I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4800 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for the inclusion of 

broadband conduit installation in certain highway construction projects, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2018 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for the 

inclusion of broadband conduit installation in certain 

highway construction projects, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Conduit 

5 Deployment Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF BROADBAND CONDUIT INSTALLA2 TION IN CERTAIN HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION 

3 PROJECTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 23, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 331. Inclusion of broadband conduit installation in 

8 certain highway construction projects 

9 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 

11 States to evaluate the need for broadband conduit in 

12 accordance with this section as part of any covered 

13 highway construction project. 

14 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The evaluation shall be 

15 done in consultation with local and national tele16 communications providers, including telecommuni17 cations service and equipment providers. 

18 ‘‘(3) RESULTS OF EVALUATION.—If the evalua19 tion reveals an anticipated need in the next 15 years 

20 for broadband conduit beneath hard surfaces to be 

21 constructed by the project, the conduit shall be in22 stalled under the hard surfaces as part of the cov23 ered highway construction project. 

24 ‘‘(b) INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying 

25 out subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure with respect 

26 to a covered highway construction project that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) an appropriate number of broadband con2 duits, as determined by the Assistant Secretary of 

3 Commerce for Communications and Information, are 

4 installed along such highway to accommodate mul5 tiple broadband providers, with consideration given 

6 to the availability of existing conduits; 

7 ‘‘(2) the size of each such conduit is consistent 

8 with industry best practices and is sufficient to ac9 commodate potential demand, as determined by the 

10 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica11 tions and Information; and 

12 ‘‘(3) hand holes and manholes for fiber access 

13 and pulling with respect to each such conduit are 

14 placed at intervals consistent with industry best 

15 practices, as determined by the Assistant Secretary 

16 of Commerce for Communications and Information. 

17 ‘‘(c) STANDARDS.—The Secretary, in consultation 

18 with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Commu19 nications and Information, shall establish standards, con20 sistent with applicable requirements in section 156 of this 

21 title, section 1.23, part 645, and part 710 of title 23, Code 

22 of Federal Regulations, and the Approved Utility Accom23 modation Manual, to carry out subsection (b) that con24 sider— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the ability to accommodate broadband in2 stallation without impacting the safety, operations, 

3 and maintenance of the highway facility, its users, 

4 or others; 

5 ‘‘(2) population density in the area of a covered 

6 highway construction project; 

7 ‘‘(3) the type of highway involved in such 

8 project; and 

9 ‘‘(4) existing broadband access in the area of 

10 such project. 

11 ‘‘(d) PULL TAPE.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

12 each broadband conduit installed pursuant to this section 

13 includes a pull tape and is capable of supporting fiber 

14 optic cable placement techniques consistent with industry 

15 best practices, as determined by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(e) DEPTH OF INSTALLATION.—The Secretary shall 

17 ensure that each broadband conduit installed pursuant to 

18 this section is placed at a depth consistent with industry 

19 best practices, as determined by the Secretary, and that, 

20 in determining the depth of placement, consideration is 

21 given to the location of existing utilities and the cable sep22 aration requirements of State and local electrical codes. 

23 ‘‘(f) ACCESS.—The Secretary shall ensure that any 

24 requesting broadband provider has access to each 

25 broadband conduit installed pursuant to this section, on 


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1 a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, for 

2 a charge not to exceed a cost-based rate. 

3 ‘‘(g) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 

4 waive the application of this section if the Secretary deter5 mines that the waiver is appropriate with respect to a cov6 ered highway construction project based upon— 

7 ‘‘(1) a showing of undue burden; 

8 ‘‘(2) a determination that the installation of 

9 broadband conduit beneath hard surfaces to be con10 structed as part of a covered highway construction 

11 project is not necessary based on the availability of 

12 existing broadband infrastructure; 

13 ‘‘(3) a cost-benefit analysis; or 

14 ‘‘(4) the consideration of other relevant factors. 

15 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION WITH FCC.—In carrying out 

16 this section, the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary of 

17 Commerce for Communications and Information shall co18 ordinate with the Federal Communications Commission, 

19 including in making determinations with respect to an ap20 propriate number of broadband conduits under subsection 

21 (b)(1), potential demand under subsection (b)(2), and ex22 isting broadband access under subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(i) PUBLICATION OF CONDUIT AVAILABILITY.—Not 

24 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sec25 tion, the Secretary shall provide information to the FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jan 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4800.IH H4800

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1 eral Communications Commission and the Assistant Sec2 retary of Commerce for Communications and Information 

3 for inclusion within the National Broadband Map. 

4 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

5 definitions apply: 

6 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND.—The term ‘broadband’ 

7 means an Internet Protocol-based transmission serv8 ice that enables users to send and receive voice, 

9 video, data, graphics, or a combination thereof. 

10 ‘‘(2) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term 

11 ‘broadband conduit’ means a conduit for fiber optic 

12 cables that support broadband or, where appro13 priate, wireless facilities for broadband service. 

14 ‘‘(3) COVERED HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION

15 PROJECT.—The term ‘covered highway construction 

16 project’ means a project to construct a new highway 

17 or to construct an additional lane or paved shoulder 

18 for an existing highway that is commenced after the 

19 date of enactment of this section and that receives 

20 funding under this title. 

21 ‘‘(4) HARD SURFACES.—The term ‘hard sur22 faces’ means asphalt and concrete pavement, curb 

23 and gutter, and sidewalk.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap2 ter 3 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add3 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘331. Inclusion of broadband conduit installation in certain highway construction projects.’’. 

Æ 


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