II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4763 

To support the construction of middle mile broadband infrastructure and 

enhance the electric grid. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2022 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To support the construction of middle mile broadband 

infrastructure and enhance the electric grid. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Grants to Rapidly Invest and Deploy Broadband Act of 

6 2022’’ or the ‘‘GRID Broadband Act of 2022’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. GRID broadband grants. 


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Sec. 5. Grant requirements. 

Sec. 6. Project eligibility requirements. 

Sec. 7. Prohibition on use for covered communications equipment or services. 

Sec. 8. Grantee reporting requirements. 

Sec. 9. NTIA reporting requirements. 

Sec. 10. Technical support and assistance. 

Sec. 11. Staffing. 

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to— 

3 (1) provide resilient and redundant middle mile 

4 fiber optic infrastructure to provide more oppor5 tunity for last mile providers to connect to unserved 

6 locations and underserved locations in rural and re7 mote areas and urban areas with high-quality, high8 speed broadband; 

9 (2) enhance the resilience, reliability, and secu10 rity of the electric grid in order to guarantee deliv11 ery of power to critical facilities and electricity-de12 pendent essential services and reduce restoration 

13 time following power disturbances; 

14 (3) permanently reduce the cost of high-speed 

15 broadband across the United States, including for 

16 low-income households and small businesses; 

17 (4) expand interconnections and the commu18 nications capacity of the electric grid of the United 

19 States to facilitate deployment of more diverse and 

20 distributed generation resources and smart-grid 

21 technologies; 


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1 (5) provide rural and remote areas and urban 

2 areas with new economic growth opportunities and 

3 ensure equal access to education, healthcare, 

4 telework, and e-commerce opportunities; and 

5 (6) leverage assets such as tower facilities, 

6 buildings, land, and rights-of-way to lower 

7 broadband buildout costs to encourage private-sector 

8 companies to expand affordable telecommunication 

9 offerings. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist13 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

14 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

15 (2) BROADBAND; BROADBAND SERVICE.—The 

16 term ‘‘broadband’’ or ‘‘broadband service’’ has the 

17 meaning given the term ‘‘broadband internet access 

18 service’’ in section 8.1, title 47, Code of Federal 

19 Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means— 

22 (A) an electric grid operator; 

23 (B) a transmission owner or operator; 


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1 (C) a Transmission Organization (as de2 fined in section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 

3 U.S.C. 796)); 

4 (D) a Federal power marketing adminis5 tration; 

6 (E) an electric utility owned or operated by 

7 a Native entity; and 

8 (F) a rural or municipal utility. 

9 (4) GRID BROADBAND GRANT.—The term 

10 ‘‘GRID broadband grant’’ means a grant awarded 

11 under section 4. 

12 (5) INTERCONNECTION.—The term ‘‘inter13 connection’’ means— 

14 (A) the physical linking of 2 or more 

15 broadband networks for the mutual exchange of 

16 traffic on terms and conditions that, where 

17 technically feasible without exceeding current 

18 (as of the time of receipt of a GRID broadband 

19 grant) or reasonably anticipated capacity limi20 tations, are technology-neutral and non-dis21 criminatory; and 

22 (B) the offering of wholesale broadband 

23 service at reasonable rates on a carrier-neutral 

24 basis. 


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1 (6) LAST MILE BROADBAND INFRASTRUC2 TURE.—The term ‘‘last mile broadband infrastruc3 ture’’ means broadband infrastructure that— 

4 (A) connects directly to an end-user loca5 tion; and 

6 (B) is capable of delivering— 

7 (i) a speed of not less than 100 mega8 bits per second for downloads; 

9 (ii) a speed of not less than 20 mega10 bits per second for uploads; and 

11 (iii) latency less than or equal to 100 

12 milliseconds. 

13 (7) LAST MILE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘last 

14 mile provider’’ means an entity connecting middle 

15 mile infrastructure to last mile networks in order to 

16 provide retail broadband service, including— 

17 (A) an internet service provider; 

18 (B) a telecommunications cooperative or 

19 other cooperative; 

20 (C) a regional planning council; 

21 (D) a not-for-profit foundation, corpora22 tion, institution, or association; 

23 (E) a public power utility or a rural elec24 tric cooperative; 

25 (F) a Native entity; and 


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1 (G) a municipality, Tribal government, or 

2 other local government. 

3 (8) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD.—The term 

4 ‘‘low-income household’’ means a household whose 

5 income is not greater than 200 percent of the Fed6 eral Poverty Guidelines for a household of that size. 

7 (9) MIDDLE MILE INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 

8 term ‘‘middle mile infrastructure’’— 

9 (A) means any fiber optic broadband infra10 structure that does not connect directly to an 

11 end-user location or a retail customer; and 

12 (B) includes leased dark fiber, interoffice 

13 transport, backhaul, carrier-neutral internet ex14 change facilities, carrier-neutral submarine 

15 cable landing stations, undersea cables, trans16 port connectivity to data centers, special access 

17 transport, and other similar services. 

18 (10) NATIVE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Native enti19 ty’’ has the meaning given the term in section 60401 

20 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (47 

21 U.S.C. 1741). 

22 (11) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

23 the GRID Broadband Facilitation Program estab24 lished under section 4. 


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1 (12) RURAL AND REMOTE AREA.—The term 

2 ‘‘rural and remote area’’ means a political subdivi3 sion of a State or an unincorporated area that has 

4 a population of not more than 10,000 inhabitants. 

5 (13) RURAL OR MUNICIPAL UTILITY.—The 

6 term ‘‘rural or municipal utility’’ means— 

7 (A) a rural electric cooperative; 

8 (B) a utility owned by a political subdivi9 sion of a State, such as a municipally owned 

10 electricity utility; 

11 (C) a utility owned by any agency, author12 ity, corporation, or instrumentality of 1 or more 

13 political subdivisions of a State; 

14 (D) a not-for-profit entity that is in a part15 nership with not fewer than 6 entities described 

16 in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); 

17 (E) a utility owned by a Native entity; and 

18 (F) an investor-owned electric utility that 

19 sells less than 4,000,000 megawatt hours of 

20 electricity per year. 

21 (14) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

22 means the Secretary of Energy. 

23 (15) UNDERSERVED LOCATION.—The term 

24 ‘‘underserved location’’ means a broadband-service25 able location that— 


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1 (A) is not an unserved location; and 

2 (B) lacks access to broadband service of3 fered with— 

4 (i) a speed of not less than— 

5 (I) 100 megabits per second for 

6 downloads; and 

7 (II) 20 megabits per second for 

8 uploads; and 

9 (ii) a latency and jitter sufficient to 

10 support real-time, interactive applications. 

11 (16) UNSERVED LOCATION.—The term 

12 ‘‘unserved location’’ means a broadband-serviceable 

13 location that— 

14 (A) has no access to broadband service; or 

15 (B) lacks access to broadband service of16 fered with— 

17 (i) a speed of not less than— 

18 (I) 25 megabits per second for 

19 downloads; and 

20 (II) 3 megabits per second for 

21 uploads; and 

22 (ii) a latency and jitter sufficient to 

23 support real-time, interactive applications. 

24 (17) URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘urban area’’ 

25 has the meaning given the term by the Bureau of 


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1 the Census in the notice of final program criteria en2 titled ‘‘Urban Area Criteria for the 2020 Census– 

3 Final Criteria’’, published in the Federal Register on 

4 March 24, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 16706), or any suc5 cessor to that notice. 

6 SEC. 4. GRID BROADBAND GRANTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall es8 tablish a program, in consultation with the Secretary, and 

9 subject to subsection (c), to be known as the ‘‘GRID 

10 Broadband Facilitation Program’’, under which the As11 sistant Secretary makes grants to eligible entities to facili12 tate— 

13 (1) the construction of fiber optic communica14 tions infrastructure with sufficient capacity to serve 

15 as middle mile infrastructure; 

16 (2) the enhancement or expansion of existing 

17 (as of the date of the grant award) fiber optics com18 munications infrastructure for the purpose of serv19 ing as middle mile infrastructure; 

20 (3) the use of lit or dark fiber to increase 

21 broadband capability or capacity; or 

22 (4) the acquisition or installation of the equip23 ment and other resources necessary for interconnec24 tion of middle mile infrastructure with last mile 


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1 broadband infrastructure to allow for the exchange 

2 of internet traffic between networks. 

3 (b) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

5 shall establish an application process for GRID 

6 broadband grants. 

7 (2) SELECTION PRIORITY.—In selecting 

8 projects for which to provide GRID broadband 

9 grants, the Assistant Secretary shall give priority to 

10 projects that meet criteria described in paragraph 

11 (3). 

12 (3) PRIORITY CRITERIA.—The criteria described 

13 in this paragraph are that a project— 

14 (A) leverages existing (as of the date of the 

15 grant award) rights-of-way, easements, assets, 

16 and infrastructure to minimize financial, regu17 latory, and permitting barriers; 

18 (B) is located in a State or political sub19 division of a State, or within a Tribal jurisdic20 tion, that allows rights-of-way, easements, and 

21 cost recovery for constructing and operating 

22 middle mile infrastructure by eligible entities; 

23 (C) is used to connect or construct middle 

24 mile infrastructure on trust land (as defined in 

25 section 3765 of title 38, United States Code) 


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1 that is owned by, or held in trust for the benefit 

2 of, as applicable, a Native entity; 

3 (D) aligns with broadband access goals es4 tablished by States, Tribal governments, and lo5 calities; 

6 (E) is most likely to expeditiously provide 

7 affordable broadband service to areas with 

8 unserved locations and underserved locations; 

9 (F) is most likely to expeditiously provide 

10 affordable broadband service to urban areas 

11 that have a demonstrated lack of internet usage 

12 and access; 

13 (G) has partnerships with last mile pro14 viders who commit to provide broadband 

15 through their last mile infrastructure that— 

16 (i) meets the threshold speeds and ca17 pabilities for broadband to no longer de18 clare a location an unserved location or un19 derserved location; and 

20 (ii) ensures that the networks built by 

21 the project are easily scalable to— 

22 (I) meet the evolving connectivity 

23 needs of households and businesses; 

24 and 


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1 (II) support the deployment of 

2 5G, successor wireless technologies, 

3 and other advanced services; 

4 (H) helps provide affordable gigabit upload 

5 and download speeds to community institutions 

6 such as a school, library, medical or healthcare 

7 provider, community college or other institution 

8 of higher education, or other community sup9 port organization or entity; 

10 (I) contributes to broadband resilience and 

11 minimizes the occurrence and duration of out12 ages through the creation of alternative network 

13 connection paths designed to prevent single 

14 points of failure on a broadband network; 

15 (J) would accelerate the rate and scope of 

16 deployment of 5G infrastructure, successor 

17 wireless technologies, and other advanced serv18 ices; 

19 (K) reduces the natural and man-made 

20 threats to the telecommunication and electricity 

21 networks of the United States that are identi22 fied in the North American Energy Resilience 

23 Model, as determined in consultation with the 

24 Secretary; 


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1 (L) supports the security of the electric 

2 grid by installing a private, closed-loop commu3 nications network for grid operators; 

4 (M) helps provide monitoring of threats to 

5 the electric grid, including with respect to pur6 poseful physical attacks, extreme weather im7 pacts, and wildfire detection; 

8 (N) demonstrates the ability to improve 

9 critical services to communities such as 

10 healthcare, communications for first responders, 

11 fire, and safety management, and seismic early 

12 warning systems; 

13 (O) enhances the ability to sense and mon14 itor power characteristics in near-real time in 

15 order to— 

16 (i) optimize electric grid operations; 

17 and 

18 (ii) manage the integration of more 

19 distributed resources and intermittent re20 newable power sources; or 

21 (P) will provide significant non-Federal 

22 matching funds or other monetary or in-kind 

23 consideration. 


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1 (c) IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE.—Not later than 

2 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the As3 sistant Secretary shall— 

4 (1) issue a notice inviting eligible entities to 

5 submit applications for GRID broadband grants, 

6 which shall contain details about how awarding deci7 sions will be made; and 

8 (2) outline— 

9 (A) the requirements for applications for 

10 GRID broadband grants; and 

11 (B) the allowed uses of GRID broadband 

12 grant funds. 

13 (d) INTERCONNECTION AND OVERSIGHT.— 

14 (1) INTERCONNECTION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

16 receives a GRID broadband grant shall offer, 

17 for the life of the project, interconnection di18 rectly, or indirectly through another entity— 

19 (i) to any last mile provider making a 

20 bona fide request for available capacity 

21 pursuant to a sustainable business plan 

22 that meets 1 or more of the priority cri23 teria described in subsection (b)(3); and 

24 (ii) on reasonable rates and terms to 

25 be negotiated with requesting parties. 


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1 (B) NATURE OF INTERCONNECTION.—The 

2 interconnection required to be offered under 

3 subparagraph (A) includes— 

4 (i) the ability to connect to the public 

5 internet; and 

6 (ii) physical interconnection for the 

7 exchange of traffic with last mile inter8 connection. 

9 (2) OVERSIGHT.—The Assistant Secretary 

10 shall— 

11 (A) in consultation with the Secretary, 

12 oversee interconnection agreements between re13 cipients of GRID broadband grants and last 

14 mile providers seeking to interconnect with— 

15 (i) the middle mile infrastructure de16 ployed using GRID broadband grants; and 

17 (ii) other middle mile infrastructure 

18 owned or operated by eligible entities; and 

19 (B) review the interconnection terms and 

20 conditions proposed by an eligible entity to en21 sure that the terms and conditions— 

22 (i) provide for reasonable cost recov23 ery by the eligible entity; and 


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1 (ii) in the case of a recipient of a 

2 GRID broadband grant that qualifies 

3 under subsection (j) or (k) of section 5— 

4 (I) help decrease the cost for re5 sulting last mile broadband service to 

6 consumers; and 

7 (II) include affordable options for 

8 low-income households. 

9 (e) IMPACT ON OTHER FEDERAL BROADBAND PRO10 GRAMS.—The use of GRID broadband grant funds by an 

11 eligible entity, or partner of an eligible entity, shall not 

12 impact the eligibility of, or otherwise disadvantage, the eli13 gible entity or partner with respect to participation in any 

14 other Federal broadband program. 

15 (f) PROHIBITION ON OVERBUILDING.—The Assistant 

16 Secretary shall ensure that GRID broadband grant funds 

17 are not used to duplicate existing or planned last mile 

18 broadband infrastructure. 

19 SEC. 5. GRANT REQUIREMENTS. 

20 (a) OPEN COMPETITION.—The Assistant Secretary 

21 shall assess applications for GRID broadband grants on 

22 a competitive basis. 

23 (b) COMPETENCE.—The Assistant Secretary shall in24 clude in the application process established under section 


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1 4(b)(1) a requirement that an eligible entity can dem2 onstrate that the entity— 

3 (1) is capable of carrying out a proposed 

4 project in a competent manner, including by dem5 onstrating that the entity has the financial, tech6 nical, and operational capability to— 

7 (A) carry out the proposed project con8 sistent with the proposed milestones and budg9 et; and 

10 (B) ensure the long-term operation and 

11 maintenance of the resulting fiber optics facili12 ties, including middle mile broadband infra13 structure; and 

14 (2) has the capability to enter into interconnec15 tion agreements with last mile providers to provide 

16 broadband service. 

17 (c) NETWORK IMPACT ASSESSMENT.—Any applicant 

18 for a GRID broadband grant shall disclose the applicant’s 

19 proposed interconnection, nondiscrimination, and network 

20 management practices. 

21 (d) TIMELINE.—Subject to subsection (e), to be eligi22 ble to obtain a GRID broadband grant, an eligible entity 

23 shall agree, in the application submitted through the proc24 ess established under section 4(b)(1), to complete buildout 

25 of the middle mile infrastructure described in the applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Aug 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4763.IS S4763

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1 tion by not later than 3 years after the date on which 

2 amounts from the grant are made available to the entity. 

3 (e) INTERIM BUILDOUT REQUIREMENTS.—The As4 sistant Secretary shall establish interim buildout require5 ments with milestones for reporting for each eligible entity 

6 that receives a GRID broadband grant. 

7 (f) EXTENSIONS.—At the request of an eligible enti8 ty, the Assistant Secretary may extend the buildout dead9 line under subsection (d) and modify any interim buildout 

10 requirements established under subsection (e) as nec11 essary, if the eligible entity certifies that— 

12 (1) the project to build out middle mile infra13 structure is underway; and 

14 (2) extenuating circumstances require an exten15 sion of time to allow completion of the project. 

16 (g) PERFORMANCE.—The Assistant Secretary may, 

17 in addition to other authority under applicable law, and 

18 as defined in advance by the Assistant Secretary— 

19 (1) deobligate awards to recipients of GRID 

20 broadband grants that demonstrate an insufficient 

21 level of performance, or wasteful or fraudulent 

22 spending; and 

23 (2) competitively award funds deobligated under 

24 paragraph (1) to new or existing (as of the time of 


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1 the deobligation) applicants for GRID broadband 

2 grants consistent with this Act. 

3 (h) PENALTIES.—The Assistant Secretary may, in 

4 addition to other authority under applicable law, and as 

5 defined in advance by the Assistant Secretary, establish 

6 a penalty regime, which may include rescission of funds, 

7 for recipients of GRID broadband grants that do not meet 

8 the requirements of this Act. 

9 (i) COST SHARING.— 

10 (1) 50 PERCENT MATCH REQUIRED.—Except as 

11 provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), an application 

12 for a GRID broadband grant shall demonstrate the 

13 ability to provide supplemental investments or in14 kind support valued at not less than 50 percent of 

15 the amount of the proposed grant. 

16 (2) 20 PERCENT MATCH REQUIRED.—Para17 graph (1) shall be applied by substituting ‘‘20 per18 cent’’ for ‘‘50 percent’’ if the applicant— 

19 (A) is a Federal power marketing adminis20 tration; 

21 (B) is a Native entity; or 

22 (C) qualifies under subsection (j) or (k). 

23 (3) NO MATCH REQUIRED.—Paragraph (1) 

24 shall not apply if an applicant petitions the Assist25 ant Secretary for a waiver and the Assistant SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Aug 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4763.IS S4763

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1 retary determines that the petition demonstrates fi2 nancial need or meets another public interest. 

3 (j) RURAL SERVICE FOR UNSERVED LOCATIONS AND

4 UNDERSERVED LOCATIONS.—If a recipient of a GRID 

5 broadband grant is a rural or municipal utility, or an elec6 tric utility owned or operated by a Native entity, seeking 

7 to provide broadband service that is affordable and acces8 sible to unserved locations and underserved locations in 

9 a rural and remote area, the recipient may use a portion 

10 of the grant funds to support construction of last mile 

11 broadband infrastructure, by the recipient or in partner12 ship with a last mile provider, to meet market demand 

13 in that area. 

14 (k) URBAN SERVICE FOR POPULATIONS WITHOUT

15 ACCESS.—Notwithstanding section 4(f), if a recipient of 

16 a GRID broadband grant is a rural or municipal utility, 

17 or an electric utility owned or operated by a Native entity, 

18 seeking to provide broadband service that is affordable 

19 and accessible to populations in urban areas where it has 

20 been shown that cost is a barrier to internet connectivity, 

21 the recipient may use a portion of the grant funds to sup22 port construction of last mile broadband infrastructure, by 

23 the recipient or in partnership with a last mile provider, 

24 to meet market demand in that area. 


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1 (l) DEOBLIGATION OF AWARDS.—The Assistant Sec2 retary— 

3 (1) shall establish appropriate mechanisms to 

4 ensure appropriate use of funds made available 

5 under this section; and 

6 (2) may, in addition to other authority under 

7 applicable law— 

8 (A) deobligate grant funds awarded to an 

9 eligible entity that— 

10 (i) is unable to fulfill the requirements 

11 of subsection (b); or 

12 (ii) demonstrates an insufficient level 

13 of performance, or wasteful or fraudulent 

14 spending, as defined in advance by the As15 sistant Secretary; and 

16 (B) award grant funds that are deobligated 

17 under subparagraph (A) to new or existing ap18 plicants consistent with this section. 

19 (m) REGULATIONS.—The Assistant Secretary may 

20 issue such regulations or other guidance, forms, instruc21 tions, or publications as may be necessary or appropriate 

22 to carry out the programs, projects, or activities author23 ized under this Act, including to ensure that such pro24 grams, projects, or activities are completed in a timely and 

25 effective manner. 


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1 (n) NO REGULATION OF RATES PERMITTED.—Noth2 ing in this Act may be construed to authorize the Assist3 ant Secretary or the National Telecommunications and In4 formation Administration to regulate the rates charged for 

5 broadband service. 

6 SEC. 6. PROJECT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. 

7 An eligible entity may not receive a GRID broadband 

8 grant unless, at the time of the application for the grant, 

9 the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Sec10 retary, determines that— 

11 (1) the project would improve national security 

12 by— 

13 (A) helping harden the electric grid of the 

14 United States against cyberattacks and other 

15 threats; and 

16 (B) reducing the likelihood of electricity 

17 outages at Federal properties dedicated to na18 tional security; and 

19 (2) the proposed middle mile infrastructure will 

20 be capable of supporting the provision of broadband 

21 service by a last mile provider, either directly or in22 directly through terrestrial or wireless service. 


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1 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON USE FOR COVERED COMMUNICA2 TIONS EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES. 

3 An eligible entity or partner of an eligible entity may 

4 not use GRID broadband grant funds to purchase or sup5 port any covered communications equipment or service, as 

6 defined in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted Commu7 nications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608). 

8 SEC. 8. GRANTEE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that receives a 

10 GRID broadband grant shall submit to the Assistant Sec11 retary a biannual report for the life of the project, in a 

12 format specified by the Assistant Secretary, that— 

13 (1) describes the entity’s— 

14 (A) use of the grant and progress in ful15 filling the objectives for which the grant funds 

16 were awarded, including meeting any require17 ments established by the Assistant Secretary 

18 under section 5(l); and 

19 (B) interconnection agreements with last 

20 mile providers, including how those agreements 

21 are— 

22 (i) increasing the availability of high23 speed, high-quality broadband in unserved 

24 locations and underserved locations; 

25 (ii) ensuring compliance with section 

26 4(d)(1)(A) (relating to open access); and 


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1 (iii) making broadband service more 

2 affordable for consumers; and 

3 (2) includes any other information required by 

4 the Assistant Secretary. 

5 (b) PUBLICATION.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

6 make each report submitted under subsection (a) available 

7 to the public. 

8 SEC. 9. NTIA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

9 (a) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—The Assistant Secretary 

10 shall create and maintain a fully searchable online data11 base that contains— 

12 (1) a list of each eligible entity that has applied 

13 for a GRID broadband grant and any last mile pro14 vider with which the entity has partnered or has 

15 proposed to partner; 

16 (2) a description of each application described 

17 in paragraph (1); 

18 (3) the status of each application described in 

19 paragraph (1); 

20 (4) the name of each eligible entity that has re21 ceived a GRID broadband grant; 

22 (5) the purpose for which an eligible entity de23 scribed in paragraph (4) received the grant; 

24 (6) each biannual report submitted by an eligi25 ble entity under section 8(a); and 


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1 (7) any other information necessary to allow the 

2 public to understand and monitor GRID broadband 

3 grants awarded by the Assistant Secretary. 

4 (b) PROTECTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—The 

5 Assistant Secretary may not include in the database cre6 ated under subsection (a) any— 

7 (1) proprietary information; 

8 (2) information the disclosure of which the As9 sistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary, 

10 determines would pose a threat to national security; 

11 or 

12 (3) information relating Native American nat13 ural, cultural, and historical resources identified as 

14 confidential by a Native entity, which shall also be 

15 exempt from the disclosure requirements under sec16 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

17 known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’). 

18 (c) MONITORING.—The Assistant Secretary shall set 

19 up sufficient mechanisms to monitor the progress of 

20 projects funded by GRID broadband grants, including au21 dits and on-site investigations. 

22 (d) INTERNET DISCLOSURE.—The Assistant Sec23 retary shall, on the searchable database created under sec24 tion 60102(g)(3)(C) of the Infrastructure Investment and 

25 Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 1702(g)(3)(C)), provide information 


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1 sufficient to allow the public to understand and monitor 

2 projects funded by GRID broadband grants. 

3 SEC. 10. TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE. 

4 (a) PROGRAM ASSISTANCE.—As part of the Program, 

5 the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Sec6 retary, shall provide technical support and assistance to 

7 eligible entities to facilitate their participation in the Pro8 gram. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL EXPERTS.—The Assistant Secretary, 

10 in consultation with the Secretary, shall convene a com11 mittee of technical experts to advise the Assistant Sec12 retary on the development and implementation of the Pro13 gram. 

14 SEC. 11. STAFFING. 

15 The Assistant Secretary may appoint, without regard 

16 to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 

17 5, United States Code (other than sections 3303 and 3328 

18 of that subchapter), qualified candidates to any position 

19 necessary to administer the Program. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB