I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5486 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve access to 

broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, including by encouraging the provision of broadband loans and grants to increase 

broadband service in emerging harbor projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 18, 2019 

Ms. PLASKETT (for herself, Mr. YOHO, and Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto 

Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve 

access to broadband telecommunications services in rural 

areas, including by encouraging the provision of 

broadband loans and grants to increase broadband service in emerging harbor projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Internet 

5 for Small Ports Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

2 SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS. 

3 Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

4 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (I) in clause (i)— 

9 (aa) by striking ‘‘of at 

10 least—’’ and inserting a semi11 colon; and 

12 (bb) by striking subclauses 

13 (I) and (II); 

14 (II) in clause (iii), by striking 

15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

16 (III) in clause (iv), by striking 

17 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

18 and’’; and 

19 (IV) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(v) give priority to applications for 

22 projects to provide rapid and expanded de23 ployment of fixed and mobile broadband on 

24 cropland and ranchland within a service 

25 territory for use in various applications of 

26 precision agriculture.’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

2 (I) in clause (i)— 

3 (aa) in subclause (III), by 

4 inserting ‘‘or’’ after the semi5 colon; 

6 (bb) in subclause (IV), by 

7 striking ‘‘or’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘and’’; and 

9 (cc) by striking subclause 

10 (V); and 

11 (II) in clause (ii)— 

12 (aa) in the matter preceding 

13 subclause (I), by striking ‘‘2’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘1’’; 

15 (bb) in subclause (IV), by 

16 inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semi17 colon; 

18 (cc) in subclause (V), by 

19 striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

20 period at the end; and 

21 (dd) by striking subclause 

22 (VI); and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(C) EMERGING HARBOR PROJECT PRI2 ORITY.—In addition to the priority given under 

3 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall give 

4 equal priority to an application for a project 

5 that would increase the availability of 

6 broadband service in an emerging harbor 

7 project (as defined in section 210(f) of the 

8 Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 

9 U.S.C. 2238(f))), without regard to whether the 

10 application is from an emerging harbor project. 

11 ‘‘(D) IDENTIFICATION OF UNSERVED COM12 MUNITIES.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

14 application given the highest priority under 

15 subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary shall 

16 confirm that each unserved rural commu17 nity identified in the application is eligible 

18 for funding by— 

19 ‘‘(I) conferring with and obtain20 ing data from the Federal Commu21 nications Commission and the Assist22 ant Secretary of Commerce for Com23 munications and Information with re24 spect to the service area proposed in 

25 the application; 


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1 ‘‘(II) reviewing any other source 

2 that is relevant to service data valida3 tion, as determined by the Secretary; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(III) performing site-specific 

6 testing to verify the unavailability of 

7 any residential broadband service in 

8 the unserved rural community. 

9 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENTS.—Not less often 

10 than once every 2 years, the Secretary 

11 shall review, and may adjust through no12 tice published in the Federal Register, the 

13 unserved communities identified under 

14 clause (i).’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking subpara16 graphs (C) and (D) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM.—Except as provided in 

18 subparagraph (D), the amount of any grant 

19 made under this section shall not exceed 50 

20 percent of the development costs of the project 

21 for which the grant is provided. 

22 ‘‘(D) SECRETARIAL AUTHORITY TO AD23 JUST.—The Secretary may make grants of up 

24 to 75 percent of the development costs of the 

25 project for which the grant is provided to an elVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5486.IH H5486

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1 igible entity if the Secretary determines that 

2 the project serves— 

3 ‘‘(i) an area of rural households de4 scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) a rural community described in 

6 any of subclauses (I) through (IV) of para7 graph (2)(B)(i).’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (d)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

11 ‘‘subsection (j)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

12 (l)’’; and 

13 (ii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(C) RELATION TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE

16 HIGH-COST SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall co17 ordinate with the Federal Communications 

18 Commission to ensure that any grants, loans, or 

19 loan guarantees made under this section com20 plement and do not conflict with universal serv21 ice high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 

22 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

23 successor regulation) provided by the Commis24 sion.’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

2 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘50’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘90’’; and 

4 (II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘3’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘2’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary 

8 shall provide to an applicant of a grant, loan, or 

9 loan guarantee under this section feedback and deci10 sions on funding in a timely manner.’’; 

11 (3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 

12 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 

13 (4) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(j) BROADBAND BUILDOUT DATA.—As a condition 

16 of receiving a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this 

17 section, a recipient of assistance shall provide to the Sec18 retary complete, reliable, and precise geolocation informa19 tion that indicates the location of new broadband service 

20 that is being provided or upgraded within the service terri21 tory supported by the grant, loan, or loan guarantee not 

22 later than 30 days after the earlier of— 

23 ‘‘(1) the date of completion of any project mile24 stone established by the Secretary; or 

25 ‘‘(2) the date of completion of the project. 


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1 ‘‘(k) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

2 may obligate, but not disperse, funds under this Act before 

3 the completion of otherwise required environmental, his4 torical, or other types of reviews if the Secretary deter5 mines that a subsequent site-specific review shall be ade6 quate and easily accomplished for the location of towers, 

7 poles, or other broadband facilities in the service area of 

8 the borrower without compromising the project or the re9 quired reviews.’’; and 

10 (5) in subsection (l)(2)(A) (as so redesig11 nated)— 

12 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

13 end; 

14 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

15 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 

18 used for— 

19 ‘‘(I) conducting oversight under 

20 this section; and 

21 ‘‘(II) implementing accountability 

22 measures and related activities au23 thorized under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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