II 

Calendar No. 311 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1294 

[Report No. 116–162] 

To require Federal agencies with jurisdiction over broadband deployment 

to enter into an interagency agreement related to certain types of funding 

for broadband deployment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. YOUNG, and Ms. BALDWIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, without amendment 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies with jurisdiction over broadband 

deployment to enter into an interagency agreement related to certain types of funding for broadband deployment. 

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 ‘‘Broadband Inter3 agency Coordination Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means— 

7 (A) the Federal Communications Commis8 sion; 

9 (B) the Department of Agriculture; and 

10 (C) the National Telecommunications and 

11 Information Administration; and 

12 (2) the term ‘‘high-cost programs’’ means— 

13 (A) the program for Universal Service 

14 Support for High-Cost Areas set forth under 

15 subpart D of part 54 of title 47, Code of Fed16 eral Regulations, or any successor regulations; 

17 (B) the Remote Areas Fund set forth 

18 under subpart J of part 54 of title 47, Code of 

19 Federal Regulations, or any successor regula20 tions; 

21 (C) the Interstate Common Line Support 

22 Mechanism for Rate-of-Return Carriers set 

23 forth under subpart K of part 54 of title 47, 

24 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

25 regulations; 


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1 (D) the Mobility Fund set forth under sub2 part L of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal 

3 Regulations, or any successor regulations; and 

4 (E) the High Cost Loop Support for Rate5 of-Return Carriers program set forth under 

6 subpart M of part 54 of title 47, Code of Fed7 eral Regulations, or any successor regulations. 

8 (b) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.—Not later than 180 

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the heads 

10 of the covered agencies shall enter into an interagency 

11 agreement requiring coordination between the covered 

12 agencies for the distribution of funds for broadband de13 ployment under— 

14 (1) the high-cost programs; 

15 (2) the programs administered by the Rural 

16 Utilities Service of the Department of Agriculture; 

17 and 

18 (3) the programs administered by the National 

19 Telecommunications and Information Administra20 tion. 

21 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In entering into an interagency 

22 agreement with respect to the programs described in sub23 section (b), the heads of the covered agencies shall— 

24 (1) require that the covered agencies share in25 formation with each other about existing or planned 


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1 projects that have received or will receive funds 

2 under the programs described in subsection (b) for 

3 new broadband deployment; 

4 (2) provide that— 

5 (A) subject to subparagraph (B), upon re6 quest from another covered agency with author7 ity to award or authorize any funds for new 

8 broadband deployment in a project area, a cov9 ered agency shall provide the other covered 

10 agency with any information the covered agency 

11 possesses regarding, with respect to the project 

12 area— 

13 (i) each entity that provides broad14 band service in the area; 

15 (ii) levels of broadband service pro16 vided in the area, including the speed of 

17 broadband service and the technology pro18 vided; 

19 (iii) the geographic scope of broad20 band service coverage in the area; and 

21 (iv) each entity that has received or 

22 will receive funds under the programs de23 scribed in subsection (b) to provide broad24 band service in the area; and 


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1 (B) if a covered agency designates any in2 formation provided to another covered agency 

3 under subparagraph (A) as confidential, the 

4 other covered agency shall protect the confiden5 tiality of that information; 

6 (3) designate the Federal Communications 

7 Commission as the entity primarily responsible for— 

8 (A) coordinating among the covered agen9 cies; and 

10 (B) storing or maintaining access to all 

11 broadband deployment data; 

12 (4) consider basing the distribution of funds for 

13 broadband deployment under the programs described 

14 in subsection (b) on standardized data regarding 

15 broadband coverage; and 

16 (5) provide that the interagency agreement 

17 shall be updated periodically, except that the scope 

18 of the agreement with respect to the Federal Com19 munications Commission may not expand beyond the 

20 high-cost programs. 

21 (d) ASSESSMENT OF AGREEMENT.— 

22 (1) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after entering into the interagency agreement re24 quired under subsection (b), the Federal CommuVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1294.RS S1294

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1 nications Commission shall seek public comment 

2 on— 

3 (A) the effectiveness of the interagency 

4 agreement in facilitating efficient use of funds 

5 for broadband deployment; 

6 (B) the availability of Tribal, State, and 

7 local data regarding broadband deployment and 

8 the inclusion of that data in interagency coordi9 nation; and 

10 (C) modifications to the interagency agree11 ment that would improve the efficacy of inter12 agency coordination. 

13 (2) ASSESSMENT; REPORT.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Federal Communications Commission shall— 

16 (A) review and assess the comments re17 ceived under paragraph (1); and 

18 (B) submit to the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen20 ate and the Committee on Energy and Com21 merce of the House of Representatives a report 

22 detailing any findings and recommendations 

23 from the assessment conducted under subpara24 graph (A). 


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dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 311 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1294 

[Report No. 116–162] 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies with jurisdiction over 

funding for broadband deployment. agency agreement related to certain types of broadband deployment to enter into an interNOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Reported without amendment 


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