IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1752 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

AN ACT 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to provide for a high-speed broadband deployment initiative. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eliminating Barriers 

3 to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility Act’’ or 

4 the ‘‘E-BRIDGE Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA6 TIVE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 

8 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et 

9 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 219. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA11 TIVE. 

12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND PROJECT.—The term 

14 ‘broadband project’ means, for the purpose of pro15 viding, extending, expanding, or improving high16 speed broadband service to further the goals of this 

17 Act— 

18 ‘‘(A) planning, technical assistance, or 

19 training; 

20 ‘‘(B) the acquisition or development of 

21 land; or 

22 ‘‘(C) the acquisition, design and engineer23 ing, construction, rehabilitation, alteration, ex24 pansion, or improvement of facilities, including 

25 related machinery, equipment, contractual 

26 rights, and intangible property. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible re3 cipient’ means an eligible recipient. 

4 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible re5 cipient’ includes— 

6 ‘‘(i) a public-private partnership; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a consortium formed for the pur8 pose of providing, extending, expanding, or 

9 improving high-speed broadband service 

10 between 1 or more eligible recipients and 1 

11 or more for-profit organizations. 

12 ‘‘(3) HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND.—The term 

13 ‘high-speed broadband’ means the provision of 2-way 

14 data transmission with sufficient downstream and 

15 upstream speeds to end users to permit effective 

16 participation in the economy and to support eco17 nomic growth, as determined by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(b) BROADBAND PROJECTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an el20 igible recipient, the Secretary may make grants 

21 under this title for broadband projects, which shall 

22 be subject to the provisions of this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing applica24 tions submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

25 shall take into consideration geographic diversity of 


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1 grants allocated, including consideration of under2 served markets, in addition to data requested in 

3 paragraph (3). 

4 ‘‘(3) DATA REQUESTED.—In reviewing an ap5 plication submitted under paragraph (1), the Sec6 retary shall request from the Federal Communica7 tions Commission, the Administrator of the National 

8 Telecommunications and Information Administra9 tion, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Appa10 lachian Regional Commission data on— 

11 ‘‘(A) the level and extent of broadband 

12 service that exists in the area proposed to be 

13 served; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the level and extent of broadband 

15 service that will be deployed in the area pro16 posed to be served pursuant to another Federal 

17 program. 

18 ‘‘(4) INTEREST IN REAL OR PERSONAL PROP19 ERTY.—For any broadband project carried out by an 

20 eligible recipient that is a public-private partnership 

21 or consortium, the Secretary shall require that title 

22 to any real or personal property acquired or im23 proved with grant funds, or if the recipient will not 

24 acquire title, another possessory interest acceptable 

25 to the Secretary, be vested in a public partner or eliVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1752.RFS H1752

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1 gible nonprofit organization or association for the 

2 useful life of the project, after which title may be 

3 transferred to any member of the public-private 

4 partnership or consortium in accordance with regu5 lations promulgated by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(5) PROCUREMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, no person or entity shall be 

8 disqualified from competing to provide goods or serv9 ices related to a broadband project on the basis that 

10 the person or entity participated in the development 

11 of the broadband project or in the drafting of speci12 fications, requirements, statements of work, or simi13 lar documents related to the goods or services to be 

14 provided. 

15 ‘‘(6) BROADBAND PROJECT PROPERTY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

17 permit a recipient of a grant for a broadband 

18 project to grant an option to acquire real or 

19 personal property (including contractual rights 

20 and intangible property) related to that project 

21 to a third party on such terms as the Secretary 

22 determines to be appropriate, subject to the 

23 condition that the option may only be exercised 

24 after the Secretary releases the Federal interest 

25 in the property. 


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1 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—The grant or exercise 

2 of an option described in subparagraph (A) 

3 shall not constitute a redistribution of grant 

4 funds under section 217. 

5 ‘‘(c) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—In determining the 

6 amount of the non-Federal share of the cost of a 

7 broadband project, the Secretary may provide credit to8 ward the non-Federal share for the present value of allow9 able contributions over the useful life of the broadband 

10 project, subject to the condition that the Secretary may 

11 require such assurances of the value of the rights and of 

12 the commitment of the rights as the Secretary determines 

13 to be appropriate.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

15 in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic Devel16 opment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; Public Law 

17 89–136) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

18 to section 218 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 219. High-speed broadband deployment initiative.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall only apply 

3 to amounts appropriated on or after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 11, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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