I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1046 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to provide broadband 

availability data to the Department of the Interior. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 

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

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural 

Resources, 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 require the Federal Communications Commission to provide broadband availability data to the Department of 

the Interior. 

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 ‘‘Federal Broadband 

5 Deployment in Unserved Areas Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOCATING FEDERAL FACILITIES IN UNSERVED 

7 AREAS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com5 merce of the House of Representatives; 

6 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

7 of the House of Representatives; 

8 (C) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

10 (D) the Committee on Environment and 

11 Public Works of the Senate. 

12 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

13 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

14 (3) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

15 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 

16 (A) any infrastructure, including any 

17 transmitting device, tower, or support structure, 

18 and any equipment, switch, wiring, cabling, 

19 power source, shelter, or cabinet, associated 

20 with the licensed or permitted unlicensed wire21 less or wireline transmission of any writing, 

22 sign, signal, data, image, picture, and sound of 

23 any kind; and 

24 (B) any antenna or apparatus that— 

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1 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

2 emitting radio frequency; 

3 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

4 operating, from a fixed location pursuant 

5 to authorization by the Commission or is 

6 using any duly authorized device that does 

7 not require an individual license; and 

8 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

9 other structure. 

10 (4) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 

11 means land managed by a Federal land management 

12 agency. 

13 (5) DEPARTMENT CONCERNED.—The term 

14 ‘‘Department concerned’’ means the Department of 

15 the Interior or the Department of Agriculture. 

16 (6) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.— 

17 The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 

18 means— 

19 (A) the Forest Service; 

20 (B) the Bureau of Land Management; 

21 (C) the National Park Service; 

22 (D) the Fish and Wildlife Service; and 

23 (E) the Bureau of Reclamation. 

24 (7) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec25 retary concerned’’ means— 

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1 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re2 spect to land administered by such Secretary; 

3 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re4 spect to National Forest System land; and 

5 (C) the Secretary of Commerce. 

6 (b) SHARING BROADBAND AVAILABILITY DATA.— 

7 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 2 business 

8 days after the creation or update of any map re9 quired under section 802(c)(1) of the Communica10 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), the Com11 mission shall notify the Secretary concerned that the 

12 map has been created or updated. 

13 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Not later 

14 than 5 business days after the date on which the 

15 Secretary concerned is notified under paragraph (1), 

16 the Commission shall provide the Secretary con17 cerned any data the Commission has collected pursu18 ant to title VIII of the Communications Act of 1934 

19 (47 U.S.C. 641 et seq.). 

20 (3) CONTINUATION.—The Commission shall 

21 provide the Secretary concerned the information de22 scribed in paragraph (2) every 6 months unless the 

23 Commission no longer has such information. 

24 (4) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.— 

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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

2 specify to the Secretary concerned which infor3 mation provided under paragraph (2) was col4 lected in a confidential or proprietary manner, 

5 and the Secretary concerned may not make 

6 such information publicly available. 

7 (B) FOIA.—Information provided under 

8 paragraph (2) is exempt from disclosure to the 

9 public under section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (c) WORKING GROUP.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

13 after the date of enactment of this section, the Com14 mission and the Secretary concerned shall establish 

15 an interagency working group to facilitate the prepa16 ration and interoperability of information technology 

17 systems for the provision and receipt of the informa18 tion described in subsection (b)(2). 

19 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 

20 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

21 apply to the interagency working group established 

22 under paragraph (1). 

23 (d) REPORTS.— 

24 (1) PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL

25 BARRIERS.—Not later 120 days after the date on 

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1 which the interagency working group is established 

2 pursuant to subsection (c)(1), the Commission and 

3 the Secretary concerned shall jointly submit a report 

4 to the appropriate committees of Congress with a 

5 preliminary assessment of any potential barriers to 

6 sharing the information described under subsection 

7 (b)(2). 

8 (2) ASSESSMENTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date on which the Commission provides the in10 formation described under subsection (b)(2) to the 

11 Department concerned, the Commission and the Sec12 retary concerned shall jointly submit a report to the 

13 appropriate committees of Congress with— 

14 (A) an assessment of the effectiveness of a 

15 user’s ability to locate broadband infrastructure 

16 on covered land in an area to be determined as 

17 unserved by the Commission on the basis of the 

18 maps created under section 802(c) of the Com19 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)); 

20 and 

21 (B) an assessment of whether the Depart22 ment concerned prioritized the review of appli23 cations for a communications use authorization 

24 in an area to be determined as unserved by the 

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1 Commission on the basis of the maps created 

2 under such section. 

Æ