On August 6, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the second funding round of the Rural eConnectivity Program (ReConnect Program) for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 22). The ReConnect Program, now in its fourth rounding of funding since inception in 2018, offers grants and loans to provide funding for the construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas. The FOA provides a total of $1.15 billion in eligible grant and loan opportunities, made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and counties can apply beginning on September 6, 2022 through November 2, 2022 at 11:59am EST.

The ReConnect Program offers three types of funding opportunities for broadband deployment in rural areas: loans; grants; and loan/grant combinations. For an area to be eligible for ReConnect Program funds, applicants must submit evidence that at least 50% of the households in the proposed service area lack access to broadband service reliably providing 100 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload. If a proposed funded service area is receiving or under consideration to receive other Federal funds, it is eligible for ReConnect funding so long as an entity has not received final approval to receive other Federal funding to construct terrestrial facilities providing at least 100/20 Mbps service as of September 6, 2022.

The funding breakdown for the ReConnect Program is as follows:

Counties are deeply invested in helping facilitate the deployment of accessible and reliable broadband in rural communities across the country, and are encouraged to apply as partners or providers of rural broadband service under the ReConnect Program. Rural access to high-speed internet will help facilitate economic development, provide equitable access to telehealth and remote work services, and foster innovations in precision agriculture, among other benefits. NACo will continue to closely monitor the ReConnect Program and provide updates for members.

Counties can now also access the USDA ReConnect Program Network and Financial Model Workbook, which helps interested applicants to validate their network and financial application data prior to the application window opening on September 6, 2022. You can download the workbook now by visiting the ReConnect Forms and Resources page.

*ANC = Alaska Native Corporation