7 USC § 902 - General authority of Secretary of Agriculture

(a) Loans

The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this chapter as the “Secretary”) is authorized and empowered to make loans in the several States and Territories of the United States for rural electrification and for the purpose of furnishing and improving electric and telephone service in rural areas, as provided in this chapter, and for the purpose of assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy efficiency and conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems.

(b) Investigations and reports

The Secretary may make, or cause to be made, studies, investigations, and reports regarding matters, including financial, technological, and regulatory matters, affecting the condition and progress of electric, telecommunications, and economic development in rural areas, and publish and disseminate information with respect to the matters.

Source

(May 20, 1936, ch. 432, title I, § 2,49 Stat. 1363; Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 776, §§ 2, 3,63 Stat. 948; Pub. L. 103–129, § 2(c)(1),Nov. 1, 1993, 107 Stat. 1363; Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 235(a)(2), (13),Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3220, 3221; Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 771,Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1149; Pub. L. 110–234, title VI, § 6101,May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1195; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title VI, § 6101,June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1956.)

Codification

Pub. L. 110–234and Pub. L. 110–246made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234were repealed by section 4(a) ofPub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110–246, § 6101, inserted “efficiency and” before “conservation”.

1996—Pub. L. 104–127, § 771(1), inserted section catchline.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–127, § 771(1), (2), inserted heading, substituted “The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this chapter as the ‘Secretary’) is” for “The Secretary of Agriculture is”, struck out “and the furnishing of electric energy to persons in rural areas who are not receiving central station service” after “rural electrification”, and substituted “systems.” for “systems; to make, or cause to be made, studies, investigations, and reports concerning the condition and progress of the electrification of and the furnishing of adequate telephone service in rural areas in the several States and Territories; and to publish and disseminate information with respect thereto.”

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–127, § 771(3), added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: “By January 1, 1994, the Secretary shall issue interim regulations to implement the authority contained in subsection (a) of this section to make loans for the purpose of assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems. If the regulations are not issued by January 1, 1994, the Secretary shall consider any demand side management, energy conservation, or renewable energy program, system, or activity that is approved by a State agency to be eligible for the loans.”

1994—Pub. L. 103–354substituted “Secretary of Agriculture” for “Administrator” in subsec. (a) and “Secretary” for “Administrator” in two places in subsec. (b).

1993—Pub. L. 103–129designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “electric and telephone service in rural areas, as provided in this chapter, and for the purpose of assisting electric borrowers to implement demand side management, energy conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems;” for “telephone service in rural areas, as hereinafter provided;”, and added subsec. (b).

1949—Act Oct. 28, 1949, authorized loans to furnish and improve rural telephone service; and inserted “title I,” in credit of act May 20, 1936.

Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234by Pub. L. 110–246effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 ofPub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of this title.

The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 7, 2011, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.

The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Friday, May 13, 2011

An empty table indicates that we see no relevant changes listed in the classification tables. If you suspect that our system may be missing something, please double-check with the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

How To Use

Multiple entries for a section are listed most recent first, within the section.

The Session Year indicates which session of Congress was responsible for the changes classified. The Congress number forms the first part of the Public Law number; each Congress has two sessions.

Abbreviations used in the Description of Change column:

An empty field implies a standard amendment.
"new" means a new section or new note, or all new text of an existing section or note.
"nt" means note.
"nt [tbl]" means note [table].
"prec" means preceding.
"fr" means a transfer from another section.
"to" means a transfer to another section.
"omitted" means the section is omitted.
"repealed" means the section is repealed.
"nt ed change" and "ed change" - See the Editorial Classification Change Table [pdf].

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The Statutes at Large field is linked to the text of the law, in the context of its volume of the Statutes at Large, at the Government Printing Office. Please note that it takes a while for these pages to get posted, so for very recent legislation, you need to look at the "enrolled" version at the Thomas site.

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General Reference

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You can look for information about what it is and is not, which titles are positive law, the schedule of Supplements, etc. Under download you can find the source data we use here (GPO locator files), as well as, PDF files that look just like the paper books (these may be rather large).

Refer to the Thomas site for changes that have not yet made it into the classification tables.

7 USC	Description of Change	Session Year	Public Law	Statutes at Large

This is a list of parts within the Code of Federal Regulations for which this US Code section provides rulemaking authority.

This list is taken from the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules provided by GPO [Government Printing Office].

It is not guaranteed to be accurate or up-to-date, though we do refresh the database weekly. More limitations on accuracy are described at the GPO site.

7 CFR - Title 7—Agriculture

7 CFR 1700 - GENERAL INFORMATION

7 CFR 1703 - RURAL DEVELOPMENT

7 CFR 1709 - ASSISTANCE TO HIGH ENERGY COST COMMUNITIES

7 CFR 1710 - GENERAL AND PRE-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMON TO ELECTRIC LOANS AND GUARANTEES

7 CFR 1714 - PRE-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR INSURED ELECTRIC LOANS

7 CFR 1717 - POST-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMON TO INSURED AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS

7 CFR 1718 - LOAN SECURITY DOCUMENTS FOR ELECTRIC BORROWERS

7 CFR 1720 - GUARANTEES FOR BONDS AND NOTES ISSUED FOR ELECTRIFICATION OR TELEPHONE PURPOSES

7 CFR 1721 - POST-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR INSURED ELECTRIC LOANS

7 CFR 1724 - ELECTRIC ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES AND DESIGN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

7 CFR 1726 - ELECTRIC SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

7 CFR 1728 - ELECTRIC STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION

7 CFR 1730 - ELECTRIC SYSTEM OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

7 CFR 1735 - GENERAL POLICIES, TYPES OF LOANS, LOAN REQUIREMENTS—TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM

7 CFR 1737 - PRE-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMON TO INSURED AND GUARANTEED TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOANS

7 CFR 1738 - RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS LOANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES

7 CFR 1744 - POST-LOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMON TO GUARANTEED AND INSURED TELEPHONE LOANS

7 CFR 1751 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM PLANNING AND DESIGN CRITERIA, AND PROCEDURES

7 CFR 1753 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

7 CFR 1755 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICIES ON SPECIFICATIONS, ACCEPTABLE MATERIALS, AND STANDARD CONTRACT FORMS

7 CFR 1767 - ACCOUNTING REQUIREMENTS FOR RUS ELECTRIC BORROWERS

7 CFR 1770 - ACCOUNTING REQUIREMENTS FOR RUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BORROWERS

7 CFR 1773 - POLICY ON AUDITS OF RUS BORROWERS

7 CFR 1785 - LOAN ACCOUNT COMPUTATIONS, PROCEDURES AND POLICIES FOR ELECTRIC AND TELEPHONE BORROWERS

7 CFR 1786 - PREPAYMENT OF RUS GUARANTEED AND INSURED LOANS TO ELECTRIC AND TELEPHONE BORROWERS

7 CFR 1787

7 CFR 1788 - RUS FIDELITY AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRIC AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BORROWERS

7 CFR 1792 - COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER FEDERAL STATUTES, REGULATIONS, AND EXECUTIVE ORDERS

7 USC § 902 - General authority of Secretary of Agriculture

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