II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4131 

To make high-speed broadband internet service accessible and affordable 

to all Americans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 1, 2020 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WARNER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

BOOKER, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. WARREN, Ms. ROSEN, and Ms. CORTEZ

MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To make high-speed broadband internet service accessible 

and affordable to all Americans, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Severability. 


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TITLE I—DIGITAL EQUITY 

Sec. 1000. Definitions. 

Subtitle A—Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth 

Sec. 1101. Establishment of the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth. 

Sec. 1102. Duties. 

Sec. 1103. Streamlined applications for support. 

Sec. 1104. Coordination of support. 

Sec. 1105. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 1106. Funding. 

Subtitle B—Digital Equity Programs 

Sec. 1201. State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program. 

Sec. 1202. Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. 

Sec. 1203. Policy research, data collection, analysis and modeling, evaluation, 

and dissemination. 

Sec. 1204. General provisions. 

Subtitle C—Broadband Service for Low-Income Consumers 

Sec. 1301. Additional broadband benefit. 

Sec. 1302. Grants to States to strengthen National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier. 

Sec. 1303. Federal coordination between Lifeline and SNAP verification. 

Subtitle D—E-Rate Support for Wi-Fi Hotspots, Other Equipment, and 

Connected Devices 

Sec. 1401. E-rate support for Wi-Fi hotspots, other equipment, and connected 

devices. 

Subtitle E—Supporting Connectivity for Higher Education Students in Need 

Sec. 1501. Higher education connectivity fund. 

Subtitle F—Healthcare Broadband Expansion 

Sec. 1601. Definitions. 

Sec. 1602. Expansion of rural health care program. 

TITLE II—BROADBAND TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 2001. Definitions. 

Sec. 2002. Broadband transparency. 

Sec. 2003. Distribution of data. 

Sec. 2004. Coordination with certain other Federal agencies. 

Sec. 2005. Broadband consumer labels. 

Sec. 2006. Appropriation for Broadband DATA Act. 

TITLE III—BROADBAND ACCESS 

Subtitle A—Expansion of Broadband Access 

Sec. 3101. Expansion of broadband access in unserved areas and areas with 

low-tier or mid-tier service. 

Subtitle B—Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation 


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Sec. 3201. Definitions. 

Sec. 3202. Determination of eligibility and project selection. 

Sec. 3203. Secured loans. 

Sec. 3204. Lines of credit. 

Sec. 3205. Alternative prudential lending standards for small projects. 

Sec. 3206. Program administration. 

Sec. 3207. State and local permits. 

Sec. 3208. Regulations. 

Sec. 3209. Funding. 

Sec. 3210. Reports to Congress. 

Subtitle C—Wi-Fi on School Buses 

Sec. 3301. E-rate support for school bus Wi-Fi. 

TITLE IV—COMMUNITY BROADBAND 

Sec. 4001. State, local, public-private partnership, and co-op broadband services. 

TITLE V—BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT 

Sec. 5001. Broadband infrastructure deployment. 

TITLE VI—REPEAL OF RULE AND PROHIBITION ON USE OF 

NPRM 

Sec. 6001. Repeal of rule and prohibition on use of NPRM. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AGING INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘aging indi4 vidual’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘older indi5 vidual’’ in section 102 of the Older Americans Act 

6 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002). 

7 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON8 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con9 gress’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

11 the Senate; 

12 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

13 and Transportation of the Senate; 


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1 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the House of Representatives; and 

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

5 (3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist6 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

7 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

8 (4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

10 (5) COVERED HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘covered 

11 household’’ means a household the income of which 

12 does not exceed 150 percent of the poverty thresh13 old, as determined by using criteria of poverty estab14 lished by the Bureau of the Census, for a household 

15 of the size involved. 

16 (6) COVERED POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘cov17 ered populations’’ means— 

18 (A) individuals who are members of cov19 ered households; 

20 (B) aging individuals; 

21 (C) incarcerated individuals, other than in22 dividuals who are incarcerated in a Federal cor23 rectional facility (including a private facility op24 erated under contract with the Federal Govern25 ment); 


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1 (D) veterans; 

2 (E) individuals with disabilities; 

3 (F) individuals with a language barrier, in4 cluding individuals who— 

5 (i) are English learners; or 

6 (ii) have low levels of literacy; 

7 (G) individuals who are members of a ra8 cial or ethnic minority group; and 

9 (H) individuals who primarily reside in a 

10 rural area. 

11 (7) DIGITAL LITERACY.—The term ‘‘digital lit12 eracy’’ means the skills associated with using tech13 nology to enable users to find, evaluate, organize, 

14 create, and communicate information. 

15 (8) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Ameri17 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

18 12102). 

19 (9) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

20 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 

21 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (10) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

23 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

24 section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and 

25 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 


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1 (11) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

2 The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 

3 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec4 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

5 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 

6 (B) includes a postsecondary vocational in7 stitution. 

8 (12) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU9 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu10 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

11 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

13 (13) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ has 

14 the meaning given the term in section 13 of the 

15 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 913). 

16 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean17 ing given the term in section 3 of the Communica18 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

19 (15) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

21 United States Code. 

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress that— 

24 (1) a broadband service connection and digital 

25 literacy are increasingly critical to how individuals— 


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1 (A) participate in the society, economy, 

2 and civic institutions of the United States; and 

3 (B) access health care and essential serv4 ices, obtain education, and build careers; 

5 (2) digital exclusion— 

6 (A) carries a high societal and economic 

7 cost; 

8 (B) materially harms the opportunity of an 

9 individual with respect to the economic success, 

10 educational achievement, positive health out11 comes, social inclusion, and civic engagement of 

12 that individual; 

13 (C) materially harms the opportunity of 

14 areas where it is especially widespread with re15 spect to economic success, educational achieve16 ment, positive health outcomes, social cohesion, 

17 and civic institutions; and 

18 (D) exacerbates existing wealth and income 

19 gaps, especially those experienced by covered 

20 populations and between regions; 

21 (3) achieving accessible and affordable access to 

22 broadband service, as well as digital literacy, for all 

23 people of the United States requires additional and 

24 sustained research efforts and investment; 


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1 (4) the Federal Government, as well as State, 

2 Tribal, and local governments, have made social, 

3 legal, and economic obligations that necessarily ex4 tend to how the citizens and residents of those gov5 ernments access and use the internet; and 

6 (5) achieving accessible and affordable access to 

7 broadband service is a matter of social and economic 

8 justice and is worth pursuing. 

9 (b) BROADBAND SERVICE DEFINED.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘‘broadband service’’ has the meaning given 

11 the term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ in section 

12 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

13 successor regulation. 

14 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

15 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

16 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend17 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid, 

18 the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by 

19 this Act, and the application of such provision or amend20 ment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be 

21 affected thereby. 

22 TITLE I—DIGITAL EQUITY 

23 SEC. 1000. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this title: 


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1 (1) ADOPTION OF BROADBAND SERVICE.—The 

2 term ‘‘adoption of broadband service’’ means the 

3 process by which an individual obtains daily access 

4 to broadband service— 

5 (A) with a download speed of at least 25 

6 megabits per second, an upload speed of at 

7 least 3 megabits per second, and a latency that 

8 is sufficiently low to allow real-time, interactive 

9 applications; 

10 (B) with the digital skills that are nec11 essary for the individual to participate online; 

12 and 

13 (C) on a— 

14 (i) personal device; and 

15 (ii) secure and convenient network. 

16 (2) ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘anchor 

17 institution’’ means a public or private school, a li18 brary, a medical or healthcare provider, a museum, 

19 a public safety entity, a public housing agency, a 

20 community college, an institution of higher edu21 cation, a religious organization, or any other com22 munity support organization or agency. 

23 (3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—Except in section 

24 1101, the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the As25 sistant Secretary, acting through the Office. 


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1 (4) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

2 ‘‘broadband service’’ has the meaning given the term 

3 ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ in section 8.1(b) 

4 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc5 cessor regulation. 

6 (5) COVERED PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 programs’’ means the State Digital Equity Capacity 

8 Grant Program established under section 1201 and 

9 the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program es10 tablished under section 1202. 

11 (6) DIGITAL EQUITY.—The term ‘‘digital eq12 uity’’ means the condition in which individuals and 

13 communities have the information technology capac14 ity that is needed for full participation in the society 

15 and economy of the United States. 

16 (7) DIGITAL INCLUSION ACTIVITIES.—The term 

17 ‘‘digital inclusion activities’’— 

18 (A) means the activities that are necessary 

19 to ensure that all individuals in the United 

20 States have access to, and the use of, affordable 

21 information and communication technologies, 

22 such as— 

23 (i) reliable broadband service; 

24 (ii) internet-enabled devices that meet 

25 the needs of the user; and 


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1 (iii) applications and online content 

2 designed to enable and encourage self-suf3 ficiency, participation, and collaboration; 

4 and 

5 (B) includes— 

6 (i) the provision of digital literacy 

7 training; 

8 (ii) the provision of quality technical 

9 support; and 

10 (iii) promoting basic awareness of 

11 measures to ensure online privacy and cy12 bersecurity. 

13 (8) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

14 State’’ means— 

15 (A) with respect to planning grants made 

16 available under section 1201(c)(3), a State with 

17 respect to which the Assistant Secretary has 

18 approved an application submitted to the As19 sistant Secretary under section 1201(c)(3)(C); 

20 and 

21 (B) with respect to capacity grants award22 ed under section 1201(d), a State with respect 

23 to which the Assistant Secretary has approved 

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1 proval of the State Digital Equity Plan devel2 oped by the State under section 1201(c). 

3 (9) FEDERAL BROADBAND SERVICE SUPPORT

4 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal broadband service 

5 support program’’ does not include any Universal 

6 Service Fund program and means any of the fol7 lowing programs (or any other similar Federal pro8 gram) to the extent the program offers broadband 

9 service or programs for promoting access to 

10 broadband service and adoption of broadband service 

11 for various demographic communities through var12 ious media for residential, commercial, or community 

13 providers or anchor institutions: 

14 (A) The Telecommunications and Tech15 nology Program of the Appalachian Regional 

16 Commission. 

17 (B) The Telecommunications Infrastruc18 ture Loans and Loan Guarantees, the Rural 

19 Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantees, 

20 the Substantially Underserved Trust Areas Pro21 visions, the Community Connect Grant Pro22 gram, and the Distance Learning and Tele23 medicine Grant Program of the Rural Utilities 

24 Service of the Department of Agriculture. 


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1 (C) The Public Works and Economic Ad2 justment Assistance Programs and the Plan3 ning and Local Technical Assistance Programs 

4 of the Economic Development Administration of 

5 the Department of Commerce. 

6 (D) The Community Development Block 

7 Grants and Section 108 Loan Guarantees, the 

8 Funds for Public Housing Authorities: Capital 

9 Fund and Operating Fund, the Multifamily 

10 Housing, the Indian Community Development 

11 Block Grant Program, the Indian Housing 

12 Block Grant Program, the Title VI Loan Guar13 antee Program, Choice Neighborhoods, the 

14 HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the 

15 Housing Trust Fund, and the Housing Oppor16 tunities for Persons with AIDS of the Depart17 ment of Housing and Urban Development. 

18 (E) The American Job Centers of the Em19 ployment and Training Administration of the 

20 Department of Labor. 

21 (F) The Library Services and Technology 

22 Grant Programs of the Institute of Museum 

23 and Library Services. 

24 (G) The State Digital Equity Capacity 

25 Grant Program established under section 1201. 


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1 (H) The Digital Equity Competitive Grant 

2 Program established under section 1202. 

3 (I) The program established under section 

4 723 of the Communications Act of 1934 (relat5 ing to expansion of access to broadband service 

6 for unserved areas, areas with low-tier service, 

7 areas with mid-tier service, and unserved an8 chor institutions), as added by section 3101. 

9 (J) The broadband infrastructure finance 

10 and innovation program established under sub11 title B of title III. 

12 (10) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 

13 identity’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

14 249(c) of title 18, United States Code. 

15 (11) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

16 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

17 the term in section 8101(30) of the Elementary and 

18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 7801(30)). 

20 (12) MEDICAID ENROLLEE.—The term ‘‘Med21 icaid enrollee’’ means, with respect to a State, an in22 dividual enrolled in the State plan under title XIX 

23 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) 

24 or a waiver of that plan. 


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1 (13) NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY

2 VERIFIER.—The term ‘‘National Lifeline Eligibility 

3 Verifier’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

4 54.400 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

5 any successor regulation). 

6 (14) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

7 Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth estab8 lished pursuant to section 1101. 

9 (15) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 

10 ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 

12 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

13 (16) SNAP PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘SNAP 

14 participant’’ means an individual who is a member 

15 of a household that participates in the supplemental 

16 nutrition assistance program under the Food and 

17 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

18 (17) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN19 TAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘‘so20 cially and economically disadvantaged small business 

21 concern’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

22 8(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 637(a)(4)). 

24 (18) TRIBALLY DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The 

25 term ‘‘tribally designated entity’’ means an entity 


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1 designated by an Indian Tribe to carry out activities 

2 under this title. 

3 (19) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND PROGRAM.— 

4 The term ‘‘Universal Service Fund program’’ means 

5 any program authorized under section 254 of the 

6 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254), to 

7 the extent such program provides support for 

8 broadband service deployment. 

9 (20) UNIVERSAL SERVICE MECHANISM.—The 

10 term ‘‘universal service mechanism’’ means any 

11 funding stream provided by a Universal Service 

12 Fund program to support broadband service deploy13 ment. 

14 (21) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 

15 The term ‘‘workforce development program’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Work17 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

18 3102). 

19 Subtitle A—Office of Internet 

20 Connectivity and Growth 

21 SEC. 1101. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF INTERNET 

22 CONNECTIVITY AND GROWTH. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall establish 

25 the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth within the 


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1 National Telecommunications and Information Adminis2 tration. 

3 SEC. 1102. DUTIES. 

4 (a) OUTREACH.—The Office shall— 

5 (1) connect with communities that need access 

6 to broadband service and improved digital inclusion 

7 activities through various forms of outreach and 

8 communication techniques; 

9 (2) hold regional workshops across the country 

10 to share best practices and effective strategies for 

11 promoting access to broadband service and adoption 

12 of broadband service; 

13 (3) develop targeted broadband service training 

14 and presentations for various demographic commu15 nities through various media; and 

16 (4) develop and distribute publications (includ17 ing toolkits, primers, manuals, and white papers) 

18 providing guidance, strategies, and insights to com19 munities as the communities develop strategies to 

20 expand access to broadband service and adoption of 

21 broadband service. 

22 (b) TRACKING OF FEDERAL DOLLARS.— 

23 (1) BROADBAND SERVICE INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

24 The Office shall track the construction and use of 

25 and access to any broadband service infrastructure 


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1 built using any Federal support in a central data2 base. 

3 (2) ACCOUNTING MECHANISM.—The Office 

4 shall develop a streamlined accounting mechanism 

5 by which any Federal agency offering a Federal 

6 broadband service support program, and the Com7 mission with respect to the Universal Service Fund 

8 programs, shall provide the information described in 

9 paragraph (1) in a standardized and efficient fash10 ion. 

11 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, and every year 

13 thereafter, the Office shall make public on the 

14 website of the Office and submit to the Committee 

15 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep16 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

17 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

18 on the following: 

19 (A) A description of the work of the Office 

20 for the previous year and the number of resi21 dents of the United States that received 

22 broadband service as result of Federal 

23 broadband service support programs and the 

24 Universal Service Fund programs. 


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1 (B) A description of how many residents of 

2 the United States were provided broadband 

3 service by which universal service mechanism or 

4 which Federal broadband service support pro5 gram. 

6 (C) An estimate of the economic impact of 

7 such broadband service deployment efforts on 

8 the local economy, including any effect on small 

9 businesses or jobs. 

10 (D) A description of any non-economic 

11 benefits of such broadband service deployment 

12 efforts, including any effect on civic engage13 ment. 

14 (c) STUDY AND REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY OF

15 ADOPTION OF BROADBAND SERVICE.— 

16 (1) STUDY.—The Office, in consultation with 

17 the Commission, the Department of Agriculture, the 

18 Department of the Treasury, and such other Federal 

19 agencies as the Office considers appropriate, shall, 

20 not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act, and biennially thereafter, conduct a 

22 study that examines the following: 

23 (A) The number of households for which 

24 cost is a barrier to the adoption of broadband 

25 service, the financial circumstances of such 


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1 households, and whether such households are 

2 eligible for the broadband benefit under section 

3 1301. 

4 (B) The extent to which the cost of adop5 tion of broadband service is a financial burden 

6 to households that have adopted broadband 

7 service, the financial circumstances of such fi8 nancially burdened households, and whether 

9 such households are receiving the broadband 

10 benefit under section 1301. 

11 (C) The appropriate standard to determine 

12 whether adoption of broadband service is af13 fordable for households, given the financial cir14 cumstances of such households. 

15 (D) The feasibility of providing additional 

16 Federal subsidies, including expanding the eligi17 bility for or increasing the amount of the 

18 broadband benefit under section 1301, to 

19 households to cover the difference between the 

20 cost of adoption of broadband service (deter21 mined before applying such additional Federal 

22 subsidies) and the price at which adoption of 

23 broadband service would be affordable. 

24 (E) How a program to provide additional 

25 Federal subsidies as described in subparagraph 


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1 (D) should be administered to most effectively 

2 facilitate adoption of broadband service at the 

3 lowest overall expense to the Federal Govern4 ment, including measures that would ensure 

5 that the availability of the subsidies does not 

6 result in providers raising the price of 

7 broadband service for households receiving sub8 sidies. 

9 (F) How participation in the Lifeline pro10 gram of the Commission has changed in the 5 

11 years prior to the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act, including— 

13 (i) geographic information at the cen14 sus-block level depicting the scale of 

15 change in participation in each area; and 

16 (ii) information on changes in partici17 pation by specific types of Lifeline-sup18 ported services, including fixed voice te19 lephony service, mobile voice telephony 

20 service, fixed broadband service, and mo21 bile broadband service and, in the case of 

22 any Lifeline-supported services provided as 

23 part of a bundle of services to which a 

24 Lifeline discount is applied, which Lifeline25 supported services are part of such bundle 


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1 and whether or not each Lifeline-supported 

2 service in such bundle meets Lifeline min3 imum service standards. 

4 (G) How competition impacts the price of 

5 broadband service. 

6 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and biennially 

8 thereafter, the Office shall submit to Congress a re9 port on the results of the study conducted under 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 (3) COST DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

12 term ‘‘cost’’ means, with respect to adoption of 

13 broadband service, the cost of adoption of broadband 

14 service to a household after applying any subsidies 

15 that reduce such cost. 

16 SEC. 1103. STREAMLINED APPLICATIONS FOR SUPPORT. 

17 (a) FEDERAL AGENCY CONSULTATION.—The Office 

18 shall consult with any Federal agency offering a Federal 

19 broadband service support program to streamline and 

20 standardize the application process for financial assistance 

21 for such program. 

22 (b) FEDERAL AGENCY STREAMLINING.—Any Fed23 eral agency offering a Federal broadband service support 

24 program shall amend the applications of such agency for 

25 broadband service support, to the extent practicable and 


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1 as necessary, to streamline and standardize applications 

2 for Federal broadband service support programs across 

3 the Government. 

4 (c) SINGLE APPLICATION.—To the greatest extent 

5 practicable, the Office shall seek to create one application 

6 that may be submitted to apply for all, or substantially 

7 all, Federal broadband service support programs. 

8 (d) WEBSITE REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Office shall 

10 create a central website through which potential applicants 

11 can learn about and apply for support through any Fed12 eral broadband service support program. 

13 SEC. 1104. COORDINATION OF SUPPORT. 

14 The Office, any Federal agency that offers a Federal 

15 broadband service support program, and the Commission 

16 with respect to the Universal Service Fund programs shall 

17 coordinate to ensure that support is being distributed in 

18 an efficient, technology-neutral, and financially sustain19 able manner, with the goals of achieving universal access 

20 to affordable broadband service and promoting the most 

21 job and economic growth for all residents of the United 

22 States. 


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1 SEC. 1105. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this subtitle is intended to alter or amend 

3 any provision of section 254 of the Communications Act 

4 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 

5 SEC. 1106. FUNDING. 

6 (a) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to the 

7 Assistant Secretary, out of any money in the Treasury not 

8 otherwise appropriated, $26,000,000 to carry out this sub9 title for fiscal year 2021, to remain available until ex10 pended. 

11 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Assistant Sec13 retary $26,000,000 to carry out this subtitle for fiscal year 

14 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter, to remain available 

15 until expended. 

16 Subtitle B—Digital Equity 

17 Programs 

18 SEC. 1201. STATE DIGITAL EQUITY CAPACITY GRANT PRO19 GRAM. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

22 shall establish in the Office the State Digital Equity 

23 Capacity Grant Program (referred to in this section 

24 as the ‘‘Program’’)— 

25 (A) the purpose of which is to promote the 

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1 clusion activities, and build capacity for efforts 

2 by States relating to the adoption of broadband 

3 service by residents of those States; 

4 (B) through which the Assistant Secretary 

5 shall make grants to States in accordance with 

6 the requirements of this section; and 

7 (C) which shall ensure that States have the 

8 capacity to promote the achievement of digital 

9 equity and support digital inclusion activities. 

10 (2) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL

11 AGENCIES; NO CONFLICT.—In establishing the Pro12 gram under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary 

13 shall— 

14 (A) consult with— 

15 (i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

16 (ii) the Secretary of Housing and 

17 Urban Development; 

18 (iii) the Secretary of Education; 

19 (iv) the Secretary of Labor; 

20 (v) the Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services; 

22 (vi) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

23 (vii) the Secretary of the Interior; 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (viii) the Assistant Secretary for In2 dian Affairs of the Department of the Inte3 rior; 

4 (ix) the Commission; 

5 (x) the Federal Trade Commission; 

6 (xi) the Director of the Institute of 

7 Museum and Library Services; 

8 (xii) the Administrator of the Small 

9 Business Administration; 

10 (xiii) the Federal Cochairman of the 

11 Appalachian Regional Commission; and 

12 (xiv) the head of any other Federal 

13 agency that the Assistant Secretary deter14 mines to be appropriate; and 

15 (B) ensure that the Program complements 

16 and enhances, and does not conflict with, other 

17 Federal broadband service support programs 

18 and Universal Service Fund programs. 

19 (b) ADMINISTERING ENTITY.— 

20 (1) SELECTION; FUNCTION.—The governor (or 

21 equivalent official) of a State that wishes to be 

22 awarded a grant under this section shall, from 

23 among entities that are eligible under paragraph (2), 

24 select an administering entity for that State, which 

25 shall— 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (A) serve as the recipient of, and admin2 istering agent for, any grant awarded to the 

3 State under this section; 

4 (B) develop, implement, and oversee the 

5 State Digital Equity Plan for the State de6 scribed in subsection (c); 

7 (C) make subgrants to any of the entities 

8 described in clauses (i) through (xi) of sub9 section (c)(1)(D) that is located in the State in 

10 support of— 

11 (i) the State Digital Equity Plan for 

12 the State; and 

13 (ii) digital inclusion activities in the 

14 State generally; and 

15 (D) serve as— 

16 (i) an advocate for digital equity poli17 cies and digital inclusion activities; and 

18 (ii) a repository of best practice mate19 rials regarding the policies and activities 

20 described in clause (i). 

21 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Any of the following 

22 entities may serve as the administering entity for a 

23 State for the purposes of this section if the entity 

24 has demonstrated a capacity to administer the Pro25 gram on a statewide level: 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (A) The State. 

2 (B) A political subdivision, agency, or in3 strumentality of the State. 

4 (C) An Indian Tribe located in the State, 

5 a tribally designated entity located in the State, 

6 or a Native Hawaiian organization located in 

7 the State. 

8 (c) STATE DIGITAL EQUITY PLAN.— 

9 (1) DEVELOPMENT; CONTENTS.—A State that 

10 wishes to be awarded a grant under subsection (d) 

11 shall develop a State Digital Equity Plan for the 

12 State, which shall include— 

13 (A) an identification of the barriers to dig14 ital equity faced by covered populations in the 

15 State; 

16 (B) measurable objectives for documenting 

17 and promoting, among each group described in 

18 subparagraphs (A) through (H) of section 2(6) 

19 located in that State— 

20 (i) the availability of, and affordability 

21 of access to, broadband service and tech22 nology needed for the use of broadband 

23 service; 

24 (ii) public awareness of such avail25 ability and affordability and of subsidies 


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•S 4131 IS

1 available to increase such affordability (in2 cluding subsidies available through the 

3 Lifeline program of the Commission), in4 cluding objectives to— 

5 (I) inform Medicaid enrollees and 

6 SNAP participants, and organizations 

7 that serve Medicaid enrollees and 

8 SNAP participants, of potential eligi9 bility for the Lifeline program; and 

10 (II) provide Medicaid enrollees 

11 and SNAP participants with informa12 tion about the Lifeline program, in13 cluding— 

14 (aa) how to apply for the 

15 Lifeline program; and 

16 (bb) a description of the 

17 prohibition on more than one 

18 subscriber in each household re19 ceiving a service provided under 

20 the Lifeline program; 

21 (iii) the online accessibility and 

22 inclusivity of public resources and services; 

23 (iv) digital literacy; 

24 (v) awareness of, and the use of, 

25 measures to secure the online privacy of, 


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•S 4131 IS

1 and cybersecurity with respect to, an indi2 vidual; and 

3 (vi) the availability and affordability 

4 of consumer devices and technical support 

5 for those devices; 

6 (C) an assessment of how the objectives 

7 described in subparagraph (B) will impact and 

8 interact with the State’s— 

9 (i) economic and workforce develop10 ment goals, plans, and outcomes; 

11 (ii) educational outcomes; 

12 (iii) health outcomes; 

13 (iv) civic and social engagement; and 

14 (v) delivery of other essential services; 

15 (D) in order to achieve the objectives de16 scribed in subparagraph (B), a description of 

17 how the State plans to collaborate with key 

18 stakeholders in the State, which may include— 

19 (i) anchor institutions; 

20 (ii) county and municipal govern21 ments; 

22 (iii) local educational agencies; 

23 (iv) where applicable, Indian Tribes, 

24 tribally designated entities, or Native Ha25 waiian organizations; 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (v) nonprofit organizations; 

2 (vi) organizations that represent— 

3 (I) individuals with disabilities, 

4 including organizations that represent 

5 children with disabilities; 

6 (II) aging individuals; 

7 (III) individuals with a language 

8 barrier, including individuals who— 

9 (aa) are English learners; or 

10 (bb) have low levels of lit11 eracy; 

12 (IV) veterans; 

13 (V) individuals residing in rural 

14 areas; and 

15 (VI) incarcerated individuals in 

16 that State, other than individuals who 

17 are incarcerated in a Federal correc18 tional facility (including a private fa19 cility operated under contract with the 

20 Federal Government); 

21 (vii) civil rights organizations; 

22 (viii) entities that carry out workforce 

23 development programs; 

24 (ix) agencies of the State that are re25 sponsible for administering or supervising 


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•S 4131 IS

1 adult education and literacy activities in 

2 the State; 

3 (x) public housing agencies whose ju4 risdictions are located in the State; and 

5 (xi) a consortium of any of the enti6 ties described in clauses (i) through (x); 

7 and 

8 (E) a list of organizations with which the 

9 administering entity for the State collaborated 

10 in developing and implementing the Plan. 

11 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The administering enti13 ty for a State shall make the State Digital Eq14 uity Plan of the State available for public com15 ment for a period of not less than 30 days be16 fore the date on which the State submits an ap17 plication to the Assistant Secretary under sub18 section (d)(2). 

19 (B) CONSIDERATION OF COMMENTS RE20 CEIVED.—The administering entity for a State 

21 shall, with respect to an application submitted 

22 to the Assistant Secretary under subsection 

23 (d)(2)— 

24 (i) before submitting the application— 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (I) consider all comments re2 ceived during the comment period de3 scribed in subparagraph (A) with re4 spect to the application (referred to in 

5 this subparagraph as the ‘‘comment 

6 period’’); and 

7 (II) make any changes to the 

8 plan that the administering entity de9 termines to be appropriate; and 

10 (ii) when submitting the application— 

11 (I) describe any changes pursued 

12 by the administering entity in re13 sponse to comments received during 

14 the comment period; and 

15 (II) include a written response to 

16 each comment received during the 

17 comment period. 

18 (3) PLANNING GRANTS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in the first 

20 fiscal year that begins after the date of the en21 actment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

22 shall, in accordance with the requirements of 

23 this paragraph, award planning grants to 

24 States for the purpose of developing the State 


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•S 4131 IS

1 Digital Equity Plans of those States under this 

2 subsection. 

3 (B) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be awarded 

4 a planning grant under this paragraph, a 

5 State— 

6 (i) shall submit to the Assistant Sec7 retary an application under subparagraph 

8 (C); and 

9 (ii) may not have been awarded, at 

10 any time, a planning grant under this 

11 paragraph. 

12 (C) APPLICATION.—A State that wishes to 

13 be awarded a planning grant under this para14 graph shall, not later than 60 days after the 

15 date on which the notice of funding availability 

16 with respect to the grant is released, submit to 

17 the Assistant Secretary an application, in a for18 mat to be determined by the Assistant Sec19 retary, that contains the following materials: 

20 (i) A description of the entity selected 

21 to serve as the administering entity for the 

22 State, as described in subsection (b). 

23 (ii) A certification from the State 

24 that, not later than 1 year after the date 

25 on which the Assistant Secretary awards 


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•S 4131 IS

1 the planning grant to the State, the ad2 ministering entity for that State will sub3 mit to the Assistant Secretary a State Dig4 ital Equity Plan developed under this sub5 section, which will comply with the require6 ments of this subsection, including the re7 quirements of paragraph (2). 

8 (iii) The assurances required under 

9 subsection (e). 

10 (D) AWARDS.— 

11 (i) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount 

12 of a planning grant awarded to an eligible 

13 State under this paragraph shall be deter14 mined according to the formula under sub15 section (d)(3)(A)(i). 

16 (ii) DURATION.— 

17 (I) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro18 vided in subclause (II), with respect to 

19 a planning grant awarded to an eligi20 ble State under this paragraph, the 

21 State shall expend the grant funds 

22 during the 1-year period beginning on 

23 the date on which the State is award24 ed the grant funds. 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (II) EXCEPTION.—The Assistant 

2 Secretary may grant an extension of 

3 not longer than 180 days with respect 

4 to the requirement under subclause 

5 (I). 

6 (iii) CHALLENGE MECHANISM.—The 

7 Assistant Secretary shall ensure that any 

8 eligible State to which a planning grant is 

9 awarded under this paragraph may appeal 

10 or otherwise challenge in a timely fashion 

11 the amount of the grant awarded to the 

12 State, as determined under clause (i). 

13 (E) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible State to 

14 which a planning grant is awarded under this 

15 paragraph shall, through the administering en16 tity for that State, use the grant funds only for 

17 the following purposes: 

18 (i) To develop the State Digital Eq19 uity Plan of the State under this sub20 section. 

21 (ii)(I) Subject to subclause (II), to 

22 make subgrants to any of the entities de23 scribed in clauses (i) through (xi) of para24 graph (1)(D) to assist in the development 


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•S 4131 IS

1 of the State Digital Equity Plan of the 

2 State under this subsection. 

3 (II) If the administering entity for a 

4 State makes a subgrant described in sub5 clause (I), the administering entity shall, 

6 with respect to the subgrant, provide to the 

7 State the assurances required under sub8 section (e). 

9 (d) STATE CAPACITY GRANTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 2 

11 years after the date on which the Assistant Sec12 retary begins awarding planning grants under sub13 section (c)(3), the Assistant Secretary shall each 

14 year award grants to eligible States to support— 

15 (A) the implementation of the State Dig16 ital Equity Plans of those States; and 

17 (B) digital inclusion activities in those 

18 States. 

19 (2) APPLICATION.—A State that wishes to be 

20 awarded a grant under this subsection shall, not 

21 later than 60 days after the date on which the notice 

22 of funding availability with respect to the grant is 

23 released, submit to the Assistant Secretary an appli24 cation, in a format to be determined by the Assist25 ant Secretary, that contains the following materials: 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (A) A description of the entity selected to 

2 serve as the administering entity for the State, 

3 as described in subsection (b). 

4 (B) The State Digital Equity Plan of that 

5 State, as described in subsection (c). 

6 (C) A certification that the State, acting 

7 through the administering entity for the State, 

8 shall— 

9 (i) implement the State Digital Equity 

10 Plan of the State; and 

11 (ii) make grants in a manner that is 

12 consistent with the aims of the Plan de13 scribed in clause (i). 

14 (D) The assurances required under sub15 section (e). 

16 (E) In the case of a State to which the As17 sistant Secretary has previously awarded a 

18 grant under this subsection, any amendments 

19 to the State Digital Equity Plan of that State, 

20 as compared with the State Digital Equity Plan 

21 of the State previously submitted. 

22 (3) AWARDS.— 

23 (A) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

24 (i) FORMULA.—Subject to clauses (ii), 

25 (iii), and (iv), the Assistant Secretary shall 


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•S 4131 IS

1 calculate the amount of a grant awarded to 

2 an eligible State under this subsection in 

3 accordance with the following criteria, 

4 using the best available data for all States 

5 for the fiscal year in which the grant is 

6 awarded: 

7 (I) 50 percent of the total grant 

8 amount shall be based on the popu9 lation of the eligible State in propor10 tion to the total population of all eligi11 ble States. 

12 (II) 25 percent of the total grant 

13 amount shall be based on the number 

14 of individuals in the eligible State who 

15 are members of covered populations in 

16 proportion to the total number of indi17 viduals in all eligible States who are 

18 members of covered populations. 

19 (III) 25 percent of the total 

20 grant amount shall be based on the 

21 lack of availability of broadband serv22 ice and lack of adoption of broadband 

23 service in the eligible State in propor24 tion to the lack of availability of 

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•S 4131 IS

1 tion of broadband service in all eligi2 ble States, which shall be determined 

3 according to data collected— 

4 (aa) from the annual inquiry 

5 of the Commission conducted 

6 under section 706(b) of the Tele7 communications Act of 1996 (47 

8 U.S.C. 1302(b)); 

9 (bb) from the American 

10 Community Survey or, if nec11 essary, other data collected by 

12 the Bureau of the Census; 

13 (cc) from the Internet and 

14 Computer Use Supplement to the 

15 Current Population Survey of the 

16 Bureau of the Census; 

17 (dd) by the Commission pur18 suant to the rules issued under 

19 section 802 of the Communica20 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

21 642); and 

22 (ee) from any other source 

23 that the Assistant Secretary, 

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•S 4131 IS

1 portunity for public comment, de2 termines to be appropriate. 

3 (ii) MINIMUM AWARD.—The amount 

4 of a grant awarded to an eligible State 

5 under this subsection in a fiscal year shall 

6 be not less than 0.5 percent of the total 

7 amount made available to award grants to 

8 eligible States for that fiscal year. 

9 (iii) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—If, after 

10 awarding planning grants to States under 

11 subsection (c)(3) and capacity grants to el12 igible States under this subsection in a fis13 cal year, there are amounts remaining to 

14 carry out this section, the Assistant Sec15 retary shall distribute those amounts— 

16 (I) to eligible States to which the 

17 Assistant Secretary has awarded 

18 grants under this subsection for that 

19 fiscal year; and 

20 (II) in accordance with the for21 mula described in clause (i). 

22 (iv) DATA UNAVAILABLE.—If, in a fis23 cal year, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

24 Rico (referred to in this clause as ‘‘Puerto 

25 Rico’’) is an eligible State and specific data 


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•S 4131 IS

1 for Puerto Rico is unavailable for a factor 

2 described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of 

3 clause (i), the Assistant Secretary shall use 

4 the median data point with respect to that 

5 factor among all eligible States and assign 

6 it to Puerto Rico for the purposes of mak7 ing any calculation under that clause for 

8 that fiscal year. 

9 (B) DURATION.—With respect to a grant 

10 awarded to an eligible State under this sub11 section, the eligible State shall expend the grant 

12 funds during the 5-year period beginning on the 

13 date on which the eligible State is awarded the 

14 grant funds. 

15 (C) CHALLENGE MECHANISM.—The As16 sistant Secretary shall ensure that any eligible 

17 State to which a grant is awarded under this 

18 subsection may appeal or otherwise challenge in 

19 a timely fashion the amount of the grant 

20 awarded to the State, as determined under sub21 paragraph (A). 

22 (D) USE OF FUNDS.—The administering 

23 entity for an eligible State to which a grant is 

24 awarded under this subsection shall use the 

25 grant amounts for the following purposes: 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (i)(I) Subject to subclause (II), to up2 date or maintain the State Digital Equity 

3 Plan of the State. 

4 (II) An administering entity for an el5 igible State to which a grant is awarded 

6 under this subsection may use not more 

7 than 20 percent of the amount of the 

8 grant for the purpose described in sub9 clause (I). 

10 (ii) To implement the State Digital 

11 Equity Plan of the State. 

12 (iii)(I) Subject to subclause (II), to 

13 award a grant to any entity that is de14 scribed in section 1202(b) and is located in 

15 the eligible State in order to— 

16 (aa) assist in the implementation 

17 of the State Digital Equity Plan of 

18 the State; 

19 (bb) pursue digital inclusion ac20 tivities in the State consistent with 

21 the State Digital Equity Plan of the 

22 State; and 

23 (cc) report to the State regarding 

24 the digital inclusion activities of the 

25 entity. 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (II) Before an administering entity 

2 for an eligible State may award a grant 

3 under subclause (I), the administering en4 tity shall require the entity to which the 

5 grant is awarded to certify that— 

6 (aa) the entity shall carry out the 

7 activities required under items (aa), 

8 (bb), and (cc) of that subclause; 

9 (bb) the receipt of the grant shall 

10 not result in unjust enrichment of the 

11 entity; and 

12 (cc) the entity shall cooperate 

13 with any evaluation— 

14 (AA) of any program that 

15 relates to a grant awarded to the 

16 entity; and 

17 (BB) that is carried out by 

18 or for the administering entity, 

19 the Assistant Secretary, or an20 other Federal official. 

21 (iv)(I) Subject to subclause (II), to 

22 evaluate the efficacy of the efforts funded 

23 by grants made under clause (iii). 

24 (II) An administering entity for an el25 igible State to which a grant is awarded 


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•S 4131 IS

1 under this subsection may use not more 

2 than 5 percent of the amount of the grant 

3 for a purpose described in subclause (I). 

4 (v)(I) Subject to subclause (II), for 

5 the administrative costs incurred in car6 rying out the activities described in clauses 

7 (i) through (iv). 

8 (II) An administering entity for an el9 igible State to which a grant is awarded 

10 under this subsection may use not more 

11 than 3 percent of the amount of the grant 

12 for the purpose described in subclause (I). 

13 (e) ASSURANCES.—When applying for a grant under 

14 this section, a State shall include in the application for 

15 that grant assurances that— 

16 (1) if any of the entities described in clauses (i) 

17 through (xi) of subsection (c)(1)(D) or section 

18 1202(b) is awarded grant funds under this section 

19 (referred to in this subsection as a ‘‘covered recipi20 ent’’), provide that— 

21 (A) the covered recipient shall use the 

22 grant funds in accordance with any applicable 

23 statute, regulation, or application procedure; 

24 (B) the administering entity for that State 

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•S 4131 IS

1 istering any grant that the covered recipient is 

2 awarded, including by— 

3 (i) enforcing any obligation imposed 

4 under law on any agency, institution, orga5 nization, or other entity that is responsible 

6 for carrying out the program to which the 

7 grant relates; 

8 (ii) correcting any deficiency in the 

9 operation of a program to which the grant 

10 relates, as identified through an audit or 

11 another monitoring or evaluation proce12 dure; and 

13 (iii) adopting written procedures for 

14 the receipt and resolution of complaints al15 leging a violation of law with respect to a 

16 program to which the grant relates; and 

17 (C) the administering entity for that State 

18 shall cooperate in carrying out any evaluation— 

19 (i) of any program that relates to a 

20 grant awarded to the covered recipient; 

21 and 

22 (ii) that is carried out by or for the 

23 Assistant Secretary or another Federal of24 ficial; 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (2) the administering entity for that State 

2 shall— 

3 (A) use fiscal control and fund accounting 

4 procedures that ensure the proper disbursement 

5 of, and accounting for, any Federal funds that 

6 the State is awarded under this section; 

7 (B) submit to the Assistant Secretary any 

8 reports that may be necessary to enable the As9 sistant Secretary to perform the duties of the 

10 Assistant Secretary under this section; 

11 (C) maintain any records and provide any 

12 information to the Assistant Secretary, includ13 ing those records, that the Assistant Secretary 

14 determines is necessary to enable the Assistant 

15 Secretary to perform the duties of the Assistant 

16 Secretary under this section; and 

17 (D) with respect to any significant pro18 posed change or amendment to the State Dig19 ital Equity Plan for the State, make the change 

20 or amendment available for public comment in 

21 accordance with subsection (c)(2); and 

22 (3) the State, before submitting to the Assist23 ant Secretary the State Digital Equity Plan of the 

24 State, has complied with the requirements of sub25 section (c)(2). 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (f) TERMINATION OF GRANT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to other author3 ity under applicable law, the Assistant Secretary 

4 shall terminate a grant awarded to an eligible State 

5 under this section if, after notice to the State and 

6 opportunity for a hearing, the Assistant Secretary 

7 determines, and presents to the State a rationale 

8 and supporting information that clearly dem9 onstrates, that— 

10 (A) the grant funds are not contributing to 

11 the development or implementation of the State 

12 Digital Equity Plan of the State, as applicable; 

13 (B) the State is not upholding assurances 

14 made by the State to the Assistant Secretary 

15 under subsection (e); or 

16 (C) the grant is no longer necessary to 

17 achieve the original purpose for which the As18 sistant Secretary awarded the grant. 

19 (2) REDISTRIBUTION.—If the Assistant Sec20 retary, in a fiscal year, terminates a grant under 

21 paragraph (1) or under other authority under appli22 cable law, the Assistant Secretary shall redistribute 

23 the unspent grant amounts— 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (A) to eligible States to which the Assist2 ant Secretary has awarded grants under sub3 section (d) for that fiscal year; and 

4 (B) in accordance with the formula de5 scribed in subsection (d)(3)(A)(i). 

6 (g) REPORTING AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS; 

7 INTERNET DISCLOSURE.—The Assistant Secretary— 

8 (1) shall— 

9 (A) require any entity to which a grant, in10 cluding a subgrant, is awarded under this sec11 tion to publicly report, for each year during the 

12 period described in subsection (c)(3)(D)(ii) or 

13 (d)(3)(B), as applicable, with respect to the 

14 grant, and in a format specified by the Assist15 ant Secretary, on— 

16 (i) the use of that grant by the entity; 

17 (ii) the progress of the entity towards 

18 fulfilling the objectives for which the grant 

19 was awarded; and 

20 (iii) the implementation of the State 

21 Digital Equity Plan of the State; 

22 (B) establish appropriate mechanisms to 

23 ensure that any entity to which a grant, includ24 ing a subgrant, is awarded under this section— 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (i) uses the grant amounts in an ap2 propriate manner; and 

3 (ii) complies with all terms with re4 spect to the use of the grant amounts; and 

5 (C) create and maintain a fully searchable 

6 database, which shall be accessible on the inter7 net at no cost to the public, that contains, at 

8 a minimum— 

9 (i) the application of each State that 

10 has applied for a grant under this section; 

11 (ii) the status of each application de12 scribed in clause (i); 

13 (iii) each report submitted by an enti14 ty under subparagraph (A); 

15 (iv) a record of public comments re16 ceived during the comment period de17 scribed in subsection (c)(2)(A) regarding 

18 the State Digital Equity Plan of a State, 

19 as well as any written responses to or ac20 tions taken as a result of those comments; 

21 and 

22 (v) any other information that the As23 sistant Secretary considers appropriate to 

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•S 4131 IS

1 mation to understand and monitor grants 

2 awarded under this section; and 

3 (2) may establish additional reporting and in4 formation requirements for any recipient of a grant 

5 under this section. 

6 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant or 

7 subgrant awarded under this section shall supplement, not 

8 supplant, other Federal or State funds that have been 

9 made available to carry out activities described in this sec10 tion. 

11 (i) SET ASIDES.—From amounts made available in 

12 a fiscal year to carry out the Program, the Assistant Sec13 retary shall reserve— 

14 (1) not more than 5 percent for the implemen15 tation and administration of the Program, which 

16 shall include— 

17 (A) providing technical support and assist18 ance, including ensuring consistency in data re19 porting; 

20 (B) providing assistance to— 

21 (i) States, or administering entities 

22 for States, to prepare the applications of 

23 those States; and 

24 (ii) administering entities with respect 

25 to grants awarded under this section; and 


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•S 4131 IS

1 (C) developing the report required under 

2 section 1203(a); and 

3 (2) not less than 5 percent to award grants di4 rectly to Indian Tribes, tribally designated entities, 

5 and Native Hawaiian organizations to allow those 

6 Tribes, entities, and organizations to carry out the 

7 activities described in this section. 

8 (j) RULES.—The Assistant Secretary may prescribe 

9 such rules as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

10 (k) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to the 

11 Assistant Secretary, out of any money in the Treasury not 

12 otherwise appropriated— 

13 (1) for the award of grants under subsection 

14 (c)(3), $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to remain 

15 available until expended; and 

16 (2) for the award of grants under subsection 

17 (d)— 

18 (A) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to 

19 remain available until expended; 

20 (B) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, to 

21 remain available until expended; 

22 (C) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, to 

23 remain available until expended; 

24 (D) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to 

25 remain available until expended; and 


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1 (E) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2025, to 

2 remain available until expended. 

3 SEC. 1202. DIGITAL EQUITY COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

7 the date on which the Assistant Secretary begins 

8 awarding grants under section 1201(d), and not be9 fore that date, the Assistant Secretary shall estab10 lish in the Office the Digital Equity Competitive 

11 Grant Program (referred to in this section as the 

12 ‘‘Program’’), the purpose of which is to award 

13 grants to support efforts to achieve digital equity, 

14 promote digital inclusion activities, and spur greater 

15 adoption of broadband service among covered popu16 lations. 

17 (2) CONSULTATION; NO CONFLICT.—In estab18 lishing the Program under paragraph (1), the As19 sistant Secretary— 

20 (A) may consult a State with respect to— 

21 (i) the identification of groups de22 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (H) 

23 of section 2(6) located in that State; and 


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1 (ii) the allocation of grant funds with2 in that State for projects in or affecting 

3 the State; and 

4 (B) shall— 

5 (i) consult with— 

6 (I) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

7 (II) the Secretary of Housing 

8 and Urban Development; 

9 (III) the Secretary of Education; 

10 (IV) the Secretary of Labor; 

11 (V) the Secretary of Health and 

12 Human Services; 

13 (VI) the Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs; 

15 (VII) the Secretary of the Inte16 rior; 

17 (VIII) the Assistant Secretary for 

18 Indian Affairs of the Department of 

19 the Interior; 

20 (IX) the Commission; 

21 (X) the Federal Trade Commis22 sion; 

23 (XI) the Director of the Institute 

24 of Museum and Library Services; 


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1 (XII) the Administrator of the 

2 Small Business Administration; 

3 (XIII) the Federal Cochairman 

4 of the Appalachian Regional Commis5 sion; and 

6 (XIV) the head of any other Fed7 eral agency that the Assistant Sec8 retary determines to be appropriate; 

9 and 

10 (ii) ensure that the Program com11 plements and enhances, and does not con12 flict with, other Federal broadband service 

13 support programs and Universal Service 

14 Fund programs. 

15 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Assistant Secretary may 

16 award a grant under the Program to any of the following 

17 entities if the entity is not serving, and has not served, 

18 as the administering entity for a State under section 

19 1201(b): 

20 (1) A political subdivision, agency, or instru21 mentality of a State, including an agency of a State 

22 that is responsible for administering or supervising 

23 adult education and literacy activities in the State. 

24 (2) An Indian Tribe, a tribally designated enti25 ty, or a Native Hawaiian organization. 


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1 (3) An entity that is— 

2 (A) a not-for-profit entity; and 

3 (B) not a school. 

4 (4) An anchor institution. 

5 (5) A local educational agency. 

6 (6) An entity that carries out a workforce devel7 opment program. 

8 (7) A consortium of any of the entities de9 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (6). 

10 (8) A consortium of— 

11 (A) an entity described in any of para12 graphs (1) through (6); and 

13 (B) an entity that— 

14 (i) the Assistant Secretary, by rule, 

15 determines to be in the public interest; and 

16 (ii) is not a school. 

17 (c) APPLICATION.—An entity that wishes to be 

18 awarded a grant under the Program shall submit to the 

19 Assistant Secretary an application— 

20 (1) at such time, in such form, and containing 

21 such information as the Assistant Secretary may re22 quire; and 

23 (2) that— 

24 (A) provides a detailed explanation of how 

25 the entity will use any grant amounts awarded 


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1 under the Program to carry out the purposes of 

2 the Program in an efficient and expeditious 

3 manner; 

4 (B) identifies the period in which the ap5 plicant will expend the grant funds awarded 

6 under the Program; 

7 (C) includes— 

8 (i) a justification for the amount of 

9 the grant that the applicant is requesting; 

10 and 

11 (ii) for each fiscal year in which the 

12 applicant will expend the grant funds, a 

13 budget for the activities that the grant 

14 funds will support; 

15 (D) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 

16 Assistant Secretary that the entity— 

17 (i) is capable of carrying out the 

18 project or function to which the application 

19 relates and the activities described in sub20 section (h)— 

21 (I) in a competent manner; and 

22 (II) in compliance with all appli23 cable Federal, State, and local laws; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) if the applicant is an entity de2 scribed in subsection (b)(1), will appro3 priate or otherwise unconditionally obligate 

4 from non-Federal sources funds that are 

5 necessary to meet the requirements of sub6 section (e); 

7 (E) discloses to the Assistant Secretary the 

8 source and amount of other Federal, State, or 

9 outside funding sources from which the entity 

10 receives, or has applied for, funding for activi11 ties or projects to which the application relates; 

12 and 

13 (F) provides— 

14 (i) the assurances that are required 

15 under subsection (f); and 

16 (ii) an assurance that the entity shall 

17 follow such additional procedures as the 

18 Assistant Secretary may require to ensure 

19 that grant funds are used and accounted 

20 for in an appropriate manner. 

21 (d) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

22 (1) FACTORS CONSIDERED IN AWARD OF

23 GRANTS.—In deciding whether to award a grant 

24 under the Program, the Assistant Secretary shall, to 

25 the extent practicable, consider— 


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1 (A) whether— 

2 (i) an application will, if approved— 

3 (I) increase access to broadband 

4 service and the adoption of broadband 

5 service among covered populations to 

6 be served by the applicant; and 

7 (II) not result in unjust enrich8 ment; and 

9 (ii) the applicant is, or plans to sub10 contract with, a socially and economically 

11 disadvantaged small business concern; 

12 (B) the comparative geographic diversity of 

13 the application in relation to other eligible ap14 plications; and 

15 (C) the extent to which an application may 

16 duplicate or conflict with another program. 

17 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the ac19 tivities required under subparagraph (B), an 

20 entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards 

21 a grant under the Program shall use the grant 

22 amounts to support not less than 1 of the fol23 lowing activities: 


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1 (i) To develop and implement digital 

2 inclusion activities that benefit covered 

3 populations. 

4 (ii) To facilitate the adoption of 

5 broadband service by covered populations, 

6 including by raising awareness of subsidies 

7 available to increase affordability of such 

8 service (including subsidies available 

9 through the Lifeline program of the Com10 mission), in order to provide educational 

11 and employment opportunities to those 

12 populations. 

13 (iii) To implement, consistent with the 

14 purposes of this subtitle— 

15 (I) training programs for covered 

16 populations that cover basic, ad17 vanced, and applied skills; or 

18 (II) other workforce development 

19 programs. 

20 (iv) To make available equipment, in21 strumentation, networking capability, hard22 ware and software, or digital network tech23 nology for broadband service to covered 

24 populations at low or no cost. 


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1 (v) To construct, upgrade, expend, or 

2 operate new or existing public access com3 puting centers for covered populations 

4 through anchor institutions. 

5 (vi) To undertake any other project or 

6 activity that the Assistant Secretary finds 

7 to be consistent with the purposes for 

8 which the Program is established. 

9 (B) EVALUATION.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—An entity to which 

11 the Assistant Secretary awards a grant 

12 under the Program shall use not more 

13 than 10 percent of the grant amounts to 

14 measure and evaluate the activities sup15 ported with the grant amounts. 

16 (ii) SUBMISSION TO ASSISTANT SEC17 RETARY.—An entity to which the Assistant 

18 Secretary awards a grant under the Pro19 gram shall submit to the Assistant Sec20 retary each measurement and evaluation 

21 performed under clause (i)— 

22 (I) in a manner specified by the 

23 Assistant Secretary; 


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1 (II) not later than 15 months 

2 after the date on which the entity is 

3 awarded the grant amounts; and 

4 (III) annually after the submis5 sion described in subclause (II) for 

6 any year in which the entity expends 

7 grant amounts. 

8 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—An entity to 

9 which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant 

10 under the Program may use not more than 10 

11 percent of the amount of the grant for adminis12 trative costs in carrying out any of the activities 

13 described in subparagraph (A). 

14 (D) TIME LIMITATIONS.—With respect to 

15 a grant awarded to an entity under the Pro16 gram, the entity— 

17 (i) except as provided in clause (ii), 

18 shall expend the grant amounts during the 

19 4-year period beginning on the date on 

20 which the entity is awarded the grant 

21 amounts; and 

22 (ii) during the 1-year period beginning 

23 on the date that is 4 years after the date 

24 on which the entity is awarded the grant 

25 amounts, may continue to measure and 


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1 evaluate the activities supported with the 

2 grant amounts, as required under subpara3 graph (B). 

4 (E) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—All 

5 laborers and mechanics employed by contractors 

6 or subcontractors in the performance of con7 struction, alteration, or repair work carried out, 

8 in whole or in part, with a grant under the Pro9 gram shall be paid wages at rates not less than 

10 those prevailing on projects of a similar char11 acter in the locality as determined by the Sec12 retary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

13 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

14 Code. With respect to the labor standards in 

15 this subparagraph, the Secretary of Labor shall 

16 have the authority and functions set forth in 

17 Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 

18 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of 

19 title 40, United States Code. 

20 (F) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An em21 ployer to which the Assistant Secretary awards 

22 a grant under the Program shall remain neutral 

23 with respect to the exercise of employees and 

24 labor organizations of the right to organize and 


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1 bargain under the National Labor Relations Act 

2 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

3 (G) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS

4 OF APPLICABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOY5 MENT LAWS.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

6 refer any alleged violation of an applicable labor 

7 and employment law to the appropriate Federal 

8 agency for investigation and enforcement, any 

9 alleged violation of subparagraph (E) or (F) to 

10 the National Labor Relations Board for inves11 tigation and enforcement, utilizing all appro12 priate remedies up to and including debarment 

13 from the Program. 

14 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), the Federal share of any project for 

17 which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under 

18 the Program may not exceed 90 percent. 

19 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Assistant Secretary may 

20 grant a waiver with respect to the limitation on the 

21 Federal share of a project described in paragraph 

22 (1) if— 

23 (A) the applicant with respect to the 

24 project petitions the Assistant Secretary for the 

25 waiver; and 


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1 (B) the Assistant Secretary determines 

2 that the petition described in subparagraph (A) 

3 demonstrates financial need. 

4 (f) ASSURANCES.—When applying for a grant under 

5 this section, an entity shall include in the application for 

6 that grant assurances that the entity will— 

7 (1) use any grant funds that the entity is 

8 awarded in accordance with any applicable statute, 

9 regulation, or application procedure; 

10 (2) adopt and use proper methods of admin11 istering any grant that the entity is awarded, includ12 ing by— 

13 (A) enforcing any obligation imposed under 

14 law on any agency, institution, organization, or 

15 other entity that is responsible for carrying out 

16 a program to which the grant relates; 

17 (B) correcting any deficiency in the oper18 ation of a program to which the grant relates, 

19 as identified through an audit or another moni20 toring or evaluation procedure; and 

21 (C) adopting written procedures for the re22 ceipt and resolution of complaints alleging a 

23 violation of law with respect to a program to 

24 which the grant relates; 

25 (3) cooperate with respect to any evaluation— 


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1 (A) of any program that relates to a grant 

2 awarded to the entity; and 

3 (B) that is carried out by or for the Assist4 ant Secretary or another Federal official; 

5 (4) use fiscal control and fund accounting pro6 cedures that ensure the proper disbursement of, and 

7 accounting for, any Federal funds that the entity is 

8 awarded under the Program; 

9 (5) submit to the Assistant Secretary any re10 ports that may be necessary to enable the Assistant 

11 Secretary to perform the duties of the Assistant Sec12 retary under the Program; and 

13 (6) maintain any records and provide any infor14 mation to the Assistant Secretary, including those 

15 records, that the Assistant Secretary determines is 

16 necessary to enable the Assistant Secretary to per17 form the duties of the Assistant Secretary under the 

18 Program. 

19 (g) TERMINATION OF GRANT.—In addition to other 

20 authority under applicable law, the Assistant Secretary 

21 shall— 

22 (1) terminate a grant awarded to an entity 

23 under this section if, after notice to the entity and 

24 opportunity for a hearing, the Assistant Secretary 

25 determines, and presents to the entity a rationale 


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1 and supporting information that clearly dem2 onstrates, that— 

3 (A) the grant funds are not being used in 

4 a manner that is consistent with the application 

5 with respect to the grant submitted by the enti6 ty under subsection (c); 

7 (B) the entity is not upholding assurances 

8 made by the entity to the Assistant Secretary 

9 under subsection (f); or 

10 (C) the grant is no longer necessary to 

11 achieve the original purpose for which the As12 sistant Secretary awarded the grant; and 

13 (2) with respect to any grant funds that the As14 sistant Secretary terminates under paragraph (1) or 

15 under other authority under applicable law, competi16 tively award the grant funds to another applicant (if 

17 such an applicant exists), consistent with the re18 quirements of this section. 

19 (h) REPORTING AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS; 

20 INTERNET DISCLOSURE.—The Assistant Secretary— 

21 (1) shall— 

22 (A) require any entity to which the Assist23 ant Secretary awards a grant under the Pro24 gram to, for each year during the period de25 scribed in clause (i) of subsection (d)(2)(D) 


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1 with respect to the grant and during the period 

2 described in clause (ii) of such subsection with 

3 respect to the grant if the entity continues to 

4 measure and evaluate the activities supported 

5 with the grant amounts during such period, 

6 submit to the Assistant Secretary a report, in 

7 a format specified by the Assistant Secretary, 

8 regarding— 

9 (i) the use by the entity of the grant 

10 amounts; and 

11 (ii) the progress of the entity towards 

12 fulfilling the objectives for which the grant 

13 was awarded; 

14 (B) establish mechanisms to ensure appro15 priate use of, and compliance with respect to all 

16 terms regarding, grant funds awarded under 

17 the Program; 

18 (C) create and maintain a fully searchable 

19 database, which shall be accessible on the inter20 net at no cost to the public, that contains, at 

21 a minimum— 

22 (i) a list of each entity that has ap23 plied for a grant under the Program; 

24 (ii) a description of each application 

25 described in clause (i), including the proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4131.IS S4131

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1 posed purpose of each grant described in 

2 that clause; 

3 (iii) the status of each application de4 scribed in clause (i), including whether the 

5 Assistant Secretary has awarded a grant 

6 with respect to the application and, if so, 

7 the amount of the grant; 

8 (iv) each report submitted by an enti9 ty under subparagraph (A); and 

10 (v) any other information that the As11 sistant Secretary considers appropriate to 

12 ensure that the public has sufficient infor13 mation to understand and monitor grants 

14 awarded under the Program; and 

15 (D) ensure that any entity with respect to 

16 which an award is terminated under subsection 

17 (g) may, in a timely manner, appeal or other18 wise challenge that termination; and 

19 (2) may establish additional reporting and in20 formation requirements for any recipient of a grant 

21 under the Program. 

22 (i) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant awarded 

23 to an entity under the Program shall supplement, not sup24 plant, other Federal or State funds that have been made 


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1 available to the entity to carry out activities described in 

2 this section. 

3 (j) SET ASIDES.—From amounts made available in 

4 a fiscal year to carry out the Program, the Assistant Sec5 retary shall reserve— 

6 (1) not more than 5 percent for the implemen7 tation and administration of the Program, which 

8 shall include— 

9 (A) providing technical support and assist10 ance, including ensuring consistency in data re11 porting; 

12 (B) providing assistance to entities to pre13 pare the applications of those entities with re14 spect to grants awarded under this section; 

15 (C) developing the report required under 

16 section 1203(a); and 

17 (D) conducting outreach to entities that 

18 may be eligible to be awarded a grant under the 

19 Program regarding opportunities to apply for 

20 such a grant; and 

21 (2) not less than 5 percent to award grants di22 rectly to Indian Tribes, tribally designated entities, 

23 and Native Hawaiian organizations to allow those 

24 Tribes, entities, and organizations to carry out the 

25 activities described in this section. 


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1 (k) RULES.—The Assistant Secretary may prescribe 

2 such rules as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

3 (l) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to the 

4 Assistant Secretary, out of any money in the Treasury not 

5 otherwise appropriated, $625,000,000 to carry out this 

6 section for fiscal year 2021, to remain available until ex7 pended. 

8 SEC. 1203. POLICY RESEARCH, DATA COLLECTION, ANAL9 YSIS AND MODELING, EVALUATION, AND DIS10 SEMINATION. 

11 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date on which the Assistant Secretary begins 

14 awarding grants under section 1201(d), and annu15 ally thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall— 

16 (A) submit to the appropriate committees 

17 of Congress a report that documents, for the 

18 year covered by the report— 

19 (i) the findings of each evaluation 

20 conducted under subparagraph (B); 

21 (ii) a list of each grant awarded under 

22 each covered program, which shall in23 clude— 

24 (I) the amount of each such 

25 grant; 


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1 (II) the recipient of each such 

2 grant; and 

3 (III) the purpose for which each 

4 such grant was awarded; 

5 (iii) any termination or modification 

6 of a grant awarded under the covered pro7 grams, which shall include a description of 

8 the subsequent usage of any funds to 

9 which such an action applies; and 

10 (iv) each challenge made by an appli11 cant for, or a recipient of, a grant under 

12 the covered programs and the outcome of 

13 each such challenge; and 

14 (B) conduct evaluations of the activities 

15 carried out under the covered programs, which 

16 shall include an evaluation of— 

17 (i) whether eligible States to which 

18 grants are awarded under the program es19 tablished under section 1201 are— 

20 (I) abiding by the assurances 

21 made by those States under sub22 section (e) of that section; 

23 (II) meeting, or have met, the 

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1 uity Plans developed by the States 

2 under subsection (c) of that section; 

3 (III) satisfying the requirements 

4 imposed by the Assistant Secretary on 

5 those States under subsection (g) of 

6 that section; and 

7 (IV) in compliance with any 

8 other rules, requirements, or regula9 tions promulgated by the Assistant 

10 Secretary in implementing that pro11 gram; and 

12 (ii) whether entities to which grants 

13 are awarded under the program established 

14 under section 1202 are— 

15 (I) abiding by the assurances 

16 made by those entities under sub17 section (f) of that section; 

18 (II) meeting, or have met, the 

19 stated goals of those entities with re20 spect to the use of the grant amounts; 

21 (III) satisfying the requirements 

22 imposed by the Assistant Secretary on 

23 those entities under subsection (h) of 

24 that section; and 


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1 (IV) in compliance with any 

2 other rules, requirements, or regula3 tions promulgated by the Assistant 

4 Secretary in implementing that pro5 gram. 

6 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Assistant Sec7 retary shall make each report submitted under para8 graph (1)(A) publicly available in an online format 

9 that— 

10 (A) facilitates access and ease of use; 

11 (B) is searchable; and 

12 (C) is accessible— 

13 (i) to individuals with disabilities; and 

14 (ii) in languages other than English. 

15 (b) AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT AND ENTER INTO

16 OTHER ARRANGEMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary may 

17 award grants and enter into contracts, cooperative agree18 ments, and other arrangements with Federal agencies, 

19 public and private organizations, and other entities with 

20 expertise that the Assistant Secretary determines appro21 priate in order to— 

22 (1) evaluate the impact and efficacy of activities 

23 supported by grants awarded under the covered pro24 grams; and 


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1 (2) develop, catalog, disseminate, and promote 

2 the exchange of best practices, both with respect to 

3 and independent of the covered programs, in order 

4 to achieve digital equity. 

5 (c) CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.—In 

6 carrying out subsection (a), and to further the objectives 

7 described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), the 

8 Assistant Secretary shall conduct ongoing collaboration 

9 and consult with— 

10 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

11 (2) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel12 opment; 

13 (3) the Secretary of Education; 

14 (4) the Secretary of Labor; 

15 (5) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv16 ices; 

17 (6) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

18 (7) the Secretary of the Interior; 

19 (8) the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of 

20 the Department of the Interior; 

21 (9) the Commission; 

22 (10) the Federal Trade Commission; 

23 (11) the Director of the Institute of Museum 

24 and Library Services; 


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1 (12) the Administrator of the Small Business 

2 Administration; 

3 (13) the Federal Cochairman of the Appa4 lachian Regional Commission; 

5 (14) State agencies and governors of States (or 

6 equivalent officials); 

7 (15) entities serving as administering entities 

8 for States under section 1201(b); 

9 (16) national, State, Tribal, and local organiza10 tions that conduct digital inclusion activities, pro11 mote digital equity, or provide digital literacy serv12 ices; 

13 (17) researchers, academics, and philanthropic 

14 organizations; and 

15 (18) other agencies, organizations (including 

16 international organizations), entities (including enti17 ties with expertise in the fields of data collection, 

18 analysis and modeling, and evaluation), and commu19 nity stakeholders, as determined appropriate by the 

20 Assistant Secretary. 

21 (d) TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE.—The 

22 Assistant Secretary shall provide technical support and as23 sistance to potential applicants for the covered programs 

24 and entities awarded grants under the covered programs, 


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1 to ensure consistency in data reporting and to meet the 

2 objectives of this section. 

3 SEC. 1204. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

4 (a) NONDISCRIMINATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—No individual in the United 

6 States may, on the basis of actual or perceived race, 

7 color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, 

8 sexual orientation, age, or disability, be excluded 

9 from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or 

10 be subjected to discrimination under any program or 

11 activity that is funded in whole or in part with funds 

12 made available under this subtitle. 

13 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Assistant Secretary 

14 shall effectuate paragraph (1) with respect to any 

15 program or activity described in that paragraph by 

16 issuing regulations and taking actions consistent 

17 with section 602 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

18 U.S.C. 2000d–1). 

19 (3) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Judicial review of an 

20 action taken by the Assistant Secretary under para21 graph (2) shall be available to the extent provided in 

22 section 603 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

23 U.S.C. 2000d–2). 


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1 (b) TECHNOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY.—The Assistant 

2 Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, carry out this 

3 subtitle in a technologically neutral manner. 

4 (c) AUDIT AND OVERSIGHT.—There are appropriated 

5 to the Office of Inspector General of the Department of 

6 Commerce, out of any money in the Treasury not other7 wise appropriated, for audits and oversight of funds made 

8 available to carry out this subtitle, $5,000,000 for fiscal 

9 year 2021, to remain available until expended. 

10 Subtitle C—Broadband Service for 

11 Low-Income Consumers 

12 SEC. 1301. ADDITIONAL BROADBAND BENEFIT. 

13 (a) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.— 

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 

16 implementing this section. 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations promulgated 

18 pursuant to subsection (a) shall establish the following: 

19 (1) BROADBAND BENEFIT.—A provider shall 

20 provide an eligible household with an internet service 

21 offering, upon request by a member of such house22 hold. Such provider shall discount the price charged 

23 to such household for such internet service offering 

24 in an amount equal to the broadband benefit for 

25 such household. 


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1 (2) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—To verify 

2 whether a household is an eligible household, a pro3 vider shall either— 

4 (A) use the National Lifeline Eligibility 

5 Verifier; or 

6 (B) rely upon an alternative verification 

7 process of the provider, if the Commission finds 

8 such process to be sufficient to avoid waste, 

9 fraud, and abuse. 

10 (3) USE OF NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY

11 VERIFIER.—The Commission shall— 

12 (A) expedite the ability of all providers to 

13 access the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier 

14 for purposes of determining whether a house15 hold is an eligible household; and 

16 (B) ensure that the National Lifeline Eligi17 bility Verifier approves an eligible household to 

18 receive the broadband benefit not later than ten 

19 days after the date of the submission of infor20 mation necessary to determine if such house21 hold is an eligible household. 

22 (4) REIMBURSEMENT.—From the Broadband 

23 Connectivity Fund established in subsection (g), the 

24 Commission shall reimburse a provider in an amount 

25 equal to the broadband benefit with respect to an elVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4131.IS S4131

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1 igible household that receives such benefit from such 

2 provider. 

3 (5) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONNECTED DE4 VICE.—A provider that, in addition to providing the 

5 broadband benefit to an eligible household, supplies 

6 such household with a connected device may be re7 imbursed up to $100 from the Broadband 

8 Connectivity Fund established in subsection (g) for 

9 such connected device, if the charge to such eligible 

10 household is more than $10 but less than $50 for 

11 such connected device, except that a provider may 

12 receive reimbursement for no more than one con13 nected device per eligible household. 

14 (6) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—To receive a 

15 reimbursement under paragraph (4) or (5), a pro16 vider shall certify to the Commission the following: 

17 (A) That the amount for which the pro18 vider is seeking reimbursement from the 

19 Broadband Connectivity Fund for an internet 

20 service offering to an eligible household is not 

21 more than the normal rate. 

22 (B) That each eligible household for which 

23 the provider is seeking reimbursement for pro24 viding an internet service offering discounted by 

25 the broadband benefit— 


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1 (i) has not been and will not be 

2 charged— 

3 (I) for such offering, if the nor4 mal rate for such offering is less than 

5 or equal to the amount of the 

6 broadband benefit for such household; 

7 or 

8 (II) more for such offering than 

9 the difference between the normal rate 

10 for such offering and the amount of 

11 the broadband benefit for such house12 hold; 

13 (ii) will not be required to pay an 

14 early termination fee if such eligible house15 hold elects to enter into a contract to re16 ceive such internet service offering if such 

17 household later terminates such contract; 

18 and 

19 (iii) was not subject to a mandatory 

20 waiting period for such internet service of21 fering based on having previously received 

22 broadband service from such provider. 

23 (C) That each eligible household for which 

24 the provider is seeking reimbursement for sup25 plying such household with a connected device 


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1 has not been and will not be charged $10 or 

2 less or $50 or more for such device. 

3 (D) A description of the process used by 

4 the provider to verify that a household is an eli5 gible household, if the provider elects an alter6 native verification process under paragraph 

7 (2)(B), and that such verification process was 

8 designed to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse. 

9 (7) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 

10 shall adopt audit requirements to ensure that pro11 viders are in compliance with the requirements of 

12 this section and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse 

13 in the broadband benefit program established under 

14 this section. 

15 (c) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS.—Notwithstanding sub16 section (e) of this section, the Commission shall provide 

17 a reimbursement to a provider under this section without 

18 requiring such provider to be designated as an eligible tele19 communications carrier under section 214(e) of the Com20 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)). 

21 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall affect the collection, distribution, or administra23 tion of the Lifeline Assistance Program governed by the 

24 rules set forth in subpart E of part 54 of title 47, Code 

25 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 


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1 (e) PART 54 REGULATIONS.—Nothing in this section 

2 shall be construed to prevent the Commission from pro3 viding that the regulations in part 54 of title 47, Code 

4 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), shall 

5 apply in whole or in part to support provided under the 

6 regulations required by subsection (a), shall not apply in 

7 whole or in part to such support, or shall be modified in 

8 whole or in part for purposes of application to such sup9 port. 

10 (f) ENFORCEMENT.—A violation of this section or a 

11 regulation promulgated under this section, including the 

12 knowing or reckless denial of an internet service offering 

13 discounted by the broadband benefit to an eligible house14 hold that requests such an offering, shall be treated as 

15 a violation of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

16 151 et seq.) or a regulation promulgated under such Act. 

17 The Commission shall enforce this section and the regula18 tions promulgated under this section in the same manner, 

19 by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, pow20 ers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provi21 sions of the Communications Act of 1934 were incor22 porated into and made a part of this section. 

23 (g) BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY FUND.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

2 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

3 known as the Broadband Connectivity Fund. 

4 (2) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated 

5 to the Broadband Connectivity Fund, out of any 

6 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

7 $9,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to remain 

8 available until expended. 

9 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the 

10 Broadband Connectivity Fund shall be available to 

11 the Commission for reimbursements to providers 

12 under the regulations required by subsection (a). 

13 (4) RELATIONSHIP TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE

14 CONTRIBUTIONS.—Reimbursements provided under 

15 the regulations required by subsection (a) shall be 

16 provided from amounts made available under this 

17 subsection and not from contributions under section 

18 254(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

19 U.S.C. 254(d)), except the Commission may use 

20 such contributions if needed to offset expenses asso21 ciated with the reliance on the National Lifeline Eli22 gibility Verifier to determine eligibility of households 

23 to receive the broadband benefit. 

24 (5) LACK OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The 

25 regulations required by subsection (a) shall provide 


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1 that a provider is not required to provide an eligible 

2 household with an internet service offering under 

3 subsection (b)(1) for any month for which there are 

4 insufficient amounts in the Broadband Connectivity 

5 Fund to reimburse the provider under subsection 

6 (b)(4) for providing the broadband benefit to such 

7 eligible household. 

8 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) BROADBAND BENEFIT.—The term 

10 ‘‘broadband benefit’’ means a monthly discount for 

11 an eligible household applied to the normal rate for 

12 an internet service offering, in an amount equal to 

13 such rate, but not more than $50, or, if an internet 

14 service offering is provided to an eligible household 

15 on Tribal land, not more than $75. 

16 (2) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘con17 nected device’’ means a laptop or desktop computer 

18 or a tablet. 

19 (3) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘eligible 

20 household’’ means, regardless of whether the house21 hold or any member of the household receives sup22 port under subpart E of part 54 of title 47, Code 

23 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), 

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1 hold has any past or present arrearages with a pro2 vider, a household in which— 

3 (A) at least one member of the household 

4 meets the qualifications in subsection (a) or (b) 

5 of section 54.409 of title 47, Code of Federal 

6 Regulations (or any successor regulation); 

7 (B) at least one member of the household 

8 has applied for and been approved to receive 

9 benefits under the free and reduced price lunch 

10 program under the Richard B. Russell National 

11 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or 

12 the school breakfast program under section 4 of 

13 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 

14 1773); 

15 (C) at least one member of the household 

16 has experienced a substantial loss of income for 

17 at least the two consecutive months immediately 

18 preceding the month for which eligibility for the 

19 broadband benefit is being determined, docu20 mented by layoff or furlough notice, application 

21 for unemployment insurance benefits, or similar 

22 documentation; or 

23 (D) at least one member of the household 

24 has received a Federal Pell Grant under section 

25 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 


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1 U.S.C. 1070a) in the most recent academic 

2 year. 

3 (4) INTERNET SERVICE OFFERING.—The term 

4 ‘‘internet service offering’’ means, with respect to a 

5 provider, broadband service provided by such pro6 vider to a household, offered in the same manner, 

7 and on the same terms, as described in any of such 

8 provider’s advertisements for broadband service to 

9 such household, on May 1, 2020 (or such later date 

10 as the Commission may by rule determine, if the 

11 Commission considers it necessary). 

12 (5) NORMAL RATE.—The term ‘‘normal rate’’ 

13 means, with respect to an internet service offering 

14 by a provider, the advertised monthly retail rate, on 

15 May 1, 2020 (or such later date as the Commission 

16 may by rule determine, if the Commission considers 

17 it necessary), including any applicable promotions 

18 and excluding any taxes or other governmental fees. 

19 (6) PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘provider’’ means a 

20 provider of broadband service. 

21 SEC. 1302. GRANTS TO STATES TO STRENGTHEN NATIONAL 

22 LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY VERIFIER. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

24 under subsection (d), the Commission shall, not later than 

25 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, make 


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1 a grant to each State, in an amount in proportion to the 

2 population of such State, for the purpose of connecting 

3 the database used by such State for purposes of the sup4 plemental nutrition assistance program under the Food 

5 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) to the 

6 National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier, so that the receipt 

7 by a household of benefits under such program is reflected 

8 in the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier. 

9 (b) DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT FUNDS.—Funds 

10 under each grant made under subsection (a) shall be dis11 bursed to the State receiving such grant not later than 

12 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (c) CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

14 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Commission shall certify to the Committee on Energy and 

16 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Com17 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

18 Senate that the grants required by subsection (a) have 

19 been made and that funds have been disbursed as required 

20 by subsection (b). 

21 (d) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to the 

22 Commission, out of any money in the Treasury not other23 wise appropriated, $200,000,000 to carry out this section 

24 for fiscal year 2021, to remain available until expended. 


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1 SEC. 1303. FEDERAL COORDINATION BETWEEN LIFELINE 

2 AND SNAP VERIFICATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

4 11(x)(2)(c)(i) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

5 U.S.C. 2020(x)(2)(C)(i)), not later than 180 days after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

7 shall, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, 

8 establish an automated connection, to the maximum ex9 tent practicable, between the National Lifeline Eligibility 

10 Verifier and the National Accuracy Clearinghouse estab11 lished under section 11(x) of the Food and Nutrition Act 

12 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(x)) for the supplemental nutrition 

13 assistance program. 

14 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘auto15 mated connection’’ means a connection, to the maximum 

16 extent practicable, between two or more information sys17 tems where the manual input of information in one system 

18 leads to the automatic input of the same information any 

19 other connected system. 

20 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, and each year there22 after, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 

23 the Commission, shall produce a report on enrollment in 

24 the Lifeline program by individuals participating in the 

25 supplemental nutrition assistance program established 


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1 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 

2 et seq.). 

3 (1) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

5 conduct a study and submit a report to the Congress 

6 on— 

7 (A) the projections on the number of new 

8 broadband service consumers who joined 

9 through Federal assistance programs; and 

10 (B) data that illustrates the efficacy of 

11 various advertising efforts on eligibility for the 

12 Lifeline program. 

13 Subtitle D—E-Rate Support for Wi14 Fi Hotspots, Other Equipment, 

15 and Connected Devices 

16 SEC. 1401. E-RATE SUPPORT FOR WI-FI HOTSPOTS, OTHER 

17 EQUIPMENT, AND CONNECTED DEVICES. 

18 (a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Com20 mission shall promulgate regulations providing for the 

21 provision, from amounts made available from the 

22 Connectivity Fund established under subsection (h)(1), of 

23 support under section 254(h)(1)(B) of the Communica24 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(1)(B)) to an elemen25 tary school, secondary school, or library (including a TribVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4131.IS S4131

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1 al elementary school, Tribal secondary school, or Tribal 

2 library) eligible for support under such section, for the 

3 purchase of equipment described in subsection (c), ad4 vanced telecommunications and information services, or 

5 equipment described in such subsection and advanced tele6 communications and information services, for use by— 

7 (1) in the case of a school, students and staff 

8 of such school at locations that include locations 

9 other than such school; and 

10 (2) in the case of a library, patrons of such li11 brary at locations that include locations other than 

12 such library. 

13 (b) TRIBAL ISSUES.— 

14 (1) SET ASIDE FOR TRIBAL LANDS.—The Com15 mission shall reserve not less than 5 percent of the 

16 amounts available to the Commission under sub17 section (h)(3) to provide support under the regula18 tions required by subsection (a) to schools and li19 braries that serve persons who are located on Tribal 

20 lands. 

21 (2) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES.—For 

22 purposes of determining the eligibility of a Tribal li23 brary for support under the regulations required by 

24 subsection (a), the portion of paragraph (4) of sec25 tion 254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 


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1 U.S.C. 254(h)) relating to eligibility for assistance 

2 from a State library administrative agency under the 

3 Library Services and Technology Act shall not apply. 

4 (c) EQUIPMENT DESCRIBED.—The equipment de5 scribed in this subsection is the following: 

6 (1) Wi-Fi hotspots. 

7 (2) Modems. 

8 (3) Routers. 

9 (4) Devices that combine a modem and router. 

10 (5) Connected devices. 

11 (d) PRIORITIZATION OF SUPPORT.—The Commission 

12 shall provide in the regulations required by subsection (a) 

13 for a mechanism to require a school or library to prioritize 

14 the provision of equipment described in subsection (c), ad15 vanced telecommunications and information services, or 

16 equipment described in such subsection and advanced tele17 communications and information services, for which sup18 port is received under such regulations, to students and 

19 staff or patrons (as the case may be) that the school or 

20 library believes do not have access to equipment described 

21 in subsection (c), do not have access to advanced tele22 communications and information services, or have access 

23 to neither equipment described in subsection (c) nor ad24 vanced telecommunications and information services, at 

25 the residences of such students and staff or patrons. 


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1 (e) PERMISSIBLE USES OF EQUIPMENT.—The Com2 mission shall provide in the regulations required by sub3 section (a) that, in the case of a school or library that 

4 purchases equipment described in subsection (c) using 

5 support received under such regulations, such school or 

6 library— 

7 (1) may use such equipment for such purposes 

8 as such school or library considers appropriate, sub9 ject to any restrictions provided in such regulations 

10 (or any successor regulation); and 

11 (2) may not sell or otherwise transfer such 

12 equipment in exchange for any thing (including a 

13 service) of value, except that such school or library 

14 may exchange such equipment for upgraded equip15 ment of the same type. 

16 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to affect any authority the Com18 mission may have under section 254(h)(1)(B) of the Com19 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(1)(B)) to 

20 allow support under such section to be used for the pur21 poses described in subsection (a) other than as required 

22 by such subsection. 

23 (g) PART 54 REGULATIONS.—Nothing in this section 

24 shall be construed to prevent the Commission from pro25 viding that the regulations in part 54 of title 47, Code 


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1 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), shall 

2 apply in whole or in part to support provided under the 

3 regulations required by subsection (a), shall not apply in 

4 whole or in part to such support, or shall be modified in 

5 whole or in part for purposes of application to such sup6 port. 

7 (h) CONNECTIVITY FUND.— 

8 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

9 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

10 known as the Connectivity Fund. 

11 (2) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated 

12 to the Connectivity Fund, out of any money in the 

13 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

14 $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to remain 

15 available until expended. 

16 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the 

17 Connectivity Fund shall be available to the Commis18 sion to provide support under the regulations re19 quired by subsection (a). 

20 (4) RELATIONSHIP TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE

21 CONTRIBUTIONS.—Support provided under the regu22 lations required by subsection (a) shall be provided 

23 from amounts made available under paragraph (3) 

24 and not from contributions under section 254(d) of 


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

2 254(d)). 

3 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IN5 FORMATION SERVICES.—The term ‘‘advanced tele6 communications and information services’’ means 

7 advanced telecommunications and information serv8 ices, as such term is used in section 254(h) of the 

9 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)). 

10 (2) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘con11 nected device’’ means a laptop computer, tablet com12 puter, or similar device that is capable of connecting 

13 to advanced telecommunications and information 

14 services. 

15 (3) LIBRARY.—The term ‘‘library’’ includes a 

16 library consortium. 

17 (4) TRIBAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Tribal land’’ 

18 means— 

19 (A) any land located within the boundaries 

20 of— 

21 (i) an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

22 rancheria; or 

23 (ii) a former reservation within Okla24 homa; 


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1 (B) any land not located within the bound2 aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

3 rancheria, the title to which is held— 

4 (i) in trust by the United States for 

5 the benefit of an Indian Tribe or an indi6 vidual Indian; 

7 (ii) by an Indian Tribe or an indi8 vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 

9 alienation under laws of the United States; 

10 or 

11 (iii) by a dependent Indian commu12 nity; 

13 (C) any land located within a region estab14 lished pursuant to section 7(a) of the Alaska 

15 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

16 1606(a)); 

17 (D) Hawaiian Home Lands, as defined in 

18 section 801 of the Native American Housing 

19 Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 

20 (25 U.S.C. 4221); or 

21 (E) those areas or communities designated 

22 by the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs of 

23 the Department of the Interior that are near, 

24 adjacent, or contiguous to reservations where fi25 nancial assistance and social service programs 


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1 are provided to Indians because of their status 

2 as Indians. 

3 (5) WI-FI.—The term ‘‘Wi-Fi’’ means a wire4 less networking protocol based on Institute of Elec5 trical and Electronics Engineers standard 802.11 

6 (or any successor standard). 

7 (6) WI-FI HOTSPOT.—The term ‘‘Wi-Fi 

8 hotspot’’ means a device that is capable of— 

9 (A) receiving mobile advanced tele10 communications and information services; and 

11 (B) sharing such services with another de12 vice through the use of Wi-Fi. 

13 Subtitle E—Supporting Connectiv14 ity for Higher Education Stu15 dents in Need 

16 SEC. 1501. HIGHER EDUCATION CONNECTIVITY FUND. 

17 (a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec20 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu21 cation, shall promulgate regulations for the provi22 sion, from amounts made available from the Higher 

23 Education Connectivity Fund established under sub24 section (b)(1), of support to an institution of higher 

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1 ices and eligible equipment to students of that insti2 tution. 

3 (2) CONTENT.—The regulations promulgated 

4 under paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) prioritize support for— 

6 (i) an institution of higher education 

7 that is eligible to receive a grant under 

8 part A or B of title III or title V of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 1057 et seq., 1060 et seq., 1101 et seq.), 

11 including— 

12 (I) a historically Black college or 

13 university; 

14 (II) a Hispanic-serving institu15 tion; 

16 (III) a Tribal College or Univer17 sity; and 

18 (IV) a minority-serving institu19 tion; and 

20 (ii) a rural-serving institution; 

21 (B) provide a mechanism to require an in22 stitution of higher education to prioritize the 

23 provision of an eligible service or eligible equip24 ment to a student who— 


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1 (i) is eligible to receive a Federal Pell 

2 Grant; 

3 (ii) is a recipient of any other need4 based financial aid from the Federal Gov5 ernment, a State, or that institution of 

6 higher education; 

7 (iii) is eligible for a Lifeline qualifying 

8 assistance program; 

9 (iv) is a low-income individual, as that 

10 term is defined in section 312(g) of the 

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1058(g)); 

13 (v) is a first generation college stu14 dent, as that term is defined in section 

15 646.7 of title 34, Code of Federal Regula16 tions (or any successor regulation); 

17 (vi) has been approved to receive Fed18 eral or State unemployment insurance ben19 efits since March 1, 2020; or 

20 (vii) the institution of higher edu21 cation believes lacks necessary connectivity 

22 for participating in distance learning or 

23 academic and student support services; 

24 (C) establish a schedule of reasonable per25 student funding amounts for eligible services 


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1 and eligible equipment supported under those 

2 regulations; 

3 (D) provide that— 

4 (i) no person that receives support 

5 under those regulations may sell or other6 wise transfer eligible support or eligible 

7 equipment in exchange for anything (in8 cluding a service) of value, except that 

9 such person may exchange that eligible 

10 equipment for upgraded equipment of the 

11 same type; and 

12 (ii) an institution of higher education 

13 may use support received under those reg14 ulations to provide eligible services and eli15 gible equipment in conjunction with other 

16 Federal funding if the total amount of 

17 Federal funding received by the institution 

18 is not greater than the cost of so providing 

19 the eligible services and eligible equipment; 

20 and 

21 (E) establish reasonable requirements— 

22 (i) for an institution of higher edu23 cation to apply for support under those 

24 regulations; 


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1 (ii) for an institution of higher edu2 cation to procure eligible services and eligi3 ble equipment with support obtained under 

4 those regulations; 

5 (iii) with respect to reporting, record6 keeping, retention of documents, compli7 ance, and audits for an institution of high8 er education that receives support under 

9 those regulations; 

10 (iv) for payment and distribution of 

11 support to institutions of higher education 

12 under those regulations; and 

13 (v) with respect to any other processes 

14 that the Assistant Secretary, in consulta15 tion with the Secretary of Education, de16 termines to be appropriate. 

17 (b) HIGHER EDUCATION CONNECTIVITY FUND.— 

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

19 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

20 known as the ‘‘Higher Education Connectivity 

21 Fund’’. 

22 (2) APPROPRIATION.—There is appropriated to 

23 the Higher Education Connectivity Fund, out of any 

24 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 


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1 $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, to remain 

2 available through fiscal year 2021. 

3 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Emer4 gency Higher Education Connectivity Fund shall be 

5 available to the Assistant Secretary to provide sup6 port under the regulations promulgated under sub7 section (a). 

8 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec9 tion, any regulation promulgated under this section, or 

10 any policy established by an institution of higher education 

11 to implement this section or a regulation promulgated 

12 under this section may be construed to preclude any stu13 dent from receiving support provided under this section 

14 or a regulation promulgated under this section. 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist17 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

18 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

19 (2) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

20 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 

21 the meaning given the term in section 8.1(b) of title 

22 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 

23 regulation). 

24 (3) ELIGIBLE EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

25 equipment’’ means any of the following: 


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1 (A) A laptop computer, tablet computer, or 

2 similar device capable of connecting to 

3 broadband internet access service. 

4 (B) A modem. 

5 (C) A router. 

6 (D) A device that combines a modem and 

7 a router. 

8 (E) A Wi-Fi hotspot. 

9 (4) ELIGIBLE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

10 service’’ means— 

11 (A) broadband internet access service; and 

12 (B) video-conferencing systems and serv13 ices used for distance learning. 

14 (5) FEDERAL PELL GRANT.—The term ‘‘Fed15 eral Pell Grant’’ means a grant under section 401 

16 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 1070a). 

18 (6) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

19 term ‘‘Hispanic-serving institution’’ has the meaning 

20 given the term in section 502 of the Higher Edu21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 

22 (7) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI23 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 

24 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 


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1 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

3 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means— 

5 (A) an institution of higher education, as 

6 that term is defined in section 101 of the High7 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or 

8 (B) a postsecondary vocational institution, 

9 as that term is defined in section 102(c) of the 

10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 1002(c)). 

12 (9) LIFELINE QUALIFYING ASSISTANCE PRO13 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Lifeline qualifying assistance 

14 program’’ means a program described in section 

15 54.400(j) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations 

16 (or any successor regulation). 

17 (10) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

18 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means any of 

19 the following: 

20 (A) An Alaska Native-serving institution 

21 (as that term is defined in section 317(b) of the 

22 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

23 1059d(b))). 

24 (B) A Native Hawaiian-serving institution 

25 (as that term is defined in section 317(b) of the 


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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1059d(b))). 

3 (C) A Predominantly Black institution (as 

4 that term is defined in section 371(c) of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1067q(c))). 

7 (D) An Asian American and Native Amer8 ican Pacific Islander-serving institution (as that 

9 term is defined in section 320(b) of the Higher 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b))). 

11 (E) A Native American-serving, nontribal 

12 institution (as that term is defined in section 

13 319(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 1059f(b))). 

15 (F) A consortium of any of the following: 

16 (i) A historically Black college or uni17 versity. 

18 (ii) A Hispanic-serving institution. 

19 (iii) A Tribal College or University. 

20 (iv) An institution described in any of 

21 subparagraphs (A) through (E). 

22 (11) RURAL-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The term 

23 ‘‘rural-serving institution’’ has the meaning given 

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1 cation’’ in section 861(b) of the Higher Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161q(b)). 

3 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean4 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

6 (13) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’, when 

7 used with respect to an institution of higher edu8 cation, means an individual who, during the period 

9 in which the individual receives support under the 

10 regulations promulgated under subsection (a), is— 

11 (A) registered as a student with the insti12 tution; 

13 (B) enrolled in not less than 1 class of the 

14 institution; or 

15 (C) otherwise considered a student by the 

16 institution. 

17 (14) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

18 term ‘‘Tribal College or University’’ has the meaning 

19 given the term in section 316 of the Higher Edu20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c). 

21 (15) WI-FI.—The term ‘‘Wi-Fi’’ means a wire22 less networking protocol based on Institute of Elec23 trical and Electronics Engineers standard 802.11 

24 (or any successor standard). 


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1 (16) WI-FI HOTSPOT.—The term ‘‘Wi-Fi 

2 hotspot’’ means a device that is capable of— 

3 (A) receiving broadband internet access 

4 service; and 

5 (B) sharing broadband internet access 

6 service with another device through the use of 

7 Wi-Fi. 

8 Subtitle F—Healthcare Broadband 

9 Expansion 

10 SEC. 1601. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

13 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

14 (2) ELIGIBLE EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

15 equipment’’ means the equipment described in sec16 tion 54.613 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, 

17 or any successor regulation. 

18 (3) ELIGIBLE SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

19 ‘‘eligible service provider’’ means a provider de20 scribed in section 54.608 of title 47, Code of Federal 

21 Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

22 (4) FUNDING YEAR.—The term ‘‘funding year’’ 

23 has the meaning given the term in section 54.600(a) 

24 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc25 cessor regulation. 


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1 (5) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘health care provider’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term in section 54.600(b) of title 47, Code of Fed4 eral Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

5 (6) HEALTHCARE CONNECT FUND PROGRAM.— 

6 The term ‘‘Healthcare Connect Fund Program’’ 

7 means the program described in section 54.602(b) of 

8 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc9 cessor regulation. 

10 (7) MULTI-YEAR COMMITMENTS.—The term 

11 ‘‘multi-year commitments’’ means the commitments 

12 described in section 54.620(c) of title 47, Code of 

13 Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

14 (8) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in section 54.600(e) of 

16 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc17 cessor regulation. 

18 (9) RURAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM.—The 

19 term ‘‘Rural Health Care Program’’ means the pro20 gram described in subpart G of part 54 of title 47, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regu22 lation. 

23 (10) RURAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The 

24 term ‘‘rural health care provider’’ has the meaning 


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1 given the term in section 54.600(f) of title 47, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

3 (11) TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM.—The 

4 term ‘‘Telecommunications Program’’ has the mean5 ing given such term in section 54.602(a) of title 47, 

6 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regu7 lation. 

8 (12) UPFRONT PAYMENTS.—The term ‘‘upfront 

9 payments’’ means the payments described in section 

10 54.616 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

11 any successor regulation. 

12 SEC. 1602. EXPANSION OF RURAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM. 

13 (a) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.— 

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 

16 modifying the requirements in subpart G of part 54 of 

17 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, in the following 

18 manner: 

19 (1) A health care provider not located in a rural 

20 area shall be treated as a rural health care provider 

21 in funding years 2020, 2021, and 2022 for the pur22 poses of the Healthcare Connect Fund Program. 

23 (2) The discount rate for an eligible expense 

24 through the Healthcare Connect Fund Program (as 

25 described in section 54.611(a) of title 47, Code of 


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1 Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation) 

2 shall be increased to 85 percent in funding years 

3 2020, 2021, and 2022 for eligible equipment pur4 chased or eligible services rendered in such funding 

5 years, including for eligible equipment, upfront pay6 ments, and multi-year commitments without limita7 tion. 

8 (3) A temporary, mobile, or satellite health care 

9 delivery site shall be treated as a health care pro10 vider or an eligible site of a health care provider in 

11 funding years 2020, 2021 and 2022 for purposes of 

12 determining eligibility for the Healthcare Connect 

13 Fund Program or the Telecommunications Program. 

14 (4) The adoption and implementation of a roll15 ing application process to allow a health care pro16 vider to apply for funding. 

17 (5) The following changes to certain bidding re18 quirements: 

19 (A) Modification of the requirements in 

20 section 54.622 of title 47, Code of Federal Reg21 ulations, or any successor regulation, to— 

22 (i) provide that bid evaluation criteria 

23 may give additional consideration to the 

24 speed with which an eligible service pro25 vider can initiate service; and 


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1 (ii) encourage applicants to consider 

2 bids from different providers to provide 

3 service to different locations of such appli4 cants, if considering bids in this manner 

5 would expedite the overall timeline for ini6 tiating or expanding service to individual 

7 locations. 

8 (6) Issuance of a decision on each application 

9 for funding not later than 60 days after the date on 

10 which the application is filed. 

11 (7) Release of funding not later than 30 days 

12 after the date on which an invoice is submitted with 

13 respect to an application that is approved, applicable 

14 services have been provided, and required invoices 

15 have been submitted as required under program 

16 rules. 

17 (b) ADDITIONAL CHANGES TO RURAL HEALTH CARE

18 PROGRAM.— 

19 (1) RELEASE OF FUNDING FOR OUTSTANDING

20 FUNDING REQUESTS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

22 ensure the release of funding for all requests 

23 (outstanding as of the date of enactment of this 

24 Act) under the Rural Health Care Program not 

25 later than 60 days after the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act, except that for outstanding funding 

2 requests that are subject to a review of the ap3 plicable urban and rural rates, the Commission 

4 shall ensure the release of interim funding not 

5 later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, disbursed at 65 percent of the fund7 ing request, subject to a true-up following the 

8 completion of such review. 

9 (B) LIMITATION.—This paragraph shall 

10 not apply to any party or successor-in-interest 

11 to any party to which the Commission, during 

12 the period beginning on the date that is 1 year 

13 before the date of enactment of this Act and 

14 ending on January 31, 2020, has issued a Let15 ter of Inquiry, Notice of Apparent Liability, or 

16 Forfeiture Order relating to the party’s partici17 pation in the Rural Health Care Program, pur18 suant to section 503(b) of the Communications 

19 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)). 

20 (C) REQUIRED REPAYMENT.—In the case 

21 of an eligible service provider that receives 

22 funding through the Rural Health Care Pro23 gram pursuant to this paragraph to which the 

24 eligible service provider is not entitled, the 


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1 Commission shall require the eligible service 

2 provider to repay such funds. 

3 (2) DELAY OF IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE.— 

4 The Commission shall— 

5 (A) delay by 1 year the implementation of 

6 sections 54.604 and 54.605 of title 47, Code of 

7 Federal Regulations, or any successor regula8 tion, as adopted in the Report and Order in the 

9 matter of Promoting Telehealth in Rural Amer10 ica (FCC 19–78) that was adopted by the Com11 mission on August 1, 2019; and 

12 (B) delay application of the new definition 

13 of ‘‘similar services’’ as described in paragraphs 

14 14 through 20 of such Report and Order until 

15 the implementation of the sections described in 

16 subparagraph (A). 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS.—The regu18 lations required under subsection (a) shall take effect on 

19 the date on which the regulations are promulgated. 

20 (d) TELEHEALTH CONNECTIVITY FUND.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

22 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 

23 known as the Telehealth Connectivity Fund 

24 Connectivity Fund. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATION.—There is appropriated to 

2 the Telehealth Connectivity Fund Connectivity 

3 Fund, out of any money in the Treasury not other4 wise appropriated, $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 

5 2020, to remain available through fiscal year 2022. 

6 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Tele7 health Connectivity Fund Connectivity Fund shall be 

8 available to the Commission to carry out the Rural 

9 Health Care Program, as modified by the regula10 tions promulgated under subsection (a). 

11 (4) RELATIONSHIP TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE

12 CONTRIBUTIONS.—Support provided under the regu13 lations required by paragraphs (1) through (3) of 

14 subsection (a) shall be— 

15 (A) provided from amounts made available 

16 under paragraph (3) of this subsection and not 

17 from contributions under section 254(d) of the 

18 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

19 254(d)); and 

20 (B) in addition to, and not in replacement 

21 of, funds authorized by the Commission for the 

22 Rural Health Care Program as of the date of 

23 enactment of this Act from contributions under 

24 section 254(d) of the Communications Act of 

25 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d)). 


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1 (e) LABOR REQUIREMENTS.—All laborers and me2 chanics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the 

3 performance of construction, alteration or repair work car4 ried out, in whole or in part, with assistance made avail5 able through the Rural Health Care program shall be paid 

6 wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects 

7 of a similar character in the locality as determined by the 

8 Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of 

9 chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. With respect 

10 to the labor standards in this subsection, the Secretary 

11 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth 

12 in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 

13 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United 

14 States Code. 

15 (f) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An employer to 

16 which the Commission awards a grant under the Program 

17 shall remain neutral with respect to the exercise of em18 ployees and labor organizations of the right to organize 

19 and bargain under the National Labor Relations Act (29 

20 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

21 (g) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF APPLI22 CABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAWS.—The 

23 Commission shall refer any alleged violation of an applica24 ble labor and employment law to the appropriate Federal 

25 agency for investigation and enforcement, and shall refer 


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1 any alleged violation of subsection (e) or (f) to the Na2 tional Labor Relations Board for investigation and en3 forcement. 

4 TITLE II—BROADBAND 

5 TRANSPARENCY 

6 SEC. 2001. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title: 

8 (1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

9 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 

10 the meaning given the term in section 8.1(b) of title 

11 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

12 regulation. 

13 (2) FIXED WIRELESS BROADBAND.—The term 

14 ‘‘fixed wireless broadband’’ means broadband inter15 net access service that serves end users primarily at 

16 fixed endpoints through stationary equipment con17 nected by the use of radio, such as by the use of un18 licensed spectrum. 

19 (3) MOBILE BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘mobile 

20 broadband’’— 

21 (A) means broadband internet access serv22 ice that serves end users primarily using mobile 

23 stations; 

24 (B) includes services that use smartphones 

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1 mary endpoints for connection to the internet; 

2 and 

3 (C) includes mobile satellite broadband 

4 internet access services. 

5 (4) PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘provider’’ means a 

6 provider of fixed or mobile broadband internet access 

7 service. 

8 (5) SATELLITE BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘sat9 ellite broadband’’ means broadband internet access 

10 service that serves end users primarily at fixed 

11 endpoints through stationary equipment connected 

12 by the use of orbital satellites. 

13 (6) TERRESTRIAL FIXED BROADBAND.—The 

14 term ‘‘terrestrial fixed broadband’’ means broadband 

15 internet access service that serves end users pri16 marily at fixed endpoints through stationary equip17 ment connected by wired technology such as cable, 

18 DSL, and fiber. 

19 SEC. 2002. BROADBAND TRANSPARENCY. 

20 (a) RULES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis23 sion shall issue final rules that include a require24 ment for the annual collection by the Commission of 

25 data relating to the price and subscription rates of 


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1 terrestrial fixed broadband, fixed wireless 

2 broadband, satellite broadband, and mobile 

3 broadband. 

4 (2) UPDATES.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the date on which rules are issued under paragraph 

6 (1), and when determined to be necessary by the 

7 Commission thereafter, the Commission shall revise 

8 such rules to verify the accuracy of data submitted 

9 pursuant to such rules. 

10 (3) REDUNDANCY AVOIDANCE.—Nothing in this 

11 section shall be construed to require the Commis12 sion, in order to meet a requirement of this section, 

13 to duplicate an activity that the Commission is un14 dertaking as of the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act, if the Commission refers to such activity in the 

16 rules issued under paragraph (1), such activity 

17 meets the requirements of this section, and the Com18 mission discloses such activity to the public. 

19 (b) CONTENT OF RULES.—The rules issued by the 

20 Commission under subsection (a)(1) shall require the 

21 Commission to collect from each provider of terrestrial 

22 fixed broadband, fixed wireless broadband, mobile 

23 broadband, or satellite broadband, data that includes— 

24 (1) either the weighted average of the monthly 

25 prices charged to subscribed households within each 


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1 census block for each distinct broadband internet ac2 cess service plan or tier of standalone broadband 

3 internet access service, including mandatory equip4 ment charges, usage-based fees, and fees for early 

5 termination of required contracts, or the monthly 

6 price charged to each subscribed household, includ7 ing such charges and fees; 

8 (2) either the mean monthly price within the 

9 duration of subscription contracts offered within 

10 each census block for each distinct broadband inter11 net access service plan or tier of standalone 

12 broadband internet access service, including manda13 tory equipment charges, usage-based fees, and fees 

14 for early termination of required contracts, or the 

15 mean monthly price within the duration of subscrip16 tion contracts offered to each household, including 

17 such charges and fees; 

18 (3) either the subscription rate within each cen19 sus block for each distinct broadband internet access 

20 service plan or tier of standalone broadband internet 

21 access service, or information regarding the sub22 scription status of each household to which a sub23 scription is offered; 

24 (4) data necessary to demonstrate the actual 

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1 cess service at each tier for such service in a manner 

2 that— 

3 (A) takes into account any discounts (or 

4 similar price concessions); and 

5 (B) identifies any additional taxes and fees 

6 (including for the use of equipment related to 

7 the use of a subscription for such service), any 

8 monthly data usage limitation at the stated 

9 price, and the extent to which the price of the 

10 service reflects inclusion within a product bun11 dle; and 

12 (5) data necessary to assess the resiliency of 

13 the broadband internet access service network in the 

14 event of a natural disaster or emergency. 

15 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Commission shall 

16 provide technical assistance to small providers (as defined 

17 by the Commission) of broadband internet access service, 

18 to ensure such providers can fulfill the requirements of 

19 this section. 

20 SEC. 2003. DISTRIBUTION OF DATA. 

21 (a) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Subject to subsection 

22 (b), the Commission shall make all data relating to 

23 broadband internet access service collected under rules re24 quired by this title available in a commonly used electronic 

25 format to— 


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1 (1) other Federal agencies, including the Na2 tional Telecommunications and Information Admin3 istration, to assist that agency in conducting the 

4 study required by section 1102(c); 

5 (2) a broadband office, public utility commis6 sion, broadband mapping program, or other 

7 broadband program of a State, in the case of data 

8 pertaining to the needs of that State; 

9 (3) a unit of local government, in the case of 

10 data pertaining to the needs of that locality; and 

11 (4) an individual or organization conducting re12 search for noncommercial purposes or public interest 

13 purposes. 

14 (b) PROTECTION OF DATA.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may not 

16 share any data described in subsection (a) with an 

17 entity or individual described in that subsection un18 less the Commission has determined that the receiv19 ing entity or individual has the capability and intent 

20 to protect any personally identifiable information 

21 contained in the data. 

22 (2) DETERMINATION OF PERSONALLY IDENTI23 FIABLE INFORMATION.—The Commission— 

24 (A) shall define the term ‘‘personally iden25 tifiable information’’, for purposes of paragraph 


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1 (1), through notice and comment rulemaking; 

2 and 

3 (B) may not share any data under sub4 section (a) before completing the rulemaking 

5 under subparagraph (A). 

6 (c) BALANCING ACCESS AND PROTECTION.—If the 

7 Commission is unable to determine under subsection 

8 (b)(1) that an entity or individual requesting access to 

9 data under subsection (a) has the capability to protect per10 sonally identifiable information contained in the data, the 

11 Commission shall make as much of the data available as 

12 possible in a format that does not compromise personally 

13 identifiable information, through methods such as 

14 anonymization. 

15 SEC. 2004. COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN OTHER FEDERAL 

16 AGENCIES. 

17 Section 804(b)(2) of the Communications Act of 

18 1934 (47 U.S.C. 644(b)(2)), as added by the Broadband 

19 DATA Act (Public Law 116–130), is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking the 

21 semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

22 (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(B) coordinate with the Postmaster Gen25 eral, the heads of other Federal agencies that 


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1 operate delivery fleet vehicles, and the Director 

2 of the Bureau of the Census for assistance with 

3 data collection whenever coordination could fea4 sibly yield more specific geographic data.’’; and 

5 (3) by striking subparagraph (C). 

6 SEC. 2005. BROADBAND CONSUMER LABELS. 

7 (a) RULES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

8 the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue final 

9 rules to promote and incentivize widespread adoption of 

10 the broadband consumer labels referred to in the Public 

11 Notice of the Commission released on April 4, 2016 (DA 

12 16–357). 

13 (b) HEARINGS.—The Commission shall conduct a se14 ries of public hearings in the rulemaking proceeding re15 quired by subsection (a) to assess how consumers cur16 rently evaluate internet service plans and whether existing 

17 disclosures are available, effective, and sufficient. 

18 SEC. 2006. APPROPRIATION FOR BROADBAND DATA ACT. 

19 There are appropriated to the Commission, out of any 

20 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

21 $24,000,000 to carry out title VIII of the Communications 

22 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 641 et seq.), as added by the 

23 Broadband DATA Act (Public Law 116–130), for fiscal 

24 year 2021, to remain available until expended. 


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1 TITLE III—BROADBAND ACCESS 

2 Subtitle A—Expansion of 

3 Broadband Access 

4 SEC. 3101. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN 

5 UNSERVED AREAS AND AREAS WITH LOW6 TIER OR MID-TIER SERVICE. 

7 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 723. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN 

11 UNSERVED AREAS AND AREAS WITH LOW12 TIER OR MID-TIER SERVICE. 

13 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 180 

14 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

15 Commission, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary, 

16 shall establish a program to expand access to broadband 

17 service for unserved areas, areas with low-tier service, 

18 areas with mid-tier service, and unserved anchor institu19 tions in accordance with the requirements of this section 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(1) is separate from any universal service pro22 gram established pursuant to section 254; and 

23 ‘‘(2) does not require funding recipients to be 

24 designated as eligible telecommunications carriers 

25 under section 214(e). 


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1 ‘‘(b) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND SERV3 ICE THROUGH NATIONAL SYSTEM OF COMPETITIVE

4 BIDDING.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

5 of the enactment of this section, the Commission 

6 shall award 75 percent of the amounts appropriated 

7 under subsection (g) through national systems of 

8 competitive bidding to funding recipients only to ex9 pand access to broadband service in unserved areas 

10 and areas with low-tier service. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND SERV12 ICE THROUGH STATES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO

14 STATES.—Not later than 255 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this section, the Com16 mission shall distribute 25 percent of the 

17 amounts appropriated under subsection (g) 

18 among the States, in direct proportion to the 

19 population of each State. 

20 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 195 

21 days after the date of the enactment of this sec22 tion, the Commission shall issue a public notice 

23 informing each State and the public of the 

24 amounts to be distributed under this para25 graph. The notice shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the manner in which a State shall 

2 inform the Commission of that State’s ac3 ceptance or acceptance in part of the 

4 amounts to be distributed under this para5 graph; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the date (which is 30 days after 

7 the date on which the public notice is 

8 issued) by which such acceptance or ac9 ceptance in part is due; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) the requirements as set forth 

11 under this section and as may be further 

12 prescribed by the Commission. 

13 ‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE BY STATES.—Not later 

14 than 30 days after the date on which a public 

15 notice is issued under subparagraph (B), each 

16 State accepting amounts to be distributed 

17 under this paragraph shall inform the Commis18 sion of the acceptance or acceptance in part by 

19 the State of the amounts to be distributed 

20 under this paragraph in the manner described 

21 by the Commission in the public notice. 

22 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT

23 OF AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED.—Each State ac24 cepting amounts distributed under this para25 graph— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall only award such amounts 

2 through statewide systems of competitive 

3 bidding, in the manner prescribed by the 

4 State but subject to the requirements as 

5 set forth under this section and as may be 

6 further prescribed by the Commission; 

7 ‘‘(ii) shall make such awards only— 

8 ‘‘(I) to funding recipients to ex9 pand access to broadband service in 

10 unserved areas and areas with low-tier 

11 service; 

12 ‘‘(II) to funding recipients to ex13 pand access to broadband service to 

14 unserved anchor institutions; or 

15 ‘‘(III) to funding recipients to ex16 pand access to broadband service in 

17 areas with mid-tier service, but only if 

18 a State does not have, or no longer 

19 has, any unserved areas or areas with 

20 low-tier service; 

21 ‘‘(iii) shall conduct separate systems 

22 of competitive bidding for awards made to 

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1 tributed under this paragraph to unserved 

2 anchor institutions; 

3 ‘‘(iv) shall return any unused portion 

4 of amounts distributed under this para5 graph to the Commission within 10 years 

6 after the date of the enactment of this sec7 tion and shall submit a certification to the 

8 Commission before receiving such amounts 

9 that the State will return such amounts; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(v) may not use more than 5 percent 

12 of the amounts distributed under this 

13 paragraph to administer a system or sys14 tems of competitive bidding authorized by 

15 this paragraph. 

16 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE

17 FUNDING.—The Commission, in consultation with 

18 the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, shall 

19 establish processes through the rulemaking under 

20 subsection (e) to— 

21 ‘‘(A) enable States to conduct statewide 

22 systems of competitive bidding as part of, or in 

23 coordination with, national systems of competi24 tive bidding; 


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1 ‘‘(B) assist States in conducting statewide 

2 systems of competitive bidding; 

3 ‘‘(C) ensure that program funds awarded 

4 by the Commission and program funds awarded 

5 by the States are not used in the same areas; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(D) ensure that program funds and funds 

8 awarded through other Federal programs to ex9 pand broadband service with a download speed 

10 of at least 100 megabits per second, an upload 

11 speed of at least 100 megabits per second, and 

12 a latency that is sufficiently low to allow real13 time, interactive applications, are not used in 

14 the same areas. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.— 

17 The entity administering a system of competitive 

18 bidding (either a State or the Commission) in mak19 ing awards may not favor a project using any par20 ticular technology. 

21 ‘‘(2) GIGABIT PERFORMANCE FUNDING.—The 

22 Commission shall reserve 20 percent of the amounts 

23 to be awarded by the Commission under subsection 

24 (b)(1), and each State shall reserve 20 percent of 

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1 section (b)(2), for bidders committing (with respect 

2 to any particular project by such a bidder) to offer, 

3 not later than the date that is 5 years after the date 

4 on which funding is provided under this section for 

5 such project, broadband service with a download 

6 speed of at least 1 gigabit per second and an upload 

7 speed of at least 1 gigabit per second or, in the case 

8 of a project to provide broadband service to an 

9 unserved anchor institution, broadband service with 

10 a download speed of at least 10 gigabits per second 

11 per 1,000 users and an upload speed of at least 10 

12 gigabits per second per 1,000 users. 

13 ‘‘(3) SYSTEM OF COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROC14 ESS.—The entity administering a system of competi15 tive bidding (either a State or the Commission) shall 

16 structure the system of competitive bidding process 

17 to— 

18 ‘‘(A) first hold a system of competitive bid19 ding only for bidders committing (with respect 

20 to any particular project by such a bidder) to 

21 offer, not later than the date that is 5 years 

22 after the date on which funding is provided 

23 under this section for such project, broadband 

24 service with a download speed of at least 1 gig25 abit per second and an upload speed of at least 


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1 1 gigabit per second or, in the case of a project 

2 to provide broadband service to an unserved an3 chor institution, broadband service with a 

4 download speed of at least 10 gigabits per sec5 ond per 1,000 users and an upload speed of at 

6 least 10 gigabits per second per 1,000 users; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) after holding the system of competi9 tive bidding required by subparagraph (A), hold 

10 one or more systems of competitive bidding, in 

11 areas not receiving awards under subparagraph 

12 (A), to award funds for projects in areas that 

13 are estimated to remain unserved areas, areas 

14 with low-tier service, or (to the extent permitted 

15 under this section) areas with mid-tier service, 

16 or (to the extent permitted under this section) 

17 for projects to offer broadband service to an18 chor institutions that are estimated to remain 

19 unserved anchor institutions, after the comple20 tion of the projects for which funding is award21 ed under the system of competitive bidding re22 quired by subparagraph (A) or any previous 

23 system of competitive bidding under this sub24 paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(4) FUNDS PRIORITY PREFERENCE.—There 

2 shall be a preference in a system of competitive bid3 ding for projects that would expand access to 

4 broadband service in areas where at least 90 percent 

5 of the population has no access to broadband service 

6 or does not have access to broadband service offered 

7 with a download speed of at least 25 megabits per 

8 second, with an upload speed of at least 3 megabits 

9 per second, and with latency that is sufficiently low 

10 to allow real-time, interactive applications. Such 

11 projects shall be given priority in such system of 

12 competitive bidding over all other projects, regard13 less of how many preferences under paragraph (5) 

14 for which such other projects qualify. 

15 ‘‘(5) FUNDS PREFERENCE.—There shall be a 

16 preference in a system of competitive bidding, as de17 termined by the entity administering the system of 

18 competitive bidding (either a State or the Commis19 sion), for any of the following projects: 

20 ‘‘(A) Projects with at least 20 percent 

21 matching funds from non-Federal sources. 

22 ‘‘(B) Projects that would expand access to 

23 broadband service on Tribal lands, as defined 

24 by the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Projects that would provide 

2 broadband service with higher speeds than 

3 those specified in subsection (d)(2), except in 

4 the case of funds awarded under subparagraph 

5 (A) of paragraph (3). 

6 ‘‘(D) Projects that would expand access to 

7 broadband service in advance of the time speci8 fied in subsection (e)(5), except in the case of 

9 funds awarded under subparagraph (A) of 

10 paragraph (3). 

11 ‘‘(E) Projects that would expand access to 

12 broadband service to persistent poverty counties 

13 or high-poverty areas at subsidized rates. 

14 ‘‘(F) Projects that, at least until the date 

15 that is 10 years after the date of the enactment 

16 of this section, would provide broadband service 

17 with comparable speeds to those provided in 

18 areas that, on the day before such date of en19 actment, were not unserved areas, areas with 

20 low-tier service, or areas with mid-tier service, 

21 with minimal future investment. 

22 ‘‘(G) Projects that would provide 

23 broadband service consistent with consumer 

24 preferences based on data and analysis con25 ducted by the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(H) Projects that would provide for the 

2 deployment of open-access broadband service 

3 networks. 

4 ‘‘(6) UNSERVED AREAS AND AREAS WITH LOW5 TIER OR MID-TIER SERVICE.—In determining wheth6 er an area is an unserved area, an area with low7 tier service, or an area with mid-tier service or 

8 whether an anchor institution is an unserved anchor 

9 institution for any system of competitive bidding au10 thorized under this section, the Commission shall 

11 implement the following requirements through the 

12 rulemaking described in subsection (e): 

13 ‘‘(A) DATA FOR INITIAL DETERMINA14 TION.—To make an initial determination as to 

15 whether an area is an unserved area, an area 

16 with low-tier service, or an area with mid-tier 

17 service or whether an anchor institution is an 

18 unserved anchor institution, the Commission 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) use the most accurate and granu21 lar data on the map created by the Com22 mission under section 802(c)(1)(B); 

23 ‘‘(ii) refine the data described in 

24 clause (i) by using— 


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1 ‘‘(I) other data on access to 

2 broadband service obtained or pur3 chased by the Commission; 

4 ‘‘(II) other publicly available data 

5 or information on access to broadband 

6 service; and 

7 ‘‘(III) other publicly available 

8 data or information on State 

9 broadband service deployment pro10 grams; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) not determine an area is not an 

12 unserved area, an area with low-tier serv13 ice, or an area with mid-tier service on the 

14 basis that one location within such area 

15 does not meet the definition of an unserved 

16 area, an area with low-tier service, or an 

17 area with mid-tier service. 

18 ‘‘(B) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—The 

19 Commission shall make an initial determination 

20 of the areas that are unserved areas, areas with 

21 low-tier service, and areas with mid-tier service 

22 and which anchor institutions are unserved an23 chor institutions not later than 270 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this section. 

25 ‘‘(C) CHALLENGE OF DETERMINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

2 shall provide for a process for challenging 

3 any initial determination regarding wheth4 er an area is an unserved area, an area 

5 with low-tier service, or an area with mid6 tier service or whether an anchor institu7 tion is an unserved anchor institution that, 

8 at a minimum, provides not less than 45 

9 days for a person to voluntarily submit in10 formation concerning— 

11 ‘‘(I) the broadband service of12 fered in the area, or a commitment to 

13 offer broadband service in the area 

14 that is subject to legal sanction if not 

15 performed; or 

16 ‘‘(II) the broadband service of17 fered to the anchor institution. 

18 ‘‘(ii) STREAMLINED PROCESS.—The 

19 Commission shall ensure that such process 

20 is sufficiently streamlined such that a rea21 sonably prudent person may easily partici22 pate to challenge such initial determination 

23 with little burden on such person. 

24 ‘‘(D) FINAL DETERMINATION.—The Com25 mission shall make a final determination of the 


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1 areas that are unserved areas, areas with low2 tier service, or areas with mid-tier service and 

3 which anchor institutions are unserved anchor 

4 institutions within 1 year after the date of the 

5 enactment of this section. 

6 ‘‘(7) NOTICE, TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNT7 ABILITY, AND OVERSIGHT REQUIRED.—The program 

8 shall contain sufficient notice, transparency, ac9 countability, and oversight measures to provide the 

10 public with notice of the assistance provided under 

11 this section, and to deter waste, fraud, and abuse of 

12 program funds. 

13 ‘‘(8) COMPETENCE.—The program shall contain 

14 sufficient processes and requirements, as established 

15 by an entity administering a system of competitive 

16 bidding (either a State or the Commission), to en17 sure that, prior to bidding in such system of com18 petitive bidding, a provider of broadband service 

19 seeking to participate in such system of competitive 

20 bidding— 

21 ‘‘(A) is capable of carrying out the project 

22 in a competent manner in compliance with all 

23 applicable Federal, State, and local laws; 

24 ‘‘(B) has the financial capacity to meet the 

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1 ments as set forth under this section and as 

2 may be further prescribed by the Commission; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(C) has the technical and operational ca5 pability to provide broadband services in the 

6 manner contemplated by the provider’s bid in 

7 the system of competitive bidding, including a 

8 detailed consideration of the provider’s prior 

9 performance in delivering services as con10 templated in the bid and the capabilities of the 

11 provider’s proposed network to deliver the con12 templated services in the area in question. 

13 ‘‘(9) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—All labor14 ers and mechanics employed by contractors or sub15 contractors in the performance of construction, al16 teration, or repair work carried out, in whole or in 

17 part, with assistance made available under this sec18 tion shall be paid wages at rates not less than those 

19 prevailing on projects of a similar character in the 

20 locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in 

21 accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 

22 40, United States Code. With respect to the labor 

23 standards in this paragraph, the Secretary of Labor 

24 shall have the authority and functions set forth in 

25 Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 


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1 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(10) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING EN4 VIRONMENTAL LAWS.—Nothing in this section shall 

5 be construed to affect— 

6 ‘‘(A) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et 

7 seq.); 

8 ‘‘(B) the Federal Water Pollution Control 

9 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; commonly referred 

10 to as the ‘Clean Water Act’); 

11 ‘‘(C) the National Environmental Policy 

12 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(D) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

14 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(E) the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.; commonly referred to as 

17 the ‘Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’); 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(F) any State or local law that is similar 

20 to a law listed in subparagraphs (A) through 

21 (E). 

22 ‘‘(11) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF

23 APPLICABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

24 LAWS.—The Commission shall refer any alleged vio25 lation of an applicable labor and employment law to 


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1 the appropriate Federal agency for investigation and 

2 enforcement, and any alleged violation of paragraph 

3 (9) or (12) to the National Labor Relations Board 

4 for investigation and enforcement, utilizing all ap5 propriate remedies up to and including debarment 

6 from the program. 

7 ‘‘(12) LABOR ORGANIZATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

9 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 

10 et seq.), subparagraphs (B) through (F) shall 

11 apply with respect to any funding recipient who 

12 is an employer and any labor organization who 

13 represents employees of a funding recipient. 

14 ‘‘(B) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An 

15 employer shall remain neutral with respect to 

16 the exercise of employees and labor organiza17 tions of the right to organize and bargain under 

18 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

19 151 et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(C) COMMENCEMENT OF COLLECTIVE

21 BARGAINING.—Not later than 10 days after re22 ceiving a written request for collective bar23 gaining from a labor organization that has been 

24 newly recognized or certified as a representative 

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1 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), or within such 

2 further period as the parties agree upon, the 

3 parties shall meet and commence to bargain 

4 collectively and shall make every reasonable ef5 fort to conclude and sign a collective bargaining 

6 agreement. 

7 ‘‘(D) MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION FOR

8 FAILURE TO REACH A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

9 AGREEMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the parties have 

11 failed to reach an agreement before the 

12 date that is 90 days after the date on 

13 which bargaining is commenced under sub14 paragraph (C), or any later date agreed 

15 upon by both parties, either party may no16 tify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

17 Service of the existence of a dispute and 

18 request mediation. 

19 ‘‘(ii) FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CON20 CILIATION SERVICE.—Whenever a request 

21 is received under clause (i), the Director of 

22 the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

23 Service shall promptly communicate with 

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1 ation and conciliation, to bring them to 

2 agreement. 

3 ‘‘(E) TRIPARTITE ARBITRATION PANEL.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Federal Me5 diation and Conciliation Service is not able 

6 to bring the parties to agreement by medi7 ation or conciliation before the date that is 

8 30 days after the date on which such medi9 ation or conciliation is commenced, or any 

10 later date agreed upon by both parties, the 

11 Service shall refer the dispute to a tri12 partite arbitration panel established in ac13 cordance with such regulations as may be 

14 prescribed by the Service, with one mem15 ber selected by the labor organization, one 

16 member selected by the employer, and one 

17 neutral member mutually agreed to by the 

18 parties. 

19 ‘‘(ii) DISPUTE SETTLEMENT.—A ma20 jority of the tripartite arbitration panel 

21 shall render a decision settling the dispute 

22 and such decision shall be binding upon 

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1 ten consent of the parties. Such decision 

2 shall be based on— 

3 ‘‘(I) the employer’s financial sta4 tus and prospects; 

5 ‘‘(II) the size and type of the em6 ployer’s operations and business; 

7 ‘‘(III) the employees’ cost of liv8 ing; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the employees’ ability to 

10 sustain themselves, their families, and 

11 their dependents on the wages and 

12 benefits they earn from the employer; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(V) the wages and benefits that 

15 other employers in the same business 

16 provide their employees. 

17 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITION ON SUBCONTRACTING

18 FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—A funding recipient 

19 may not engage in subcontracting for the pur20 pose of circumventing the terms of a collective 

21 bargaining agreement with respect to wages, 

22 benefits, or working conditions. 

23 ‘‘(G) PARTIES DEFINED.—In this para24 graph, the term ‘parties’ means a labor organi25 zation that is newly recognized or certified as a 


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1 representative under section 9(a) of the Na2 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)) 

3 and the employer of the employees represented 

4 by such organization. 

5 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—Any project funded 

6 through the program shall meet the following require7 ments: 

8 ‘‘(1) The project shall adhere to quality-of-serv9 ice standards as established by the Commission. 

10 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 

11 (3) of subsection (c), the project shall offer 

12 broadband service with a download speed of at least 

13 100 megabits per second, an upload speed of at least 

14 100 megabits per second, and a latency that is suffi15 ciently low to allow real-time, interactive applica16 tions. 

17 ‘‘(3) The project shall offer broadband service 

18 at prices that are comparable to, or lower than, the 

19 prices charged for comparable levels of service in 

20 areas that were not unserved areas, areas with low21 tier service, or areas with mid-tier service on the day 

22 before the date of the enactment of this section. 

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1 clude interspersed conduit access points at regular 

2 and short intervals. 

3 ‘‘(5) The project shall incorporate prudent cy4 bersecurity and supply chain risk management prac5 tices, as specified by the Commission through the 

6 rulemaking described in subsection (e), in consulta7 tion with the Director of the National Institute of 

8 Standards and Technology and the Assistant Sec9 retary. 

10 ‘‘(6) The project shall incorporate best prac11 tices, as defined by the Commission, for ensuring re12 liability and resiliency of the network during disas13 ters. 

14 ‘‘(7) Any funding recipient must agree to have 

15 the project meet the requirements established under 

16 section 224, as if the project were classified as a 

17 ‘utility’ under such section. The preceding sentence 

18 shall not apply to those entities or persons excluded 

19 from the definition of the term ‘utility’ by the second 

20 sentence of subsection (a)(1) of such section. 

21 ‘‘(8) The project shall offer an affordable option 

22 for a broadband service plan under which broadband 

23 service is provided— 

24 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 50 

25 megabits per second; 


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1 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 50 

2 megabits per second; and 

3 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

4 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter5 active applications. 

6 ‘‘(e) RULEMAKING AND DISTRIBUTION AND AWARD

7 OF FUNDS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

8 the enactment of this section, the Commission, in con9 sultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall promulgate 

10 rules— 

11 ‘‘(1) that implement the requirements of this 

12 section, as appropriate; 

13 ‘‘(2) that establish the design of and rules for 

14 the national systems of competitive bidding; 

15 ‘‘(3) that establish notice requirements for all 

16 systems of competitive bidding authorized under this 

17 section that, at a minimum, provide the public with 

18 notice of— 

19 ‘‘(A) the initial determination of which 

20 areas are unserved areas, areas with low-tier 

21 service, or areas with mid-tier service; 

22 ‘‘(B) the final determination of which 

23 areas are unserved areas, areas with low-tier 

24 service, or areas with mid-tier service after the 


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1 process for challenging the initial determination 

2 has concluded; 

3 ‘‘(C) which entities have applied to bid for 

4 funding; and 

5 ‘‘(D) the results of any system of competi6 tive bidding, including identifying the funding 

7 recipients, which areas each project will serve, 

8 the nature of the service that will be provided 

9 by the project in each of those areas, and how 

10 much funding the funding recipients will receive 

11 in each of those areas; 

12 ‘‘(4) that establish broadband service buildout 

13 milestones and periodic certification by funding re14 cipients to ensure compliance with the broadband 

15 service buildout milestones for all systems of com16 petitive bidding authorized under this section; 

17 ‘‘(5) that, except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

18 and (3) of subsection (c), establish a maximum 

19 buildout timeframe of four years beginning on the 

20 date on which funding is provided under this section 

21 for a project; 

22 ‘‘(6) that establish periodic reporting require23 ments for funding recipients and that identify, at a 

24 minimum, the nature of the service provided in each 


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1 area for any system of competitive bidding author2 ized under this section; 

3 ‘‘(7) that establish standard penalties for the 

4 noncompliance of funding recipients or projects with 

5 the requirements as set forth under this section and 

6 as may be further prescribed by the Commission for 

7 any system of competitive bidding authorized under 

8 this section; 

9 ‘‘(8) that establish procedures for recovery of 

10 funds, in whole or in part, from funding recipients 

11 in the event of the default or noncompliance of the 

12 funding recipient or project with the requirements 

13 established under this section for any system of com14 petitive bidding authorized under this section; and 

15 ‘‘(9) that establish mechanisms to reduce waste, 

16 fraud, and abuse within the program for any system 

17 of competitive bidding authorized under this section. 

18 ‘‘(f) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

19 ‘‘(1) INSPECTOR GENERAL AND COMPTROLLER

20 GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than June 30 and 

21 December 31 of each year following the awarding of 

22 the first funds under the program, the Inspector 

23 General of the Commission and the Comptroller 

24 General of the United States shall submit to the 

25 Committees on Energy and Commerce of the House 


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1 of Representatives and Commerce, Science, and 

2 Transportation of the Senate a report for the pre3 vious 6 months that reviews the program. Such re4 port shall include any recommendations to address 

5 waste, fraud, and abuse. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE REPORTS.—Any State that receives 

7 funds under the program shall submit an annual re8 port to the Commission on how such funds were 

9 spent, along with a certification of compliance with 

10 the requirements as set forth under this section and 

11 as may be further prescribed by the Commission, in12 cluding a description of each service provided and 

13 the number of individuals to whom the service was 

14 provided. 

15 ‘‘(g) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to 

16 the Commission, out of any money in the Treasury not 

17 otherwise appropriated, $80,000,000,000 to carry out the 

18 program for fiscal year 2021, to remain available until ex19 pended. 

20 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) AFFORDABLE OPTION.—The term ‘afford22 able option’ means, with respect to a broadband 

23 service plan, that broadband service is provided 

24 under such plan at a rate that is determined by the 

25 Commission, in coordination with the Office of 


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1 Internet Connectivity and Growth, to be affordable 

2 for a household with an income of 136 percent of 

3 the poverty threshold, as determined by using cri4 teria of poverty established by the Bureau of the 

5 Census, for a 4-person household that includes 2 de6 pendents under the age of 18. 

7 ‘‘(2) ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The term ‘anchor 

8 institution’ means a public or private school, a li9 brary, a medical or healthcare provider, a museum, 

10 a public safety entity, a public housing agency (as 

11 defined in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 

12 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b))), a community 

13 college, an institution of higher education, a reli14 gious organization, or any other community support 

15 organization or agency. 

16 ‘‘(3) AREA.—The term ‘area’ means the geo17 graphic unit of measurement with the greatest level 

18 of granularity reasonably feasible for the Commis19 sion to use in making eligibility determinations 

20 under this section and in meeting the requirements 

21 and deadlines of this section. 

22 ‘‘(4) AREA WITH LOW-TIER SERVICE.—The 

23 term ‘area with low-tier service’ means an area 

24 where at least 90 percent of the population has ac25 cess to broadband service offered— 


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1 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 25 

2 megabits per second but less than 100 megabits 

3 per second; 

4 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 25 

5 megabits per second but less than 100 megabits 

6 per second; and 

7 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

8 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter9 active applications. 

10 ‘‘(5) AREA WITH MID-TIER SERVICE.—The term 

11 ‘area with mid-tier service’ means an area where at 

12 least 90 percent of the population has access to 

13 broadband service offered— 

14 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 100 

15 megabits per second but less than 1 gigabit per 

16 second; 

17 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 100 

18 megabits per second but less than 1 gigabit per 

19 second; and 

20 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

21 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter22 active applications. 

23 ‘‘(6) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘As24 sistant Secretary’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

25 Commerce for Communications and Information. 


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1 ‘‘(7) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

2 ‘broadband service’— 

3 ‘‘(A) means broadband internet access 

4 service that is a mass-market retail service, or 

5 a service provided to an anchor institution, by 

6 wire or radio that provides the capability to 

7 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

8 substantially all internet endpoints, including 

9 any capabilities that are incidental to and en10 able the operation of the communications serv11 ice; 

12 ‘‘(B) includes any service that is a func13 tional equivalent of the service described in sub14 paragraph (A); and 

15 ‘‘(C) does not include dial-up internet ac16 cess service. 

17 ‘‘(8) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—The term ‘col18 lective bargaining’ means performance of the mutual 

19 obligation described in section 8(d) of the National 

20 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(d)). 

21 ‘‘(9) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.— 

22 The term ‘collective bargaining agreement’ means an 

23 agreement reach through collective bargaining. 

24 ‘‘(10) FUNDING RECIPIENT.—The term ‘fund25 ing recipient’ means an entity that receives funding 


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1 for a project under this section, including a private 

2 entity, public-private partnership, cooperative, or 

3 municipal broadband service provider. 

4 ‘‘(11) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘high5 poverty area’ means a census tract with a poverty 

6 rate of at least 20 percent, as measured by the most 

7 recent 5-year data series available from the Amer8 ican Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census 

9 as of the year before the date of the enactment of 

10 this section. 

11 ‘‘(12) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

12 The term ‘institution of higher education’— 

13 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 

14 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 

16 ‘‘(B) includes a postsecondary vocational 

17 institution. 

18 ‘‘(13) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘labor 

19 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec20 tion 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

21 U.S.C. 152). 

22 ‘‘(14) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTY.—The 

23 term ‘persistent poverty county’ means any county 

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1 suses and in the Small Area Income and Poverty Es2 timates of the Bureau of the Census for the most re3 cent year for which the Estimates are available. 

4 ‘‘(15) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU5 TION.—The term ‘postsecondary vocational institu6 tion’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

9 ‘‘(16) PROGRAM.—Unless otherwise indicated, 

10 the term ‘program’ means the program established 

11 under subsection (a). 

12 ‘‘(17) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means an 

13 undertaking by a funding recipient under this sec14 tion to construct and deploy infrastructure for the 

15 provision of broadband service. 

16 ‘‘(18) UNSERVED ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The 

17 term ‘unserved anchor institution’ means an anchor 

18 institution that has no access to broadband service 

19 or does not have access to broadband service of20 fered— 

21 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 1 

22 gigabit per second per 1,000 users; 

23 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 1 

24 gigabit per second per 1,000 users; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

2 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter3 active applications. 

4 ‘‘(19) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘unserved 

5 area’ means an area where at least 90 percent of the 

6 population has no access to broadband service or 

7 does not have access to broadband service offered— 

8 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 25 

9 megabits per second; 

10 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 25 

11 megabits per second; and 

12 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

13 allow real-time, interactive applications.’’. 

14 Subtitle B—Broadband Infrastruc15 ture Finance and Innovation 

16 SEC. 3201. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this subtitle: 

18 (1) BIFIA PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘BIFIA pro19 gram’’ means the broadband infrastructure finance 

20 and innovation program established under this sub21 title. 

22 (2) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

23 ‘‘broadband service’’— 

24 (A) means broadband internet access serv25 ice that is a mass-market retail service, or a 


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1 service provided to an entity described in para2 graph (11)(B)(ii), by wire or radio that pro3 vides the capability to transmit data to and re4 ceive data from all or substantially all internet 

5 endpoints, including any capabilities that are 

6 incidental to and enable the operation of the 

7 communications service; 

8 (B) includes any service that is a func9 tional equivalent of the service described in sub10 paragraph (A); and 

11 (C) does not include dial-up internet access 

12 service. 

13 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COSTS.—The term ‘‘eli14 gible project costs’’ means amounts substantially all 

15 of which are paid by, or for the account of, an obli16 gor in connection with a project, including the cost 

17 of— 

18 (A) development phase activities, including 

19 planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore20 casting, environmental review, historic preserva21 tion review, permitting, preliminary engineering 

22 and design work, and other preconstruction ac23 tivities; 

24 (B) construction and deployment phase ac25 tivities, including— 


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1 (i) construction, reconstruction, reha2 bilitation, replacement, and acquisition of 

3 real property (including land relating to 

4 the project and improvements to land), 

5 equipment, instrumentation, networking 

6 capability, hardware and software, and dig7 ital network technology; 

8 (ii) environmental mitigation; and 

9 (iii) construction contingencies; and 

10 (C) capitalized interest necessary to meet 

11 market requirements, reasonably required re12 serve funds, capital issuance expenses, and 

13 other carrying costs during construction and 

14 deployment. 

15 (4) FEDERAL CREDIT INSTRUMENT.—The term 

16 ‘‘Federal credit instrument’’ means a secured loan, 

17 loan guarantee, or line of credit authorized to be 

18 made available under the BIFIA program with re19 spect to a project. 

20 (5) INVESTMENT-GRADE RATING.—The term 

21 ‘‘investment-grade rating’’ means a rating of BBB 

22 minus, Baa3, bbb minus, BBB (low), or higher as23 signed by a rating agency to project obligations. 

24 (6) LENDER.—The term ‘‘lender’’ means any 

25 non-Federal qualified institutional buyer (as defined 


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1 in section 230.144A(a) of title 17, Code of Federal 

2 Regulations (or any successor regulation), known as 

3 Rule 144A(a) of the Securities and Exchange Com4 mission and issued under the Securities Act of 1933 

5 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.)), including— 

6 (A) a qualified retirement plan (as defined 

7 in section 4974(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

8 of 1986) that is a qualified institutional buyer; 

9 and 

10 (B) a governmental plan (as defined in 

11 section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986) that is a qualified institutional buyer. 

13 (7) LETTER OF INTEREST.—The term ‘‘letter 

14 of interest’’ means a letter submitted by a potential 

15 applicant prior to an application for credit assistance 

16 in a format prescribed by the Assistant Secretary on 

17 the website of the BIFIA program that— 

18 (A) describes the project and the location, 

19 purpose, and cost of the project; 

20 (B) outlines the proposed financial plan, 

21 including the requested credit assistance and 

22 the proposed obligor; 

23 (C) provides a status of environmental re24 view; and 


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1 (D) provides information regarding satis2 faction of other eligibility requirements of the 

3 BIFIA program. 

4 (8) LINE OF CREDIT.—The term ‘‘line of cred5 it’’ means an agreement entered into by the Assist6 ant Secretary with an obligor under section 3204 to 

7 provide a direct loan at a future date upon the oc8 currence of certain events. 

9 (9) LOAN GUARANTEE.—The term ‘‘loan guar10 antee’’ means any guarantee or other pledge by the 

11 Assistant Secretary to pay all or part of the prin12 cipal of and interest on a loan or other debt obliga13 tion issued by an obligor and funded by a lender. 

14 (10) OBLIGOR.—The term ‘‘obligor’’ means a 

15 party that— 

16 (A) is primarily liable for payment of the 

17 principal of or interest on a Federal credit in18 strument; and 

19 (B) may be a corporation, company, part20 nership, joint venture, trust, or governmental 

21 entity, agency, or instrumentality. 

22 (11) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 

23 project— 

24 (A) to construct and deploy infrastructure 

25 for the provision of broadband service; and 


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1 (B) that the Assistant Secretary deter2 mines will— 

3 (i) provide access or improved access 

4 to broadband service to consumers residing 

5 in areas of the United States that have no 

6 access to broadband service or do not have 

7 access to broadband service offered— 

8 (I) with a download speed of at 

9 least 100 megabits per second; 

10 (II) with an upload speed of at 

11 least 20 megabits per second; and 

12 (III) with latency that is suffi13 ciently low to allow real-time, inter14 active applications; or 

15 (ii) provide access or improved access 

16 to broadband service to— 

17 (I) schools, libraries, medical and 

18 healthcare providers, community col19 leges and other institutions of higher 

20 education, museums, religious organi21 zations, and other community support 

22 organizations and entities to facilitate 

23 greater use of broadband service by or 

24 through such organizations; 


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1 (II) organizations and agencies 

2 that provide outreach, access, equip3 ment, and support services to facili4 tate greater use of broadband service 

5 by low-income, unemployed, aged, and 

6 otherwise vulnerable populations; 

7 (III) job-creating strategic facili8 ties located within a State-designated 

9 economic zone, Economic Develop10 ment District designated by the De11 partment of Commerce, Empower12 ment Zone designated by the Depart13 ment of Housing and Urban Develop14 ment, or Enterprise Community des15 ignated by the Department of Agri16 culture; or 

17 (IV) public safety agencies. 

18 (12) PROJECT OBLIGATION.—The term 

19 ‘‘project obligation’’ means any note, bond, deben20 ture, or other debt obligation issued by an obligor in 

21 connection with the financing of a project, other 

22 than a Federal credit instrument. 

23 (13) PUBLIC AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘public 

24 authority’’ means a Federal, State, county, town, or 

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1 ernment or instrumentality with authority to fi2 nance, build, operate, or maintain infrastructure for 

3 the provision of broadband service. 

4 (14) RATING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘rating agen5 cy’’ means a credit rating agency registered with the 

6 Securities and Exchange Commission as a nationally 

7 recognized statistical rating organization (as defined 

8 in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

9 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))). 

10 (15) SECURED LOAN.—The term ‘‘secured 

11 loan’’ means a direct loan or other debt obligation 

12 issued by an obligor and funded by the Assistant 

13 Secretary in connection with the financing of a 

14 project under section 3203. 

15 (16) SMALL PROJECT.—The term ‘‘small 

16 project’’ means a project having eligible project costs 

17 that are reasonably anticipated not to equal or ex18 ceed $20,000,000. 

19 (17) SUBSIDY AMOUNT.—The term ‘‘subsidy 

20 amount’’ means the amount of budget authority suf21 ficient to cover the estimated long-term cost to the 

22 Federal Government of a Federal credit instru23 ment— 

24 (A) calculated on a net present value basis; 

25 and 


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1 (B) excluding administrative costs and any 

2 incidental effects on governmental receipts or 

3 outlays in accordance with the Federal Credit 

4 Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 

5 (18) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION.—The term 

6 ‘‘substantial completion’’ means, with respect to a 

7 project receiving credit assistance under the BIFIA 

8 program— 

9 (A) the commencement of the provision of 

10 broadband service using the infrastructure 

11 being financed; or 

12 (B) a comparable event, as determined by 

13 the Assistant Secretary and specified in the 

14 credit agreement. 

15 SEC. 3202. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY AND PROJECT 

16 SELECTION. 

17 (a) ELIGIBILITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A project shall be eligible to 

19 receive credit assistance under the BIFIA program 

20 if— 

21 (A) the entity proposing to carry out the 

22 project submits a letter of interest prior to sub23 mission of a formal application for the project; 

24 and 


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1 (B) the project meets the criteria described 

2 in this subsection. 

3 (2) CREDITWORTHINESS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), to be eligible for assistance 

6 under the BIFIA program, a project shall sat7 isfy applicable creditworthiness standards, 

8 which, at a minimum, shall include— 

9 (i) adequate coverage requirements to 

10 ensure repayment; 

11 (ii) an investment-grade rating from 

12 at least 2 rating agencies on debt senior to 

13 the Federal credit instrument; and 

14 (iii) a rating from at least 2 rating 

15 agencies on the Federal credit instrument. 

16 (B) SMALL PROJECTS.—In order for a 

17 small project to be eligible for assistance under 

18 the BIFIA program, such project shall satisfy 

19 alternative creditworthiness standards that shall 

20 be established by the Assistant Secretary under 

21 section 3205 for purposes of this paragraph. 

22 (3) APPLICATION.—A State, local government, 

23 agency or instrumentality of a State or local govern24 ment, public authority, public-private partnership, or 

25 any other legal entity undertaking the project and 


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1 authorized by the Assistant Secretary shall submit a 

2 project application that is acceptable to the Assist3 ant Secretary. 

4 (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COST PARAMETERS FOR

5 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.—Eligible project costs 

6 shall be reasonably anticipated to equal or exceed 

7 $2,000,000 in the case of a project or program of 

8 projects— 

9 (A) in which the applicant is a local gov10 ernment, instrumentality of local government, 

11 or public authority (other than a public author12 ity that is a Federal or State government or in13 strumentality); 

14 (B) located on a facility owned by a local 

15 government; or 

16 (C) for which the Assistant Secretary de17 termines that a local government is substan18 tially involved in the development of the project. 

19 (5) DEDICATED REVENUE SOURCES.—The ap20 plicable Federal credit instrument shall be repayable, 

21 in whole or in part, from— 

22 (A) amounts charged to— 

23 (i) subscribers of broadband service 

24 for such service; or 


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1 (ii) subscribers of any related service 

2 provided over the same infrastructure for 

3 such related service; 

4 (B) user fees; 

5 (C) payments owing to the obligor under a 

6 public-private partnership; or 

7 (D) other dedicated revenue sources that 

8 also secure or fund the project obligations. 

9 (6) APPLICATIONS WHERE OBLIGOR WILL BE

10 IDENTIFIED LATER.—A State, local government, 

11 agency or instrumentality of a State or local govern12 ment, or public authority may submit to the Assist13 ant Secretary an application under paragraph (3), 

14 under which a private party to a public-private part15 nership will be— 

16 (A) the obligor; and 

17 (B) identified later through completion of 

18 a procurement and selection of the private 

19 party. 

20 (7) BENEFICIAL EFFECTS.—The Assistant Sec21 retary shall determine that financial assistance for 

22 the project under the BIFIA program will— 

23 (A) foster, if appropriate, partnerships 

24 that attract public and private investment for 

25 the project; 


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1 (B) enable the project to proceed at an 

2 earlier date than the project would otherwise be 

3 able to proceed or reduce the lifecycle costs (in4 cluding debt service costs) of the project; and 

5 (C) reduce the contribution of Federal 

6 grant assistance for the project. 

7 (8) PROJECT READINESS.—To be eligible for 

8 assistance under the BIFIA program, the applicant 

9 shall demonstrate a reasonable expectation that the 

10 contracting process for the construction and deploy11 ment of infrastructure for the provision of 

12 broadband service through the project can commence 

13 by no later than 90 days after the date on which a 

14 Federal credit instrument is obligated for the project 

15 under the BIFIA program. 

16 (9) PUBLIC SPONSORSHIP OF PRIVATE ENTI17 TIES.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible project is 

19 carried out by an entity that is not a State or 

20 local government or an agency or instrumen21 tality of a State or local government or a Tribal 

22 Government or consortium of Tribal Govern23 ments, the project shall be publicly sponsored. 

24 (B) PUBLIC SPONSORSHIP.—For purposes 

25 of this subtitle, a project shall be considered to 


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1 be publicly sponsored if the obligor can dem2 onstrate, to the satisfaction of the Assistant 

3 Secretary, that the project applicant has con4 sulted with the State, local, or Tribal Govern5 ment in the area in which the project is located, 

6 or that is otherwise affected by the project, and 

7 that such Government supports the proposal. 

8 (b) SELECTION AMONG ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF APPLICATION PROC10 ESS.—The Assistant Secretary shall establish a roll11 ing application process under which projects that are 

12 eligible to receive credit assistance under subsection 

13 (a) shall receive credit assistance on terms accept14 able to the Assistant Secretary, if adequate funds 

15 are available to cover the subsidy costs associated 

16 with the Federal credit instrument. 

17 (2) PRELIMINARY RATING OPINION LETTER.— 

18 The Assistant Secretary shall require each project 

19 applicant to provide— 

20 (A) a preliminary rating opinion letter 

21 from at least 1 rating agency— 

22 (i) indicating that the senior obliga23 tions of the project, which may be the Fed24 eral credit instrument, have the potential 

25 to achieve an investment-grade rating; and 


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1 (ii) including a preliminary rating 

2 opinion on the Federal credit instrument; 

3 or 

4 (B) in the case of a small project, alter5 native documentation that the Assistant Sec6 retary shall require in the standards established 

7 under section 3205 for purposes of this para8 graph. 

9 (3) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.—In 

10 selecting projects to receive credit assistance under 

11 the BIFIA program, the Assistant Secretary may 

12 not favor a project using any particular technology. 

13 (4) PREFERENCE FOR OPEN-ACCESS NET14 WORKS.—In selecting projects to receive credit as15 sistance under the BIFIA program, the Assistant 

16 Secretary shall give preference to projects providing 

17 for the deployment of open-access broadband service 

18 networks. 

19 (c) FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The following provisions of 

21 law shall apply to funds made available under the 

22 BIFIA program and projects assisted with those 

23 funds: 

24 (A) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

25 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 


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1 (B) The National Environmental Policy 

2 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

3 (C) 54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq. (commonly 

4 referred to as the ‘‘National Historic Preserva5 tion Act’’). 

6 (D) The Uniform Relocation Assistance 

7 and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 

8 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 

9 (2) NEPA.—No funding shall be obligated for 

10 a project that has not received an environmental cat11 egorical exclusion, a finding of no significant impact, 

12 or a record of decision under the National Environ13 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

14 (3) TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF

15 1964.—For purposes of title VI of the Civil Rights 

16 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), any project 

17 that receives credit assistance under the BIFIA pro18 gram shall be considered a program or activity with19 in the meaning of section 606 of such title (42 

20 U.S.C. 2000d–4a). 

21 (4) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—All labor22 ers and mechanics employed by contractors or sub23 contractors in the performance of construction, al24 teration, or repair work carried out, in whole or in 

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1 eral credit instrument shall be paid wages at rates 

2 not less than those prevailing on projects of a simi3 lar character in the locality as determined by the 

4 Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

5 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. 

6 With respect to the labor standards in this para7 graph, the Secretary of Labor shall have the author8 ity and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan 

9 Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. 

10 App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United States 

11 Code. 

12 (5) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An employer 

13 receiving assistance made available through a Fed14 eral credit instrument under this subtitle shall re15 main neutral with respect to the exercise of employ16 ees and labor organizations of the right to organize 

17 and bargain under the National Labor Relations Act 

18 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

19 (6) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF AP20 PLICABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

21 LAWS.—The Assistant Secretary shall refer any al22 leged violation of an applicable labor and employ23 ment law to the appropriate Federal agency for in24 vestigation and enforcement, and any alleged viola25 tion of paragraph (4) or (5) to the National Labor 


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1 Relations Board for investigation and enforcement, 

2 utilizing all appropriate remedies up to and includ3 ing debarment from the BIFIA program. 

4 (d) APPLICATION PROCESSING PROCEDURES.— 

5 (1) NOTICE OF COMPLETE APPLICATION.—Not 

6 later than 30 days after the date of receipt of an ap7 plication under this section, the Assistant Secretary 

8 shall provide to the applicant a written notice to in9 form the applicant whether— 

10 (A) the application is complete; or 

11 (B) additional information or materials are 

12 needed to complete the application. 

13 (2) APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF APPLICATION.— 

14 Not later than 60 days after the date of issuance of 

15 the written notice under paragraph (1), the Assist16 ant Secretary shall provide to the applicant a writ17 ten notice informing the applicant whether the As18 sistant Secretary has approved or disapproved the 

19 application. 

20 (3) APPROVAL BEFORE NEPA REVIEW.—Subject 

21 to subsection (c)(2), an application for a project may 

22 be approved before the project receives an environ23 mental categorical exclusion, a finding of no signifi24 cant impact, or a record of decision under the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00172 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4131.IS S4131

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1 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

2 4321 et seq.). 

3 (e) DEVELOPMENT PHASE ACTIVITIES.—Any credit 

4 instrument secured under the BIFIA program may be 

5 used to finance up to 100 percent of the cost of develop6 ment phase activities as described in section 3201(3)(A). 

7 SEC. 3203. SECURED LOANS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (1) AGREEMENTS.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

10 and (3), the Assistant Secretary may enter into 

11 agreements with one or more obligors to make se12 cured loans, the proceeds of which shall be used— 

13 (A) to finance eligible project costs of any 

14 project selected under section 3202; 

15 (B) to refinance interim construction fi16 nancing of eligible project costs of any project 

17 selected under section 3202; or 

18 (C) to refinance long-term project obliga19 tions or Federal credit instruments, if the refi20 nancing provides additional funding capacity for 

21 the completion, enhancement, or expansion of 

22 any project that— 

23 (i) is selected under section 3202; or 

24 (ii) otherwise meets the requirements 

25 of section 3202. 


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1 (2) LIMITATION ON REFINANCING OF INTERIM

2 CONSTRUCTION FINANCING.—A loan under para3 graph (1) shall not refinance interim construction fi4 nancing under paragraph (1)(B)— 

5 (A) if the maturity of such interim con6 struction financing is later than 1 year after 

7 the substantial completion of the project; and 

8 (B) later than 1 year after the date of sub9 stantial completion of the project. 

10 (3) RISK ASSESSMENT.—Before entering into 

11 an agreement under this subsection, the Assistant 

12 Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the 

13 Office of Management and Budget, shall determine 

14 an appropriate capital reserve subsidy amount for 

15 each secured loan, taking into account each rating 

16 letter provided by a rating agency under section 

17 3202(b)(2)(A)(ii) or, in the case of a small project, 

18 the alternative documentation provided under section 

19 3202(b)(2)(B). 

20 (b) TERMS AND LIMITATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A secured loan under this 

22 section with respect to a project shall be on such 

23 terms and conditions and contain such covenants, 

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1 cluding requirements for audits) as the Assistant 

2 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

3 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a se4 cured loan under this section shall not exceed the 

5 lesser of 49 percent of the reasonably anticipated eli6 gible project costs or, if the secured loan is not for 

7 a small project and does not receive an investment8 grade rating, the amount of the senior project obli9 gations. 

10 (3) PAYMENT.—A secured loan under this sec11 tion— 

12 (A) shall— 

13 (i) be payable, in whole or in part, 

14 from— 

15 (I) amounts charged to— 

16 (aa) subscribers of 

17 broadband service for such serv18 ice; or 

19 (bb) subscribers of any re20 lated service provided over the 

21 same infrastructure for such re22 lated service; 

23 (II) user fees; 


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1 (III) payments owing to the obli2 gor under a public-private partner3 ship; or 

4 (IV) other dedicated revenue 

5 sources that also secure the senior 

6 project obligations; and 

7 (ii) include a coverage requirement or 

8 similar security feature supporting the 

9 project obligations; and 

10 (B) may have a lien on revenues described 

11 in subparagraph (A), subject to any lien secur12 ing project obligations. 

13 (4) INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate on a 

14 secured loan under this section shall be not less than 

15 the yield on United States Treasury securities of a 

16 similar maturity to the maturity of the secured loan 

17 on the date of execution of the loan agreement. 

18 (5) MATURITY DATE.—The final maturity date 

19 of the secured loan shall be the lesser of— 

20 (A) 35 years after the date of substantial 

21 completion of the project; and 

22 (B) if the useful life of the infrastructure 

23 for the provision of broadband service being fi24 nanced is of a lesser period, the useful life of 

25 the infrastructure. 


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1 (6) NONSUBORDINATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the secured loan shall not be 

4 subordinated to the claims of any holder of 

5 project obligations in the event of bankruptcy, 

6 insolvency, or liquidation of the obligor. 

7 (B) PREEXISTING INDENTURE.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec9 retary shall waive the requirement under 

10 subparagraph (A) for a public agency bor11 rower that is financing ongoing capital 

12 programs and has outstanding senior 

13 bonds under a preexisting indenture, if— 

14 (I) the secured loan— 

15 (aa) is rated in the A cat16 egory or higher; or 

17 (bb) in the case of a small 

18 project, meets an alternative 

19 standard that the Assistant Sec20 retary shall establish under sec21 tion 3205 for purposes of this 

22 subclause; 

23 (II) the secured loan is secured 

24 and payable from pledged revenues 

25 not affected by project performance, 


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1 such as a tax-backed revenue pledge 

2 or a system-backed pledge of project 

3 revenues; and 

4 (III) the BIFIA program share 

5 of eligible project costs is 33 percent 

6 or less. 

7 (ii) LIMITATION.—If the Assistant 

8 Secretary waives the nonsubordination re9 quirement under this subparagraph— 

10 (I) the maximum credit subsidy 

11 to be paid by the Federal Government 

12 shall be not more than 10 percent of 

13 the principal amount of the secured 

14 loan; and 

15 (II) the obligor shall be respon16 sible for paying the remainder of the 

17 subsidy cost, if any. 

18 (7) FEES.—The Assistant Secretary may estab19 lish fees at a level sufficient to cover all or a portion 

20 of the costs to the Federal Government of making 

21 a secured loan under this section. 

22 (8) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The proceeds of a 

23 secured loan under the BIFIA program, if the loan 

24 is repayable from non-Federal funds— 


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1 (A) may be used for any non-Federal share 

2 of project costs required under this subtitle; 

3 and 

4 (B) shall not count toward the total Fed5 eral assistance provided for a project for pur6 poses of paragraph (9). 

7 (9) MAXIMUM FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT.—The 

8 total Federal assistance provided for a project re9 ceiving a loan under the BIFIA program shall not 

10 exceed 80 percent of the total project cost. 

11 (c) REPAYMENT.— 

12 (1) SCHEDULE.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

13 establish a repayment schedule for each secured loan 

14 under this section based on— 

15 (A) the projected cash flow from project 

16 revenues and other repayment sources; and 

17 (B) the useful life of the infrastructure for 

18 the provision of broadband service being fi19 nanced. 

20 (2) COMMENCEMENT.—Scheduled loan repay21 ments of principal or interest on a secured loan 

22 under this section shall commence not later than 5 

23 years after the date of substantial completion of the 

24 project. 

25 (3) DEFERRED PAYMENTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If, at any time after 

2 the date of substantial completion of the 

3 project, the project is unable to generate suffi4 cient revenues to pay the scheduled loan repay5 ments of principal and interest on the secured 

6 loan, the Assistant Secretary may, subject to 

7 subparagraph (C), allow the obligor to add un8 paid principal and interest to the outstanding 

9 balance of the secured loan. 

10 (B) INTEREST.—Any payment deferred 

11 under subparagraph (A) shall— 

12 (i) continue to accrue interest in ac13 cordance with subsection (b)(4) until fully 

14 repaid; and 

15 (ii) be scheduled to be amortized over 

16 the remaining term of the loan. 

17 (C) CRITERIA.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any payment defer19 ral under subparagraph (A) shall be con20 tingent on the project meeting criteria es21 tablished by the Assistant Secretary. 

22 (ii) REPAYMENT STANDARDS.—The 

23 criteria established pursuant to clause (i) 

24 shall include standards for reasonable as25 surance of repayment. 


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1 (4) PREPAYMENT.— 

2 (A) USE OF EXCESS REVENUES.—Any ex3 cess revenues that remain after satisfying 

4 scheduled debt service requirements on the 

5 project obligations and secured loan and all de6 posit requirements under the terms of any trust 

7 agreement, bond resolution, or similar agree8 ment securing project obligations may be ap9 plied annually to prepay the secured loan with10 out penalty. 

11 (B) USE OF PROCEEDS OF REFI12 NANCING.—The secured loan may be prepaid at 

13 any time without penalty from the proceeds of 

14 refinancing from non-Federal funding sources. 

15 (d) SALE OF SECURED LOANS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), as 

17 soon as practicable after substantial completion of a 

18 project and after notifying the obligor, the Assistant 

19 Secretary may sell to another entity or reoffer into 

20 the capital markets a secured loan for the project if 

21 the Assistant Secretary determines that the sale or 

22 reoffering can be made on favorable terms. 

23 (2) CONSENT OF OBLIGOR.—In making a sale 

24 or reoffering under paragraph (1), the Assistant 

25 Secretary may not change the original terms and 


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1 conditions of the secured loan without the written 

2 consent of the obligor. 

3 (e) LOAN GUARANTEES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

5 may provide a loan guarantee to a lender in lieu of 

6 making a secured loan under this section if the As7 sistant Secretary determines that the budgetary cost 

8 of the loan guarantee is substantially the same as 

9 that of a secured loan. 

10 (2) TERMS.—The terms of a loan guarantee 

11 under paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the 

12 terms required under this section for a secured loan, 

13 except that the rate on the guaranteed loan and any 

14 prepayment features shall be negotiated between the 

15 obligor and the lender, with the consent of the As16 sistant Secretary. 

17 (f) STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

19 shall develop one or more expedited application proc20 esses, available at the request of entities seeking se21 cured loans under the BIFIA program, that use a 

22 set or sets of conventional terms established pursu23 ant to this section. 

24 (2) TERMS.—In establishing the streamlined 

25 application process required by this subsection, the 


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1 Assistant Secretary may allow for an expedited ap2 plication period and include terms such as those that 

3 require— 

4 (A) that the project be a small project; 

5 (B) the secured loan to be secured and 

6 payable from pledged revenues not affected by 

7 project performance, such as a tax-backed rev8 enue pledge, tax increment financing, or a sys9 tem-backed pledge of project revenues; and 

10 (C) repayment of the loan to commence 

11 not later than 5 years after disbursement. 

12 SEC. 3204. LINES OF CREDIT. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

14 (1) AGREEMENTS.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

15 through (4), the Assistant Secretary may enter into 

16 agreements to make available to one or more obli17 gors lines of credit in the form of direct loans to be 

18 made by the Assistant Secretary at future dates on 

19 the occurrence of certain events for any project se20 lected under section 3202. 

21 (2) USE OF PROCEEDS.—The proceeds of a line 

22 of credit made available under this section shall be 

23 available to pay debt service on project obligations 

24 issued to finance eligible project costs, extraordinary 

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1 nance expenses, and costs associated with unex2 pected Federal or State environmental restrictions. 

3 (3) RISK ASSESSMENT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), before entering into an 

6 agreement under this subsection, the Assistant 

7 Secretary, in consultation with the Director of 

8 the Office of Management and Budget and each 

9 rating agency providing a preliminary rating 

10 opinion letter under section 3202(b)(2)(A), 

11 shall determine an appropriate capital reserve 

12 subsidy amount for each line of credit, taking 

13 into account the rating opinion letter. 

14 (B) SMALL PROJECTS.—Before entering 

15 into an agreement under this subsection to 

16 make available a line of credit for a small 

17 project, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation 

18 with the Director of the Office of Management 

19 and Budget, shall determine an appropriate 

20 capital reserve subsidy amount for each such 

21 line of credit, taking into account the alter22 native documentation provided under section 

23 3202(b)(2)(B) instead of preliminary rating 

24 opinion letters provided under section 

25 3202(b)(2)(A). 


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1 (4) INVESTMENT-GRADE RATING REQUIRE2 MENT.—The funding of a line of credit under this 

3 section shall be contingent on— 

4 (A) the senior obligations of the project re5 ceiving an investment-grade rating from 2 rat6 ing agencies; or 

7 (B) in the case of a small project, the 

8 project meeting an alternative standard that the 

9 Assistant Secretary shall establish under section 

10 3205 for purposes of this paragraph. 

11 (b) TERMS AND LIMITATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A line of credit under this 

13 section with respect to a project shall be on such 

14 terms and conditions and contain such covenants, 

15 representations, warranties, and requirements (in16 cluding requirements for audits) as the Assistant 

17 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

18 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.—The total amount of 

19 a line of credit under this section shall not exceed 

20 33 percent of the reasonably anticipated eligible 

21 project costs. 

22 (3) DRAWS.—Any draw on a line of credit 

23 under this section shall— 

24 (A) represent a direct loan; and 


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1 (B) be made only if net revenues from the 

2 project (including capitalized interest, but not 

3 including reasonably required financing re4 serves) are insufficient to pay the costs speci5 fied in subsection (a)(2). 

6 (4) INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate on a 

7 direct loan resulting from a draw on the line of cred8 it shall be not less than the yield on 30-year United 

9 States Treasury securities, as of the date of execu10 tion of the line of credit agreement. 

11 (5) SECURITY.—A line of credit issued under 

12 this section— 

13 (A) shall— 

14 (i) be payable, in whole or in part, 

15 from— 

16 (I) amounts charged to— 

17 (aa) subscribers of 

18 broadband service for such serv19 ice; or 

20 (bb) subscribers of any re21 lated service provided over the 

22 same infrastructure for such re23 lated service; 

24 (II) user fees; 


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1 (III) payments owing to the obli2 gor under a public-private partner3 ship; or 

4 (IV) other dedicated revenue 

5 sources that also secure the senior 

6 project obligations; and 

7 (ii) include a coverage requirement or 

8 similar security feature supporting the 

9 project obligations; and 

10 (B) may have a lien on revenues described 

11 in subparagraph (A), subject to any lien secur12 ing project obligations. 

13 (6) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—The full 

14 amount of a line of credit under this section, to the 

15 extent not drawn upon, shall be available during the 

16 10-year period beginning on the date of substantial 

17 completion of the project. 

18 (7) RIGHTS OF THIRD-PARTY CREDITORS.— 

19 (A) AGAINST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—A 

20 third-party creditor of the obligor shall not have 

21 any right against the Federal Government with 

22 respect to any draw on a line of credit under 

23 this section. 

24 (B) ASSIGNMENT.—An obligor may assign 

25 a line of credit under this section to— 


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1 (i) one or more lenders; or 

2 (ii) a trustee on the behalf of such a 

3 lender. 

4 (8) NONSUBORDINATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraph (B), a direct loan under this sec7 tion shall not be subordinated to the claims of 

8 any holder of project obligations in the event of 

9 bankruptcy, insolvency, or liquidation of the ob10 ligor. 

11 (B) PRE-EXISTING INDENTURE.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec13 retary shall waive the requirement of sub14 paragraph (A) for a public agency bor15 rower that is financing ongoing capital 

16 programs and has outstanding senior 

17 bonds under a preexisting indenture, if— 

18 (I) the line of credit— 

19 (aa) is rated in the A cat20 egory or higher; or 

21 (bb) in the case of a small 

22 project, meets an alternative 

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1 tion 3205 for purposes of this 

2 subclause; 

3 (II) the BIFIA program loan re4 sulting from a draw on the line of 

5 credit is payable from pledged reve6 nues not affected by project perform7 ance, such as a tax-backed revenue 

8 pledge or a system-backed pledge of 

9 project revenues; and 

10 (III) the BIFIA program share 

11 of eligible project costs is 33 percent 

12 or less. 

13 (ii) LIMITATION.—If the Assistant 

14 Secretary waives the nonsubordination re15 quirement under this subparagraph— 

16 (I) the maximum credit subsidy 

17 to be paid by the Federal Government 

18 shall be not more than 10 percent of 

19 the principal amount of the secured 

20 loan; and 

21 (II) the obligor shall be respon22 sible for paying the remainder of the 

23 subsidy cost. 

24 (9) FEES.—The Assistant Secretary may estab25 lish fees at a level sufficient to cover all or a portion 


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1 of the costs to the Federal Government of providing 

2 a line of credit under this section. 

3 (10) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER CREDIT INSTRU4 MENTS.—A project that receives a line of credit 

5 under this section also shall not receive a secured 

6 loan or loan guarantee under section 3203 in an 

7 amount that, combined with the amount of the line 

8 of credit, exceeds 49 percent of eligible project costs. 

9 (c) REPAYMENT.— 

10 (1) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Assistant 

11 Secretary shall establish repayment terms and condi12 tions for each direct loan under this section based 

13 on— 

14 (A) the projected cash flow from project 

15 revenues and other repayment sources; and 

16 (B) the useful life of the infrastructure for 

17 the provision of broadband service being fi18 nanced. 

19 (2) TIMING.—All repayments of principal or in20 terest on a direct loan under this section shall be 

21 scheduled— 

22 (A) to commence not later than 5 years 

23 after the end of the period of availability speci24 fied in subsection (b)(6); and 


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1 (B) to conclude, with full repayment of 

2 principal and interest, by the date that is 25 

3 years after the end of the period of availability 

4 specified in subsection (b)(6). 

5 SEC. 3205. ALTERNATIVE PRUDENTIAL LENDING STAND6 ARDS FOR SMALL PROJECTS. 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall establish 

9 alternative, streamlined prudential lending standards for 

10 small projects receiving credit assistance under the BIFIA 

11 program to ensure that such projects pose no additional 

12 risk to the Federal Government, as compared with 

13 projects that are not small projects. 

14 SEC. 3206. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION. 

15 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

16 establish a uniform system to service the Federal credit 

17 instruments made available under the BIFIA program. 

18 (b) FEES.—The Assistant Secretary may collect and 

19 spend fees, contingent on authority being provided in ap20 propriations Acts, at a level that is sufficient to cover— 

21 (1) the costs of services of expert firms retained 

22 pursuant to subsection (d); and 

23 (2) all or a portion of the costs to the Federal 

24 Government of servicing the Federal credit instru25 ments. 


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1 (c) SERVICER.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

3 may appoint a financial entity to assist the Assistant 

4 Secretary in servicing the Federal credit instru5 ments. 

6 (2) DUTIES.—A servicer appointed under para7 graph (1) shall act as the agent for the Assistant 

8 Secretary. 

9 (3) FEE.—A servicer appointed under para10 graph (1) shall receive a servicing fee, subject to ap11 proval by the Assistant Secretary. 

12 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM EXPERT FIRMS.—The Assist13 ant Secretary may retain the services of expert firms, in14 cluding counsel, in the field of municipal and project fi15 nance to assist in the underwriting and servicing of Fed16 eral credit instruments. 

17 (e) EXPEDITED PROCESSING.—The Assistant Sec18 retary shall implement procedures and measures to econo19 mize the time and cost involved in obtaining approval and 

20 the issuance of credit assistance under the BIFIA pro21 gram. 

22 (f) ASSISTANCE TO SMALL PROJECTS.—Of the 

23 amount appropriated under section 3209(a), and after the 

24 set-aside for administrative expenses under section 

25 3209(b), not less than 20 percent shall be made available 


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1 for the Assistant Secretary to use in lieu of fees collected 

2 under subsection (b) for small projects. 

3 SEC. 3207. STATE AND LOCAL PERMITS. 

4 The provision of credit assistance under the BIFIA 

5 program with respect to a project shall not— 

6 (1) relieve any recipient of the assistance of any 

7 obligation to obtain any required State or local per8 mit or approval with respect to the project; 

9 (2) limit the right of any unit of State or local 

10 government to approve or regulate any rate of re11 turn on private equity invested in the project; or 

12 (3) otherwise supersede any State or local law 

13 (including any regulation) applicable to the construc14 tion or operation of the project. 

15 SEC. 3208. REGULATIONS. 

16 The Assistant Secretary may promulgate such regula17 tions as the Assistant Secretary determines to be appro18 priate to carry out the BIFIA program. 

19 SEC. 3209. FUNDING. 

20 (a) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to the 

21 Assistant Secretary, out of any money in the Treasury not 

22 otherwise appropriated, $5,000,000,000 to carry out this 

23 subtitle for fiscal year 2021, to remain available until ex24 pended. 


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1 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amount 

2 appropriated under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary 

3 may use not more than 5 percent for the administration 

4 of the BIFIA program. 

5 SEC. 3210. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

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

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there8 after, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

9 report summarizing the financial performance of the 

10 projects that are receiving, or have received, assistance 

11 under the BIFIA program, including a recommendation 

12 as to whether the objectives of the BIFIA program are 

13 best served by— 

14 (1) continuing the program under the authority 

15 of the Assistant Secretary; or 

16 (2) establishing a Federal corporation or feder17 ally sponsored enterprise to administer the program. 

18 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS REPORT.— 

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

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

21 thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to 

22 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

24 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen25 ate a report that includes a list of all of the letters 


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1 of interest and applications received for assistance 

2 under the BIFIA program during the preceding fis3 cal year. 

4 (2) INCLUSIONS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report under 

6 paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, a 

7 description of, with respect to each letter of in8 terest and application included in the report— 

9 (i) the date on which the letter of in10 terest or application was received; 

11 (ii) the date on which a notification 

12 was provided to the applicant regarding 

13 whether the application was complete or 

14 incomplete; 

15 (iii) the date on which a revised and 

16 completed application was submitted (if 

17 applicable); 

18 (iv) the date on which a notification 

19 was provided to the applicant regarding 

20 whether the project was approved or dis21 approved; and 

22 (v) if the project was not approved, 

23 the reason for the disapproval. 

24 (B) CORRESPONDENCE.—Each report 

25 under paragraph (1) shall include copies of any 


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1 correspondence provided to the applicant in ac2 cordance with section 3202(d). 

3 Subtitle C—Wi-Fi on School Buses 

4 SEC. 3301. E-RATE SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL BUS WI-FI. 

5 (a) RULEMAKING.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Commission shall commence a rulemaking to make 

9 the provision of Wi-Fi access on school buses eligible 

10 for support under the E-rate program of the Com11 mission set forth under subpart F of part 54 of title 

12 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 

13 (2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Notwithstanding 

14 section 254(h)(1)(B) of the Communications Act of 

15 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(1)(B)), the Commission 

16 shall provide in the rulemaking under paragraph (1) 

17 for State educational agencies, educational service 

18 agencies, and local educational agencies to be eligible 

19 to receive the support described in such paragraph. 

20 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ 

22 means a passenger motor vehicle that is— 

23 (A) designed to carry a driver and not less 

24 than 5 passengers; and 

25 (B) used significantly to transport— 


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1 (i) children enrolled in an early child2 hood education program to or from such 

3 program or an event related to such pro4 gram; or 

5 (ii) students enrolled in an elementary 

6 school or secondary school to or from such 

7 school or an event related to such school. 

8 (2) TERMS DEFINED IN ELEMENTARY AND SEC9 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The terms 

10 ‘‘early childhood education program’’, ‘‘educational 

11 service agency’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu12 cational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State 

13 educational agency’’ have the meanings given such 

14 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

16 TITLE IV—COMMUNITY 

17 BROADBAND 

18 SEC. 4001. STATE, LOCAL, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, 

19 AND CO-OP BROADBAND SERVICES. 

20 Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 

21 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub23 section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(d) STATE, LOCAL, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNER2 SHIP, AND CO-OP ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CA3 PABILITY AND SERVICES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State statute, regula5 tion, or other State legal requirement may prohibit 

6 or have the effect of prohibiting any public provider, 

7 public-private partnership provider, or cooperatively 

8 organized provider from providing, to any person or 

9 any public or private entity, advanced telecommuni10 cations capability or any service that utilizes the ad11 vanced telecommunications capability provided by 

12 such provider. 

13 ‘‘(2) ANTIDISCRIMINATION SAFEGUARDS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PUBLIC PROVIDERS.—To the extent 

15 any public provider regulates competing private 

16 providers of advanced telecommunications capa17 bility or services that utilize advanced tele18 communications capability, such public provider 

19 shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis20 crimination in favor of itself or any provider 

21 that it owns of services that utilize advanced 

22 telecommunications capability. 

23 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO24 VIDERS.—To the extent any State or local enti25 ty that is part of a public-private partnership 


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1 provider regulates competing private providers 

2 of advanced telecommunications capability or 

3 services that utilize advanced telecommuni4 cations capability, such State or local entity 

5 shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis6 crimination in favor of such public-private part7 nership provider or any provider that such 

8 State or local entity or public-private partner9 ship provider owns of services that utilize ad10 vanced telecommunications capability. 

11 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub12 section shall exempt a public provider, public-private 

13 partnership provider, or cooperatively organized pro14 vider from any Federal or State telecommunications 

15 law or regulation that applies to all providers of ad16 vanced telecommunications capability or services 

17 that utilize such advanced telecommunications capa18 bility.’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (e), as redesignated— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

21 by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘this section’’; 

23 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

24 paragraph (3); 


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1 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) COOPERATIVELY ORGANIZED PROVIDER.— 

4 The term ‘cooperatively organized provider’ means 

5 an entity that is treated as a cooperative under Fed6 eral tax law and that provides advanced tele7 communications capability, or any service that uti8 lizes such advanced telecommunications capability, 

9 to any person or public or private entity.’’; and 

10 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC PROVIDER.—The term ‘public pro12 vider’ means a State or local entity that provides ad13 vanced telecommunications capability, or any service 

14 that utilizes such advanced telecommunications ca15 pability, to any person or public or private entity. 

16 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO17 VIDER.—The term ‘public-private partnership pro18 vider’ means a public-private partnership, between a 

19 State or local entity and a private entity, that pro20 vides advanced telecommunications capability, or any 

21 service that utilizes such advanced telecommuni22 cations capability, to any person or public or private 

23 entity. 

24 ‘‘(6) STATE OR LOCAL ENTITY.—The term 

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1 division thereof, any agency, authority, or instru2 mentality of a State or political subdivision thereof, 

3 or an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the 

4 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

5 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e))).’’. 

6 TITLE V—BROADBAND INFRA7 STRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT 

8 SEC. 5001. BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) APPROPRIATE STATE AGENCY.—The term 

11 ‘‘appropriate State agency’’ means a State govern12 mental agency, or other State entity, that is recog13 nized by the executive branch of the State as having 

14 the experience necessary to evaluate and facilitate 

15 the installation and operation of broadband infra16 structure within the State. 

17 (2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ has 

18 the meaning given the term ‘‘advanced telecommuni19 cations capability’’ in section 706 of the Tele20 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302). 

21 (3) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term 

22 ‘‘broadband conduit’’ means a conduit or innerduct 

23 for fiber optic cables (or successor technology of 

24 greater quality and speed) that supports the provi25 sion of broadband. 


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1 (4) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

2 ‘‘broadband infrastructure’’ means any buried or un3 derground facility and any wireless or wireline con4 nection that enables the provision of broadband. 

5 (5) BROADBAND PROVIDER.—The term 

6 ‘‘broadband provider’’ means an entity that provides 

7 broadband to any person or facilitates provision of 

8 broadband to any person, including, with respect to 

9 such entity— 

10 (A) a corporation, company, association, 

11 firm, partnership, nonprofit organization, or 

12 any other private entity; 

13 (B) a State or local broadband provider; 

14 (C) an Indian Tribe; and 

15 (D) a partnership between any of the enti16 ties described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

17 (C). 

18 (6) COVERED HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION

19 PROJECT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

21 highway construction project’’ means, without 

22 regard to ownership of a highway, a project to 

23 construct a new highway or an additional lane 

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1 ing highway, or new construction, including for 

2 a paved shoulder. 

3 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 highway construction project’’ excludes any 

5 project— 

6 (i) awarded before the date on which 

7 regulations required under subsection (b) 

8 take effect; 

9 (ii) that does not include work beyond 

10 the edge of pavement or current paved 

11 shoulder; or 

12 (iii) that does not require excavation. 

13 (7) DIG ONCE REQUIREMENT.—The term ‘‘dig 

14 once requirement’’ means a requirement designed to 

15 reduce the cost and accelerate the deployment of 

16 broadband by minimizing the number and scale of 

17 repeated excavations for the installation and mainte18 nance of broadband conduit or broadband infrastruc19 ture in rights-of-way. 

20 (8) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ has the 

21 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 23, 

22 United States Code. 

23 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Transportation. 


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1 (10) STATE.—Notwithstanding section 2(14), 

2 the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term 

3 in section 401 of title 23, United States Code. 

4 (11) STATE OR LOCAL BROADBAND PRO5 VIDER.—The term ‘‘State or local broadband pro6 vider’’ means a State or political subdivision thereof, 

7 or any agency, authority, or instrumentality of a 

8 State or political subdivision thereof, that provides 

9 broadband to any person or facilitates the provision 

10 of broadband to any person in that State. 

11 (12) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

12 government’’ means the recognized governing body 

13 of an Indian Tribe or any agency, authority, or in14 strumentality of such governing body or such Indian 

15 Tribe. 

16 (b) DIG ONCE REQUIREMENT.—To facilitate the in17 stallation of broadband infrastructure, the Secretary shall, 

18 not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act, promulgate regulations to ensure that each State 

20 that receives funds under chapter 1 of title 23, United 

21 States Code, meets the following requirements: 

22 (1) BROADBAND PLANNING.—The State depart23 ment of transportation, in consultation with appro24 priate State agencies, shall— 


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1 (A) identify a broadband coordinator, who 

2 may have additional responsibilities in the State 

3 department of transportation or in another 

4 State agency, that is responsible for facilitating 

5 the broadband infrastructure right-of-way ef6 forts within the State; and 

7 (B) review existing State broadband plans, 

8 including existing dig once requirements of the 

9 State, municipal governments incorporated 

10 under State law, and Tribal governments within 

11 the State, to determine opportunities to coordi12 nate projects occurring within or across high13 way rights-of-way with planned broadband in14 frastructure projects. 

15 (2) NOTICE OF PLANNED CONSTRUCTION FOR

16 BROADBAND PROVIDERS.— 

17 (A) NOTICE.—The State department of 

18 transportation, in consultation with appropriate 

19 State agencies, shall establish a process— 

20 (i) for the registration of broadband 

21 providers that seek to be included in the 

22 advance notification of, and opportunity to 

23 participate in, broadband infrastructure 

24 right-of-way facilitation efforts within the 

25 State; and 


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1 (ii) to electronically notify all 

2 broadband providers registered under 

3 clause (i)— 

4 (I) of the State transportation 

5 improvement program on at least an 

6 annual basis; and 

7 (II) of projects within the high8 way right-of-way for which Federal 

9 funding is expected to be obligated in 

10 the subsequent fiscal year. 

11 (B) WEBSITE.—A State department of 

12 transportation shall be considered to meet the 

13 requirements of subparagraph (A) if such State 

14 department of transportation publishes on a 

15 public website— 

16 (i) the State transportation improve17 ment program on at least an annual basis; 

18 and 

19 (ii) projects within the highway right20 of-way for which Federal funding is ex21 pected to be obligated in the subsequent 

22 fiscal year. 

23 (C) COORDINATION.—The State depart24 ment of transportation, in consultation with ap25 propriate State agencies, shall establish a procVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00206 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4131.IS S4131

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1 ess for a broadband provider to commit to in2 stalling broadband conduit or broadband infra3 structure as part of any project. 

4 (3) REQUIRED INSTALLATION OF CONDUIT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The State department 

6 of transportation shall install broadband con7 duit, in accordance with this paragraph, except 

8 as described in subparagraph (F), as part of 

9 any covered highway construction project, un10 less a broadband provider has committed to in11 stall broadband conduit or broadband infra12 structure as part of such project in a process 

13 described under paragraph (2)(C). 

14 (B) INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS.—The 

15 State department of transportation shall ensure 

16 that— 

17 (i) an appropriate number of 

18 broadband conduits, as determined in con19 sultation with the appropriate State agen20 cies, are installed along the highway of a 

21 covered highway construction project to ac22 commodate multiple broadband providers, 

23 with consideration given to the availability 

24 of existing conduits; 


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1 (ii) the size of each such conduit is 

2 consistent with industry best practices and 

3 is sufficient to accommodate potential de4 mand, as determined in consultation with 

5 the appropriate State agencies; 

6 (iii) hand holes and manholes nec7 essary for fiber access and pulling with re8 spect to such conduit are placed at inter9 vals consistent with standards determined 

10 in consultation with the appropriate State 

11 agencies (which may differ by type of road, 

12 topologies, and rurality) and consistent 

13 with safety requirements; 

14 (iv) each broadband conduit installed 

15 pursuant to this paragraph includes a pull 

16 tape and is capable of supporting fiber 

17 optic cable placement techniques consistent 

18 with best practices; and 

19 (v) is placed at a depth consistent 

20 with requirements of the covered highway 

21 construction project and best practices and 

22 that, in determining the depth of place23 ment, consideration is given to the location 

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1 quirements of State and local electrical 

2 codes. 

3 (C) GUIDANCE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF

4 BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The Secretary, in con5 sultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall 

6 issue guidance for best practices related to the 

7 installation of broadband conduit as described 

8 in this paragraph and of conduit and similar in9 frastructure for intelligent transportation sys10 tems (as such term is defined in section 501 of 

11 title 23, United States Code) that may utilize 

12 broadband conduit installed pursuant to this 

13 paragraph. 

14 (D) ACCESS.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—The State depart16 ment of transportation shall ensure that 

17 any requesting broadband provider has ac18 cess to each broadband conduit installed 

19 pursuant to this paragraph, on a competi20 tively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, 

21 and in accordance with State permitting, 

22 licensing, leasing, or other similar laws and 

23 regulations. 

24 (ii) FEE SCHEDULE.—The State de25 partment of transportation, in consultation 


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1 with appropriate State agencies, shall pub2 lish a fee schedule for a broadband pro3 vider to access conduit installed pursuant 

4 to this paragraph. Fees in such schedule— 

5 (I) shall be consistent with the 

6 fees established pursuant to section 

7 224 of the Communications Act of 

8 1934 (47 U.S.C. 224); 

9 (II) may vary by topography, lo10 cation, type of road, rurality, and 

11 other factors in the determination of 

12 the State; and 

13 (III) may be updated not more 

14 frequently than annually. 

15 (iii) IN-KIND COMPENSATION.—The 

16 State department of transportation may 

17 negotiate in-kind compensation with any 

18 broadband provider requesting access to 

19 broadband conduit installed under the pro20 visions of this paragraph as a replacement 

21 for part or all of, but not to exceed, the 

22 relevant fee in the fee schedule described 

23 in clause (ii). 

24 (iv) SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

25 State department of transportation shall 


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1 require of broadband providers a process 

2 for safe access to the highway right-of-way 

3 during installation and ongoing mainte4 nance of the broadband fiber optic cables 

5 including a traffic control safety plan. 

6 (v) COMMUNICATION.—A broadband 

7 provider with access to the conduit in8 stalled pursuant to this subsection shall 

9 notify and receive permission from the rel10 evant agencies of State responsible for the 

11 installation of such broadband conduit 

12 prior to accessing any highway or highway 

13 right-of-way, in accordance with applicable 

14 Federal requirements. 

15 (E) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, broadband 

17 conduit and broadband infrastructure installa18 tion projects under this paragraph shall comply 

19 with section 113(a) of title 23, United States 

20 Code. 

21 (F) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—A State department 

23 of transportation may waive the required 

24 installation of broadband conduit for part 

25 or all of any covered highway construction 


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1 project under this paragraph if, in the de2 termination of the State— 

3 (I) broadband infrastructure, ter4 restrial broadband infrastructure, aer5 ial broadband fiber cables, or 

6 broadband conduit is present near a 

7 majority of the length of the covered 

8 highway construction project; 

9 (II) the installation of conduit in10 creases overall costs of a covered high11 way construction project by 1.5 per12 cent or greater; 

13 (III) the installation of 

14 broadband conduit associated with 

15 covered highway construction project 

16 will not be utilized or connected to fu17 ture broadband infrastructure in the 

18 next 20 years, in the determination of 

19 the State department of transpor20 tation, in consultation with appro21 priate State agencies and potentially 

22 affected local governments and Tribal 

23 governments; 

24 (IV) the requirements of this 

25 paragraph would require installation 


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1 of conduit redundant with a dig once 

2 requirement of a local or Tribal gov3 ernment; 

4 (V) there exists a circumstance 

5 involving force majeure; or 

6 (VI) other relevant factors, as de7 termined by the Secretary in consulta8 tion with the Assistant Secretary 

9 through regulation, warrant a waiver. 

10 (ii) CONTENTS OF WAIVER.—A waiver 

11 authorized under this subparagraph 

12 shall— 

13 (I) identify the covered highway 

14 construction project; and 

15 (II) include a brief description of 

16 the determination of the State for 

17 issuing such waiver. 

18 (iii) AVAILABILITY OF WAIVER.—A 

19 waiver authorized under this subparagraph 

20 shall be included in the plans, specifica21 tions, and estimates for the associated 

22 project, as long as such information is pub23 licly available. 

24 (4) PRIORITY.—If a State provides for the in25 stallation of broadband infrastructure or broadband 


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1 conduit in the right-of-way of an applicable project 

2 under this subsection, the State department of 

3 transportation, along with appropriate State agen4 cies, shall carry out appropriate measures to ensure 

5 that any existing broadband providers are afforded 

6 equal opportunity access, as compared to other 

7 broadband providers, with respect to the program 

8 under this subsection. 

9 (5) CONSULTATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating regu11 lations required by this subsection or to imple12 ment any part of this section, the Secretary 

13 shall consult— 

14 (i) the Assistant Secretary; 

15 (ii) the Commission; 

16 (iii) State departments of transpor17 tation; 

18 (iv) appropriate State agencies; 

19 (v) agencies of local governments re20 sponsible for transportation and rights-of21 way, utilities, and telecommunications and 

22 broadband; 

23 (vi) Tribal governments; 

24 (vii) broadband providers; and 


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1 (viii) manufacturers of optical fiber, 

2 conduit, pull tape, and related items. 

3 (B) BROADBAND USERS.—The Secretary 

4 shall ensure that the entities consulted under 

5 clauses (iii) through (vi) of subparagraph (A) 

6 include rural areas and populations with limited 

7 access to broadband infrastructure. 

8 (C) BROADBAND PROVIDERS.—The Sec9 retary shall ensure that the entities consulted 

10 under clause (vii) of subparagraph (A) include 

11 entities who provide broadband to rural areas 

12 and populations with limited access to 

13 broadband infrastructure. 

14 (6) PROHIBITION ON UNFUNDED MANDATE.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 

16 apply only to projects for which Federal obliga17 tions or expenditures are initially approved on 

18 or after the date regulations required under this 

19 subsection take effect. 

20 (B) NO MANDATE.—Absent an available 

21 and dedicated Federal source of funding— 

22 (i) nothing in this subsection estab23 lishes a mandate or requirement that a 

24 State install broadband conduit in a high25 way right-of-way; and 


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1 (ii) nothing in paragraph (3) shall es2 tablish any requirement for a State. 

3 (7) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

4 (A) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this sub5 section shall be construed to require a State to 

6 install or allow the installation of broadband 

7 conduit or broadband infrastructure— 

8 (i) that is otherwise inconsistent with 

9 what is allowable under State law; or 

10 (ii) where the State lacks the author11 ity or property easement necessary for 

12 such installation. 

13 (B) NO REQUIREMENT FOR INSTALLATION

14 OF MOBILE SERVICES EQUIPMENT.—Nothing in 

15 this section shall be construed to require a 

16 State, a municipal government incorporated 

17 under State law, or an Indian Tribe to install 

18 or allow for the installation of equipment essen19 tial for the provision of commercial mobile serv20 ices (as defined in section 332(d) of the Com21 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d))) 

22 or commercial mobile data service (as defined in 

23 section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief 

24 and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

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1 ciated equipment described in paragraph 

2 (3)(B). 

3 (c) RELATION TO STATE DIG ONCE REQUIRE4 MENTS.—Nothing in subsection (b) or any regulations 

5 promulgated under subsection (b) shall be construed to 

6 alter or supersede any provision of a State law or regula7 tion that provides for a dig once requirement that includes 

8 similar or more stringent requirements to the provisions 

9 of subsection (b) and any regulations promulgated under 

10 subsection (b). 

11 (d) DIG ONCE FUNDING TASK FORCE.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 

13 independent task force on funding the nationwide 

14 dig once requirement described in this section to be 

15 known as the ‘‘Dig Once Funding Task Force’’ 

16 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

17 (2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force 

18 shall be to— 

19 (A) estimate the annual cost for imple20 menting and administering a nationwide dig 

21 once requirement; and 

22 (B) propose and evaluate options for fund23 ing a nationwide dig once requirement described 

24 in this section that includes— 


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1 (i) a discussion of the role and poten2 tial share of costs of— 

3 (I) the Federal Government; 

4 (II) State, local, and Tribal gov5 ernments; and 

6 (III) broadband providers; and 

7 (ii) consideration of the role of exist8 ing dig once requirements of State, local, 

9 and Tribal governments and private 

10 broadband investment, with a goal to not 

11 discourage or disincentivize such dig once 

12 requirements or such investment. 

13 (3) REPORTS.— 

14 (A) INTERIM REPORT AND BRIEFING.— 

15 Not later than 9 months after the date of en16 actment of this Act, the Task Force shall sub17 mit an interim report to Congress and provide 

18 briefings for Congress on the findings of the 

19 Task Force. 

20 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 

21 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

22 the Task Force shall submit a final report to 

23 Congress on the findings of the Task Force. 

24 (4) MEMBERS.— 


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1 (A) APPOINTMENTS.—The Task Force 

2 shall consist of 14 members, consisting of— 

3 (i) the 2 co-chairs described in sub4 paragraph (B); 

5 (ii) 6 members jointly appointed by 

6 the Speaker and minority leader of the 

7 House of Representatives, in consultation 

8 with the respective Chairs and Ranking 

9 Members of the— 

10 (I) the Committee on Transpor11 tation and Infrastructure of the 

12 House of Representatives; 

13 (II) the Committee on Energy 

14 and Commerce of the House of Rep15 resentatives; and 

16 (III) the Committee on Appro17 priations of the House of Representa18 tives; and 

19 (iii) 6 members jointly appointed by 

20 the majority leader and minority leader of 

21 the Senate, in consultation with the respec22 tive Chairs and Ranking Members of the— 

23 (I) the Committee on Environ24 ment and Public Works of the Senate; 


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1 (II) the Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation of 

3 the Senate; and 

4 (III) the Committee on Appro5 priations of the Senate. 

6 (B) CO-CHAIRS.—The Task Force shall be 

7 co-chaired by the Secretary and the Assistant 

8 Secretary, or their designees. 

9 (C) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall 

10 include at least— 

11 (i) 1 representative from a State de12 partment of transportation; 

13 (ii) 1 representative from a local gov14 ernment; 

15 (iii) 1 representative from a Tribal 

16 government; 

17 (iv) 1 representative from a 

18 broadband provider; 

19 (v) 1 representative from a State or 

20 local broadband provider; 

21 (vi) 1 representative from a labor 

22 union; and 

23 (vii) 1 representative from a public in24 terest organization. 


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1 (D) APPOINTMENT DEADLINE.—Members 

2 shall be appointed to the Task Force not later 

3 than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

4 this Act. 

5 (E) EFFECT OF LACK OF APPOINTMENT

6 BY APPOINTMENT DATE.—If 1 or more appoint7 ments required under subparagraph (A) is not 

8 made by the appointment date specified in sub9 paragraph (D), the authority to make such ap10 pointment or appointments shall expire and the 

11 number of members of the Task Force shall be 

12 reduced by the number equal to the number of 

13 appointments so expired. 

14 (F) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed 

15 for the life of the Task Force. A vacancy in the 

16 Task Force shall not affect its powers and shall 

17 be filled in the same manner as the initial ap18 pointment was made. 

19 (5) CONSULTATIONS.—In carrying out the du20 ties required under this subsection, the Task Force 

21 shall consult, at a minimum— 

22 (A) the Commission; 

23 (B) agencies of States including— 

24 (i) State departments of transpor25 tation; and 


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1 (ii) appropriate State agencies; 

2 (C) agencies of local governments respon3 sible for transportation and rights of way, utili4 ties, and telecommunications and broadband; 

5 (D) Tribal governments; 

6 (E) broadband providers and other tele7 communications providers; 

8 (F) labor unions; and 

9 (G) State or local broadband providers and 

10 Tribal governments that act as broadband pro11 viders. 

12 (6) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.— 

13 (A) EXPENSES FOR NON-FEDERAL MEM14 BERS.—Non-Federal members of the Task 

15 Force shall be allowed travel expenses, includ16 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au17 thorized for employees under subchapter I of 

18 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

19 away from their homes or regular places of 

20 business in the performance of services for the 

21 Task Force. 

22 (B) STAFF.—Staff of the Task Force shall 

23 comprise detailees with relevant expertise from 

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1 ministration, or another Federal agency the co2 chairpersons consider appropriate, with the con3 sent of the head of the Federal agency, and 

4 such detailee shall retain the rights, status, and 

5 privileges of his or her regular employment 

6 without interruption. 

7 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The 

8 Secretary and Assistant Secretary shall provide 

9 to the Task Force on a reimbursable basis ad10 ministrative support and other services for the 

11 performance of the functions of the Task Force. 

12 (7) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall ter13 minate not later than 90 days after issuance of the 

14 final report required under paragraph (3)(B). 

15 TITLE VI—REPEAL OF RULE AND 

16 PROHIBITION ON USE OF NPRM 

17 SEC. 6001. REPEAL OF RULE AND PROHIBITION ON USE OF 

18 NPRM. 

19 (a) REPEAL OF RULE.—The Fourth Report and 

20 Order, Order on Reconsideration, Memorandum Opinion 

21 and Order, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Notice 

22 of Inquiry in the matter of bridging the digital divide for 

23 low-income consumers, lifeline and link up reform and 

24 modernization, telecommunications carriers eligible for 

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1 sion on November 16, 2017 (FCC 17–155), shall have no 

2 force or effect. 

3 (b) RULEMAKING IN RELIANCE ON UNIVERSAL

4 SERVICE CONTRIBUTION METHODOLOGY NPRM PROHIB5 ITED.—Beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

6 Act, the Commission may not rely on the Notice of Pro7 posed Rulemaking in the matter of universal service con8 tribution methodology that was adopted by the Commis9 sion on May 15, 2019 (FCC 19–46), to satisfy the require10 ments of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, for 

11 adopting, amending, revoking, or otherwise modifying any 

12 rule (as defined in section 551 of such title) of the Com13 mission. 

Æ 


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