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The Rural Utilities Service (RUS or the Agency) officially established the Rural eConnectivity Program (ReConnect Program) thru a final rule with comment that published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2021, (86 FR 11603). 

 The Agency seeks to update the regulation with several edits that include replacing the requirement for the use of the Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) with the requirement to provide a unique entity identifier (UEI) as well as removing the  requirement to supply a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code number.  These changes are being made as a part of a government wide initiative that was initiated in April 2022, to have one unique entity identifier across the Federal government.

The Agency will also update section 1740.60(d)(19) to clarify that applications must include a Tribal Government Resolution of Consent from the Tribal Council of the Tribal Government with jurisdiction over the Tribal Lands where services are being proposed over or on Tribal Lands.

Additionally, the Agency will update section 1740.63 which currently requires all applicants to provide a unqualified comparative audit.  This requirement is not in-line with the Federal Government’s Single Audit Act requirements outlined in 2 CFR part 200 which only requires non-federal entities to submit one year of audited financial statements.  This section will be updated to make it clear that non-federal entities are only required to provide one year of audited financial statements during the years in which they receive more that $750,000 in federal assistance.

Finally, the Agency will amend section 1740.46 to clarify the Buy America requirements and align the language with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

To implement these changes, RUS will publish this as a final rule without prior notice. The Administrative Procedure Act exempts from prior notice rules with any actions "relating to agency management or personnel or to public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts" (5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2)).