HR 8389
Rural Area Population Act
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Bill overview
This bill, the Rural Area Population Act, aims to standardize the definition of ‘rural area’ used in various Department of Agriculture programs. It clarifies that ‘urban’ should be used instead of ‘urbanized’ in defining rural areas, and expands the criteria for designating rural areas to include areas with persistent poverty, high concentrations of farmworker households, or significant infrastructure gaps. The bill also provides the Secretary of Agriculture with the authority to designate specific areas, such as census tracts, as rural even if they are located within urban areas, provided they meet certain economic and infrastructure criteria.
Key provisions
- Defines ‘rural area’ as ‘urban’ rather than ‘urbanized’ in USDA programs.
- Expands the criteria for designating rural areas to include persistent poverty, high concentrations of farmworker households, and significant infrastructure gaps.
- Grants the Secretary of Agriculture authority to designate areas as rural, even if within urban areas, based on specific indicators.
- Clarifies the definition of ‘rural area’ across multiple USDA acts, including the Rural Electrification Act.
- Establishes a process for designating ‘high-need rural pockets’ – small, geographically distinct settlements with high poverty rates.
- Defines ‘farmworker settlement’ based on primary income from agricultural labor.
- Provides a grandfather clause, protecting existing rural area designations until 2030 census data is available.
- Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to create rules implementing the bill’s provisions.
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119th CONGRESS — 2d Session
H. R. 8389
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To establish a uniform definition of rural area
for all rural development programs administered by the Department of Agriculture.
This Act may be cited as the Rural Area Population Act
.
rural areafor USDA rural development programs
in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking urbanized
and insert urban
;
by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C);
by striking (F)
each place it appears and inserting (D)
; and
in clause (i), by striking urbanized
each place it appears and inserting urban
;
in subparagraph (E), by striking urbanized
and inserting urban
;
in subparagraph (F)—
in clause (i)(II), by striking urbanized
and inserting urban
; and
in clause (ii), by striking consider—
and all that follows and inserting consider an area described in clause (i)(I) not to be a rural area for purposes of subparagraph (A).
; and
by redesignating subparagraphs (D) through (I) as subparagraphs (B) through (G), respectively.
in subparagraph (A), by striking (C)
each place it appears and inserting (A)
; and
in subparagraph (B), by striking loan
and inserting loan, or has had a loan,
before made under
.
Section 601(b)(3) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 950bb(b)(3)) is amended to read as follows:
Section 604(a)(4) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 950bb–3(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows:
Section 520 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490) is amended—
by striking the first sentence and inserting the following: (a) In general.—As used in this title, the term rural area shall have the meaning given the term in 343(a)(13)(A) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)(A)).
;
by striking For purposes of this title
and inserting the following:
by striking , and the city
and all that follows through year 2000
; and
by adding at the end the following:
As used in this title, the term rural shall have the meaning given the term rural area in subsection (a).
rural in characterauthority
Section 343(a)(13) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
In this subparagraph:
persistent povertymeans, with respect to an area referred to in clause (i), that the income of at least 20 percent of the population of the area was below the poverty line (within the meaning of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, including any revision required by such section applicable to a family of the size involved), as measured by the 1990, 2000, and 2010 decennial censuses.
The term high concentration
means a percentage that significantly exceeds the percentage of farmworker households in the United States or in the State involved, as determined by the Secretary.
significant infrastructure gapmeans, with respect to an area referred to in clause (i), that the area lacks access to potable water, wastewater treatment, or reliable electricity that meets Federal standards, as determined by the relevant State or local health department and the relevant USDA Rural Development field office.
Section 343(a)(13) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
farmworker settlementmeans an area in which more than 50 percent of the households derive their primary income from agricultural labor or are headed by an individual who is or recently was employed in agriculture, as verified using American Community Survey data on industry and occupation and local data provided by State or tribal labor agencies.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
A rural area designation made under section 343(a)(13) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act before the effective date of this Act shall not be changed by reason of any amendment made by this Act, before data from the 2030 decennial census is available.