Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “EDA Short Form Application Act”.
EDA Short Form Application Act
A BILL
To require the establishment and use of short form applications for rural communities applying for economic development grant programs, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Short form applications for rural communities in economic development programs
Definitions— In this section:
Assistant Secretary— The term Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.
Rural community— The term rural community means an incorporated municipality, Tribal area, or territory—
with a population of not more than 10,000 individuals, as determined by the Bureau of the Census in the most recent decennial census; or
that, as determined by the Assistant Secretary, is not located in a metropolitan statistical area, as designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Short form applications— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Assistant Secretary shall establish a short form application for rural communities that may be used by applicants in rural communities for any grant program administered by the Economic Development Administration.
Rural stakeholder input— In establishing a short form application under subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary shall solicit input from a representative group of stakeholders in rural communities on the challenges faced by rural communities in identifying opportunities, and applying, for grants from the Economic Development Administration, including—
the length of the applications;
the information and documentation required or requested to be submitted as part of the applications;
the degree of applicability to rural communities of questions in the applications and information and documentation described in paragraph (2); and
any other considerations the Assistant Secretary determines to be necessary for the establishment of the short form application.