Arkansas Administrative Code

15 CAR § 181-102. Definitions. As used in this part: (1) “AEDC” means the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; (2) “Director” means the Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; (3) “Eligible applicant” means a nonprofit organization in good standing with the…

15 CAR § 181-103. Community Assistance Grant Program funding. (a) The Arkansas Economic Development Commission may utilize any funds legally appropriated and available to the CAGP to provide grants to eligible applicants for eligible community and economic development projects an…

15 CAR § 181-104. Eligibility criteria. Applicant eligibility requirements include the following: (1) The applicant is an eligible nonprofit organization in good standing with the Secretary of State’s office, a city of the first class, city of the second class, incorporated town,…

15 CAR § 181-105. Application submittal process. (a) Potential applicants for CAGP funds shall submit their applications through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission's online grant submission portal, which shall be signed and completed by the president of the nonprofit or…

15 CAR § 181-106. Application review and approval process. No financial commitment shall be made by the Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, or his or her designee, to an applicant until the applicant has completed the following Arkansas Economic Development …

15 CAR § 182-101. Introduction. (a) Overview. (1)(A) Acts 2021, No. 522, created the Arkansas Military Affairs Council Act. (B) The act codified the existing Military Affairs Grant Program administered by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. (2) Funds allocated to the Mi…

15 CAR § 182-102. Definitions. As used in this part: (1) “AEDC” means the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; (2) “City” means any city of the first class, city of the second class, or any incorporated town in this state; (3) “Council” means the Arkansas Military Affairs Co…

15 CAR § 182-103. Eligibility. (a) Applicants. To be eligible to receive Military Affairs Grant Program funding, an applicant shall: (1) Meet program objectives stated in this part; (2) Meet the definition of “eligible applicant”; (3) For projects within the legal boundaries of m…

15 CAR § 182-104. Application process, review, and approval. (a) Application process. (1) The Arkansas Economic Development Commission will periodically solicit Military Affairs Grant Program applications as funding becomes available. (2) To request funds under the program, eligi…

15 CAR § 182-105. Grant agreements. (a)(1) All Military Affairs Grants Program grants shall be awarded at the discretion of the Executive Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. (2) Grant agreements shall specify the: (A) Eligibility date for incurring costs for…

15 CAR § 182-106. Grant disbursement. (a) Expenditures incurred before the eligibility date for incurring project costs specified in the grant agreement are ineligible. (b) A contingency of up to ten percent (10%) of the grant award may be withheld from final payment until all cl…

15 CAR § 182-107. Reporting. (a)(1) Grantees shall submit quarterly progress reports throughout the duration of the grant agreement in accordance with terms specified in the grant agreement. (2) Failure to submit reports in a timely manner may delay disbursement of grant funds. (…

15 CAR § 184-101. Definitions. As used in this part: (1) “Commission” means the state agency known as the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; (2) “Economic development region” means a group of municipalities or counties that: (A) Includes at least two (2) counties; and (B) …

15 CAR § 184-102. Membership in a regional economic development partnership. (a) A regional economic development partnership shall satisfy the following requirements: (1) The economic development region proposed includes the active participation of at least two (2) contiguous cou…

15 CAR § 184-103. Board of directors. (a) A regional economic development partnership formed on or after January 1, 2013, shall be governed by a board of directors that shall operate, manage, and control the regional economic development partnership in all respects. (b) The follo…

15 CAR § 184-104. Application for approval. (a) An entity seeking approval from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission as a regional economic development partnership under the Regional Economic Development Partnership Act, Arkansas Code § 15-4-3401 et seq., shall submit an …

15 CAR § 184-105. Staff. (a) Staff members and positions may be composed in whole or in part of: (1) Direct employees hired by the regional economic development partnership; (2) Persons employed by entities contracting with and performing services on behalf of the regional econom…

15 CAR § 184-106. Termination of partnership. (a) A board of directors of a regional economic development partnership may terminate the regional economic development partnership upon a majority vote of the board of directors. (b) At least a thirty-day notice of intent to terminat…

15 CAR § 184-107. Funding. (a) State funds. (1) Each regional economic development partnership approved by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission shall enter into an agreement with the commission to receive state funds, if available. (2) The agreement shall: (A) Be for a te…

15 CAR § 184-108. Arkansas Economic Development Commission responsibilities. (a) The Arkansas Economic Development Commission shall: (1) Review each application submitted under the provisions of Arkansas Code § 15-4-3405; and (2) Certify that the: (A) Applicant satisfies the gene…

15 CAR § 184-109. Annual reports. (a) A regional economic development partnership that receives state funding under the Regional Economic Development Partnership Act, Arkansas Code § 15-4-3401 et seq., shall submit an annual report to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.…

15 CAR § 185-101. Introduction. (a) The Rural Services Division (the “division”) of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission is a state agency charged with assisting rural communities with a population of twenty thousand (20,000) or less. (b) The Rural Services Block Grant Pr…

15 CAR § 185-102. Definitions. As used in this part: (1) “Categorical grants” means grants included in the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program and the Rural Services Block Grant Program; (2) “LMI” means low-to-moderate income; (3) “Match” means a combination of do…

15 CAR § 185-103. Funding eligibility. (a) The following entities are eligible for Rural Services Block Grant Program funding: (1) Cities and towns in an Arkansas rural area with less than three thousand (3,000) residents; (2) Whose population is at least fifty-one percent (51%) …

15 CAR § 185-104. Project eligibility. (a) Rural Services Block Grant Program grant funds will be awarded for the following project types: (1) New construction or renovation of community centers or multipurpose-use buildings for the betterment of the community; (2) New constructi…

15 CAR § 185-105. Grant awards, matching, and administration. (a) Applicants with an eligible project may apply for a matching grant of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). (b)(1) The Rural Services Block Grant Program requires a ten percent (10%) match of the grant awa…

15 CAR § 185-106. Public hearing required. (a) Applicants shall hold at least one (1) public hearing to determine the project need prior to applying. (b) All public hearings shall be: (1) Publicized in the appropriate local media at least seven (7) calendar days before they are t…

15 CAR § 185-107. Funding application. (a) Applications shall be completed on forms provided by the Rural Services Division of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. (b)(1) Applicants shall submit two (2) copies of the application, including all supporting documentation, t…

15 CAR § 185-108. Grant completion and closeout. (a) The grant completion procedure shall follow the closeout process outlined in the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Grant Program’s Administrative Procedures Manual. (b) Before a Rural Services Block Grant Program proj…

15 CAR § 189-101. Purpose. (a) The purpose of this part is to help implement polices advanced in the Arkansas State Broadband Plan (hereafter, the “broadband plan report”) as issued by the office of Governor Asa Hutchinson on May 15, 2019. (b) This part is intended to establish r…

15 CAR § 189-102. Definitions. As used in this part: (1) “25/3” means minimum speed twenty-five megabits per second (25 Mbps) download/three megabits per second (3 Mbps) upload; (2) “AEDC” means the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; (3) “ARC” means Arkansas Rural Connect;…

15 CAR § 189-201. Fund utilization. (a) The Arkansas Economic Development Commission may utilize any funds appropriated to the commission for purposes of expanding high-speed broadband services to rural communities. (b) Likewise, the commission may utilize those funds in conjunct…

15 CAR § 189-202. Reimbursement. (a) Funds will be used to reimburse ISPs on a proportional basis for capital expenditures on approved projects, such that they will be owed by the state an amount of money equal to their capital expenditures on the project, multiplied by the ratio…

15 CAR § 189-203. Allowable expenses. (a) Allowable expenses do not include the following: (1) Ongoing pole attachment fees, as distinct from make-ready expenses, which are allowable; (2) Full purchase price of capital equipment that is used for the build phase of the project and…

15 CAR § 189-204. Municipality, unincorporated community, and county participation. (a) Participating municipalities, unincorporated communities, and counties shall assist ISPs in the acquisition of rights needed for broadband deployment, including all leases, permits, or easemen…

15 CAR § 183-301. Request for applications. (a) Each round of ARC grant funding will begin when the Arkansas Department of Commerce Broadband Office releases an RFA. (b) The RFA will include a list of major dates for the round, including: (1) A deadline for receiving from ISPs ma…

15 CAR § 189-302. Internet service provider coverage maps. (a) At the same time as the RFA announcement, the Arkansas Department of Commerce Broadband Office will request that ISPs operating in Arkansas submit maps of the areas in which they either: (1) Provide broadband coverage…

15 CAR § 189-303. Stakeholder roles. (a) Project organizers who aspire to bring broadband to an unserved area with the help of an ARC grant shall: (1) Develop an implementation plan with a budget; and (2) Define roles for all stakeholders. (b)(1) The necessary stakeholders in eve…

15 CAR § 189-304. Grant eligibility. (a)(1) Each ARC grant project shall identify a specific municipality, unincorporated community, or county that will receive broadband coverage. (2) The public official who coapplies for the grant must represent that community. (b) To be eligib…

15 CAR § 189-305. Project footprints. (a)(1) Each ARC grant project shall have a well-defined planned geographic service area, henceforward the “project footprint”. (2)(A) The project footprint shall include the entire territory of the municipality, unincorporated community, or c…

15 CAR § 189-306. Capital expenditures and operating expenses. Project organizers shall estimate the: (1) Total capital expenditures that will be needed in order to implement the project and document these projected costs for inclusion in an application; and (2)(A) Ongoing operat…

15 CAR § 189-307. Securing local resources. (a) Project organizers may make efforts to secure resources locally to help support the project. (b) A municipality or county wanting to apply for Arkansas Rural Connect funding may assess what funds it has available that might be contr…

15 CAR § 189-308. Grant size — Maximum grant amounts. (a)(1) As project capital costs and net income after deployment are calculated and local funding sources are identified, project organizers shall consider the size of the state grant that will be needed to make the project acc…

15 CAR § 189-309. Project requirements. (a) Each project must include: (1) Exactly one (1) municipality, unincorporated community, or county as an applicant; and (2) At least one (1) but potentially multiple ISPs. (b)(1) Each eligible municipality, unincorporated community, or co…

15 CAR § 183-310. Application for multiple projects. (a) If a municipality, unincorporated community, or county applies for multiple projects, it shall: (1) Choose which projects it wants most, second most, and third most; and (2) Indicate the rank order of each project with resp…

15 CAR § 189-311. Projects covering multiple eligible municipalities. (a)(1) If an ISP wants to launch a project that would cover multiple eligible municipalities, unincorporated communities, and/or counties, it shall: (A) Divide the project into subprojects that each cover a sin…

15 CAR § 189-312. Ranking of internet service providers by public officials. (a)(1) In choosing whom to apply with and how to rank projects, public officials representing municipalities, unincorporated communities, and counties shall prioritize a reasonable conception of the publ…

15 CAR § 189-313. Stakeholder requirements. All official stakeholders in the project, at the application stage, shall: (1) Indicate their awareness of ARC rules; (2) Read and affirm the accuracy of all information in the application; and (3) Declare their consent and commitment t…

15 CAR § 189-314. Submission of additional evidence to support eligibility. (a) If there is doubt whether a municipality, unincorporated community, or county meets the eligibility criteria for ARC grants based on data about population and/or the quality of current internet servic…

15 CAR § 189-315. After application window closes. (a)(1) After the application window closes, the Arkansas Department of Commerce Broadband Office will arrange for eligibility review, as explained in 15 CAR § 189-601(b), process review, as explained in 15 CAR § 189-601(c), and t…