(a)

1. (1) After the application window closes, the Arkansas Department of Commerce Broadband Office will arrange for eligibility review, as explained in 15 CAR § 189-601(b), process review, as explained in 15 CAR § 189-601(c), and technical review, as explained in 15 CAR § 189-601(d), of all applications received to ensure that projects are feasible and implementation plans are sufficient to achieve project objectives.
2. (2) Applications that pass technical review, and which are the most preferred project from their county or, in case of no county projects, their municipality or unincorporated community, will then be ranked in ascending order of the project score, as calculated using the rubric in 15 CAR § 189-601(e).

(b)

1. (1) An iterative process will eliminate projects that lie outside the budget constraint or are interdependent with other eliminated projects.
2. (2) The process shall substitute for eliminated projects, where available, less preferred projects according to the ranking provided by the county or, where countywide projects were not proposed or have been eliminated, by municipalities or unincorporated communities.
3. (3) This process shall culminate in a list of awardable projects with grant requests totaling to less than the available funds.
4. (4) 15 CAR § 189-601(f) elaborates on this, and full details of the selection process for the round will be provided along with the announcement of grant awards.