I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2692 

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 

MAY 14, 2019 

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 2019’’. 


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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.—Not later than 90 days 

11 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec12 retary shall issue a notification and requirement to 

13 States that each State is required to evaluate the 

14 need for broadband conduit in accordance with this 

15 section as part of any covered highway construction 

16 project. 

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

18 done in consultation with local and national tele19 communications providers, including telecommuni20 cations service and equipment providers. 

21 ‘‘(3) RESULTS OF EVALUATION.—If the evalua22 tion reveals an anticipated need in the next 15 years 

23 for broadband conduit beneath hard surfaces to be 

24 constructed by the project, the conduit shall be in25 stalled under the hard surfaces as part of the cov26 ered highway construction project. 


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1 ‘‘(4) DATE OF COMPLETION.—A State shall 

2 complete the evaluation described in paragraph (1) 

3 not later than 180 days after the date on which the 

4 Secretary issues the notification described in para5 graph (1) to such State. 

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

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

8 to a covered highway construction project that— 

9 ‘‘(1) an appropriate number of broadband con10 duits, as determined by the Assistant Secretary of 

11 Commerce for Communications and Information, are 

12 installed along such highway to accommodate mul13 tiple broadband providers, with consideration given 

14 to the availability of existing conduits; 

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

16 with industry best practices and is sufficient to ac17 commodate potential demand, as determined by the 

18 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica19 tions and Information; and 

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

21 and pulling with respect to each such conduit are 

22 placed at intervals consistent with industry best 

23 practices, as determined by the Assistant Secretary 

24 of Commerce for Communications and Information. 


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1 ‘‘(c) STANDARDS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in con3 sultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 

4 Communications and Information, shall establish stand5 ards, consistent with applicable requirements in section 

6 156 of this title, section 1.23, part 645, and part 710 of 

7 title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, and the Approved 

8 Utility Accommodation Manual, to carry out subsection 

9 (b) that consider— 

10 ‘‘(1) the ability to accommodate broadband in11 stallation without impacting the safety, operations, 

12 and maintenance of the highway facility, its users, 

13 or others; 

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

15 highway construction project; 

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

17 project; and 

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

19 such project. 

20 ‘‘(d) PULL TAPE.—Not later than 90 days after the 

21 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall en22 sure that each broadband conduit installed pursuant to 

23 this section includes a pull tape and is capable of sup24 porting fiber optic cable placement techniques consistent 


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1 with industry best practices, as determined by the Sec2 retary. 

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

4 ensure that each broadband conduit installed pursuant to 

5 this section is placed at a depth consistent with industry 

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

7 in determining the depth of placement, consideration is 

8 given to the location of existing utilities and the cable sep9 aration requirements of State and local electrical codes. 

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

11 requesting broadband provider has access to each 

12 broadband conduit installed pursuant to this section, on 

13 a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, for 

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

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

16 waive the application of this section if the Secretary deter17 mines that the waiver is appropriate with respect to a cov18 ered highway construction project based upon— 

19 ‘‘(1) a showing of undue burden; 

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

21 broadband conduit beneath hard surfaces to be con22 structed as part of a covered highway construction 

23 project is not necessary based on the availability of 

24 existing broadband infrastructure; 

25 ‘‘(3) a cost-benefit analysis; or 


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

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

3 this section, the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary of 

4 Commerce for Communications and Information shall co5 ordinate with the Federal Communications Commission, 

6 including in making determinations with respect to an ap7 propriate number of broadband conduits under subsection 

8 (b)(1), potential demand under subsection (b)(2), and ex9 isting broadband access under subsection (c). 

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

11 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sec12 tion, the Secretary shall provide information to the Fed13 eral Communications Commission and the Assistant Sec14 retary of Commerce for Communications and Information 

15 for inclusion within the National Broadband Map. 

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

17 definitions apply: 

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

19 means an Internet Protocol-based transmission serv20 ice that enables users to send and receive voice, 

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

22 ‘‘(2) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term 

23 ‘broadband conduit’ means a conduit for fiber optic 

24 cables that support broadband or, where appro25 priate, wireless facilities for broadband service. 


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1 ‘‘(3) COVERED HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION

2 PROJECT.—The term ‘covered highway construction 

3 project’ means a project to construct a new highway 

4 or to construct an additional lane or paved shoulder 

5 for an existing highway that is commenced after the 

6 date of enactment of this section and that receives 

7 funding under this title. 

8 ‘‘(4) HARD SURFACES.—The term ‘hard sur9 faces’ means asphalt and concrete pavement, curb 

10 and gutter, and sidewalk.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap12 ter 3 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add13 ing at the end the following: 

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

Æ 


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