Since 1973, omnibus farm bills have included a rural development title. The most recent is Title VI of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ( P.L. The trends noted above suggest a range of issues that are important in shaping the provisions of the rural development title of the 2008:
Conservation and environmental restoration as rural employment opportunities; Stemming rural population out-migration; Vertical integration and coordination of agriculture into supply networks and their implication for rural areas; Developing rural entrepreneurial capacity; Rebuilding an aging rural physical infrastructure; Public service delivery innovations in sparsely populated areas; Increasing suburbanization and the conflicts between agriculture and suburban development; Human capital deficiencies in rural areas; Regional-based efforts for economic development. Connecting businesses and rural communities with broadband telecommunications infrastructure
The rural development title of the 2008 farm bill has taken shape against this backdrop of shifts in the rural economy, widespread and long-term poverty in some rural areas, outmigration in other rural areas, dwindling economic opportunity in rural areas, gaps in critical infrastructure, and a growing appreciation in many quarters of the limits of existing rural development programs to respond to the great diversity of rural places and socioeconomic circumstances. Three agencies are responsible for USDA's rural development mission area: the Rural Housing Service (RHS), the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). It is important to note that most loan and grant programs administered by USDA Rural Development are funded through annual (discretionary) appropriations. The 1996 farm bill ( P.L. The 2002 farm bill ( P.L. 110-246)

		New Provisions

Several programs authorized in the 2002 farm bill are reauthorized in the two bills. 110-246 contain only three programs with mandatory funding: Value-Added Product Grants ($15 million); the Microenterprise Assistance Program ($15 million); and a one-time funding of pending water and waste water projects ($120 million). Several programs that were authorized to receive mandatory funding in the 2002 farm bill were reauthorized in P.L. 110-246 with discretionary funding (e.g., the Rural Strategic Investment Program and the Rural Firefighters and Emergency Medical Personnel Program). Section 6018 directs the Secretary to assess the varying definitions of "rural" used by USDA and to describe the effects these different definitions have on USDA Rural Development programs. Section 6018 further establishes a new definition of "areas rural in character" that specifies the characteristics of eligible rural areas lying within a Bureau of the Census-defined "urban area." Other Major Provisions

In addition to these newly authorized programs, the rural development title also includes other provisions to create or to reauthorize and/or amend a wide variety of loan and grant programs that provide further assistance in four key areas: (1) broadband and telecommunications, (2) rural utilities infrastructure, (3) business and community development, and (4) regional development. The provision will also emphasize library connectivity as an objective of program funding. Section 6006 reauthorizes the Rural Water and Wastewater Circuit Rider Program , which provides technical assistance to rural water systems. Section 6009 reauthorizes Water Systems for Rural and Native Villages in Alaska. Section 6007 reauthorize Tribal College and University Essential Community Facilities through 2012. Section 6202 reauthorizes the Value-Added Agricultural Market Development Program . An additional $40 million annually (FY2008-FY2012) in discretionary funding is also authorized. Section 6027 reauthorizes the Rural Business Investment Program through 2012. This program was authorized in the 2002 farm bill and given mandatory spending. Appendix. Side-by-Side Comparison of Rural Development Provisions in the House- and Senate-Passed Farm Bills with the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills
Congress has expressed its concern with rural communities most directly through periodic omnibus farm bill legislation, most recently in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246). Congress uses periodic farm bills to address emerging rural issues as well as to reauthorize and/or amend a wide range of rural programs administered by USDA's three rural development mission agencies: Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Utilities Service.
Title VI addresses a wide range of policy issues concerning rural America. In the 2002 farm bill, these issues included provisions such as equity capital development in rural areas, regional economic planning and development, essential community facilities, infrastructure needs, value-added agricultural development, and broadband telecommunications development. The 2008 farm bill considers similar issues and addresses several new ones. The new farm bill expands broadband access in rural areas, creates a new micro-entrepreneurial assistance program and a new rural collaborative investment program, and authorizes three new regional economic development commissions. The bill also authorizes $120 million for a one-time funding of pending water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
Several programs authorized with mandatory spending in the 2002 farm bill are reauthorized with discretionary funding in the new farm bill (Rural Firefighters and Emergency Personnel, Rural Strategic Investment Program, Rural Business Investment Program, and the Access to Broadband Services in Rural Areas). The Value-Added Grants Program, similarly authorized in the 2002 farm bill, is also reauthorized by P.L. 110-246 with $15 million of mandatory funding and $40 million of discretionary funding. A side-by-side comparison of House- and Senate-passed provisions and the 2002 and 2008 farm bills is provided at the end of the report in the Appendix.
The 2008 farm bill modifies the 2002 definition of "rural" to include "areas rural in character." This modification in the definition of "rural" establishes criteria for defining rural areas contiguous to urban areas. The bill further directs the Secretary of Agriculture to produce a report within two years on the various definitions of "rural" used by USDA in providing assistance. The report will also assess the impacts these various definitions have on the delivery of rural development programs with the objective of better targeting assistance where it is most needed.
The 2008 farm bill also reauthorizes and/or amends through FY2012 many long-standing programs funded through annual appropriations—water and waste disposal grants, technical assistance for rural water systems, emergency community water assistance, business opportunity grants, water assistance to Native villages in Alaska, community facilities for Tribal colleges, distance learning and telemedicine.
This report will be updated.