II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2385 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve access to 

broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, including by encouraging the provision of broadband loans and grants to increase 

broadband service in emerging harbor projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve 

access to broadband telecommunications services in rural 

areas, including by encouraging the provision of 

broadband loans and grants to increase broadband service in emerging harbor 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 Internet 

5 for Small Ports Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 2385 IS

1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

2 SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS. 

3 Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

4 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (I) in clause (i)— 

9 (aa) by striking ‘‘of at 

10 least—’’ and inserting a semi11 colon; and 

12 (bb) by striking subclauses 

13 (I) and (II); 

14 (II) in clause (iii), by striking 

15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

16 (III) in clause (iv), by striking 

17 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

18 and’’; and 

19 (IV) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(v) give priority to applications for 

22 projects to provide rapid and expanded de23 ployment of fixed and mobile broadband on 

24 cropland and ranchland within a service 

25 territory for use in various applications of 

26 precision agriculture.’’; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 2385 IS

1 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

2 (I) in clause (i)— 

3 (aa) in subclause (III), by 

4 inserting ‘‘or’’ after the semi5 colon; 

6 (bb) in subclause (IV), by 

7 striking ‘‘or’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘and’’; and 

9 (cc) by striking subclause 

10 (V); and 

11 (II) in clause (ii)— 

12 (aa) in the matter preceding 

13 subclause (I), by striking ‘‘2’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘1’’; 

15 (bb) in subclause (IV), by 

16 inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semi17 colon; 

18 (cc) in subclause (V), by 

19 striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

20 period at the end; and 

21 (dd) by striking subclause 

22 (VI); and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 2385 IS

1 ‘‘(C) EMERGING HARBOR PROJECT PRI2 ORITY.—In addition to the priority given under 

3 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall give 

4 equal priority to an application for a project 

5 that would increase the availability of 

6 broadband service in an emerging harbor 

7 project (as defined in section 210(f) of the 

8 Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 

9 U.S.C. 2238(f))), without regard to whether the 

10 application is from an emerging harbor project. 

11 ‘‘(D) IDENTIFICATION OF UNSERVED COM12 MUNITIES.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

14 application given the highest priority under 

15 subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary shall 

16 confirm that each unserved rural commu17 nity identified in the application is eligible 

18 for funding by— 

19 ‘‘(I) conferring with and obtain20 ing data from the Chair of the Fed21 eral Communications Commission and 

22 the Administrator of the National 

23 Telecommunications and Information 

24 Administration with respect to the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 2385 IS

1 service area proposed in the applica2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(II) reviewing any other source 

4 that is relevant to service data valida5 tion, as determined by the Secretary; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(III) performing site-specific 

8 testing to verify the unavailability of 

9 any residential broadband service in 

10 the unserved rural community. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENTS.—Not less often 

12 than once every 2 years, the Secretary 

13 shall review, and may adjust through no14 tice published in the Federal Register, the 

15 unserved communities identified under 

16 clause (i).’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking subpara18 graphs (C) and (D) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (D), the amount of any grant 

21 made under this section shall not exceed 50 

22 percent of the development costs of the project 

23 for which the grant is provided. 

24 ‘‘(D) SECRETARIAL AUTHORITY TO AD25 JUST.—The Secretary may make grants of up 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 2385 IS

1 to 75 percent of the development costs of the 

2 project for which the grant is provided to an el3 igible entity if the Secretary determines that 

4 the project serves— 

5 ‘‘(i) an area of rural households de6 scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a rural community described in 

8 any of subclauses (I) through (IV) of para9 graph (2)(B)(i).’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (d)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

13 ‘‘subsection (j)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

14 (l)’’; and 

15 (ii) by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(C) RELATION TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE

18 HIGH-COST SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall co19 ordinate with the Federal Communications 

20 Commission to ensure that any grants, loans, or 

21 loan guarantees made under this section com22 plement and do not conflict with universal serv23 ice high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 

24 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 2385 IS

1 successor regulation) provided by the Commis2 sion.’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘50’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘90’’; and 

7 (II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘3’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘2’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary 

11 shall provide to an applicant of a grant, loan, or 

12 loan guarantee under this section feedback and deci13 sions on funding in a timely manner.’’; 

14 (3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 

15 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 

16 (4) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(j) BROADBAND BUILDOUT DATA.—As a condition 

19 of receiving a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this 

20 section, a recipient of assistance shall provide to the Sec21 retary complete, reliable, and precise geolocation informa22 tion that indicates the location of new broadband service 

23 that is being provided or upgraded within the service terri24 tory supported by the grant, loan, or loan guarantee not 

25 later than 30 days after the earlier of— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 2385 IS

1 ‘‘(1) the date of completion of any project mile2 stone established by the Secretary; or 

3 ‘‘(2) the date of completion of the project. 

4 ‘‘(k) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

5 may obligate, but not disperse, funds under this Act before 

6 the completion of otherwise required environmental, his7 torical, or other types of reviews if the Secretary deter8 mines that a subsequent site-specific review shall be ade9 quate and easily accomplished for the location of towers, 

10 poles, or other broadband facilities in the service area of 

11 the borrower without compromising the project or the re12 quired reviews.’’; and 

13 (5) in subsection (l)(2)(A) (as so redesig14 nated)— 

15 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

16 end; 

17 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 

21 used for— 

22 ‘‘(I) conducting oversight under 

23 this section; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•S 2385 IS

1 ‘‘(II) implementing accountability 

2 measures and related activities au3 thorized under this section.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS