{"data":{"id":"us/7-cfr-1709.3","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"7 CFR 1709.3","heading":"Definitions.","body":"Administrator means the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).\nAgency means the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), or a successor agency.\nCensus block means the smallest geographic entity for which the U.S. Census Bureau collects and tabulates decennial census information and which are defined by boundaries shown on census maps.\nCensus designated place (CDP) means a statistical entity recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau comprising a dense concentration of population that is not within an incorporated place but is locally identified by a name and which has boundaries defined on census maps.\nElectric program means the office within RUS, and its successor organization, that administers rural electrification programs authorized by the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (RE Act) (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) and such other programs so identified in USDA regulations.\nExtremely high energy costs means community average residential energy costs that are at least 275 percent of one or more home energy cost benchmarks identified by RUS and based on the latest available information on national average residential energy expenditures as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the United States Department of Energy.\nFinancial assistance means a grant, loan, or grant-loan combination issued under this part.\nFunding opportunity announcement (FOA) means a publicly available document by which a Federal agency makes know its intentions to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements, usually as a result of competition for funds. FOA announcements may be known as program announcements, notices of funding availability, solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program. FOA announcements can be found at www.Grants.gov in the Search Grants tab and on the funding agency's or program's website.\nHome energy means any energy source or fuel used by a household for purposes other than transportation, including electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, kerosene, liquified petroleum gas (propane), other petroleum products, wood and other biomass fuels, coal, wind and solar energy. Fuels used for subsistence activities in remote rural areas are also included.\nHigh energy cost benchmarks means the criteria established by RUS for eligibility as an extremely high energy cost community. Extremely high energy cost benchmarks are calculated as 275 percent of the relevant national average household energy benchmarks.\nIndian Tribe means a Federally recognized tribe as defined under section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b) to include “* * * any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.”\nPerson means any natural person, firm, corporation, association, or other legal entity, and includes Indian tribes and tribal entities.\nState means any of the several States of the United States, and, where provided by law, any Territory of the United States or other area authorized to receive the services and programs of the Rural Utilities Service or the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended.\nTarget area means the geographic area to be served by the grant.\nTarget community means the unit or units of local government in which the target area is located.","path":["Title 7—Agriculture","Subtitle B—Regulations of the Department of Agriculture","CHAPTER XVII—RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE","PART 1709—ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES","Subpart A—General Requirements"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-7.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:01Z","sha256":"22f02df76db4286c34178d229d049cd35be994b309a03b5d67798b767d185c51","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/7-cfr-1709.2","next":"us/7-cfr-1709.4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}