12 2 STA T . 1 3 2 4PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 234 —M A Y 22 , 200 8‘ ‘ (2)DISCRET I ONA R YFU N D IN G.—Inad d it i o ntoan y ot herfu nd sm ade a v ai l a b le to c arry out this section , there is author - i z edtobea p propriated to carry out this section $35 , 0 00,000 for each of fiscal years 200 9 throu g h20 1 2. ‘ ‘ SEC.90 09. RU R AL E N ER GY SEL F- SUFF I CIENCY INI T IATI V E. ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section
‘‘(1) EL IGI B LE RURAL CO M MUNITY.— T he term ‘eligible rural community ’ means a community located in a rural area (as defined in section 3 4 3(a)(13)( A )of the C onsolidated F arm and R ural Development Act ( 7U . S .C. 1991(a)(13)(A))). ‘‘(2) INITIATI V E.—The term ‘Initiative’ means the Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative established under this section. ‘‘(3) INTEGRATED RENE W ABLE ENERGY SYSTEM.—The term ‘integrated rene w able energy system’ means a community-wide energy system that— ‘‘(A) reduces conventional energy use
and ‘‘( B ) increases the use of energy from renewable sources. ‘‘(b) ESTABLIS H MENT.—The Secretary shall establish a Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative to provide financial assistance for the purpose of enabling eligible rural communities to substan- tially increase the energy self-sufficiency of the eligible rural communities. ‘‘(c) G RANT ASSISTANCE.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ma k e grants avail- able under the Initiative to eligible rural communities to carry out an activity described in paragraph (2). ‘‘(2) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible rural community may use a grant— ‘‘(A) to conduct an energy assessment that assesses the total energy use of all energy users in the eligible rural community; ‘‘(B) to formulate and analyze ideas for reducing energy usage by the eligible rural community from conventional sources; and ‘‘(C) to develop and install an integrated renewable energy system. ‘‘(3) GRANT SELECTION.— ‘‘(A) A P PLICATION.—To be considered for a grant, an eligible rural community shall submit an application to the Secretary that describes the ways in which the commu- nity would use the grant to carry out an activity described in paragraph (2). ‘‘(B) P REFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give preference to those applications that propose to carry out an activity in coordination with— ‘‘(i) institutions of higher education or nonprofit foundations of institutions of higher education; ‘‘(ii) Federal, State, or local government agencies; ‘‘(iii) public or private power generation entities; or ‘‘(iv) government entities with responsibility for water or natural resources. ‘‘(4) REPORT.—An eligible rural community receiving a grant under the Initiative shall submit to the Secretary a report on the pro j ect of the eligible rural community. 7USC8109.
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