II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4767 

To close the digital divide, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 4, 2022 

Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Transportation 

A BILL 

To close the digital divide, 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 ‘‘Proper Leadership to 

5 Align Networks for Broadband Act’’ or the ‘‘PLAN for 

6 Broadband Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON10 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con11 gress’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com4 merce of the House of Representatives. 

5 (2) COVERED AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘covered 

6 agencies’’ means— 

7 (A) the Federal Communications Commis8 sion; 

9 (B) the Department of Agriculture; 

10 (C) the National Telecommunications and 

11 Information Administration; 

12 (D) the Department of Health and Human 

13 Services; 

14 (E) the Appalachian Regional Commission; 

15 (F) the Delta Regional Authority; 

16 (G) the Economic Development Adminis17 tration; 

18 (H) the Department of Education; 

19 (I) the Department of the Treasury; 

20 (J) the Department of Transportation; 

21 (K) the Institute of Museum and Library 

22 Services; 

23 (L) the Northern Border Regional Com24 mission; 


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1 (M) the Department of Housing and 

2 Urban Development; and 

3 (N) the Department of the Interior. 

4 (3) FEDERAL BROADBAND PROGRAM.—The 

5 term ‘‘Federal broadband program’’ means any pro6 gram administered by a covered agency that is di7 rectly or indirectly intended to increase the deploy8 ment of, access to, the affordability of, or the adop9 tion of broadband internet access service. 

10 (4) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Im11 plementation Plan’’ means the implementation plan 

12 developed under section 4(a). 

13 (5) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 

14 the National Strategy to Close the Digital Divide de15 veloped under section 3(a). 

16 SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO IMPROVE THE COORDINATION AND 

17 MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL BROADBAND 

18 PROGRAMS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the President, in consulta21 tion with the heads of the covered agencies, shall develop 

22 and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 

23 National Strategy to Close the Digital Divide to— 

24 (1) support better management of Federal 

25 broadband programs to deliver on the goal of proVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Aug 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4767.IS S4767

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1 viding high speed, affordable broadband internet ac2 cess service to all individuals in the United States; 

3 (2) synchronize interagency coordination among 

4 covered agencies for Federal broadband programs; 

5 (3) synchronize interagency coordination re6 garding the process for approving the grant of an 

7 easement, right of way, or lease to, in, over, or on 

8 a building or any other property owned by the Fed9 eral Government for the right to install, construct, 

10 modify, or maintain infrastructure with respect to 

11 broadband internet access service; and 

12 (4) reduce barriers, lower costs, and ease ad13 ministrative burdens for State, local, and Tribal gov14 ernments to participate in Federal broadband pro15 grams. 

16 (b) NATIONAL STRATEGY TO CLOSE THE DIGITAL

17 DIVIDE.—The Strategy shall— 

18 (1) list all— 

19 (A) Federal broadband programs; and 

20 (B) programs that exist at the State and 

21 local levels that are directly or indirectly in22 tended to increase the deployment of, access to, 

23 the affordability of, or the adoption of 

24 broadband internet access service; 


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1 (2) describe current, as of the date on which 

2 the Strategy is submitted, Federal efforts to coordi3 nate Federal broadband programs; 

4 (3) identify gaps and limitations, including 

5 laws, that hinder, or may hinder, coordination across 

6 Federal broadband programs; 

7 (4) establish clear roles and responsibilities for 

8 the heads of the covered agencies, as well as clear 

9 goals, objectives, and performance measures, for— 

10 (A) the management of all Federal 

11 broadband programs; and 

12 (B) interagency coordination efforts with 

13 respect to Federal broadband programs; 

14 (5) address the cost of the Strategy, the sources 

15 and types of resources and investments needed to 

16 carry out the Strategy, and where those resources 

17 and investments should be targeted based on bal18 ancing risk reductions with costs; 

19 (6) address factors that increase the costs and 

20 administrative burdens for State, local, and Tribal 

21 governments with respect to participation in Federal 

22 broadband programs; 

23 (7) recommend incentives, legislative solutions, 

24 and administrative actions to help State, local, and 

25 Tribal governments more efficiently— 


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1 (A) distribute, and effectively administer, 

2 funding received from Federal broadband pro3 grams; and 

4 (B) resolve conflicts with respect to the 

5 funding described in subparagraph (A); 

6 (8) recommend incentives, legislative solutions, 

7 and administrative actions to— 

8 (A) improve the coordination and manage9 ment of Federal broadband programs; and 

10 (B) eliminate duplication with respect to 

11 Federal broadband programs; 

12 (9) describe current, as of the date on which 

13 the Strategy is submitted, efforts by covered agen14 cies to streamline the process for granting access to 

15 an easement, right of way, or lease to, in, over, or 

16 on a building or any other property owned by the 

17 Federal Government for the right to install, con18 struct, modify, or maintain infrastructure with re19 spect to broadband internet access service; 

20 (10) identify gaps and limitations with respect 

21 to allowing regional, interstate, or cross-border eco22 nomic development organizations to participate in 

23 Federal broadband programs; and 

24 (11) address specific issues relating to closing 

25 the digital divide on Tribal lands. 


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1 (c) PUBLIC CONSULTATION.—In developing the 

2 Strategy, the President shall consult with— 

3 (1) groups that represent consumers or the in4 terests of the public, including economically or so5 cially disadvantaged individuals; 

6 (2) subject matter experts; 

7 (3) providers of broadband internet access serv8 ice; 

9 (4) Tribal entities; and 

10 (5) State and local agencies and entities with 

11 respect to broadband internet access service. 

12 SEC. 4. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

14 date on which the President submits the Strategy to the 

15 appropriate committees of Congress under section 3(a), 

16 the President, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary 

17 of Commerce for Communications and Information, shall 

18 develop and submit to the appropriate committees of Con19 gress an implementation plan for the Strategy. 

20 (b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The Implementation 

21 Plan shall, at a minimum— 

22 (1) provide a plan for implementing the roles, 

23 responsibilities, goals, objectives, and performance 

24 measures for the management of Federal broadband 


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1 programs and interagency coordination efforts iden2 tified in the Strategy; 

3 (2) provide a plan for holding the covered agen4 cies accountable for the roles, responsibilities, goals, 

5 objectives, and performance measures identified in 

6 the Strategy; 

7 (3) describe the roles and responsibilities of the 

8 covered agencies, and the interagency mechanisms, 

9 to coordinate the implementation of the Strategy; 

10 (4) provide a plan for regular meetings among 

11 the heads of the covered agencies to coordinate the 

12 implementation of the Strategy and improve coordi13 nation among Federal broadband programs and for 

14 permitting processes for infrastructure with respect 

15 to broadband internet access service; 

16 (5) provide a plan for regular engagement with 

17 interested members of the public to evaluate Federal 

18 broadband programs, permitting processes for infra19 structure with respect to broadband internet access 

20 service, and the progress for the implementation of 

21 the Strategy; 

22 (6) with respect to the awarding of Federal 

23 funds or subsidies to support the deployment of 

24 broadband internet access service, provide a plan for 

25 the adoption of— 


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1 (A) common data sets regarding those 

2 awards, including a requirement that covered 

3 agencies use the maps created under title VIII 

4 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

5 641 et seq.); and 

6 (B) applications regarding those awards, 

7 as described in section 903(e) of the ACCESS 

8 BROADBAND Act (47 U.S.C. 1307(e)); 

9 (7) provide a plan to monitor and reduce waste, 

10 fraud, and abuse in Federal broadband programs, 

11 including wasteful spending resulting from frag12 mented, overlapping, and unnecessarily duplicative 

13 programs; 

14 (8) require consistent obligation and expendi15 ture reporting by covered agencies for Federal 

16 broadband programs, which shall be consistent with 

17 section 903(c)(2) of the ACCESS BROADBAND 

18 Act (47 U.S.C. 1307(c)(2)); 

19 (9) provide a plan to increase awareness of, and 

20 participation and enrollment in, Federal broadband 

21 programs relating to the affordability and adoption 

22 of broadband internet access service; and 

23 (10) describe the administrative and legislative 

24 action that is necessary to carry out the Strategy. 


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1 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

2 the date on which the President submits the Strategy to 

3 the appropriate committees of Congress under section 

4 3(a), the President shall seek public comment regarding 

5 the development and implementation of the Implementa6 tion Plan. 

7 SEC. 5. BRIEFINGS AND IMPLEMENTATION. 

8 (a) BRIEFING.—Not later than 21 days after the date 

9 on which the President submits the Implementation Plan 

10 to the appropriate committees of Congress under section 

11 4(a), the President, and appropriate representatives from 

12 the covered agencies involved in the formulation of the 

13 Strategy, shall provide a briefing on the implementation 

14 of the Strategy to the appropriate committees of Congress. 

15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President and the As17 sistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 

18 and Information shall— 

19 (A) implement the Strategy in accordance 

20 with the terms of the Implementation Plan; and 

21 (B) not later than 90 days after the date 

22 on which the President begins to implement the 

23 Strategy, and not less frequently than once 

24 every 90 days thereafter until the date on which 

25 the Implementation Plan is fully implemented, 


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1 brief the appropriate committees of Congress on 

2 the progress in implementing the Implementa3 tion Plan. 

4 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

5 subsection may be construed to affect the authority 

6 or jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Com7 mission or confer upon the President or any execu8 tive agency the power to direct the actions of the 

9 Federal Communications Commission, either directly 

10 or indirectly. 

11 SEC. 6. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDIES 

12 AND REPORTS. 

13 Not later than 1 year after the date on which the 

14 President submits the Implementation Plan to the appro15 priate committees of Congress under section 4(a), the 

16 Comptroller General of the United States shall commence 

17 a study— 

18 (1) that shall— 

19 (A) examine the efficacy of the Strategy 

20 and the Implementation Plan in closing the dig21 ital divide; and 

22 (B) make recommendations regarding how 

23 to improve the Strategy and the Implementa24 tion Plan; and 


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1 (2) the results of which the Comptroller Gen2 eral shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

3 Congress. 

Æ 


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