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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 37 / Friday, February 26, 2021 / Rules and Regulations application window to prepare an Application or to respond to RUS
inquiries about the Application.
Premises means households, farms, and businesses.
Project means all of the work to be performed to bring broadband service to all premises in the proposed funded service area under the Application, including construction, the purchase and installation of equipment, and professional services including engineering and accountant/consultant fees, whether funded by federal assistance, matching, or other funds.
Proposed funded service area PFSA
means the area whether all or part of an existing or new service area where the applicant is requesting funds to provide broadband service. Multiple service areas will be treated as separate standalone service areas for the purpose of determining how much of the PFSA
does not have sufficient access to broadband. Each service area must meet the minimum requirements for the appropriate funding category to be an eligible area.
RE Act means the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended 7 U.S.C. 901 et seq..
Rural area means any area that 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 as defined in the Agency mapping tool.
RUS Accounting Requirements shall mean compliance with GAAP, acceptable to RUS, the system of accounting prescribed by RUS Bulletin 1770B1 and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, found at 2 CFR part 200. For all Awardees the term grant recipient in 2 CFR 200 shall also be read to encompass loan recipient and loan/grant recipient, such that 2 CFR
200 shall be applicable to all Awardees under this part.
Sufficient access to broadband means a rural area in which households have broadband service at the minimum acceptable level of broadband, as set forth in the latest Federal Register notice announcing funding for the program. This definition will be used to determine the eligibility of a proposed service area and cannot be lower than 10 megabit per second Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream.
Mobile/Cellular and satellite services, which include systems that use satellite backbone facilities to connect to the internet, will not be considered in
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making the determination of sufficient access to broadband.
TIER means times interest earned ratio. TIER is the ratio of an Applicants net income after taxes plus interest expense, all divided by interest expense and with all financial terms defined by GAAP.
b Unless otherwise provided in the award documents, all financial terms not defined herein shall have the meaning as defined by GAAP.
1740.3

Funding parameters.

a For the purposes of this part:
1 Ninety 90 percent of the PFSA
must not have sufficient access to broadband service;
2 Applicants must propose to build a network that is capable of providing broadband service to every premises located in the PFSA at the time the application is submitted at a speed defined in the latest Federal Register notice announcing funding for the Program; and 3 The Agency reserves the right to make funding offers or seek consultations to resolve partially overlapping applications. RUS may contact the applicant for additional information during the review process.
If additional information is requested, the applicant will have up to 30
calendar days to submit the information.
If such information is not timely submitted, RUS may reject the application.
b The amount and types of funds available for assistance, as well as the maximum and minimum award amounts will be published in the Federal Register. Applicants may apply for grants, loans and loan/grant combinations.
1740.4

Certifications.

The Applicant must certify to the following within the online application system:
a That it is authorized to submit the application on behalf of the eligible entityies listed in the Application;
b That the Applicant has examined the Application;
c That all information in the Application, including certifications and forms submitted are, at the time furnished, true and correct in all material respects;
d That the entity requesting funding will comply with the terms, conditions, purposes, and federal requirements of the program;
e That a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or claim on the Application is grounds for denial or termination of an award, and/or possible punishment by a fine or
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imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C.
1001 and civil violations of the False Claims Act 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq.;
f That the Applicant will comply with all applicable federal, tribal, state, and local laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, codes, orders, and programmatic rules and requirements relating to the project, and acknowledges that failure to do so may result in rejection or de-obligation of the award, as well as civil liability or criminal prosecution, if applicable, by the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

1740.51740.8 Reserved
Subpart BEligibility Requirements 1740.9

Eligible and ineligible entities.

a To be eligible for funding, an Applicant may be either a nonprofit or for-profit organization, and must take one of the following forms:
1 Corporation;
2 Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Partnership;
3 Cooperative or mutual organization;
4 States or local governments, including any agency, subdivision, instrumentality, or political subdivision thereof;
5 A territory or possession of the United States; or 6 An Indian tribe, as defined in section 4 of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education Assistance Act 25 U.S.C. 450b.
b Individuals and legal general partnerships that are formed with individuals are not eligible entities.
c Co-Applicants are not eligible entities. If two entities would like to partner with each other in delivering broadband to areas without sufficient access, then one entity must take the lead on submitting an application. Intercompany agreements can be used to account for revenues and expenses on the applicants financial projections.
However, based on the existing financial and security arrangements, the Agency may require that both, or other entities, be parties to the award documents, or guarantee the award.
1740.10

Eligible projects.

To be eligible for funding assistance under the part, the Applicant must:
a Submit a complete application and provide all supporting documentation including unqualified, comparative, audited financial statements for the previous year from the date the application is submitted as detailed in 1740.63.
b Demonstrate that the project can be completely built out within five years
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