USDA Grant Simplification Act of 2024

The term Department means the Department of Agriculture.

The term rural community means an incorporated municipality, Tribal area, or territory—

(i) with a population of not more than 10,000, as determined by the Bureau of the Census in the most recent decennial census; or

(ii) that is not located in a metropolitan statistical area, as designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The term rural community includes a nonmunicipal publicly elected or appointed local infrastructure political subdivision described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A), including—

(i) a water district;

(ii) an irrigation district;

(iii) a road and bridge district; and

(iv) a fire district.

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.

The term short form application means the short form application described in section 3(a).

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and after soliciting input from rural communities in accordance with subsection (b), the Secretary shall create a standardized grant application short form for use by a rural community when applying for a grant under a grant program of the Department for which the rural community is otherwise eligible.

The Secretary shall solicit input from a representative group of rural communities on the challenges faced by rural communities in finding and applying for grants from the Department, including—

(1) the length of applications;

(2) the information and documents requested by the application;

(3) the applicability of questions and requested materials to rural communities; and

(4) any other consideration that the Secretary determines to be necessary for the creation of the short form application.

The short form application shall—

(1) include—

(A) basic information common to all applications for grants from the Department for which rural communities are eligible; and

(B) any other information the Secretary, in consultation with rural communities in accordance with subsection (b), determines necessary to include; and

(2) exclude questions and requests for information that are not applicable to a rural community.

Not later than 90 days after the creation of the short form application, the Secretary shall identify grant programs administered by the Department for which—

(A) rural communities are eligible to receive funds; and

(B) the application requirements are in excess of those in the short form application.

Except as provided in paragraph (3), not later than 180 days after the Secretary identifies grant programs under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall accept the short form application from a rural community for those programs.

Paragraph (2) shall not apply to a grant program identified under paragraph (1) for which changes to the application process are not feasible, including a grant program for which changes to the application process require rulemaking.