12 2 STA T . 2 07 7 PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 46—J U NE 1 8, 2008 ‘ ‘ (3)haved e monstr ated the a bil it y to c ond u ct educational and technical su p port pro g rams . ‘‘(c) CONSULTA T I ON. —I n carrying out this section , the S ecretary shall consult w ith the Secretary o fE nergy. ‘‘(d) F UN D IN G .— O f the funds of the Commodity Credit Corpora - tion, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $1 , 0 00,000 for each of fiscal years 2 00 8 through 2012. ‘ ‘ SEC.90 0 7 . RU R AL E N ER GYFO RA M ER I CA P ROGRAM. ‘‘(a) ESTA B LIS HME NT.— T he Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish a R ural Energy for A merica P rogram to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy development for agricultural producers and rural small businesses through— ‘‘(1) grants for energy audits and renewable energy develop- ment assistance
and ‘‘(2) financial assistance for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems. ‘‘(b) ENE R G Y AUDITS AND RENE W ABLE ENERGY D E V ELO P MENT ASSISTAN C E.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ma k e competitive grants to eligible entities to provide assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses— ‘‘(A) to become more energy efficient; and ‘‘( B ) to use renewable energy technologies and resources. ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible entity under this sub- section is— ‘‘(A) a unit of State, tribal, or local government; ‘‘(B) a land-grant college or university or other institu- tion of higher education; ‘‘(C) a rural electric cooperative or public power entity; and ‘‘(D) any other similar entity, as determined by the Secretary. ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In reviewing applications of eligible entities to receive grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider— ‘‘(A) the ability and e x pertise of the eligible entity in providing professional energy audits and renewable energy assessments; ‘‘(B) the geographic scope of the program proposed by the eligible entity in relation to the identified need; ‘‘(C) the number of agricultural producers and rural small businesses to be assisted by the program; ‘‘(D) the potential of the proposed program to produce energy savings and environmental benefits; ‘‘(E) the plan of the eligible entity for performing out- reach and providing information and assistance to agricul- tural producers and rural small businesses on the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy development; and ‘‘(F) the ability of the eligible entity to leverage other sources of funding. ‘‘( 4 ) U SEO F GRANT FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under paragraph (1) shall use the grant funds to assist agricultural producers and rural small businesses by— Grants.7USC810 7.
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