I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1783 

To make high-speed broadband internet service accessible and affordable 

to all Americans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. CLYBURN (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, 

Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. DELGADO, Ms. 

ESHOO, Mr. KAHELE, Mr. KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. 

KUSTER, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. MCEACHIN, 

Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. 

POCAN, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. 

TRONE, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VEASEY, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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’’. 


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

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Severability. 

TITLE I—DIGITAL EQUITY 

Sec. 1000. Definitions. 

Subtitle A—Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth 

Sec. 1101. Annual report of Office. 

Sec. 1102. Study and report on affordability of adoption of broadband service. 

Sec. 1103. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 1104. Study and recommendations to connect socially disadvantaged individuals. 

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. 

TITLE II—BROADBAND AFFORDABILITY AND PRICING 

TRANSPARENCY 

Subtitle A—Broadband Affordability 

Sec. 2101. Authorization for additional funds for the Emergency Broadband 

Connectivity Fund. 

Sec. 2102. Grants to States to strengthen National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier. 

Sec. 2103. Federal coordination between National Eligibility Verifier and National Accuracy Clearinghouse. 

Sec. 2104. Definitions. 

Subtitle B—Additional Authorization for Emergency Connectivity Fund 

Sec. 2201. Additional authorization for Emergency Connectivity Fund. 

Subtitle C—Pricing Transparency 

Sec. 2301. Definitions. 

Sec. 2302. Broadband transparency. 

Sec. 2303. Distribution of data. 

Sec. 2304. Coordination with certain other Federal agencies. 

Sec. 2305. Adoption of consumer broadband labels. 

Sec. 2306. GAO report. 

TITLE III—BROADBAND ACCESS 

Subtitle A—Expansion of Broadband Access 


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

low-tier or mid-tier service. 

Sec. 3102. Tribal internet expansion. 

Subtitle B—Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation 

Sec. 3201. Short title. 

Sec. 3202. Definitions. 

Sec. 3203. Determination of eligibility and project selection. 

Sec. 3204. Secured loans. 

Sec. 3205. Lines of credit. 

Sec. 3206. Alternative prudential lending standards for small projects. 

Sec. 3207. Program administration. 

Sec. 3208. State and local permits. 

Sec. 3209. Regulations. 

Sec. 3210. Funding. 

Sec. 3211. 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. 

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; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate; 

3 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

4 the House of Representatives; and 

5 (D) the Committee on Energy and Com6 merce of the House of Representatives. 

7 (3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist8 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

9 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

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

11 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

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

13 household’’ means a household the income of which 

14 does not exceed 150 percent of the poverty thresh15 old, as determined by using criteria of poverty estab16 lished by the Bureau of the Census, for a household 

17 of the size involved. 

18 (6) COVERED POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘cov19 ered populations’’ means— 

20 (A) individuals who are members of cov21 ered households; 

22 (B) aging individuals; 

23 (C) incarcerated individuals, other than in24 dividuals who are incarcerated in a Federal cor25 rectional facility (including a private facility opVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 erated under contract with the Federal Govern2 ment); 

3 (D) veterans; 

4 (E) individuals with disabilities; 

5 (F) individuals with a language barrier, in6 cluding individuals who— 

7 (i) are English learners; or 

8 (ii) have low levels of literacy; 

9 (G) individuals who are members of a ra10 cial or ethnic minority group; and 

11 (H) individuals who primarily reside in a 

12 rural area. 

13 (7) DIGITAL LITERACY.—The term ‘‘digital lit14 eracy’’ means the skills associated with using tech15 nology to enable users to find, evaluate, organize, 

16 create, and communicate information. 

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

18 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Ameri19 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

20 12102). 

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

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

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

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

25 has the meaning given such term in section 4(e) of 


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1 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist2 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 

3 (11) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

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

5 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec6 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 

8 (B) includes a postsecondary vocational in9 stitution. 

10 (12) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU11 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu12 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

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

16 the meaning given the term in section 13 of the 

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

18 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 3 of the Communica20 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

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

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

23 United States Code. 

24 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

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


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1 (1) a broadband service connection and digital 

2 literacy are increasingly critical to how individuals— 

3 (A) participate in the society, economy, 

4 and civic institutions of the United States; and 

5 (B) access health care and essential serv6 ices, obtain education, and build careers; 

7 (2) digital exclusion— 

8 (A) carries a high societal and economic 

9 cost; 

10 (B) materially harms the opportunity of an 

11 individual with respect to the economic success, 

12 educational achievement, positive health out13 comes, social inclusion, and civic engagement of 

14 that individual; 

15 (C) materially harms the opportunity of 

16 areas where it is especially widespread with re17 spect to economic success, educational achieve18 ment, positive health outcomes, social cohesion, 

19 and civic institutions; and 

20 (D) exacerbates existing wealth and income 

21 gaps, especially those experienced by covered 

22 populations and between regions; 

23 (3) achieving accessible and affordable access to 

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


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1 people of the United States requires additional and 

2 sustained research efforts and investment; 

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

4 Tribal, and local governments, have made social, 

5 legal, and economic obligations that necessarily ex6 tend to how the citizens and residents of those gov7 ernments access and use the internet; and 

8 (5) achieving accessible and affordable access to 

9 broadband service is a matter of social and economic 

10 justice and is worth pursuing. 

11 (b) BROADBAND SERVICE DEFINED.—In this sec12 tion, the term ‘‘broadband service’’ has the meaning given 

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

14 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

15 successor regulation. 

16 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

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

18 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend19 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid, 

20 the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by 

21 this Act, and the application of such provision or amend22 ment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be 

23 affected thereby. 


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1 TITLE I—DIGITAL EQUITY 

2 SEC. 1000. DEFINITIONS. 

3 In this title: 

4 (1) ADOPTION OF BROADBAND SERVICE.—The 

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

6 process by which an individual obtains daily access 

7 to broadband service— 

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

9 megabits per second, an upload speed of at 

10 least 3 megabits per second, and a latency that 

11 is sufficiently low to allow real-time, interactive 

12 applications; 

13 (B) with the digital skills that are nec14 essary for the individual to participate online; 

15 and 

16 (C) on a— 

17 (i) personal device; and 

18 (ii) secure and convenient network. 

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

20 institution’’ means a public or private school, a li21 brary, a medical or healthcare provider, a museum, 

22 a public safety entity, a public housing agency, a 

23 community college, an institution of higher edu24 cation, a religious organization, or any other com25 munity support organization or agency. 


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1 (3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist2 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary, act3 ing through the Office. 

4 (4) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

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

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

7 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc8 cessor regulation. 

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

10 programs’’ means the State Digital Equity Capacity 

11 Grant Program established under section 1201 and 

12 the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program es13 tablished under section 1202. 

14 (6) DIGITAL EQUITY.—The term ‘‘digital eq15 uity’’ means the condition in which individuals and 

16 communities have the information technology capac17 ity that is needed for full participation in the society 

18 and economy of the United States. 

19 (7) DIGITAL INCLUSION ACTIVITIES.—The term 

20 ‘‘digital inclusion activities’’— 

21 (A) means the activities that are necessary 

22 to ensure that all individuals in the United 

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

24 information and communication technologies, 

25 such as— 


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1 (i) reliable broadband service; 

2 (ii) internet-enabled devices that meet 

3 the needs of the user; and 

4 (iii) applications and online content 

5 designed to enable and encourage self-suf6 ficiency, participation, and collaboration; 

7 and 

8 (B) includes— 

9 (i) the provision of digital literacy 

10 training; 

11 (ii) the provision of quality technical 

12 support; and 

13 (iii) promoting basic awareness of 

14 measures to ensure online privacy and cy15 bersecurity. 

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

17 State’’ means— 

18 (A) with respect to planning grants made 

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

20 respect to which the Assistant Secretary has 

21 approved an application submitted to the As22 sistant Secretary under subparagraph (C) of 

23 such section; and 

24 (B) with respect to capacity grants award25 ed under section 1201(d), a State with respect 


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1 to which the Assistant Secretary has approved 

2 an application submitted to the Assistant Sec3 retary under paragraph (2) of such section. 

4 (9) FEDERAL BROADBAND SUPPORT PRO5 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal broadband support pro6 gram’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

7 903 of division FF of the Consolidated Appropria8 tions Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 

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

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

11 249(c) of title 18, United States Code. 

12 (11) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

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

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

16 7801(30)). 

17 (12) MEDICAID ENROLLEE.—The term ‘‘Med18 icaid enrollee’’ means, with respect to a State, an in19 dividual enrolled in the State plan under title XIX 

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

21 or a waiver of that plan. 

22 (13) NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY

23 VERIFIER.—The term ‘‘National Lifeline Eligibility 

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


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1 54.400 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

2 any successor regulation). 

3 (14) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ means any or5 ganization— 

6 (A) that serves the interests of Native Ha7 waiians; 

8 (B) in which Native Hawaiians serve in 

9 substantive and policymaking positions; 

10 (C) that has as a primary and stated pur11 pose the provision of services to Native Hawai12 ians; and 

13 (D) that is recognized for having expertise 

14 in Native Hawaiian affairs, digital connectivity, 

15 or access to broadband service. 

16 (15) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

17 Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth within 

18 the National Telecommunications and Information 

19 Administration. 

20 (16) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 

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

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

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

24 (17) SNAP PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘SNAP 

25 participant’’ means an individual who is a member 


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1 of a household that participates in the supplemental 

2 nutrition assistance program under the Food and 

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

4 (18) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN5 TAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘‘so6 cially and economically disadvantaged small business 

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

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

9 637(a)(4)). 

10 (19) TRIBALLY DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The 

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

12 designated by an Indian Tribe to carry out activities 

13 under this title. 

14 (20) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND PROGRAM.— 

15 The term ‘‘Universal Service Fund Program’’ has 

16 the meaning given such term in section 903 of divi17 sion FF of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

18 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 

19 (21) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 

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

21 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Work22 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

23 3102). 


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1 Subtitle A—Office of Internet 

2 Connectivity and Growth 

3 SEC. 1101. ANNUAL REPORT OF OFFICE. 

4 Section 903(c)(2)(C) of division FF of the Consoli5 dated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(iv) A description of any non-eco8 nomic benefits of such broadband deploy9 ment efforts, including any effect on civic 

10 engagement. 

11 ‘‘(v) The extent to which residents of 

12 the United States that received broadband 

13 as a result of Federal broadband support 

14 programs and the Universal Service Fund 

15 Programs received broadband at the 

16 download and upload speeds required by 

17 such programs.’’. 

18 SEC. 1102. STUDY AND REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY OF 

19 ADOPTION OF BROADBAND SERVICE. 

20 Section 903 of division FF of the Consolidated Ap21 propriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

24 subsections (i) and (j), respectively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(g) STUDY AND REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY OF

4 ADOPTION OF BROADBAND SERVICE.— 

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

6 the Commission, the Department of Agriculture, the 

7 Department of the Treasury, and such other Federal 

8 agencies as the Office considers appropriate, shall, 

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

10 of this subsection, and biennially thereafter, conduct 

11 a study that examines the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) The number of households for which 

13 cost is a barrier to the adoption of broadband 

14 service, the financial circumstances of such 

15 households, and whether such households are 

16 eligible for the emergency broadband benefit 

17 under section 904 of division N. 

18 ‘‘(B) The extent to which the cost of adop19 tion of broadband service is a financial burden 

20 to households that have adopted broadband 

21 service, the financial circumstances of such fi22 nancially burdened households, and whether 

23 such households are receiving the emergency 

24 broadband benefit under section 904 of division 

25 N. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The appropriate standard to deter2 mine whether adoption of broadband service is 

3 affordable for households, given the financial 

4 circumstances of such households. 

5 ‘‘(D) The feasibility of providing additional 

6 Federal subsidies, including expanding the eligi7 bility for or increasing the amount of the emer8 gency broadband benefit under section 904 of 

9 division N, to households to cover the difference 

10 between the cost of adoption of broadband serv11 ice (determined before applying such additional 

12 Federal subsidies) and the price at which adop13 tion of broadband service would be affordable. 

14 ‘‘(E) How a program to provide additional 

15 Federal subsidies as described in subparagraph 

16 (D) should be administered to most effectively 

17 facilitate adoption of broadband service at the 

18 lowest overall expense to the Federal Govern19 ment, including measures that would ensure 

20 that the availability of the subsidies does not 

21 result in providers raising the price of 

22 broadband service for households receiving sub23 sidies. 

24 ‘‘(F) How participation in the Lifeline pro25 gram of the Commission has changed in the 5 


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1 years prior to the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) geographic information at the 

4 census-block level depicting the scale of 

5 change in participation in each area; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) information on changes in par7 ticipation by specific types of Lifeline-sup8 ported services, including fixed voice te9 lephony service, mobile voice telephony 

10 service, fixed broadband service, and mo11 bile broadband service and, in the case of 

12 any Lifeline-supported services provided as 

13 part of a bundle of services to which a 

14 Lifeline discount is applied, which Lifeline15 supported services are part of such bundle 

16 and whether or not each Lifeline-supported 

17 service in such bundle meets Lifeline min18 imum service standards. 

19 ‘‘(G) How competition impacts the price of 

20 broadband service, including the impact of mo21 nopolistic business practices by broadband serv22 ice providers. 

23 ‘‘(H) The extent to which, if at all, the 

24 Universal Service Fund high-cost programs 

25 have enabled access to reasonably comparable 


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1 telephony and broadband services at reasonably 

2 comparable rates in high-cost rural areas as re3 quired by the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), including a comparison of 

5 the rates charged by recipients of support under 

6 such programs in rural areas and rates charged 

7 in urban areas, as determined by the Commis8 sion’s annual survey. 

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

10 date of the enactment of this subsection, and bienni11 ally thereafter, the Office shall submit to Congress 

12 a report on the results of the study conducted under 

13 paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

15 ‘‘(A) COST.—The term ‘cost’ means, with 

16 respect to adoption of broadband service, the 

17 cost of adoption of broadband service to a 

18 household after applying any subsidies that re19 duce such cost. 

20 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms 

21 ‘adoption of broadband service’ and ‘broadband 

22 service’ have the meanings given such terms in 

23 section 1000 of the Accessible, Affordable Inter24 net for All Act.’’. 


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1 SEC. 1103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Assist3 ant Secretary $26,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

4 2022 through 2026 for the operations of the Office. 

5 SEC. 1104. STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONNECT 

6 SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS. 

7 Section 903 of division FF of the Consolidated Ap8 propriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), as amend9 ed by section 1102, is further amended by inserting before 

10 subsection (i) (as redesignated by such section) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(h) STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONNECT

13 SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

15 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

16 the Office, in consultation with the Commission and 

17 the Rural Utilities Service of the Department of Ag18 riculture, shall, after public notice and an oppor19 tunity for comment, conduct a study to assess the 

20 extent to which Federal funds for broadband service, 

21 including the Universal Service Fund Programs and 

22 other Federal broadband support programs, have ex23 panded access to and adoption of broadband service 

24 by socially disadvantaged individuals as compared to 

25 individuals who are not socially disadvantaged indi26 viduals. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT AND PUBLICATION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 18 

3 months after the date of the enactment of this 

4 subsection, the Office shall submit a report on 

5 the results of the study under paragraph (1) 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Energy and 

8 Commerce of the House of Representa9 tives; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Commerce, 

11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) each agency administering a 

14 program evaluated by such report. 

15 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC PUBLICATION.—Contempora16 neously with submitting the report required by 

17 subparagraph (A), the Office shall publish such 

18 report on the public-facing website of the Of19 fice. 

20 ‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report re21 quired by subparagraph (A) shall include rec22 ommendations with regard to how Federal 

23 funds for the Universal Service Fund Programs 

24 and Federal broadband support programs may 

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1 pands access to and adoption of broadband 

2 service by socially disadvantaged individuals as 

3 compared to individuals who are not socially 

4 disadvantaged individuals. 

5 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

6 ‘‘(A) SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED INDI7 VIDUAL.—The term ‘socially disadvantaged in8 dividual’ has the meaning given that term in 

9 section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 637). 

11 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms 

12 ‘adoption of broadband service’ and ‘broadband 

13 service’ have the meanings given such terms in 

14 section 1000 of the Accessible, Affordable Inter15 net for All Act.’’. 

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’’)— 


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

2 achievement of digital equity, support digital in3 clusion activities, and build capacity for efforts 

4 by States relating to the adoption of broadband 

5 service by residents of those States; 

6 (B) through which the Assistant Secretary 

7 shall make grants to States in accordance with 

8 the requirements of this section; and 

9 (C) which shall ensure that States have the 

10 capacity to promote the achievement of digital 

11 equity and support digital inclusion activities. 

12 (2) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL

13 AGENCIES; NO CONFLICT.—In establishing the Pro14 gram under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 (A) consult with— 

17 (i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

18 (ii) the Secretary of Housing and 

19 Urban Development; 

20 (iii) the Secretary of Education; 

21 (iv) the Secretary of Labor; 

22 (v) the Secretary of Health and 

23 Human Services; 

24 (vi) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

25 (vii) the Secretary of the Interior; 


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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 support programs and Uni18 versal Service Fund Programs. 

19 (3) TRIBAL AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN CONSULTA20 TION AND ENGAGEMENT.—In establishing the Pro21 gram under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary 

22 shall conduct robust, interactive, pre-decisional, 

23 transparent consultation with Indian Tribes and Na24 tive Hawaiian organizations. 

25 (b) ADMINISTERING ENTITY.— 


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

2 equivalent official) of a State that wishes to be 

3 awarded a grant under this section shall, from 

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

5 select an administering entity for that State, which 

6 shall— 

7 (A) serve as the recipient of, and admin8 istering agent for, any grant awarded to the 

9 State under this section; 

10 (B) develop, implement, and oversee the 

11 State Digital Equity Plan for the State de12 scribed in subsection (c); 

13 (C) make subgrants to any of the entities 

14 described in clauses (i) through (xi) of sub15 section (c)(1)(D) that is located in the State in 

16 support of— 

17 (i) the State Digital Equity Plan for 

18 the State; and 

19 (ii) digital inclusion activities in the 

20 State generally; and 

21 (D) serve as— 

22 (i) an advocate for digital equity poli23 cies and digital inclusion activities; and 


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1 (ii) a repository of best practice mate2 rials regarding the policies and activities 

3 described in clause (i). 

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

5 entities may serve as the administering entity for a 

6 State for the purposes of this section if the entity 

7 has demonstrated a capacity to administer the Pro8 gram on a statewide level: 

9 (A) The State. 

10 (B) A political subdivision, agency, or in11 strumentality of the State. 

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

13 a tribally designated entity located in the State, 

14 or a Native Hawaiian organization located in 

15 the State. 

16 (c) STATE DIGITAL EQUITY PLAN.— 

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

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

19 shall develop a State Digital Equity Plan for the 

20 State, which shall include— 

21 (A) an identification of the barriers to dig22 ital equity faced by covered populations in the 

23 State; 

24 (B) measurable objectives for documenting 

25 and promoting, among each group described in 


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

2 located in that State— 

3 (i) the availability of, and affordability 

4 of access to, broadband service and tech5 nology needed for the use of broadband 

6 service; 

7 (ii) public awareness of such avail8 ability and affordability and of subsidies 

9 available to increase such affordability (in10 cluding subsidies available through the 

11 Lifeline program of the Commission), in12 cluding objectives to— 

13 (I) inform Medicaid enrollees and 

14 SNAP participants, and organizations 

15 that serve Medicaid enrollees and 

16 SNAP participants, of potential eligi17 bility for the Lifeline program; and 

18 (II) provide Medicaid enrollees 

19 and SNAP participants with informa20 tion about the Lifeline program, in21 cluding— 

22 (aa) how to apply for the 

23 Lifeline program; and 

24 (bb) a description of the 

25 prohibition on more than one 


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1 subscriber in each household re2 ceiving a service provided under 

3 the Lifeline program; 

4 (iii) the online accessibility and 

5 inclusivity of public resources and services; 

6 (iv) digital literacy; 

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

8 measures to secure the online privacy of, 

9 and cybersecurity with respect to, an indi10 vidual; and 

11 (vi) the availability and affordability 

12 of consumer devices and technical support 

13 for those devices; 

14 (C) an assessment of how the objectives 

15 described in subparagraph (B) will impact and 

16 interact with the State’s— 

17 (i) economic and workforce develop18 ment goals, plans, and outcomes; 

19 (ii) educational outcomes; 

20 (iii) health outcomes; 

21 (iv) civic and social engagement; and 

22 (v) delivery of other essential services; 

23 (D) in order to achieve the objectives de24 scribed in subparagraph (B), a description of 


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1 how the State plans to collaborate with key 

2 stakeholders in the State, which may include— 

3 (i) anchor institutions; 

4 (ii) county and municipal govern5 ments; 

6 (iii) local educational agencies; 

7 (iv) where applicable, Indian Tribes, 

8 tribally designated entities, or Native Ha9 waiian organizations; 

10 (v) nonprofit organizations; 

11 (vi) organizations that represent— 

12 (I) individuals with disabilities, 

13 including organizations that represent 

14 children with disabilities; 

15 (II) aging individuals; 

16 (III) individuals with a language 

17 barrier, including individuals who— 

18 (aa) are English learners; or 

19 (bb) have low levels of lit20 eracy; 

21 (IV) veterans; 

22 (V) individuals residing in rural 

23 areas; and 

24 (VI) incarcerated individuals in 

25 that State, other than individuals who 


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1 are incarcerated in a Federal correc2 tional facility (including a private fa3 cility operated under contract with the 

4 Federal Government); 

5 (vii) civil rights organizations; 

6 (viii) entities that carry out workforce 

7 development programs; 

8 (ix) agencies of the State that are re9 sponsible for administering or supervising 

10 adult education and literacy activities in 

11 the State; 

12 (x) public housing agencies whose ju13 risdictions are located in the State; and 

14 (xi) a consortium of any of the enti15 ties described in clauses (i) through (x); 

16 and 

17 (E) a list of organizations with which the 

18 administering entity for the State collaborated 

19 in developing and implementing the Plan. 

20 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The administering enti22 ty for a State shall make the State Digital Eq23 uity Plan of the State available for public com24 ment for a period of not less than 30 days be25 fore the date on which the State submits an apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 plication to the Assistant Secretary under sub2 section (d)(2). 

3 (B) CONSIDERATION OF COMMENTS RE4 CEIVED.—The administering entity for a State 

5 shall, with respect to an application submitted 

6 to the Assistant Secretary under subsection 

7 (d)(2)— 

8 (i) before submitting the application— 

9 (I) consider all comments re10 ceived during the comment period de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) with re12 spect to the application (referred to in 

13 this subparagraph as the ‘‘comment 

14 period’’); and 

15 (II) make any changes to the 

16 plan that the administering entity de17 termines to be appropriate; and 

18 (ii) when submitting the application— 

19 (I) describe any changes pursued 

20 by the administering entity in re21 sponse to comments received during 

22 the comment period; and 

23 (II) include a written response to 

24 each comment received during the 

25 comment period. 


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1 (3) PLANNING GRANTS.— 

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

3 fiscal year that begins after the date of the en4 actment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

5 shall, in accordance with the requirements of 

6 this paragraph, award planning grants to 

7 States for the purpose of developing the State 

8 Digital Equity Plans of those States under this 

9 subsection. 

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

11 a planning grant under this paragraph, a 

12 State— 

13 (i) shall submit to the Assistant Sec14 retary an application under subparagraph 

15 (C); and 

16 (ii) may not have been awarded, at 

17 any time, a planning grant under this 

18 paragraph. 

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

20 be awarded a planning grant under this para21 graph shall, not later than 60 days after the 

22 date on which the notice of funding availability 

23 with respect to the grant is released, submit to 

24 the Assistant Secretary an application, in a forVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 mat to be determined by the Assistant Sec2 retary, that contains the following materials: 

3 (i) A description of the entity selected 

4 to serve as the administering entity for the 

5 State, as described in subsection (b). 

6 (ii) A certification from the State 

7 that, not later than 1 year after the date 

8 on which the Assistant Secretary awards 

9 the planning grant to the State, the ad10 ministering entity for that State will sub11 mit to the Assistant Secretary a State Dig12 ital Equity Plan developed under this sub13 section, which will comply with the require14 ments of this subsection, including the re15 quirements of paragraph (2). 

16 (iii) The assurances required under 

17 subsection (e). 

18 (D) AWARDS.— 

19 (i) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount 

20 of a planning grant awarded to an eligible 

21 State under this paragraph shall be deter22 mined according to the formula under sub23 section (d)(3)(A)(i). 

24 (ii) DURATION.— 


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1 (I) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro2 vided in subclause (II), with respect to 

3 a planning grant awarded to an eligi4 ble State under this paragraph, the 

5 State shall expend the grant funds 

6 during the 1-year period beginning on 

7 the date on which the State is award8 ed the grant funds. 

9 (II) EXCEPTION.—The Assistant 

10 Secretary may grant an extension of 

11 not longer than 180 days with respect 

12 to the requirement under subclause 

13 (I). 

14 (iii) CHALLENGE MECHANISM.—The 

15 Assistant Secretary shall ensure that any 

16 eligible State to which a planning grant is 

17 awarded under this paragraph may appeal 

18 or otherwise challenge in a timely fashion 

19 the amount of the grant awarded to the 

20 State, as determined under clause (i). 

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

22 which a planning grant is awarded under this 

23 paragraph shall, through the administering en24 tity for that State, use the grant funds only for 

25 the following purposes: 


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1 (i) To develop the State Digital Eq2 uity Plan of the State under this sub3 section. 

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

5 make subgrants to any of the entities de6 scribed in clauses (i) through (xi) of para7 graph (1)(D) to assist in the development 

8 of the State Digital Equity Plan of the 

9 State under this subsection. 

10 (II) If the administering entity for a 

11 State makes a subgrant described in sub12 clause (I), the administering entity shall, 

13 with respect to the subgrant, provide to the 

14 State the assurances required under sub15 section (e). 

16 (d) STATE CAPACITY GRANTS.— 

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

18 years after the date on which the Assistant Sec19 retary begins awarding planning grants under sub20 section (c)(3), the Assistant Secretary shall each 

21 year award grants to eligible States to support— 

22 (A) the implementation of the State Dig23 ital Equity Plans of those States; and 

24 (B) digital inclusion activities in those 

25 States. 


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

2 awarded a grant under this subsection shall, not 

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

4 of funding availability with respect to the grant is 

5 released, submit to the Assistant Secretary an appli6 cation, in a format to be determined by the Assist7 ant Secretary, that contains the following materials: 

8 (A) A description of the entity selected to 

9 serve as the administering entity for the State, 

10 as described in subsection (b). 

11 (B) The State Digital Equity Plan of that 

12 State, as described in subsection (c). 

13 (C) A certification that the State, acting 

14 through the administering entity for the State, 

15 shall— 

16 (i) implement the State Digital Equity 

17 Plan of the State; and 

18 (ii) make grants in a manner that is 

19 consistent with the aims of the Plan de20 scribed in clause (i). 

21 (D) The assurances required under sub22 section (e). 

23 (E) In the case of a State to which the As24 sistant Secretary has previously awarded a 

25 grant under this subsection, any amendments 


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1 to the State Digital Equity Plan of that State, 

2 as compared with the State Digital Equity Plan 

3 of the State previously submitted. 

4 (3) AWARDS.— 

5 (A) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

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

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

8 calculate the amount of a grant awarded to 

9 an eligible State under this subsection in 

10 accordance with the following criteria, 

11 using the best available data for all States 

12 for the fiscal year in which the grant is 

13 awarded: 

14 (I) 50 percent of the total grant 

15 amount shall be based on the popu16 lation of the eligible State in propor17 tion to the total population of all eligi18 ble States. 

19 (II) 25 percent of the total grant 

20 amount shall be based on the number 

21 of individuals in the eligible State who 

22 are members of covered populations in 

23 proportion to the total number of indi24 viduals in all eligible States who are 

25 members of covered populations. 


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1 (III) 25 percent of the total 

2 grant amount shall be based on the 

3 lack of availability of broadband serv4 ice and lack of adoption of broadband 

5 service in the eligible State in propor6 tion to the lack of availability of 

7 broadband service and lack of adop8 tion of broadband service in all eligi9 ble States, which shall be determined 

10 according to data collected— 

11 (aa) from the annual inquiry 

12 of the Commission conducted 

13 under section 706(b) of the Tele14 communications Act of 1996 (47 

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

16 (bb) from the American 

17 Community Survey or, if nec18 essary, other data collected by 

19 the Bureau of the Census; 

20 (cc) from the Internet and 

21 Computer Use Supplement to the 

22 Current Population Survey of the 

23 Bureau of the Census; 

24 (dd) by the Commission pur25 suant to the rules issued under 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 section 802 of the Communica2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

3 642); and 

4 (ee) from any other source 

5 that the Assistant Secretary, 

6 after appropriate notice and op7 portunity for public comment, de8 termines to be appropriate. 

9 (ii) MINIMUM AWARD.—The amount 

10 of a grant awarded to an eligible State 

11 under this subsection in a fiscal year shall 

12 be not less than 0.5 percent of the total 

13 amount made available to award grants to 

14 eligible States for that fiscal year. 

15 (iii) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—If, after 

16 awarding planning grants to States under 

17 subsection (c)(3) and capacity grants to el18 igible States under this subsection in a fis19 cal year, there are amounts remaining to 

20 carry out this section, the Assistant Sec21 retary shall distribute those amounts— 

22 (I) to eligible States to which the 

23 Assistant Secretary has awarded 

24 grants under this subsection for that 

25 fiscal year; and 


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1 (II) in accordance with the for2 mula described in clause (i). 

3 (iv) DATA UNAVAILABLE.—If, in a fis4 cal year, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

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

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

7 for Puerto Rico is unavailable for a factor 

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

9 clause (i), the Assistant Secretary shall use 

10 the median data point with respect to that 

11 factor among all eligible States and assign 

12 it to Puerto Rico for the purposes of mak13 ing any calculation under that clause for 

14 that fiscal year. 

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

16 awarded to an eligible State under this sub17 section, the eligible State shall expend the grant 

18 funds during the 5-year period beginning on the 

19 date on which the eligible State is awarded the 

20 grant funds. 

21 (C) CHALLENGE MECHANISM.—The As22 sistant Secretary shall ensure that any eligible 

23 State to which a grant is awarded under this 

24 subsection may appeal or otherwise challenge in 

25 a timely fashion the amount of the grant 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 awarded to the State, as determined under sub2 paragraph (A). 

3 (D) USE OF FUNDS.—The administering 

4 entity for an eligible State to which a grant is 

5 awarded under this subsection shall use the 

6 grant amounts for the following purposes: 

7 (i)(I) Subject to subclause (II), to up8 date or maintain the State Digital Equity 

9 Plan of the State. 

10 (II) An administering entity for an el11 igible State to which a grant is awarded 

12 under this subsection may use not more 

13 than 20 percent of the amount of the 

14 grant for the purpose described in sub15 clause (I). 

16 (ii) To implement the State Digital 

17 Equity Plan of the State. 

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

19 award a grant to any entity that is de20 scribed in section 1202(b) and is located in 

21 the eligible State in order to— 

22 (aa) assist in the implementation 

23 of the State Digital Equity Plan of 

24 the State; 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 (bb) pursue digital inclusion ac2 tivities in the State consistent with 

3 the State Digital Equity Plan of the 

4 State; and 

5 (cc) report to the State regarding 

6 the digital inclusion activities of the 

7 entity. 

8 (II) Before an administering entity 

9 for an eligible State may award a grant 

10 under subclause (I), the administering en11 tity shall require the entity to which the 

12 grant is awarded to certify that— 

13 (aa) the entity shall carry out the 

14 activities required under items (aa), 

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

16 (bb) the receipt of the grant shall 

17 not result in unjust enrichment of the 

18 entity; and 

19 (cc) the entity shall cooperate 

20 with any evaluation— 

21 (AA) of any program that 

22 relates to a grant awarded to the 

23 entity; and 

24 (BB) that is carried out by 

25 or for the administering entity, 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 the Assistant Secretary, or an2 other Federal official. 

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

4 evaluate the efficacy of the efforts funded 

5 by grants made under clause (iii). 

6 (II) An administering entity for an el7 igible State to which a grant is awarded 

8 under this subsection may use not more 

9 than 5 percent of the amount of the grant 

10 for a purpose described in subclause (I). 

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

12 the administrative costs incurred in car13 rying out the activities described in clauses 

14 (i) through (iv). 

15 (II) An administering entity for an el16 igible State to which a grant is awarded 

17 under this subsection may use not more 

18 than 3 percent of the amount of the grant 

19 for the purpose described in subclause (I). 

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

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

22 that grant assurances that— 

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

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

25 1202(b) is awarded grant funds under this section 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 (referred to in this subsection as a ‘‘covered recipi2 ent’’), provide that— 

3 (A) the covered recipient shall use the 

4 grant funds in accordance with any applicable 

5 statute, regulation, or application procedure; 

6 (B) the administering entity for that State 

7 shall adopt and use proper methods of admin8 istering any grant that the covered recipient is 

9 awarded, including by— 

10 (i) enforcing any obligation imposed 

11 under law on any agency, institution, orga12 nization, or other entity that is responsible 

13 for carrying out the program to which the 

14 grant relates; 

15 (ii) correcting any deficiency in the 

16 operation of a program to which the grant 

17 relates, as identified through an audit or 

18 another monitoring or evaluation proce19 dure; and 

20 (iii) adopting written procedures for 

21 the receipt and resolution of complaints al22 leging a violation of law with respect to a 

23 program to which the grant relates; and 

24 (C) the administering entity for that State 

25 shall cooperate in carrying out any evaluation— 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 (i) of any program that relates to a 

2 grant awarded to the covered recipient; 

3 and 

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

5 Assistant Secretary or another Federal of6 ficial; 

7 (2) the administering entity for that State 

8 shall— 

9 (A) use fiscal control and fund accounting 

10 procedures that ensure the proper disbursement 

11 of, and accounting for, any Federal funds that 

12 the State is awarded under this section; 

13 (B) submit to the Assistant Secretary any 

14 reports that may be necessary to enable the As15 sistant Secretary to perform the duties of the 

16 Assistant Secretary under this section; 

17 (C) maintain any records and provide any 

18 information to the Assistant Secretary, includ19 ing those records, that the Assistant Secretary 

20 determines is necessary to enable the Assistant 

21 Secretary to perform the duties of the Assistant 

22 Secretary under this section; and 

23 (D) with respect to any significant pro24 posed change or amendment to the State Dig25 ital Equity Plan for the State, make the change 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 or amendment available for public comment in 

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

3 (3) the State, before submitting to the Assist4 ant Secretary the State Digital Equity Plan of the 

5 State, has complied with the requirements of sub6 section (c)(2). 

7 (f) TERMINATION OF GRANT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to other author9 ity under applicable law, the Assistant Secretary 

10 shall terminate a grant awarded to an eligible State 

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

12 opportunity for a hearing, the Assistant Secretary 

13 determines, and presents to the State a rationale 

14 and supporting information that clearly dem15 onstrates, that— 

16 (A) the grant funds are not contributing to 

17 the development or implementation of the State 

18 Digital Equity Plan of the State, as applicable; 

19 (B) the State is not upholding assurances 

20 made by the State to the Assistant Secretary 

21 under subsection (e); or 

22 (C) the grant is no longer necessary to 

23 achieve the original purpose for which the As24 sistant Secretary awarded the grant. 


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1 (2) REDISTRIBUTION.—If the Assistant Sec2 retary, in a fiscal year, terminates a grant under 

3 paragraph (1) or under other authority under appli4 cable law, the Assistant Secretary shall redistribute 

5 the unspent grant amounts— 

6 (A) to eligible States to which the Assist7 ant Secretary has awarded grants under sub8 section (d) for that fiscal year; and 

9 (B) in accordance with the formula de10 scribed in subsection (d)(3)(A)(i). 

11 (g) REPORTING AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS; 

12 INTERNET DISCLOSURE.—The Assistant Secretary— 

13 (1) shall— 

14 (A) require any entity to which a grant, in15 cluding a subgrant, is awarded under this sec16 tion to publicly report, for each year during the 

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

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

19 grant, and in a format specified by the Assist20 ant Secretary, on— 

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

22 (ii) the progress of the entity towards 

23 fulfilling the objectives for which the grant 

24 was awarded; and 


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1 (iii) the implementation of the State 

2 Digital Equity Plan of the State; 

3 (B) establish appropriate mechanisms to 

4 ensure that any entity to which a grant, includ5 ing a subgrant, is awarded under this section— 

6 (i) uses the grant amounts in an ap7 propriate manner; and 

8 (ii) complies with all terms with re9 spect to the use of the grant amounts; and 

10 (C) create and maintain a fully searchable 

11 database, which shall be accessible on the inter12 net at no cost to the public, that contains, at 

13 a minimum— 

14 (i) the application of each State that 

15 has applied for a grant under this section; 

16 (ii) the status of each application de17 scribed in clause (i); 

18 (iii) each report submitted by an enti19 ty under subparagraph (A); 

20 (iv) a record of public comments re21 ceived during the comment period de22 scribed in subsection (c)(2)(A) regarding 

23 the State Digital Equity Plan of a State, 

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1 tions taken as a result of those comments; 

2 and 

3 (v) any other information that the As4 sistant Secretary considers appropriate to 

5 ensure that the public has sufficient infor6 mation to understand and monitor grants 

7 awarded under this section; and 

8 (2) may establish additional reporting and in9 formation requirements for any recipient of a grant 

10 under this section. 

11 (h) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant or 

12 subgrant awarded under this section shall supplement, not 

13 supplant, other Federal or State funds that have been 

14 made available to carry out activities described in this sec15 tion. 

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

17 a fiscal year to carry out the Program, the Assistant Sec18 retary shall reserve— 

19 (1) not more than 5 percent for the implemen20 tation and administration of the Program, which 

21 shall include— 

22 (A) providing technical support and assist23 ance, including ensuring consistency in data re24 porting; 

25 (B) providing assistance to— 


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1 (i) States, or administering entities 

2 for States, to prepare the applications of 

3 those States; and 

4 (ii) administering entities with respect 

5 to grants awarded under this section; 

6 (C) developing the report required under 

7 section 1203(a); and 

8 (D) providing assistance specific to Indian 

9 Tribes, tribally designated entities, and Native 

10 Hawaiian organizations, including— 

11 (i) conducting annual outreach to In12 dian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organiza13 tions on the availability of technical assist14 ance for applying for or otherwise partici15 pating in the Program; 

16 (ii) providing technical assistance at 

17 the request of any Indian Tribe, tribally 

18 designated entity, or Native Hawaiian or19 ganization that is applying for or partici20 pating in the Program in order to facilitate 

21 the fulfillment of any applicable require22 ments in subsections (c) and (d); and 

23 (iii) providing additional technical as24 sistance at the request of any Indian 

25 Tribe, tribally designated entity, or Native 


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•HR 1783 IH

1 Hawaiian organization that is applying for 

2 or participating in the Program to improve 

3 the development or implementation of a 

4 Digital Equity plan, such as— 

5 (I) assessing all Federal pro6 grams that are available to assist the 

7 Indian Tribe, tribally designated enti8 ty, or Native Hawaiian organization 

9 in meeting the goals of a Digital Eq10 uity plan; 

11 (II) identifying all applicable 

12 Federal, State, and Tribal statutory 

13 provisions, regulations, policies, and 

14 procedures that the Assistant Sec15 retary determines are necessary to ad16 here to for the deployment of 

17 broadband service; 

18 (III) identifying obstacles to the 

19 deployment of broadband service 

20 under a Digital Equity plan, as well 

21 as potential solutions; or 

22 (IV) identifying activities that 

23 may be necessary to the success of a 

24 Digital Equity plan, including digital 

25 literacy training, technical support, 


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1 privacy and cybersecurity expertise, 

2 and other end-user technology needs; 

3 and 

4 (2) not less than 5 percent to award grants di5 rectly to Indian Tribes, tribally designated entities, 

6 and Native Hawaiian organizations to allow those 

7 Tribes, entities, and organizations to carry out the 

8 activities described in this section. 

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

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

11 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Assistant Sec13 retary— 

14 (1) for the award of grants under subsection 

15 (c)(3), $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, and such 

16 amount is authorized to remain available through 

17 fiscal year 2026; and 

18 (2) for the award of grants under subsection 

19 (d), $625,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, and such 

20 amount is authorized to remain available through 

21 fiscal year 2026. 

22 SEC. 1202. DIGITAL EQUITY COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO23 GRAM. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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

2 the date on which the Assistant Secretary begins 

3 awarding grants under section 1201(d), and not be4 fore that date, the Assistant Secretary shall estab5 lish in the Office the Digital Equity Competitive 

6 Grant Program (referred to in this section as the 

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

8 grants to support efforts to achieve digital equity, 

9 promote digital inclusion activities, and spur greater 

10 adoption of broadband service among covered popu11 lations. 

12 (2) CONSULTATION; NO CONFLICT.—In estab13 lishing the Program under paragraph (1), the As14 sistant Secretary— 

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

16 (i) the identification of groups de17 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (H) 

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

19 (ii) the allocation of grant funds with20 in that State for projects in or affecting 

21 the State; and 

22 (B) shall— 

23 (i) consult with— 

24 (I) the Secretary of Agriculture; 


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1 (II) the Secretary of Housing 

2 and Urban Development; 

3 (III) the Secretary of Education; 

4 (IV) the Secretary of Labor; 

5 (V) the Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services; 

7 (VI) the Secretary of Veterans 

8 Affairs; 

9 (VII) the Secretary of the Inte10 rior; 

11 (VIII) the Assistant Secretary for 

12 Indian Affairs of the Department of 

13 the Interior; 

14 (IX) the Commission; 

15 (X) the Federal Trade Commis16 sion; 

17 (XI) the Director of the Institute 

18 of Museum and Library Services; 

19 (XII) the Administrator of the 

20 Small Business Administration; 

21 (XIII) the Federal Cochairman 

22 of the Appalachian Regional Commis23 sion; and 

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1 retary determines to be appropriate; 

2 and 

3 (ii) ensure that the Program com4 plements and enhances, and does not con5 flict with, other Federal broadband support 

6 programs and Universal Service Fund Pro7 grams. 

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Assistant Secretary may 

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

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

11 as the administering entity for a State under section 

12 1201(b): 

13 (1) A political subdivision, agency, or instru14 mentality of a State, including an agency of a State 

15 that is responsible for administering or supervising 

16 adult education and literacy activities in the State. 

17 (2) An Indian Tribe, a tribally designated enti18 ty, or a Native Hawaiian organization. 

19 (3) An entity that is— 

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

21 (B) not a school. 

22 (4) An anchor institution. 

23 (5) A local educational agency. 

24 (6) An entity that carries out a workforce devel25 opment program. 


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1 (7) A consortium of any of the entities de2 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (6). 

3 (8) A consortium of— 

4 (A) an entity described in any of para5 graphs (1) through (6); and 

6 (B) an entity that— 

7 (i) the Assistant Secretary, by rule, 

8 determines to be in the public interest; and 

9 (ii) is not a school. 

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

11 awarded a grant under the Program shall submit to the 

12 Assistant Secretary an application— 

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

14 such information as the Assistant Secretary may re15 quire; and 

16 (2) that— 

17 (A) provides a detailed explanation of how 

18 the entity will use any grant amounts awarded 

19 under the Program to carry out the purposes of 

20 the Program in an efficient and expeditious 

21 manner; 

22 (B) identifies the period in which the ap23 plicant will expend the grant funds awarded 

24 under the Program; 

25 (C) includes— 


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1 (i) a justification for the amount of 

2 the grant that the applicant is requesting; 

3 and 

4 (ii) for each fiscal year in which the 

5 applicant will expend the grant funds, a 

6 budget for the activities that the grant 

7 funds will support; 

8 (D) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 

9 Assistant Secretary that the entity— 

10 (i) is capable of carrying out the 

11 project or function to which the application 

12 relates and the activities described in sub13 section (h)— 

14 (I) in a competent manner; and 

15 (II) in compliance with all appli16 cable Federal, State, and local laws; 

17 and 

18 (ii) if the applicant is an entity de19 scribed in subsection (b)(1), will appro20 priate or otherwise unconditionally obligate 

21 from non-Federal sources funds that are 

22 necessary to meet the requirements of sub23 section (e); 

24 (E) discloses to the Assistant Secretary the 

25 source and amount of other Federal, State, or 


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1 outside funding sources from which the entity 

2 receives, or has applied for, funding for activi3 ties or projects to which the application relates; 

4 and 

5 (F) provides— 

6 (i) the assurances that are required 

7 under subsection (f); and 

8 (ii) an assurance that the entity shall 

9 follow such additional procedures as the 

10 Assistant Secretary may require to ensure 

11 that grant funds are used and accounted 

12 for in an appropriate manner. 

13 (d) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

14 (1) FACTORS CONSIDERED IN AWARD OF

15 GRANTS.—In deciding whether to award a grant 

16 under the Program, the Assistant Secretary shall, to 

17 the extent practicable, consider— 

18 (A) whether— 

19 (i) an application will, if approved— 

20 (I) increase access to broadband 

21 service and the adoption of broadband 

22 service among covered populations to 

23 be served by the applicant; and 

24 (II) not result in unjust enrich25 ment; and 


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1 (ii) the applicant is, or plans to sub2 contract with, a socially and economically 

3 disadvantaged small business concern; 

4 (B) the comparative geographic diversity of 

5 the application in relation to other eligible ap6 plications; and 

7 (C) the extent to which an application may 

8 duplicate or conflict with another program. 

9 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the ac11 tivities required under subparagraph (B), an 

12 entity to which the Assistant Secretary awards 

13 a grant under the Program shall use the grant 

14 amounts to support not less than one of the fol15 lowing activities: 

16 (i) To develop and implement digital 

17 inclusion activities that benefit covered 

18 populations. 

19 (ii) To facilitate the adoption of 

20 broadband service by covered populations, 

21 including by raising awareness of subsidies 

22 available to increase affordability of such 

23 service (including subsidies available 

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1 vide educational and employment opportu2 nities to those populations. 

3 (iii) To implement, consistent with the 

4 purposes of this subtitle— 

5 (I) training programs for covered 

6 populations that cover basic, ad7 vanced, and applied skills; or 

8 (II) other workforce development 

9 programs. 

10 (iv) To make available equipment, in11 strumentation, networking capability, hard12 ware and software, or digital network tech13 nology for broadband service to covered 

14 populations at low or no cost. 

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

16 operate new or existing public access com17 puting centers for covered populations 

18 through anchor institutions. 

19 (vi) To undertake any other project or 

20 activity that the Assistant Secretary finds 

21 to be consistent with the purposes for 

22 which the Program is established. 

23 (B) EVALUATION.— 

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

25 the Assistant Secretary awards a grant 


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1 under the Program shall use not more 

2 than 10 percent of the grant amounts to 

3 measure and evaluate the activities sup4 ported with the grant amounts. 

5 (ii) SUBMISSION TO ASSISTANT SEC6 RETARY.—An entity to which the Assistant 

7 Secretary awards a grant under the Pro8 gram shall submit to the Assistant Sec9 retary each measurement and evaluation 

10 performed under clause (i)— 

11 (I) in a manner specified by the 

12 Assistant Secretary; 

13 (II) not later than 15 months 

14 after the date on which the entity is 

15 awarded the grant amounts; and 

16 (III) annually after the submis17 sion described in subclause (II) for 

18 any year in which the entity expends 

19 grant amounts. 

20 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—An entity to 

21 which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant 

22 under the Program may use not more than 10 

23 percent of the amount of the grant for adminis24 trative costs in carrying out any of the activities 

25 described in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (D) TIME LIMITATIONS.—With respect to 

2 a grant awarded to an entity under the Pro3 gram, the entity— 

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

5 shall expend the grant amounts during the 

6 4-year period beginning on the date on 

7 which the entity is awarded the grant 

8 amounts; and 

9 (ii) during the 1-year period beginning 

10 on the date that is 4 years after the date 

11 on which the entity is awarded the grant 

12 amounts, may continue to measure and 

13 evaluate the activities supported with the 

14 grant amounts, as required under subpara15 graph (B). 

16 (E) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—All 

17 laborers and mechanics employed by contractors 

18 or subcontractors in the performance of con19 struction, alteration, or repair work carried out, 

20 in whole or in part, with a grant under the Pro21 gram shall be paid wages at rates not less than 

22 those prevailing on projects of a similar char23 acter in the locality as determined by the Sec24 retary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

25 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 


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1 Code. With respect to the labor standards in 

2 this subparagraph, the Secretary of Labor shall 

3 have the authority and functions set forth in 

4 Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 

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

6 title 40, United States Code. 

7 (F) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An em8 ployer to which the Assistant Secretary awards 

9 a grant under the Program shall remain neutral 

10 with respect to the exercise of employees and 

11 labor organizations of the right to organize and 

12 bargain under the National Labor Relations Act 

13 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

14 (G) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS

15 OF APPLICABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOY16 MENT LAWS.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

17 refer any alleged violation of an applicable labor 

18 and employment law to the appropriate Federal 

19 agency for investigation and enforcement, any 

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

21 the National Labor Relations Board for inves22 tigation and enforcement, utilizing all appro23 priate remedies up to and including debarment 

24 from the Program. 

25 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the Federal share of any project for 

3 which the Assistant Secretary awards a grant under 

4 the Program may not exceed 90 percent. 

5 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Assistant Secretary may 

6 grant a waiver with respect to the limitation on the 

7 Federal share of a project described in paragraph 

8 (1) if— 

9 (A) the applicant with respect to the 

10 project petitions the Assistant Secretary for the 

11 waiver; and 

12 (B) the Assistant Secretary determines 

13 that the petition described in subparagraph (A) 

14 demonstrates financial need. 

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

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

17 that grant assurances that the entity will— 

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

19 awarded in accordance with any applicable statute, 

20 regulation, or application procedure; 

21 (2) adopt and use proper methods of admin22 istering any grant that the entity is awarded, includ23 ing by— 

24 (A) enforcing any obligation imposed under 

25 law on any agency, institution, organization, or 


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1 other entity that is responsible for carrying out 

2 a program to which the grant relates; 

3 (B) correcting any deficiency in the oper4 ation of a program to which the grant relates, 

5 as identified through an audit or another moni6 toring or evaluation procedure; and 

7 (C) adopting written procedures for the re8 ceipt and resolution of complaints alleging a 

9 violation of law with respect to a program to 

10 which the grant relates; 

11 (3) cooperate with respect to any evaluation— 

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

13 awarded to the entity; and 

14 (B) that is carried out by or for the Assist15 ant Secretary or another Federal official; 

16 (4) use fiscal control and fund accounting pro17 cedures that ensure the proper disbursement of, and 

18 accounting for, any Federal funds that the entity is 

19 awarded under the Program; 

20 (5) submit to the Assistant Secretary any re21 ports that may be necessary to enable the Assistant 

22 Secretary to perform the duties of the Assistant Sec23 retary under the Program; and 

24 (6) maintain any records and provide any infor25 mation to the Assistant Secretary, including those 


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1 records, that the Assistant Secretary determines is 

2 necessary to enable the Assistant Secretary to per3 form the duties of the Assistant Secretary under the 

4 Program. 

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

6 authority under applicable law, the Assistant Secretary 

7 shall— 

8 (1) terminate a grant awarded to an entity 

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

10 opportunity for a hearing, the Assistant Secretary 

11 determines, and presents to the entity a rationale 

12 and supporting information that clearly dem13 onstrates, that— 

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

15 a manner that is consistent with the application 

16 with respect to the grant submitted by the enti17 ty under subsection (c); 

18 (B) the entity is not upholding assurances 

19 made by the entity to the Assistant Secretary 

20 under subsection (f); or 

21 (C) the grant is no longer necessary to 

22 achieve the original purpose for which the As23 sistant Secretary awarded the grant; and 

24 (2) with respect to any grant funds that the As25 sistant Secretary terminates under paragraph (1) or 


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1 under other authority under applicable law, competi2 tively award the grant funds to another applicant (if 

3 such an applicant exists), consistent with the re4 quirements of this section. 

5 (h) REPORTING AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS; 

6 INTERNET DISCLOSURE.—The Assistant Secretary— 

7 (1) shall— 

8 (A) require any entity to which the Assist9 ant Secretary awards a grant under the Pro10 gram to, for each year during the period de11 scribed in clause (i) of subsection (d)(2)(D) 

12 with respect to the grant and during the period 

13 described in clause (ii) of such subsection with 

14 respect to the grant if the entity continues to 

15 measure and evaluate the activities supported 

16 with the grant amounts during such period, 

17 submit to the Assistant Secretary a report, in 

18 a format specified by the Assistant Secretary, 

19 regarding— 

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

21 amounts; and 

22 (ii) the progress of the entity towards 

23 fulfilling the objectives for which the grant 

24 was awarded; 


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1 (B) establish mechanisms to ensure appro2 priate use of, and compliance with respect to all 

3 terms regarding, grant funds awarded under 

4 the Program; 

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) a list of each entity that has ap10 plied for a grant under the Program; 

11 (ii) a description of each application 

12 described in clause (i), including the pro13 posed purpose of each grant described in 

14 that clause; 

15 (iii) the status of each application de16 scribed in clause (i), including whether the 

17 Assistant Secretary has awarded a grant 

18 with respect to the application and, if so, 

19 the amount of the grant; 

20 (iv) each report submitted by an enti21 ty under subparagraph (A); and 

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

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1 mation to understand and monitor grants 

2 awarded under the Program; and 

3 (D) ensure that any entity with respect to 

4 which an award is terminated under subsection 

5 (g) may, in a timely manner, appeal or other6 wise challenge that termination; and 

7 (2) may establish additional reporting and in8 formation requirements for any recipient of a grant 

9 under the Program. 

10 (i) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant award11 ed to an entity under the Program shall supplement, not 

12 supplant, other Federal or State funds that have been 

13 made available to the entity to carry out activities de14 scribed in this section. 

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

16 a fiscal year to carry out the Program, the Assistant Sec17 retary shall reserve— 

18 (1) not more than 5 percent for the implemen19 tation and administration of the Program, which 

20 shall include— 

21 (A) providing technical support and assist22 ance, including ensuring consistency in data re23 porting; 


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1 (B) providing assistance to entities to pre2 pare the applications of those entities with re3 spect to grants awarded under this section; 

4 (C) developing the report required under 

5 section 1203(a); and 

6 (D) conducting outreach to entities that 

7 may be eligible to be awarded a grant under the 

8 Program regarding opportunities to apply for 

9 such a grant; and 

10 (2) not less than 5 percent to award grants di11 rectly to Indian Tribes, tribally designated entities, 

12 and Native Hawaiian organizations to allow those 

13 Tribes, entities, and organizations to carry out the 

14 activities described in this section. 

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

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

17 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Assistant Sec19 retary $625,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal 

20 year 2022, and such amount is authorized to remain avail21 able through fiscal year 2026. 

22 SEC. 1203. POLICY RESEARCH, DATA COLLECTION, ANAL23 YSIS AND MODELING, EVALUATION, AND DIS24 SEMINATION. 

25 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

2 the date on which the Assistant Secretary begins 

3 awarding grants under section 1201(d), and annu4 ally thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall— 

5 (A) submit to the appropriate committees 

6 of Congress a report that documents, for the 

7 year covered by the report— 

8 (i) the findings of each evaluation 

9 conducted under subparagraph (B); 

10 (ii) a list of each grant awarded under 

11 each covered program, which shall in12 clude— 

13 (I) the amount of each such 

14 grant; 

15 (II) the recipient of each such 

16 grant; and 

17 (III) the purpose for which each 

18 such grant was awarded; 

19 (iii) any termination or modification 

20 of a grant awarded under the covered pro21 grams, which shall include a description of 

22 the subsequent usage of any funds to 

23 which such an action applies; and 

24 (iv) each challenge made by an appli25 cant for, or a recipient of, a grant under 


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1 the covered programs and the outcome of 

2 each such challenge; and 

3 (B) conduct evaluations of the activities 

4 carried out under the covered programs, which 

5 shall include an evaluation of— 

6 (i) whether eligible States to which 

7 grants are awarded under the program es8 tablished under section 1201 are— 

9 (I) abiding by the assurances 

10 made by those States under sub11 section (e) of that section; 

12 (II) meeting, or have met, the 

13 stated goals of the State Digital Eq14 uity Plans developed by the States 

15 under subsection (c) of that section; 

16 (III) satisfying the requirements 

17 imposed by the Assistant Secretary on 

18 those States under subsection (g) of 

19 that section; and 

20 (IV) in compliance with any 

21 other rules, requirements, or regula22 tions promulgated by the Assistant 

23 Secretary in implementing that pro24 gram; and 


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1 (ii) whether entities to which grants 

2 are awarded under the program established 

3 under section 1202 are— 

4 (I) abiding by the assurances 

5 made by those entities under sub6 section (f) of that section; 

7 (II) meeting, or have met, the 

8 stated goals of those entities with re9 spect to the use of the grant amounts; 

10 (III) satisfying the requirements 

11 imposed by the Assistant Secretary on 

12 those entities under subsection (h) of 

13 that section; and 

14 (IV) in compliance with any 

15 other rules, requirements, or regula16 tions promulgated by the Assistant 

17 Secretary in implementing that pro18 gram. 

19 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Assistant Sec20 retary shall make each report submitted under para21 graph (1)(A) publicly available in an online format 

22 that— 

23 (A) facilitates access and ease of use; 

24 (B) is searchable; and 

25 (C) is accessible— 


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1 (i) to individuals with disabilities; and 

2 (ii) in languages other than English. 

3 (b) AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT AND ENTER INTO

4 OTHER ARRANGEMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary may 

5 award grants and enter into contracts, cooperative agree6 ments, and other arrangements with Federal agencies, 

7 public and private organizations, and other entities with 

8 expertise that the Assistant Secretary determines appro9 priate in order to— 

10 (1) evaluate the impact and efficacy of activities 

11 supported by grants awarded under the covered pro12 grams; and 

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

14 the exchange of best practices, both with respect to 

15 and independent of the covered programs, in order 

16 to achieve digital equity. 

17 (c) CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.—In 

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

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

20 Assistant Secretary shall conduct ongoing collaboration 

21 and consult with— 

22 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

23 (2) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel24 opment; 

25 (3) the Secretary of Education; 


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1 (4) the Secretary of Labor; 

2 (5) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv3 ices; 

4 (6) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

5 (7) the Secretary of the Interior; 

6 (8) the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of 

7 the Department of the Interior; 

8 (9) the Commission; 

9 (10) the Federal Trade Commission; 

10 (11) the Director of the Institute of Museum 

11 and Library Services; 

12 (12) the Administrator of the Small Business 

13 Administration; 

14 (13) the Federal Cochairman of the Appa15 lachian Regional Commission; 

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

17 equivalent officials); 

18 (15) entities serving as administering entities 

19 for States under section 1201(b); 

20 (16) national, State, Tribal, and local organiza21 tions that conduct digital inclusion activities, pro22 mote digital equity, or provide digital literacy serv23 ices; 

24 (17) researchers, academics, and philanthropic 

25 organizations; and 


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1 (18) other agencies, organizations (including 

2 international organizations), entities (including enti3 ties with expertise in the fields of data collection, 

4 analysis and modeling, and evaluation), and commu5 nity stakeholders, as determined appropriate by the 

6 Assistant Secretary. 

7 (d) TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE.—The 

8 Assistant Secretary shall provide technical support and as9 sistance to potential applicants for the covered programs 

10 and entities awarded grants under the covered programs, 

11 to ensure consistency in data reporting and to meet the 

12 objectives of this section. 

13 SEC. 1204. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

14 (a) NONDISCRIMINATION.— 

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

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

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

18 sexual orientation, age, or disability, be excluded 

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

20 be subjected to discrimination under any program or 

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

22 made available under this subtitle. 

23 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Assistant Secretary 

24 shall effectuate paragraph (1) with respect to any 

25 program or activity described in that paragraph by 


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1 issuing regulations and taking actions consistent 

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

3 U.S.C. 2000d–1). 

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

5 action taken by the Assistant Secretary under para6 graph (2) shall be available to the extent provided in 

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

8 U.S.C. 2000d–2). 

9 (b) TECHNOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY.—The Assistant 

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

11 subtitle in a technologically neutral manner. 

12 (c) AUDIT AND OVERSIGHT.—There are authorized 

13 to be appropriated to the Office of Inspector General of 

14 the Department of Commerce for audits and oversight of 

15 funds made available to carry out this subtitle, $1,000,000 

16 for fiscal year 2022, and such amount is authorized to 

17 remain available through fiscal year 2026. 


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1 TITLE II—BROADBAND AFFORD2 ABILITY AND PRICING TRANS3 PARENCY 

4 Subtitle A—Broadband 

5 Affordability 

6 SEC. 2101. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR 

7 THE EMERGENCY BROADBAND 

8 CONNECTIVITY FUND. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Emer10 gency Broadband Connectivity Fund established under 

11 subsection (i) of section 904 of title IX of division N of 

12 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 

13 116–260) $6,000,000,0000 for fiscal year 2022 for the 

14 purposes described in paragraph (3) of such subsection, 

15 and such amount is authorized to remain available 

16 through fiscal year 2026. 

17 SEC. 2102. GRANTS TO STATES TO STRENGTHEN NATIONAL 

18 LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY VERIFIER. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

21 establish a program to provide a grant, from amounts ap22 propriated under subsection (d), to each eligible entity for 

23 the purpose described under subsection (b). 

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The Commission shall make a grant 

25 to each eligible entity for the purpose of establishing or 


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1 amending a connection between the databases of such en2 tity that contain information concerning the receipt by a 

3 household, or a member of a household, of benefits under 

4 a program administered by such entity (including any ben5 efit provided under the supplemental nutrition assistance 

6 program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.)) and the National Lifeline Eligibility 

8 Verifier so that the receipt by a household, or a member 

9 of a household, of benefits under such benefits program— 

10 (1) is reflected in the National Lifeline Eligi11 bility Verifier; and 

12 (2) can be used to verify eligibility for— 

13 (A) the Lifeline program established under 

14 subpart E, part 54, of title 47, Code of Federal 

15 Regulations (or any successor regulation); and 

16 (B) the Emergency Broadband Benefit 

17 Program established under section 904(b) of 

18 title IX of division N of the Consolidated Ap19 propriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 

20 (c) DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT FUNDS.—Not later 

21 than 60 days after the program established under sub22 section (a) is established, funds provided under each grant 

23 made under such subsection shall be disbursed to the enti24 ty receiving such grant. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 for fiscal 

3 year 2022 for the purposes of carrying out this section, 

4 and such amount is authorized to remain available 

5 through fiscal year 2026. 

6 (e) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘eligible entity’’ means an entity that— 

8 (1) is a State or Tribal entity; and 

9 (2) not later than 30 days after the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act, submits to the Commission 

11 an application containing such information as the 

12 Commission may require. 

13 SEC. 2103. FEDERAL COORDINATION BETWEEN NATIONAL 

14 ELIGIBILITY VERIFIER AND NATIONAL ACCU15 RACY CLEARINGHOUSE. 

16 Notwithstanding section 11(x)(2)(C)(i) of the Food 

17 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(x)(2)(C)(i)), 

18 not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act, the Commission shall, in coordination with the 

20 Secretary of Agriculture, establish an automated connec21 tion, to the maximum extent practicable, between the Na22 tional Lifeline Eligibility Verifier and the National Accu23 racy Clearinghouse established under section 11(x) of the 

24 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(x)) for 

25 the supplemental nutrition assistance program. 


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1 SEC. 2104. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this subtitle: 

3 (1) AUTOMATED CONNECTION.—The term 

4 ‘‘automated connection’’ means a connection be5 tween two or more information systems where the 

6 manual input of information in one system leads to 

7 the automatic input of the same information into 

8 any other connected system. 

9 (2) NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY

10 VERIFIER.—The term ‘‘National Lifeline Eligibility 

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

12 54.400 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

13 any successor regulation). 

14 (3) TRIBAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Tribal entity’’ 

15 means any of the following: 

16 (A) The governing body of any Indian or 

17 Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, vil18 lage, community, component band, or compo19 nent reservation, individually recognized (in20 cluding parenthetically) in the list published 

21 most recently as of the date of enactment of 

22 this Act pursuant to section 104 of the Feder23 ally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 

24 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

25 (B) The Department of Hawaiian Home 

26 Lands. 


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1 Subtitle B—Additional Authoriza2 tion for Emergency 

3 Connectivity Fund 

4 SEC. 2201. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION FOR EMERGENCY 

5 CONNECTIVITY FUND. 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Emer7 gency Connectivity Fund established under section 

8 7402(c) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 

9 $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 for the purposes de10 scribed in such section, and such amount is authorized to 

11 remain available through fiscal year 2026. 

12 Subtitle C—Pricing Transparency 

13 SEC. 2301. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this subtitle: 

15 (1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

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

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

18 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

19 regulation. 

20 (2) FIXED WIRELESS BROADBAND.—The term 

21 ‘‘fixed wireless broadband’’ means broadband inter22 net access service that serves end users primarily at 

23 fixed endpoints through stationary equipment con24 nected by the use of radio, such as by the use of un25 licensed spectrum. 


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

2 broadband’’— 

3 (A) means broadband internet access serv4 ice that serves end users primarily using mobile 

5 stations; 

6 (B) includes services that use smartphones 

7 or mobile network-enabled tablets as the pri8 mary endpoints for connection to the internet; 

9 and 

10 (C) includes mobile satellite broadband 

11 internet access services. 

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

13 provider of fixed or mobile broadband internet access 

14 service. 

15 (5) SATELLITE BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘sat16 ellite broadband’’ means broadband internet access 

17 service that serves end users primarily at fixed 

18 endpoints through stationary equipment connected 

19 by the use of orbital satellites. 

20 (6) TERRESTRIAL FIXED BROADBAND.—The 

21 term ‘‘terrestrial fixed broadband’’ means broadband 

22 internet access service that serves end users pri23 marily at fixed endpoints through stationary equip24 ment connected by wired technology such as cable, 

25 DSL, and fiber. 


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1 SEC. 2302. BROADBAND TRANSPARENCY. 

2 (a) RULES.— 

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

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis5 sion shall issue final rules that include a require6 ment for the annual collection by the Commission of 

7 data relating to the price and subscription rates of 

8 terrestrial fixed broadband, fixed wireless 

9 broadband, satellite broadband, and mobile 

10 broadband. 

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

12 the date on which rules are issued under paragraph 

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

14 Commission thereafter, the Commission shall revise 

15 such rules to verify the accuracy of data submitted 

16 pursuant to such rules. 

17 (3) REDUNDANCY AVOIDANCE.—Nothing in this 

18 section shall be construed to require the Commis19 sion, in order to meet a requirement of this section, 

20 to duplicate an activity that the Commission is un21 dertaking as of the date of the enactment of this 

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

23 rules issued under paragraph (1), such activity 

24 meets the requirements of this section, and the Com25 mission discloses such activity to the public. 


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

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

3 Commission to collect from each provider of terrestrial 

4 fixed broadband, fixed wireless broadband, mobile 

5 broadband, or satellite broadband, data that includes— 

6 (1) either the weighted average of the monthly 

7 prices charged to subscribed households within each 

8 census block for each distinct broadband internet ac9 cess service plan or tier of standalone broadband 

10 internet access service, including mandatory equip11 ment charges, usage-based fees, and fees for early 

12 termination of required contracts, or the monthly 

13 price charged to each subscribed household, includ14 ing such charges and fees; 

15 (2) either the mean monthly price within the 

16 duration of subscription contracts offered within 

17 each census block for each distinct broadband inter18 net access service plan or tier of standalone 

19 broadband internet access service, including manda20 tory equipment charges, usage-based fees, and fees 

21 for early termination of required contracts, or the 

22 mean monthly price within the duration of subscrip23 tion contracts offered to each household, including 

24 such charges and fees; 


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1 (3) either the subscription rate within each cen2 sus block for each distinct broadband internet access 

3 service plan or tier of standalone broadband internet 

4 access service, or information regarding the sub5 scription status of each household to which a sub6 scription is offered; 

7 (4) data necessary to demonstrate the actual 

8 price paid by subscribers of broadband internet ac9 cess service at each tier for such service in a manner 

10 that— 

11 (A) takes into account any discounts (or 

12 similar price concessions); and 

13 (B) identifies any additional taxes and fees 

14 (including for the use of equipment related to 

15 the use of a subscription for such service), any 

16 monthly data usage limitation at the stated 

17 price, and the extent to which the price of the 

18 service reflects inclusion within a product bun19 dle; and 

20 (5) data necessary to assess the resiliency of 

21 the broadband internet access service network in the 

22 event of a natural disaster or emergency. 

23 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Commission shall 

24 provide technical assistance to small providers (as defined 

25 by the Commission) of broadband internet access service, 


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1 to ensure such providers can fulfill the requirements of 

2 this section. 

3 SEC. 2303. DISTRIBUTION OF DATA. 

4 (a) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Subject to subsection 

5 (b), the Commission shall make all data relating to 

6 broadband internet access service collected under rules re7 quired by this subtitle available in a commonly used elec8 tronic format to— 

9 (1) other Federal agencies, including the Na10 tional Telecommunications and Information Admin11 istration, to assist that agency in conducting the 

12 study required by subsection (g) of section 903 of di13 vision FF of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

14 2021 (Public Law 116–260), as added by this Act; 

15 (2) a broadband office, public utility commis16 sion, broadband mapping program, or other 

17 broadband program of a State, in the case of data 

18 pertaining to the needs of that State; 

19 (3) a unit of local government, in the case of 

20 data pertaining to the needs of that locality; and 

21 (4) an individual or organization conducting re22 search for noncommercial purposes or public interest 

23 purposes. 

24 (b) PROTECTION OF DATA.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may not 

2 share any data described in subsection (a) with an 

3 entity or individual described in that subsection un4 less the Commission has determined that the receiv5 ing entity or individual has the capability and intent 

6 to protect any personally identifiable information 

7 contained in the data. 

8 (2) DETERMINATION OF PERSONALLY IDENTI9 FIABLE INFORMATION.—The Commission— 

10 (A) shall define the term ‘‘personally iden11 tifiable information’’, for purposes of paragraph 

12 (1), through notice and comment rulemaking; 

13 and 

14 (B) may not share any data under sub15 section (a) before completing the rulemaking 

16 under subparagraph (A). 

17 (c) BALANCING ACCESS AND PROTECTION.—If the 

18 Commission is unable to determine under subsection 

19 (b)(1) that an entity or individual requesting access to 

20 data under subsection (a) has the capability to protect per21 sonally identifiable information contained in the data, the 

22 Commission shall make as much of the data available as 

23 possible in a format that does not compromise personally 

24 identifiable information, through methods such as 

25 anonymization. 


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1 SEC. 2304. COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN OTHER FEDERAL 

2 AGENCIES. 

3 Section 804(b)(2) of the Communications Act of 

4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 644(b)(2)), as added by the Broadband 

5 DATA Act (Public Law 116–130), is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking the 

7 semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

8 (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(B) coordinate with the Postmaster Gen11 eral, the heads of other Federal agencies that 

12 operate delivery fleet vehicles, and the Director 

13 of the Bureau of the Census for assistance with 

14 data collection whenever coordination could fea15 sibly yield more specific geographic data.’’; and 

16 (3) by striking subparagraph (C). 

17 SEC. 2305. ADOPTION OF CONSUMER BROADBAND LABELS. 

18 (a) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

20 promulgate regulations to promote and incentivize the 

21 widespread adoption of broadband consumer labels, as de22 scribed in the Public Notice of the Commission issued on 

23 April 4, 2016 (DA 16–357), to disclose to consumers in24 formation regarding broadband internet access service 

25 plans. 


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1 (b) HEARINGS.—In issuing the final rule under sub2 section (a), the Commission shall conduct a series of pub3 lic hearings to assess, at the time of the proceeding— 

4 (1) how consumers evaluate broadband internet 

5 access service plans; and 

6 (2) whether disclosures to consumers of infor7 mation regarding broadband internet access service 

8 plans, including those required under section 8.1 of 

9 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, are available, 

10 effective, and sufficient. 

11 SEC. 2306. GAO REPORT. 

12 Not later than one year after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

14 States shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com15 merce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

16 Agriculture of the House of Representatives, the Com17 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

18 of the Representatives, the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee 

20 on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and the 

21 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 

22 Senate, a report that evaluates the process used by the 

23 Commission for establishing, reviewing, and updating the 

24 upload and download broadband internet access service 

25 speed thresholds, including— 


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1 (1) how the Commission reviews and updates 

2 broadband internet access speed thresholds; 

3 (2) whether the Commission considers future 

4 broadband internet access service speed needs when 

5 establishing broadband internet access service speed 

6 thresholds, including whether the Commission con7 siders the need, or the anticipated need, for higher 

8 upload or download broadband internet access serv9 ice speeds in the five-year period and the ten-year 

10 period after the date on which a broadband internet 

11 access service speed threshold is to be established; 

12 and 

13 (3) how the Commission considers the impacts 

14 of changing uses of the internet in establishing, re15 viewing, or updating broadband internet access serv16 ice speed thresholds, including— 

17 (A) the proliferation of internet-based busi18 ness; 

19 (B) working remotely and running a busi20 ness from home; 

21 (C) video teleconferencing; 

22 (D) distance learning; 

23 (E) in-house web hosting; and 

24 (F) cloud data storage. 


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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 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 

8 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the 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, as follows: 

19 ‘‘(i) $100,000,000 shall be distributed 

20 to each of the 50 States, the District of 

21 Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 

22 ‘‘(ii) $100,000,000 shall be allocated 

23 equally among and distributed to the 

24 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 

25 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 


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1 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Repub2 lic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 

3 States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 

4 Palau. 

5 ‘‘(iii) The remainder shall be allocated 

6 among and distributed to the entities de7 scribed in clause (i), in proportion to the 

8 population of each such entity. 

9 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 195 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this sec11 tion, the Commission shall issue a public notice 

12 informing each State and the public of the 

13 amounts to be distributed under this para14 graph. The notice shall include— 

15 ‘‘(i) the manner in which a State shall 

16 inform the Commission of that State’s ac17 ceptance or acceptance in part of the 

18 amounts to be distributed under this para19 graph; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the date (which is 30 days after 

21 the date on which the public notice is 

22 issued) by which such acceptance or ac23 ceptance in part is due; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the requirements as set forth 

2 under this section and as may be further 

3 prescribed by the Commission. 

4 ‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE BY STATES.—Not later 

5 than 30 days after the date on which a public 

6 notice is issued under subparagraph (B), each 

7 State accepting amounts to be distributed 

8 under this paragraph shall inform the Commis9 sion of the acceptance or acceptance in part by 

10 the State of the amounts to be distributed 

11 under this paragraph in the manner described 

12 by the Commission in the public notice. 

13 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT

14 OF AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED.—Each State ac15 cepting amounts distributed under this para16 graph— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall only award such amounts 

18 through statewide systems of competitive 

19 bidding, in the manner prescribed by the 

20 State but subject to the requirements as 

21 set forth under this section and as may be 

22 further prescribed by the Commission; 

23 ‘‘(ii) shall make such awards only— 

24 ‘‘(I) to funding recipients to ex25 pand access to broadband service in 


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1 unserved areas and areas with low-tier 

2 service; 

3 ‘‘(II) to funding recipients to ex4 pand access to broadband service to 

5 unserved anchor institutions; or 

6 ‘‘(III) to funding recipients to ex7 pand access to broadband service in 

8 areas with mid-tier service, but only if 

9 a State does not have, or no longer 

10 has, any unserved areas or areas with 

11 low-tier service; 

12 ‘‘(iii) shall conduct separate systems 

13 of competitive bidding for awards made to 

14 unserved anchor institutions under clause 

15 (ii)(II), if a State awards any amounts dis16 tributed under this paragraph to unserved 

17 anchor institutions; 

18 ‘‘(iv) shall return any unused portion 

19 of amounts distributed under this para20 graph to the Commission within 10 years 

21 after the date of the enactment of this sec22 tion and shall submit a certification to the 

23 Commission before receiving such amounts 

24 that the State will return such amounts; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(v) may not use more than 5 percent 

2 of the amounts distributed under this 

3 paragraph to administer a system or sys4 tems of competitive bidding authorized by 

5 this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL AND STATE COORDINATION.— 

7 The Commission, in consultation with the Office of 

8 Internet Connectivity and Growth, shall establish 

9 processes through the rulemaking under subsection 

10 (e) to— 

11 ‘‘(A) permit a State to elect for the Com12 mission to conduct statewide systems of com13 petitive bidding on behalf of such State as part 

14 of, or in coordination with, national systems of 

15 competitive bidding; 

16 ‘‘(B) assist States in conducting statewide 

17 systems of competitive bidding; 

18 ‘‘(C) ensure that program funds awarded 

19 by the Commission and program funds awarded 

20 by the States are not used in the same areas; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(D) ensure that program funds and funds 

23 awarded through other Federal programs to ex24 pand broadband service with a download speed 

25 of at least 100 megabits per second, an upload 


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1 speed of at least 100 megabits per second, and 

2 latency that is sufficiently low to allow multiple, 

3 simultaneous, real-time, interactive applications, 

4 are not used in the same areas. 

5 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.— 

7 The entity administering a system of competitive 

8 bidding (either a State or the Commission) in mak9 ing awards may not favor a project using any par10 ticular technology. 

11 ‘‘(2) GIGABIT PERFORMANCE FUNDING.—The 

12 Commission shall reserve 20 percent of the amounts 

13 to be awarded by the Commission under subsection 

14 (b)(1), and each State shall reserve 20 percent of 

15 the amounts distributed to such State under sub16 section (b)(2), for bidders committing (with respect 

17 to any particular project by such a bidder) to offer, 

18 not later than the date that is 4 years after the date 

19 on which funding is provided under this section for 

20 such project— 

21 ‘‘(A) broadband service with a download 

22 speed of at least 1 gigabit per second, an 

23 upload speed of at least 1 gigabit per second, 

24 and latency that is sufficiently low to allow mulVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 tiple, simultaneous, real-time, interactive appli2 cations; or 

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of a project to provide 

4 broadband service to an unserved anchor insti5 tution, broadband service with a download 

6 speed of at least 10 gigabits per second per 

7 1,000 users, an upload speed of at least 10 gig8 abits per second per 1,000 users, and latency 

9 that is sufficiently low to allow multiple, simul10 taneous, real-time, interactive applications. 

11 ‘‘(3) SYSTEM OF COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROC12 ESS.—The entity administering a system of competi13 tive bidding (either a State or the Commission) shall 

14 structure the system of competitive bidding process 

15 to— 

16 ‘‘(A) first hold a system of competitive bid17 ding only for bidders committing (with respect 

18 to any particular project by such a bidder) to 

19 offer, not later than the date that is 4 years 

20 after the date on which funding is provided 

21 under this section for such project— 

22 ‘‘(i) broadband service with a 

23 download speed of at least 1 gigabit per 

24 second, an upload speed of at least 1 gig25 abit per second, and latency that is suffiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 ciently low to allow multiple, simultaneous, 

2 real-time, interactive applications; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a project to pro4 vide broadband service to an unserved an5 chor institution, broadband service with a 

6 download speed of at least 10 gigabits per 

7 second per 1,000 users, an upload speed of 

8 at least 10 gigabits per second per 1,000 

9 users, and latency that is sufficiently low 

10 to allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, 

11 interactive applications; and 

12 ‘‘(B) after holding the system of competi13 tive bidding required by subparagraph (A), hold 

14 one or more systems of competitive bidding, in 

15 areas not receiving awards under subparagraph 

16 (A), to award funds for projects in areas that 

17 are estimated to remain unserved areas, areas 

18 with low-tier service, or (to the extent permitted 

19 under this section) areas with mid-tier service, 

20 or (to the extent permitted under this section) 

21 for projects to offer broadband service to an22 chor institutions that are estimated to remain 

23 unserved anchor institutions, after the comple24 tion of the projects for which funding is award25 ed under the system of competitive bidding reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 quired by subparagraph (A) or any previous 

2 system of competitive bidding under this sub3 paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(4) FUNDS PRIORITY PREFERENCE.—There 

5 shall be a preference in a system of competitive bid6 ding for projects that would expand access to 

7 broadband service in areas where at least 90 percent 

8 of the population has no access to broadband service 

9 or does not have access to broadband service offered 

10 with a download speed of at least 25 megabits per 

11 second, with an upload speed of at least 3 megabits 

12 per second, and with latency that is sufficiently low 

13 to allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, interactive 

14 applications. Such projects shall be given priority in 

15 such system of competitive bidding over all other 

16 projects, regardless of how many preferences under 

17 paragraph (5) for which such other projects qualify. 

18 ‘‘(5) FUNDS PREFERENCE.—There shall be a 

19 preference in a system of competitive bidding, as de20 termined by the entity administering the system of 

21 competitive bidding (either a State or the Commis22 sion), for any of the following projects: 

23 ‘‘(A) Projects with at least 20 percent 

24 matching funds from non-Federal sources. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Projects that would expand access to 

2 broadband service on Tribal lands, as defined 

3 by the Commission. 

4 ‘‘(C) Projects that would provide 

5 broadband service with higher speeds than 

6 those specified in subsection (d)(2), except in 

7 the case of funds awarded under subparagraph 

8 (A) of paragraph (3). 

9 ‘‘(D) Projects that would expand access to 

10 broadband service in advance of the time speci11 fied in subsection (e)(5), except in the case of 

12 funds awarded under subparagraph (A) of 

13 paragraph (3). 

14 ‘‘(E) Projects that would expand access to 

15 broadband service to persistent poverty counties 

16 or high-poverty areas at subsidized rates. 

17 ‘‘(F) Projects that, at least until the date 

18 that is 10 years after the date of the enactment 

19 of this section, would provide broadband service 

20 with comparable speeds to those provided in 

21 areas that, on the day before such date of en22 actment, were not unserved areas, areas with 

23 low-tier service, or areas with mid-tier service, 

24 with minimal future investment. 


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1 ‘‘(G) Projects with support from the local 

2 community, demonstrated by at least one letter 

3 of support from local elected officials in the 

4 community. 

5 ‘‘(H) Projects that would provide for the 

6 deployment of open-access broadband service 

7 networks. 

8 ‘‘(6) UNSERVED AREAS AND AREAS WITH LOW9 TIER OR MID-TIER SERVICE.—In determining wheth10 er an area is an unserved area, an area with low11 tier service, or an area with mid-tier service or 

12 whether an anchor institution is an unserved anchor 

13 institution for any system of competitive bidding au14 thorized under this section, the Commission shall 

15 implement the following requirements through the 

16 rulemaking described in subsection (e): 

17 ‘‘(A) DATA FOR INITIAL DETERMINA18 TION.—To make an initial determination as to 

19 whether an area is an unserved area, an area 

20 with low-tier service, or an area with mid-tier 

21 service or whether an anchor institution is an 

22 unserved anchor institution, the Commission 

23 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) use the most accurate and granu2 lar data on the map created by the Com3 mission under section 802(c)(1)(B); 

4 ‘‘(ii) refine the data described in 

5 clause (i) by using— 

6 ‘‘(I) other data on access to 

7 broadband service obtained or pur8 chased by the Commission; 

9 ‘‘(II) other publicly available data 

10 or information on access to broadband 

11 service; and 

12 ‘‘(III) other publicly available 

13 data or information on State 

14 broadband service deployment pro15 grams; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) not determine an area is not an 

17 unserved area, an area with low-tier serv18 ice, or an area with mid-tier service, on the 

19 basis that one location within such area 

20 does not meet the definition of an unserved 

21 area, an area with low-tier service, or an 

22 area with mid-tier service. 

23 ‘‘(B) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—The 

24 Commission shall make an initial determination 

25 of the areas that are unserved areas, areas with 


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1 low-tier service, and areas with mid-tier service 

2 and which anchor institutions are unserved an3 chor institutions not later than 270 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this section. 

5 ‘‘(C) CHALLENGE OF DETERMINATION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

7 shall provide for a process for challenging 

8 any initial determination regarding wheth9 er an area is an unserved area, an area 

10 with low-tier service, or an area with mid11 tier service or whether an anchor institu12 tion is an unserved anchor institution that, 

13 at a minimum, provides not less than 45 

14 days for a person to voluntarily submit in15 formation concerning— 

16 ‘‘(I) the broadband service of17 fered in the area, or a commitment to 

18 offer broadband service in the area 

19 that is subject to legal sanction if not 

20 performed; or 

21 ‘‘(II) the broadband service of22 fered to the anchor institution. 

23 ‘‘(ii) STREAMLINED PROCESS.—The 

24 Commission shall ensure that such process 

25 is sufficiently streamlined such that a reaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 sonably prudent person may easily partici2 pate to challenge such initial determination 

3 with little burden on such person. 

4 ‘‘(D) FINAL DETERMINATION.—The Com5 mission shall make a final determination of the 

6 areas that are unserved areas, areas with low7 tier service, or areas with mid-tier service and 

8 which anchor institutions are unserved anchor 

9 institutions within 1 year after the date of the 

10 enactment of this section. 

11 ‘‘(7) NOTICE, TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNT12 ABILITY, AND OVERSIGHT REQUIRED.—The program 

13 shall contain sufficient notice, transparency, ac14 countability, and oversight measures to provide the 

15 public with notice of the assistance provided under 

16 this section, and to deter waste, fraud, and abuse of 

17 program funds. 

18 ‘‘(8) COMPETENCE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS.—The Commission shall 

20 establish, through the rulemaking described in 

21 subsection (e), objective standards to determine 

22 that each provider of broadband service seeking 

23 to participate in a system of competitive bid24 ding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is capable of carrying out the 

2 project in a competent manner in compli3 ance with all applicable Federal, State, and 

4 local laws; 

5 ‘‘(ii) has the financial capacity to 

6 meet the buildout obligations of the project 

7 and requirements as set forth under this 

8 section and as may be further prescribed 

9 by the Commission; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) has the technical and oper11 ational capability to provide broadband 

12 services in the manner contemplated by the 

13 provider’s bid in the system of competitive 

14 bidding, including a detailed consideration 

15 of the provider’s prior performance in de16 livering services as contemplated in the bid 

17 and the capabilities of the provider’s pro18 posed network to deliver the contemplated 

19 services in the area in question. 

20 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS REGARDING PRO21 VIDERS.—An entity administering a system of 

22 competitive bidding (either a State or the Com23 mission) may not permit a provider of 

24 broadband service to participate in the system 

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1 termines, after notice and an opportunity for 

2 public comment, that the provider meets the 

3 standards established under subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(9) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—All labor5 ers and mechanics employed by contractors or sub6 contractors in the performance of construction, al7 teration, or repair work carried out, in whole or in 

8 part, with assistance made available under this sec9 tion shall be paid wages at rates not less than those 

10 prevailing on projects of a similar character in the 

11 locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in 

12 accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 

13 40, United States Code. With respect to the labor 

14 standards in this paragraph, the Secretary of Labor 

15 shall have the authority and functions set forth in 

16 Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 

17 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, 

18 United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(10) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING EN20 VIRONMENTAL LAWS.—Nothing in this section shall 

21 be construed to affect— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et 

23 seq.); 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Federal Water Pollution Control 

2 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; commonly referred 

3 to as the ‘Clean Water Act’); 

4 ‘‘(C) the National Environmental Policy 

5 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

6 ‘‘(D) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

7 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(E) the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.; commonly referred to as 

10 the ‘Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’); 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(F) any State or local law that is similar 

13 to a law listed in subparagraphs (A) through 

14 (E). 

15 ‘‘(11) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF

16 APPLICABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

17 LAWS.—The Commission shall refer any alleged vio18 lation of an applicable labor and employment law to 

19 the appropriate Federal agency for investigation and 

20 enforcement, and any alleged violation of paragraph 

21 (9) or (12) to the National Labor Relations Board 

22 for investigation and enforcement, utilizing all ap23 propriate remedies up to and including debarment 

24 from the program. 

25 ‘‘(12) LABOR ORGANIZATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

2 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 

3 et seq.), subparagraphs (B) through (F) shall 

4 apply with respect to any funding recipient who 

5 is an employer and any labor organization who 

6 represents employees of a funding recipient. 

7 ‘‘(B) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An 

8 employer shall remain neutral with respect to 

9 the exercise of employees and labor organiza10 tions of the right to organize and bargain under 

11 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

12 151 et seq.). 

13 ‘‘(C) COMMENCEMENT OF COLLECTIVE

14 BARGAINING.—Not later than 10 days after re15 ceiving a written request for collective bar16 gaining from a labor organization that has been 

17 newly recognized or certified as a representative 

18 under section 9(a) of the National Labor Rela19 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), or within such 

20 further period as the parties agree upon, the 

21 parties shall meet and commence to bargain 

22 collectively and shall make every reasonable ef23 fort to conclude and sign a collective bargaining 

24 agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(D) MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION FOR

2 FAILURE TO REACH A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

3 AGREEMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the parties have 

5 failed to reach an agreement before the 

6 date that is 90 days after the date on 

7 which bargaining is commenced under sub8 paragraph (C), or any later date agreed 

9 upon by both parties, either party may no10 tify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

11 Service of the existence of a dispute and 

12 request mediation. 

13 ‘‘(ii) FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CON14 CILIATION SERVICE.—Whenever a request 

15 is received under clause (i), the Director of 

16 the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

17 Service shall promptly communicate with 

18 the parties and use best efforts, by medi19 ation and conciliation, to bring them to 

20 agreement. 

21 ‘‘(E) TRIPARTITE ARBITRATION PANEL.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Federal Me23 diation and Conciliation Service is not able 

24 to bring the parties to agreement by medi25 ation or conciliation before the date that is 


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1 30 days after the date on which such medi2 ation or conciliation is commenced, or any 

3 later date agreed upon by both parties, the 

4 Service shall refer the dispute to a tri5 partite arbitration panel established in ac6 cordance with such regulations as may be 

7 prescribed by the Service, with one mem8 ber selected by the labor organization, one 

9 member selected by the employer, and one 

10 neutral member mutually agreed to by the 

11 parties. 

12 ‘‘(ii) DISPUTE SETTLEMENT.—A ma13 jority of the tripartite arbitration panel 

14 shall render a decision settling the dispute 

15 and such decision shall be binding upon 

16 the parties for a period of two years, un17 less amended during such period by writ18 ten consent of the parties. Such decision 

19 shall be based on— 

20 ‘‘(I) the employer’s financial sta21 tus and prospects; 

22 ‘‘(II) the size and type of the em23 ployer’s operations and business; 

24 ‘‘(III) the employees’ cost of liv25 ing; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the employees’ ability to 

2 sustain themselves, their families, and 

3 their dependents on the wages and 

4 benefits they earn from the employer; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(V) the wages and benefits that 

7 other employers in the same business 

8 provide their employees. 

9 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITION ON SUBCONTRACTING

10 FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—A funding recipient 

11 may not engage in subcontracting for the pur12 pose of circumventing the terms of a collective 

13 bargaining agreement with respect to wages, 

14 benefits, or working conditions. 

15 ‘‘(G) PARTIES DEFINED.—In this para16 graph, the term ‘parties’ means a labor organi17 zation that is newly recognized or certified as a 

18 representative under section 9(a) of the Na19 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)) 

20 and the employer of the employees represented 

21 by such organization. 

22 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—Any project funded 

23 through the program shall meet the following require24 ments: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The project shall adhere to quality-of-serv2 ice standards as established by the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 

4 (3) of subsection (c), the project shall offer 

5 broadband service with a download speed of at least 

6 100 megabits per second, an upload speed of at least 

7 100 megabits per second, and latency that is suffi8 ciently low to allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, 

9 interactive applications. 

10 ‘‘(3) The project shall offer broadband service 

11 at prices that are comparable to, or lower than, the 

12 prices charged for comparable levels of service in 

13 areas that were not unserved areas, areas with low14 tier service, or areas with mid-tier service on the day 

15 before the date of the enactment of this section. 

16 ‘‘(4) For any project that involves laying fiber17 optic cables along a roadway, the project shall in18 clude interspersed conduit access points at regular 

19 and short intervals. 

20 ‘‘(5) The project shall incorporate prudent cy21 bersecurity and supply chain risk management prac22 tices, as specified by the Commission through the 

23 rulemaking described in subsection (e), in consulta24 tion with the Director of the National Institute of 


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1 Standards and Technology and the Assistant Sec2 retary. 

3 ‘‘(6) The project shall incorporate best prac4 tices, as defined by the Commission, for ensuring re5 liability and resiliency of the network during disas6 ters. 

7 ‘‘(7) Any funding recipient must agree to have 

8 the project meet the requirements established under 

9 section 224, as if the project were classified as a 

10 ‘utility’ under such section. The preceding sentence 

11 shall not apply to those entities or persons excluded 

12 from the definition of the term ‘utility’ by the second 

13 sentence of subsection (a)(1) of such section. 

14 ‘‘(8) The project shall offer an affordable option 

15 for a broadband service plan under which broadband 

16 service is provided— 

17 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 50 

18 megabits per second; 

19 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 50 

20 megabits per second; and 

21 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

22 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter23 active applications. 

24 ‘‘(e) RULEMAKING AND DISTRIBUTION AND AWARD

25 OF FUNDS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 


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1 the enactment of this section, the Commission, in con2 sultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall promulgate 

3 rules— 

4 ‘‘(1) that implement the requirements of this 

5 section, as appropriate; 

6 ‘‘(2) that establish the design of and rules for 

7 the national systems of competitive bidding; 

8 ‘‘(3) that establish notice requirements for all 

9 systems of competitive bidding authorized under this 

10 section that, at a minimum, provide the public with 

11 notice of— 

12 ‘‘(A) the initial determination of which 

13 areas are unserved areas, areas with low-tier 

14 service, or areas with mid-tier service; 

15 ‘‘(B) the final determination of which 

16 areas are unserved areas, areas with low-tier 

17 service, or areas with mid-tier service after the 

18 process for challenging the initial determination 

19 has concluded; 

20 ‘‘(C) which entities have applied to bid for 

21 funding; and 

22 ‘‘(D) the results of any system of competi23 tive bidding, including identifying the funding 

24 recipients, which areas each project will serve, 

25 the nature of the service that will be provided 


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1 by the project in each of those areas, and how 

2 much funding the funding recipients will receive 

3 in each of those areas; 

4 ‘‘(4) that establish broadband service buildout 

5 milestones and periodic certification by funding re6 cipients to ensure that the broadband service build7 out milestones for all systems of competitive bidding 

8 authorized under this section will be met; 

9 ‘‘(5) that, except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

10 and (3) of subsection (c), establish a maximum 

11 buildout timeframe of three years beginning on the 

12 date on which funding is provided under this section 

13 for a project; 

14 ‘‘(6) that establish periodic reporting require15 ments for funding recipients and that identify, at a 

16 minimum, the nature of the service provided in each 

17 area for any system of competitive bidding author18 ized under this section; 

19 ‘‘(7) that establish standard penalties for the 

20 noncompliance of funding recipients or projects with 

21 the requirements as set forth under this section and 

22 as may be further prescribed by the Commission for 

23 any system of competitive bidding authorized under 

24 this section; 


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1 ‘‘(8) that establish procedures for recovery of 

2 funds, in whole or in part, from funding recipients 

3 in the event of the default or noncompliance of the 

4 funding recipient or project with the requirements 

5 established under this section for any system of com6 petitive bidding authorized under this section; and 

7 ‘‘(9) that establish mechanisms to reduce waste, 

8 fraud, and abuse within the program for any system 

9 of competitive bidding authorized under this section. 

10 ‘‘(f) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) INSPECTOR GENERAL AND COMPTROLLER

12 GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than June 30 and 

13 December 31 of each year following the awarding of 

14 the first funds under the program, the Inspector 

15 General of the Commission and the Comptroller 

16 General of the United States shall submit to the 

17 Committees on Energy and Commerce of the House 

18 of Representatives and Commerce, Science, and 

19 Transportation of the Senate a report for the pre20 vious 6 months that reviews the program. Such re21 port shall include any recommendations to address 

22 waste, fraud, and abuse. 

23 ‘‘(2) STATE REPORTS.—Any State that receives 

24 funds under the program shall submit an annual re25 port to the Commission on how such funds were 


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1 spent, along with a certification of compliance with 

2 the requirements as set forth under this section and 

3 as may be further prescribed by the Commission, in4 cluding a description of each service provided and 

5 the number of individuals to whom the service was 

6 provided. 

7 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission 

9 $79,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to carry out the pro10 gram, and such amount is authorized to remain available 

11 through fiscal year 2026. 

12 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) AFFORDABLE OPTION.—The term ‘afford14 able option’ means, with respect to a broadband 

15 service plan, that broadband service is provided 

16 under such plan at a rate that is determined by the 

17 Commission, in coordination with the Office of 

18 Internet Connectivity and Growth, to be affordable 

19 for a household with an income of 136 percent of 

20 the poverty threshold, as determined by using cri21 teria of poverty established by the Bureau of the 

22 Census, for a four-person household that includes 

23 two dependents under the age of 18. 

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

25 institution’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means a public or private school, a li2 brary, a medical or healthcare provider, a mu3 seum, a public safety entity, a public housing 

4 agency (as defined in section 3(b) of the United 

5 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

6 1437a(b))), a community college, an institution 

7 of higher education, a religious organization, or 

8 any other community support organization or 

9 agency; and 

10 ‘‘(B) includes any entity described in sub11 paragraph (A) that serves an Indian Tribe, 

12 tribally designated entity, or Native Hawaiian 

13 organization. 

14 ‘‘(3) AREA.—The term ‘area’ means the geo15 graphic unit of measurement with the greatest level 

16 of granularity reasonably feasible for the Commis17 sion to use in making eligibility determinations 

18 under this section and in meeting the requirements 

19 and deadlines of this section. 

20 ‘‘(4) AREA WITH LOW-TIER SERVICE.—The 

21 term ‘area with low-tier service’ means an area 

22 where at least 90 percent of the population has ac23 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 reached 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, which may in2 clude— 

3 ‘‘(A) a private entity, a public-private part4 nership, a cooperative, and a Tribal or munic5 ipal broadband service provider; and 

6 ‘‘(B) a consortium between any of the enti7 ties described in subparagraph (A), including a 

8 consortium that includes an investor-owned util9 ity. 

10 ‘‘(11) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘high11 poverty area’ means a census tract with a poverty 

12 rate of at least 20 percent, as measured by the most 

13 recent 5-year data series available from the Amer14 ican Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census 

15 as of the year before the date of the enactment of 

16 this section. In the case of a territory or possession 

17 of the United States in which no such data is col18 lected from the American Community Survey of the 

19 Bureau of the Census as of the year before the date 

20 of the enactment of this section, such term includes 

21 a census tract with a poverty rate of at least 20 per22 cent, as measured by the most recent Island Areas 

23 decennial census of the Bureau of the Census for 

24 which data is available as of the year before the date 

25 of the enactment of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(12) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 4(e) of 

3 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist4 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 

5 ‘‘(13) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

6 The term ‘institution of higher education’— 

7 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 

8 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 

10 ‘‘(B) includes a postsecondary vocational 

11 institution. 

12 ‘‘(14) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘labor 

13 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec14 tion 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

15 U.S.C. 152). 

16 ‘‘(15) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 

17 term ‘Native Hawaiian organization’ means any or18 ganization— 

19 ‘‘(A) that serves the interests of Native 

20 Hawaiians; 

21 ‘‘(B) in which Native Hawaiians serve in 

22 substantive and policymaking positions; 

23 ‘‘(C) that has as a primary and stated pur24 pose the provision of services to Native Hawai25 ians; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) that is recognized for having exper2 tise in Native Hawaiian affairs, digital 

3 connectivity, or access to broadband service. 

4 ‘‘(16) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTY.—The 

5 term ‘persistent poverty county’ means any county 

6 with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent, as deter7 mined in each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial cen8 suses and in the Small Area Income and Poverty Es9 timates of the Bureau of the Census for the most re10 cent year for which the Estimates are available. In 

11 the case of a territory or possession of the United 

12 States, such term includes any county equivalent 

13 area in Puerto Rico with a poverty rate of at least 

14 20 percent, as determined in each of the 1990 and 

15 2000 decennial censuses and in the most recent 5- 

16 year data series available from the American Com17 munity Survey of the Bureau of the Census as of 

18 the year before the date of the enactment of this 

19 section, or any other territory or possession of the 

20 United States with a poverty rate of at least 20 per21 cent, as determined in each of the 1990 and 2000 

22 Island Areas decennial censuses of the Bureau of the 

23 Census and in the most recent Island Areas decen24 nial census of the Bureau of the Census for which 


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1 data is available as of the year before the date of the 

2 enactment of this section. 

3 ‘‘(17) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU4 TION.—The term ‘postsecondary vocational institu5 tion’ has the meaning given the term in section 

6 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

8 ‘‘(18) PROGRAM.—Unless otherwise indicated, 

9 the term ‘program’ means the program established 

10 under subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘(19) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means an 

12 undertaking by a funding recipient under this sec13 tion to construct and deploy infrastructure for the 

14 provision of broadband service. 

15 ‘‘(20) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the mean16 ing given such term in section 3, except that such 

17 term also includes the Republic of the Marshall Is18 lands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the 

19 Republic of Palau. 

20 ‘‘(21) TRIBALLY DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The 

21 term ‘tribally designated entity’ means an entity des22 ignated by an Indian Tribe for purposes of para23 graph (2)(B). 

24 ‘‘(22) UNSERVED ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The 

25 term ‘unserved anchor institution’ means an anchor 


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1 institution that has no access to broadband service 

2 or does not have access to broadband service of3 fered— 

4 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 1 

5 gigabit per second per 1,000 users; 

6 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 1 

7 gigabit per second per 1,000 users; and 

8 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

9 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter10 active applications. 

11 ‘‘(23) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘unserved 

12 area’ means an area where— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Commission reasonably believes 

14 there are potential subscribers of broadband 

15 service; and 

16 ‘‘(B) at least 90 percent of the population 

17 has no access to broadband service or does not 

18 have access to broadband service offered— 

19 ‘‘(i) with a download speed of at least 

20 25 megabits per second; 

21 ‘‘(ii) with an upload speed of at least 

22 25 megabits per second; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) with latency that is sufficiently 

24 low to allow multiple, simultaneous, real25 time, interactive applications.’’. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR TRIB2 AL BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 905(c) of division N 

4 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub5 lic Law 116–260) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Assist9 ant Secretary $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to 

10 carry out the grant program under this subsection, 

11 and such amount is authorized to remain available 

12 through fiscal year 2026.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 905 

14 of division N of the Consolidated Appropriations 

15 Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260) is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or 

17 paragraph (9) of this subsection’’ after ‘‘sub18 section (b)(1)’’ each place it appears; and 

19 (B) in subsection (e)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (I) in the matter preceding sub22 paragraph (A), by inserting after 

23 ‘‘this Act’’ the following: ‘‘(and, in the 

24 case of the grant program under sub25 section (c), not earlier than 30 days, 


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1 and not later than 60 days, after the 

2 date of enactment of any other law 

3 making available amounts to carry out 

4 such program)’’; and 

5 (II) in subparagraph (A), by in6 serting after ‘‘eligible entities and cov7 ered partnerships’’ the following: ‘‘(or, 

8 in the case of a notice issued by rea9 son of the enactment of a law, other 

10 than this Act, making available 

11 amounts to carry out the grant pro12 gram under subsection (c), eligible en13 tities)’’; and 

14 (ii) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting 

15 after ‘‘an eligible entity or covered partner16 ship’’ the following: ‘‘(or, in the case of a 

17 notice issued by reason of the enactment of 

18 a law, other than this Act, making avail19 able amounts to carry out the grant pro20 gram under subsection (c), an eligible enti21 ty)’’. 

22 SEC. 3102. TRIBAL INTERNET EXPANSION. 

23 Section 254(b)(3) of the Communications Act of 

24 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(b)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

25 in Indian country (as defined in section 1151 of title 18, 


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1 United States Code) and areas with high populations of 

2 Indian (as defined in section 19 of the Act of June 18, 

3 1934 (Chapter 576; 48 Stat. 988; 25 U.S.C. 5129)) peo4 ple’’ after ‘‘high cost areas’’. 

5 Subtitle B—Broadband Infrastruc6 ture Finance and Innovation 

7 SEC. 3201. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Infra9 structure Finance and Innovation Act of 2021’’. 

10 SEC. 3202. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this subtitle: 

12 (1) BIFIA PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘BIFIA pro13 gram’’ means the broadband infrastructure finance 

14 and innovation program established under this sub15 title. 

16 (2) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

17 ‘‘broadband service’’— 

18 (A) means broadband internet access serv19 ice that is a mass-market retail service, or a 

20 service provided to an entity described in para21 graph (11)(B)(ii), by wire or radio that pro22 vides the capability to transmit data to and re23 ceive data from all or substantially all internet 

24 endpoints, including any capabilities that are 


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1 incidental to and enable the operation of the 

2 communications service; 

3 (B) includes any service that is a func4 tional equivalent of the service described in sub5 paragraph (A); and 

6 (C) does not include dial-up internet access 

7 service. 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COSTS.—The term ‘‘eli9 gible project costs’’ means amounts substantially all 

10 of which are paid by, or for the account of, an obli11 gor in connection with a project, including the cost 

12 of— 

13 (A) development phase activities, including 

14 planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore15 casting, environmental review, historic preserva16 tion review, permitting, preliminary engineering 

17 and design work, and other preconstruction ac18 tivities; 

19 (B) construction and deployment phase ac20 tivities, including— 

21 (i) construction, reconstruction, reha22 bilitation, replacement, and acquisition of 

23 real property (including land relating to 

24 the project and improvements to land), 

25 equipment, instrumentation, networking 


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1 capability, hardware and software, and dig2 ital network technology; 

3 (ii) environmental mitigation; and 

4 (iii) construction contingencies; and 

5 (C) capitalized interest necessary to meet 

6 market requirements, reasonably required re7 serve funds, capital issuance expenses, and 

8 other carrying costs during construction and 

9 deployment. 

10 (4) FEDERAL CREDIT INSTRUMENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘Federal credit instrument’’ means a secured loan, 

12 loan guarantee, or line of credit authorized to be 

13 made available under the BIFIA program with re14 spect to a project. 

15 (5) INVESTMENT-GRADE RATING.—The term 

16 ‘‘investment-grade rating’’ means a rating of BBB 

17 minus, Baa3, bbb minus, BBB (low), or higher as18 signed by a rating agency to project obligations. 

19 (6) LENDER.—The term ‘‘lender’’ means any 

20 non-Federal qualified institutional buyer (as defined 

21 in section 230.144A(a) of title 17, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations (or any successor regulation), known as 

23 Rule 144A(a) of the Securities and Exchange Com24 mission and issued under the Securities Act of 1933 

25 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.)), including— 


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1 (A) a qualified retirement plan (as defined 

2 in section 4974(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

3 of 1986) that is a qualified institutional buyer; 

4 and 

5 (B) a governmental plan (as defined in 

6 section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986) that is a qualified institutional buyer. 

8 (7) LETTER OF INTEREST.—The term ‘‘letter 

9 of interest’’ means a letter submitted by a potential 

10 applicant prior to an application for credit assistance 

11 in a format prescribed by the Assistant Secretary on 

12 the website of the BIFIA program that— 

13 (A) describes the project and the location, 

14 purpose, and cost of the project; 

15 (B) outlines the proposed financial plan, 

16 including the requested credit assistance and 

17 the proposed obligor; 

18 (C) provides a status of environmental re19 view; and 

20 (D) provides information regarding satis21 faction of other eligibility requirements of the 

22 BIFIA program. 

23 (8) LINE OF CREDIT.—The term ‘‘line of cred24 it’’ means an agreement entered into by the Assist25 ant Secretary with an obligor under section 3205 to 


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1 provide a direct loan at a future date upon the oc2 currence of certain events. 

3 (9) LOAN GUARANTEE.—The term ‘‘loan guar4 antee’’ means any guarantee or other pledge by the 

5 Assistant Secretary to pay all or part of the prin6 cipal of and interest on a loan or other debt obliga7 tion issued by an obligor and funded by a lender. 

8 (10) OBLIGOR.—The term ‘‘obligor’’ means a 

9 party that— 

10 (A) is primarily liable for payment of the 

11 principal of or interest on a Federal credit in12 strument; and 

13 (B) may be a corporation, company, part14 nership, joint venture, trust, or governmental 

15 entity, agency, or instrumentality. 

16 (11) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 

17 project— 

18 (A) to construct and deploy infrastructure 

19 for the provision of broadband service; and 

20 (B) that the Assistant Secretary deter21 mines will— 

22 (i) provide access or improved access 

23 to broadband service to consumers residing 

24 in areas of the United States that have no 


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1 access to broadband service or do not have 

2 access to broadband service offered— 

3 (I) with a download speed of at 

4 least 100 megabits per second; 

5 (II) with an upload speed of at 

6 least 100 megabits per second; and 

7 (III) with latency that is suffi8 ciently low to allow multiple, simulta9 neous, real-time, interactive applica10 tions; or 

11 (ii) provide access or improved access 

12 to broadband service to— 

13 (I) schools, libraries, medical and 

14 healthcare providers, community col15 leges and other institutions of higher 

16 education, museums, religious organi17 zations, and other community support 

18 organizations and entities to facilitate 

19 greater use of broadband service by or 

20 through such organizations; 

21 (II) organizations and agencies 

22 that provide outreach, access, equip23 ment, and support services to facili24 tate greater use of broadband service 


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1 by low-income, unemployed, aged, and 

2 otherwise vulnerable populations; 

3 (III) job-creating strategic facili4 ties located within a State-designated 

5 economic zone, Economic Develop6 ment District designated by the De7 partment of Commerce, Empower8 ment Zone designated by the Depart9 ment of Housing and Urban Develop10 ment, or Enterprise Community des11 ignated by the Department of Agri12 culture; or 

13 (IV) public safety agencies. 

14 (12) PROJECT OBLIGATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘project obligation’’ means any note, bond, deben16 ture, or other debt obligation issued by an obligor in 

17 connection with the financing of a project, other 

18 than a Federal credit instrument. 

19 (13) PUBLIC AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘public 

20 authority’’ means a Federal, State, county, town or 

21 township, Indian Tribe, municipal, or other local 

22 government or instrumentality with authority to fi23 nance, build, operate, or maintain infrastructure for 

24 the provision of broadband service. 


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1 (14) RATING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘rating agen2 cy’’ means a credit rating agency registered with the 

3 Securities and Exchange Commission as a nationally 

4 recognized statistical rating organization (as defined 

5 in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

6 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))). 

7 (15) SECURED LOAN.—The term ‘‘secured 

8 loan’’ means a direct loan or other debt obligation 

9 issued by an obligor and funded by the Assistant 

10 Secretary in connection with the financing of a 

11 project under section 3204. 

12 (16) SMALL PROJECT.—The term ‘‘small 

13 project’’ means a project having eligible project costs 

14 that are reasonably anticipated not to equal or ex15 ceed $20,000,000. 

16 (17) SUBSIDY AMOUNT.—The term ‘‘subsidy 

17 amount’’ means the amount of budget authority suf18 ficient to cover the estimated long-term cost to the 

19 Federal Government of a Federal credit instru20 ment— 

21 (A) calculated on a net present value basis; 

22 and 

23 (B) excluding administrative costs and any 

24 incidental effects on governmental receipts or 


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1 outlays in accordance with the Federal Credit 

2 Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 

3 (18) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION.—The term 

4 ‘‘substantial completion’’ means, with respect to a 

5 project receiving credit assistance under the BIFIA 

6 program— 

7 (A) the commencement of the provision of 

8 broadband service using the infrastructure 

9 being financed; or 

10 (B) a comparable event, as determined by 

11 the Assistant Secretary and specified in the 

12 credit agreement. 

13 SEC. 3203. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY AND PROJECT 

14 SELECTION. 

15 (a) ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—A project shall be eligible to 

17 receive credit assistance under the BIFIA program 

18 if— 

19 (A) the entity proposing to carry out the 

20 project submits a letter of interest prior to sub21 mission of a formal application for the project; 

22 and 

23 (B) the project meets the criteria described 

24 in this subsection. 

25 (2) CREDITWORTHINESS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), to be eligible for assistance 

3 under the BIFIA program, a project shall sat4 isfy applicable creditworthiness standards, 

5 which, at a minimum, shall include— 

6 (i) adequate coverage requirements to 

7 ensure repayment; 

8 (ii) an investment-grade rating from 

9 at least two rating agencies on debt senior 

10 to the Federal credit instrument; and 

11 (iii) a rating from at least two rating 

12 agencies on the Federal credit instrument. 

13 (B) SMALL PROJECTS.—In order for a 

14 small project to be eligible for assistance under 

15 the BIFIA program, such project shall satisfy 

16 alternative creditworthiness standards that shall 

17 be established by the Assistant Secretary under 

18 section 3206 for purposes of this paragraph. 

19 (3) APPLICATION.—A State, local government, 

20 agency or instrumentality of a State or local govern21 ment, public authority, public-private partnership, or 

22 any other legal entity undertaking the project and 

23 authorized by the Assistant Secretary shall submit a 

24 project application that is acceptable to the Assist25 ant Secretary. 


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1 (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COST PARAMETERS FOR

2 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.—Eligible project costs 

3 shall be reasonably anticipated to equal or exceed 

4 $2,000,000 in the case of a project or program of 

5 projects— 

6 (A) in which the applicant is a local gov7 ernment, instrumentality of local government, 

8 or public authority (other than a public author9 ity that is a Federal or State government or in10 strumentality); 

11 (B) located on a facility owned by a local 

12 government; or 

13 (C) for which the Assistant Secretary de14 termines that a local government is substan15 tially involved in the development of the project. 

16 (5) DEDICATED REVENUE SOURCES.—The ap17 plicable Federal credit instrument shall be repayable, 

18 in whole or in part, from— 

19 (A) amounts charged to— 

20 (i) subscribers of broadband service 

21 for such service; or 

22 (ii) subscribers of any related service 

23 provided over the same infrastructure for 

24 such related service; 

25 (B) user fees; 


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1 (C) payments owing to the obligor under a 

2 public-private partnership; or 

3 (D) other dedicated revenue sources that 

4 also secure or fund the project obligations. 

5 (6) APPLICATIONS WHERE OBLIGOR WILL BE

6 IDENTIFIED LATER.—A State, local government, 

7 agency or instrumentality of a State or local govern8 ment, or public authority may submit to the Assist9 ant Secretary an application under paragraph (3), 

10 under which a private party to a public-private part11 nership will be— 

12 (A) the obligor; and 

13 (B) identified later through completion of 

14 a procurement and selection of the private 

15 party. 

16 (7) BENEFICIAL EFFECTS.—The Assistant Sec17 retary shall determine that financial assistance for 

18 the project under the BIFIA program will— 

19 (A) foster, if appropriate, partnerships 

20 that attract public and private investment for 

21 the project; 

22 (B) enable the project to proceed at an 

23 earlier date than the project would otherwise be 

24 able to proceed or reduce the lifecycle costs (in25 cluding debt service costs) of the project; and 


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1 (C) reduce the contribution of Federal 

2 grant assistance for the project. 

3 (8) PROJECT READINESS.—To be eligible for 

4 assistance under the BIFIA program, the applicant 

5 shall demonstrate a reasonable expectation that the 

6 contracting process for the construction and deploy7 ment of infrastructure for the provision of 

8 broadband service through the project can commence 

9 by no later than 90 days after the date on which a 

10 Federal credit instrument is obligated for the project 

11 under the BIFIA program. 

12 (9) PUBLIC SPONSORSHIP OF PRIVATE ENTI13 TIES.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible project is 

15 carried out by an entity that is not a State or 

16 local government or an agency or instrumen17 tality of a State or local government or a Tribal 

18 Government or consortium of Tribal Govern19 ments, the project shall be publicly sponsored. 

20 (B) PUBLIC SPONSORSHIP.—For purposes 

21 of this subtitle, a project shall be considered to 

22 be publicly sponsored if the obligor can dem23 onstrate, to the satisfaction of the Assistant 

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1 ment in the area in which the project is located, 

2 or that is otherwise affected by the project, and 

3 that such government supports the proposal. 

4 (b) SELECTION AMONG ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF APPLICATION PROC6 ESS.—The Assistant Secretary shall establish a roll7 ing application process under which projects that are 

8 eligible to receive credit assistance under subsection 

9 (a) shall receive credit assistance on terms accept10 able to the Assistant Secretary, if adequate funds 

11 are available to cover the subsidy costs associated 

12 with the Federal credit instrument. 

13 (2) PRELIMINARY RATING OPINION LETTER.— 

14 The Assistant Secretary shall require each project 

15 applicant to provide— 

16 (A) a preliminary rating opinion letter 

17 from at least one rating agency— 

18 (i) indicating that the senior obliga19 tions of the project, which may be the Fed20 eral credit instrument, have the potential 

21 to achieve an investment-grade rating; and 

22 (ii) including a preliminary rating 

23 opinion on the Federal credit instrument; 

24 or 


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1 (B) in the case of a small project, alter2 native documentation that the Assistant Sec3 retary shall require in the standards established 

4 under section 3206 for purposes of this para5 graph. 

6 (3) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.—In 

7 selecting projects to receive credit assistance under 

8 the BIFIA program, the Assistant Secretary may 

9 not favor a project using any particular technology. 

10 (4) PREFERENCE FOR OPEN-ACCESS NET11 WORKS.—In selecting projects to receive credit as12 sistance under the BIFIA program, the Assistant 

13 Secretary shall give preference to projects providing 

14 for the deployment of open-access broadband service 

15 networks. 

16 (c) FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The following provisions of 

18 law shall apply to funds made available under the 

19 BIFIA program and projects assisted with those 

20 funds: 

21 (A) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

22 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

23 (B) The National Environmental Policy 

24 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 


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1 (C) 54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq. (commonly 

2 referred to as the ‘‘National Historic Preserva3 tion Act’’). 

4 (D) The Uniform Relocation Assistance 

5 and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 

6 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 

7 (2) NEPA.—No funding shall be obligated for 

8 a project that has not received an environmental cat9 egorical exclusion, a finding of no significant impact, 

10 or a record of decision under the National Environ11 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

12 (3) TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF

13 1964.—For purposes of title VI of the Civil Rights 

14 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), any project 

15 that receives credit assistance under the BIFIA pro16 gram shall be considered a program or activity with17 in the meaning of section 606 of such title (42 

18 U.S.C. 2000d–4a). 

19 (4) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—All labor20 ers and mechanics employed by contractors or sub21 contractors in the performance of construction, al22 teration, or repair work carried out, in whole or in 

23 part, with assistance made available through a Fed24 eral credit instrument shall be paid wages at rates 

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1 lar character in the locality as determined by the 

2 Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

3 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. 

4 With respect to the labor standards in this para5 graph, the Secretary of Labor shall have the author6 ity and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan 

7 Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. 

8 App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United States 

9 Code. 

10 (5) NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT.—An employer 

11 receiving assistance made available through a Fed12 eral credit instrument under this subtitle shall re13 main neutral with respect to the exercise of employ14 ees and labor organizations of the right to organize 

15 and bargain under the National Labor Relations Act 

16 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

17 (6) REFERRAL OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF AP18 PLICABLE FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

19 LAWS.—The Assistant Secretary shall refer any al20 leged violation of an applicable labor and employ21 ment law to the appropriate Federal agency for in22 vestigation and enforcement, and any alleged viola23 tion of paragraph (4) or (5) to the National Labor 

24 Relations Board for investigation and enforcement, 


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1 utilizing all appropriate remedies up to and includ2 ing debarment from the BIFIA program. 

3 (d) APPLICATION PROCESSING PROCEDURES.— 

4 (1) NOTICE OF COMPLETE APPLICATION.—Not 

5 later than 30 days after the date of receipt of an ap6 plication under this section, the Assistant Secretary 

7 shall provide to the applicant a written notice to in8 form the applicant whether— 

9 (A) the application is complete; or 

10 (B) additional information or materials are 

11 needed to complete the application. 

12 (2) APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF APPLICATION.— 

13 Not later than 60 days after the date of issuance of 

14 the written notice under paragraph (1), the Assist15 ant Secretary shall provide to the applicant a writ16 ten notice informing the applicant whether the As17 sistant Secretary has approved or disapproved the 

18 application. 

19 (3) APPROVAL BEFORE NEPA REVIEW.—Subject 

20 to subsection (c)(2), an application for a project may 

21 be approved before the project receives an environ22 mental categorical exclusion, a finding of no signifi23 cant impact, or a record of decision under the Na24 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4321 et seq.). 


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1 (e) DEVELOPMENT PHASE ACTIVITIES.—Any credit 

2 instrument secured under the BIFIA program may be 

3 used to finance up to 100 percent of the cost of develop4 ment phase activities as described in section 3202(3)(A). 

5 SEC. 3204. SECURED LOANS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (1) AGREEMENTS.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

8 and (3), the Assistant Secretary may enter into 

9 agreements with one or more obligors to make se10 cured loans, the proceeds of which shall be used— 

11 (A) to finance eligible project costs of any 

12 project selected under section 3203; 

13 (B) to refinance interim construction fi14 nancing of eligible project costs of any project 

15 selected under section 3203; or 

16 (C) to refinance long-term project obliga17 tions or Federal credit instruments, if the refi18 nancing provides additional funding capacity for 

19 the completion, enhancement, or expansion of 

20 any project that— 

21 (i) is selected under section 3203; or 

22 (ii) otherwise meets the requirements 

23 of section 3203. 

24 (2) LIMITATION ON REFINANCING OF INTERIM

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1 graph (1) shall not refinance interim construction fi2 nancing under paragraph (1)(B)— 

3 (A) if the maturity of such interim con4 struction financing is later than 1 year after 

5 the substantial completion of the project; and 

6 (B) later than 1 year after the date of sub7 stantial completion of the project. 

8 (3) RISK ASSESSMENT.—Before entering into 

9 an agreement under this subsection, the Assistant 

10 Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the 

11 Office of Management and Budget, shall determine 

12 an appropriate capital reserve subsidy amount for 

13 each secured loan, taking into account each rating 

14 letter provided by a rating agency under section 

15 3203(b)(2)(A)(ii) or, in the case of a small project, 

16 the alternative documentation provided under section 

17 3203(b)(2)(B). 

18 (b) TERMS AND LIMITATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A secured loan under this 

20 section with respect to a project shall be on such 

21 terms and conditions and contain such covenants, 

22 representations, warranties, and requirements (in23 cluding requirements for audits) as the Assistant 

24 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 


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1 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a se2 cured loan under this section shall not exceed the 

3 lesser of 49 percent of the reasonably anticipated eli4 gible project costs or, if the secured loan is not for 

5 a small project and does not receive an investment6 grade rating, the amount of the senior project obli7 gations. 

8 (3) PAYMENT.—A secured loan under this sec9 tion— 

10 (A) shall— 

11 (i) be payable, in whole or in part, 

12 from— 

13 (I) amounts charged to— 

14 (aa) subscribers of 

15 broadband service for such serv16 ice; or 

17 (bb) subscribers of any re18 lated service provided over the 

19 same infrastructure for such re20 lated service; 

21 (II) user fees; 

22 (III) payments owing to the obli23 gor under a public-private partner24 ship; or 


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1 (IV) other dedicated revenue 

2 sources that also secure the senior 

3 project obligations; and 

4 (ii) include a coverage requirement or 

5 similar security feature supporting the 

6 project obligations; and 

7 (B) may have a lien on revenues described 

8 in subparagraph (A), subject to any lien secur9 ing project obligations. 

10 (4) INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate on a 

11 secured loan under this section shall be not less than 

12 the yield on United States Treasury securities of a 

13 similar maturity to the maturity of the secured loan 

14 on the date of execution of the loan agreement. 

15 (5) MATURITY DATE.—The final maturity date 

16 of the secured loan shall be the lesser of— 

17 (A) 35 years after the date of substantial 

18 completion of the project; and 

19 (B) if the useful life of the infrastructure 

20 for the provision of broadband service being fi21 nanced is of a lesser period, the useful life of 

22 the infrastructure. 

23 (6) NONSUBORDINATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

25 subparagraph (B), the secured loan shall not be 


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1 subordinated to the claims of any holder of 

2 project obligations in the event of bankruptcy, 

3 insolvency, or liquidation of the obligor. 

4 (B) PREEXISTING INDENTURE.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec6 retary shall waive the requirement under 

7 subparagraph (A) for a public agency bor8 rower that is financing ongoing capital 

9 programs and has outstanding senior 

10 bonds under a preexisting indenture, if— 

11 (I) the secured loan— 

12 (aa) is rated in the A cat13 egory or higher; or 

14 (bb) in the case of a small 

15 project, meets an alternative 

16 standard that the Assistant Sec17 retary shall establish under sec18 tion 3206 for purposes of this 

19 subclause; 

20 (II) the secured loan is secured 

21 and payable from pledged revenues 

22 not affected by project performance, 

23 such as a tax-backed revenue pledge 

24 or a system-backed pledge of project 

25 revenues; and 


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1 (III) the BIFIA program share 

2 of eligible project costs is 33 percent 

3 or less. 

4 (ii) LIMITATION.—If the Assistant 

5 Secretary waives the nonsubordination re6 quirement under this subparagraph— 

7 (I) the maximum credit subsidy 

8 to be paid by the Federal Government 

9 shall be not more than 10 percent of 

10 the principal amount of the secured 

11 loan; and 

12 (II) the obligor shall be respon13 sible for paying the remainder of the 

14 subsidy cost, if any. 

15 (7) FEES.—The Assistant Secretary may estab16 lish fees at a level sufficient to cover all or a portion 

17 of the costs to the Federal Government of making 

18 a secured loan under this section. 

19 (8) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The proceeds of a 

20 secured loan under the BIFIA program, if the loan 

21 is repayable from non-Federal funds— 

22 (A) may be used for any non-Federal share 

23 of project costs required under this subtitle; 

24 and 


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1 (B) shall not count toward the total Fed2 eral assistance provided for a project for pur3 poses of paragraph (9). 

4 (9) MAXIMUM FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT.—The 

5 total Federal assistance provided for a project re6 ceiving a loan under the BIFIA program shall not 

7 exceed 80 percent of the total project cost. 

8 (c) REPAYMENT.— 

9 (1) SCHEDULE.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

10 establish a repayment schedule for each secured loan 

11 under this section based on— 

12 (A) the projected cash flow from project 

13 revenues and other repayment sources; and 

14 (B) the useful life of the infrastructure for 

15 the provision of broadband service being fi16 nanced. 

17 (2) COMMENCEMENT.—Scheduled loan repay18 ments of principal or interest on a secured loan 

19 under this section shall commence not later than 5 

20 years after the date of substantial completion of the 

21 project. 

22 (3) DEFERRED PAYMENTS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—If, at any time after 

24 the date of substantial completion of the 

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1 cient revenues to pay the scheduled loan repay2 ments of principal and interest on the secured 

3 loan, the Assistant Secretary may, subject to 

4 subparagraph (C), allow the obligor to add un5 paid principal and interest to the outstanding 

6 balance of the secured loan. 

7 (B) INTEREST.—Any payment deferred 

8 under subparagraph (A) shall— 

9 (i) continue to accrue interest in ac10 cordance with subsection (b)(4) until fully 

11 repaid; and 

12 (ii) be scheduled to be amortized over 

13 the remaining term of the loan. 

14 (C) CRITERIA.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any payment defer16 ral under subparagraph (A) shall be con17 tingent on the project meeting criteria es18 tablished by the Assistant Secretary. 

19 (ii) REPAYMENT STANDARDS.—The 

20 criteria established pursuant to clause (i) 

21 shall include standards for reasonable as22 surance of repayment. 

23 (4) PREPAYMENT.— 

24 (A) USE OF EXCESS REVENUES.—Any ex25 cess revenues that remain after satisfying 


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1 scheduled debt service requirements on the 

2 project obligations and secured loan and all de3 posit requirements under the terms of any trust 

4 agreement, bond resolution, or similar agree5 ment securing project obligations may be ap6 plied annually to prepay the secured loan with7 out penalty. 

8 (B) USE OF PROCEEDS OF REFI9 NANCING.—The secured loan may be prepaid at 

10 any time without penalty from the proceeds of 

11 refinancing from non-Federal funding sources. 

12 (d) SALE OF SECURED LOANS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), as 

14 soon as practicable after substantial completion of a 

15 project and after notifying the obligor, the Assistant 

16 Secretary may sell to another entity or reoffer into 

17 the capital markets a secured loan for the project if 

18 the Assistant Secretary determines that the sale or 

19 reoffering can be made on favorable terms. 

20 (2) CONSENT OF OBLIGOR.—In making a sale 

21 or reoffering under paragraph (1), the Assistant 

22 Secretary may not change the original terms and 

23 conditions of the secured loan without the written 

24 consent of the obligor. 

25 (e) LOAN GUARANTEES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

2 may provide a loan guarantee to a lender in lieu of 

3 making a secured loan under this section if the As4 sistant Secretary determines that the budgetary cost 

5 of the loan guarantee is substantially the same as 

6 that of a secured loan. 

7 (2) TERMS.—The terms of a loan guarantee 

8 under paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the 

9 terms required under this section for a secured loan, 

10 except that the rate on the guaranteed loan and any 

11 prepayment features shall be negotiated between the 

12 obligor and the lender, with the consent of the As13 sistant Secretary. 

14 (f) STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

16 shall develop one or more expedited application proc17 esses, available at the request of entities seeking se18 cured loans under the BIFIA program, that use a 

19 set or sets of conventional terms established pursu20 ant to this section. 

21 (2) TERMS.—In establishing the streamlined 

22 application process required by this subsection, the 

23 Assistant Secretary may allow for an expedited ap24 plication period and include terms such as those that 

25 require— 


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1 (A) that the project be a small project; 

2 (B) the secured loan to be secured and 

3 payable from pledged revenues not affected by 

4 project performance, such as a tax-backed rev5 enue pledge, tax increment financing, or a sys6 tem-backed pledge of project revenues; and 

7 (C) repayment of the loan to commence 

8 not later than 5 years after disbursement. 

9 SEC. 3205. LINES OF CREDIT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 (1) AGREEMENTS.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

12 through (4), the Assistant Secretary may enter into 

13 agreements to make available to one or more obli14 gors lines of credit in the form of direct loans to be 

15 made by the Assistant Secretary at future dates on 

16 the occurrence of certain events for any project se17 lected under section 3203. 

18 (2) USE OF PROCEEDS.—The proceeds of a line 

19 of credit made available under this section shall be 

20 available to pay debt service on project obligations 

21 issued to finance eligible project costs, extraordinary 

22 repair and replacement costs, operation and mainte23 nance expenses, and costs associated with unex24 pected Federal or State environmental restrictions. 

25 (3) RISK ASSESSMENT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), before entering into an 

3 agreement under this subsection, the Assistant 

4 Secretary, in consultation with the Director of 

5 the Office of Management and Budget and each 

6 rating agency providing a preliminary rating 

7 opinion letter under section 3203(b)(2)(A), 

8 shall determine an appropriate capital reserve 

9 subsidy amount for each line of credit, taking 

10 into account the rating opinion letter. 

11 (B) SMALL PROJECTS.—Before entering 

12 into an agreement under this subsection to 

13 make available a line of credit for a small 

14 project, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation 

15 with the Director of the Office of Management 

16 and Budget, shall determine an appropriate 

17 capital reserve subsidy amount for each such 

18 line of credit, taking into account the alter19 native documentation provided under section 

20 3203(b)(2)(B) instead of preliminary rating 

21 opinion letters provided under section 

22 3203(b)(2)(A). 

23 (4) INVESTMENT-GRADE RATING REQUIRE24 MENT.—The funding of a line of credit under this 

25 section shall be contingent on— 


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1 (A) the senior obligations of the project re2 ceiving an investment-grade rating from 2 rat3 ing agencies; or 

4 (B) in the case of a small project, the 

5 project meeting an alternative standard that the 

6 Assistant Secretary shall establish under section 

7 3206 for purposes of this paragraph. 

8 (b) TERMS AND LIMITATIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A line of credit under this 

10 section with respect to a project shall be on such 

11 terms and conditions and contain such covenants, 

12 representations, warranties, and requirements (in13 cluding requirements for audits) as the Assistant 

14 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

15 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.—The total amount of 

16 a line of credit under this section shall not exceed 

17 33 percent of the reasonably anticipated eligible 

18 project costs. 

19 (3) DRAWS.—Any draw on a line of credit 

20 under this section shall— 

21 (A) represent a direct loan; and 

22 (B) be made only if net revenues from the 

23 project (including capitalized interest, but not 

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1 serves) are insufficient to pay the costs speci2 fied in subsection (a)(2). 

3 (4) INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate on a 

4 direct loan resulting from a draw on the line of cred5 it shall be not less than the yield on 30-year United 

6 States Treasury securities, as of the date of execu7 tion of the line of credit agreement. 

8 (5) SECURITY.—A line of credit issued under 

9 this section— 

10 (A) shall— 

11 (i) be payable, in whole or in part, 

12 from— 

13 (I) amounts charged to— 

14 (aa) subscribers of 

15 broadband service for such serv16 ice; or 

17 (bb) subscribers of any re18 lated service provided over the 

19 same infrastructure for such re20 lated service; 

21 (II) user fees; 

22 (III) payments owing to the obli23 gor under a public-private partner24 ship; or 


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1 (IV) other dedicated revenue 

2 sources that also secure the senior 

3 project obligations; and 

4 (ii) include a coverage requirement or 

5 similar security feature supporting the 

6 project obligations; and 

7 (B) may have a lien on revenues described 

8 in subparagraph (A), subject to any lien secur9 ing project obligations. 

10 (6) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—The full 

11 amount of a line of credit under this section, to the 

12 extent not drawn upon, shall be available during the 

13 10-year period beginning on the date of substantial 

14 completion of the project. 

15 (7) RIGHTS OF THIRD-PARTY CREDITORS.— 

16 (A) AGAINST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—A 

17 third-party creditor of the obligor shall not have 

18 any right against the Federal Government with 

19 respect to any draw on a line of credit under 

20 this section. 

21 (B) ASSIGNMENT.—An obligor may assign 

22 a line of credit under this section to— 

23 (i) one or more lenders; or 

24 (ii) a trustee on the behalf of such a 

25 lender. 


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1 (8) NONSUBORDINATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), a direct loan under this sec4 tion shall not be subordinated to the claims of 

5 any holder of project obligations in the event of 

6 bankruptcy, insolvency, or liquidation of the ob7 ligor. 

8 (B) PRE-EXISTING INDENTURE.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec10 retary shall waive the requirement of sub11 paragraph (A) for a public agency bor12 rower that is financing ongoing capital 

13 programs and has outstanding senior 

14 bonds under a preexisting indenture, if— 

15 (I) the line of credit— 

16 (aa) is rated in the A cat17 egory or higher; or 

18 (bb) in the case of a small 

19 project, meets an alternative 

20 standard that the Assistant Sec21 retary shall establish under sec22 tion 3206 for purposes of this 

23 subclause; 

24 (II) the BIFIA program loan re25 sulting from a draw on the line of 


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1 credit is payable from pledged reve2 nues not affected by project perform3 ance, such as a tax-backed revenue 

4 pledge or a system-backed pledge of 

5 project revenues; and 

6 (III) the BIFIA program share 

7 of eligible project costs is 33 percent 

8 or less. 

9 (ii) LIMITATION.—If the Assistant 

10 Secretary waives the nonsubordination re11 quirement under this subparagraph— 

12 (I) the maximum credit subsidy 

13 to be paid by the Federal Government 

14 shall be not more than 10 percent of 

15 the principal amount of the secured 

16 loan; and 

17 (II) the obligor shall be respon18 sible for paying the remainder of the 

19 subsidy cost. 

20 (9) FEES.—The Assistant Secretary may estab21 lish fees at a level sufficient to cover all or a portion 

22 of the costs to the Federal Government of providing 

23 a line of credit under this section. 

24 (10) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER CREDIT INSTRU25 MENTS.—A project that receives a line of credit 


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1 under this section also shall not receive a secured 

2 loan or loan guarantee under section 3204 in an 

3 amount that, combined with the amount of the line 

4 of credit, exceeds 49 percent of eligible project costs. 

5 (c) REPAYMENT.— 

6 (1) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Assistant 

7 Secretary shall establish repayment terms and condi8 tions for each direct loan under this section based 

9 on— 

10 (A) the projected cash flow from project 

11 revenues and other repayment sources; and 

12 (B) the useful life of the infrastructure for 

13 the provision of broadband service being fi14 nanced. 

15 (2) TIMING.—All repayments of principal or in16 terest on a direct loan under this section shall be 

17 scheduled— 

18 (A) to commence not later than 5 years 

19 after the end of the period of availability speci20 fied in subsection (b)(6); and 

21 (B) to conclude, with full repayment of 

22 principal and interest, by the date that is 25 

23 years after the end of the period of availability 

24 specified in subsection (b)(6). 


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1 SEC. 3206. ALTERNATIVE PRUDENTIAL LENDING STAND2 ARDS FOR SMALL PROJECTS. 

3 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall establish 

5 alternative, streamlined prudential lending standards for 

6 small projects receiving credit assistance under the BIFIA 

7 program to ensure that such projects pose no additional 

8 risk to the Federal Government, as compared with 

9 projects that are not small projects. 

10 SEC. 3207. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

12 establish a uniform system to service the Federal credit 

13 instruments made available under the BIFIA program. 

14 (b) FEES.—The Assistant Secretary may collect and 

15 spend fees, contingent on authority being provided in ap16 propriations Acts, at a level that is sufficient to cover— 

17 (1) the costs of services of expert firms retained 

18 pursuant to subsection (d); and 

19 (2) all or a portion of the costs to the Federal 

20 Government of servicing the Federal credit instru21 ments. 

22 (c) SERVICER.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

24 may appoint a financial entity to assist the Assistant 

25 Secretary in servicing the Federal credit instru26 ments. 


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1 (2) DUTIES.—A servicer appointed under para2 graph (1) shall act as the agent for the Assistant 

3 Secretary. 

4 (3) FEE.—A servicer appointed under para5 graph (1) shall receive a servicing fee, subject to ap6 proval by the Assistant Secretary. 

7 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM EXPERT FIRMS.—The Assist8 ant Secretary may retain the services of expert firms, in9 cluding counsel, in the field of municipal and project fi10 nance to assist in the underwriting and servicing of Fed11 eral credit instruments. 

12 (e) EXPEDITED PROCESSING.—The Assistant Sec13 retary shall implement procedures and measures to econo14 mize the time and cost involved in obtaining approval and 

15 the issuance of credit assistance under the BIFIA pro16 gram. 

17 (f) ASSISTANCE TO SMALL PROJECTS.—Of the 

18 amount appropriated under section 3210(a), and after the 

19 set-aside for administrative expenses under section 

20 3210(b), not less than 20 percent shall be made available 

21 for the Assistant Secretary to use in lieu of fees collected 

22 under subsection (b) for small projects. 

23 SEC. 3208. STATE AND LOCAL PERMITS. 

24 The provision of credit assistance under the BIFIA 

25 program with respect to a project shall not— 


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1 (1) relieve any recipient of the assistance of any 

2 obligation to obtain any required State or local per3 mit or approval with respect to the project; 

4 (2) limit the right of any unit of State or local 

5 government to approve or regulate any rate of re6 turn on private equity invested in the project; or 

7 (3) otherwise supersede any State or local law 

8 (including any regulation) applicable to the construc9 tion or operation of the project. 

10 SEC. 3209. REGULATIONS. 

11 The Assistant Secretary may promulgate such regula12 tions as the Assistant Secretary determines to be appro13 priate to carry out the BIFIA program. 

14 SEC. 3210. FUNDING. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to the Assistant Secretary 

17 $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to carry out this sub18 title, and such amount is authorized to remain available 

19 through fiscal year 2026. 

20 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amount 

21 appropriated under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary 

22 may use not more than 5 percent for the administration 

23 of the BIFIA program. 


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1 SEC. 3211. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

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

3 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there4 after, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

5 report summarizing the financial performance of the 

6 projects that are receiving, or have received, assistance 

7 under the BIFIA program, including a recommendation 

8 as to whether the objectives of the BIFIA program are 

9 best served by— 

10 (1) continuing the program under the authority 

11 of the Assistant Secretary; or 

12 (2) establishing a Federal corporation or feder13 ally sponsored enterprise to administer the program. 

14 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS REPORT.— 

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

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

17 thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to 

18 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

19 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

20 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen21 ate a report that includes a list of all of the letters 

22 of interest and applications received for assistance 

23 under the BIFIA program during the preceding fis24 cal year. 

25 (2) INCLUSIONS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report under 

2 paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, a 

3 description of, with respect to each letter of in4 terest and application included in the report— 

5 (i) the date on which the letter of in6 terest or application was received; 

7 (ii) the date on which a notification 

8 was provided to the applicant regarding 

9 whether the application was complete or 

10 incomplete; 

11 (iii) the date on which a revised and 

12 completed application was submitted (if 

13 applicable); 

14 (iv) the date on which a notification 

15 was provided to the applicant regarding 

16 whether the project was approved or dis17 approved; and 

18 (v) if the project was not approved, 

19 the reason for the disapproval. 

20 (B) CORRESPONDENCE.—Each report 

21 under paragraph (1) shall include copies of any 

22 correspondence provided to the applicant in ac23 cordance with section 3203(d). 


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1 Subtitle C—Wi-Fi on School Buses 

2 SEC. 3301. E-RATE SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL BUS WI-FI. 

3 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘school 

4 bus’’ means a passenger motor vehicle that is— 

5 (1) designed to carry a driver and not less than 

6 5 passengers; and 

7 (2) used significantly to transport early child 

8 education, elementary school, or secondary school 

9 students to or from school or an event related to 

10 school. 

11 (b) RULEMAKING.—Notwithstanding the limitations 

12 under paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(A) of section 254(h) of 

13 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) re14 garding the authorized recipients and uses of discounted 

15 telecommunications services, not later than 180 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

17 commence a rulemaking to make the provision of Wi-Fi 

18 access on school buses eligible for support under the E19 rate program of the Commission set forth under subpart 

20 F of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 


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1 TITLE IV—COMMUNITY 

2 BROADBAND 

3 SEC. 4001. STATE, LOCAL, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, 

4 AND CO-OP BROADBAND SERVICES. 

5 Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 

6 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub8 section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(d) STATE, LOCAL, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNER11 SHIP, AND CO-OP ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CA12 PABILITY AND SERVICES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State statute, regula14 tion, or other State legal requirement may prohibit 

15 or have the effect of prohibiting any public provider, 

16 public-private partnership provider, or cooperatively 

17 organized provider from providing, to any person or 

18 any public or private entity, advanced telecommuni19 cations capability or any service that utilizes the ad20 vanced telecommunications capability provided by 

21 such provider. 

22 ‘‘(2) ANTIDISCRIMINATION SAFEGUARDS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PUBLIC PROVIDERS.—To the extent 

24 any public provider regulates competing private 

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1 bility or services that utilize advanced tele2 communications capability, such public provider 

3 shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis4 crimination in favor of itself or any provider 

5 that it owns of services that utilize advanced 

6 telecommunications capability. 

7 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO8 VIDERS.—To the extent any State or local enti9 ty that is part of a public-private partnership 

10 provider regulates competing private providers 

11 of advanced telecommunications capability or 

12 services that utilize advanced telecommuni13 cations capability, such State or local entity 

14 shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis15 crimination in favor of such public-private part16 nership provider or any provider that such 

17 State or local entity or public-private partner18 ship provider owns of services that utilize ad19 vanced telecommunications capability. 

20 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub21 section shall exempt a public provider, public-private 

22 partnership provider, or cooperatively organized pro23 vider from any Federal or State telecommunications 

24 law or regulation that applies to all providers of ad25 vanced telecommunications capability or services 


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1 that utilize such advanced telecommunications capa2 bility.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (e), as redesignated— 

4 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

5 by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘this section’’; 

7 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

8 paragraph (3); 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(2) COOPERATIVELY ORGANIZED PROVIDER.— 

12 The term ‘cooperatively organized provider’ means 

13 an entity that is treated as a cooperative under Fed14 eral tax law and that provides advanced tele15 communications capability, or any service that uti16 lizes such advanced telecommunications capability, 

17 to any person or public or private entity.’’; and 

18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC PROVIDER.—The term ‘public pro20 vider’ means a State or local entity that provides ad21 vanced telecommunications capability, or any service 

22 that utilizes such advanced telecommunications ca23 pability, to any person or public or private entity. 

24 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO25 VIDER.—The term ‘public-private partnership proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00174 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1783.IH H1783

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1 vider’ means a public-private partnership, between a 

2 State or local entity and a private entity, that pro3 vides advanced telecommunications capability, or any 

4 service that utilizes such advanced telecommuni5 cations capability, to any person or public or private 

6 entity. 

7 ‘‘(6) STATE OR LOCAL ENTITY.—The term 

8 ‘State or local entity’ means a State or political sub9 division thereof, any agency, authority, or instru10 mentality of a State or political subdivision thereof, 

11 or an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the 

12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

13 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e))).’’. 

14 TITLE V—BROADBAND INFRA15 STRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT 

16 SEC. 5001. BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) APPROPRIATE STATE AGENCY.—The term 

19 ‘‘appropriate State agency’’ means a State govern20 mental agency that is recognized by the executive 

21 branch of the State as having the experience nec22 essary to evaluate and facilitate the installation and 

23 operation of broadband infrastructure within the 

24 State. 


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1 (2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ has 

2 the meaning given the term ‘‘advanced telecommuni3 cations capability’’ in section 706 of the Tele4 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302). 

5 (3) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term 

6 ‘‘broadband conduit’’ means a conduit or innerduct 

7 for fiber optic cables (or successor technology of 

8 greater quality and speed) that supports the provi9 sion of broadband. 

10 (4) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

11 ‘‘broadband infrastructure’’ means any buried or un12 derground facility and any wireless or wireline con13 nection that enables the provision of broadband. 

14 (5) BROADBAND PROVIDER.—The term 

15 ‘‘broadband provider’’ means an entity that provides 

16 broadband to any person or facilitates provision of 

17 broadband to any person, including, with respect to 

18 such entity— 

19 (A) a corporation, company, association, 

20 firm, partnership, nonprofit organization, or 

21 any other private entity; 

22 (B) a State or local broadband provider; 

23 (C) an Indian Tribe; and 


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1 (D) a partnership between any of the enti2 ties described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

3 (C). 

4 (6) COVERED HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION

5 PROJECT.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 highway construction project’’ means, without 

8 regard to ownership of a highway, a project to 

9 construct a new highway or an additional lane 

10 for an existing highway, to reconstruct an exist11 ing highway, or new construction, including for 

12 a paved shoulder. 

13 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 

14 highway construction project’’ excludes any 

15 project— 

16 (i) awarded before the date on which 

17 regulations required under subsection (b) 

18 take effect; 

19 (ii) that does not include work beyond 

20 the edge of pavement or current paved 

21 shoulder; or 

22 (iii) that does not require excavation. 

23 (7) DIG ONCE REQUIREMENT.—The term ‘‘dig 

24 once requirement’’ means a requirement designed to 

25 reduce the cost and accelerate the deployment to 


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1 broadband by minimizing the number and scale of 

2 repeated excavations for the installation and mainte3 nance of broadband conduit or broadband infrastruc4 ture in rights-of-way. 

5 (8) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ has the 

6 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 23, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Transportation. 

10 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean11 ing given such term in section 401 of title 23, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (11) STATE OR LOCAL BROADBAND PRO14 VIDER.—The term ‘‘State or local broadband pro15 vider’’ means a State or political subdivision thereof, 

16 or any agency, authority, or instrumentality of a 

17 State or political subdivision thereof, that provides 

18 broadband to any person or facilitates the provision 

19 of broadband to any person in that State. 

20 (12) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

21 government’’ means the recognized governing body 

22 of an Indian Tribe or any agency, authority, or in23 strumentality of such governing body or such Indian 

24 Tribe. 


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1 (b) DIG ONCE REQUIREMENT.—To facilitate the in2 stallation of broadband infrastructure, the Secretary shall, 

3 not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of 

4 this Act, promulgate regulations to ensure that each State 

5 that receives funds under chapter 1 of title 23, United 

6 States Code, meets the following requirements: 

7 (1) BROADBAND PLANNING.—The State depart8 ment of transportation, in consultation with appro9 priate State agencies, shall— 

10 (A) identify a broadband coordinator, who 

11 may have additional responsibilities in the State 

12 department of transportation or in another 

13 State agency, that is responsible for facilitating 

14 the broadband infrastructure right-of-way ef15 forts within the State; and 

16 (B) review existing State broadband plans, 

17 including existing dig once requirements of the 

18 State, municipal governments incorporated 

19 under State law, and Tribal governments within 

20 the State, to determine opportunities to coordi21 nate projects occurring within or across high22 way rights-of-way with planned broadband in23 frastructure projects. 

24 (2) NOTICE OF PLANNED CONSTRUCTION FOR

25 BROADBAND PROVIDERS.— 


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1 (A) NOTICE.—The State department of 

2 transportation, in consultation with appropriate 

3 State agencies, shall establish a process— 

4 (i) for the registration of broadband 

5 providers that seek to be included in the 

6 advance notification of, and opportunity to 

7 participate in, broadband infrastructure 

8 right-of-way facilitation efforts within the 

9 State; and 

10 (ii) to electronically notify all 

11 broadband providers registered under 

12 clause (i)— 

13 (I) of the State transportation 

14 improvement program on at least an 

15 annual basis; and 

16 (II) of projects within the high17 way right-of-way for which Federal 

18 funding is expected to be obligated in 

19 the subsequent fiscal year. 

20 (B) WEBSITE.—A State department of 

21 transportation shall be considered to meet the 

22 requirements of subparagraph (A) if such State 

23 department of transportation publishes on a 

24 public website— 


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1 (i) the State transportation improve2 ment program on at least an annual basis; 

3 and 

4 (ii) projects within the highway right5 of-way for which Federal funding is ex6 pected to be obligated in the subsequent 

7 fiscal year. 

8 (C) COORDINATION.—The State depart9 ment of transportation, in consultation with ap10 propriate State agencies, shall establish a proc11 ess for a broadband provider to commit to in12 stalling broadband conduit or broadband infra13 structure as part of any project. 

14 (3) REQUIRED INSTALLATION OF CONDUIT.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The State department 

16 of transportation shall install broadband con17 duit, in accordance with this paragraph, except 

18 as described in subparagraph (F), as part of 

19 any covered highway construction project, un20 less a broadband provider has committed to in21 stall broadband conduit or broadband infra22 structure as part of such project in a process 

23 described under paragraph (2)(C). 


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1 (B) INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS.—The 

2 State department of transportation shall ensure 

3 that— 

4 (i) an appropriate number of 

5 broadband conduits, as determined in con6 sultation with the appropriate State agen7 cies, are installed along the highway of a 

8 covered highway construction project to ac9 commodate multiple broadband providers, 

10 with consideration given to the availability 

11 of existing conduits; 

12 (ii) the size of each such conduit is 

13 consistent with industry best practices and 

14 is sufficient to accommodate potential de15 mand, as determined in consultation with 

16 the appropriate State agencies; 

17 (iii) hand holes and manholes nec18 essary for fiber access and pulling with re19 spect to such conduit are placed at inter20 vals consistent with standards determined 

21 in consultation with the appropriate State 

22 agencies (which may differ by type of road, 

23 topologies, and rurality) and consistent 

24 with safety requirements; 


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1 (iv) each broadband conduit installed 

2 pursuant to this paragraph includes a pull 

3 tape and is capable of supporting fiber 

4 optic cable placement techniques consistent 

5 with best practices; and 

6 (v) is placed at a depth consistent 

7 with requirements of the covered highway 

8 construction project and best practices and 

9 that, in determining the depth of place10 ment, consideration is given to the location 

11 of existing utilities and cable separation re12 quirements of State and local electrical 

13 codes. 

14 (C) GUIDANCE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF

15 BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The Secretary, in con16 sultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall 

17 issue guidance for best practices related to the 

18 installation of broadband conduit as described 

19 in this paragraph and of conduit and similar in20 frastructure for intelligent transportation sys21 tems (as such term is defined in section 501 of 

22 title 23, United States Code) that may utilize 

23 broadband conduit installed pursuant to this 

24 paragraph. 

25 (D) ACCESS.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—The State depart2 ment of transportation shall ensure that 

3 any requesting broadband provider has ac4 cess to each broadband conduit installed 

5 pursuant to this paragraph, on a competi6 tively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, 

7 and in accordance with State permitting, 

8 licensing, leasing, or other similar laws and 

9 regulations. 

10 (ii) FEE SCHEDULE.—The State de11 partment of transportation, in consultation 

12 with appropriate State agencies, shall pub13 lish a fee schedule for a broadband pro14 vider to access conduit installed pursuant 

15 to this paragraph. Fees in such schedule— 

16 (I) shall be consistent with the 

17 fees established pursuant to section 

18 224 of the Communications Act of 

19 1934 (47 U.S.C. 224); 

20 (II) may vary by topography, lo21 cation, type of road, rurality, and 

22 other factors in the determination of 

23 the State; and 

24 (III) may be updated not more 

25 frequently than annually. 


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1 (iii) IN-KIND COMPENSATION.—The 

2 State department of transportation may 

3 negotiate in-kind compensation with any 

4 broadband provider requesting access to 

5 broadband conduit installed under the pro6 visions of this paragraph as a replacement 

7 for part or all of, but not to exceed, the 

8 relevant fee in the fee schedule described 

9 in clause (ii). 

10 (iv) SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

11 State department of transportation shall 

12 require of broadband providers a process 

13 for safe access to the highway right-of-way 

14 during installation and on-going mainte15 nance of the broadband fiber optic cables 

16 including a traffic control safety plan. 

17 (v) COMMUNICATION.—A broadband 

18 provider with access to the conduit in19 stalled pursuant to this subsection shall 

20 notify and receive permission from the rel21 evant agencies of State responsible for the 

22 installation of such broadband conduit 

23 prior to accessing any highway or highway 

24 right-of-way, in accordance with applicable 

25 Federal requirements. 


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1 (E) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Notwith2 standing any other provision of law, broadband 

3 conduit and broadband infrastructure installa4 tion projects under this paragraph shall comply 

5 with section 113(a) of title 23, United States 

6 Code. 

7 (F) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—A State department 

9 of transportation may waive the required 

10 installation of broadband conduit for part 

11 or all of any covered highway construction 

12 project under this paragraph if, in the de13 termination of the State— 

14 (I) broadband infrastructure, ter15 restrial broadband infrastructure, aer16 ial broadband fiber cables, or 

17 broadband conduit is present near a 

18 majority of the length of the covered 

19 highway construction project; 

20 (II) the installation of conduit in21 creases overall costs of a covered high22 way construction project by 1.5 per23 cent or greater; 

24 (III) the installation of 

25 broadband conduit associated with 


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1 covered highway construction project 

2 will not be utilized or connected to fu3 ture broadband infrastructure in the 

4 next 20 years, in the determination of 

5 the State department of transpor6 tation, in consultation with appro7 priate State agencies and potentially 

8 affected local governments and Tribal 

9 governments; 

10 (IV) the requirements of this 

11 paragraph would require installation 

12 of conduit redundant with a dig once 

13 requirement of a local or Tribal gov14 ernment; 

15 (V) there exists a circumstance 

16 involving force majeure; or 

17 (VI) other relevant factors, as de18 termined by the Secretary in consulta19 tion with the Assistant Secretary 

20 through regulation, warrant a waiver. 

21 (ii) CONTENTS OF WAIVER.—A waiver 

22 authorized under this subparagraph 

23 shall— 

24 (I) identify the covered highway 

25 construction project; and 


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1 (II) include a brief description of 

2 the determination of the State for 

3 issuing such waiver. 

4 (iii) AVAILABILITY OF WAIVER.—A 

5 waiver authorized under this subparagraph 

6 shall be included in the plans, specifica7 tions, and estimates for the associated 

8 project, as long as such info is publicly 

9 available. 

10 (4) PRIORITY.—If a State provides for the in11 stallation of broadband infrastructure or broadband 

12 conduit in the right-of-way of an applicable project 

13 under this subsection, the State department of 

14 transportation, along with appropriate State agen15 cies, shall carry out appropriate measures to ensure 

16 that any existing broadband providers are afforded 

17 equal opportunity access, as compared to other 

18 broadband providers, with respect to the program 

19 under this subsection. 

20 (5) CONSULTATION.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating regu22 lations required by this subsection or to imple23 ment any part of this section, the Secretary 

24 shall consult— 

25 (i) the Assistant Secretary; 


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1 (ii) the Commission; 

2 (iii) State departments of transpor3 tation; 

4 (iv) appropriate State agencies; 

5 (v) agencies of local governments re6 sponsible for transportation and rights-of7 way, utilities, and telecommunications and 

8 broadband; 

9 (vi) Tribal governments; 

10 (vii) broadband providers; and 

11 (viii) manufacturers of optical fiber, 

12 conduit, pull tape, and related items. 

13 (B) BROADBAND USERS.—The Secretary 

14 shall ensure that the entities consulted under 

15 clauses (iii) through (vi) of subparagraph (A) 

16 include rural areas and populations with limited 

17 access to broadband infrastructure. 

18 (C) BROADBAND PROVIDERS.—The Sec19 retary shall ensure that the entities consulted 

20 under clause (vii) of subparagraph (A) include 

21 entities who provide broadband to rural areas 

22 and populations with limited access to 

23 broadband infrastructure. 

24 (6) PROHIBITION ON UNFUNDED MANDATE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 

2 apply only to projects for which Federal obliga3 tions or expenditures are initially approved on 

4 or after the date regulations required under this 

5 subsection take effect. 

6 (B) NO MANDATE.—Absent an available 

7 and dedicated Federal source of funding— 

8 (i) nothing in this subsection estab9 lishes a mandate or requirement that a 

10 State install broadband conduit in a high11 way right-of-way; and 

12 (ii) nothing in paragraph (3) shall es13 tablish any requirement for a State. 

14 (7) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

15 (A) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this sub16 section shall be construed to require a State to 

17 install or allow the installation of broadband 

18 conduit or broadband infrastructure— 

19 (i) that is otherwise inconsistent with 

20 what is allowable under State law; or 

21 (ii) where the State lacks the author22 ity or property easement necessary for 

23 such installation. 

24 (B) NO REQUIREMENT FOR INSTALLATION

25 OF MOBILE SERVICES EQUIPMENT.—Nothing in 


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1 this section shall be construed to require a 

2 State, a municipal government incorporated 

3 under State law, or an Indian Tribe to install 

4 or allow for the installation of equipment essen5 tial for the provision of commercial mobile serv6 ices (as defined in section 332(d) of the Com7 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d))) 

8 or commercial mobile data service (as defined in 

9 section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief 

10 and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

11 1401)), other than broadband conduit and asso12 ciated equipment described in paragraph 

13 (3)(B). 

14 (c) RELATION TO STATE DIG ONCE REQUIRE15 MENTS.—Nothing in subsection (b) or any regulations 

16 promulgated under subsection (b) shall be construed to 

17 alter or supersede any provision of a State law or regula18 tion that provides for a dig once requirement that includes 

19 similar or more stringent requirements to the provisions 

20 of subsection (b) and any regulations promulgated under 

21 subsection (b). 

22 (d) DIG ONCE FUNDING TASK FORCE.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 

24 independent task force on funding the nationwide 

25 dig once requirement described in this section to be 


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1 known as the ‘‘Dig Once Funding Task Force’’ 

2 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

3 (2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force 

4 shall be to— 

5 (A) estimate the annual cost for imple6 menting and administering a nationwide dig 

7 once requirement; and 

8 (B) propose and evaluate options for fund9 ing a nationwide dig once requirement described 

10 in this section that includes— 

11 (i) a discussion of the role and poten12 tial share of costs of— 

13 (I) the Federal Government; 

14 (II) State, local, and Tribal gov15 ernments; and 

16 (III) broadband providers; and 

17 (ii) consideration of the role of exist18 ing dig once requirements of State, local, 

19 and Tribal governments and private 

20 broadband investment, with a goal to not 

21 discourage or disincentivize such dig once 

22 requirements or such investment. 

23 (3) REPORTS.— 

24 (A) INTERIM REPORT AND BRIEFING.— 

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1 actment of this Act, the Task Force shall sub2 mit an interim report to Congress and provide 

3 briefings for Congress on the findings of the 

4 Task Force. 

5 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 

6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

7 the Task Force shall submit a final report to 

8 Congress on the findings of the Task Force. 

9 (4) MEMBERS.— 

10 (A) APPOINTMENTS.—The Task Force 

11 shall consist of 14 members, consisting of— 

12 (i) the two co-chairs described in sub13 paragraph (B); 

14 (ii) six members jointly appointed by 

15 the Speaker and minority leader of the 

16 House of Representatives, in consultation 

17 with the respective Chairs and Ranking 

18 Members of the— 

19 (I) the Committee on Transpor20 tation and Infrastructure of the 

21 House of Representatives; 

22 (II) the Committee on Energy 

23 and Commerce of the House of Rep24 resentatives; and 


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1 (III) the Committee on Appro2 priations of the House of Representa3 tives; and 

4 (iii) six members jointly appointed by 

5 the majority leader and minority leader of 

6 the Senate, in consultation with the respec7 tive Chairs and Ranking Members of the— 

8 (I) the Committee on Environ9 ment and Public Works of the Senate; 

10 (II) the Committee on Com11 merce, Science, and Transportation of 

12 the Senate; and 

13 (III) the Committee on Appro14 priations of the Senate. 

15 (B) CO-CHAIRS.—The Task Force shall be 

16 co-chaired by the Secretary and the Assistant 

17 Secretary, or their designees. 

18 (C) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall 

19 include at least— 

20 (i) one representative from a State de21 partment of transportation; 

22 (ii) one representative from a local 

23 government; 

24 (iii) one representative from a Tribal 

25 government; 


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1 (iv) one representative from a 

2 broadband provider; 

3 (v) one representative from a State or 

4 local broadband provider; 

5 (vi) one representative from a labor 

6 union; and 

7 (vii) one representative from a public 

8 interest organization. 

9 (D) APPOINTMENT DEADLINE.—Members 

10 shall be appointed to the Task Force not later 

11 than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

12 this Act. 

13 (E) EFFECT OF LACK OF APPOINTMENT

14 BY APPOINTMENT DATE.—If one or more ap15 pointments required under subparagraph (A) is 

16 not made by the appointment date specified in 

17 subparagraph (D), the authority to make such 

18 appointment or appointments shall expire and 

19 the number of members of the Task Force shall 

20 be reduced by the number equal to the number 

21 of appointments so expired. 

22 (F) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed 

23 for the life of the Task Force. A vacancy in the 

24 Task Force shall not affect its powers and shall 


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1 be filled in the same manner as the initial ap2 pointment was made. 

3 (5) CONSULTATIONS.—In carrying out the du4 ties required under this subsection, the Task Force 

5 shall consult, at a minimum— 

6 (A) the Commission; 

7 (B) agencies of States including— 

8 (i) State departments of transpor9 tation; and 

10 (ii) appropriate State agencies; 

11 (C) agencies of local governments respon12 sible for transportation and rights of way, utili13 ties, and telecommunications and broadband; 

14 (D) Tribal governments; 

15 (E) broadband providers and other tele16 communications providers; 

17 (F) labor unions; and 

18 (G) State or local broadband providers and 

19 Tribal governments that act as broadband pro20 viders. 

21 (6) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.— 

22 (A) EXPENSES FOR NON-FEDERAL MEM23 BERS.—Non-Federal members of the Task 

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1 thorized for employees under subchapter I of 

2 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

3 away from their homes or regular places of 

4 business in the performance of services for the 

5 Task Force. 

6 (B) STAFF.—Staff of the Task Force shall 

7 comprise detailees with relevant expertise from 

8 the Department of Transportation and the Na9 tional Telecommunications and Information Ad10 ministration, or another Federal agency the co11 chairpersons consider appropriate, with the con12 sent of the head of the Federal agency, and 

13 such detailee shall retain the rights, status, and 

14 privileges of his or her regular employment 

15 without interruption. 

16 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The 

17 Secretary and Assistant Secretary shall provide 

18 to the Task Force on a reimbursable basis ad19 ministrative support and other services for the 

20 performance of the functions of the Task Force. 

21 (7) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall ter22 minate not later than 90 days after issuance of the 

23 final report required under paragraph (3)(B). 

Æ 


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