Section 759.110  Purpose

 

Section 13-301.3 of the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5/13-301.3] created the Digital Divide Elimination Infrastructure Fund (Fund) as a special fund in the State treasury to be used by the Illinois Commerce Commission (Commission) for grants to fund the construction of high-speed data transmission facilities in the State and the provision of accessible electronic information service to blind and disabled throughout Illinois as provided in the Accessible Electronic Information Act [15 ILCS 323]. This Part specifies the procedures that shall be followed with respect to the awarding of these grants.

 

(Source:  Amended at 29 Ill. Reg. 3019, effective March 1, 2005)

 

Section 759.120  Definitions

 

When used in this Part, the listed terms shall have the definitions given in this Section.

 

"Act" means the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5].

 

"Advanced telecommunications services" or "advanced services" means services capable of supporting, in at least one direction, a speed in excess of 200 kilobits per second (kbps) to the network demarcation point at the subscriber's premises [220 ILCS 5/13-517].

 

"Applicant" means an eligible entity that has submitted a proposal.

 

"Fund" means the Digital Divide Elimination Infrastructure Fund established pursuant to Section 13-301.3 of the Act [220 ILCS 5/13-301.3].

 

"Grant" means any award of monies from the Fund pursuant to this Part.

 

"Grant agreement" means the agreement specified in Section 759.320 executed by the grantee and delivered to the Commission.

 

"Grantee" means any eligible entity who is awarded a grant.

 

"Incumbent local exchange carrier" means a telecommunications carrier as that term is defined in Section 13-202.5 of the Act [220 ILCS 5/13-202.5].

 

"Program" means the procedures established pursuant to this Part for the Commission's issuance of a grant.

 

"Project" means the construction of high-speed data transmission facilities necessary to provision advanced services within an eligible area, as described in an applicant's proposal.

 

"Proposal" means an application for a grant submitted to the Commission pursuant to this Part.

 

"Telecommunications carrier" or "carrier" means a telecommunications carrier as that term is defined in Section 13-202 of the Act [220 ILCS 5/13-202] that is providing local exchange telecommunications service as defined in Section 13-204 of the Act.

 

(Source:  Amended at 29 Ill. Reg. 3019, effective March 1, 2005)

 

Section 759.210  Eligible Entities

 

Eligible entities shall be either:

 

a)         An entity that maintains, in good standing, a certificate from the Commission to provide telecommunications services,or

 

b)         An entity that is not required to hold a certificate from the Commission to provide telecommunications services but can demonstrate, through information provided in its grant proposal, its technical, financial and managerial resources and abilities to construct high-speed data transmission facilities.

 

Section 759.220  Eligible Uses

 

a)         The use of grants shall be limited to the payment of certain costs incurred in the construction of high-speed data transmission facilities within an eligible area. (See Section 759.230.) The use of grants shall be limited to payment of the following reasonable and verifiable costs incurred in connection with the project ("eligible costs"):

 

1)         Construction costs, including but not limited to site preparation and construction/installation of equipment and other infrastructure facilities.

 

2)         Purchase of equipment to be installed.

 

b)         Excluded Costs:

 

1)         Costs related to project design or preparation of the grant proposal are explicitly excluded from eligible uses.

 

2)         Costs related to the installation of capital improvements that do not address construction of high-speed data transmission facilities are explicitly excluded from eligible uses.

 

Section 759.230  Eligible Areas

 

a)          Grants shall only be used for eligible purposes (see Section 759.220) within an eligible area of the State. For purposes of determining whether an area is an eligible area, the Commission shall consider, among other things, whether:

 

1)         The area, to be served by advanced telecommunications services, as defined in Section 13-517(c) of the Act, is under-provided to residential or small business end users, either directly or indirectly through an Internet Service Provider;

 

2)         The area has a low population density;

 

3)         The area has not yet developed a competitive market for advanced services.

 

b)         If an entity seeking a grant of funds from the Fund is an incumbent local exchange carrier having the duty to serve that area, and the obligation to provide advanced services to that area pursuant to Section 13-517 of the Act [220 ILCS 5/13-517], the entity shall demonstrate that it has sought and obtained an exemption from the obligation to provide advanced services.

 

(Source:  Amended at 29 Ill. Reg. 3019, effective March 1, 2005)

 

Section 759.310  Proposal Content

 

a)         Subject to appropriation and availability of funds, the Commission shall issue a Request for Grant Proposal that shall include instructions and formats for the submission of grant proposals.

 

b)         Proposal items:  The grant proposal shall be docketed and shall include, at a minimum, the following sections:

 

 

1)         A cover page;

 

2)         Ownership information of the applicant;

 

3)         An executive summary of the proposal;

 

4)         A description of the applicant, demonstrating that the applicant is an eligible entity (see Section 759.210);

 

5)         Current financial information for the applicant;

 

6)         The location of the proposed infrastructure project and a description of the area as it relates to the eligible area criteria. (see Section 759.230.);

 

7)         A description of the proposed infrastructure project, including its social and economic benefits;

 

8)         A detailed project budget and schedule by task, including a proposed completion date.

 

(Source:  Amended at 29 Ill. Reg. 14183, effective September 10, 2005)

 

Section 759.320  Selection of Grant Recipients

 

Grantees shall be competitively selected by the Commission. The Commission shall use the following criteria when reviewing proposals and awarding grants:

 

a)         The technical, financial and managerial resources and abilities of the applicant;

 

b)         The economic justification for the project, which includes the social and economic benefits of the project; and

 

c)         The location of the project.

 

(Source:  Amended at 29 Ill. Reg. 14183, effective September 10, 2005)

 

Section 759.330  Limitations and Obligations

 

Grants are subject to the following:

 

a)         Each grant shall be awarded from the Fund under the condition that the grantee shall agree to expend a minimum of three times the amount of the grant award on eligible costs incurred in connection with the project.

 

b)         No project may receive a grant of more than $1,000,000 under this program.

 

c)         Any entity awarded a grant shall be required to execute and deliver to the Commission, prior to disbursement of the grant, a grant agreement in form and substance approved by the Commission as a condition of receiving the grant or any part of the grant. The grant agreement shall set forth the rights and responsibilities of the grantee with respect to the grant, including, without limitation, acceptance of the terms of the grant as set forth in this Part and applicable State and federal statutory and administrative requirements, including provisions covering expenditure of grant funds and utilization of property purchased with the grant.

 

d)         Grants shall be disbursed by the Commission to grantees in no fewer than three installments, as follows:

 

1)         When a grantee can demonstrate through its reports to the Commission, as specified in Section 759.340, that the grantee has expended at least 25% of the total eligible project costs, the Commission shall release 25% of the grant award to the grantee.

 

2)         When a grantee can demonstrate through its reports to the Commission, as specified in Section 759.340, that the grantee has expended at least 75% of the total eligible project costs, the Commission shall release an additional 50% of the grant award to the grantee.

 

3)         When a grantee can demonstrate through its reports to the Commission, as specified in Section 759.340, that the grantee has expended 100% of the total eligible project cost, the Commission shall release the balance of the grant award to the grantee.

 

e)         Grantees must expend all funds received from the Commission in under two years' time, as outlined in the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act [30 ILCS 705/5].

 

f)         For regulatory accounting purposes, any grant amount awarded under Part 759 shall be treated as a contribution toward the construction of plant.

 

g)         Each grantee is under an affirmative duty to maintain proper, complete and accurate accounting records relating to the use of all grant funds for a period of 7 years after the receipt of the grant. This Part shall not be construed as excusing compliance with any other lawful requirement for the preservation of records for periods longer than those prescribed in subsection (g).

 

Section 759.340  Reporting

 

a)         Unless otherwise specified in the grant agreement delivered to the Commission by the recipient, a grantee shall report financial information, as defined in subsection (b), and programmatic information, as defined in subsection (c), to the Commission on a regular basis using formats provided by the Commission. The Commission shall require quarterly reporting of expenditures and project achievements at a level of detail sufficient to provide for program accountability.

 

b)         Expenditures: Grantee shall report actual expenditures incurred in connection with the project using the format supplied by the Commission. Expenditure summaries are to be submitted to the Commission by the 15th day following the end of each calendar quarter (e.g., March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31).

 

c)         Program Report: Grantee shall submit a program report in a format provided by the Commission. The program report shall include a narrative describing the grantee's progress towards achieving objectives and activities as specified in the grant agreement delivered to the Commission. Program reports shall be submitted to the Commission by the 15th day following the end of each calendar quarter (e.g., March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31).