,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,h4 ,r4 #bfgb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of 
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #g1       
#bjad,received  ,,an ,,act  ,to amend   
the ,dodd-,frank ,wall ,street ,reform  
and ,consumer ,protection ,act to       
provide for an application process for  
interested parties to apply for an area 
to be designated as a rural area1 and   
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,helping 
,expand ,lending ,practices in ,rural   
,communities ,act4  #b4 ,designation of 
rural area  7a7 ,application ,not later 
than #ij days after the date of the     
enactment of this ,act1 the ,bureau of  
,consumer ,financial ,protection shall  
establish an application process under  
which a person who lives or does        
business in a ,state may1 with respect  
to an area identified by the person in  
such ,state that has not been designated
 by the ,bureau as a rural area for     
purposes of a ,federal consumer         
financial law 7as defined under section 

#ajjb of the ,consumer ,financial       
,protection ,act of #bjaj71 apply for   
such area to be so designated4  7b7     
,evaluation criteria ,when evaluating an
 application submitted under subsection 
7a71 the ,bureau shall take into        
consideration the following factors3    
7#a7 ,criteria used by the ,director of 
the ,bureau of the ,census for          
classifying geographical areas as rural 
or urban4  7#b7 ,criteria used by the   
,director of the ,office of ,management 
and ,budget to designate counties as    
metropolitan or micropolitan or neither4
  7#c7 ,criteria used by the ,secretary 
of ,agriculture to determine property   
eligibility for rural development       
programs4  7#d7 ,the ,department of     
,agriculture rural-urban commuting area 
codes4  7#e7 ,a written opinion provided
 by the ,state's bank supervisor1 as    
defined under section #c7r7 of the      
,federal ,deposit ,insurance ,act 7#ab  
,u4,s4,c4 #ahac7r774  7#f7 ,population  
density4  7c7 ,public comment period    

7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #fj    
days after receiving an application     
submitted under subsection 7a71 the     
,bureau shall--  7,a7 publish such      
application in the ,federal ,register2  
and  7,b7 make such application         
available for public comment for not    
fewer than #ij days4  7#b7 ,limitation  
on additional applications ,nothing in  
this section shall be construed to      
require the ,bureau1 during the public  
comment period with respect to an       
application submitted under subsection  
7a71 to accept an additional application
 with respect to the area that is the   
subject of the initial application4  7d7
 ,decision on designation ,not later    
than #ij days after the end of the      
public comment period under subsection  
7c77#a7 for an application1 the ,bureau 
shall--  7#a7 grant or deny such        
application1 in whole or in part2 and   
7#b7 publish such grant or denial in the
 ,federal ,register1 along with an      
explanation of what factors the ,bureau 

relied on in making such determination4 
7e7 ,subsequent applications ,a decision
 by the ,bureau under subsection 7d7 to 
deny an application for an area to be   
designated as a rural area shall not    
preclude the ,bureau from accepting a   
subsequent application submitted under  
subsection 7a7 for such area to be so   
designated1 so long as such subsequent  
application is made after the end of the
 #ij-;day period beginning on the date  
that the ,bureau denies the application 
under subsection 7d74  7f7 ,sunset ,this
 section shall cease to have any force  
or effect after the end of the #b-year  
period beginning on the date of the     
enactment of this ,act4  ,passed the    
,house of ,representatives ,may #f1     
#bjad4,karen ,l4 ,haas1,clerk