II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4021 

To accelerate rural broadband deployment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2020 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To accelerate rural broadband deployment. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerating 

5 Broadband Connectivity Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACCELERATING BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

9 Communications Commission; 

10 (2) the terms ‘‘Phase I’’ and ‘‘Phase II’’ mean 

11 Phase I and Phase II, respectively, of the Rural DigVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4021.IS S4021

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1 ital Opportunity Fund auction provided for in the 

2 Report and Order in the matter of Rural Digital Op3 portunity Fund and Connect America Fund adopted 

4 by the Commission on January 30, 2020 (FCC 20– 

5 5); 

6 (3) the term ‘‘qualified carrier’’ means a terres7 trial telecommunications carrier that receives sup8 port from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund 

9 under subpart J of part 54 of title 47, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations, or any successor regulations; and 

11 (4) the term ‘‘Rural Digital Opportunity Fund 

12 support’’ means support from the Rural Digital Op13 portunity Fund under subpart J of part 54 of title 

14 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

15 regulations. 

16 (b) ACCELERATING BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY

17 FUND.—There is established in the Treasury of the 

18 United States a fund to be known as the ‘‘Accelerating 

19 Broadband Connectivity Fund’’. 

20 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Commission may 

21 use amounts in the Accelerating Broadband Connectivity 

22 Fund to provide support to qualified carriers in accord23 ance with subsection (d). 

24 (d) AMOUNT AND USE OF FUNDS.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) PHASE I SUPPORT RECIPIENTS.—The 

2 Commission shall make one-time funding offers 

3 to qualified carriers that receive Rural Digital 

4 Opportunity Fund support during Phase I, and 

5 that commit to meeting the conditions under 

6 paragraph (2), to accelerate the broadband de7 ployment obligations assumed by those carriers 

8 with respect to that support. 

9 (B) PHASE II SUPPORT RECIPIENTS.—The 

10 Commission shall use any amounts in the Accel11 erating Broadband Connectivity Fund that are 

12 not otherwise committed under subparagraph 

13 (A) to make one-time funding offers to qualified 

14 carriers that receive Rural Digital Opportunity 

15 Fund support during Phase II, and that com16 mit to meeting the conditions under paragraph 

17 (2), to accelerate the broadband deployment ob18 ligations assumed by those carriers with respect 

19 to that support. 

20 (2) CONDITIONS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—A qualified carrier that 

22 receives amounts under paragraph (1) shall— 

23 (i) begin construction of the 

24 broadband network for which the amounts 

25 are awarded not later than 180 days after 


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1 the date on which the award under para2 graph (1) is authorized; 

3 (ii) begin to make broadband service 

4 available from the broadband network de5 ployed using Rural Digital Opportunity 

6 Fund support not later than 1 year after 

7 the date on which the award under para8 graph (1) is authorized; and 

9 (iii) meet all buildout obligations from 

10 the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund sup11 port not later than 3 years after the date 

12 on which the award under paragraph (1) is 

13 authorized. 

14 (B) FORCE MAJEURE.—The Commission 

15 shall adopt rules under subsection (f)(1) to pro16 vide for the extension of a deadline under sub17 paragraph (A) of this paragraph if an event 

18 outside the control of a qualified carrier pre19 vents the qualified carrier from meeting the 

20 deadline. 

21 (3) AMOUNT OF AWARD.—The amount awarded 

22 to a qualified carrier under paragraph (1) shall be 

23 proportional to the amount of Rural Digital Oppor24 tunity Fund support received by the qualified car25 rier. 


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1 (e) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.—A qualified car2 rier that receives amounts under this section shall— 

3 (1) maintain appropriate documentation dem4 onstrating the use of the amounts; and 

5 (2) make the documentation described in para6 graph (1) available upon request as prescribed by 

7 the Commission. 

8 (f) EXPEDITED RULEMAKING.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall adopt 

10 rules to carry out this section as needed on an expe11 dited basis. 

12 (2) USE OF EXISTING RULES AUTHORIZED.— 

13 To the extent the Commission determines necessary 

14 in the public interest, the Commission may rely on 

15 the rules under part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations, and funding distribution mechanisms 

17 established under those rules in administering funds 

18 made available under this section. 

19 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT EXEMP20 TION.—The Commission shall adopt rules under 

21 paragraph (1) without regard to the notice and com22 ment requirements under section 553 of title 5, 

23 United States Code. 

24 (4) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EXEMP25 TION.—A collection of information conducted or 


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1 sponsored under this section shall not constitute a 

2 collection of information for the purposes of sub3 chapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

4 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork Re5 duction Act’’). 

6 (g) ENFORCEMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall imple8 ment and enforce this section as if it were a part of 

9 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et 

10 seq.). 

11 (2) UNLAWFUL FUNDING APPLICATION.— 

12 (A) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for a 

13 person to willfully, knowingly, or recklessly seek 

14 funding under this section if doing so would 

15 violate— 

16 (i) this section; or 

17 (ii) any rules of the Commission. 

18 (B) FORFEITURES.—Any person who vio19 lates subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a 

20 forfeiture in an amount of not more than 3 

21 times the amount of funds made available to 

22 the person under this section, in addition to any 

23 forfeiture authorized under section 503 of the 

24 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503). 


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1 (3) AUDIT AND INQUIRY REQUIREMENTS.—The 

2 Commission shall adopt requirements, through the 

3 expedited rulemaking under subsection (f), to— 

4 (A) ensure that a qualified carrier that re5 ceives amounts under this section complies with 

6 the requirements of this section; and 

7 (B) prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of the 

8 amounts distributed under this section. 

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to the Accelerating 

11 Broadband Connectivity Fund $6,000,000,000 for pur12 poses of this section. 

Æ 


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