§ 1703.113 - Application filing dates, location, processing, and public notification.

(a) Applications for financial assistance under this subpart shall be submitted to the Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 1590, Washington, DC 20250-1590. Applications should be marked “Attention: Assistant Administrator, Telecommunications Program”.

(b) Applications for loans can be submitted at any time. RUS will review each application for completeness in accordance with § 1703.109, and notify the applicant, within 15 working days of the receipt of the application, of the results of this review, citing any information which is incomplete. To be considered for loan funds during the fiscal year (FY) that the application is submitted, any information needed to complete the application must be postmarked no later than August 14. If this review concludes that a loan is feasible and the application receives the required minimum number of points as determined using the scoring criteria in § 1703.117, the Administrator will immediately process the application. The minimum number of points required for a loan application to be immediately processed will be published in the Federal Register each fiscal year.

(c) Applications requesting grant funds must be submitted to RUS and postmarked not later than June 1 if the applications are to be considered during the fiscal year the application is submitted. It is suggested that applications be submitted prior to the above deadline to ensure they can be reviewed and considered complete by the deadline. RUS will review each application for completeness in accordance with § 1703.109, and notify the applicant, within 15 working days of the results of this review, citing any information which is incomplete. To be considered for grant funds, the applicant must submit the information to complete the application by June 1. If the applicant fails to submit such information by the appropriate deadline, the application will be considered during the next fiscal year.

(d) The Administrator will publish, at the end of each fiscal year, a notice in the Federal Register of all completed applications receiving financial assistance under this subpart. The Administrator will also make those applications available for public inspection at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. For purposes of this paragraph, applications include any information not protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and any other information that has not been designated as proprietary information by the applicant.

(e) All applicants must submit an original and two copies of a completed application. A grant applicant must also submit a copy of the application to the State government point of contact, if one has been designated for the state, at the same time it submits an application to RUS. All applications must include the information described in § 1703.109.