,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #aiaf  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,january #ad1  
#bjad,mr4 ,mc,connell 7for himself and  
,mr4 ,paul7 introduced the following    
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1
 and ,urban ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to    
amend the ,dodd-,frank ,wall ,street    
,reform and ,consumer ,protection ,act  
to provide for an application process   
for interested parties to apply for a   
county 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 ,act of #bjad or the
 ,,help ,rural ,communities ,act of     
#bjad4  #b4 ,designation of county as a 
rural area ,section #ajbb of the        
,dodd-,frank ,wall ,street ,reform and  
,consumer ,protection ,act 7#ab         
,u4,s4,c4 #eeab7 is amended by adding at
 the end the following new subsection3  
7e7 ,designation of county as a rural   

area  7#a7 ,application ,not later than 
#ij days after the date of the enactment
 of this subsection1 the ,bureau shall  
establish an application process under  
which a person who lives or does        
business in a ,state may1 with respect  
to a county in such ,state that has not 
been designated by the ,bureau as a     
rural area for purposes of a ,federal   
consumer financial law1 apply for such  
county to be so designated4  7#b7       
,evaluation criteria ,when evaluating an
 application submitted under paragraph  
7#a71 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 banking regulator4     
7,f7 ,population density4  7#c7 ,public 
comment period  7,a7 ,in general ,not   
later than #fj days after receiving an  
application submitted under paragraph   
7#a71 the ,bureau shall-- 7i7 publish   
such application in the ,federal        
,register2 and  7ii7 make such          
application available for public comment
 for not fewer than #ij days4  7,b7     
,limitation on additional applications  
,nothing in this subsection shall be    
construed to require the ,bureau1 during
 the public comment period with respect 
to an application submitted under       
paragraph 7#a71 to accept an additional 
application with respect to the county  
that is the subject of the initial      
application4  7#d7 ,information required
 to be published ,the ,bureau shall     
enter each application submitted under  
paragraph 7#a7 in a sortable1           

downloadable database that is publicly  
accessible through the ,web site of the 
,bureau4  7#e7 ,decision on designation 
,not later than #ij days after the end  
of the public comment period under      
paragraph 7#c77;,a7 for an application1 
the ,bureau shall-- 7,a7 grant or deny  
such application2 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  7#f7        
,subsequent applications ,a decision by 
the ,bureau under paragraph 7#e7 to deny
 an application for a county to be      
designated as a rural area shall not    
preclude the ,bureau from accepting a   
subsequent application submitted under  
paragraph 7#a7 for such county 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 paragraph 7#e74  4