II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1294 

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 and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Inter5 agency Coordination Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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


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1 (A) the Federal Communications Commis2 sion; 

3 (B) the Department of Agriculture; and 

4 (C) the National Telecommunications and 

5 Information Administration; and 

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

7 (A) the program for Universal Service 

8 Support for High-Cost Areas set forth under 

9 subpart D of part 54 of title 47, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations, or any successor regulations; 

11 (B) the Remote Areas Fund set forth 

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

13 Federal Regulations, or any successor regula14 tions; 

15 (C) the Interstate Common Line Support 

16 Mechanism for Rate-of-Return Carriers set 

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

18 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

19 regulations; 

20 (D) the Mobility Fund set forth under sub21 part L of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations, or any successor regulations; and 

23 (E) the High Cost Loop Support for Rate24 of-Return Carriers program set forth under 


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1 subpart M of part 54 of title 47, Code of Fed2 eral Regulations, or any successor regulations. 

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

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

5 of the covered agencies shall enter into an interagency 

6 agreement requiring coordination between the covered 

7 agencies for the distribution of funds for broadband de8 ployment under— 

9 (1) the high-cost programs; 

10 (2) the programs administered by the Rural 

11 Utilities Service of the Department of Agriculture; 

12 and 

13 (3) the programs administered by the National 

14 Telecommunications and Information Administra15 tion. 

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

17 agreement with respect to the programs described in sub18 section (b), the heads of the covered agencies shall— 

19 (1) require that the covered agencies share in20 formation with each other about existing or planned 

21 projects that have received or will receive funds 

22 under the programs described in subsection (b) for 

23 new broadband deployment; 

24 (2) provide that— 


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1 (A) subject to subparagraph (B), upon re2 quest from another covered agency with author3 ity to award or authorize any funds for new 

4 broadband deployment in a project area, a cov5 ered agency shall provide the other covered 

6 agency with any information the covered agency 

7 possesses regarding, with respect to the project 

8 area— 

9 (i) each entity that provides broad10 band service in the area; 

11 (ii) levels of broadband service pro12 vided in the area, including the speed of 

13 broadband service and the technology pro14 vided; 

15 (iii) the geographic scope of broad16 band service coverage in the area; and 

17 (iv) each entity that has received or 

18 will receive funds under the programs de19 scribed in subsection (b) to provide broad20 band service in the area; and 

21 (B) if a covered agency designates any in22 formation provided to another covered agency 

23 under subparagraph (A) as confidential, the 

24 other covered agency shall protect the confiden25 tiality of that information; 


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1 (3) designate the Federal Communications 

2 Commission as the entity primarily responsible for— 

3 (A) coordinating among the covered agen4 cies; and 

5 (B) storing or maintaining access to all 

6 broadband deployment data; 

7 (4) consider basing the distribution of funds for 

8 broadband deployment under the programs described 

9 in subsection (b) on standardized data regarding 

10 broadband coverage; and 

11 (5) provide that the interagency agreement 

12 shall be updated periodically, except that the scope 

13 of the agreement with respect to the Federal Com14 munications Commission may not expand beyond the 

15 high-cost programs. 

16 (d) ASSESSMENT OF AGREEMENT.— 

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

18 after entering into the interagency agreement re19 quired under subsection (b), the Federal Commu20 nications Commission shall seek public comment 

21 on— 

22 (A) the effectiveness of the interagency 

23 agreement in facilitating efficient use of funds 

24 for broadband deployment; 


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

2 local data regarding broadband deployment and 

3 the inclusion of that data in interagency coordi4 nation; and 

5 (C) modifications to the interagency agree6 ment that would improve the efficacy of inter7 agency coordination. 

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

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

10 Federal Communications Commission shall— 

11 (A) review and assess the comments re12 ceived under paragraph (1); and 

13 (B) submit to the Committee on Com14 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen15 ate and the Committee on Energy and Com16 merce of the House of Representatives a report 

17 detailing any findings and recommendations 

18 from the assessment conducted under subpara19 graph (A). 

Æ 


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