KRS 224A.117: Kentucky BEAD Grant Program -- Purpose -- Powers of office --

Application of federal law -- Grantee applications for funding.

(1) The Kentucky BEAD Grant Program is hereby established for the purpose of

defraying eligible expenses associated wit h projects intended to provide broadband

service to unserved and underserved areas of the Commonwealth, and, to the extent

funding is available, for certain nondeployment purposes allowable under federal

law. This program shall be the exclusive means of di stributing BEAD Program

money to Kentucky applicants.

(2) The office is hereby authorized, consistent with the requirements of this section, to

administer the Kentucky BEAD Grant Program. It shall have all power necessary

and convenient, not explicitly pro hibited or reserved by statute, to carry out and

effectuate its purposes, including the powers to:

(a) Develop and submit BEAD Program funding requests to the administration or

other responsible federal entities;

(b) Conduct a challenge process consistent with federal requirements to identify

Kentucky locations eligible for funding;

(c) Develop an application process for applications for funding from the

Kentucky BEAD Grant Program, including the requirements for the

applications, in a manner that does not violate the prohibition in KRS

278.5462(1);

(d) Determine eligibility criteria for prospective subgrantees and projects;

(e) Create rules governing the review process and timeline for applications and

challenges to those applications;

(f) Make administrative rules necessary for the achievement of the goals of the

Kentucky BEAD Grant Program;

(g) Coordinate and partner with local governments or private entities as

necessary;

(h) Determine which grant applications should receive funding and disburse those

grants from the BEAD fund established in KRS 224A.118;

(i) Enter into contracts or agreements necessary or incidental to the performance

of its duties, functions, and responsibilities;

(j) Notwithstanding KRS 45A.190, require applicants to submit letters of credit,

bonds, or other reasonable means of assuring project c ompletion it deems

appropriate and necessary, including giving full effect to the guidance from

the administration by allowing the office to provide grantees a range of

options to satisfy this paragraph;

(k) If funding is available after identifying and fu nding BEAD Program

deployment projects, identify and fund nondeployment projects consistent

with federal law;

(l) Oversee and administer reporting and compliance under grants made under

the Kentucky BEAD Grant Program consistent with federal law; and

(m) Act as otherwise necessary to pursue the goals of the Kentucky BEAD Grant

Program.

(3) Except where explicitly stated otherwise, all terms in this section shall have the

same meaning as provided in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Pub. L.

No. 117 -58, and in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the BEAD Program

published by the administration on May 13, 2022, including any subsequent

guidance issued by the administration with respect to the program after the issuance

of the Notice of Funding Oppor tunity. In the event of any conflict between this

section and legal requirements contained in the federal law, the federal law shall

take precedence. To the extent this chapter conflicts with any other provision of the

Kentucky Revised Statutes, this chapter prevails.

(4) The office shall ensure that applications contain sufficient information to allow the

office to reasonably evaluate each grantee's ability to comply with all program

requirements, including all grantee qualifications and conditions require d under

federal law.

(5) KRS 224A.1121 shall not apply to the Kentucky BEAD Grant Program as

contained in KRS 224A.115 to 224A.118.