(a) The office may award grant funds for actual and reasonable costs paid or incurred by an eligible applicant to remove and replace a pole in an unserved area.
(b) An applicant is eligible to apply to the office for a reimbursement award under this subchapter if the applicant:
  (1) is a pole owner or a provider of qualifying broadband service;
  (2) pays or incurs eligible pole replacement costs of removing and replacing an existing pole in an unserved area for the purpose of accommodating the attachment of an eligible broadband facility; and
  (3) otherwise meets eligibility criteria in a NOFA published under §16.3 of this subchapter.
(c) Eligible costs include the amount of any expenditures to remove and dispose of the existing pole, purchase and install a replacement pole, and transfer any existing facilities to the new pole.
(d) Costs that an applicant incurs that have been or will be reimbursed to the applicant by another party ultimately responsible for the costs are not eligible for reimbursement under this subchapter.
(e) An award under this subchapter may not exceed:
  (1) The lesser of 50% of the eligible pole replacement costs paid or incurred by the applicant or $5,000, whichever is less, for the pole replaced; plus
  (2) the documented and reasonable administrative expenses incurred by the applicant in preparing and submitting the reimbursement application.
(f) The amount reimbursed under subsection (e)(2) of this section may not exceed 5.0% of the eligible pole replacement costs in the application.

Source Note: The provisions of this §16.4 adopted to be effective March 17, 2022, 47 TexReg 1294; amended to be effective July 28, 2024, 49 TexReg 5349