Appalachia Opportunity Grants Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 178 To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to benefit the Appalachia region, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. GRIFFITH (for himself and Mr. RYAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to benefit the Appalachia region, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Appalachia Oppor- 4 tunity Grants Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 178 IH SEC. 2. APPALACHIA INNOVATION GRANTS. 1 Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De- 2 velopment Act (7 U.S.C. 1981 et seq.) is amended by add- 3 ing at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 379I. APPALACHIA INNOVATION GRANTS. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 7 tity’ means a unit of local government in the region. 8 ‘‘(2) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means the 9 Appalachian region (as defined in section 14102(a) 10 of title 40, United States Code). 11 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary may award grants to 12 eligible entities to convene groups of public and private 13 entities to collaborate in carrying out regional projects to 14 accomplish positive economic and community impacts in 15 the region. 16 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATIVE GROUPS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 18 grant under subsection (b), an eligible entity— 19 ‘‘(A) shall convene as part of the collabo- 20 rative group representatives of each of— 21 ‘‘(i) a local economic development 22 board or office in the region; 23 ‘‘(ii) a private company or association; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 178 IH ‘‘(iii) an institution of higher edu- 1 cation (as defined in section 101 of the 2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 3 1001)) in the region; and 4 ‘‘(B) may convene as part of the collabo- 5 rative group representatives of other entities 6 (such as venture capital firms, nonprofit organi- 7 zations, and philanthropic organizations) that 8 the eligible entity determines are important to 9 the goal of the regional project described in 10 subsection (d)(2). 11 ‘‘(2) REFERRAL PROCESS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 13 assist in the formation of a collaborative group 14 under paragraph (1) by establishing a referral 15 process under which a private company or asso- 16 ciation seeking to invest in a particular area in 17 the region is matched with an eligible entity lo- 18 cated in that area. 19 ‘‘(B) DATABASE OF POTENTIAL INVES- 20 TORS.—In carrying out subparagraph (A), the 21 Secretary may— 22 ‘‘(i) establish and maintain a database 23 of private companies and associations seek- 24 ing to invest in the region; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 178 IH ‘‘(ii) coordinate with other Federal 1 agencies, including the Department of 2 Commerce, to register inquiries— 3 ‘‘(I) that are made to those agen- 4 cies by private companies and associa- 5 tions seeking to invest in the region; 6 and 7 ‘‘(II) in the database described in 8 clause (i). 9 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—A regional project 10 carried out by a collaborative group under subsection (b) 11 shall— 12 ‘‘(1) involve not fewer than 2 municipalities 13 that share a border; and 14 ‘‘(2) complete a specific activity that has as a 15 goal— 16 ‘‘(A) job creation in the region; 17 ‘‘(B) expansion of the capacity of post-sec- 18 ondary education in the region; 19 ‘‘(C) growth of tourism in the region; 20 ‘‘(D) improving public health in the region; 21 or 22 ‘‘(E) upgrading regional infrastructure. 23 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 178 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that has 1 convened a collaborative group described in sub- 2 section (c)(1) and identified an activity for a re- 3 gional project described in subsection (d)(2) may 4 submit to the Secretary an application that in- 5 cludes— 6 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of— 7 ‘‘(i) a timeline for the completion of 8 the regional project; and 9 ‘‘(ii) the responsibilities of each mem- 10 ber of the collaborative group in carrying 11 out the regional project; 12 ‘‘(B) evidence that the collaborative group 13 is a public-private partnership; 14 ‘‘(C) evidence that the collaborative group 15 will maintain intermunicipality cooperation; 16 ‘‘(D) a description of the reasons that the 17 eligible entity requires Federal funds; 18 ‘‘(E) evidence that the eligible entity has 19 previously sought funding from State, local, or 20 private programs; 21 ‘‘(F) a description of the source of non- 22 Federal funds for the regional project; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 178 IH ‘‘(G) a description of the positive economic 1 or community impact (including relating to edu- 2 cation) of the regional project; 3 ‘‘(H) an assessment of the assets and 4 weaknesses of the community in which the re- 5 gional project will be implemented; 6 ‘‘(I) a regional strategic plan that— 7 ‘‘(i) takes into account the assessment 8 described in subparagraph (H); and 9 ‘‘(ii) includes an analysis of the align- 10 ment of the regional project with the re- 11 gional strategic plan; and 12 ‘‘(J) evidence, with full transparency and 13 credibility, of minimal obstruction to the com- 14 pletion of the project design phase described in 15 subsection (f)(2)(A) by not later than 1 year 16 after the date on which the eligible entity re- 17 ceives the grant. 18 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri- 19 ority to applications submitted under paragraph (1) 20 that describe a positive, measurable economic im- 21 pact. 22 ‘‘(f) GRANT FUNDS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 178 IH ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant 1 for a regional project under subsection (b) shall be 2 not more than $2,000,000. 3 ‘‘(2) PHASES.—A grant under subsection (b) 4 shall be awarded in the following 2 phases: 5 ‘‘(A) PROJECT DESIGN.—An eligible entity 6 may use 50 percent of the grant during the pe- 7 riod beginning on the date on which the eligible 8 entity receives the grant and ending not later 9 than 1 year after that date to continue the 10 planning and design of the regional project, in- 11 cluding activities such as— 12 ‘‘(i) workforce training; 13 ‘‘(ii) building design; 14 ‘‘(iii) permit approvals; and 15 ‘‘(iv) real estate arrangements. 16 ‘‘(B) PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.—An eligi- 17 ble entity that completes the planning and de- 18 sign of the regional project under subparagraph 19 (A) may use the remaining grant funds for the 20 completion of the construction and implementa- 21 tion of the regional project. 22 ‘‘(3) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.—An el- 23 igible entity that receives a grant under subsection 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 178 IH (b) shall provide non-Federal funding equal to not 1 less than 10 percent of the amount of the grant. 2 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION OF GRANT FUNDS.—The 3 Secretary shall reserve 20 percent of the funds made 4 available under subsection (h) for each fiscal year to 5 award grants to eligible entities that convene col- 6 laborative groups that include a representative of a 7 private company or association that is located in the 8 region. 9 ‘‘(g) REVIEW OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 10 ‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 11 REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 12 States shall conduct a review of the implementation 13 of this section for— 14 ‘‘(A) the 2-year period beginning on the 15 date on which the Secretary begins to accept 16 applications for grants under this section; and 17 ‘‘(B) each 4-year period thereafter. 18 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 19 shall submit to Congress an annual report describ- 20 ing— 21 ‘‘(A) funding decisions under this section; 22 ‘‘(B) a justification for each grant awarded 23 under this section; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 178 IH ‘‘(C) with respect to each regional project 1 that has received a grant under this section, the 2 extent to which— 3 ‘‘(i) benchmarks for the project have 4 been met in accordance with the timeline 5 for the project; and 6 ‘‘(ii) the project may be considered an 7 example to other municipalities desiring a 8 grant under this section. 9 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.—Of amounts made available for the 10 Dislocated Worker National Reserve fund under section 11 132(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 12 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3172(a)(2)(A)), $100,000,000 shall 13 be used to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 14 2019 through 2028.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H178.IH H178 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS