Department of Agriculture January 17, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the application window, requirements and funding for loans that may become available for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 under the Guarantees for Bonds and Notes Issued for Electrification or Telephone Purposes Program (the 313A Program) authorized under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended, and related terms. Under the 313A Program, the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) will make loans to the selected applicant(s) and RUS will guarantee the applicant(s)'s repayment of the loans to FFB. Selected applicants may use the proceeds of loan funds made available under the 313A Program to make loans to borrowers for electrification or telecommunications purposes, or to refinance bonds or notes previously issued by applicants for such purposes. The proceeds of the guaranteed bonds and notes are not to be used by applicants to directly or indirectly fund projects for the generation of electricity. This notice is based on loan levels contemplated by the FY 17 Continuing Resolution and on information available to the agency at the time of this notice. The final amount of funding made available under this notice could be affected by subsequent Congressional action or subsidy rate calculations. Last year, the RUS obligated $750 million in loan funds for this program. It is necessary to publish this notice at this time to ensure that applicants have sufficient time to prepare applications and to ensure that the agency has sufficient time and resources to evaluate applications.