12 2 STA T .4 1 0 0 PUBLIC LA W 110 –385—O CT. 10 , 2008 (1)INGE NE RAL.—TheS e cr e ta r ys ha l l b yre gu lat ion re q uire a p propriate technical an d scienti f ic peer re v ie w of applications m ade for grants under this section. ( 2 ) R E VI E WP R OC E DU RE S .—The regulations required under paragraph (1) shall require that any technical and scientific peer review group— ( A ) be provided a written description of the grant to be reviewed
( B ) provide the results of any review by such group to the Secretary of C ommerce; and (C) certify that such group will enter into voluntary nondisclosure agreements as necessary to prevent the unauthori z ed disclosure of confidential and proprietary information provided by broadband service providers in connection with pro j ects funded by any such grant. (e) U SEO FF UNDS.—A grant awarded to an eligible entity under subsection (b) shall be used— (1) to provide a baseline assessment of broadband service deployment in each State; (2) to identify and trac k — (A) areas in each State that have low levels of broadband service deployment; (B) the rate at which residential and business users adopt broadband service and other related information technology services; and (C) possible suppliers of such services; ( 3 ) to identify barriers to the adoption by individuals and businesses of broadband service and related information tech - nology services , including whether or not— (A) the demand for such services is absent; and (B) the supply for such services is capable of meeting the demand for such services; ( 4 ) to identify the speeds of broadband connections made available to individuals and businesses within the State, and, at a minimum, to rely on the data rate benchmarks for broadband service utilized by the Commission to reflect dif- ferent speed tiers, to promote greater consistency of data among the States; ( 5 ) to create and facilitate in each county or designated region in a State a local technology planning team— (A) with members representing a cross section of the community, including representatives of business, tele- communications labor organizations, K– 12 education, health care, libraries, higher education, community-based organizations, local government, tourism, parks and recre- ation, and agriculture; and (B) which shall— (i) benchmark technology use across relevant community sectors; (ii) set goals for improved technology use within each sector; and (iii) develop a tactical business plan for achieving its goals, with specific recommendations for online application development and demand creation; ( 6 ) to work collaboratively with broadband service providers and information technology companies to encourage deployment and use, especially in unserved areas and areas in which Plans.Recom men d a -ti ons. C e r ti f ication. Re gu lations.
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