barrier to participation in BIP and BTOP.213
The agencies invited public comment on
whether and how this section should be
revised to adopt a more flexible approach
toward awardee mergers, consistent with
USDA and DOC regulations, while still
ensuring that awardees are not receiving
excessive profit from the sale of awardfunded assets.214
The clear majority of forty-seven parties
who filed comments on the NOFA’s
conditions on the post-award sale or lease of
project assets support a relaxation of these
conditions.215 Only a few commenters
support retention of the rules.216 Most
commenters agree that the prohibitions on
the sale or lease of project facilities are
unreasonably broad because they fail to
provide flexibility for the government to
consent to a reasonable lease or sale during
the first ten years. One commenter voices a
concern shared by many that the conditions
restricting post-award sales or leases may
inhibit obtaining funding for the project,
explaining that ‘‘the 10-year prohibition on
the sale of the funded assets also seems to
cause a ‘chilling effect’ in terms of capital
raising by applicants and may have caused
many potential broadband providers to avoid
BIP/BTOP entirely.’’ 217
Commenters supporting greater flexibility
regarding the sale of assets recommend the
212 See

74 FR at 58944.
e.g., KeyOn Commc’ns at 3; Commc’ns
Finance Ass’n at 1.
214 See 74 FR at 58944.
215 See, e.g., Cricket Commc’ns at 12; Stratum
Broadband at 12; Flow Mobile at 15.
216 Eng’g Ass’n, Inc. at 4; E. Shore of Va.
Broadband Auth. at 5; Canby Telecom at 1; MidRivers Commc’ns at 10.
217 See, e.g., KeyOn Commc’ns at 3; E. Shore of
Va. Broadband Auth. at 5; Native Broadband
Satellite at 8; Alaska Commc’ns Sys. at 8; Cricket
Commc’ns at 12; Cal. Broadband Coop. at 5.
213 See,

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following revisions: The second NOFA
should allow the government to approve the
sale or lease of project assets on a case-bycase basis; 218 the agencies should remove the
10-year limit and focus on unjust
enrichment; 219 clarify that the project assets
mean only those assets which are purchased
directly from grant funds awarded and not
* * * equipment or services purchased
* * * with ‘‘matching funds;’’ 220 relax rules
so that the agencies may approve sales, ‘‘as
long as the successor agrees to the obligations
of the program;’’ 221 allow for accelerated
depreciation of assets; 222 restrictions should
not apply to IRUs or leases to research and
education networks; 223 and modify the
policy to accommodate the sale or lease to
accommodate the normal five-year
replacement cycle of broadband
equipment.224
NTIA agrees with the majority of
commenters proposing to relax restrictions
on the post-award sale or lease of project
assets and revises this section accordingly.
As a result, awardees may petition for a
waiver authorizing the sale or lease of assets
at any time during the life of the awardfunded facilities and shall include
supporting documentation and justification
regarding why the petition should be granted.
Dated: January 15, 2010.
Lawrence E. Strickling,
Assistant Secretary for Communications and
Information.
[FR Doc. 2010–1097 Filed 1–19–10; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
RIN 0572–ZA01

Broadband Initiatives Program
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service,
Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability
(NOFA) and solicitation of applications.
SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service
(RUS) announces its general policy and
application procedures for the second
round of funding under the broadband
initiatives (the Second Round NOFA)
established pursuant to the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Recovery Act) for the Broadband
Initiatives Program (BIP) which
provides loans, grants, and loan/grant
combinations to facilitate broadband
deployment in rural areas. In facilitating
the expansion of broadband
218 See,

e.g., Rural Broadband Now at 9.
e.g., U.S. Telecom at 37–38.
220 See, e.g., Dixie Tech. Funding Agency at 15.
221 See, e.g., Monte R Lee & Co. at 8.
222 See, e.g., Senior Broadband/Internet Adoption
Collaborative at 10.
223 See, e.g., Internet2 at 26–27.
224 See, e.g., TransWorld Network at 5.
219 See,

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices
communications services and
infrastructure, BIP will advance the
objectives of the Recovery Act by
spurring job creation and the economy
and by building technological
infrastructure that will fuel long-term
economic growth and opportunity.
DATES: Applications will be accepted for
Last Mile and Middle Mile projects from
February 16, 2010 at 8 a.m. Eastern
Time (ET) until March 15, 2010 at 5
p.m. ET. The application window for
Satellite, Technical Assistance, and
Rural Library Broadband Projects will
be announced in a separate request for
proposal in the Federal Register.
Application Submission: The
application packages for electronic
submissions will be available at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov.
Electronic submissions: Electronic
submissions of applications will allow
for the expeditious review of an
Applicant’s proposal, consistent with
the goals of the Recovery Act. As a
result, all Applicants for Last Mile,
Middle Mile, and Satellite projects must
file their application electronically.
Electronic applications for Last Mile
and Middle Mile projects must be
submitted by 5 p.m. ET on March 15,
2010. The government electronic
application system will provide a date
and time stamped confirmation number
that will serve as proof of submission.
Only applications for Technical
Assistance and Rural Library Broadband
grants will be submitted in paper form.
Paper applications for Technical
Assistance and Rural Library Broadband
grants will be available at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov once the
request for proposals has been
published. Applicants filing paper
copies should submit one original and
one copy of the application for efficient
processing.
Proof of Mailing. Paper applications
for Technical Assistance and Rural
Library Broadband grants must include
proof of mailing consisting of one of the
following: (i) A legibly dated U.S. Postal
Service postmark. Please note that the
U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly
provide a dated postmark. Before
relying on this method, Applicants
should check with their local post
office; (ii) a legible mail receipt with the
date of mailing stamped by the U.S.
Postal Service; or (iii) a dated shipping
label, invoice, or receipt from a
commercial carrier. Neither of the
following will be accepted as proof of
mailing: a private metered postmark;
nor a mail receipt that is not dated by
the U.S. Postal Service.
Mailing Address. Completed
applications must be mailed, shipped,

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or sent overnight express to: Broadband
Initiatives Program, Rural Utilities
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Stop
1599, Room 2868, Washington, DC
20250.
Or hand-delivered to: Broadband
Initiatives Program Rural Utilities
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room
2868 Washington, DC 20250.
Contact Information: For general
inquiries, contact David J. Villano,
Assistant Administrator
Telecommunications Program, Rural
Utilities Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), e-mail:
[email protected],
telephone:(877) 508–8364. For inquiries
regarding BIP compliance requirements,
including applicable Federal rules and
regulations protecting against fraud,
waste and abuse, contact
[email protected]. You may
obtain additional information regarding
applications for BIP via the Internet at
http://www.broadbandusa.gov.
Authority: This notice is issued pursuant
to the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009, Public Law 111–5, 123 Stat. 115
(2009) and the Rural Electrification Act of
1936, 7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: Broadband
Initiatives Program (BIP)—10.787.
Additional Items in Supplementary
Information
I. Overview: Describes the purposes of the
Recovery Act and the changes in BIP from
the First Round NOFA.
II. Definitions: Sets forth the key statutory
terms and other terms.
III. Funding Opportunity Description:
Describes funding categories, requirements,
and the amount of funds available for each
category.
IV. Eligibility Information: Establishes
eligibility criteria, eligibility factors, eligible
and ineligible costs, and other eligibility
requirements.
V. Application and Submission
Information: Provides information regarding
how to apply, application materials, and the
application process.
VI. Application Evaluation Criteria:
Establishes the evaluation criteria for
application review.
VII. Waiver for Grants Capped at (75%) of
Award for Last Mile and Middle Mile
Projects: Establishes waiver procedures for
larger grant component.
VIII. Award Administration Information:
Provides award notice information,
administrative and national policy
requirements, terms and conditions, and
other reporting requirements for award
recipients.
IX. Other Information: Sets forth guidance
on funding, compliance with various laws,

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confidentiality, discretionary awards, and
authorized signatures.

I. Overview
A. Background
On February 17, 2009, President
Obama signed the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery
Act) into law.1 The essential goal of the
Recovery Act is to provide a ‘‘direct
fiscal boost to help lift our Nation from
the greatest economic crisis in our
lifetimes and lay the foundation for
future growth.’’ 2 Accordingly, the
Recovery Act identifies five overall
purposes: (1) To preserve and create
jobs and promote economic recovery; (2)
to assist those most impacted by the
recession; (3) to provide investments
needed to increase economic efficiency
by spurring technological advances in
science and health; (4) to invest in
transportation, environmental
protection, and other infrastructure that
will provide long-term economic
benefits; and (5) to stabilize state and
local government budgets.3 The
Recovery Act further instructs the
President and the heads of Federal
departments and agencies to manage
and expend Recovery Act funds to
achieve these five purposes,
‘‘commencing expenditures and
activities as quickly as possible
consistent with prudent management.’’ 4
Consistent with the purposes
described above, the Recovery Act
provided RUS with $2.5 billion to
expand access to broadband services in
rural America. The Recovery Act
expanded RUS’ existing authority to
make loans and provided new authority
to make grants for the purpose of
facilitating broadband deployment in
rural communities. The Recovery Act
specifically made Federal assistance
available for grants and loans to
enhance service in areas which are at
least 75 percent rural and ‘‘without
sufficient access to high speed
broadband service to facilitate rural
economic development.’’
On July 9, 2009, RUS and the National
Telecommunication Information
Administration (NTIA) issued a joint
Notice of Funds Availability at 74 FR
33104 governing the first round of
Recovery Act broadband funding under
BIP and NTIA’s Broadband Technology
Opportunity Program (BTOP). Under
this first round Notice (the First Round
1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, Public Law 111–5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009).
2 President Obama, Statement on Signing the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Feb. 17, 2009).
3 Recovery Act sec. 3(a), 123 Stat. at 115–16.
4 See id. § 3(b), 123 Stat. at 116.

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices

NOFA), RUS made approximately
$2,400,000,000 in funding available for
BIP. Approximately 2,200 applications
seeking $28 billion in Federal financial
assistance were submitted in response
to the First Round NOFA.
The First Round NOFA opened BIP to
a wider range of Applicants and projects
than the RUS’ traditional programs. This
enabled RUS to get a better
understanding of the type of
applications available to meet the need
for broadband services in rural areas.
With that experience, RUS, working in
conjunction with NTIA’s BTOP, is
focusing the second round funding on
rural economic development in addition
to continuing the effort of the First
Round NOFA to reach unserved and
underserved areas. RUS has qualified
for funding any rural area that does not
have broadband service at the rate of 5
Megabits/second (Mbps) (upstream and
downstream combined) in at least 50
percent of its area. RUS has determined
that rural areas without service at 5
Mbps (upstream and downstream
combined) lack high speed broadband
service sufficient to facilitate rural
economic development as required by
the Recovery Act.
In this Second Round NOFA, RUS
and NTIA have determined that the best
use of limited funding is to have RUS
and NTIA focus on funding different
aspects of broadband infrastructure.
RUS will concentrate on funding Last
Mile projects. With decades of
experience of financing
telecommunications infrastructure in
rural America, RUS is uniquely
equipped to focus on Last Mile rural
projects. However, it is still important
for RUS to continue funding certain
Middle Mile projects to ensure all
proposed rural economic development
strategies incorporating broadband
technology are given full consideration
by an Agency whose mission is rural
development. As a result, RUS will still
consider funding Middle Mile projects,
but strongly encourages such projects
only be undertaken by current RUS loan
or grant recipients, given the complexity
of such projects, the amount of time to
close these deals with respect to RUS’
statutory lien on project assets and any
other debt or equity holders, and the
limited timeframe available before
Recovery Act funds expire.
Additionally, NTIA has proposed in its
second NOFA a Comprehensive
Communities Infrastructure initiative
that will fund Middle Mile
infrastructure projects that include
connections to community anchor
institutions. As a result, RUS highly
recommends that all other Middle Mile
applicants consider applying to BTOP.

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Based on these considerations and in
consideration of the multitude of
comments filed in response to the
Request for Information released on
November 10, 2009, at 74 FR 58940,
RUS has determined to make the
following changes:
B. Application Changes From the First
Round NOFA
1. Funding Categories
a. Retained and Eliminated Categories
In the First Round NOFA, RUS made
funds available for three types of
projects: Last Mile, Middle Mile and
Last Mile Remote. This NOFA has
retained funding for Last Mile projects
and Middle Mile Projects, and
eliminated the funding category for Last
Mile Remote projects.
b. New Categories
It is essential to make every effort in
this NOFA to reach unserved premises.
A separate Satellite Project category has
been established to reach premises left
unserved by other technologies.
Lastly, two funding purposes, Rural
Library Broadband and Technical
Assistance, have been added to allow
Awardees the opportunity to adjust
projects to include service to rural
libraries and participation with rural
economic development strategies.
2. Modification of Eligible Service Areas
In this Second Round of funding RUS
has focused its efforts on rural economic
development in addition to continuing
to reach unserved rural areas. RUS has
qualified for funding any rural area in
which at least 50 percent of the
premises in the area do not have access
to broadband service at the rate of 5
Mbps (upstream and downstream
combined). RUS has determined that
these areas lack high speed broadband
service sufficient to facilitate rural
economic development as required by
the Recovery Act. Service offerings must
still be within proposed funded service
areas which are at least 75 percent rural
as required by the Recovery Act.
3. Change in Loan/Grant Award
Allocation
The First Round NOFA provided that
all successful applications would
receive an award comprised of 50
percent loan and 50 percent grant (50/
50 loan/grant combination), except for
rural remote projects which could
receive up to 100 percent grant funding.
Rural remote areas were defined as
those unserved 100 percent rural areas
which were located 50 miles or more
from non-rural areas. This Second
Round NOFA, however, combines rural

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remote and rural non-remote funding
and therefore has a standard award of
75/25 grant/loan combination. It is
important to note that applicants
requesting a larger loan component will
be awarded more points in the scoring
system and may have a greater
likelihood of being funded. Applicants
may request more than a 75 percent
grant component by submitting a waiver
request to the Administrator, which
demonstrates their need for additional
grant funding in accordance with the
requirements of this Second Round
NOFA. The waiver request will be
addressed at the time any award is
offered. The Administrator has the
authority to award grants up to 100
percent.
4. No Joint RUS/NTIA Application
Because the Recovery Act prohibits a
project from receiving funding from
NTIA in areas where RUS has funded a
project, the first NOFA required
Applicants to submit infrastructure
applications consisting of proposed
funded service areas which were at least
75 percent rural to RUS to be considered
under BIP, with the option of additional
consideration under BTOP. The first
NOFA provided that NTIA would not
fund such an application unless RUS
had declined to fund it. In response to
comments from stakeholders during the
initial round of funding, the agencies’
Request For Information invited public
comment on whether the agencies
should continue to require that these
kinds of rural infrastructure
applications be submitted to RUS first
or whether the agencies should permit
Applicants to file rural applications
directly to NTIA without also having to
submit them to RUS.5
The majority of commenters agree that
rural Applicants should be permitted to
apply directly to NTIA for BTOP grants
without being required to first apply to
RUS for BIP loans or grants.6 The most
widely cited rationale was the burden
imposed on Applicants to provide the
additional financial analysis required by
the RUS loan application for rural
projects that do not qualify as remote
and unserved or are not viable with only
50 percent grant funding.7 Commenters
also cite the inefficiency of requiring
RUS to review proposals that are not
viable for BIP.8
A majority of commenters favor the
continued use of a common BIP–BTOP
See 74 FR at 58941.
See, e.g., Massachusetts Executive Office of
Housing and Economic Development at 3–4;
American Library Association at 7.
7 See, e.g., TCA at 1–2 (Nov. 30, 2009).
8 See, e.g., XO Communications at 2 (Nov. 30,
2009); TCA at 1–2.
5
6

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application to avoid the duplicative
effort of completing multiple
applications.9 A few of these
commenters favor maintaining the
initial round of funding’s BIP-first rule
requiring concurrent joint applications
and reserving to RUS the first option to
fund eligible proposals.10 The chief
benefit adduced in support of this
position is RUS’ expertise in evaluating
rural applications so as to avoid
redundant awards to ‘‘active’’ RUS
borrowers.11 Commenters further
recommend that the agencies implement
a ‘‘check box’’ by which an Applicant
may request immediate consideration by
NTIA because its rural project requires
more than a 50 percent grant to be
viable or seeks to address one of NTIA’s
broadband objectives.12 They also
recommend allowing Applicants to
produce only one financial analysis to
demonstrate an ability to support either
a 50 percent contribution (as required
for BIP) or a 20 percent contribution (as
required for BTOP) to a project.13
RUS and NTIA agree with the
majority of commenters who argue that
the ‘‘BIP-first’’ requirement of the initial
funding round added an additional
unnecessary burden for many
Applicants. In this funding round, RUS
and NTIA conclude that Applicants that
are eligible for both BIP and BTOP
funding may elect to apply directly to
either NTIA for BTOP grants or RUS for
BIP loans or loan/grants. However, both
agencies strongly recommend that
current RUS loan or grant recipients
apply to BIP. Applicants may not apply
to both agencies for the same grant
project or for a substantially similar
project.
RUS believes that the elimination of
joint applications will significantly
streamline RUS’ internal review of
applications. Moreover, the joint
application process was burdensome on
the Applicants. Eliminating this option
is critical to ensuring that RUS is able
to carry out its review in a timely
manner, and that applications will be
funded before the statutory deadline of
September 30, 2010.
9 See, e.g., Texas Statewide Telephone
Cooperative at 5 (Nov. 25, 2009).
10 See, e.g., Vantage Point Solutions at 5–7; Rural
Community Assistance Partnership at 2 (Nov. 19,
2009); RVW Inc. at 2; Mid-Rivers Communications
at 6–7 (Dec. 1, 2009); South Dakota
Telecommunications Association at 5, 11 (Nov. 30,
2009).
11 See, e.g., Mid-Rivers Communications at 6.
12 See, e.g., National Rural Telecommunications
Cooperative and DigitalBridge Communications
Corp. at 6–7 (Nov. 30, 2009).
13 See, e.g., John Staurulakis, Inc. at 18; TCA at
1–2.

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5. Elimination of Two-Step Application
Process
The first round NOFA provided for a
two-step application process. Under this
process, the bulk of the materials
required from the Applicant were
sought with the application. Once this
material was evaluated, RUS made an
initial determination as to whether the
application would likely be funded. If
so, the application was moved into a
second review process in which
additional information was requested
from the Applicant. The Applicant was
given an additional 30 days to provide
it.
Although commenters generally had
few problems with the two-step review
process, several commenters argued
persuasively that doing away with the
two-step review process in favor of a
simplified one-step process would
streamline the application process.
After an evaluation of the first round
applications and consideration of the
comments received, RUS determined
that a one-step application process will
best streamline BIP. Removal of the
second step simplifies the application
process, and adds valuable time to both
the application window and the Agency
review process. This clearly promotes
the submission of more solid
applications.

A majority of the commenters
advocate abandoning Census blocks in
favor of other means of specifying
proposed funded service areas.14
Commenting municipalities and cities
unanimously express their
dissatisfaction with the use of Census
block data, citing it as a cumbersome
method of reporting proposed funded
service area designations.15 Multiple
commenters offer zip codes, city
boundaries, or even latitude and
longitude coordinates as less
burdensome alternatives for
Applicants.16 Several commenters
propose using Census tract data as a less
burdensome alternative to census block
data, in part because broadband service
providers are already required to report
their subscriber and demographic
information according to census tracts
in order to file FCC Form 477.17
For the Second Round NOFA, RUS
has eliminated census block reporting.
This requirement created unnecessary
problems in the application process.
Moreover, the present state of the
mapping tool already identifies the
affected census blocks as the Applicant
draws its service territory. The
elimination of this burden will allow
Applicants to focus more time on the
technical issues and feasibility of their
application.

6. Cost Effectiveness/Reasonableness
To effectively leverage Recovery Act
broadband funds for last mile projects,
RUS will limit Federal assistance to no
more than $10,000 per premises passed,
unless a waiver is requested from the
Administrator. The Administrator will
consider such requests based on
whether the application provides
assistance to a significant number of
critical community facilities, supports a
recognized rural regional development
plan, supports public safety projects,
enhances broadband service to rural
libraries, supports persistent poverty
counties or substantially unserved areas,
including Indian country. If the waiver
request is denied, any award may be
made contingent on improving cost
effectiveness, or the application may be
placed in the second review process and
the Applicant will have an opportunity
to revise its proposal.

8. Elimination of Paper Applications for
Last Mile and Middle Mile Projects
The First Round NOFA required that
most applications for BIP be filed
electronically. However, it provided an
exception for certain Applicants to file
their applications on paper.18 For the
Second Round NOFA, RUS has
eliminated paper applications for Last
Mile and Middle Mile projects. RUS did
not receive many paper applications in
round one. Nevertheless, since paper
applications have to be manually input
into the electronic application system,
their processing considerably slowed

7. Elimination of Census Block
Reporting
The First Round NOFA required that
Applicants report their proposed funded
service territories on a census block
basis. It was thought that this level of
granularity was necessary to evaluate
applications; however, reporting at the
census block level imposed a significant
burden on Applicants.

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14 See, e.g., NCTH-Cleartalk at 1 (Nov. 21, 2009);
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at 4; Satellite
Industry Association at 4 (Nov. 30, 2009); New
America Foundation at 21 (Nov. 30, 2009).
15 See, e.g., Montgomery Co. at 2 (Nov. 30, 2009);
Oakland Co. at 1 (Nov. 30, 2009); City of New York
at 2; City of San Francisco at 3 (Nov. 30, 2009).
16 See, e.g., Open Range Communications at 4
(Nov. 30, 2009); Center of Social Inclusion at 2;
Harris Corp at iii (Nov. 30, 2009).
17 See, e.g., John Staurulakis, Inc. at 14 (Nov. 30,
2009); Rural Broadband Corp. at 7.
18 Applicants requesting less than $1 million in
assistance (in the form of grants, loans, or a
combination of grants and loans) were allowed to
file their applications in a paper format for the first
round NOFA, if filing electronically would impose
a hardship on the Applicants. Applicants whose
authorized representatives were individuals with
disabilities were also allowed to file their
applications in a paper format irrespective of the
funding size of their request.

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RUS’ application review process and
diverted limited resources. Since Last
Mile, Middle Mile, and Satellite projects
are anticipated to be the most lengthy
and complex applications, as well as
constituting the largest pool of
applications, RUS now requires that
they be submitted in electronic form. A
major justification identified in the First
Round NOFA for allowing the
submission of paper applications
concerned the need to provide an
alternative means of submitting
applications by individuals with
disabilities. RUS has determined that
the electronic application intake system
that will be used during the second
round of funding complies with the
requirements of the Rehabilitation Act.
9. Reconsideration of Applications
a. Second Review
If RUS expects to have excess funding
capacity in the Second Round NOFA,
the RUS Administrator may permit
Applicants to adjust applications for
reconsideration that would otherwise
not be funded. RUS will reconsider only
such applications which can be
updated, reviewed and awarded funds
before the expiration of Recovery Act
funding, contain specific and limited
adjustments, and promote significant
economic rural development, as
determined by the Administrator. Those
applications that are considered for
Second Review will not be permitted to
redo the application, but only provide
the supplemental information the
Agency has requested. This will require
a very stringent timeline for the
Applicant and RUS. Any application
that is processed under this procedure
will be funded only after all properly
submitted applications have been
funded and will be subject to all
applicable requirements under this
NOFA.

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b. Transferability
Under this NOFA, RUS will accept
applications from NTIA that it
determines it will not fund, but that
may be consistent with RUS’ BIP
requirements and priorities. RUS will
handle such applications, if timely
received from NTIA, under its Second
Review process outlined in this NOFA.
10. Administrator’s Discretion
RUS has determined that in the
Second Round NOFA, the
Administrator will have the opportunity
to exercise discretion in the application
evaluation process in several ways to
ensure the best mix of approved
applications consistent with the
purposes of BIP. One of the ways to
exercise such discretion is for the

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Administrator to have the ability to
separately award priority points and
larger grant components to applications
that provide significant assistance to
critical community facilities (including
libraries), promote rural economic
development, support persistent poverty
counties, serve chronically underserved
areas, demonstrate cost effectiveness,
offer low-cost service options, and/or
provide for geographic diversity.
II. Definitions
The terms and conditions provided in
this NOFA are applicable to and for
purposes of this NOFA only. Unless
otherwise provided in the award
documents, all financial terms not
defined herein shall have the meaning
as defined by Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles.
Administrator means the RUS
Administrator, or the Administrator’s
designee.
Applicant means an entity requesting
an award under this NOFA, and where
applicable, the First Round NOFA.
Award documents mean, as
applicable, the grant documents, loan
documents, or loan/grant combination
documents.
Award means a grant, loan, or loan/
grant combination made under this
NOFA.
Awardee means a grantee, borrower,
or borrower/grantee under this NOFA.
BIP means the Broadband Initiatives
Program, administered by the RUS,
under the Recovery Act.
Broadband means providing two-way
data transmission with advertised
speeds of at least 768 kilobits per
second (kbps) downstream and at least
200 kbps upstream to end users, or
providing sufficient capacity in a
middle mile project to support the
provision of broadband service to end
users.
Build-out means the construction or
improvement of facilities and
equipment as specified in an
Applicant’s application.
CALEA means the Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, 47
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.
Composite economic life means the
weighted (by dollar amount of each
class of facility) average economic life of
all classes of facilities financed under
this NOFA.
Critical community facilities means
public facilities that provide community
services essential for supporting the
safety, health, and well-being of
residents, including, but not limited to,
emergency response and other public
safety activities, hospitals and clinics,
libraries and schools.

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Current ratio means the current assets
divided by the current liabilities.
Economic life means the estimated
useful service life of an asset as
determined by RUS.
Forecast period means the time period
used by RUS to determine if an
application is financially feasible.
Financial feasibility of an application is
based on five-year projections.
GAAP means generally accepted
accounting principles.
Grant agreement means the agreement
between RUS and the Awardee for
grants awarded under this NOFA,
including any amendments thereto,
available for review at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov.
Grant documents mean the grant
agreement and security documents
between the RUS and the Awardee and
any associated documents pertaining to
the grant.
Grant funds mean Federal funds
provided pursuant to a grant made
under this NOFA.
High Speed Access means high speed
broadband service to facilitate rural
economic development, or service at the
rate of at least 5 Mbps (upstream and
downstream combined).
Interconnection Point means the
termination point of a Middle Mile
project.
Last Mile project means any terrestrial
infrastructure project the predominant
purpose of which is to provide
broadband service to end users or enduser devices (including households,
businesses, public safety entities, and
critical community facilities).
Loan means any loan made under this
NOFA.
Loan contract means the loan
agreement between RUS and the
Awardee, including all amendments
thereto, available for review at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov.
Loan documents mean the loan
contract, note(s), and security
documents between the Awardee and
RUS and any associated documents
pertaining to the loan.
Loan/grant means any loan/grant
combination made under this NOFA.
Loan/grant contract means the loan/
grant contract between RUS and the
Awardee, including all amendments
thereto available at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov.
Loan/grant documents mean the loan/
grant contract, note(s), and security
documents between the Awardee and
RUS and any associated documents
pertaining to the loan/grant.
Middle Mile project means any
broadband infrastructure project the
predominant purpose of which is to
provide interoffice transport, backhaul,

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices
internet connectivity, or special access
(including point-to-point projects),
which furthers rural economic
development, submitted in an
application or co-application.
Pre-application expense means any
reasonable expense incurred after the
release of this NOFA to prepare an
application or to respond to RUS
inquiries about the application,
including engineering costs and
accountant/consultant fees.
Proposed funded service area means,
for Last Mile projects, the contiguous
area (either in all or part of an existing
service area or a new service area)
where the Applicant is requesting funds
to provide broadband service pursuant
to this NOFA. An Applicant may
propose to serve more than one
proposed funded service area. For
Middle Mile projects, the proposed
funded service area shall be the
locations of the proposed
interconnection points.
RE Act means the ‘‘Rural
Electrification Act of 1936,’’ as amended
(7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.).
Recovery Act means the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,
Public Law 111–5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009).
Rural area means any area, as
confirmed by the latest decennial
census of the Bureau of the Census,
which is not located within: (1) a city,
town, or incorporated area that has a
population of greater than 20,000
inhabitants; or (2) an urbanized area
contiguous and adjacent to a city or
town that has a population of greater
than 50,000 inhabitants. For purposes of
the definition of rural area, an urbanized
area means a densely populated
territory as defined in the latest
decennial census of the Bureau of the
Census.
Rural Library means a library in a
rural area.
RUS Accounting Requirements shall
mean compliance with U.S. GAAP,
acceptable to RUS, as well as
compliance with the requirements of the
applicable regulations: 7 CFR 3015,
3016, or 3019 (for BIP Awardees in
these CFRs the term grant recipient shall
also mean loan recipient and loan/grant
recipient) or the system of accounting
prescribed by RUS Bulletin 1770B–1.
Satellite Project means any project to
provide satellite broadband service to
unserved rural premises (including
households, businesses, public safety
entities, and critical community
facilities), either by funding customerpremises equipment, terrestrial
equipment, and/or discounted
broadband service for at least one year.
Security document means any
mortgage, deed of trust, security

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agreement, financing statement, or other
document that RUS determines is
necessary to perfect its interest in the
security for a loan, grant, or loan/grant.
Service area means the area,
including the proposed funded service
area, where the Applicant offers or
intends to offer any service.
TIER means times interest earned
ratio. TIER is the ratio of an Applicant’s
net income (after taxes) plus (adding
back) interest expense, all divided by
interest expense (existing and any new
interest expense including the interest
expense associated with the proposed
loan).
Unserved area means a service area
with no access to facilities-based,
terrestrial broadband service, either
fixed or mobile, at the minimum
broadband transmission speed (set forth
in the definition of broadband in this
section). A premises has access to
broadband service if it can readily
subscribe to that service upon request.
III. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Funding Categories
1. Last Mile Projects
Applications for Last Mile projects
must predominantly provide broadband
service directly to the premises or to
end users. Only those applications
whose proposed funded service area
contains 75 percent or more rural areas,
within which not more than 50 percent
of the premises in the rural areas have
High Speed Access will be considered
for funding. The standard award is a
grant/loan combination of 75 percent
grant and 25 percent loan. Applicants
may request a waiver for more than 75
percent grant in accordance with
Section VII of this NOFA, or may
request a greater percentage of loan.
2. Middle Mile Projects
RUS strongly encourages applications
for Middle Mile projects from current
RUS loan and grant recipients. Such
projects are complex and more difficult
to close, especially given the limited
timeframe available before Recovery Act
funds expire.
Applicants must propose that at least
75 percent of the interconnection points
be in rural areas with no more than 50
percent of the premises having High
Speed Access. The communities in
which the interconnection points
terminate shall be used to determine the
percentage of High Speed Access. For
those interconnection points which do
not terminate in any recognizable
community, the nearest Census
Designated Place shall be used. Middle
Mile projects must provide interoffice
transport, backhaul, internet

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connectivity, or special access
(including point-to-point projects). The
standard award is a grant/loan
combination of 75 percent grant and 25
percent loan. Applicants may request a
waiver for more than 75 percent grant in
accordance with Section VII of this
NOFA, or may request a greater
percentage of loan.
3. Satellite Projects
Given the importance of efforts to
reach unserved premises, a separate
Satellite Project category has been
established to reach premises left
unserved by other technologies.
Subsequent to the opening of the
window for Last Mile and Middle Mile
projects, the Agency will publish a
Request for Proposals for Satellite
Projects, including the announcement of
the funding allocation.
Applicants must propose to serve
only unserved rural premises in any of
the regions listed in Section IX.T of this
NOFA. Applicants may propose to serve
more than one region; however,
Applicants must submit applications
which are broken out for each region.
Only one Applicant will be selected to
serve a region.
At a minimum, an application must
commit to providing broadband service,
to providing customer-premises
equipment (CPE) to subscribers at no
cost (including no costs for installation,
activation, or other hidden fees) and to
providing to such subscribers at least a
25 percent reduction in the Applicant’s
service rates as of December 1, 2009, for
a term of at least one year.
Subsequent to the opening of the
window for Last Mile and Middle Mile
projects, the Agency will publish a
Request for Proposals for Satellite
grants, including the announcement of
the funding allocation and the
requirements of the application. The
funding award for Satellite Projects is
grant funding.
4. Technical Assistance Grants
Awardees under the First Round
NOFA or Applicants under this NOFA
may submit a request for an additional
grant for funding for the purpose of
developing regional broadband
development strategies in rural areas.
Technical Assistance grants may be
used for the development of a USDArecognized regional strategy. Under this
program, Technical Assistance
Awardees will work in public/private
partnerships to develop a USDAapproved regional plan to provide
broadband service in rural areas that
remain critically unserved. In addition,
in order to foster cross collaboration
with other related Federal programs,

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Technical Assistance plans may be used
by Applicants for submission to other
Federal agencies, including programs of
the Department of Transportation,
Homeland Security, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC),
and Telemedicine Program of the Indian
Health Service. By fostering the
development of rigorous regional
broadband strategies, RUS anticipates
that Technical Assistance Awardees
will also be able to submit more focused
applications in the future to RUS
Infrastructure Telecommunications,
RUS’ Rural Broadband Access,
Community-Oriented Connectivity
Broadband, and Distance Learning and
Telemedicine grant and loan programs.
Grants for Technical Assistance will
be made in an amount up to $200,000.
RUS, in its discretion, may decrease the
requested award amount based on its
evaluation of an application and based
on the level of funding available for this
program.
Subsequent to the opening of the
window for Last Mile and Middle Mile
projects, the Agency will publish a
Request for Proposals for Technical
Assistance grants, including the
announcement of the funding allocation
and the requirements of the application.
Applications for Technical Assistance
grants will be accepted in paper-form
only (the Easy Grants System will not be
used to accept Technical Assistance
grant applications), as set forth in the
Request for Proposals.

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5. Rural Library Broadband Grants
Awardees from the First Round NOFA
or Applicants under this NOFA may
submit a request for a grant to reimburse
the associated costs for connecting any
rural library in their proposed funded
service area, being constructed, or to be
constructed, with funding from an
award from USDA’s Community
Facilities program of the Rural Housing
Service. Such costs need not have been
addressed in the original application
submitted under the First Round NOFA
or Second Round NOFA.
Subsequent to the opening of the
window for Last Mile and Middle Mile
projects, the Agency will publish a
Request for Proposals for Rural Library
Broadband grants, including the
announcement of the funding allocation
and the requirements of the application.
Applications for Rural Library
Broadband grants will be accepted in
paper-form only, as set forth in the
Request for Proposals.

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B. Available Funds

B. Eligible Entities

1. General

1. Last Mile and Middle Mile Projects

Approximately $2,200,000,000 in
funding has been set aside for funding
opportunities under this NOFA.19

The following entities are eligible to
apply for assistance:
a. States, local governments, or any
agency, subdivision, instrumentality, or
political subdivision thereof;
b. A territory or possession of the
United States;
c. An Indian tribe (as defined in
section 4 of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b));
d. A native Hawaiian organization;
e. A non-profit foundation, a nonprofit corporation, a non-profit
institution, or a non-profit association;
f. Other non-profit entities;
g. For-profit corporations;
h. Limited liability companies; and
i. Cooperative or mutual
organizations.

2. Funding Limits
Award amounts under this NOFA will
be limited as follows:
a. Last Mile Projects
Up to $1,700,000,000 is available for
loans or loan/grant combinations for
Last Mile projects.
b. Middle Mile Projects
Up to $300,000,000 is available for
loans or loan/grant combinations for
Middle Mile projects.
c. Satellite Project, Rural Library
Broadband, and Technical Assistance
Projects
Up to $100,000,000 is available for
grants for Satellite projects, as well as
any and all funds not obligated for Last
Mile and Middle Mile projects; and up
to $5,000,000 is available for grants for
Rural Library Broadband and Technical
Assistance projects.
d. Reserve
Up to $95,000,000 is available for a
reserve.
3. Repooling
RUS retains the discretion to divert
funds from one category of projects to
another.
4. Award Period
All awards must be made and funding
obligated by September 30, 2010. While
the completion time will vary
depending on the complexity of the
project, award recipients must
substantially complete projects
supported by this program within two
years, and projects must be fully
completed within three years of the date
of issuance of the award.
5. Type of Funding Instrument
The funding instruments will be
grants, loans, and loan/grant
combinations.
IV. Eligibility Information
A. General
Applicants must satisfy the following
eligibility requirements to qualify for
funding.
19 This amount may be increased to include
unobligated funds from the First Round NOFA.

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2. Satellite Projects
a. A satellite Internet Service Provider
(ISP);
b. A reseller of satellite ISP service;
c. A distributor or dealer of satellite
ISP service; and
d. A consortium of a, b, or c above.
C. Application Eligibility Factors for
Last Mile and Middle Mile Projects
The following eligibility factors
establish basic requirements that all
Applicants must comply with in order
to be eligible for an award. Applicants
failing to comply with these
requirements will not have their
applications considered.
1. Fully Completed Application
Applicants must submit a complete
application and provide all supporting
documentation required for the
application.
2. Timely Completion
A project is eligible only if the
application demonstrates that the
project can be ‘‘substantially completed’’
within two years of the date of issuance
of the award and fully complete within
three years of the date of the award. A
project is considered ‘‘substantially
complete’’ when an Awardee has
received 67 percent of its award funds.
3. Technical Feasibility
Only projects that RUS determines to
be technically feasible will be eligible
for an award under this NOFA.
Applicants will be required to submit a
system design, network diagram and
project timeline, certified by a
professional engineer, for any
application requesting funds over
$1 million.

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices
4. Nondiscrimination and
Interconnection 20
All Applicants must commit to the
following Nondiscrimination and
Interconnection Obligations: (a) Adhere
to the principles contained in the FCC’s
Internet Policy Statement (FCC 05–151,
adopted August 5, 2005) or any
subsequent ruling or statement; (b) not
favor any lawful Internet applications
and content over others; (c) display any
network management policies in a
prominent location on the service
provider’s Web page and provide notice
to customers of changes to these policies
(Awardees must describe any business
practices or technical mechanisms they
employ, other than standard best efforts
Internet delivery, to allocate capacity;
differentiate among applications,
providers, or sources; limit usage; and
manage illegal or harmful content); (d)
connect to the public Internet directly or
indirectly, such that the project is not an
entirely private closed network; and (e)
offer interconnection, where technically
feasible without exceeding current or
reasonably anticipated capacity
limitations, on reasonable rates and
terms to be negotiated with requesting
parties. This includes both the ability to
connect to the public Internet and
physical interconnection for the
exchange of traffic. Applicants must
disclose their proposed interconnection,
nondiscrimination and network
management practices with the
application.
All these requirements shall be
subject to the needs of law enforcement
and reasonable network management.
Thus, Awardees may employ generally
accepted technical measures to provide
acceptable service levels to all
customers, such as caching (including
content delivery networks) and
application-neutral bandwidth
allocation, as well as measures to
address spam, denial of service attacks,
illegal content, and other harmful
activities.
In addition to providing the required
connection to the Internet, Awardees
may offer managed services, such as
telemedicine, public safety
communications, distance learning, and
virtual private networks that use private
network connections for enhanced
quality of service, rather than traversing
the public Internet. In evaluating the
reasonableness of network management
techniques, RUS will be guided by any
applicable rules or findings established
by the FCC, whether by rulemaking or
adjudication.
20 Nothing

herein shall be construed to affect the
jurisdiction of the Federal Communications
Commission with respect to such matters.

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An Awardee may satisfy the
requirement for interconnection by
negotiating in good faith with all parties
making bona fide requests. The
Awardee and requesting party may
negotiate terms such as business
arrangements, capacity limits, financial
terms, and technical conditions for
interconnection. If the Awardee and
requesting party cannot reach
agreement, they may voluntarily seek an
interpretation by the FCC of any FCC
rules implicated in the dispute. If an
agreement cannot be reached within 90
days, the party requesting
interconnection may notify RUS in
writing of the failure to reach
satisfactory terms with the Awardee.
The 90-day limit is to encourage the
parties to resolve differences through
negotiation.
With respect to non-discrimination,
those who believe an Awardee has
failed to meet the non-discrimination
obligations should first seek action at
the FCC of any FCC rules implicated in
the dispute. If the FCC chooses to take
no action, those seeking recourse may
notify RUS in writing about the alleged
failure to adhere to commitments of the
award.
Entities that successfully reach an
agreement to interconnect with a system
funded under BIP may not use that
interconnection agreement to provide
services that duplicate services
provided by projects funded by
outstanding telecommunications loans
made under the RE Act. Further,
interconnection may not result in a BIPfunded facility being used for ineligible
purposes under the Recovery Act.
These conditions apply to the
Awardee and will remain in effect for
the life of the Awardee’s federally
funded facilities and equipment used in
the project. These conditions will not
apply to any existing network
arrangements or to non-Awardees using
the network. Note, however, that the
Awardee may negotiate contractual
covenants with other broadband service
providers engaged to deploy or operate
the network facilities and pass these
conditions through to such providers.
Awardees that fail to accept or comply
with the terms listed above may be
considered in default of their loan or
grant agreements. RUS may exercise all
available remedies to cure the default.
5. Service Areas
a. Eligible Service Areas for Last Mile
and Middle Mile Projects
Applications for Last Mile projects
must predominantly provide broadband
service directly to the premises or to
end users in a proposed funded service

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area(s) that is/are 75 percent or more
rural, within which not more than 50
percent of the premises in the rural
areas have High Speed Access.
Applications for Middle Mile projects
must provide interoffice transport,
backhaul, internet connectivity or
special access to interconnection points.
At least 75 percent of the
interconnection points must be in rural
areas with no more than 50 percent of
the premises having High Speed Access.
The communities in which the
interconnection points terminate shall
be used to determine the percentage of
High Speed Access. For those
interconnection points which do not
terminate in any recognizable
community, the nearest Census
Designated Place shall be used.
b. Ineligible Service Areas for Last Mile
and Middle Mile Projects
i. Overlapping Service Areas
RUS will not fund more than one
project to serve any given geographic
area. If more than one application
would serve any overlapping geographic
area, the application with the highest
score will be funded; other applications
for the same area will be rejected in
their entirety unless RUS, in its
discretion, determines that the extent of
the overlap is de minimis, or less than
25 percent of each application’s entire
proposed funded service area.
Notwithstanding, RUS, in its discretion,
may readjust the proposed funded
service area in any offer of funding to
eliminate overlapping areas between
one or more applications in order to
promote rural economic development.
The Agency’s proposal for service area
readjustment may include a requirement
that the Applicant will not compete in
the excluded service area.
For the purposes of the Agency’s
determination of overlap, funding
categories will not be subject to overlap
analysis. For example, Last Mile
projects shall not be considered to
overlap with Middle Mile projects.
ii. Incumbent Service Areas
For all applications, the existing
service area of RUS borrowers in which
they provide broadband service shall
not be eligible. These areas can be found
at http://www.broadbandUSA.gov. In
addition, the service areas of Awardees
under the first round BIP/BTOP NOFA
shall also be ineligible for funding.
6. Fully Funded
A project is eligible only if, after
approval of the award, all project costs
can be fully funded. To demonstrate
this, Applicants must include with the
application evidence of all funding,

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other than the RUS award, necessary to
support the project, such as bank
account statements or firm letters of
commitment from equity participants or
other lenders documenting the timely
availability of funds. Equity partners
that are not specifically identified by
name will not be considered in the
financial analysis of the application.

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7. Financial Feasibility and
Sustainability
Only projects that RUS determines to
be financially feasible, and/or
sustainable will be eligible for an award
under this NOFA. A project is
financially feasible when the Applicant
is able to generate sufficient revenues to
cover its expenses, has sufficient cash
flow to service its debts and obligations
as they come due, and meet the
minimum TIER requirement of one and
generate a minimum current ratio of one
by the end of the forecast period, as
determined by RUS. In addition, the
project must also demonstrate a positive
cash balance for each year of the
forecast period.
8. Leveraging of Recovery Act Funds
In order to leverage funds to provide
Federal assistance cost-effectively to the
maximum number of eligible projects so
as to ensure that as many households as
possible that do not have sufficient
access to high speed broadband will
receive service, RUS has determined to
limit Federal assistance under this
NOFA for Last Mile projects to $10,000
per premises passed in the proposed
funded service area, unless a waiver is
requested from the Administrator. The
Administrator may waive this funding
limitation if he determines that the
application provides assistance to a
significant number of critical
community facilities, supports a
recognized rural regional development
plan, supports public safety projects,
enhances broadband service to rural
libraries, or supports persistent poverty
counties or chronically unserved areas
such as Indian country. If the waiver
request is denied, any award may be
made contingent on improving cost
effectiveness, or the application may be
placed in the second review process and
the Applicant will have an opportunity
to revise its proposal. To calculate the
cost per premises passed, the Applicant
shall divide the total award requested in
the application by the total number of
premises passed with facilities funded
by an award.
9. Service Requirements
Projects must provide broadband
service proposed in the application for
the composite economic life of the

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facilities, as approved by RUS, or as
provided in the Award Documents for
100 percent grants, starting from the
date of project completion.

to exceed five percent of the award. Preapplication expenses may be
reimbursed if they are incurred after the
publication date of this NOFA.

D. Eligible Cost Purposes

ii. Ineligible Infrastructure Award
Expenses
Award funds may not be used for any
of the following purposes:
AA. To fund operating expenses of
the Applicant;
BB. To fund costs incurred prior to
the date on which the application is
submitted, with the exception of eligible
pre-application expenses;
CC. To fund an acquisition, including
the acquisition of the stock of an
affiliate, or the purchase or acquisition
of any facilities or equipment of an
affiliate. Due to the competitive nature
of the application process, if affiliated
transactions are contemplated in the
application, approval of the application
does not constitute approval to enter
into affiliated transactions;
DD. To fund the purchase or lease of
any vehicle other than those used
primarily in construction or system
improvements;
EE. To fund broadband facilities
leased under the terms of an operating
lease;
FF. To fund merger or consolidation
of entities;
GG. To fund costs incurred in
acquiring spectrum as part of an FCC
auction or in a secondary market
acquisition; and
HH. To fund the costs of a satellite
launch, construction, purchase, or
leasing of transponder space.

1. General
Award funds must be used only to
pay for eligible costs. Eligible costs must
be consistent with the cost principles
identified in the applicable OMB
circulars.21 In addition, costs must be
reasonable, allocable, necessary to the
project, and comply with the Recovery
Act requirements. Any application that
proposes to use any portion of the
award funds for any ineligible cost will
be rejected.
2. Eligible and Ineligible Costs
a. Last Mile and Middle Mile Projects
i. Eligible Infrastructure Award
Expenses
Award funds may be used to pay for
the following expenses:
AA. To fund the construction or
improvement of all facilities required to
provide broadband service, including
facilities required for providing other
services over the same facilities, and
including equipment required to
comply with CALEA;
BB. To fund the cost of leasing
facilities required to provide broadband
service if such lease qualifies as a
capital lease under GAAP. Award funds
may be used to fund the cost of a capital
lease for no longer than the first three
years after the date of the Award
Documents; and
CC. To fund reasonable preapplication expenses in an amount not
21 For example, there is a set of Federal principles
for determining eligible or allowable costs.
Allowability of costs will be determined in
accordance with the cost principles applicable to
the entity incurring the costs. Thus, allowability of
costs incurred by state, local or federally-recognized
Indian tribal governments is determined in
accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular A–
87, ‘‘Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian
Tribal Governments.’’ The allowability of costs
incurred by non-profit organizations is determined
in accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular
A–122, ‘‘Cost Principles for Non-Profit
Organizations.’’ The allowability of costs incurred
by institutions of higher education is determined in
accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular A–
21, ‘‘Cost Principles for Educational Institutions.’’
The allowability of costs incurred by hospitals is
determined in accordance with the provisions of
Appendix E of 45 CFR part 74, ‘‘Principles for
Determining Costs Applicable to Research and
Development under Grants and Contracts with
Hospitals.’’ The allowability of costs incurred by
commercial organizations and those non-profit
organizations listed in Attachment C to Circular A–
122 is determined in accordance with the
provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) at 48 CFR part 31. See 7 CFR 3015, 3016, or
3019 (governing the Department of Agriculture’s
implementation of OMB requirements).

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b. Eligible Satellite Award Expenses
An eligible Satellite project award
may be used by the Applicant:
i. To fund customer-premises
equipment up to $750 per subscriber
(inclusive of the CPE, installation, and
activation fees);
ii. To reduce the monthly service cost;
and/or
iii. To fund the construction of
terrestrial ground facilities, including
equipment required to comply with
CALEA.
c. Eligible Rural Library Broadband
Grants Expenses
Award funds may be used by the
Applicant to pay for the costs of the last
mile connection to the rural library.
d. Eligible Technical Assistance Grants
Expenses
Award funds may be used by the
Applicant to fund the provision of
technical assistance for the development
of a regional broadband plan. Such
technical assistance must include both
planning and economic expertise.

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V. Application and Submission
Information

C. Contents of the Application

A. Request for Application Package
Complete application packages,
including required Federal forms and
instructions, will be available at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov. Additional
information can be found in the
Application Guidelines at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov. This Web site
will be updated regularly.
Applicants that are eligible for both
BIP and BTOP have the option to apply
to either agency for funding for the same
project. However, applicants should
apply to only one agency for a given
project. RUS strongly recommends that
applications for Middle Mile projects
that are current RUS loan or grant
recipients and applications with Last
Mile projects that propose funding
service areas that are 75 percent or more
rural should apply to BIP for funding.
RUS strongly recommends that
applicants with Middle Mile projects
that are not current RUS loan or grant
recipients or applicants with Last Mile
projects that propose service areas that
are less than 75 percent rural should
apply to BTOP for funding. This
recommendation is necessary to
improve the efficiency of both BIP and
BTOP and to leverage the core expertise
of the agencies. The RUS and NTIA will
coordinate to identify potential service
area overlaps, and will resolve such
conflicts in the manner that best
satisfies the statutory objectives of both
programs.
B. Registration
1. DUNS Number
All Applicants must supply a Dun
and Bradstreet Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) number.
Applicants can receive a DUNS number
at no cost by calling the dedicated tollfree DUNS number request line at 1–
866–705–5711 or via the Internet at
http://www.dunandbradstreet.com.

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2. Central Contractor Registration (CCR)
All Applicants must provide a CCR
(CAGE) number evidencing current
registration in the CCR database. If the
Applicant does not have a current CCR
(CAGE) number, the Applicant must
register in the CCR system available at
http://www.ccr.gov/
StartRegistration.aspx. Applicants are
encouraged to register early due to
potential delays in registration.

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1. Requirements for Single Applications
from Same Entity for Last Mile and
Middle Mile Projects
A complete application will include
the following:
a. The identity of the Applicant and
general Applicant and project
information including:
i. A description of the project that will
be made public consistent with the
requirements of the Recovery Act; and
ii. The estimated dollar amount of the
funding request;
b. An executive summary of the
project as detailed in the application;
c. A description of the proposed
funded service area including the
number of premises passed including
the number of critical community
facilities, and public safety entities to be
passed and/or involved in the project;
d. Subscriber projections including
the number of subscribers for
broadband, video and voice services and
any other service that may be offered;
e. The number of jobs the project is
expected to create or save;
f. A map, as furnished on http://
www.broadbandUSA.gov of the
proposed funded service areas
indentifying the unserved areas and the
areas without High Speed Access;
g. The names of the communities,
census designated places or other areas,
including tribal lands, within the
proposed funded service area;
information as to whether the
communities and areas identified above
are rural or non-rural; the methodology
for making the above classifications; and
for Middle Mile projects, identification
of the locations of the interconnection
points.
h. A description of the proposed
service offerings, and the associated
pricing plan, that the applicant proposes
to offer, as well as the advertised prices
of service offerings by competitors in
the same area and; an explanation of
why the proposed service offerings are
affordable;
i. A description of the applicant’s
nondiscrimination, interconnection, and
network management plans;
j. A system design which includes a
description of the proposed technology
used to deliver the broadband service
demonstrating that all premises in the
proposed funded service area will be
offered broadband service, a network
diagram, a timeline including key
milestones for implementation of the
project, and a construction schedule all
of which must be certified by a
professional engineer who is certified in
at least one of the states where there is
project construction, if the funding

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request exceeds $1,000,000, unless the
Administrator determines that such
certification is not possible; an estimate
of the cost of the project per household;
a depreciation schedule for the facilities
proposed for funding, a description of
the necessary work force needed to
build and operate the system, whether
the applicant is seeking a waiver of the
Buy American provision; and whether
the project allows more than one
provider to serve end users; a list of all
required licenses and regulatory
approvals needed for the proposed
project; and how much the applicant
will rely on contractors or vendors to
deploy the network facilities;
k. Resumes of key management
personnel, a description of the
organization’s readiness to manage a
broadband services network, and an
organizational chart showing any parent
organizations and/or subsidiaries and
affiliates;
l. A legal opinion (as set forth in the
application) that: (1) Addresses the
applicant’s ability to enter into the
award documents; (2) describes all
pending litigation matters; and (3)
addresses the applicant’s ability to
pledge security as required by the award
documents;
m. Evidence of other Recovery Act
awards, or collaboration with other
Recovery Act awardees;
n. Summary and itemized budgets of
the infrastructure costs of the proposed
project, including if applicable, the ratio
of loans to grants, and any other source
of outside funding, especially any other
Recovery Act funds under other Federal
programs, and an explanation of the cost
per premises passed;
o. A detailed description of working
capital requirements and the source of
these funds;
p. Historical financial statements,
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
audits if applicable, for the previous two
calendar years;
q. Pro Forma financial analysis,
prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP
and the Agency’s guidance on grants
accounting, found at http://
www.usda.gov/RUS/pasd/auditreg.htm,
related to the sustainability of the
project, including subscriber estimates
and other proposed service offerings in
addition to broadband Internet access;
annual financial projections including
balance sheets, income statements, and
cash flow statements and supporting
assumptions for a five-year forecast
period as applicable; and a list of
committed sources of capital funding;
r. Attachments required in the
application;

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s. A self-scoring sheet, analyzing the
objective scoring criteria set forth in this
NOFA;
t. The pricing package being offered to
critical community facilities, or socially
and economically disadvantaged small
business concern (SDB) as defined
under section 8(a) of the Small Business
Administration, if any;
u. A list of all the Applicant’s
outstanding and contingent obligations,
including copies of existing notes, loan
and security agreements, and
guarantees;
v. If an SDB, evidence that the
applicant is an SDB;
w. A completed Environmental
Questionnaire, other documentation
requests, and required environmental
authorizations and permits, including
those required by the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
(NEPA), the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, as amended
(16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) (NHPA), and the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1534 et seq.) (ESA)
as applicable;
x. A description of measurable service
metrics and target service level
objectives (SLOs) (e.g., the speed with
which new service will be established,
service availability, and response time
for reports of system failure at a
residence) that will be provided to the
customer, and a description of the
approach and methodology for
monitoring ongoing service delivery and
service quality for the services being
employed;
y. Any waiver requests for projects
proposing more than the $10,000 per
premises funding limitation, or for
applications requesting more than 75%
grant; and
z. Certification from the applicant that
agreements with or obligations to
investors do not breach the obligations
to the government under the draft
Award Documents.
2. Requirements for Multiple
Applications From Same Entity for Last
Mile and Middle Mile Projects
a. All of the requirements specified in
paragraph (1) of this section, unless
specifically provided for in paragraph
(b).
b. For existing companies,
consolidated pro forma financial
statements that include a baseline
financial statement for existing
operations, which start with the prior
two years of the company’s financial
position, for a five year projected
period, with an additional set of
financial statements that layer each of
the operations for the addition

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applications into the baseline
statements. In addition, a reconciliation
schedule supporting the consolidation
of the individual pro forma financial
statements for revenue, capital
spending, operating expenses, BIP
funding and external funding for the
company. For Start-up operations,
consolidated pro forma financial
statements that include the financial
statements of the operation included in
the application as the baseline financial
statements, with an additional set of
financial statements that layer each of
the operations for the additional
applications into the baseline
statements. In addition, a reconciliation
schedule supporting the consolidation
of the individual pro forma financial
statements for revenue, capital
spending, operating expenses, BIP
funding and external funding for the
company.
c. A commitment from all investors
indicating their willingness to commit
funds even if all applications are not
funded.
3. Requirements for Applications for
Satellite Projects
A complete application will include
the following:
a. The identity of the Applicant and
general Applicant and project
information including:
i. A description of the project that will
be made public consistent with the
requirements of the Recovery Act;
ii. The Congressional Districts
affected by the project;
b. An executive summary of the
project;
c. A description of the Applicant’s
ability to cover an entire region;
d. A description of the proposed
service offerings and associated pricing
plans, which must include a reduction
of at least 25 percent of the Applicant’s
service rates in effect as of December 1,
2009 for at least one year, the provision
of no cost CPEs (including no
installation, activation, or other hidden
fees), and how its rates will be
affordable to low-income households. A
copy of the service rate plans in effect
on December 1, 2009, must also be
included;
e. Resumes of key management
personnel, a description of the
organization’s readiness to manage a
broadband services network, and an
organizational chart showing any parent
organizations and/or subsidiaries and
affiliates;
f. A legal opinion (as set forth in the
application) that: (1) Addresses the
Applicant’s ability to enter into the
award documents; (2) describes all
pending litigation matters; and (3)

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addresses the Applicant’s ability to
pledge security as required by the award
documents;
g. An itemized budget of the costs of
the proposed project;
h. Pro Forma financial analysis
related to the sustainability of the
project, including subscriber estimates
and proposed service offerings in
addition to broadband Internet access;
annual financial projections including
balance sheets, income statements, and
cash flow statements and supporting
assumptions for a five-year forecast
period as applicable; and a list of
committed sources of capital funding;
i. Historical financial statements,
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
audits if applicable, for the previous two
calendar years;
j. Certifications required in the
application;
k. The pricing package being offered
to critical community facilities, if any;
l. A list of all its outstanding and
contingent obligations, including copies
of existing notes, loan and security
agreements, and guarantees;
m. A detailed description of working
capital requirements and the source of
these funds;
n. A completed Environmental
Questionnaire, other documentation
requests, and required environmental
authorizations and permits, including
those required by the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
(NEPA), the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, as amended
(16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) (NHPA), and the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1534 et seq.) (ESA)
as applicable; and
o. A description of measurable service
metrics and target service level
objectives (SLOs) (e.g., the speed with
which new service will be established,
service availability, and response time
for reports of system failure at a
residence) that will be provided to the
customer, and a description of the
approach and methodology for
monitoring ongoing service delivery and
service quality for the services being
employed.
D. Material Representations
The application, including
certifications, and all forms submitted
as part of the application will be treated
as a material representation of fact upon
which RUS will rely in awarding grants.

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices
VI. Application Evaluation Criteria
A. Evaluation Criteria for Last Mile and
Middle Mile Projects
Each application will be scored
against the following objective criteria,
and not against other applications.
1. Proportion of Rural Residents Served
in Unserved Areas (10 Points)
Points will be awarded for serving
rural residents located in unserved
areas. For every 10 percent of unserved
households compared to the total
households to be served that will
receive broadband service, 1 point will
be awarded up to a maximum of 10
points. For Middle Mile projects, this
will be based on the location of the
interconnection points.
2. Rural Area Targeting (10 Points)
Points will be awarded for exceeding
the 75 percent rural area service
requirement. For every 5 percent
increase in the total proposed funded
service area that is above 75 percent
rural, 2 points will be awarded up to a
maximum of 10 points. For Middle Mile
projects, this will be based on the
location of the interconnection points.
3. Distance From Non-Rural Areas (5
Points)
Up to 5 points will be awarded for
proposed funded service areas that are
at least 10 miles from the closest nonrural area. For each additional 10 miles
that at least one proposed funded
service area is located away from the
closest non-rural area, 1 additional
point will be awarded up to a total of
5 points. For Applicants with multiple
service areas, this calculation will be
based on the service area closest to the
non-rural area. For Middle Mile
projects, this will be based on the
location of the interconnection points.
4. Title II Borrowers (8 Points)
Eight points will be awarded to
applications which are submitted by
entities which have borrowed under
Title II of the RE Act.

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5. Other Recovery Act Awards (5 Points)
Points will be awarded for
cooperation with other Recovery Act
programs, where collaboration would
lead to greater project efficiencies. In
each case, the Applicant must
convincingly demonstrate that these
leveraging efforts are substantive and
meaningful. Five points will be awarded
for any cooperation with a Recovery Act
award.

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6. Performance of the Offered Service
(10 Points)
a. Last Mile Projects
For wireline projects that are
constructed to deliver a minimum of 5
Mbps service to the premises (upstream
and downstream combined), 5 points
will be awarded. For fixed wireline
projects that are constructed to deliver
a minimum of 20 Mbps service to the
premises (upstream and downstream
combined), 10 points will be awarded.
For wireless projects that are
constructed to deliver a minimum of 3
Mbps service to the end user (upstream
and downstream combined), 8 points
will be awarded. For mobile wireless
projects that are constructed to deliver
a minimum of 3 Mbps service to the end
user (upstream and downstream
combined), 10 points will be awarded.
For combination systems, scoring will
be based on the predominant technology
used.
b. Middle Mile Projects
For Middle Mile projects that are
constructed to deliver 100 Mbps service
to all interconnection points in their
network, 10 points will be awarded.
7. Service to Critical Community
Facilities and SDBs (6 Points)
For applications that are proposing to
offer discounted rate packages to all
critical community facilities in the
proposed funded service area(s) that are
at least 25 percent lower than the
proposed base rate packages for at least
3 years, 4 points will be awarded. For
applications that are proposing to offer
discounted rate packages at least 25
percent lower than the proposed base
rate packages to SDBs in the proposed
funded service area for at least three
years, 2 points will be awarded.
8. Applicant’s Organizational Capability
(10 Points)
Up to 10 points will be awarded based
on the strength of the project’s
management team. RUS will evaluate
past performance and accomplishments
and award points accordingly. Details of
these requirements will be in the
Application Guide.
9. Socially and Economically
Disadvantaged Small Business Concern
(3 Points)
Three points will be awarded to
Applicant SDBs.
10. Leverage of Outside Resources (10
Points)
Up to 10 points will be awarded based
on the amount of outside resources
contributed to the total financing
provided under BIP:

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a. 10 points if this ratio is 100
percent.22
b. 7 points if this ratio is between 75
percent and 99 percent.
c. 5 points if this ratio is between 50
percent and 74 percent.
d. 3 points if this ratio is between 25
percent and 49 percent.
e. 0 points if the ratio is less than 25
percent.
Outside resources are limited to new
investments that are proposed to
support the project and do not include
any existing assets that the Applicant
already owns or has rights to or any
revenues generating from the
operations.
11. Extent of Grant Funding (15 Points)
Up to 15 points will be awarded based
on the amount of grants funds requested
in relation to the total amount of the
award requested:
a. 0 points if requesting a grant greater
than 70 percent.
b. 5 point if requesting a grant
between 51 and 70 percent.
c. 10 points if requesting a grant
between 16 and 50 percent.
d. 15 points if requesting a grant
between 0 and 15 percent.
12. Cost Effectiveness (8 Points)
For Last Mile projects, up to 8 points
will be awarded for projects that
promote cost effectiveness of Federal
assistance, based on cost per premises
passed. To calculate the cost per
premises passed, the Applicant shall
divide the total award requested in the
application by the total number of
premises passed.
a. 2 points if cost per premises passed
is less than $8,000.
b. 4 points if cost per premises passed
is less than $7,000.
c. 6 points if cost per premises passed
is less than $6,000.
d. 8 points if cost per premises passed
is less than $5,000.
B. Administrator’s Bonus Points (10
points)
The Administrator, at his discretion,
can award up to a maximum of 10
bonus points to applications that
provide significant assistance to critical
community facilities (including
libraries), promote rural economic
22 This ratio is calculated by the amount of new
equity that the applicant proposes to support the
project compared to the requested amount of the
award. For example, if the applicant proposes $1
million in outside equity and requests $1 million
in assistance, the ratio is $1 million/$1 million, or
100 percent. If the applicant proposes $500,000 in
outside equity and requests $1 million in
assistance, the ratio is $500,000/$1 million, or 50
percent. This scoring criterion is intended to
encourage a public/private partnership.

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development, support persistent poverty
counties, serve chronically underserved
areas, demonstrate cost effectiveness,
offer low-cost service options, and/or
provide for geographic diversity.
However, the Administrator’s points
may not raise an Applicant’s score to
more than 100 points.
VII. Waiver for Grants Capped at 75%
of Award for Last Mile and Middle Mile
Projects
A. Waiver Request
All Applicants may request a grant
that does not exceed 75 percent of
eligible projects. An Applicant may
apply for a loan for any eligible project
costs not covered by a grant under this
NOFA. Applicants requesting more than
a 75 percent grant component must
request a waiver from the
Administrator, demonstrating their need
for additional grant funding, as well as
the factors set forth in paragraph B of
this section. If the waiver request is
denied, the application may be adjusted
by the Agency if an award is offered or
may be placed in the second review
process and the Applicant will have an
opportunity to revise its funding
request. The Administrator may award
grants up to 100 percent.
B. Administrator’s Waiver for Grants
above 75% Waiver Considerations
The Administrator may grant a
request for waiver for a larger grant
component based on the following
factors:
1. Distance From Non-Rural Areas
The Administrator will consider the
distance from the focus of the proposed
funded service areas from the closest
non-rural area.
2. Rural Area Targeting
The Administrator will consider the
percentage of the proposed funded
service area that is above the 75 percent
requirement.
3. Density
The Administrator will consider the
density of the proposed funded service
area, calculated from the population and
area totals of all proposed funded
service areas taken from the mapping
tool.
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4. Median Household Income
The Administrator will consider the
median household income of the
proposed funded service area,
comparing the county median
household income to that of the State
median income level. For applications
serving multiple counties, the

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Administrator will weigh the
percentages of all counties.
5. Unemployment
The Administrator will consider the
state unemployment level compared to
the National Unemployment Level in
the state of the proposed funded service
area. For applications serving multiple
states, the Administrator will weigh the
percentages in each State.
C. Notice of Proposed Funded Service
Areas for Last Mile and Middle Mile
Projects
RUS will post a Public Notice of the
proposed funded service areas of each
Last Mile application, and the
communities in which the
interconnection points terminate for
Middle Mile applications, as outlined in
Section IV.C.5.a(i), at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov for a 30 day
period. The Public Notice will provide
existing service providers an
opportunity to submit to the agencies
information regarding their service
offerings. The information submitted by
an existing service provider will be
treated as proprietary and confidential
to the extent permitted under applicable
law.
D. Evaluation and Processing
Procedures
1. Last Mile and Middle Mile Projects—
First Review
Applications for Last Mile and Middle
Mile projects will be evaluated using the
criteria stated in Section VII.A of this
NOFA. Public comments received with
respect to an application’s proposed
funded service area will be reviewed
and evaluated. Eligibility of proposed
funded service areas may be verified by
Agency field staff. RUS reserves the
right to ask Applicants for clarifying
information and additional verification
of assertions in the application. For
those applications that RUS has
determined eligible for funding, RUS
will send award documents.
Applications meeting the guidelines set
forth in paragraph D.2 below may be
requested to provide additional
information to the Agency for a second
review.
2. Last Mile and Middle Mile Projects—
Second Review
Subject to available funding,
Applicants with applications that have
not been approved under the first
review, may be requested to provide
additional information if the
application: (a) Can be revised,
reviewed, and awarded funds before the
expiration of Recovery Act funding, (b)
contains specific and limited

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adjustments; and (c) promotes
significant economic rural development,
as determined by the Administrator.
Such Applicants will have no more
than 15 days within which to provide
the additional information. Applicants
will not be permitted to redo the
application, but only provide the
supplemental information the Agency
has requested. The application with the
additional information will be reviewed
under the same standard as the first
review. Any application that is
processed under this procedure will be
funded only after all properly submitted
applications have been funded and will
be subject to all applicable requirements
under this NOFA. For those
applications which the Agency has
decided to fund, award documents will
be sent.
3. Transfer of Applications
For applications that NTIA
determines it will not fund, but that
may be consistent with RUS’ BIP
requirements and priorities, NTIA will
transfer to BIP for consideration of
funding. Notwithstanding, NTIA makes
no representation that the application is
eligible under the requirements of BIP.
Any decision on the funding of such
transfers shall ultimately be in the sole
discretion of RUS. RUS will handle
such applications, if timely received
from NTIA, under its Second Review
process outlined above.
4. Satellite Projects
The United States will be divided into
eight service area regions eligible for
Satellite applications. Applicants must
propose serving only unserved rural
premises in any of the eight regions
listed in Section IX.T in this NOFA;
provided, however, unserved rural
premises in proposed funded service
areas of Awardees under the First
Round NOFA and this NOFA shall not
be eligible for services from satellite
projects. Applicants may submit an
application for more than one region;
however, each region in the application
must be broken out, so that the Agency
can analyze the proposal for each region
individually. Applicants are encouraged
to serve all unserved rural premises
throughout the region on a first-come,
first-served basis until the award funds
are expended.
Applications will be evaluated using
the criteria set forth herein and in the
Request for Proposals. Procedures for
selection of Awardees to provide
satellite service will be set forth in the
Request for Proposals to be published at
a later date. The deadline for satellite
application submissions will be
provided in that Request.

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5. Technical Assistance Grants
Applications for Technical Assistance
grants will be evaluated on the extent to
which the Awardee of the First Round
NOFA or Applicants under this NOFA
has considered developing a USDAapproved regional planning
organization(s), the strength and scope
of the regional broadband development
strategy, and the proposed broadband
service to be brought to rural areas that
remain critically unserved. The
proposal should provide various
strategies and the anticipated costs of
each. Applicants may request up to
$200,000. RUS, in its discretion, may
decrease the requested award amount
based on its evaluation of the
application and the level of funding
available for this program.
6. Regional Library Broadband Grants
Applications for Regional Library
Broadband grants will be accepted from
Awardees of the First Round NOFA or
Applicants under this NOFA to cover
the costs associated with connecting any
rural library in their proposed funded
service area, that is either being
constructed, or to be constructed, with
funding from USDA’s Community
Facilities Program of the Rural Housing
Service. Such costs need not have been
addressed in the original application
submitted under the First Round NOFA
or Second Round NOFA. Applications
need only address the rural libraries
involved, the cost of providing a
broadband connection and the date by
which such service will be provided.
RUS, in its discretion, may increase or
decrease the requested award amount
based on its evaluation of the
reasonableness of the costs and the level
of funding available for this program.
VIII. Award Administration
Information
A. Award Notices
Successful Applicants will receive
award documents from RUS following
award notification. Applicants may
view sample award documents at
http://www.broadbandusa.gov.
B. Administrative Requirements

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1. Pre-award conditions
No funds will be disbursed under this
program until all other sources of
funding have been obtained and any
other pre-award conditions have been
met. Failure to obtain one or more
sources of funding committed to in the
Application or to fulfill any other preaward condition within 30 days of
award announcement will result in
withdrawal of the award.

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2. Failure To Comply With Award
Requirements
If an Awardee fails to comply with the
terms of the award as specified in the
award documents, RUS may exercise
rights and remedies.
3. Advance Procedures
RUS loan and grant advances are
made at the request of the Awardee
according to the procedures stipulated
in the award documents. Loan/grant
combination funds are advanced in
proportion to the amount of the award
made in the form of loans and grants.
4. Contracting
Contracting is to be done at the
Awardee’s discretion, using private
contracts or RUS’ form contracts.
However, equal employment
opportunity, civil rights, and the
requirements of this NOFA must still be
met.
5. Accounting, Monitoring, and
Reporting Requirements
Awardees must follow RUS’
accounting, monitoring, and reporting
requirements. These requirements,
which are specified in the award
documents, include, but are not limited
to, the following:
a. Awardees must adopt a GAAP
system of accounts acceptable to RUS,
and which complies with RUS
Accounting Requirements, as defined
herein;
b. Awardees must submit annual
audited financial statements along with
a report on compliance and on internal
control over financial reporting, and a
management letter in accordance with
the requirements of 7 CFR part 1773.
The CPA conducting the annual audit is
selected by the Awardee and must be
approved by RUS as set forth in 7 CFR
1773.4;
c. Awardees must submit to RUS the
information as specified in Section
VIII.D.2 of this NOFA;
d. Awardees must comply with all
reasonable RUS requests to support
ongoing monitoring efforts. The
Awardee shall afford RUS, through its
representatives and representatives of
the USDA Office of Inspector General
reasonable opportunity, at all times
during business hours and upon prior
notice, to have access to and the right
to inspect the broadband system, and
any other property encumbered by the
mortgage or security agreement, and any
or all books, records, accounts, invoices,
contracts, leases, payrolls, timesheets,
cancelled checks, statements, and other
documents, electronic or paper of every
kind belonging to or in the possession
of the Awardee or in any way pertaining

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3833

to its property or business, including its
subsidiaries, if any, and to make copies
or extracts therefrom.
6. Assistance Instruments
a. Terms and conditions of grants or
loan/grant combinations are set forth in
the non-negotiable standard grant or
loan/grant contract, note, and/or
mortgage found at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov.
b. Terms and conditions of loans are
set forth in the non-negotiable standard
loan contract, note, and/or mortgage
found at http://www.broadbandusa.gov.
c. Loan and grant documents
appropriate to the project must be
executed prior to any advance of funds.
d. Sample loan documents and grant
agreements can be found at http://
www.broadbandusa.gov.
7. Loan and Loan/Grant Terms and
Conditions
The following terms shall apply to the
loans, as well as other terms that are
specified in the loan documents:
a. Interest Rate
Loans shall bear interest at a rate
equal to the cost of borrowing to the
Department of Treasury for obligations
of comparable maturity. The applicable
interest rate will be set at the time of
each advance.
b. Repayment Period
Unless the Applicant requests a
shorter repayment period, broadband
loans must be repaid with interest
within a period that, rounded to the
nearest whole year, is equal to the
expected Composite Economic Life of
the assets to be financed, as determined
by RUS based upon acceptable
depreciation rates.
c. Amortization Period
Interest begins accruing on the date of
each loan advance and interest
payments are due monthly. After one
year from the first advance, monthly
principal payments will be established
in an amount that amortizes the
outstanding balance over the remaining
term of the loan.
d. Fidelity Bonding
Applicants must agree to obtain a
fidelity bond for 15 percent of the award
amount. The fidelity bond must be
obtained as a condition of award
closing. RUS may reduce the percentage
required if it determines that 15 percent
is not commensurate with the risk
involved.

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices

e. Security
The portion of the award must be
adequately secured, as determined by
RUS.
i. The loan and loan/grant
combination must be secured by the
assets purchased with the loan or loan/
grant funds, as well as all other assets
of the Applicant and any other co-signer
of the loan documents that are available
to be pledged to RUS.
ii. RUS must be given an exclusive
first lien, in form and substance
satisfactory to RUS, on all of the assets
purchased with the loan or loan/grant
funds. RUS may share its first lien
position with one or more lenders on a
pari passu basis if security
arrangements are acceptable to RUS.
iii. Unless otherwise approved by
RUS, all property purchased with award
funds must be owned by the Awardee.
iv. In the case of awards that include
financing of facilities that do not
constitute self-contained operating
systems, the Applicant shall furnish
assurances, satisfactory to RUS, that
continuous and efficient service at the
broadband funding speed will be
rendered.
C. Award Terms and Conditions
1. Scope
Awardees, including all contractors
and subcontractors, are required to
comply with the obligations set forth in
the Recovery Act and the requirements
established herein. Any obligation that
applies to the Awardee shall extend for
the life of the awarded-funded facilities.

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2. Sale or Lease of Project Assets
The sale or lease of any portion of the
award-funded broadband facilities shall
be governed by the applicable Award
Document and the Department’s grant
regulations at 7 CFR 3015, 3016, and
3019. Unless otherwise permitted in the
Award Document, project assets cannot
be sold while the loan is outstanding.
Terms under which grant assets can be
sold are outlined in the Department’s
grant regulations cited above.
3. Certifications
a. The Applicant must certify that he
or she is authorized to submit the
application on behalf of the eligible
entity(ies) listed on the application; that
the Applicant has examined the
application, that all of the information
in the application, including
certifications and forms submitted, all of
which are part of the application, are
material representations of fact and true
and correct to the best of his or her
knowledge; that the entity(ies) that is
requesting funding pursuant to the

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application and any subawardees will
comply with the terms, conditions,
purposes, and Federal requirements of
the program; that no kickbacks were
paid to anyone; and that a false,
fictitious, or fradulent statement or
claim on this application is grounds for
denial or termination of an award, and/
or possible punishment by a fine or
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C.
1001 and civil violations of the False
Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq.);
b. The Applicant certifies that the
entity(ies) he or she represents have and
will comply with all applicable Federal,
state, and local laws, rules, regulations,
ordinances, codes, orders, and
programmatic rules and requirements
relating to the project.23 The Applicant
acknowledges that failure to do so may
result in rejection or deobligation of the
award. The Applicant acknowledges
that failure to comply with all Federal
and program rules could result in civil
or criminal prosecution by the
appropriate law enforcement
authorities;
D. Reporting Requirements
1. General Recovery Act Requirements
a. OMB Reporting Requirements
Implementing the Recovery Act
Any grant, loan, or loan/grant
combination awarded under this NOFA
shall be subject to the applicable
statutes and regulations regarding
reporting on Recovery Act funds.24 If
Recovery Act funds are combined with
other funds to fund or complete projects
and activities, Recovery Act funds must
be accounted for separately from other
funds and reported to RUS or any
Federal web site established for
Recovery Act reporting purposes.
Moreover, recipients of funds under this
NOFA must also comply with the
accounting requirements as established
or referred to in this NOFA.
b. Required Data Elements
The Awardee and each contractor
engaged by the Awardee must submit
the following information to the
relevant Agency:
i. The total amount of Recovery Act
funds received;
ii. The amount of Recovery Act funds
received that were expended or
obligated to projects or activities;
23 See

Recovery Act sec. 6001(e)(4), 123 Stat. at

514.
24 See,

e.g., 2 CFR part 176; OMB, Interim Final
Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, 74 FR
18449 (Apr. 23, 2009); Implementing Guidance for
Reports on Use of Funds Pursuant to the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (OMB M–
09–21 June 22, 2009); and Updated Guidance on the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(OMB M–10–08 Dec. 18, 2009).

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iii. A detailed list of all projects or
activities for which Recovery Act funds
were expended or obligated, including
(1) the name of the project or activity;
(2) a description of the project or
activity; (3) an evaluation of the
completion status of the project or
activity; (4) an estimate of the number
of jobs created and the number of jobs
retained by the project or activity; and
(5) for infrastructure investments made
by state and local governments, the
purpose, total cost, and rationale of the
Agency for funding the infrastructure
investment with Recovery Act funds,
and name of the person to contact at the
Agency if there are concerns with the
infrastructure investment; and
iv. Detailed information on any
subcontracts or subgrants awarded by
the Awardee to include the data
elements required to comply with the
Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109–
282, 120 Stat. 1186 (to be codified at 31
U.S.C. 6101 note), allowing aggregate
reporting on awards below $25,000 or to
individuals.25
Awardees that must report
information according to paragraph b(iv)
of this section (re: subcontracts or
subgrants) must register with the CCR
database (http://www.ccr.gov/) or
complete other registration
requirements as determined by the
Director of OMB.
c. Reporting Deadlines
Recovery Act reports are due to the
agencies 10 days after the quarter in
which the award was issued ends and,
unless otherwise noted, each quarter
thereafter in which the Awardee
receives financial assistance. The final
report should summarize the Awardee’s
quarterly filings and state whether the
project’s goals have been satisfied.
Pursuant to OMB Guidelines, reports
should be submitted electronically to
http://www.federalreporting.gov. If the
Awardee fails to submit an acceptable
quarterly report or audited financial
statement within the timeframe
designated in the grant or loan award,
the agencies may suspend further
payments until the Awardee complies
with the reporting requirements.
Additional information regarding
reporting requirements will be specified
at the time the award is issued.
2. BIP-Specific Reporting Requirements
In addition to the general Recovery
Act reporting requirements, BIP
Awardees shall also report on the
information requested below:
25 Recovery

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Act sec. 1512(c), 123 Stat. at 287.

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices
a. Awardees must submit to RUS 30
calendar days after the end of each
calendar year quarter, balance sheets,
income statements, statements of cash
flow, rate package summaries, and the
number of customers taking broadband
service on a per community basis
utilizing RUS’ Broadband Collection
and Analysis System (BCAS). BCAS is
an electronic reporting system that is
accessed through the Internet.
b. Annually on January 31, starting
the first January 31 after completion of
the project, Awardees must submit to
RUS, using the electronic reporting
system provided by RUS:
i. Number of households and
businesses subscribing to broadband
service;
ii. Number of households and
businesses subscribing to broadband
service that receive improved access;
and
iii. Number of educational, library,
healthcare, and public safety providers
receiving either new or improved access
to broadband service.
c. Awardees shall specifically state in
the applicable quarter when they have
received 67 percent of the award funds.
Reaching this threshold will indicate
that the Awardee has substantially
completed its project.
d. The obligation to report under this
section shall exist while the Awardee
has an outstanding loan/grant
combination, or for a grant only, for five
years from the date of the completion of
the project.
IX. Other Information
A. Funding Rounds
This is the final funding round for
BIP.

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B. Discretionary Awards
The government is not obligated to
make any award as a result of this
announcement, and will fund only
projects that are deemed likely to
achieve the program’s goals and for
which funds are available.
C. Limitation on Expenditures
The Recovery Act imposes an
additional limitation on the use of funds
expended or obligated from
appropriations made pursuant to its
provisions. Specifically, for purposes of
this NOFA, none of the funds
appropriated or otherwise made
available under the Recovery Act may
be used by any State or local
government, or any private entity, for
any casino or other gambling
establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf
course, or swimming pool.26
26 Id.

Sec.1604, 123 Stat. at 303.

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D. Recovery Act Logo
All projects that are funded by the
Recovery Act shall display signage that
features the Primary Emblem
throughout the construction phase. The
signage should be displayed in a
prominent location on site. Some
exclusions may apply. The Primary
Emblem should not be displayed at a
size less than six inches in diameter.
E. Environmental and National Historic
Preservation Requirements
Awarding agencies are required to
analyze the potential environmental
impacts, as required by the NEPA and
the NHPA for Applicant projects or
proposals seeking Recovery Act
funding. All Applicants are required to
complete the Environmental
Questionnaire under the description of
program activities and to submit all
other required environmental
documentation with the application.
It is the Applicant’s responsibility to
obtain all necessary Federal, State, and
local governmental permits and
approvals necessary for the proposed
work to be conducted. Applicants are
expected to design their projects so that
they minimize the potential for adverse
impacts to the environment. Applicants
also will be required to cooperate with
the granting agencies in identifying
feasible measures to reduce or avoid any
identified adverse environmental
impacts of their proposed projects. The
failure to do so may be grounds for not
making an award.
Applications will be reviewed to
ensure that they contain sufficient
information to allow Agency staff to
conduct a NEPA analysis so that
appropriate NEPA documentation can
be submitted to the agencies, along with
the recommendation for funding of the
selected applications. Applicants
proposing activities that cannot be
covered by existing environmental
compliance procedures will be informed
after the technical review stage whether
NEPA compliance and other
environmental requirements can
otherwise be expeditiously met so that
a project can proceed within the
timeframes anticipated under the
Recovery Act.
If additional information is required
after an application is accepted for
funding, funds can be withheld by the
agencies under a special award
condition requiring the Awardee to
submit additional environmental
compliance information sufficient for
the Agency to make an assessment of
any impacts that a project may have on
the environment.

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3835

F. Davis-Bacon Wage Requirements
Pursuant to section 1606 of the
Recovery Act, any project using
Recovery Act funds requires the
payment of not less than the prevailing
wages for ‘‘all laborers and mechanics
employed by contractors and
subcontractors on projects funded
directly by or assisted in whole or in
part by and through the Federal
Government.’’ 27
G. Financial and Audit Requirements
To maximize the transparency and
accountability of funds authorized
under the Recovery Act, all Applicants
are required to comply with the
applicable regulations set forth in
OMB’s Interim Final Guidance for
Federal Financial Assistance.28
Recipients that expend $500,000 or
more of Federal funds during their fiscal
year are required to submit an
organization-wide financial and
compliance audit report. The audit must
be performed in accordance with the
U.S. General Accountability Office,
Government Auditing Standards,
located at http://www.gao.gov/govaud/
ybk01.htm, and OMB Circular A–133,
Audits of States, Local Governments,
and Non-Profit Organizations, located at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
circulars/a133/a133.html. Awardees are
responsible for ensuring that subrecipient audit reports are received and
for resolving any audit findings.
H. Deobligation
The RUS reserves the right to
deobligate awards to recipients under
this NOFA that demonstrate an
insufficient level of performance, or
wasteful or fraudulent spending, and
award these funds competitively to new
or existing Applicants prior to
September 30, 2010.
I. Confidentiality of Applicant
Information
Applicants are encouraged to identify
and label any confidential and
proprietary information contained in
their applications. The Agency will
protect confidential and proprietary
information from public disclosure to
the fullest extent authorized by
applicable law, including the Freedom
of Information Act, as amended (5
U.S.C. 552), the Trade Secrets Act, as
amended (18 U.S.C. 1905), the
Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (18
U.S.C. 1831 et seq.), and CALEA (47
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). Applicants should
be aware, however, that the Recovery
27 Id.

Sec. 1606, 123 Stat. at 303.
OMB, Interim Final Guidance for Federal
Financial Assistance, 74 FR 18449 (Apr. 23, 2009).
28 See

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices

Act requires substantial transparency.
For example, RUS is required to make
publicly available on the Internet a list
of each entity that has applied for a
grant, a description of each application,
the status of each application, the name
of each entity receiving funds, the
purpose for which the entity is receiving
the funds, each quarterly report, and
other information.29
J. Disposition of Unsuccessful
Applications
Applications accepted for review for
Fiscal Year 2010 BIP will be retained for
two years, after which they will be
destroyed.

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K. State Certifications
With respect to funds made available
under Recovery Act to state or local
governments for infrastructure
investments, the governor, mayor, or
other chief executive, as appropriate,
must certify that the infrastructure
investment has received the full review
and vetting required by law and that the
chief executive accepts responsibility
that the infrastructure investment is an
appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. This
certification must include a description
of the investment, the estimated total
cost, and the amount of funds to be
used, and must be posted on the
recipient’s Web site and linked to http://
www.recovery.gov. A state or local
Agency may not receive infrastructure
investment funding from funds made
available under the Recovery Act unless
this certification is made and posted.30
L. Compliance With Applicable Laws
Any recipient of funds under this
NOFA shall be required to comply with
all applicable Federal and state laws,
including but not limited to: i. The
nondiscrimination and equal
employment opportunity requirements
of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000e et
seq., 7 CFR part 15); ii. section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794 et
seq.; 7 CFR part 15b); iii. The Age
Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.; 45 CFR part 90);
iv. Executive Order 11375, amending
Executive Order 11246, Relating to
Equal Employment Opportunity (3 CFR
part 102). See 7 CFR parts 15 and 15b
and 45 CFR part 90, RUS Bulletin 1790–
1 (‘‘Nondiscrimination among
Beneficiaries of RUS Programs’’), and
RUS Bulletin 20–15:320–15 (‘‘Equal
Employment Opportunity in
Construction Financed with RUS
29 See

M. Communications Laws
Awardees, and in particular,
Broadband Infrastructure Awardees,
will be required to comply with all
applicable Federal and State
communications laws and regulation as
applicable, including, for example, the
Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, as
amended (Pub. L. 104–104, 110 Stat. 56
(1996), and CALEA. For further
information, see http://www.fcc.gov.
N. Buy American Notice
1. General Prohibition and Waiver
None of the funds appropriated or
otherwise made available by the
Recovery Act may be used for the
construction, alteration, maintenance, or
repair of a public building or public
work (as such terms are defined in 2
CFR 176.140) unless all of the iron,
steel, and manufacturing goods used in
the project are produced in the United
States.31 On July 1, 2009, the
Department of Agriculture published a
notice in the Federal Register at 74 FR
31402 stating that the Secretary of
Agriculture has determined that
applying the Buy American provision
for the use of certain broadband
equipment in public BIP projects would
be inconsistent with the public interest.
As explained below, to the extent that
an Applicant wishes to use broadband
equipment or goods that are not covered
by the Secretary’s waiver, it may seek an
additional waiver on a case-by-case
basis as part of its application for
Recovery Act funds.
2. OMB Buy American Notice
Requirement
Pursuant to OMB guidance on the
Recovery Act,32 RUS is required to

Recovery Act sec. 6001(i)(5), 123 Stat. at
31 Id.

515.
30 See

Loans’’). The RUS Bulletins are available
at http://www.broadbandusa.gov.; v.
The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.); vi.
The Uniform Federal Accessibility
Standards (UFAS) (Appendix A to 41
CFR subpart 101–19.6); and vii. The
Council on Environmental Quality
Regulations for Implementing the
Procedural Provisions of NEPA and
certain related Federal environmental
laws, statutes, regulations, and
Executive Orders found in 7 CFR part
1794. A more complete list of such
requirements can be found in the
applicable grant agreement or loan
contract.

id. §§ 1511, 1526, 123 Stat. at 287, 293.

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Sec 1605, 123 Stat. at 303.
2 CFR part 176.

32 See

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provide notice as prescribed at 2 CFR
176.170.
Section 176.170: Notice of Required
Use of American Iron, Steel, and
Manufactured Goods (covered under
International Agreements)—Section
1605 of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009.
When requesting applications or
proposals for Recovery Act programs or
activities that may involve construction,
alteration, maintenance, or repair of a
public building or public work, and
involve iron, steel, and/or manufactured
goods covered under international
agreements, the agency shall use the
notice described in the following
paragraphs in the solicitation:
(a) Definitions. Designated country
iron, steel, and/or manufactured goods,
foreign iron, steel, and/or manufactured
good, manufactured good, public
building and public work, and steel, as
used in this provision, are defined in 2
CFR 176.160(a).
(b) Requests for determinations of
inapplicability. A prospective applicant
requesting a determination regarding the
inapplicability of section 1605 of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111–5) (Recovery
Act) should submit the request to the
award official in time to allow a
determination before submission of
applications or proposals. The
prospective Applicant shall include the
information and applicable supporting
data required by 2 CFR 176.160 (c) and
(d) in the request. If an Applicant has
not requested a determination regarding
the inapplicability of section 1605 of the
Recovery Act before submitting its
application or proposal, or has not
received a response to a previous
request, the Applicant shall include the
information and supporting data in the
application or proposal.
(c) Evaluation of project proposals. If
the Federal Government determines that
an exception based on unreasonable
cost of domestic iron, steel, and/or
manufactured goods applies, the Federal
Government will evaluate a project
requesting exception to the
requirements of section 1605 of the
Recovery Act by adding to the estimated
total cost of the project 25 percent of the
project cost if foreign iron, steel, or
manufactured goods are used based on
unreasonable cost of comparable
domestic iron, steel, or manufactured
goods.
(d) Alternate project proposals.
(1) When a project proposal includes
foreign iron, steel, and/or manufactured
goods, other than designated country
iron, steel, and/or manufactured goods,
that are not listed by the Federal
Government in this Buy American

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices
notice in the request for applications or
proposals, the Applicant may submit an
alternate proposal based on use of
equivalent domestic or designated
country iron, steel, and/or manufactured
goods.
(2) If an alternate proposal is
submitted, the Applicant shall submit a
separate cost comparison table prepared
in accordance with paragraphs 2 CFR
176.160(c) and (d) for the proposal that
is based on the use of any foreign iron,
steel, and/or manufactured goods for
which the Federal Government has not
yet determined an exception applies.
(3) If the Federal Government
determines that a particular exception
requested in accordance with 2 CFR
176.160(b) does not apply, the Federal
Government will evaluate only those
proposals based on use of the equivalent
domestic or designated country iron,
steel, and/or manufactured goods, and
the Applicant shall be required to
furnish such domestic or designated
country items.
O. Executive Order 12866
This notice has been determined to be
‘‘economically significant’’ under
Executive Order 12866. The Recovery
Act also appropriates $2.5 billion to
RUS for broadband grants and loans.
Awards must be made no later than
September 30, 2010. In accordance with
Executive Order 12866, an economic
analysis was completed outlining the
costs and benefits of implementing each
of these programs. The complete
analysis is available from RUS upon
request.

It has been determined that this notice
does not contain policies with
federalism implications as that term is
defined in Executive Order 13132.
Q. Administrative Procedure Act
Statement
This NOFA is being issued without
advance rulemaking or public comment.
The Administrative Procedure Act of
1946, as amended (5 U.S.C. 553) (APA),
has several exemptions to rulemaking
requirements. Among them is an
exemption for ‘‘good cause’’ found at 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B), which allows effective
government action without rulemaking
procedures where withholding the
action would be ‘‘impracticable,
unnecessary, or contrary to the public
interest.’’
USDA has determined, consistent
with the APA that making these funds
available under this NOFA for
broadband development, as mandated
by the Recovery Act, is in the public
interest. Given the emergency nature of
the Recovery Act and the extremely
short time period within which all
funds must be obligated, withholding
this NOFA to provide for public notice
and comment would unduly delay the
provision of benefits associated with
these broadband initiatives and be
contrary to the public interest.
For the same reasons, the Agency
finds good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness for this action. Because
notice and opportunity for comment are
not required pursuant to 5 U.S.C.

553(d)(3) or any other law, the
analytical requirements of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as
amended (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are
inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory
flexibility analysis is not required and
has not been prepared.
R. Paperwork Reduction Act
Copies of all forms, regulations, and
instructions referenced in this NOFA
may be obtained from RUS by e-mailing
[email protected]. Data
furnished by the Applicants will be
used to determine eligibility for program
benefits. Furnishing the data is
voluntary; however, the failure to
provide data could result in program
benefits being withheld or denied.
The collection of information is vital
to RUS to ensure compliance with the
provisions of this Notice and to fulfill
the requirements of the Recovery Act.
The information collection requirements
contained in the NOFA have been
approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control
Number 0572–0142.
The agency expects to request
emergency clearance from OMB and to
publish a notice seeking public
comment on the information collection
requirements of the Satellite, Technical
Assistance, and Libraries programs at a
later date.
S. Recovery Act
Additional information about the
Recovery Act is available at http://
www.Recovery.gov.
T. Satellite Regions

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Region 5

Region 6

State

State

State

State

State

State

Washington
Oregon
California
Nevada
Idaho
Utah
Arizona

Montana
Wyoming
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Illinois

Colorado
New Mexico
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas
Missouri
Arkansas
Louisiana

Region Eight—Hawaii
U. Authorized Signatories

14:44 Jan 21, 2010

Tennessee
Mississippi
Alabama
Georgia
Florida
South Carolina
North Carolina

[FR Doc. 2010–1099 Filed 1–19–10; 11:15 am]

Only authorized grant and loan
officers can bind the Government to the
expenditure of funds.

VerDate Nov<24>2008

Michigan
Indiana
Ohio
Kentucky
West Virginia
Pennsylvania
Virginia

Dated: January 15, 2010.
Jonathan Adelstein,
Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.

Region Seven—Alaska

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Maryland
Delaware
New Jersey
New York
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Vermont
Maine