I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4817 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

Information to make grants for the establishment or expansion of internet exchange facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2018 

Mr. LONG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to make grants for the establishment or expansion of internet exchange facilities, 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 ‘‘Promoting Exchanges 

5 for Enhanced Routing of Information so Networks are 

6 Great Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘PEERING Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMA2 TION ADMINISTRATION GRANTS. 

3 (a) GRANTS.—On and after the first day of the first 

4 fiscal year beginning after the date on which the Assistant 

5 Secretary establishes rules and timelines under subsection 

6 (d), the Assistant Secretary shall award grants to entities 

7 to acquire real property and necessary equipment to— 

8 (1) establish a new internet exchange facility in 

9 a core based statistical area in which, at the time 

10 the grant is made, there are no existing internet ex11 change facilities; or 

12 (2) expand operations at an existing internet 

13 exchange facility in a core based statistical area in 

14 which, at the time the grant is made, there is only 

15 one internet exchange facility. 

16 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity may not receive a cov17 ered grant unless the entity certifies to the Assistant Sec18 retary that the entity has sufficient interest from third19 party entities that will use the internet exchange facility 

20 to be funded by the grant once the facility is established 

21 or operations are expanded, as applicable. 

22 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

23 total cost of the establishment or expansion of operations 

24 at an internet exchange facility for which a covered grant 

25 is received may not exceed 50 percent. 

26 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) RULES AND TIMELINES.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Assistant Secretary shall establish rules and 

4 timelines for applications for covered grants. 

5 (2) THIRD-PARTY REVIEW.—To prevent fraud 

6 in the covered grant program, the Assistant Sec7 retary shall enter into a contract with an inde8 pendent third party under which the third party re9 views an application for a covered grant not later 

10 than 60 days after the date on which the application 

11 is submitted to ensure that only an entity that is eli12 gible for a covered grant receives a covered grant. 

13 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to authorize the Assistant Sec15 retary to regulate, issue guidance for, or otherwise inter16 fere with the activities at an internet exchange facility. 

17 (f) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No addi18 tional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry 

19 out this section. This section shall be carried out using 

20 amounts otherwise authorized. 

21 SEC. 3. USE OF E-RATE AND RURAL HEALTH CARE UNI22 VERSAL SERVICE SUPPORT. 

23 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(m) USE OF E-RATE AND RURAL HEALTH CARE

2 SUPPORT FOR COSTS RELATING TO INTERNET EX3 CHANGE FACILITY CONNECTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law or regulation, including subpart F 

6 or G of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula7 tions, a recipient of support under such subpart F 

8 or G may receive support under such subpart— 

9 ‘‘(A) to contract with a broadband internet 

10 service provider to obtain connection to an 

11 internet exchange facility; or 

12 ‘‘(B) for the costs of maintaining a point 

13 of presence at an internet exchange facility. 

14 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

15 this subsection shall be construed to authorize the 

16 Commission to regulate, issue guidance for, or other17 wise interfere with the activities at an internet ex18 change facility. 

19 ‘‘(3) INTERNET EXCHANGE FACILITY DE20 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘internet ex21 change facility’ means physical infrastructure 

22 through which internet service providers and content 

23 delivery networks exchange internet traffic between 

24 their networks.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist4 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

5 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

6 (2) CORE BASED STATISTICAL AREA.—The 

7 term ‘‘core based statistical area’’ has the meaning 

8 given such term by the Office of Management and 

9 Budget in the Notice of Decision entitled ‘‘2010 

10 Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and 

11 Micropolitan Statistical Areas’’, published in the 

12 Federal Register on June 28, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 

13 37246), or any successor to such Notice. 

14 (3) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 

15 grant’’ means a grant awarded under section 2(a). 

16 (4) INTERNET EXCHANGE FACILITY.—The term 

17 ‘‘internet exchange facility’’ means physical infra18 structure through which internet service providers 

19 and content delivery networks exchange internet 

20 traffic between their networks. 

Æ 


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