Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

A $12 billion question: What does ‘rural’ mean?

  • by Deirdre Shesgreen
  • March 23, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

WASHINGTON–In 2009, Bolton and Vernon were moving full speed ahead on a vital $25 million sewer project to replace inadequate septic systems serving the area’s residents. But as construction was about to start, local officials got bad news from Washington: $2 million in federal aid was suddenly being yanked.

It wasn’t because federal officials questioned the need for the sewer system or the soundness of the plan, but because they had tweaked the definition of “rural” and the Bolton-Vernon project no longer qualified. So the initiative was abruptly declared ineligible for $2 million in already-promised funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural development water and wastewater program.

Connecticut lawmakers quickly appealed that decision and got it reversed. But Rep. Joseph Courtney, D-2nd District, said there’s now a fresh effort underway in Washington to rewrite the definition of rural in a way that could be devastating for Connecticut.

“The definition of what is rural is something that’s going to come up the in Farm Bill, which is due for rewrite this year,” Courtney said recently. “And frankly, there are people within the USDA who don’t think Connecticut is a rural state and [think] that we should be written out of access to that critical form of financing.”

At issue are three major federal programs that provide loans and grants for rural development-one to help fund water and waste facilities; a second for community-service facilities, such as libraries and hospitals; and a third to spur small business development.

Cheryl Cook, the USDA’s deputy undersecretary for rural development, recently estimated that her agency has about $12 billion annually at its disposal for these programs. And the definition of rural is key to how USDA doles out that money.

“It’s a gate if you will,” she testified at a Feb. 15 hearing before a House Agriculture subcommittee. “If you don’t meet the standard, we don’t even take your application. The gate does not open.”

Federal programs rely on a jumble of different definitions for rural. But the classifications at stake in these three programs are fairly simple. For sewer and other water projects, a community can’t be eligible for federal aid unless it has a population of less than 10,000. For community facilities, the population threshold is 20,000, and for small business development funds, it’s 50,000.

Courtney, a new member of the Agriculture Committee, and other New England lawmakers note that in the Northeast, these definitions can be uniquely problematic. In many other areas across the country, rural areas are not incorporated, so they may sit several miles outside a city or town limits.

In Connecticut, there are no unincorporated areas. Every area is defined, whether as a village or other municipality. So, for example, the village of Noank is its own entity, not part of Groton.

Right now, USDA looks at such villages separately-as they do an unincorporated area of, say, Texas or Alabama. But back in 2009, USDA officials tried to end that practice, saying small boroughs and villages, even if they had their own post office and other facilities, couldn’t be viewed as stand-alone localities but as part of the larger cities or towns.

In the case of the Bolton-Vernon project, officials from the two towns had created the Bolton Lakes Regional Water District, with elected leaders from both towns serving on that body and working to find funding. Vernon Mayor Jason McCoy said they were told that because the water district only covered about 400 people, it qualified for USDA rural development funds. They applied and were approved for a low-interest federal loan.

But when President Barack Obama took office, USDA staff came up with a different interpretation of rural, deciding that the district couldn’t be considered its own entity but was part of the larger two towns. Bolton was small enough to still qualify as rural, but Vernon was not, so the funding was pulled. Nearly a dozen other small municipalities similarly saw anticipated federal funding suddenly disappear.

The idea behind USDA’s action was to develop a more consistent national policy for rural development programs. Courtney and other New England lawmakers said that might seems like a “laudable” goal in theory. But such a “universal definition fails to account for the uniqueness of how communities have developed in the Northeast,” he and others wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in appealing the 2009 change.

Vilsack eventually agreed, writing to Courtney that villages inside of incorporated towns “may be considered separate cities or towns” for the purposes of eligibility for rural development funds. Meanwhile, Courtney, DeLauro and others worked also worked to protect Connecticut’s tiny population centers through language inserted in the annual agriculture funding bills specifying that, for the purposes of water and waste disposal projects and community service facilities, USDA’s historical interpretation of stand-alone small villages and boroughs would apply.

Although Vilsack rescinded that 2009 decision, Congress is now preparing for a far-ranging debate over the federal farm policy. And the definition of rural is already coming under intense scrutiny, as lawmakers jockey to make sure their home-states are best positioned to get federal rural development funds.

The House Agriculture’s subcommittee on rural development recently held a hearing on exactly this issue. And lawmakers from Illinois to California expressed discontent with the current definition of rural. But there was little agreement on how to change it.

Democrat Rep. Jim Costa, for example, noted that his California district includes the nation’s two largest agricultural counties, in terms of farm output: Fresno and Kern.  “Yet none of those counties in the whole region qualify under the rural definition,” he said. “Having farmed there myself for three decades, I would submit we’re pretty rural. Our tax dollars come here to Washington, but they don’t’ come back.”

He asked whether policymakers should start from scratch to write a new definition, rather than trying to tweak what’s now on the books.

Other lawmakers cautioned against expanding the definition, saying that could draw scarce resources away from needy areas. “By broadening the definition I’m quite concerned money isn’t going to get to areas that are truly rural,” said Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama.

Cook, the USDA official, called it one of the most “vexing” questions federal agriculture officials face, and suggested that Congress might want to give USDA more flexibility in defining rural.  She noted that population figures are now key to the definition, meaning USDA can’t take into account a broad array of other factors, from the kind of land use and zoning rules in effect to an area’s agricultural output.

“Relying almost solely on total population as the definition of rural leaves out other obvious characteristics of a rural area compared to a metropolitan area,” Cook stated in her written testimony. “Those characteristics might help direct USDA Rural Development’s resources to areas of greatest need and opportunity.”

Courtney said he will be monitoring the debate closely as it ramps up. “It is imperative that we protect Connecticut communities’ continued access to rural development programs,” he said. “Connecticut’s rural communities simply do not have the resources to fund new sewer projects, water projects or other facilities on their own.”

He noted that when the last farm bill was written in 2008, there were no members from New England on the Agriculture Committee. Now, he’s one of three, and they’ll be working together to “to protect this vital funding pipeline.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deirdre Shesgreen

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Vaccinations in nursing homes top 64,000; COVID cases are dropping rapidly among residents
by Dave Altimari

There were 238 COVID infections reported in nursing homes last week, down from 483 a few weeks ago.

Advocates call on state to improve response to vulnerable students
by Adria Watson

State child advocate Sarah Eagan and attorney Martha Stone want the state to do more for these students during COVID.

CT budget leaders want to use massive savings to expand COVID-19 relief
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration expects to spend about $630 million less than legislators authorized.

The game is changing. Chris Murphy says he’s ready to play.
by Mark Pazniokas

The question for Sen. Chris Murphy no longer is where might he go next, but what can he do now.

Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Opinion A just stimulus package is a start toward true racial inclusion
by Carlton L Highsmith

For centuries Blacks have been denied full participation in the American Dream. But for the sake of our collective progress, as we recover from the crippling economic effects of COVID-19, our country has a mandate to acknowledge its history of systematic institutionalized exclusionary practices and not repeat them.

Opinion Hamden taxpayers are left in the dark
by Lauren Garrett

“A budget is a moral document.” This phrase is often heard during budget season from both sides of the aisle advocating for their personal values. The municipal operating budget is the cost of running a town which includes paying for employees, schools, and other services. Asking residents to pay property taxes requires a public trust.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO