7 U.S.C. § 927 — General duties and prohibitions

Page 531 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 928 credit, guarantee, or advance made to, an af- filiated company of the borrower, that is used by such company for such a purpose) as a divi- dend or distribution of capital to the extent that, immediately after such investment, the aggregate of such investments does not exceed 1⁄3 of the net worth of the borrower; or (2) require a qualified telephone borrower to obtain the approval of the Secretary in order to make an investment described in paragraph (1). (b) ‘‘Qualified telephone borrower’’ defined As used in subsection (a), the term ‘‘qualified telephone borrower’’ means a person— (1) to whom a telephone loan has been made or guaranteed under this chapter; and (2) whose net worth is at least 20 percent of the total assets of such person. (May 20, 1936, ch. 432, title II, § 205, as added Pub. L. 101–624, title XXIII, § 2356, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4039; amended Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 235(a)(13), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3221; Pub. L. 115–334, title VI, § 6602(b)(3), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4776.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(3)(A), struck out ‘‘and the Governor of the telephone bank’’ after ‘‘The Secretary’’ in introductory provisions. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(3)(B), struck out ‘‘or the Governor of the telephone bank’’ after ‘‘the Secretary’’. 1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–354 substituted ‘‘Sec- retary’’ for ‘‘Administrator’’ in two places. § 927. General duties and prohibitions (a) Duties The Secretary shall— (1) in evaluating the feasibility of a tele- phone loan to be made to a borrower for tele- phone services, use— (A) with respect to items for which the regulatory authority with jurisdiction over the provision of such services has approved the depreciation rates used by the borrower, such approved rates; and (B) with respect to other items, the aver- age of the depreciation rates used by bor- rowers of telephone loans made under this chapter; (2) annually determine and publish the aver- age described in paragraph (2)(B); and (3) make loans for all purposes for which telephone loans are authorized under section 922 of this title, to the extent of qualifying ap- plications therefor. (b) Prohibitions The Secretary shall not— (1) rescind an insured telephone loan made under this chapter without the consent of the borrower, unless all of the purposes for which telephone loans have been made to the bor- rower under this chapter have been accom- plished with funds provided under this chap- ter; (2) regulate the order or sequence of ad- vances of funds under telephone loans made under this chapter to any borrower who has received any combination of telephone loans from the Secretary or the Federal Financing Bank; or (3) deny a loan or advance to, or take any other adverse action against, an applicant for, or a borrower of, a telephone loan under this chapter for any reason that is not based on a rule, regulation, bulletin, or other written pol- icy standard that has not been published pur- suant to section 553 of title 5. (May 20, 1936, ch. 432, title II, § 206, as added Pub. L. 101–624, title XXIII, § 2357, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4040; amended Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 235(a)(7), (13), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3221; Pub. L. 115–334, title VI, § 6602(b)(4), (5), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4776.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(4)(A), struck out ‘‘and the Governor of the telephone bank’’ after ‘‘The Secretary’’ in introductory provisions. Subsec. (a)(1), (2). Pub. L. 115–334, § 602(b)(4)(B), (D), redesignated pars. (2) and (3) as (1) and (2), respectively, and struck out par. (1) which read as follows: ‘‘notwith- standing section 553(a)(2) of title 5, cause to be pub- lished in the Federal Register, in accordance with sub- sections (b) through (e) of section 553 of such title, all rules, regulations, bulletins, and other written policy standards governing the operations of the telephone loan and loan guarantee programs administered under this chapter other than those relating to agency man- agement and personnel;’’. Subsec. (a)(3), (4). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(4)(C), (D), redesignated par. (4) as (3) and struck out ‘‘or 948’’ after ‘‘section 922’’. Former par. (3) redesignated (2). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(5)(A), struck out ‘‘and the Governor of the telephone bank’’ after ‘‘The Secretary’’ in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(5)(B), struck out ‘‘, or a Rural Telephone Bank loan,’’ after ‘‘an in- sured telephone loan’’. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 115–334, § 6602(b)(5)(C), struck out ‘‘, the Rural Telephone Bank,’’ after ‘‘from the Secretary’’. 1994—Pub. L. 103–354 substituted ‘‘Secretary’’ for ‘‘Ad- ministrator’’ in subsecs. (a) and (b) and ‘‘Secretary’’ for ‘‘Rural Electrification Administration’’ in subsec. (b)(2). § 928. Prompt processing of telephone loans Within ten days after the end of the second and fourth calendar quarters of each year, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ag- riculture and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For- estry and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, a report— (1) identifying each completed application for a telephone loan under section 935 of this title or a guarantee of a telephone loan under section 936 of this title that has not been fi- nally acted upon within ninety days after the date the completed application is submitted; and (2) stating the reasons for the failure to fi- nally act upon the completed applications within such ninety-day period. (May 20, 1936, ch. 432, title II, § 207, as added Pub. L. 101–624, title XXIII, § 2358, Nov. 28, 1990, 104