II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Rural Broadband Pro5 tection Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETTING PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE HIGH-COST 

2 UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND APPLICANTS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

5 Communications Commission; 

6 (2) the term ‘‘covered funding’’ means high-cost 

7 universal service program funding provided through 

8 a competitive award process for the deployment of a 

9 broadband-capable network and the provision of sup10 ported services over the network; and 

11 (3) the term ‘‘new covered funding award’’ 

12 means an award of covered funding that is made 

13 based on an application submitted to the Commis14 sion on or after the date on which rules are promul15 gated under subsection (b). 

16 (b) FCC RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

18 shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish a vet19 ting process for applicants for, and other recipients of, a 

20 new covered funding award. 

21 (c) CONTENTS.—In promulgating rules under sub22 section (b), the Commission shall provide that— 

23 (1) an applicant for a new covered funding 

24 award shall include in the initial application a pro25 posal containing sufficient detail and documentation 

26 for the Commission to ascertain that the applicant 


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1 possesses the technical capability, and has a reason2 able plan, to deploy the proposed network and de3 liver services with the relevant performance charac4 teristics defined by the Commission and as pledged 

5 by the applicant; 

6 (2) the proposal described in paragraph (1) 

7 shall include sufficient detail and supporting docu8 mentation for the Commission to reasonably ascer9 tain whether the applicant and the technology that 

10 the applicant plans to use would have the ability to 

11 perform as required given the characteristics of the 

12 locations to be served; and 

13 (3) the Commission shall evaluate a proposal 

14 described in paragraph (1) against reasonable and 

15 well-established technical standards, including the 

16 technical standards adopted by the Commission in 

17 orders of the Commission relating to modernizing 

18 the FCC Form 477 Data Program (WC Docket No. 

19 11–10) (or orders of the Commission relating to 

20 modernizing any successor collection) for purposes of 

21 entities that must report broadband availability cov22 erage. 

23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Broadband Pro25 tection Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETTING PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE HIGH-COST 

2 UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND APPLICANTS. 

3 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(m) VETTING OF HIGH-COST FUND RECIPIENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered funding’ means any 

8 new offer of high-cost universal service program 

9 funding, including funding provided through a 

10 reverse competitive bidding mechanism provided 

11 under this section, for the deployment of a 

12 broadband-capable network and the provision of 

13 supported services over the network; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘new covered funding award’ 

15 means an award of covered funding that is made 

16 based on an application submitted to the Com17 mission on or after the date on which rules are 

18 promulgated under paragraph (2). 

19 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION RULEMAKING.—Not later than 

20 180 days after the date of enactment of this sub21 section, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking 

22 proceeding to establish a vetting process for appli23 cants for, and other recipients of, a new covered fund24 ing award. 

25 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating rules 

2 under paragraph (2), the Commission shall pro3 vide that, consistent with principles of tech4 nology neutrality, the Commission will only 

5 award covered funding to applicants that can 

6 demonstrate that they meet the qualifications in 

7 subparagraph (B). 

8 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS DESCRIBED.—An ap9 plicant for a new covered funding award shall 

10 include in the initial application a proposal 

11 containing sufficient detail and documentation 

12 for the Commission to ascertain that the appli13 cant possesses the technical, financial, and oper14 ational capabilities, and has a reasonable busi15 ness plan, to deploy the proposed network and 

16 deliver services with the relevant performance 

17 characteristics and requirements defined by the 

18 Commission and as pledged by the applicant. 

19 ‘‘(C) EVALUATION OF PROPOSAL.—The 

20 Commission shall evaluate a proposal described 

21 in subparagraph (B) against— 

22 ‘‘(i) reasonable and well-established 

23 technical, financial, and operational stand24 ards, including the technical standards 

25 adopted by the Commission in orders of the 


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1 Commission relating to Establishing the 

2 Digital Opportunity Data Collection (WC 

3 Docket No. 19–195) (or orders of the Com4 mission relating to modernizing any suc5 cessor collection) for purposes of entities 

6 that must report broadband availability 

7 coverage; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the applicant’s history of com9 plying with requirements in Commission 

10 and other government broadband deploy11 ment funding programs. 

12 ‘‘(D) PENALTIES FOR PRE-AUTHORIZATION

13 DEFAULTS.—In adopting rules for any new cov14 ered funding award, the Commission shall set a 

15 penalty for pre-authorization defaults of at least 

16 $9,000 per violation and may not limit the base 

17 forfeiture to an amount less than 30 percent of 

18 the applicant’s total support, unless the Commis19 sion demonstrates the need for lower penalties in 

20 a particular instance.’’. 


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ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 473 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 275 

A BILL 

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

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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