Ratepayer Community Restoration Grants

(a) Award of grants The Secretary of Energy shall award grants, which shall be known as Ratepayer Community Restoration Grants and without any matching requirement, in designated communities to local governments, regional development organizations, organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or community development financial institutions. (b) Use of grants A Ratepayer Community Restoration Grant awarded to an entity described in subsection (a) in a designated community may only be used for— (1) improvements to infrastructure in the designated community, including projects for clean energy, energy efficiency, energy distribution, grid resilience, transportation, water resource management (including projects authorized under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund), and rural development, and the enumerated activities authorized under section 105 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305) for community development block grants; (2) the development of small business concerns in the designated community, including activities aligned with the purposes set forth in section 2 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631); (3) a clean energy project in the designated community; (4) the construction and deployment of infrastructure in the designated community for the provision of broadband service consistent with the purposes of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program established under section 60102(b) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 1702(b)); (5) environmental remediation relating to the operation of any utility in the designated community; and (6) other activities in the designated community that the Secretary of Energy determines to be appropriate and consistent with the purpose of this Act under section 2. (c) Prohibited uses A Ratepayer Community Restoration Grant may not be used for lobbying, campaigning, or other influence-related expenses, or to finance spending by a unit of government or activities not otherwise authorized under subsection (b). (d) Administration The Secretary of Energy may use no more than 5 percent of the amounts made available under section 3 for Ratepayer Community Restoration Grants for the administrative costs of awarding such Ratepayer Community Restoration Grants.