Distance learning and telemedicine loan and grant program--Rural Utilities Service, USDA. Final rule.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is amending its regulation concerning the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program. This final rule promulgates regulations for a new loan program that provides both loans and grants for distance learning and telemedicine projects benefiting rural areas. The regulation is necessary to implement a new loan program mandated by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. The regulation establishes, among other things, RUS' policy, the method of selecting projects to receive loans and grants and allocating the available funds, and the requirements for submitting an application for financial assistance.