Collapse to view only § 901. Short title
- § 901. Short title
- § 902. General authority of Secretary of Agriculture
- § 903. Authorization of appropriations
- § 904. Loans for electrical plants and transmission lines
- § 905. Fees for certain loan guarantees
- § 906. Funding for administrative expenses
- § 906a. Use of funds outside the United States or its territories prohibited
- § 907. Acquisition of property pledged for loans; disposition; sale of pledged property by borrower
- § 908. Limitations on use of assistance
- § 909. Administration on nonpolitical basis; dismissal of officers or employees for violating provision
- § 910. Repealed.
- § 911. Acceptance of services of Federal or State officers; application of civil service laws; expenditures for supplies and equipment
- § 911a. Repealed.
- § 912. Extension of time for repayment of loans
- § 912a. Rescheduling and refinancing of loans
- § 913. Definitions
- § 914. Separability
- § 915. Purchase of financial and credit reports
- § 916. Criteria for loans
- § 917. Prohibition on restricting water and waste facility services to electric customers
- § 918. General prohibitions
- § 918a. Energy generation, transmission, and distribution facilities efficiency grants and loans in rural communities with extremely high energy costs
- § 918b. Acquisition of existing systems in rural communities with high energy costs
- § 918c. Rural and remote communities electrification grants
This chapter may be cited as the “Rural Electrification Act of 1936”.
The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this chapter as the “Secretary”) is authorized and empowered to make loans, or refinance loans made or guaranteed by the Secretary under this chapter, in the several States and Territories of the United States for rural electrification and for the purpose of furnishing and improving electric and telephone service in rural areas, as provided in this chapter, and for the purpose of assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy efficiency and conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems.
The Secretary may make, or cause to be made, studies, investigations, and reports regarding matters, including financial, technological, and regulatory matters, affecting the condition and progress of electric, telecommunications, and economic development in rural areas, and publish and disseminate information with respect to the matters.
Not later than 180 days after December 20, 2018, the Secretary shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Energy under which the Secretary of Energy shall provide technical assistance to the Rural Utilities Service on loans to be made under subsection (a) of this section and section 904(a) of this title.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this chapter.
The Secretary is authorized and empowered, from the sums hereinbefore authorized, to make loans for rural electrification to persons, corporations, States, Territories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities, peoples’ utility districts and cooperative, nonprofit, or limited-dividend associations, organized under the laws of any State or Territory of the United States, for the purpose of financing the construction and operation of generating plants, electric transmission and distribution lines or systems for the furnishing and improving of electric service to persons in rural areas, including by assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy efficiency and conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems, and loans, from funds available under section 903 of this title, to cooperative associations and municipalities for the purpose of enabling said cooperative associations, and municipalities to the extent that such indebtedness was incurred with respect to electric transmission and distribution lines or systems or portions thereof serving persons in rural areas, to discharge or refinance long-term debts owed by them to the Tennessee Valley Authority on account of loans made or credit extended under the terms of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933, as amended [16 U.S.C. 831 et seq.]: Provided, That the Secretary, in making such loans, shall give preference to States, Territories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities, peoples’ utility districts, and cooperative, nonprofit, or limited-dividend associations, the projects of which comply with the requirements of this chapter.
Such loans shall be on such terms and conditions relating to the expenditure of the moneys loaned and the security therefor as the Secretary shall determine and may be made payable in whole or in part out of the income, except that no loan for the construction, operation, or enlargement of any generating plant shall be made unless the consent of the State authority having jurisdiction in the premises is first obtained.
Direct hardship loans under this section shall be for the same purposes and on the same terms and conditions as hardship loans made under section 935(c)(1) of this title.
All other direct loans under this section shall bear interest at a rate equal to the then current cost of money to the Government of the United States for loans of similar maturity, plus ⅛ of 1 percent.
Loans under this section shall not be made unless the Secretary finds and certifies that in his judgment the security therefor is reasonably adequate and such loan will be repaid within the time agreed.
For electrification baseload generation loan guarantees, the Secretary shall, at the request of the borrower, charge an upfront fee to cover the costs of the loan guarantee.
The fee described in subsection (a) for a loan guarantee shall be equal to the costs of the loan guarantee (within the meaning of section 661a(5)(C) of title 2).
Funds received from a borrower to pay the fee described in this section shall not be derived from a loan or other debt obligation that is made or guaranteed by the Federal Government.
For the purpose of administering this chapter and for the purpose of making the studies, investigations, publications, and reports herein provided for, there is authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as shall be necessary.
No funds provided under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended [7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.], shall be used outside the United States or any of its territories.
The Secretary is authorized and empowered to bid for and purchase at any foreclosure or other sale, or otherwise to acquire, property pledged or mortgaged to secure any loan made pursuant to this chapter; to pay the purchase price and any costs and expenses incurred in connection therewith from the sums authorized in section 903 of this title; to accept title to any property so purchased or acquired in the name of the United States of America; to operate or lease such property for such period as may be deemed necessary or advisable to protect the investment therein, but not to exceed five years after the acquisition thereof; and to sell such property so purchased or acquired, upon such terms and for such consideration as the Secretary shall determine to be reasonable.
No borrower of funds under sections 904 or 922 of this title shall, without the approval of the Secretary, sell or dispose of its property, rights, or franchises, acquired under the provisions of this chapter, until any loan obtained from the Rural Electrification Administration, including all interest and charges, shall have been repaid.
This chapter shall be administered entirely on a nonpartisan basis, and in the appointment of officials, the selection of employees, and in the promotion of any such officials or employees, no political test or qualification shall be permitted or given consideration, but all such appointments and promotions shall be given and made on the basis of merit and efficiency. If the Secretary herein provided for is found by the President of the United States to be guilty of a violation of this section, he shall be removed from office by the President, and any appointee or selection of officials or employees made by the Secretary who is found guilty of a violation of this chapter shall be removed by the Secretary.
In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter the Secretary may accept and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services of Federal, State, and local officers and employees as are available, and he may appoint and fix the compensation of attorneys, engineers, and experts and he may, subject to the civil-service laws, appoint such other officers and employees as he may find necessary and prescribe their duties. The Secretary is authorized, from sums appropriated pursuant to section 906 of this title, to make such expenditures (including expenditures for personal services; supplies and equipment; lawbooks and books of reference; directories and periodicals; travel expenses; rental at the seat of government and elsewhere; the purchase, operation, or maintenance of passenger-carrying vehicles; and printing and binding) as are appropriate and necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
The Secretary is authorized and empowered to extend the time of payment of interest or principal of any loans made by the Secretary pursuant to this chapter, except that, with respect to any loan made under section 904 or 922 of this title, the payment of interest or principal shall not be extended more than five years after such payment shall have become due.
The total amount of a deferment under this subsection shall not exceed the sum of the principal and interest on the loans made to a customer of the borrower, as determined by the Secretary.
The term of a deferment under this subsection shall not exceed 60 months.
In addition to the loan extension authority provided in section 912 of this title, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to adjust and readjust the schedules for payment of principal and interest on loans to borrowers under programs administered by the Secretary under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.), and to extend the maturity date of any such loan to a date not beyond forty years from the date of such loan where he determines such action is necessary because of the impairment of the economic feasibility of the system, or the loss, destruction, or damage of the property of such borrowers as a result of a major disaster.
The term “farm” means a farm, as defined by the Bureau of the Census.
The term “Indian tribe” has the meaning given the term in section 5304 of title 25.
The term “territory” includes any insular possession of the United States.
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Agriculture.
If any provision of this chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to purchase such financial and credit reports as may be necessary to carry out the Secretary’s authorized work: Provided, That purchases under this authority shall not be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.
In order to insure coordination of electric generation and transmission financing under this chapter with the national energy policy, the Secretary in making or guaranteeing loans for the construction, operation, or enlargement of generating plants or electric transmission lines or systems, shall consider such general criteria consistent with the provisions of this chapter as may be published by the Secretary of Energy.
Assistance under any rural development program administered by the Secretary or any agency of the Department of Agriculture shall not be conditioned on any requirement that the recipient of the assistance accept or receive electric service from any particular utility, supplier, or cooperative.
The Secretary shall establish, by regulation, adequate safeguards to ensure that assistance under any rural development program is not subject to such a condition. The safeguards shall include periodic certifications and audits, and appropriate measures and sanctions against any person violating, or attempting to violate subsection (a).
Not later than 60 days after April 4, 1996, the Secretary shall issue final regulations to ensure compliance with subsection (a).
The Secretary shall not deny or reduce any loan or loan advance under this chapter based on a borrower’s level of general funds.
The Secretary may not charge any fee or charge not expressly provided in this chapter in connection with any loan made or guaranteed under this chapter.
To facilitate timely action on applications by borrowers for financial assistance under this chapter and for approvals required of the Rural Electrification Administration pursuant to the terms of outstanding loan or security instruments or otherwise, the Secretary may use consultants funded by the borrower, paid for out of the general funds of the borrower, for financial, legal, engineering, and other technical advice and services in connection with the review of the application by the Rural Electrification Administration.
The Secretary shall establish procedures for the selection and the provision of technical services by consultants to ensure that the consultants have no financial or other conflicts of interest in the outcome of the application of the borrower.
The Secretary may not, without the consent of the borrower, require, as a condition of processing an application for approval, that the borrower agree to pay the costs, fees, and expenses of consultants hired to provide technical or advisory services to the Secretary.
The Secretary may enter into such contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements as are necessary to carry out this section.
Nothing in this subsection shall limit the authority of the Secretary to retain the services of consultants from funds made available to the Secretary or otherwise.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as are necessary for each subsequent fiscal year.
Not more than 4 percent of the amounts made available under paragraph (1) may be used for planning and administrative expenses.
On and after November 28, 2001, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service 1
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2012.