(a) Duties

The Secretary shall—

(1) in evaluating the feasibility of a telephone loan to be made to a borrower for telephone 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 average of the depreciation rates used by borrowers of telephone loans made under this chapter;


(2) annually determine and publish the average 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 applications therefor.

(b) Prohibitions

Terms Used In 7 USC 927

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.

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 borrower under this chapter have been accomplished with funds provided under this chapter;

(2) regulate the order or sequence of advances 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 policy standard that has not been published pursuant to section 553 of title 5.