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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 275 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>

                                                       Calendar No. 473
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 S. 275

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a vetting 
  process for prospective applicants for high-cost universal service 
                            program funding.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2023

 Mrs. Capito (for herself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

                             August 1, 2024

              Reported by Ms. Cantwell, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a vetting 
  process for prospective applicants for high-cost universal service 
                            program funding.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Broadband Protection 
Act of 2023''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. VETTING PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE HIGH-COST UNIVERSAL 
              SERVICE FUND APPLICANTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Definitions.--In this section--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the term ``covered funding'' means high-cost 
        universal service program funding provided through a 
        competitive award process for the deployment of a broadband-
        capable network and the provision of supported services over 
        the network; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the term ``new covered funding award'' means 
        an award of covered funding that is made based on an 
        application submitted to the Commission on or after the date on 
        which rules are promulgated under subsection (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) FCC Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall initiate a 
rulemaking proceeding to establish a vetting process for applicants 
for, and other recipients of, a new covered funding award.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Contents.--In promulgating rules under subsection (b), 
the Commission shall provide that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) an applicant for a new covered funding award 
        shall include in the initial application a proposal containing 
        sufficient detail and documentation for the Commission to 
        ascertain that the applicant possesses the technical 
        capability, and has a reasonable plan, to deploy the proposed 
        network and deliver services with the relevant performance 
        characteristics defined by the Commission and as pledged by the 
        applicant;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the proposal described in paragraph (1) shall 
        include sufficient detail and supporting documentation for the 
        Commission to reasonably ascertain whether the applicant and 
        the technology that the applicant plans to use would have the 
        ability to perform as required given the characteristics of the 
        locations to be served; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the Commission shall evaluate a proposal 
        described in paragraph (1) against reasonable and well-
        established technical standards, including the technical 
        standards adopted by the Commission in orders of the Commission 
        relating to modernizing the FCC Form 477 Data Program (WC 
        Docket No. 11-10) (or orders of the Commission relating to 
        modernizing any successor collection) for purposes of entities 
        that must report broadband availability coverage.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Broadband Protection Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. VETTING PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE HIGH-COST UNIVERSAL SERVICE 
              FUND APPLICANTS.

    Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Vetting of High-cost Fund Recipients.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `covered funding' means any new 
                offer of high-cost universal service program funding, 
                including funding provided through a reverse 
                competitive bidding mechanism provided under this 
                section, for the deployment of a broadband-capable 
                network and the provision of supported services over 
                the network; and
                    ``(B) the term `new covered funding award' means an 
                award of covered funding that is made based on an 
                application submitted to the Commission on or after the 
                date on which rules are promulgated under paragraph 
                (2).
            ``(2) Commission rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall 
        initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish a vetting process 
        for applicants for, and other recipients of, a new covered 
        funding award.
            ``(3) Contents.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In promulgating rules under 
                paragraph (2), the Commission shall provide that, 
                consistent with principles of technology neutrality, 
                the Commission will only award covered funding to 
                applicants that can demonstrate that they meet the 
                qualifications in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Qualifications described.--An applicant for a 
                new covered funding award shall include in the initial 
                application a proposal containing sufficient detail and 
                documentation for the Commission to ascertain that the 
                applicant possesses the technical, financial, and 
                operational capabilities, and has a reasonable business 
                plan, to deploy the proposed network and deliver 
                services with the relevant performance characteristics 
                and requirements defined by the Commission and as 
                pledged by the applicant.
                    ``(C) Evaluation of proposal.--The Commission shall 
                evaluate a proposal described in subparagraph (B) 
                against--
                            ``(i) reasonable and well-established 
                        technical, financial, and operational 
                        standards, including the technical standards 
                        adopted by the Commission in orders of the 
                        Commission relating to Establishing the Digital 
                        Opportunity Data Collection (WC Docket No. 19-
                        195) (or orders of the Commission relating to 
                        modernizing any successor collection) for 
                        purposes of entities that must report broadband 
                        availability coverage; and
                            ``(ii) the applicant's history of complying 
                        with requirements in Commission and other 
                        government broadband deployment funding 
                        programs.
                    ``(D) Penalties for pre-authorization defaults.--In 
                adopting rules for any new covered funding award, the 
                Commission shall set a penalty for pre-authorization 
                defaults of at least $9,000 per violation and may not 
                limit the base forfeiture to an amount less than 30 
                percent of the applicant's total support, unless the 
                Commission demonstrates the need for lower penalties in 
                a particular instance.''.
                                                       Calendar No. 473

118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                 S. 275

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a vetting 
  process for prospective applicants for high-cost universal service 
                            program funding.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             August 1, 2024

                       Reported with an amendment
```