I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3435 

To establish a broadband expansion grant program, to streamline the permitting process for fixed and mobile broadband services, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Mrs. RODGERS of Washington (for herself and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a broadband expansion grant program, to 

streamline the permitting process for fixed and mobile 

broadband services, 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 ‘‘American Broadband 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—BROADBAND EXPANSION 

Sec. 101. Broadband expansion grant program. 

Sec. 102. Mobile broadband expansion grant program. 

TITLE II—BOOSTING BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY 

Sec. 201. Wireless leadership. 

Sec. 202. Broadband leadership. 

Sec. 203. Cable leadership. 

Sec. 204. Cable expansion. 

Sec. 205. Cable competition. 

Sec. 206. Cable transparency. 

Sec. 207. Communities over regulating networks need economic competition 

today. 

Sec. 208. Streamlining permitting to enable efficient deployment of broadband 

infrastructure. 

Sec. 209. Wireless broadband competition and efficient deployment. 

Sec. 210. Broadband competition and efficient deployment. 

Sec. 211. Wireless resiliency and flexible investment. 

Sec. 212. Broadband resiliency and flexible investment. 

Sec. 213. Proportional reviews for broadband deployment. 

Sec. 214. Protecting critical infrastructure. 

Sec. 215. Reducing antiquated permitting for infrastructure deployment. 

Sec. 216. Coastal broadband deployment. 

Sec. 217. Brownfields broadband deployment. 

Sec. 218. Trusted broadband networks. 

Sec. 219. Connecting communities post disaster. 

Sec. 220. Wildfire wireless resiliency. 

Sec. 221. Standard fees. 

Sec. 222. Expediting Federal broadband deployment. 

Sec. 223. Federal broadband deployment in unserved areas. 

Sec. 224. Federal broadband deployment tracking. 

1 TITLE I—BROADBAND 

2 EXPANSION 

3 SEC. 101. BROADBAND EXPANSION GRANT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) NOTIFICATION OF CREATION OF BROADBAND

5 MAPS; DATA SHARING.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 business 

7 days after creating the maps required under section 

8 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

9 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), the Commission shall notify the 


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1 Assistant Secretary that such maps have been cre2 ated. 

3 (2) DATA SHARING.—Not less frequently than 

4 annually, the Commission shall, through the process 

5 established under section 802(b)(7) of the Commu6 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(b)(7)), provide 

7 the Assistant Secretary any data collected by the 

8 Commission pursuant to title VIII of such Act. 

9 (b) BROADBAND GRANT PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM; NO11 TICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY.—The Assistant 

12 Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the As13 sistant Secretary is notified as described in sub14 section (a)(1)— 

15 (A) establish a program to make grants on 

16 a competitive basis, from amounts made avail17 able to carry out this section, to covered part18 nerships for covered broadband projects; and 

19 (B) publish a Notice of Funding Oppor20 tunity in the Federal Register that includes in21 formation about such program, including any 

22 requirement established by this section. 

23 (2) LIMITATION.—The Assistant Secretary may 

24 not make a grant under this section before the date 

25 that is 1 year after the date on which the Assistant 


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1 Secretary is notified as described in subsection 

2 (a)(1). 

3 (3) COORDINATION.—In making a grant award 

4 under paragraph (1), in order to avoid overbuilding 

5 in areas where Federal funds have already been 

6 awarded, the Assistant Secretary shall coordinate 

7 with— 

8 (A) the Chairman of the Commission; 

9 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

10 (C) the Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

11 for Economic Development. 

12 (4) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a 

14 grant under this section, a covered partnership 

15 shall submit an application at such time, in 

16 such manner, and containing such information 

17 as the Assistant Secretary may require, but the 

18 application shall, at a minimum, include a de19 scription of— 

20 (i) the covered partnership submitting 

21 the application under this subsection; 

22 (ii) the covered broadband project to 

23 be funded by the grant, including the 

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1 nership plans to offer broadband service 

2 under the project; 

3 (iii) the cost of the covered broadband 

4 project to be funded by the grant, includ5 ing— 

6 (I) a description of how the re7 quired construction will be funded; 

8 (II) all estimated project costs 

9 for all facilities that are required to 

10 complete the project, including the 

11 costs of upgrading, replacing, or oth12 erwise modifying the existing facilities 

13 to expand coverage or meet perform14 ance requirements; 

15 (III) a description of how grant 

16 funds will be used in combination with 

17 other funds to support the broadband 

18 service project; 

19 (IV) in the case of a broadband 

20 service project that will be partially 

21 supported by loans, financial projec22 tions demonstrating that the covered 

23 partnership can cover the necessary 

24 debt service payments over the life of 

25 any loan; and 


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1 (V) financial projections dem2 onstrating that the covered partner3 ship will remain financially stable at 

4 the conclusion of the grant award; 

5 (iv) the area to be served by the cov6 ered broadband project (in this section re7 ferred to as the ‘‘proposed service area’’); 

8 (v) how the State, political subdivi9 sion, or political subdivisions in the covered 

10 partnership chose which provider of 

11 broadband service to enter into a partner12 ship with for the purposes of applying for 

13 a grant under this section; and 

14 (vi) any support provided to the pro15 vider of broadband service that is in the 

16 covered partnership through— 

17 (I) any grant, loan, or loan guar18 antee provided by a State to the pro19 vider of broadband service for the de20 ployment of broadband service in the 

21 proposed service area; 

22 (II) any grant, loan, or loan 

23 guarantee with respect to the pro24 posed service area provided by the 

25 Secretary of Agriculture under title 


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1 VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 

2 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.), includ3 ing the Broadband Grants, Loans, 

4 and Loan Guarantees program, the 

5 Community Connect Programs, and 

6 the ReConnect Pilot Program; 

7 (III) any high-cost universal serv8 ice support provided under section 

9 254 of the Communications Act of 

10 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254); 

11 (IV) any grant provided under 

12 section 6001 of the American Recov13 ery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 

14 U.S.C. 1305); 

15 (V) the Education Stabilization 

16 Fund under title VIII of division B of 

17 the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 

18 136); 

19 (VI) any grant, loan, or loan 

20 guarantee provided by the Federal 

21 Government for the provision of 

22 broadband service; or 

23 (VII) any legally enforceable 

24 broadband deployment obligations to 

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1 ice is subject in the eligible service 

2 area. 

3 (B) REQUIREMENT TO STREAMLINE PER4 MITTING PROCESS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—In order for a cov6 ered partnership to be eligible for a grant 

7 under this section each covered entity may 

8 only charge a fee to consider an applica9 tion for the placement, construction, or 

10 modification of a facility for the provision 

11 of broadband service, personal wireless 

12 services, or telecommunications service in 

13 the proposed service area or an application 

14 to use a right-of-way or a facility in a 

15 right-of-way owned or managed by that en16 tity for the placement, construction, or 

17 modification of a facility for the provision 

18 of any such service in the proposed service 

19 area, if the fee for considering such appli20 cation is— 

21 (I) nondiscriminatory; 

22 (II) publicly disclosed; and 

23 (III) based on actual and direct 

24 costs, such as costs for the review and 

25 processing of such applications. 


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1 (ii) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In 

2 this paragraph, the term ‘‘covered entity’’ 

3 means— 

4 (I) an entity in the partnership 

5 that is a State or political subdivision 

6 of a State; and 

7 (II) a political subdivision in 

8 which all or part of the proposed serv9 ice area is located. 

10 (5) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

11 section, the Assistant Secretary shall give priority to 

12 applications for covered broadband projects as fol13 lows (in decreasing order of priority): 

14 (A) Covered broadband projects designed 

15 to provide broadband service to the greatest 

16 number of households in an eligible service 

17 area. 

18 (B) Covered broadband projects designed 

19 to provide broadband service in an eligible serv20 ice area that is wholly within any area other 

21 than— 

22 (i) a county, city, or town that has a 

23 population of greater than 50,000 inhab24 itants; and 


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1 (ii) the urbanized area contiguous and 

2 adjacent to such a city or town. 

3 (C) Covered broadband projects that are 

4 most cost-effective, prioritizing such areas that 

5 are most rural. 

6 (D) Covered broadband projects designed 

7 to provide broadband service with a download 

8 speed of at least 100 megabits per second and 

9 an upload speed of at least 20 megabits per sec10 ond. 

11 (E) Any other covered broadband project 

12 that meets the requirements of this section. 

13 (6) FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.—The amount of 

14 any grant provided to a covered partnership under 

15 this section may not exceed 75 percent of the total 

16 cost of the covered broadband project. 

17 (7) GRANT CONDITIONS.— 

18 (A) REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of 

19 receiving a grant under this section for a cov20 ered broadband project that involves placing fa21 cilities along a roadway, the Assistant Secretary 

22 shall require the covered partnership receiving 

23 the grant to include consistent access points to 

24 allow access to such facilities, in accordance 

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1 mission regarding the placement of conduit ac2 cess points. 

3 (B) PROHIBITIONS.—As a condition of re4 ceiving a grant under this section, the Assistant 

5 Secretary shall prohibit— 

6 (i) a provider of broadband service 

7 that is in the covered partnership receiving 

8 the grant under this section— 

9 (I) from using grant amounts 

10 provided under this section to repay, 

11 or make any other payment relating 

12 to, a loan made by any public or pri13 vate lender; 

14 (II) from using grant amounts 

15 provided under this section as collat16 eral for a loan made by any public or 

17 private lender; and 

18 (III) from using more than 

19 $75,000 of grant amounts provided 

20 under this section to pay for the prep21 aration of an application for a grant 

22 under this section; and 

23 (ii) a State, or a political subdivision 

24 of the State, that is in the covered partner25 ship receiving the grant under this section 


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1 from, after accepting a grant under this 

2 section offering broadband service. 

3 (C) NONDISCRIMINATION.—The Assistant 

4 Secretary may not require a provider of 

5 broadband service that is in an eligible partner6 ship to be designated as an eligible tele7 communications carrier pursuant to section 

8 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

9 U.S.C. 214(e)) to be eligible to receive a grant 

10 under this section or as a condition of receiving 

11 a grant under this section. 

12 (8) BUILD-OUT, NOTIFICATION, AND ACCOUNT13 ABILITY REQUIREMENT.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec15 retary shall establish build-out, accountability, 

16 and (in accordance with paragraph (8)) report17 ing requirements for covered partnerships that 

18 receive grants under this section, including, for 

19 each covered partnership that receives a grant 

20 under this section, milestones for the deploy21 ment of broadband service under the covered 

22 broadband project funded by the grant. 

23 (B) NOTIFICATION TO COMMISSION.— 

24 Upon establishing a build-out, accountability, or 

25 reporting requirement under subparagraph (A), 


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1 the Assistant Secretary shall transmit to the 

2 Commission a notification describing such re3 quirement. 

4 (C) PENALTY.—If a covered partnership 

5 fails to meet a build out requirement under 

6 subparagraph (A), the Assistant Secretary 

7 shall— 

8 (i) recover any funds made available 

9 to the covered partnership; and 

10 (ii) assess a covered partnership (to 

11 be split equally among each entity in the 

12 partnership) a fine of not less than 50 per13 cent of the funds made available to the 

14 covered partnership. 

15 (9) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—A covered partnership 

17 that receives a grant under this section shall— 

18 (i) semi-annually submit to the Assist19 ant Secretary a certification that identifies 

20 the areas for which broadband service has 

21 been deployed under the covered 

22 broadband project funded by the grant, to 

23 assess compliance with broadband build24 out milestones established by the Assistant 


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1 Secretary under paragraph (8) for the 

2 project; and 

3 (ii) provide to the Assistant Secretary 

4 complete, reliable, and precise information 

5 (in a manner consistent with how informa6 tion is submitted under section 802 of the 

7 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

8 642)) on each area receiving access to 

9 broadband service through the covered 

10 broadband project funded by the grant, not 

11 later than 90 days after— 

12 (I) the date of completion of each 

13 milestone established by the Assistant 

14 Secretary under paragraph (7) for the 

15 covered broadband project; and 

16 (II) the date of completion of the 

17 covered broadband project. 

18 (B) PUBLICATION OF SEMI-ANNUAL CER19 TIFICATION.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

20 publish in the Federal Register each certifi21 cation submitted under subparagraph (A)(i), 

22 except that the Assistant Secretary shall not 

23 publish any information in such certification 

24 that the Assistant Secretary determines to be 

25 confidential. 


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1 (C) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Not later 

2 than 30 days after receiving information under 

3 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Assistant Secretary 

4 shall provide such information to the Commis5 sion. 

6 (10) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec8 retary may, at the request of a covered partner9 ship applying for a grant under this section, 

10 provide technical assistance and training to 

11 such partnership with respect to the application 

12 process and the application to be submitted by 

13 the partnership. 

14 (B) FUNDING.—Not more than 

15 $1,000,000 of the amount made available to 

16 carry out this section may be used for technical 

17 assistance and training under subparagraph 

18 (A). 

19 (C) COORDINATION.—When providing 

20 technical assistance to a covered partnership, 

21 the Assistant Secretary shall coordinate with 

22 any official of the State in which the political 

23 subdivision or political subdivisions in the cov24 ered partnership are located that is responsible 


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1 for the expansion of broadband service in the 

2 State. 

3 (11) RELATION TO OTHER FEDERAL AND

4 STATE BROADBAND PROGRAMS.— 

5 (A) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND.—Not later 

6 than 5 business days after the Commission re7 ceives a request from the Assistant Secretary 

8 for any information the Assistant Secretary de9 termines necessary to ensure that any grant 

10 made under this section complements and is not 

11 duplicative of high-cost universal service sup12 port provided under section 254 of the Commu13 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254), for an 

14 area that includes any portion or all of the area 

15 to be served by the covered broadband project 

16 with respect to which the grant is made, the 

17 Commission shall provide the Assistant Sec18 retary such information. 

19 (B) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE.—Not later 

20 than 5 business days after the Secretary of Ag21 riculture receives a request from the Assistant 

22 Secretary for any information the Assistant 

23 Secretary determines necessary to ensure that 

24 any grant made under this section complements 

25 and is not duplicative of grants, loans, or loan 


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1 guarantees provided by the Secretary of Agri2 culture under title VI of the Rural Electrifica3 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.), in4 cluding the Broadband Grants, Loans, and 

5 Loan Guarantees program and the Community 

6 Connect Programs, and the ReConnect Pilot 

7 Program, for an area that includes any portion 

8 or all of the area to be served by the covered 

9 broadband project with respect to which the 

10 grant is made, the Secretary of Agriculture 

11 shall provide the Assistant Secretary such infor12 mation. 

13 (C) STATE BROADBAND GRANT PRO14 GRAMS.—The Assistant Secretary shall ensure 

15 that any grant made under this section com16 plements and is not duplicative of grants, loans, 

17 loan guarantees, or other support, provided by 

18 a State to a provider of broadband service in 

19 the covered partnership, that establishes a le20 gally enforceable obligation for the provider to 

21 provide broadband service with a download 

22 speed of at least 25 megabits per second and an 

23 upload speed of at least 3 megabits per second, 

24 in an area that includes any portion or all of 


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1 the area to be served by the covered broadband 

2 project with respect to which the grant is made. 

3 (12) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Assistant 

4 Secretary shall annually submit a report to Congress 

5 on the progress of the program established under 

6 this section, based on the information provided by 

7 covered partnerships under paragraph (8)(A)(ii), 

8 until every obligation under each grant provided 

9 under this section is fulfilled. 

10 (13) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this section $20,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 

13 through fiscal year 2027, to remain available 

14 through fiscal year 2027. 

15 (14) CHALLENGE PROCESS.—In the Notice of 

16 Funding Opportunity required to be published under 

17 subsection (b)(1)(B), the Assistant Secretary shall 

18 be required to establish a user-friendly challenge 

19 process through which consumers, State, local, and 

20 Tribal governmental entities, and other entities or 

21 individuals may submit information to the Assistant 

22 Secretary to challenge whether— 

23 (A) with respect to an area, such area is 

24 an eligible service area; 


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1 (B) with respect to an area, an entity al2 ready provides such service in the area; or, 

3 (C) with respect to an area, an entity al4 ready has a legally enforceable obligation to 

5 provide broadband service in the area at 25 

6 megabits per second upload speed and 3 mega7 bits per second download speed. 

8 (15) LIMITATION ON STATE OR POLITICAL SUB9 DIVISION.— 

10 (A) Any entity in a covered partnership 

11 that is a State or political subdivision of a State 

12 may not prohibit or have the effect of prohib13 iting the entity in a covered partnership that is 

14 a provider of fixed broadband service that is not 

15 owned (in whole or in part) or controlled by the 

16 State or any political subdivision of the State 

17 from entering into a covered partnership on the 

18 basis of requiring any obligation, requirement, 

19 duty, or regulation that is inconsistent with, or 

20 exceeds in a material way, any grant condition 

21 required by the Assistant Secretary. 

22 (B) In the case of a covered partnership 

23 that receives a grant under this section, the en24 tity in the partnership that is a State or polit25 ical subdivision of a State may not impose any 


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1 obligation, requirement, duty, or regulation that 

2 is inconsistent with, or exceeds in a material 

3 way, any grant condition required by the Assist4 ant Secretary. 

5 (16) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

6 this Act shall be construed to permit an entity in a 

7 covered partnership that is a State or a political 

8 subdivision of a State to own or operate any facility 

9 used to provide broadband service at the conclusion 

10 of the covered partnership. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist13 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

14 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

15 (2) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

16 ‘‘broadband service’’ has the meaning given the term 

17 broadband internet access service in section 8.1(b) 

18 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc19 cessor regulation). 

20 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

21 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

22 (4) COVERED BROADBAND PROJECT.—The 

23 term ‘‘covered broadband project’’ means a competi24 tively and technologically neutral project for the de25 ployment of fixed broadband service that provides in 


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1 a eligible service areas broadband service with a 

2 download speed of at least 25 megabits per second, 

3 an upload speed of at least 3 megabits per second, 

4 and a latency sufficient to support real-time applica5 tions. 

6 (5) COVERED PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘cov7 ered partnership’’ means— 

8 (A) a partnership between— 

9 (i) a State, if such State does not 

10 offer broadband service; 

11 (ii) one or more political subdivisions 

12 of the State, if such political subdivision or 

13 such political subdivisions (as the case may 

14 be) do not offer broadband service; and 

15 (iii) a provider of fixed broadband 

16 service that is not owned (in whole or in 

17 part) or controlled by the State or any po18 litical subdivision of the State; or 

19 (B) a partnership between— 

20 (i) one or more political subdivisions 

21 of a State, provided such political subdivi22 sion or political subdivisions (as the case 

23 may be) does not offer broadband service; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) a provider of fixed broadband 

2 service that is not owned (in whole or in 

3 part) or controlled by the State or any po4 litical subdivision of the State. 

5 (6) ELIGIBLE SERVICE AREA.—The term ‘‘eligi6 ble service area’’ means a household or business lo7 cation in which broadband service at 25 megabits 

8 per second upload and 3 megabits per second 

9 download speed is not available, as determined by 

10 the Assistant Secretary solely on the basis of the 

11 maps created under section 802(c)(1) of the Com12 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), ex13 cept for those areas that are awarded funding in the 

14 Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase II Auction 

15 (FCC 20–5) or a High Cost Program. 

16 (7) HIGH COST PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘high 

17 cost program’’ means any of the following— 

18 (A) any grant, loan, or loan guarantee pro19 vided by a State to the provider of broadband 

20 service for the deployment of broadband service 

21 in the proposed service area; 

22 (B) any grant, loan, or loan guarantee 

23 with respect to the proposed service area pro24 vided by the Secretary of Agriculture under title 

25 VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 


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1 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.), including the Broadband 

2 Grants, Loans, and Loan Guarantees program, 

3 the Community Connect Programs, and the Re4 Connect Pilot Program; 

5 (C) any high-cost universal service support 

6 provided under section 254 of the Communica7 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254); 

8 (D) any grant provided under section 6001 

9 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

10 Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305); 

11 (E) the Education Stabilization Fund 

12 under title VIII of division B of the CARES 

13 Act (Public Law 116–136); or 

14 (F) any grant, loan, or loan guarantee pro15 vided by the Federal Government for the provi16 sion of broadband service. 

17 (8) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICES.—The term 

18 ‘‘personal wireless services’’— 

19 (A) has the meaning given such term in 

20 section 332 of the Communications Act of 1934 

21 (47 U.S.C. 332); and 

22 (B) includes commercial mobile data serv23 ice (as defined in section 6001 of the Middle 

24 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 

25 (47 U.S.C. 1401)). 


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1 (9) POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘‘polit2 ical subdivision’’ includes a city, county, wireless au3 thority, or planning district commission. 

4 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

5 States, the District of Columbia, the territories and 

6 possessions of the United States, and federally rec7 ognized Indian Tribes. 

8 (11) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The 

9 term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has the meaning 

10 given the term in section 3 of the Communications 

11 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

12 SEC. 102. MOBILE BROADBAND EXPANSION GRANT PRO13 GRAM. 

14 (a) NOTIFICATION OF CREATION OF BROADBAND

15 MAPS; DATA SHARING.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 business 

17 days after creating the maps required under section 

18 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

19 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), the Commission shall notify the 

20 Assistant Secretary that such maps have been cre21 ated. 

22 (2) DATA SHARING.—Not less frequently than 

23 annually, the Commission shall, through the process 

24 established under section 802(b)(7) of the Commu25 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(b)(7)), provide 


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1 the Assistant Secretary any data collected by the 

2 Commission pursuant to title VIII of such Act. 

3 (b) MOBILE BROADBAND GRANT PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM; NO5 TICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY.—The Assistant 

6 Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the As7 sistant Secretary is notified as described in sub8 section (a)(1)— 

9 (A) establish a program to make grants on 

10 a competitive basis, from amounts made avail11 able to carry out this section, to covered part12 nerships for covered mobile broadband service 

13 projects; and 

14 (B) publish a Notice of Funding Oppor15 tunity in the Federal Register that includes in16 formation about such program, including any 

17 requirement established by this section. 

18 (2) LIMITATION; COORDINATION.— 

19 (A) The Assistant Secretary may not make 

20 a grant under this section before the date that 

21 is 1 year after the date on which the Assistant 

22 Secretary is notified as described in subsection 

23 (a)(1). 

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1 nate with the Chairman of the Commission in 

2 order to avoid overbuilding in areas where 

3 funds are made available through the 5G Fund 

4 Report and Order (FCC 20–150) adopted by 

5 the Commission on October 27, 2020. 

6 (3) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a 

8 grant under this section, a covered partnership 

9 shall submit an application at such time, in 

10 such manner, and containing such information 

11 as the Assistant Secretary may require, but the 

12 application shall, at a minimum, include a de13 scription of— 

14 (i) the covered partnership submitting 

15 the application under this paragraph; 

16 (ii) the covered mobile broadband 

17 service project to be funded by the grant, 

18 including the speed or speeds at which the 

19 covered partnership plans to offer mobile 

20 broadband service under the project; 

21 (iii) the cost of the covered mobile 

22 broadband service project to be funded by 

23 the grant, including— 

24 (I) a description of how the re25 quired construction will be funded; 


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1 (II) all estimated project costs 

2 for all facilities that are required to 

3 complete the project, including the 

4 costs of upgrading, replacing, or oth5 erwise modifying the existing facilities 

6 to expand coverage or meet perform7 ance requirements; 

8 (III) a description of how grant 

9 funds will be used in combination with 

10 other funds to support the mobile 

11 broadband service project; 

12 (IV) in the case of a mobile 

13 broadband service project that will be 

14 partially supported by loans, financial 

15 projections demonstrating that the 

16 covered partnership can cover the nec17 essary debt service payments over the 

18 life of any loan; and 

19 (V) financial projects dem20 onstrating that the covered partner21 ship will remain financially stable at 

22 the conclusion of the grant award; 

23 (iv) the area to be served by the cov24 ered mobile broadband service project (in 


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1 this subsection referred to as the ‘‘pro2 posed service area’’); 

3 (v) how the State, political subdivi4 sion, or political subdivisions in the covered 

5 partnership chose which provider of mobile 

6 broadband service to enter into a partner7 ship with for the purposes of applying for 

8 a grant under this section; and 

9 (vi) any support (other than support 

10 for a wireline service) that the provider of 

11 mobile broadband service that is in the 

12 covered partnership has received through— 

13 (I) any grant, loan, or loan guar14 antee provided by a State to the pro15 vider of mobile broadband service for 

16 the deployment of mobile broadband 

17 service in the proposed service area; 

18 (II) any high-cost universal serv19 ice support provided under section 

20 254 of the Communications Act of 

21 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254); 

22 (III) any grant provided under 

23 section 6001 of the American Recov24 ery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 

25 U.S.C. 1305); 


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1 (IV) the Education Stabilization 

2 Fund under title VIII of division B of 

3 the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 

4 136); 

5 (V) any other grant, loan, or loan 

6 guarantee provided by the Federal 

7 Government for the provision of 

8 broadband service; or 

9 (VI) any legally enforceable mo10 bile broadband deployment obligations 

11 to which the provider of mobile 

12 broadband service is subject in the eli13 gible service area. 

14 (B) REQUIREMENT TO STREAMLINE PER15 MITTING PROCESS.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—In order for a cov17 ered partnership to be eligible for a grant 

18 under this section each covered entity may 

19 only charge a fee to consider an applica20 tion for the placement, construction, or 

21 modification of a facility for the provision 

22 of broadband service, personal wireless 

23 services, or telecommunications service in 

24 the proposed service area or an application 

25 to use a right-of-way or a facility in a 


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1 right-of-way owned or managed by that en2 tity for the placement, construction, or 

3 modification of a facility for the provision 

4 of any such service in the proposed service 

5 area, if the fee for considering such appli6 cation is— 

7 (I) nondiscriminatory; 

8 (II) publicly disclosed; and 

9 (III) based on actual and direct 

10 costs, such as costs for the review and 

11 processing of such applications. 

12 (ii) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In 

13 this subparagraph, the term ‘‘covered enti14 ty’’ means— 

15 (I) an entity in the partnership 

16 that is a State or political subdivision 

17 of a State; and 

18 (II) a political subdivision in 

19 which all or part of the proposed serv20 ice area is located. 

21 (4) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

22 section, the Assistant Secretary shall give priority to 

23 applications for covered mobile broadband service 

24 projects as follows (in decreasing order of priority): 


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1 (A) Covered mobile broadband service 

2 projects designed to provide mobile broadband 

3 service to an eligible service in which the great4 est number of households in the eligible service 

5 area do not have fixed broadband service with 

6 a download speed of 25 megabits per second 

7 and an upload speed of 3 megabits per second, 

8 as determined by the Assistant Secretary on the 

9 basis of the maps required under section 

10 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 

11 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)). 

12 (B) Covered mobile broadband service 

13 projects designed to provide mobile broadband 

14 service in an eligible service area that is wholly 

15 within any area other than— 

16 (i) a county, city, or town that has a 

17 population of greater than 50,000 inhab18 itants; and 

19 (ii) the urbanized area contiguous and 

20 adjacent to such a city or town. 

21 (C) Covered mobile broadband service 

22 projects that are most cost-effective. 

23 (D) Covered mobile broadband service 

24 projects that are most rural. 


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1 (E) Covered mobile broadband service 

2 projects designed to provide 5th Generation 

3 long-term evolution or future generation of 

4 service that meets the standards set forth in 

5 Release 15, or any successor release, of the 3rd 

6 Generation Partnership Project. 

7 (F) Any other covered mobile broadband 

8 service project that meets the requirements of 

9 this section. 

10 (5) FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.—The amount of 

11 any grant provided to a covered partnership under 

12 this section may not exceed 75 percent of the total 

13 cost of the covered mobile broadband service project. 

14 (6) GRANT CONDITIONS.— 

15 (A) REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of 

16 receiving a grant under this section for a cov17 ered mobile broadband service project, a cov18 ered partnership shall provide mobile broadband 

19 service under the project using the facilities of 

20 the provider of mobile broadband service in the 

21 covered partnership and not exclusively through 

22 the resale of the service of another provider of 

23 personal wireless services. 


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1 (B) PROHIBITIONS.—As a condition of re2 ceiving a grant under this section, the Assistant 

3 Secretary shall prohibit— 

4 (i) a provider of mobile broadband 

5 service that is in the covered partnership 

6 receiving the grant under this section— 

7 (I) from using grant amounts 

8 provided under this section to repay, 

9 or make any other payment relating 

10 to, a loan made by any public or pri11 vate lender; 

12 (II) from using grant amounts 

13 provided under this section as collat14 eral for a loan made by any public or 

15 private lender; and 

16 (III) from using more than 

17 $75,000 of grant amounts provided 

18 under this section to pay for the prep19 aration of an application for a grant 

20 under this section; and 

21 (ii) a State, or a political subdivision 

22 of a State, that is in the covered partner23 ship receiving the grant under this section, 

24 after accepting a grant under this section 

25 from offering mobile broadband service. 


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1 (C) NONDISCRIMINATION.—The Assistant 

2 Secretary may not require a provider of mobile 

3 broadband service that is in an eligible partner4 ship to be designated as an eligible tele5 communications carrier pursuant to section 

6 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

7 U.S.C. 214(e)) for the covered partnership to 

8 be eligible to receive a grant under this section 

9 or as a condition of the covered partnership re10 ceiving a grant under this section. 

11 (D) COLLOCATION.—A covered entity (as 

12 defined in paragraph (3)(B)(ii)) may not pro13 hibit or have the effect of prohibiting the col14 location of personal wireless service facilities at 

15 any site at which the covered partnership has 

16 deployed a personal wireless service facility in 

17 connection with a grant made available in this 

18 section. 

19 (7) BUILD-OUT, NOTIFICATION, AND ACCOUNT20 ABILITY REQUIREMENT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec22 retary shall establish build-out, accountability, 

23 and (in accordance with paragraph (8)) report24 ing requirements for covered partnerships that 

25 receive grants under this section, including, for 


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1 each covered partnership that receives a grant 

2 under this section, milestones for the deploy3 ment of mobile broadband service under the 

4 covered mobile broadband service project fund5 ed by the grant. 

6 (B) NOTIFICATION TO COMMISSION.— 

7 Upon establishing a build-out, accountability, or 

8 reporting requirement under subparagraph (A), 

9 the Assistant Secretary shall transmit to the 

10 Commission a notification describing such re11 quirement. 

12 (C) PENALTY.—If a covered partnership 

13 fails to meet a build out requirement under 

14 subparagraph (A), the Assistant Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 (i) recover any funds made available 

17 to the covered partnership; and 

18 (ii) assess a covered partnership (to 

19 be split equally among each entity in the 

20 partnership) a fine of not less than 50 per21 cent of the funds made available to the 

22 covered partnership. 

23 (8) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—A covered partnership 

25 that receives a grant under this section shall— 


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1 (i) semi-annually submit to the Assist2 ant Secretary a certification that identifies 

3 the areas for which mobile broadband serv4 ice have been deployed under the covered 

5 mobile broadband service project funded by 

6 the grant, to assess compliance with mobile 

7 broadband service build-out milestones es8 tablished by the Assistant Secretary under 

9 paragraph (7) for the project; and 

10 (ii) provide to the Assistant Secretary 

11 complete, reliable, and precise information 

12 (in a manner consistent with how informa13 tion is submitted under section 802 of the 

14 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

15 642)) on each area receiving access to mo16 bile broadband service through the covered 

17 mobile broadband service project funded by 

18 the grant, not later than 90 days after— 

19 (I) the date of completion of each 

20 milestone established by the Assistant 

21 Secretary under paragraph (6) for the 

22 covered mobile broadband service 

23 project; and 


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1 (II) the date of completion of the 

2 covered mobile broadband service 

3 project. 

4 (B) PUBLICATION OF SEMI-ANNUAL CER5 TIFICATION.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

6 publish in the Federal Register each certifi7 cation submitted under subparagraph (A)(i), 

8 except that the Assistant Secretary shall not 

9 publish any information in such certification 

10 that the Assistant Secretary determines to be 

11 confidential. 

12 (C) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Not later 

13 than 30 days after receiving information under 

14 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Assistant Secretary 

15 shall provide such information to the Commis16 sion. 

17 (9) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec19 retary may, at the request of a covered partner20 ship applying for a grant under this section, 

21 provide technical assistance and training to 

22 such partnership with respect to the application 

23 process and the application to be submitted by 

24 the partnership. 


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1 (B) FUNDING.—Not more than 

2 $1,000,000 of the amount made available to 

3 carry out this section may be used for technical 

4 assistance and training under subparagraph 

5 (A). 

6 (C) COORDINATION.—When providing 

7 technical assistance to a covered partnership, 

8 the Assistant Secretary shall coordinate with 

9 any official of the State in which the political 

10 subdivision or political subdivisions in the cov11 ered partnership are located that is responsible 

12 for the expansion of personal wireless services 

13 in the State. 

14 (10) RELATION TO OTHER FEDERAL AND

15 STATE BROADBAND PROGRAMS.— 

16 (A) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND.—Not later 

17 than 5 business days after the Commission re18 ceives a request from the Assistant Secretary 

19 for any information the Assistant Secretary de20 termines necessary to ensure that any grant 

21 made under this section complements and is not 

22 duplicative of high-cost universal service sup23 port provided under section 254 of the Commu24 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254), for an 

25 area that includes any portion or all of the area 


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1 to be served by the covered mobile broadband 

2 service project with respect to which the grant 

3 is made, the Commission shall provide the As4 sistant Secretary such information. 

5 (B) STATE BROADBAND GRANT PRO6 GRAMS.—The Assistant Secretary shall ensure 

7 that any grant made under this section com8 plements and is not duplicative of grants, loans, 

9 loan guarantees, or other support, provided by 

10 a State to a provider of mobile broadband serv11 ice in the covered partnership, that establishes 

12 a legally enforceable obligation for the provider 

13 to provide broadband service with a download 

14 speed of at least 25 megabits per second and an 

15 upload speed of at least 3 megabits per second, 

16 in an area that includes any portion or all of 

17 the area to be served by the covered mobile 

18 broadband service project with respect to which 

19 the grant is made. 

20 (11) CHALLENGE PROCESS.—In the Notice of 

21 Funding Opportunity required to be published under 

22 subsection (b)(1)(B), the Assistant Secretary shall 

23 be required to establish a user-friendly challenge 

24 process through which consumers, State, local, and 

25 Tribal governmental entities, and other entities or 


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1 individuals may submit information to the Assistant 

2 Secretary to challenge whether— 

3 (A) with respect to an area, such area is 

4 an eligible service area; 

5 (B) with respect to an area, an entity al6 ready provides such service in the area; or 

7 (C) with respect to an area, an entity al8 ready has a legally enforceable obligation to 

9 provide mobile broadband service in the area. 

10 (12) LIMITATION ON STATE OR POLITICAL SUB11 DIVISION.— 

12 (A) Any entity in a covered partnership 

13 that is a State or political subdivision of a State 

14 may not prohibit or have the effect of prohib15 iting the entity in a covered partnership that is 

16 a provider of mobile broadband service that is 

17 not owned (in whole or in part) or controlled by 

18 the State or any political subdivision of the 

19 State from entering into a covered partnership 

20 on the basis of requiring any obligation, re21 quirement, duty, or regulation that is incon22 sistent with, or exceeds in a material way, any 

23 grant condition required by the Assistant Sec24 retary. 


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1 (B) In the case of a covered partnership 

2 that receives a grant under this section, the en3 tity in the partnership that is a State or polit4 ical subdivision of a State may not impose any 

5 obligation, requirement, duty, or regulation that 

6 is inconsistent with, or exceeds in a material 

7 way, any grant condition required by the Assist8 ant Secretary. 

9 (13) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

10 this Act shall be construed to permit an entity in a 

11 covered partnership that is a State or a unit of local 

12 government to own or operate any facility used to 

13 provide mobile broadband service at the conclusion 

14 of the covered partnership. 

15 (14) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Assistant 

16 Secretary shall annually submit a report to Congress 

17 on the progress of the program established under 

18 this section, based on the information provided by 

19 covered partnerships under paragraph (8)(A)(ii), 

20 until every obligation under each grant provided 

21 under this section is fulfilled. 

22 (15) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this section $3,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 


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1 through fiscal year 2027, to remain available 

2 through fiscal year 2027. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist5 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

6 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

7 (2) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

8 ‘‘broadband service’’ has the meaning given the term 

9 broadband internet access service in section 8.1(b) 

10 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc11 cessor regulation). 

12 (3) CELL EDGE PROBABILITY; CELL LOAD13 ING.—The terms ‘‘cell edge probability’’ and ‘‘cell 

14 loading’’ have the meaning given those terms in sec15 tion 801 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

16 U.S.C. 641). 

17 (4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

18 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

19 (5) COVERED MOBILE BROADBAND SERVICE

20 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered mobile broadband 

21 service project’’ means a competitively and techno22 logically neutral project for the deployment of mobile 

23 broadband service in an eligible service area. 

24 (6) COVERED PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘cov25 ered partnership’’ means— 


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1 (A) a partnership between— 

2 (i) a State, if such State does not 

3 offer personal wireless services; 

4 (ii) one or more political subdivisions 

5 of the State, if such political subdivision or 

6 such political subdivisions (as the case may 

7 be) do not offer mobile broadband service; 

8 and 

9 (iii) a provider of mobile broadband 

10 service that is not owned (in whole or in 

11 part) or controlled by the State or any po12 litical subdivision of the State; or 

13 (B) a partnership between— 

14 (i) one or more political subdivisions 

15 of a State, provided such political subdivi16 sion or political subdivisions (as the case 

17 may be) does not offer mobile broadband 

18 service; and 

19 (ii) a provider of mobile broadband 

20 service that is not owned (in whole or in 

21 part) or controlled by the State or any po22 litical subdivision of the State. 

23 (7) ELIGIBLE SERVICE AREA.—The term ‘‘eligi24 ble service area’’ means an area not smaller than a 

25 census block in which mobile broadband service is 


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1 not available, as determined by the Assistant Sec2 retary solely on the basis of the maps created under 

3 section 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 

4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), except such areas that 

5 are eligible for support or are awarded support 

6 under the 5G Fund Report and Order (FCC 20– 

7 150) adopted by the Commission on October 27, 

8 2020. 

9 (8) MOBILE BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

10 ‘‘mobile broadband service’’ means 4th Generation 

11 long-term evolution service, 5th Generation long12 term evolution service, or future generation of serv13 ice that meets the standards set forth in Release 10, 

14 or any successor release, of the 3rd Generation Part15 nership Project. 

16 (9) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICES.—The term 

17 ‘‘personal wireless services’’— 

18 (A) has the meaning given such term in 

19 section 332 of the Communications Act of 1934 

20 (47 U.S.C. 332); and 

21 (B) includes commercial mobile data serv22 ice (as defined in section 6001 of the Middle 

23 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 

24 (47 U.S.C. 1401)). 


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1 (10) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACIL2 ITY.—The term ‘‘personal wireless service facility’’ 

3 means a facility for the provision of personal wire4 less service. 

5 (11) POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘‘po6 litical subdivision’’ includes a city, county, wireless 

7 authority, or planning district commission. 

8 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

9 States, the District of Columbia, the territories and 

10 possessions of the United States, and federally rec11 ognized Indian Tribes. 

12 (13) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The 

13 term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has the meaning 

14 given the term in section 3 of the Communications 

15 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

16 TITLE II—BOOSTING 

17 BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY 

18 SEC. 201. WIRELESS LEADERSHIP. 

19 Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 

20 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) 

21 and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AU23 THORITY.— 

24 ‘‘(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as 

25 provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act 


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1 shall limit or affect the authority of a State or 

2 local government or instrumentality thereof over 

3 decisions regarding the placement, construction, 

4 and modification of personal wireless service fa5 cilities. 

6 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of 

8 the placement, construction, or modifica9 tion of a personal wireless service facility 

10 by any State or local government or instru11 mentality thereof— 

12 ‘‘(I) shall not unreasonably dis13 criminate among providers of the 

14 same service, including by providing 

15 exclusive or preferential use of facili16 ties to a particular provider or class of 

17 providers of personal wireless service; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(II) shall not prohibit or have 

20 the effect of prohibiting the provision 

21 or enhancement of personal wireless 

22 service. 

23 ‘‘(ii) ENGINEERING STANDARDS; AES24 THETIC REQUIREMENTS.—It is not a viola25 tion of clause (i) for a State or local govVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3435.IH H3435

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1 ernment or instrumentality thereof to es2 tablish for small personal wireless service 

3 facilities objective, reasonable, and non4 discriminatory— 

5 ‘‘(I) structural engineering stand6 ards based on generally applicable 

7 codes; 

8 ‘‘(II) safety requirements; or 

9 ‘‘(III) aesthetic or concealment 

10 requirements. 

11 ‘‘(iii) TIMEFRAMES.— 

12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State or 

13 local government or instrumentality 

14 thereof shall grant or deny a complete 

15 request for authorization to place, 

16 construct, or modify a personal wire17 less service facility not later than— 

18 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a per19 sonal wireless service facility that 

20 is not a small personal wireless 

21 service facility— 

22 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 

23 for authorization to place, 

24 construct, or modify such fa25 cility on an eligible support 


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1 structure, including in an 

2 area that has not previously 

3 been zoned for personal 

4 wireless service facilities 

5 (other than small personal 

6 wireless service facilities), 90 

7 days after the date on which 

8 the complete request is re9 ceived by the government or 

10 instrumentality; or 

11 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 

12 for any other action relating 

13 to such facility, 150 days 

14 after the date on which the 

15 complete request is received 

16 by the government or instru17 mentality; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a small 

19 personal wireless service facil20 ity— 

21 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 

22 for authorization to place, 

23 construct, or modify such fa24 cility on an eligible support 

25 structure, including in an 


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1 area that has not previously 

2 been zoned for personal 

3 wireless service facilities, 60 

4 days after the date on which 

5 the complete request is re6 ceived by the government or 

7 instrumentality; or 

8 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 

9 for any other action relating 

10 to such facility, 90 days 

11 after the date on which the 

12 complete request is received 

13 by the government or instru14 mentality. 

15 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BATCHED

16 REQUESTS.—In the case of complete 

17 requests described in subclause (I) 

18 that are submitted as part of a single 

19 batch and received by the government 

20 or instrumentality on the same day, 

21 the applicable timeframe under such 

22 subclause for each request in the 

23 batch shall be the longest timeframe 

24 under such subclause that would be 

25 applicable to any request in the batch 


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1 if such requests were submitted sepa2 rately. 

3 ‘‘(III) APPLICABILITY.—The ap4 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 

5 shall apply collectively to all pro6 ceedings required by a State or local 

7 government or instrumentality thereof 

8 for the approval of the request. 

9 ‘‘(IV) NO TOLLING.—A time10 frame under subclause (I) may not be 

11 tolled by any moratorium, whether ex12 press or de facto, imposed by a State 

13 or local government or instrumentality 

14 thereof on the consideration of any re15 quest for authorization to place, con16 struct, or modify a personal wireless 

17 service facility. 

18 ‘‘(V) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The 

19 Commission may temporarily waive 

20 the applicability of subclause (I) for 

21 not longer than a single 30-day period 

22 for any complete request upon a dem23 onstration by a State or local govern24 ment or instrumentality thereof that 

25 the waiver would be consistent with 


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1 the public interest, convenience, and 

2 necessity. 

3 ‘‘(iv) DEEMED GRANTED.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a State or 

5 local government or instrumentality 

6 thereof has neither granted nor denied 

7 a complete request within the applica8 ble timeframe under subclause (I) of 

9 clause (iii), including any temporary 

10 waiver granted under subclause (V) of 

11 such clause, the request shall be 

12 deemed granted on the date on which 

13 the government or instrumentality re14 ceives a written notice of the failure 

15 from the requesting party. 

16 ‘‘(II) RULE OF CONSTRUC17 TION.—In the case of a request that 

18 is deemed granted under subclause 

19 (I), the placement, construction, or 

20 modification requested in the request 

21 shall be considered to be authorized, 

22 without any further action by the gov23 ernment or instrumentality, beginning 

24 on the date on which the request is 

25 deemed granted under such subclause. 


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1 ‘‘(v) WRITTEN DECISION AND

2 RECORD.—Any decision by a State or local 

3 government or instrumentality thereof to 

4 deny a request for authorization to place, 

5 construct, or modify a personal wireless 

6 service facility shall be— 

7 ‘‘(I) in writing; and 

8 ‘‘(II) supported by substantial 

9 evidence contained in a written 

10 record. 

11 ‘‘(vi) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF

12 RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State 

13 or local government or instrumentality 

14 thereof may regulate the placement, con15 struction, or modification of personal wire16 less service facilities on the basis of the en17 vironmental effects of radio frequency 

18 emissions to the extent that such facilities 

19 comply with the Commission’s regulations 

20 concerning such emissions. 

21 ‘‘(vii) FEES.—Notwithstanding any 

22 other provision of law, a State or local gov23 ernment or instrumentality thereof may 

24 charge a fee to consider a request for au25 thorization to place, construct, or modify a 


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1 personal wireless service facility, or a fee 

2 for use of a right-of-way or a facility in a 

3 right-of-way owned or managed by the gov4 ernment or instrumentality for the place5 ment, construction, or modification of a 

6 personal wireless service facility, if the fee 

7 is— 

8 ‘‘(I) competitively neutral, tech9 nology neutral, and nondiscrim10 inatory; 

11 ‘‘(II) publicly disclosed; 

12 ‘‘(III) calculated— 

13 ‘‘(aa) based on actual and 

14 direct costs, such as costs for— 

15 ‘‘(AA) review and proc16 essing of requests; and 

17 ‘‘(BB) repairs and re18 placement of components 

19 and materials resulting from 

20 and affected by the installa21 tion or improvement of per22 sonal wireless service facili23 ties, or repairs and replace24 ment of equipment that fa25 cilitates the installation or 


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1 improvement of such facili2 ties; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) using, for purposes of 

4 item (aa), only costs that are ob5 jectively reasonable; and 

6 ‘‘(IV) described to a requesting 

7 party in a manner that distinguishes 

8 between— 

9 ‘‘(aa) nonrecurring fees and 

10 recurring fees; and 

11 ‘‘(bb) the use of facilities on 

12 which personal wireless service 

13 facilities are already located and 

14 those on which there are no per15 sonal wireless service facilities as 

16 of the date on which the complete 

17 request is received by the govern18 ment or instrumentality. 

19 ‘‘(C) JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE RE20 VIEW.— 

21 ‘‘(i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person 

22 adversely affected by any final action or 

23 failure to act by a State or local govern24 ment or any instrumentality thereof that is 

25 inconsistent with this paragraph may, 


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1 within 30 days after the action or failure 

2 to act, commence an action in any court of 

3 competent jurisdiction, which shall hear 

4 and decide the action on an expedited 

5 basis. 

6 ‘‘(ii) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Any person 

8 adversely affected by any final action 

9 or failure to act by a State or local 

10 government or any instrumentality 

11 thereof that is inconsistent with this 

12 paragraph may petition the Commis13 sion to order the government or in14 strumentality to reconsider the action 

15 or failure to act. 

16 ‘‘(II) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COM17 MENT; TIMING.—Not later than 60 

18 days after receiving a petition under 

19 subclause (I), the Commission shall— 

20 ‘‘(aa) provide public notice 

21 of, and an opportunity for public 

22 comment on, such petition; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) grant or deny such pe24 tition. 


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1 ‘‘(D) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM2 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

3 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

4 COMPLETE.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur6 poses of this paragraph, a request to 

7 a State or local government or instru8 mentality thereof shall be considered 

9 complete if the requesting party has 

10 not received a written notice from the 

11 government or instrumentality within 

12 10 business days after the date on 

13 which the request is received by the 

14 government or instrumentality— 

15 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in16 formation (including any form or 

17 other document) required by the 

18 government or instrumentality to 

19 be submitted for the request to 

20 be considered complete has not 

21 been submitted; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor23 mation required to be submitted 

24 that was not submitted. 


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1 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

2 clause, the term ‘received by the gov3 ernment or instrumentality’ means— 

4 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re5 quest submitted electronically, on 

6 the date on which the request is 

7 transmitted; 

8 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re9 quest submitted in person, on the 

10 date on which the request is de11 livered to the individual or at the 

12 location specified by the govern13 ment or instrumentality for in14 person submission; and 

15 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re16 quest submitted in any other 

17 manner, on the date determined 

18 under regulations promulgated by 

19 the Commission for the manner 

20 in which the request is sub21 mitted. 

22 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON23 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

24 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 

25 considered received on the date on which 


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1 the requesting party submits to the gov2 ernment or instrumentality all information 

3 (including any form or other document) re4 quired by the government or instrumen5 tality to be submitted for the request to be 

6 considered complete. 

7 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(i) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ 

9 means an apparatus designed for the pur10 pose of emitting radiofrequency radiation, 

11 to be operated or operating from a fixed 

12 location for the transmission of writing, 

13 signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 

14 sounds of all kinds. 

15 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.— 

16 The term ‘communications network’ means 

17 a network used to provide a communica18 tions service. 

19 ‘‘(iii) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.— 

20 The term ‘communications service’ 

21 means— 

22 ‘‘(I) cable service, as defined in 

23 section 602; 

24 ‘‘(II) information service; 


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1 ‘‘(III) telecommunications serv2 ice; and 

3 ‘‘(IV) personal wireless service. 

4 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUC5 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support struc6 ture’ means a tower, base station, or other 

7 structure that supports a personal wireless 

8 service facility at the time when a complete 

9 request to a State or local government or 

10 instrumentality thereof for authorization to 

11 place, construct, or modify a personal wire12 less service facility on the structure is re13 ceived by the government or instrumen14 tality. 

15 ‘‘(v) GENERALLY APPLICABLE

16 CODE.—The term ‘generally applicable 

17 code’ means a uniform building, fire, elec18 trical, plumbing, or mechanical code adopt19 ed by a national code organization, or a 

20 local amendment to such a code, to the ex21 tent not inconsistent with this Act. 

22 ‘‘(vi) NETWORK INTERFACE DE23 VICE.—The term ‘network interface device’ 

24 means a telecommunications demarcation 

25 device and cross-connect point that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is adjacent or proximate 

2 to— 

3 ‘‘(aa) a small personal wire4 less service facility; or 

5 ‘‘(bb) a structure supporting 

6 a small personal wireless service 

7 facility; and 

8 ‘‘(II) demarcates the boundary 

9 with any wireline backhaul facility. 

10 ‘‘(vii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERV11 ICE.—The term ‘personal wireless service’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(I) commercial mobile service; 

14 ‘‘(II) commercial mobile data 

15 service (as defined in section 6001 of 

16 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 

17 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

18 1401)); 

19 ‘‘(III) unlicensed wireless service; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(IV) common carrier wireless 

22 exchange access service. 

23 ‘‘(viii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE

24 FACILITY.—The term ‘personal wireless 


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1 service facility’ means a facility for the 

2 provision of personal wireless service. 

3 ‘‘(ix) SMALL PERSONAL WIRELESS

4 SERVICE FACILITY.—The term ‘small per5 sonal wireless service facility’— 

6 ‘‘(I) means a personal wireless 

7 service facility in which each antenna 

8 is not more than 3 cubic feet in vol9 ume; and 

10 ‘‘(II) does not include a wireline 

11 backhaul facility. 

12 ‘‘(x) UNLICENSED WIRELESS SERV13 ICE.—The term ‘unlicensed wireless serv14 ice’— 

15 ‘‘(I) means the offering of tele16 communications service using a duly 

17 authorized device that does not re18 quire an individual license; and 

19 ‘‘(II) does not include the provi20 sion of direct-to-home satellite serv21 ices, as defined in section 303(v). 

22 ‘‘(xi) WIRELINE BACKHAUL FACIL23 ITY.—The term ‘wireline backhaul facility’ 

24 means an above-ground or underground 

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1 nications service or other electronic com2 munications from a small personal wireless 

3 service facility or the adjacent network 

4 interface device of such facility to a com5 munications network.’’. 

6 SEC. 202. BROADBAND LEADERSHIP. 

7 Section 253 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 253) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 253. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No State or local statute or reg11 ulation, or other State or local legal requirement, may pro12 hibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability of any 

13 entity to provide or enhance any interstate or intrastate 

14 telecommunications service. 

15 ‘‘(b) PLACEMENT, CONSTRUCTION, OR MODIFICA16 TION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACILITIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON UNREASONABLE DIS18 CRIMINATION AMONG PROVIDERS OF FUNCTIONALLY

19 EQUIVALENT SERVICES.—The regulation of the 

20 placement, construction, or modification of a tele21 communications service facility by any State or local 

22 government or instrumentality thereof shall not un23 reasonably discriminate among providers of function24 ally equivalent services. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME TO GRANT OR DENY RE2 QUESTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or local gov4 ernment or instrumentality thereof shall grant 

5 or deny a complete request for authorization to 

6 place, construct, or modify a telecommuni7 cations service facility not later than— 

8 ‘‘(i) if the request is for authorization 

9 to place, construct, or modify such facility 

10 in or on eligible support infrastructure, 90 

11 days after the date on which the complete 

12 request is received by the government or 

13 instrumentality; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) for any other action relating to 

15 such facility, 150 days after the date on 

16 which the complete request is received by 

17 the government or instrumentality. 

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—The applicable 

19 timeframe under subparagraph (A) shall apply 

20 collectively to all proceedings required by a 

21 State or local government or instrumentality 

22 thereof for the approval of the request. 

23 ‘‘(C) NO TOLLING.—A timeframe under 

24 subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any 

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1 posed by a State or local government or instru2 mentality thereof on the consideration of any 

3 request for authorization to place, construct, or 

4 modify a telecommunications service facility. 

5 ‘‘(D) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The Commis6 sion may temporarily waive the applicability of 

7 subparagraph (A) for not longer than a single 

8 30-day period for any complete request upon a 

9 demonstration by a State or local government 

10 or instrumentality thereof that the waiver would 

11 be consistent with the public interest, conven12 ience, and necessity. 

13 ‘‘(3) DEEMED GRANTED.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State or local 

15 government or instrumentality thereof has nei16 ther granted nor denied a complete request 

17 within the applicable timeframe under para18 graph (2), the request shall be deemed granted 

19 on the date on which the government or instru20 mentality receives a written notice of the failure 

21 from the requesting party. 

22 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In the 

23 case of a request that is deemed granted under 

24 subparagraph (A), the placement, construction, 

25 or modification requested in such request shall 


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1 be considered to be authorized, without any fur2 ther action by the government or instrumen3 tality, beginning on the date on which such re4 quest is deemed granted under such subpara5 graph. 

6 ‘‘(4) WRITTEN DECISION AND RECORD.—Any 

7 decision by a State or local government or instru8 mentality thereof to deny a request to place, con9 struct, or modify a telecommunications service facil10 ity shall be— 

11 ‘‘(A) in writing; and 

12 ‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 

13 contained in a written record. 

14 ‘‘(5) FEES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

16 other provision of law, a State or local govern17 ment or instrumentality thereof may charge a 

18 fee that meets the requirements under subpara19 graph (B)— 

20 ‘‘(i) to consider a request for author21 ization to place, construct, or modify a 

22 telecommunications service facility; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) for use of a right-of-way or a fa24 cility in a right-of-way owned or managed 

25 by the government or instrumentality for 


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1 the placement, construction, or modifica2 tion of a telecommunications service facil3 ity. 

4 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A fee charged 

5 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

6 ‘‘(i) competitively neutral, technology 

7 neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 

8 ‘‘(ii) publicly disclosed; 

9 ‘‘(iii) calculated— 

10 ‘‘(I) based on actual and direct 

11 costs, such as costs for— 

12 ‘‘(aa) review and processing 

13 of requests; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) repairs and replace15 ment of— 

16 ‘‘(AA) components and 

17 materials resulting from and 

18 affected by the installation 

19 or improvement of tele20 communications service fa21 cilities; or 

22 ‘‘(BB) equipment that 

23 facilitates the installation or 

24 improvement of such facili25 ties; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) using, for purposes of sub2 clause (I), only costs that are objec3 tively reasonable; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) described to a requesting party 

5 in a manner that distinguishes between— 

6 ‘‘(I) nonrecurring fees and recur7 ring fees; and 

8 ‘‘(II) the use of facilities on 

9 which telecommunications service fa10 cilities are already located and those 

11 on which there are no telecommuni12 cations service facilities as of the date 

13 on which the complete request is re14 ceived by the government or instru15 mentality. 

16 ‘‘(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af18 fected by a final action or failure to act by a State 

19 or local government or instrumentality thereof that 

20 is inconsistent with this section may, not later than 

21 30 days after the action or failure to act, commence 

22 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

23 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—A court shall hear and decide an 

24 action described in paragraph (1) on an expedited 

25 basis. 


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1 ‘‘(d) PRESERVATION OF STATE REGULATORY AU2 THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall affect the ability 

3 of a State to impose, on a competitively neutral and non4 discriminatory basis and consistent with section 254, re5 quirements necessary to preserve and advance universal 

6 service, protect the public safety and welfare, ensure the 

7 continued quality of telecommunications services, and 

8 safeguard the rights of consumers. 

9 ‘‘(e) PRESERVATION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN10 MENT AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this section affects the 

11 authority of a State or local government or instrumen12 tality thereof to manage the public rights-of-way or to re13 quire fair and reasonable compensation from telecommuni14 cations providers, on a competitively neutral and non15 discriminatory basis, for use of public rights-of-way on a 

16 competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, if the 

17 compensation required meets the requirements of sub18 section (b)(5). 

19 ‘‘(f) PREEMPTION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, after notice and an op21 portunity for public comment, the Commission deter22 mines that a State or local government or instru23 mentality thereof has permitted or imposed any stat24 ute, regulation, or legal requirement that violates or 

25 is inconsistent with this section, the Commission 


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1 shall preempt the enforcement of such statute, regu2 lation, or legal requirement to the extent necessary 

3 to correct such violation or inconsistency. 

4 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—Not later than 60 days after re5 ceiving a petition for preemption of the enforcement 

6 of a statute, regulation, or legal requirement as de7 scribed in paragraph (1), the Commission shall 

8 grant or deny the petition. 

9 ‘‘(g) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

10 Nothing in this section shall affect the application of sec11 tion 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile service providers. 

12 ‘‘(h) RURAL MARKETS.—It shall not be a violation 

13 of this section for a State to require a telecommunications 

14 carrier that seeks to provide telephone exchange service 

15 or exchange access in a service area served by a rural tele16 phone company to meet the requirements in section 

17 214(e)(1) for designation as an eligible telecommuni18 cations carrier for that area before being permitted to pro19 vide such service. This subsection shall not apply— 

20 ‘‘(1) to a service area served by a rural tele21 phone company that has obtained an exemption, sus22 pension, or modification of section 251(c)(4) that ef23 fectively prevents a competitor from meeting the re24 quirements of section 214(e)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) to a provider of commercial mobile serv2 ices. 

3 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE4 CEIVED.— 

5 ‘‘(1) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM6 PLETE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

8 this section, a request to a State or local gov9 ernment or instrumentality thereof shall be con10 sidered complete if the requesting party has not 

11 received a written notice from the government 

12 or instrumentality within 10 business days after 

13 the date on which the request is received by the 

14 government or instrumentality— 

15 ‘‘(i) stating that all the information 

16 (including any form or other document) re17 quired by the government or instrumen18 tality to be submitted for the request to be 

19 considered complete has not been sub20 mitted; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) identifying the information re22 quired to be submitted that was not sub23 mitted. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

2 term ‘received by the government or instrumen3 tality’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 

5 electronically, on the date on which the re6 quest is transmitted; 

7 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub8 mitted in person, on the date on which the 

9 request is delivered to the individual or at 

10 the location specified by the government or 

11 instrumentality for in-person submission; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub14 mitted in any other manner, on the date 

15 determined under regulations promulgated 

16 by the Commission for the manner in 

17 which the request is submitted. 

18 ‘‘(2) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSIDERED

19 RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this section, a com20 plete request shall be considered received on the date 

21 on which the requesting party submits to the govern22 ment or instrumentality all information (including 

23 any form or other document) required by the govern24 ment or instrumentality to be submitted for the re25 quest to be considered complete. 


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1 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

3 The term ‘eligible support infrastructure’ means in4 frastructure that supports or houses a facility for 

5 communication by wire (or is designed to and capa6 ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 

7 time when a complete request to a State or local 

8 government or instrumentality thereof for authoriza9 tion to place, construct, or modify a telecommuni10 cations service facility in or on the infrastructure is 

11 received by the government or instrumentality. 

12 ‘‘(2) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACIL13 ITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service facility’ 

14 means a facility for the provision of any interstate 

15 or intrastate telecommunications service.’’. 

16 SEC. 203. CABLE LEADERSHIP. 

17 Section 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

18 U.S.C. 541) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(g) TIMING OF DECISION ON REQUEST FOR FRAN21 CHISE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

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1 chise (other than a renewal thereof), the franchising 

2 authority shall approve or deny such request. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEEMED GRANT OF NEW FRANCHISE.—If 

4 the franchising authority does not approve or deny 

5 a request under paragraph (1) by the day after the 

6 date on which the time period ends under such para7 graph, such request shall be deemed granted on such 

8 day. 

9 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—Notwithstanding any 

10 provision of this title, the timeframe under para11 graph (1) shall apply collectively to all proceedings 

12 required by a franchising authority for the approval 

13 of the request. 

14 ‘‘(4) NO TOLLING.—A timeframe under para15 graph (1) may not be tolled by any moratorium, 

16 whether express or de facto, imposed by a fran17 chising authority on the consideration of any request 

18 for a franchise. 

19 ‘‘(5) WRITTEN DECISION AND RECORD.—Any 

20 decision by a franchising authority to deny a com21 plete request for a franchise shall be— 

22 ‘‘(A) in writing; 

23 ‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 

24 contained in a written record; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) publicly released, contemporaneously 

2 with the decision. 

3 ‘‘(6) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; 

4 RECEIVED.— 

5 ‘‘(A) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM6 PLETE.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes 

8 of this subsection, a request to a fran9 chising authority shall be considered com10 plete if the requesting party has not re11 ceived a written notice from the fran12 chising authority within 10 business days 

13 after the date on which the request is re14 ceived by the franchising authority— 

15 ‘‘(I) stating that all the informa16 tion (including any form or other doc17 ument) required by the franchising 

18 authority to be submitted for the re19 quest to be considered complete has 

20 not been submitted; and 

21 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 

22 required to be submitted that was not 

23 submitted. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, 

2 the term ‘received by the franchising au3 thority’ means— 

4 ‘‘(I) in the case of a request sub5 mitted electronically, on the date on 

6 which the request is transmitted; 

7 ‘‘(II) in the case of a request 

8 submitted in person, on the date on 

9 which the request is delivered to the 

10 individual or at the location specified 

11 by franchising authority for in-person 

12 submission; and 

13 ‘‘(III) in the case of a request 

14 submitted in any other manner, on 

15 the date determined under regulations 

16 promulgated by the Commission for 

17 the manner in which the request is 

18 submitted. 

19 ‘‘(B) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSID20 ERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this 

21 subsection, a complete request shall be consid22 ered received on the date on which the request23 ing party submits to the franchising authority 

24 all information (including any form or other 

25 document) required by the franchising authority 


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1 to be submitted for the request to be considered 

2 complete.’’. 

3 SEC. 204. CABLE EXPANSION. 

4 Section 624 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

5 U.S.C. 544) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(j) REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUC8 TION, OR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) NO AFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF FRAN10 CHISING AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), and notwithstanding any other provision 

12 of this section, nothing in this title shall limit or af13 fect the authority of a franchising authority over de14 cisions regarding the placement, construction, and 

15 modification of a covered facility within the jurisdic16 tion of such franchising authority. 

17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ABILITY TO PROVIDE OR ENHANCE

19 CABLE SERVICE.—The regulation of the place20 ment, construction, or modification of a covered 

21 facility by a franchising authority shall not pro22 hibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability 

23 of a cable operator to provide cable service, or 

24 enhance cable service provided, under a fran25 chise granted by such franchising authority. 


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1 ‘‘(B) TIMING OF DECISIONS ON REQUESTS

2 FOR AUTHORIZATIONS TO PLACE, CONSTRUCT, 

3 OR MODIFY FACILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(i) REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION

5 TO PLACE, CONSTRUCT, OR MODIFY FACIL6 ITY.— 

7 ‘‘(I) TIMEFRAME.—A franchising 

8 authority shall approve or deny a 

9 complete request for authorization to 

10 place, construct, or modify a covered 

11 facility not later than— 

12 ‘‘(aa) if the request is for 

13 authorization to place, construct, 

14 or modify a covered facility in or 

15 on an eligible support infrastruc16 ture, 90 days after the date on 

17 which the franchising authority 

18 receives the request; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) if the request is not 

20 for authorization to place, con21 struct modify a covered facility in 

22 or on an eligible support infra23 structure, 150 days after the 

24 date on which franchising author25 ity receives the request. 


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1 ‘‘(II) APPLICABILITY.—Notwith2 standing any provision of this title, 

3 the applicable timeframe under sub4 paragraph (A) shall apply collectively 

5 to all proceedings required by a fran6 chising authority for the approval of 

7 the request. 

8 ‘‘(III) NO TOLLING.—A time9 frame under subparagraph (A) may 

10 not be tolled by any moratorium, 

11 whether express or de facto, imposed 

12 by a franchising authority on the con13 sideration of any request for author14 ization to place, construct, or modify 

15 a facility for the provision of cable 

16 service. 

17 ‘‘(IV) WRITTEN DECISION AND

18 RECORD.—Any decision by a fran19 chising authority to deny a complete 

20 request for authorization to place, 

21 construct, or modify a covered facility 

22 shall be— 

23 ‘‘(aa) in writing; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) supported by substan2 tial evidence contained in a writ3 ten record; and 

4 ‘‘(cc) publicly released, con5 temporaneously with the decision. 

6 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM7 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

8 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

9 COMPLETE.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur11 poses of this subparagraph (B), a re12 quest to a franchising authority shall 

13 be considered complete if the request14 ing party has not received a written 

15 notice from the franchising authority 

16 within 10 business days after the date 

17 on which the request is received by 

18 the franchising authority— 

19 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in20 formation (including any form or 

21 other document) required by the 

22 franchising authority to be sub23 mitted for the request to be con24 sidered complete has not been 

25 submitted; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor2 mation required to be submitted 

3 that was not submitted. 

4 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

5 clause, the term ‘received by the fran6 chising authority’ means— 

7 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re8 quest submitted electronically, on 

9 the date on which the request is 

10 transmitted; 

11 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re12 quest submitted in person, on the 

13 date on which the request is de14 livered to the individual or at the 

15 location specified by the fran16 chising authority for in-person 

17 submission; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re19 quest submitted in any other 

20 manner, on the date determined 

21 under regulations promulgated by 

22 the Commission for the manner 

23 in which the request is sub24 mitted. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON2 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

3 subparagraph (B), a complete request shall 

4 be considered received on the date on 

5 which the requesting party submits to the 

6 franchising authority all information (in7 cluding any form or other document) re8 quired by the franchising authority to be 

9 submitted for the request to be considered 

10 complete. 

11 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUC13 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support infra14 structure’ means infrastructure that sup15 ports or houses a facility for communica16 tion by wire (or is designed to and capable 

17 of supporting or housing such facility) at 

18 the time when a complete request to a 

19 franchising authority for authorization to 

20 place, construct, or modify a covered facil21 ity in or on the infrastructure is received 

22 by the franchising authority. 

23 ‘‘(ii) COVERED FACILITY.—The term 

24 ‘covered facility’ means a facility— 


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1 ‘‘(I) for the provision of cable 

2 service; and 

3 ‘‘(II) that serves subscribers 

4 using an easement or public right-of5 way.’’. 

6 SEC. 205. CABLE COMPETITION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 627 of the Communica8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 547) is amended to read: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 627. CONDITIONS OF SALE OR TRANSFER. 

10 ‘‘(a) VALUE OF CABLE SYSTEM UPON SALE OR

11 TRANSFER.— 

12 ‘‘(1) AFTER DENIAL OF FRANCHISE RE13 NEWAL.—If a renewal of a franchise held by a cable 

14 operator is denied and the franchising authority ac15 quires ownership of the cable system or effects a 

16 transfer of ownership of the system to another per17 son, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at fair 

18 market value, determined on the basis of the cable 

19 system valued as a going concern but with no value 

20 allocated to the franchise itself. 

21 ‘‘(2) AFTER REVOCATION OF FRANCHISE FOR

22 CAUSE.—If a franchise held by a cable operator is 

23 revoked for cause and the franchising authority ac24 quires ownership of the cable system or effects a 

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1 son, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at fair 

2 market value. 

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY OF FRANCHISING

4 AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO TRANSFER OF FRAN5 CHISE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A franchising authority 

7 may not— 

8 ‘‘(A) preclude a cable operator from trans9 ferring a franchise to a person to which such 

10 franchise was not initially granted; or 

11 ‘‘(B) require a cable operator to which a 

12 franchise is initially granted to receive approval 

13 from the franchising authority for the transfer 

14 of such franchise to a person who to which such 

15 franchise was not initially granted. 

16 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—In the case of the trans17 fer of a franchise to a person to which such fran18 chise was not originally granted, a franchising au19 thority may require a cable operator to which a fran20 chise was initially granted to, not later than 15 days 

21 after a transfer of a franchise, notify the franchising 

22 authority in writing of such transfer. 

23 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

24 the term ‘transfer’ means the assignment rights 

25 under a franchise through any transaction, including 


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1 a merger, sale, assignment, restructuring, or trans2 fer of control of a cable operator or a cable sys3 tem.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend5 ments made by subsection (a), shall take effect 6 months 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (c) APPLICATION.—This section, and the amendment 

8 made by subsection (a), shall apply to a franchise grant9 ed— 

10 (1) on or after the effective date established by 

11 subsection (b); or 

12 (2) before such date, if such franchise (includ13 ing any renewal term thereof) is in effect on such 

14 date. 

15 SEC. 206. CABLE TRANSPARENCY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 626 of the Communica17 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 546) is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 

20 ‘‘(a) FRANCHISE TERM.—A franchise shall continue 

21 in effect (without any requirement for renewal) until the 

22 date on which the franchise is revoked or terminated in 

23 accordance with subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST REVOCATION; TER2 MINATION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 

3 franchise may not be— 

4 ‘‘(A) revoked by a franchising authority; 

5 ‘‘(B) terminated by a cable operator; or 

6 ‘‘(C) revoked or terminated by operation of 

7 law, including by a term in a franchise that re8 vokes or terminates such franchise on a specific 

9 date, after a period of time, or upon the occur10 rence of an event. 

11 ‘‘(2) WHEN TERMINATION OR REVOCATION OF

12 FRANCHISE PERMITTED.— 

13 ‘‘(A) TERMINATION BY CABLE OPER14 ATOR.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A cable operator 

16 may terminate a franchise by submitting 

17 to the franchising authority a written re18 quest for the franchising authority to re19 voke such franchise. 

20 ‘‘(ii) TIME OF REVOCATION.—If the 

21 cable operator submits a complete request 

22 under clause (i), the franchising authority 

23 shall revoke the franchise on the date that 

24 is 90 days after the franchising authority 

25 receives such request. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) DEEMED TO BE REVOKED.—If a 

2 franchising authority does not approve a 

3 request by the date required under clause 

4 (ii), the franchise is deemed revoked on the 

5 day after such date. 

6 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION BY FRANCHISING AU7 THORITY.—A franchising authority may revoke 

8 a franchise if the franchising authority— 

9 ‘‘(i) finds that the cable operator has 

10 knowingly and willfully failed to substan11 tially meet a material requirement imposed 

12 by the franchise; 

13 ‘‘(ii) provides the cable operator a rea14 sonable opportunity to cure such failure, 

15 after which the cable operator fails to cure 

16 such failure; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) does not waive the material re18 quirement or acquiesce with the failure to 

19 substantially meet such requirement. 

20 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM21 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

22 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

23 COMPLETE.— 

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur25 poses of this paragraph, a request to 


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1 a franchising authority shall be con2 sidered complete if the cable operator 

3 has not received a written notice from 

4 the franchising authority within 10 

5 business days after the date on which 

6 the request is received by the fran7 chising authority— 

8 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in9 formation (including any form or 

10 other document) required by the 

11 franchising authority to be sub12 mitted for the request to be con13 sidered complete has not been 

14 submitted; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor16 mation required to be submitted 

17 that was not submitted. 

18 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

19 clause, the term ‘received by the fran20 chising authority’ means— 

21 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re22 quest submitted electronically, on 

23 the date on which the request is 

24 transmitted; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re2 quest submitted in person, on the 

3 date on which the request is de4 livered to the individual or at the 

5 location specified by the fran6 chising authority for in-person 

7 submission; and 

8 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re9 quest submitted in any other 

10 manner, on the date determined 

11 under regulations promulgated by 

12 the Commission for the manner 

13 in which the request is sub14 mitted. 

15 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON16 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

17 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 

18 considered received on the date on which 

19 the cable operator submits to the fran20 chising authority all information (including 

21 any form or other document) required by 

22 the franchising authority to be submitted 

23 for the request to be considered complete. 

24 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PETITION.—A cable operator may petition 

2 the Commission for review of a determination by a 

3 franchising authority to revoke a franchise under 

4 subsection (b)(2)(B). 

5 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The Commission shall review 

6 the determination de novo. 

7 ‘‘(3) ORDER.—If, based on the evidence pre8 sented during the review, the Commission deter9 mines that the franchising authority has not dem10 onstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that 

11 the franchising authority revoked the franchise in 

12 accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B), the Commis13 sion shall order the franchising authority to rein14 state the franchise.’’. 

15 (b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE16 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica17 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE20 MENT IN FRANCHISE. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During the period in which a 

22 franchise is in effect, the cable operator may obtain the 

23 elimination or modification of any requirement in the fran24 chise by submitting to the franchising authority a request 

25 for the elimination or modification of such requirement. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE2 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—The franchising authority shall 

3 eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a 

4 complete request submitted under subsection (a) not later 

5 than 120 days after receiving such request if the cable 

6 operator demonstrates in the request— 

7 ‘‘(1) good cause for the elimination or modifica8 tion of the requirement; and 

9 ‘‘(2) that the mix, quality, and level of services 

10 required by the franchise at the time the franchise 

11 was granted will be maintained after the elimination 

12 or modification of the requirement. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEEMED ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION.— 

14 Except in the case of a request for the elimination or 

15 modification of a requirement for services relating to pub16 lic, educational, or governmental access, if the franchising 

17 authority fails to approve or deny the complete request 

18 submitted under subsection (a) by the date described 

19 under subsection (b), the requirement shall be deemed 

20 eliminated or modified in accordance with the request on 

21 the day after such date. 

22 ‘‘(d) APPEAL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any cable operator whose 

24 request for elimination or modification of a require25 ment in a franchise under subsection (a) has been 


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1 denied by a final decision of a franchising authority 

2 may obtain the elimination or modification of such 

3 franchise requirements pursuant to the provisions of 

4 section 635. 

5 ‘‘(2) GRANT OF REQUEST.—In the case of any 

6 proposed elimination or modification of a require7 ment in a franchise under subsection (a), the court 

8 shall grant such elimination or modification only if 

9 the cable operator demonstrates to the court— 

10 ‘‘(A) good cause for the elimination or 

11 modification of the requirement; and 

12 ‘‘(B) that the mix, quality, and level of 

13 services required by the franchise at the time 

14 the franchise was granted will be maintained 

15 after the elimination or modification of the re16 quirement. 

17 ‘‘(e) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE18 CEIVED.— 

19 ‘‘(1) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM20 PLETE.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

22 this section, a request to a franchising author23 ity shall be considered complete if the cable op24 erator has not received a written notice from 

25 the franchising authority within 10 business 


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1 days after the date on which the request is re2 ceived by the franchising authority— 

3 ‘‘(i) stating that all the information 

4 (including any form or other document) re5 quired by the franchising authority to be 

6 submitted for the request to be considered 

7 complete has not been submitted; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) identifying the information re9 quired to be submitted that was not sub10 mitted. 

11 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

12 term ‘received by the franchising authority’ 

13 means— 

14 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 

15 electronically, on the date on which the re16 quest is transmitted; 

17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub18 mitted in person, on the date on which the 

19 request is delivered to the individual or at 

20 the location specified by the franchising 

21 authority for in-person submission; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub23 mitted in any other manner, on the date 

24 determined under regulations promulgated 


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1 by the Commission for the manner in 

2 which the request is submitted. 

3 ‘‘(2) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSIDERED

4 RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this section, a com5 plete request shall be considered received on the date 

6 on which the cable operator submits to the fran7 chising authority all information (including any form 

8 or other document) required by the franchising au9 thority to be submitted for the request to be consid10 ered complete.’’. 

11 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 The Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in section 601— 

15 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi16 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

17 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 

18 (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

19 paragraph (5); 

20 (2) in section 602(9)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in23 cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 

24 been granted subject to section 626),’’; 


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1 (3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re2 quire as part of a cable operator’s proposal for a 

3 franchise renewal, subject to section 626’’; 

4 (4) in section 612(b)(3)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘or as part of a proposal 

6 for renewal, subject to section 626,’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘, or proposal for renewal 

8 thereof,’’; 

9 (5) in section 621(b)(3)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 

11 ‘‘or franchise renewal’’; and 

12 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘, a franchise re15 newal,’’; 

16 (6) in section 624— 

17 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in18 cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject 

19 to section 626)’’; and 

20 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or 

21 renewal thereof’’; 

22 (7) in section 627— 

23 (A) by striking subsection (a); 


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1 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, as de2 scribed in section 626(b)(2)(B),’’ after ‘‘for 

3 cause’’; and 

4 (C) by striking ‘‘(b) If’’ and inserting ‘‘If’’; 

5 and 

6 (8) in section 635A(a), by striking ‘‘renewal,’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 

8 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 

9 amendments made by this section, shall take effect 

10 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act. 

12 (2) APPLICATION.—This section, and the 

13 amendments made by this section, shall apply to a 

14 franchise granted— 

15 (A) on or after the effective date estab16 lished by paragraph (1); or 

17 (B) before such date, if such franchise (in18 cluding, notwithstanding the amendment made 

19 by subsection (c)(2)(B), any renewal thereof) is 

20 in effect on such date. 

21 SEC. 207. COMMUNITIES OVER REGULATING NETWORKS 

22 NEED ECONOMIC COMPETITION TODAY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 

24 (b)(1) and (c), a State or political subdivision thereof may 

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1 cations provider, or to a commercial provider of broadband 

2 internet access service, retail or wholesale broadband 

3 internet access service. 

4 (b) TRANSITIONAL RULE.—Any State or political 

5 subdivision thereof providing or offering for sale, either 

6 to the public, a telecommunications provider, or to a pro7 vider of broadband internet access service, retail or whole8 sale broadband internet access service, before the date of 

9 the enactment of this section— 

10 (1) notwithstanding subsection (a), may con11 tinue to provide or offer for sale such service if the 

12 Commission finds there is no more than one other 

13 commercial provider of broadband internet access 

14 that provides competition for that service in a par15 ticular area; 

16 (2) shall notify each subscriber of the State or 

17 political subdivision if a commercial provider of re18 tail broadband internet access enters the market; 

19 and 

20 (3) may not construct or extend facilities used 

21 to deliver broadband internet access service beyond 

22 the geographic area in which the State or political 

23 subdivision thereof lawfully operates. 


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1 (c) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

2 this section does not apply to the Tennessee Valley Au3 thority. 

4 (d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section may not be con6 strued to restrict a State or political subdivision 

7 thereof, from allowing the nondiscriminatory use of 

8 its rights-of-way, including access to utility poles, 

9 conduits, ducts, or similar support structures used 

10 for the deployment of facilities necessary to deliver 

11 broadband internet access service. 

12 (2) PUBLIC SAFETY.—This section may not be 

13 construed to restrict a State or political subdivision 

14 thereof, from providing broadband facilities or serv15 ices for 9–1–1, enhanced 9–1–1 service, or Next 

16 Generation 9–1–1. 

17 (e) LIMITATION OF COMMISSION AUTHORITY.—Not18 withstanding any provision of law, including section 706 

19 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 706), the 

20 Commission may not pre-empt State laws to permit a 

21 State or political subdivision thereof to provide or offer 

22 for sale to the public retail or wholesale broadband inter23 net access service. 

24 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) 9–1–1 REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY ASSIST2 ANCE.—The term ‘‘9–1–1 request for emergency as3 sistance’’ means a communication, such as voice, 

4 text, picture, multimedia, or any other type of data 

5 that is sent to an emergency communications center 

6 for the purpose of requesting emergency assistance. 

7 (2) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

8 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 

9 the meaning given that term in section 8.1(b) of title 

10 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

11 regulation. 

12 (3) COMMONLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS.—The 

13 term ‘‘commonly accepted standards’’ means— 

14 (A) the technical standards followed by the 

15 communications industry for network, device, 

16 and Internet Protocol connectivity, including 

17 standards developed by the Third Generation 

18 Partnership Project, the Institute of Electrical 

19 and Electronics Engineers, the Alliance for 

20 Telecommunications Industry Solutions, the 

21 Internet Engineering Taskforce, and the Inter22 national Telecommunications Union; and 

23 (B) standards that are accredited by a rec24 ognized authority such as the American Na25 tional Standards Institute. 


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1 (4) EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.— 

2 The term ‘‘emergency communications center’’ 

3 means a facility that is designated to receive a 9– 

4 1–1 request for emergency assistance and perform 

5 one or more of the following functions: 

6 (A) Process and analyze 9–1–1 requests 

7 for emergency assistance and other gathered in8 formation. 

9 (B) Dispatch appropriate emergency re10 sponse providers. 

11 (C) Transfer or exchange 9–1–1 requests 

12 for emergency assistance and other gathered in13 formation with other emergency communica14 tions centers and emergency response providers. 

15 (D) Analyze any communications received 

16 from emergency response providers. 

17 (E) Support incident command functions. 

18 (5) EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROVIDER.—The 

19 term ‘‘emergency response provider’’— 

20 (A) has the meaning given that term under 

21 section 2 of the Homeland Security Act (47 

22 U.S.C. 101); and 

23 (B) includes Federal, State, and local gov24 ernmental and nongovernmental emergency 

25 public safety, fire, law enforcement, emergency 


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1 response, emergency medical (including hospital 

2 emergency facilities), and related personnel, 

3 agencies, and authorities. 

4 (6) ENHANCED 9–1–1 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘en5 hanced 9–1–1 service’’ has the meaning given that 

6 term in section 7(10) of the Wireless Communica7 tions and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 

8 615b(10)). 

9 (7) INTEROPERABLE.—The term ‘‘interoper10 able’’ means the capability of emergency communica11 tions centers to receive 9–1–1 requests for emer12 gency assistance and related data such as location 

13 information and callback numbers from the public, 

14 then process and share the 9–1–1 requests for emer15 gency assistance and related data with other emer16 gency communications centers and emergency re17 sponse providers, regardless of jurisdiction, equip18 ment, device, software, service provider, or other rel19 evant factors, and without the need for proprietary 

20 interfaces. 

21 (8) NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1.—The term 

22 ‘‘Next Generation 9–1–1’’ means an interoperable, 

23 secure, Internet Protocol-based system that— 

24 (A) employs commonly accepted standards; 


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1 (B) enables the appropriate emergency 

2 communications centers to receive, process, and 

3 analyze all types of 9–1–1 requests for emer4 gency assistance; 

5 (C) acquires and integrates additional in6 formation useful to handling 9–1–1 requests for 

7 emergency assistance; and 

8 (D) supports sharing information related 

9 to 9–1–1 requests for emergency assistance 

10 among emergency communications centers and 

11 emergency response providers. 

12 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

13 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

14 Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United 

15 States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Is16 lands, and any other territory or possession of the 

17 United States. 

18 (10) TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER.—The 

19 term ‘‘telecommunications provider’’ means an eligi20 ble telecommunications carrier as designated under 

21 section 214(e)(2) of the Communications Act of 

22 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)(2)). 


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1 SEC. 208. STREAMLINING PERMITTING TO ENABLE EFFI2 CIENT DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND INFRA3 STRUCTURE. 

4 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

5 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 14. EXEMPTION FROM REVIEW FOR CERTAIN COMMU8 NICATIONS FACILITIES. 

9 ‘‘(a) FOR PERMITTING BY COMMISSION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi11 sion of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

12 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or division A of sub13 title III of title 54, United States Code, the Commis14 sion shall not be required to perform, and may not 

15 require any entity regulated by the Commission to 

16 perform, any review under such Act or division as a 

17 condition of permitting the placement and installa18 tion of a communications facility if— 

19 ‘‘(A) the new facility— 

20 ‘‘(i) will be located within a public 

21 right-of-way; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is not more than 50 feet tall or 

23 10 feet higher than any existing structure 

24 in the public right-of-way, whichever is 

25 higher; 

26 ‘‘(B) the new facility is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a replacement for an existing 

2 communications facility; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the same as, or substantially 

4 similar to (as such term is defined by the 

5 Commission), the communications facility 

6 that the new communications facility is re7 placing; 

8 ‘‘(C) the new facility is a type of commu9 nications facility that— 

10 ‘‘(i) is described in subsection 

11 (c)(2)(B); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) meets the size limitation of a 

13 small antenna established by the Commis14 sion; or 

15 ‘‘(D) the placement and installation involve 

16 the expansion of the site of an existing facility 

17 not more than 30 feet in any direction. 

18 ‘‘(2) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub19 section shall be construed to affect— 

20 ‘‘(A) the obligation of the Commission to 

21 evaluate radiofrequency exposure under the Na22 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

23 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

24 ‘‘(B) except as explicitly provided in this 

25 subsection, the obligation of any provider of a 


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1 communications service to comply with the Na2 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

3 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or division A of subtitle 

4 III of title 54, United States Code; 

5 ‘‘(C) the authority of a State or local gov6 ernment to apply and enforce the zoning and 

7 other land use regulations of the State or local 

8 government to the extent consistent with this 

9 subsection and sections 253, 332(c)(7), and 

10 621; or 

11 ‘‘(D) the authority or obligations estab12 lished under section 20156(e) of title 49, 

13 United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(b) FOR GRANT OF EASEMENT ON FEDERAL PROP15 ERTY.—No review shall be required under the National 

16 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

17 seq.) or division A of subtitle III of title 54, United States 

18 Code, as a condition of granting a covered easement for 

19 a communications facility if a covered easement has been 

20 granted for another communications facility or a utility 

21 facility with respect to the same building or other property 

22 owned by the Federal Government. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ means 

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1 ceives electromagnetic radio frequency signals used 

2 in the provision of wireless services. 

3 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

4 ‘communications facility’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) any infrastructure, including any 

6 transmitting device, tower, or support structure, 

7 and any equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, 

8 power sources, shelters, or cabinets, associated 

9 with the licensed or permitted unlicensed wire10 less or wireline transmission of writings, signs, 

11 signals, data, images, pictures, and sounds of 

12 all kinds; and 

13 ‘‘(B) any antenna or apparatus— 

14 ‘‘(i) that is designed for the purpose 

15 of emitting or receiving radio frequency; 

16 ‘‘(ii) that— 

17 ‘‘(I) is designed to be operated, 

18 or is operating, from a fixed location 

19 pursuant to authorization by the 

20 Commission; or 

21 ‘‘(II) is using duly authorized de22 vices that do not require individual li23 censes; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) that is added to a tower, build25 ing, support pole, or other structure. 


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1 ‘‘(3) COVERED EASEMENT.—The term ‘covered 

2 easement’ means an easement, right-of-way, or lease 

3 to, in, over, or on a building or other property owned 

4 by the Federal Government, excluding Tribal land 

5 held in trust by the Federal Government (unless the 

6 Tribal Government of such land requests that the 

7 Commission not exclude the land for purposes of 

8 this definition), for the right to install, construct, 

9 modify, or maintain a communications facility. 

10 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘public 

11 right-of-way’— 

12 ‘‘(A) means— 

13 ‘‘(i) the area on, below, or above a 

14 public roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, 

15 alley, or similar property; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) any land immediately adjacent to 

17 and contiguous with property described in 

18 clause (i) that is within the right-of-way 

19 grant; and 

20 ‘‘(B) does not include a portion of the 

21 Interstate System (as such term is defined in 

22 section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code). 

23 ‘‘(5) SUPPORT POLE.—The term ‘support pole’ 

24 means an upright pole or structure used or capable 

25 of being used to support a wireless service facility. 


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1 ‘‘(6) UTILITY FACILITY.—The term ‘utility fa2 cility’ means any privately, publicly, or cooperatively 

3 owned line, facility, or system for producing, trans4 mitting, or distributing power, electricity, light, heat, 

5 gas, oil, crude products, water, steam, waste, storm 

6 water not connected with highway drainage, or any 

7 other similar commodity, including any fire or police 

8 signal system or street lighting system, that directly 

9 or indirectly serves the public. 

10 ‘‘(7) WIRELESS SERVICE.—The term ‘wireless 

11 service’ means the transmission by radio commu12 nication of voice, video, or data communications 

13 services, including Internet Protocol or any suc14 cessor protocol-enabled services, or any combination 

15 of those services, whether provided on a licensed or 

16 permitted unlicensed basis. 

17 ‘‘(8) WIRELESS SERVICE FACILITY.—The term 

18 ‘wireless service facility’ means a facility for the pro19 vision of wireless service.’’. 

20 SEC. 209. WIRELESS BROADBAND COMPETITION AND EFFI21 CIENT DEPLOYMENT. 

22 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

23 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

24 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4332(2)(C)). 


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1 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX2 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

3 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

8 (2) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

9 project’’ means a project— 

10 (A) for— 

11 (i) the mounting or installation of an 

12 eligible personal wireless service facility 

13 with another eligible personal wireless serv14 ice facility that exists at the time at which 

15 a complete request for authorization of 

16 such mounting or installation is filed with 

17 a State or local government or instrumen18 tality thereof; or 

19 (ii) the modification of an eligible per20 sonal wireless service facility; and 

21 (B) for which a permit, license, or approval 

22 from the Commission is required or that is oth23 erwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Com24 mission. 


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1 (3) ELIGIBLE PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE

2 FACILITY.—The term ‘‘eligible personal wireless 

3 service facility’’ means any antenna, apparatus, or 

4 transmitting device, and any equipment, switches, 

5 wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabinets, 

6 for the provision of a personal wireless service. 

7 (4) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICES.—The term 

8 ‘‘personal wireless services’’— 

9 (A) has the meaning given such term in 

10 section 332(c)(7)(C) of the Communications 

11 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(7)(C)); and 

12 (B) also includes commercial mobile data 

13 service (as defined in section 6001 of the Mid14 dle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 

15 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401)). 

16 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

17 States, the District of Columbia, the territories and 

18 possessions of the United States, and each federally 

19 recognized Indian Tribe. 

20 SEC. 210. BROADBAND COMPETITION AND EFFICIENT DE21 PLOYMENT. 

22 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

23 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

24 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4332(2)(C)). 


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1 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX2 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

3 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

8 (2) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

9 project’’ means a project— 

10 (A) for the placement, construction, or 

11 modification of a telecommunications service fa12 cility in or on eligible support infrastructure; 

13 and 

14 (B) for which a permit, license, or approval 

15 from the Commission is required or that is oth16 erwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Com17 mission. 

18 (3) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

19 The term ‘‘eligible support infrastructure’’ means in20 frastructure that supports or houses a facility for 

21 communication by wire (or is designed to and capa22 ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 

23 time when a complete request to a State or local 

24 government or instrumentality thereof for authoriza25 tion to place, construct, or modify a telecommuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3435.IH H3435

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1 cations service facility in or on the infrastructure is 

2 received by the government or instrumentality. 

3 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

4 States, the District of Columbia, the territories and 

5 possessions of the United States, and each federally 

6 recognized Indian Tribe. 

7 (5) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The 

8 term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has the meaning 

9 given such term in section 3 of the Communications 

10 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

11 (6) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACIL12 ITY.—The term ‘‘telecommunications service facil13 ity’’ means a facility for the provision of any inter14 state or intrastate telecommunications service. 

15 SEC. 211. WIRELESS RESILIENCY AND FLEXIBLE INVEST16 MENT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.— Section 6409(a) of the Middle 

18 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

19 1455(a)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘eligible facili21 ties request for a modification of an existing wireless 

22 tower or base station that does not substantially 

23 change the physical dimensions of such tower or 

24 base station’’ and inserting ‘‘complete eligible facili25 ties request for a modification of an existing wireless 


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1 tower, base station, or eligible support structure that 

2 does not substantially change the physical dimen3 sions of such tower, base station, or eligible support 

4 structure’’; 

5 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(2) TIME FRAME.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

9 days after the date on which a State or local 

10 government receives a complete eligible facilities 

11 request described under paragraph (1), the 

12 State or local government shall approve such 

13 request. 

14 ‘‘(B) DEEMED APPROVAL.—If a State or 

15 local government does not approve an eligible 

16 facilities request by the date required under 

17 subparagraph (A), the request is deemed ap18 proved on the day after such date. 

19 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM20 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

21 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

22 COMPLETE.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur24 poses of this paragraph, an eligible fa25 cilities request to a State or local govVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3435.IH H3435

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1 ernment shall be considered complete 

2 if the requesting party has not re3 ceived a written notice from the State 

4 or local government within 10 busi5 ness days after the date on which the 

6 request is received by the State or 

7 local government— 

8 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in9 formation (including any form or 

10 other document) required by the 

11 State or local government to be 

12 submitted for the request to be 

13 considered complete has not been 

14 submitted; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor16 mation required to be submitted 

17 that was not submitted. 

18 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

19 clause, the term ‘received by the State 

20 or local government’ means— 

21 ‘‘(aa) in the case of an eligi22 ble facilities request submitted 

23 electronically, on the date on 

24 which the request is transmitted; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) in the case of an eligi2 ble facilities request submitted in 

3 person, on the date on which the 

4 request is delivered to the indi5 vidual or at the location specified 

6 by the State or local government 

7 for in-person submission; and 

8 ‘‘(cc) in the case of an eligi9 ble facilities request submitted in 

10 any other manner, on the date 

11 determined under regulations 

12 promulgated by the Commission 

13 for the manner in which the re14 quest is submitted. 

15 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON16 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

17 this paragraph, a complete eligible facilities 

18 request shall be considered received on the 

19 date on which the requesting party submits 

20 to the State or local government all infor21 mation (including any form or other docu22 ment) required by the State or local gov23 ernment to be submitted for the request to 

24 be considered complete.’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

2 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST.— 

3 The term ‘eligible facilities request’ means any 

4 request for modification of an existing wireless 

5 tower, base station, or eligible support structure 

6 that involves— 

7 ‘‘(i) collocation of new transmission 

8 equipment; 

9 ‘‘(ii) removal of transmission equip10 ment; 

11 ‘‘(iii) replacement of transmission 

12 equipment; or 

13 ‘‘(iv) placement, modification, or con14 struction of equipment that— 

15 ‘‘(I) improves the resiliency of 

16 the wireless tower, base station, or eli17 gible support structure; and 

18 ‘‘(II) provides a direct benefit to 

19 public safety, such as— 

20 ‘‘(aa) providing backup 

21 power for the wireless tower, base 

22 station, or eligible support struc23 ture; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) hardening the wireless 

2 tower, base station, or other eligi3 ble support structure; or 

4 ‘‘(cc) providing more reliable 

5 connection capability using the 

6 wireless tower, base station, or 

7 eligible support structure. 

8 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE.— 

9 The term ‘eligible support structure’ means a 

10 structure that supports a personal wireless serv11 ice facility at the time at which the eligible fa12 cilities request is made. 

13 ‘‘(C) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACIL14 ITY.—The term ‘personal wireless service facil15 ity’ means a facility necessary for the provision 

16 of— 

17 ‘‘(i) commercial mobile service; 

18 ‘‘(ii) commercial mobile data service 

19 (as that term is defined in section 6001 of 

20 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Cre21 ation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401)); 

22 ‘‘(iii) unlicensed wireless service; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) common carrier wireless ex24 change access service.’’. 


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1 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

3 Communications Commission shall issue final rules imple4 menting subsection (a), and the amendments made by 

5 such subsection. 

6 SEC. 212. BROADBAND RESILIENCY AND FLEXIBLE INVEST7 MENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6409(a) of the Middle 

9 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

10 1455(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘any eligible 

12 facilities request’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘any 

13 complete— 

14 ‘‘(A) eligible facilities request for a modi15 fication of an existing wireless tower, base sta16 tion, or eligible support structure that does not 

17 substantially change the physical dimensions of 

18 such tower, base station, or eligible support 

19 structure; and 

20 ‘‘(B) eligible telecommunications facilities 

21 request for a modification of any existing tele22 communications service facility in or on an eli23 gible support infrastructure that does not sub24 stantially change the physical dimensions of 

25 such facility.’’; 


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1 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(2) TIME FRAME.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

5 days after the date on which a State or local 

6 government receives a complete request de7 scribed under paragraph (1), the State or local 

8 government shall approve such request. 

9 ‘‘(B) DEEMED APPROVAL.—If a State or 

10 local government does not approve a request by 

11 the date required under subparagraph (A), the 

12 request is deemed approved on the day after 

13 such date. 

14 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM15 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

16 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

17 COMPLETE.— 

18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur19 poses of this paragraph, a request to 

20 a State or local government shall be 

21 considered complete if the requesting 

22 party has not received a written notice 

23 from the State or local government 

24 within 10 business days after the date 


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1 on which the request is received by 

2 the State or local government— 

3 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in4 formation (including any form or 

5 other document) required by the 

6 State or local government to be 

7 submitted for the request to be 

8 considered complete has not been 

9 submitted; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor11 mation required to be submitted 

12 that was not submitted. 

13 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

14 clause, the term ‘received by the State 

15 or local government’ means— 

16 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re17 quest submitted electronically, on 

18 the date on which the request is 

19 transmitted; 

20 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re21 quest submitted in person, on the 

22 date on which the request is de23 livered to the individual or at the 

24 location specified by the State or 


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1 local government for in-person 

2 submission; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re4 quest submitted in any other 

5 manner, on the date determined 

6 under regulations promulgated by 

7 the Commission for the manner 

8 in which the request is sub9 mitted. 

10 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON11 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

12 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 

13 considered received on the date on which 

14 the requesting party submits to the State 

15 or local government all information (in16 cluding any form or other document) re17 quired by the State or local government to 

18 be submitted for the request to be consid19 ered complete.’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

22 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST.— 

23 The term ‘eligible facilities request’ means any 

24 request for modification of an existing wireless 


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1 tower, base station, or eligible support structure 

2 that involves— 

3 ‘‘(i) collocation of new transmission 

4 equipment; 

5 ‘‘(ii) removal of transmission equip6 ment; 

7 ‘‘(iii) replacement of transmission 

8 equipment; or 

9 ‘‘(iv) placement, modification, or con10 struction of equipment that— 

11 ‘‘(I) improves the resiliency of 

12 the wireless tower, base station, or eli13 gible support structure; and 

14 ‘‘(II) provides a direct benefit to 

15 public safety, such as— 

16 ‘‘(aa) providing backup 

17 power for the wireless tower, base 

18 station, or eligible support struc19 ture; 

20 ‘‘(bb) hardening the wireless 

21 tower, base station, or other eligi22 ble support structure; or 

23 ‘‘(cc) providing more reliable 

24 connection capability using the 


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1 wireless tower, base station, or 

2 other eligible support structure. 

3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS FA4 CILITIES REQUEST.—The term ‘eligible tele5 communications facilities request’ means any 

6 request for modification of an existing tele7 communications service facility in or on an eli8 gible support infrastructure that involves— 

9 ‘‘(i) collocation of new telecommuni10 cations service facility equipment; 

11 ‘‘(ii) removal of telecommunications 

12 service facility equipment; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) replacement of telecommuni14 cations service facility equipment. 

15 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUC16 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support infrastruc17 ture’ means infrastructure that supports or 

18 houses a facility for communication by wire (or 

19 is designed to and capable of supporting or 

20 housing such a facility) at the time when a 

21 complete request to a State or local government 

22 or instrumentality thereof for authorization to 

23 place, construct, or modify a telecommuni24 cations service facility in or on the infrastrucVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3435.IH H3435

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1 ture is received by the government or instru2 mentality. 

3 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE.— 

4 The term ‘eligible support structure’ means a 

5 structure that supports a personal wireless serv6 ice facility at the time at which the eligible fa7 cilities request is made. 

8 ‘‘(E) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FA9 CILITY.—The term ‘personal wireless service fa10 cility’ means a facility necessary for the provi11 sion of— 

12 ‘‘(i) commercial mobile service; 

13 ‘‘(ii) commercial mobile data service 

14 (as that term is defined in section 6001 of 

15 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Cre16 ation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401)); 

17 ‘‘(iii) unlicensed wireless service; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) common carrier wireless ex19 change access service. 

20 ‘‘(F) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FA21 CILITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service 

22 facility’ means a facility for the provision of any 

23 interstate or intrastate telecommunications 

24 service.’’. 


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1 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

3 Communications Commission shall issue final rules imple4 menting subsection (a), and the amendments made by 

5 such subsection. 

6 SEC. 213. PROPORTIONAL REVIEWS FOR BROADBAND DE7 PLOYMENT. 

8 Section 6409(a)(3) of the Middle Class Tax Relief 

9 and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(a)(3)) is 

10 amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF NEPA; NHPA.— 

12 ‘‘(A) NEPA EXEMPTION.—An eligible fa13 cilities request shall not be subject to the re14 quirements of section 102(2)(C) of the National 

15 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

16 4332(2)(C)). 

17 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION

18 ACT EXEMPTION.—An eligible facilities request 

19 shall not be considered an undertaking under 

20 section 300320 of title 54, United States 

21 Code.’’. 

22 SEC. 214. PROTECTING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Communications 

24 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 501 et seq.) is amended by adding 

25 after section 501, the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 501A. Enhanced general penalty 

2 ‘‘(a) OFFENSES.—Whoever, during and in relation to 

3 a violation enumerated in section 501, willfully or mali4 ciously destroys any communications facility, in addition 

5 to the punishment provided for a violation that includes 

6 imprisonment, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 

7 2 years. 

8 ‘‘(b) CONSECUTIVE SENTENCE.—Notwithstanding 

9 any other provision of law— 

10 ‘‘(1) a court may not place on probation any 

11 person convicted of a violation of this section; 

12 ‘‘(2) except as provided in paragraph (3), a 

13 term of imprisonment imposed on a person under 

14 this section may not run concurrently with any other 

15 term of imprisonment imposed on the person under 

16 any other provision of law, including any term of im17 prisonment imposed for the violation of this section; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(3) a term of imprisonment imposed on a per20 son for a violation of this section may, in the discre21 tion of the court, run concurrently, in whole or in 

22 part, only with another term of imprisonment that 

23 is imposed by the court at the same time on that 

24 person for an additional violation of this section, if 

25 the discretion is exercised in accordance with appli26 cable guidelines and policy statements issued by the 


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1 Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994 of 

2 title 28, United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(c) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY DEFINED.—In this 

4 section, the term ‘communications facility’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(1) any infrastructure, including any transmit6 ting device, tower, or support structure, and any 

7 equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, power sources, 

8 shelters, or cabinets, associated with the licensed or 

9 permitted unlicensed wireless or wireline trans10 mission of writings, signs, signals, data, images, pic11 tures, and sounds of all kinds; and 

12 ‘‘(2) any antenna or apparatus that— 

13 ‘‘(A) is designed for the purpose of emit14 ting radio frequency; 

15 ‘‘(B) is designed to be operated, or is oper16 ating, from a fixed location pursuant to author17 ization by the Commission or is using duly au18 thorized devices that do not require individual 

19 licenses; and 

20 ‘‘(C) is added to a tower, building, or other 

21 structure.’’. 

22 SEC. 215. REDUCING ANTIQUATED PERMITTING FOR IN23 FRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE.—The term 

2 ‘‘personal wireless service’’ means— 

3 (A) commercial mobile service (as defined 

4 in section 332(d) of the Communications Act of 

5 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d))); 

6 (B) commercial mobile data service (as de7 fined in section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax 

8 Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

9 1401)); 

10 (C) unlicensed wireless service; and 

11 (D) common carrier wireless exchange ac12 cess service. 

13 (2) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACILITY.— 

14 The term ‘‘personal wireless service facility’’ means 

15 a facility for the provision of personal wireless serv16 ice. 

17 (3) SMALL PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FA18 CILITY.—The term ‘‘small personal wireless service 

19 facility’’— 

20 (A) means a personal wireless service facil21 ity in which each antenna is not more than 3 

22 cubic feet in volume; and 

23 (B) does not include a wireline backhaul 

24 facility. 


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1 (4) WIRELINE BACKHAUL FACILITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘wireline backhaul facility’’ means an above-ground 

3 or underground wireline facility used to transport 

4 communications service or other electronic commu5 nications from a small personal wireless service facil6 ity or its adjacent network interface device to a com7 munications network. 

8 (b) IN GENERAL.—The deployment of a small per9 sonal wireless service facility shall not constitute an under10 taking under section 300320 of title 54, United States 

11 Code, or a major Federal action for the purposes of sec12 tion 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

13 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

14 (c) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a federally recognized In16 dian Tribe or Native Hawaiian Organization is 

17 shown to have received a complete Form 620 or 

18 Form 621 (or any successor form), or can be rea19 sonably expected to have received a complete Form 

20 620 or Form 621 (or any successor form), and has 

21 not acted on a complete request contained in the 

22 form within 45 days after such receipt— 

23 (A) the Commission and a court of com24 petent jurisdiction (as the case may be) shall 

25 presume the applicant has made a good faith 


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1 effort to provide the information reasonably 

2 necessary for federally recognized Indian Tribes 

3 and Native Hawaiian Organizations to ascertain 

4 whether historic properties of religious and cul5 tural significance to them may be affected by 

6 the undertaking; and 

7 (B) the federally recognized Indian Tribe 

8 or Native Hawaiian Organization (as the case 

9 may be) shall be presumed to have disclaimed 

10 interest in the application. 

11 (2) OVERCOMING PRESUMPTION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Federally recognized 

13 Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian Organization 

14 may overcome the presumption under para15 graph (1) upon favorably demonstrating one or 

16 more of the factors to be considered under sub17 paragraph (B). 

18 (B) FACTORS CONSIDERED.—The review 

19 by the Commission or a court of competent ju20 risdiction under paragraph (1) shall give sub21 stantial weight to— 

22 (i) whether the applicant made a rea23 sonable attempt to follow up with the fed24 erally recognized Indian Tribe or Native 

25 Hawaiian Organization not earlier than 30 


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1 days, and not later than 50 days, after the 

2 applicant submitted a complete Form 620 

3 or Form 621 (as the case may be) to the 

4 federally recognized Indian Tribe or Native 

5 Hawaiian Organization; and 

6 (ii) whether the rules of the Commis7 sion and Form 620 or Form 621 is found 

8 to be in violation of a Nationwide Pro9 grammatic Agreement of the Commission. 

10 SEC. 216. COASTAL BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT. 

11 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

12 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

13 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

14 4332(2)(C)). 

15 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX16 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

17 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

18 States Code. 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

21 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

22 (2) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

23 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 


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1 (A) any wireless or wireline infrastructure 

2 for the transmission of writing, signs, signals, 

3 data, images, pictures, or sounds of all kinds; 

4 (B) any transmitting device, tower, or sup5 port structure, and any equipment, switches, 

6 wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabi7 nets, associated with the provision of commu8 nications service; and 

9 (C) any antenna or apparatus that— 

10 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

11 emitting radio frequency; 

12 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

13 operating, from a fixed location; and 

14 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

15 other structure. 

16 (3) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

17 ‘‘communications service’’ means a service for the 

18 transmission of writing, signs, signals, data, images, 

19 pictures, or sounds of all kinds. 

20 (4) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

21 project’’ means a project— 

22 (A) for the deployment or modification of 

23 a communications facility that is to be carried 

24 out entirely within a floodplain (as defined in 

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1 tions, as in effect on the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act); and 

3 (B) for which a permit, license, or approval 

4 from the Commission is required or that is oth5 erwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Com6 mission. 

7 SEC. 217. BROWNFIELDS BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT. 

8 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

9 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

10 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

11 4332(2)(C)). 

12 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX13 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

14 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

15 States Code. 

16 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

18 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

19 (2) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

20 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 

21 (A) any wireless or wireline infrastructure 

22 for the transmission of writing, signs, signals, 

23 data, images, pictures, or sounds of all kinds; 

24 (B) any transmitting device, tower, or sup25 port structure, and any equipment, switches, 


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1 wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabi2 nets, associated with the provision of commu3 nications service; and 

4 (C) any antenna or apparatus that— 

5 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

6 emitting radio frequency; 

7 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

8 operating, from a fixed location; and 

9 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

10 other structure. 

11 (3) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

12 ‘‘communications service’’ means a service for the 

13 transmission of writing, signs, signals, data, images, 

14 pictures, or sounds of all kinds. 

15 (4) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

16 project’’ means a project— 

17 (A) for the deployment or modification of 

18 a communications facility that is to be carried 

19 out entirely within a brownfield site (as defined 

20 in section 101 of the Comprehensive Environ21 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

22 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601)); and 

23 (B) for which a permit, license, or approval 

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1 erwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Com2 mission. 

3 SEC. 218. TRUSTED BROADBAND NETWORKS. 

4 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

5 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

6 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

7 4332(2)(C)). 

8 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX9 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

10 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

11 States Code. 

12 (c) COVERED PROJECT DEFINED.—In this section, 

13 the term ‘‘covered project’’ means a project to perma14 nently remove covered communications equipment or serv15 ices (as defined in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted 

16 Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608)) 

17 and to replace such covered communications equipment or 

18 services with communications equipment or services that 

19 are not covered communications equipment or services (as 

20 so defined). 

21 SEC. 219. CONNECTING COMMUNITIES POST DISASTER. 

22 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

23 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

24 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4332(2)(C)). 


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1 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX2 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

3 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 

8 (A) any wireless or wireline infrastructure 

9 for the transmission of writing, signs, signals, 

10 data, images, pictures, or sounds of all kinds; 

11 (B) any transmitting device, tower, or sup12 port structure, and any equipment, switches, 

13 wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabi14 nets, associated with the provision of commu15 nications services; and 

16 (C) any antenna or apparatus that— 

17 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

18 emitting radio frequency; 

19 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

20 operating, from a fixed location; and 

21 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

22 other structure. 

23 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

24 ‘‘communications service’’ means a service for the 


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1 transmission of writing, signs, signals, data, images, 

2 pictures, or sounds of all kinds. 

3 (3) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 project’’ means a project that— 

5 (A) is to be carried out within an area for 

6 which the President has declared a major dis7 aster or an emergency under the Robert T. 

8 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); 

10 (B) is to be carried out not later than 5 

11 years after the date on which the President 

12 made such declaration; and 

13 (C) replaces a communications facility 

14 damaged by such disaster or emergency or 

15 makes improvements to a communications facil16 ity in such area that could reasonably be con17 sidered as necessary for recovery from such dis18 aster or emergency or to prevent or mitigate fu19 ture disasters or emergencies. 

20 SEC. 220. WILDFIRE WIRELESS RESILIENCY. 

21 (a) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A covered project shall not 

22 be subject to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the 

23 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

24 4332(2)(C)). 


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1 (b) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX2 EMPTION.—A covered project shall not be considered an 

3 undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 

4 States Code. 

5 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 

8 (A) any wireless or wireline infrastructure 

9 for the transmission of writing, sign, signal, 

10 data, image, picture, or sound of any kind; 

11 (B) any transmitting device, tower, or sup12 port structure, and any equipment, switch, wir13 ing, cabling, power source, shelter, or cabinet, 

14 associated with the provision of communications 

15 services; and 

16 (C) any antenna or apparatus that— 

17 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

18 emitting radio frequency; 

19 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

20 operating, from a fixed location; and 

21 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

22 other structure. 

23 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

24 ‘‘communications service’’ means a service for the 


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1 transmission of any writing, sign, signal, data, 

2 image, picture, or sound of any kind. 

3 (3) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 project’’ means a project that— 

5 (A) is to be carried out entirely within an 

6 area for which a Governor has declared a major 

7 disaster or an emergency related to a wildfire; 

8 (B) is to be carried out not later than 5 

9 years after the date the Governor made such 

10 declaration; and 

11 (C) replaces a communications facility 

12 damaged by such disaster or emergency or 

13 makes improvements to a communications facil14 ity in such area that could reasonably be con15 sidered as necessary for recovery from such dis16 aster or emergency or to prevent or mitigate 

17 any future disaster or emergency. 

18 SEC. 221. STANDARD FEES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6409 of the Middle Class 

20 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

21 1455) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub23 section (e); and 

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(d) COMMON FEE SCHEDULE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

3 provision of law, the Administrator of General Serv4 ices shall establish a common fee schedule for the 

5 processing of applications under subsections (b)(1) 

6 and (c). 

7 ‘‘(2) FEE GUIDELINES.—The application fees 

8 established under paragraph (1) shall be— 

9 ‘‘(A) based on direct and actual cost recov10 ery; and 

11 ‘‘(B) competitively neutral with regard to 

12 other users of the building or other property 

13 owned by the Federal Government. 

14 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The Administrator of Gen15 eral Services may establish competitively neutral ex16 ceptions to the fee amounts established under para17 graph (1)— 

18 ‘‘(A) in consideration of the public benefit 

19 provided by a grant of an easement, right-of20 way, or lease; and 

21 ‘‘(B) in the interest of expanding wireless 

22 and broadband coverage. 

23 ‘‘(4) USE OF FEES COLLECTED.—Any fee col24 lected by an executive agency under this section 

25 shall only be available to the extent, and in such 


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1 amounts, as are provided in advance in appropria2 tion Acts, to the agency to cover the costs of grant3 ing the easement, right-of-way, or lease.’’. 

4 (b) DEADLINE.—The Administrator of General Serv5 ices shall establish the fee schedule required under section 

6 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation 

7 Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)), as added by subsection 

8 (a), not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 SEC. 222. EXPEDITING FEDERAL BROADBAND DEPLOY11 MENT. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON14 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con15 gress’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com17 merce of the House of Representatives; 

18 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

19 of the House of Representatives; 

20 (C) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

21 and Transportation of the Senate; 

22 (D) the Committee on Environment and 

23 Public Works of the Senate; 

24 (E) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

25 House of Representatives; and 


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1 (F) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri2 tion, and Forestry of the Senate. 

3 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist4 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

5 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

6 (3) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 

8 (A) any infrastructure, including any 

9 transmitting device, tower, or support structure, 

10 and any equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, 

11 power sources, shelters, or cabinets, associated 

12 with the licensed or permitted unlicensed wire13 less or wireline transmission of writings, signs, 

14 signals, data, images, pictures, and sounds of 

15 all kinds; and 

16 (B) any antenna or apparatus that— 

17 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

18 emitting radio frequency; 

19 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

20 operating, from a fixed location pursuant 

21 to authorization by the Commission or is 

22 using duly authorized devices that do not 

23 require individual licenses; and 

24 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

25 other structure. 


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1 (4) COMMUNICATIONS USE.—The term ‘‘com2 munications use’’ means the placement and oper3 ation of a communications facility. 

4 (5) COMMUNICATIONS USE AUTHORIZATION.— 

5 The term ‘‘communications use authorization’’ 

6 means an easement, right-of-way, lease, license, or 

7 other authorization to locate or modify a commu8 nications facility on covered land by the Department 

9 concerned for the primary purpose of authorizing 

10 the occupancy and use of the covered land for com11 munications use. 

12 (6) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 

13 means— 

14 (A) public land administered by the Sec15 retary of the Interior; and 

16 (B) National Forest System land. 

17 (7) DEPARTMENT CONCERNED.—The term 

18 ‘‘Department concerned’’ means the Department of 

19 the Interior or the Department of Agriculture. 

20 (8) ORGANIZATION UNIT.—The term ‘‘organiza21 tional unit’’ means— 

22 (A) with respect to public land adminis23 tered by the Secretary of the Interior— 

24 (i) a State office; 

25 (ii) a district office; or 


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1 (iii) a field office; and 

2 (B) within the Forest Service— 

3 (i) a regional office; 

4 (ii) the headquarters; 

5 (iii) a management unit; or 

6 (iv) a ranger district office. 

7 (9) STRIKE FORCE.—The term ‘‘Strike Force’’ 

8 means the interagency strike force established in 

9 subsection (b)(1). 

10 (b) STRIKE FORCE.— 

11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assist13 ant Secretary shall establish an interagency strike 

14 force to increase prioritization by the Department 

15 concerned, senior management of the Department 

16 concerned, or an organizational unit of reviews for 

17 communications use authorizations. 

18 (2) DUTIES.—In carrying out the prioritization 

19 under paragraph (1), the Strike Force shall— 

20 (A) conduct periodic calls between mem21 bers of the Strike Force relating to requests for 

22 communications use authorizations; and 

23 (B) monitor and facilitate accountability of 

24 the Department concerned and organizational 

25 units to meet objective and reasonable goals for 


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1 the review of requests for communications use 

2 authorizations. 

3 (3) MEMBERS.—The Strike Force shall be com4 posed of such representatives of Departments con5 cerned as the Assistant Secretary considers appro6 priate, in addition to— 

7 (A) the Assistant Secretary; 

8 (B) a representative of the Department 

9 concerned; 

10 (C) senior management of the Department 

11 concerned; and 

12 (D) the head of each organizational unit. 

13 (4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

14 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Strike Force shall submit to the appropriate com16 mittees of Congress a report on the effectiveness of 

17 the Strike Force in increasing the prioritization of 

18 reviews for communications use authorization re19 quests. 

20 SEC. 223. FEDERAL BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT IN 

21 UNSERVED AREAS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON24 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con25 gress’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com2 merce of the House of Representatives; 

3 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

4 of the House of Representatives; 

5 (C) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

6 and Transportation of the Senate; 

7 (D) the Committee on Environment and 

8 Public Works of the Senate; 

9 (E) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

10 House of Representatives; and 

11 (F) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri12 tion, and Forestry of the Senate. 

13 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

14 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

15 (3) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 

16 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 

17 (A) any infrastructure, including any 

18 transmitting device, tower, or support structure, 

19 and any equipment, switch, wiring, cabling, 

20 power source, shelter, or cabinet, associated 

21 with the licensed or permitted unlicensed wire22 less or wireline transmission of any writing, 

23 sign, signal, data, image, picture, and sound of 

24 any kind; and 

25 (B) any antenna or apparatus that— 


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1 (i) is designed for the purpose of 

2 emitting radio frequency; 

3 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 

4 operating, from a fixed location pursuant 

5 to authorization by the Commission or is 

6 using any duly authorized device that does 

7 not require an individual license; and 

8 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 

9 other structure. 

10 (4) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 

11 means land managed by a Federal land management 

12 agency. 

13 (5) DEPARTMENT CONCERNED.—The term 

14 ‘‘Department concerned’’ means the Department of 

15 the Interior or the Department of Agriculture. 

16 (6) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.— 

17 The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 

18 means— 

19 (A) the Forest Service; 

20 (B) the Bureau of Land Management; 

21 (C) the National Park Service; 

22 (D) the Fish and Wildlife Service; and 

23 (E) the Bureau of Reclamation. 

24 (7) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec25 retary concerned’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re2 spect to land administered by such Secretary; 

3 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re4 spect to National Forest System land; and 

5 (C) the Secretary of Commerce. 

6 (b) SHARING BROADBAND AVAILABILITY DATA.— 

7 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 2 business 

8 days after the creation or update of any map re9 quired under section 802(c)(1) of the Communica10 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), the Com11 mission shall notify the Secretary concerned that the 

12 map has been created or updated. 

13 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Not later 

14 than 5 business days after the date on which the 

15 Secretary concerned is notified under paragraph (1), 

16 the Commission shall provide the Secretary con17 cerned any data the Commission has collected pursu18 ant to title VIII of the Communications Act of 1934 

19 (47 U.S.C. 641 et seq.). 

20 (3) CONTINUATION.—The Commission shall 

21 provide the Secretary concerned the information de22 scribed in paragraph (2) every 6 months unless the 

23 Commission no longer has such information. 

24 (4) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

2 specify to the Secretary concerned which infor3 mation provided under paragraph (2) was col4 lected in a confidential or proprietary manner, 

5 and the Secretary concerned may not make 

6 such information publicly available. 

7 (B) FOIA.—Information provided under 

8 paragraph (2) is exempt from disclosure to the 

9 public under section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (c) WORKING GROUP.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

13 after the date of enactment of this section, the Com14 mission and the Secretary concerned shall establish 

15 an interagency working group to facilitate the prepa16 ration and interoperability of information technology 

17 systems for the provision and receipt of the informa18 tion described in subsection (b)(2). 

19 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 

20 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

21 apply to the interagency working group established 

22 under paragraph (1). 

23 (d) REPORTS.— 

24 (1) PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL

25 BARRIERS.—Not later 120 days after the date on 


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1 which the interagency working group is established 

2 pursuant to subsection (c)(1), the Commission and 

3 the Secretary concerned shall jointly submit a report 

4 to the appropriate committees of Congress with a 

5 preliminary assessment of any potential barriers to 

6 sharing the information described under subsection 

7 (b)(2). 

8 (2) ASSESSMENTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date on which the Commission provides the in10 formation described under subsection (b)(2) to the 

11 Department concerned, the Commission and the Sec12 retary concerned shall jointly submit a report to the 

13 appropriate committees of Congress with— 

14 (A) an assessment of the effectiveness of a 

15 user’s ability to locate broadband infrastructure 

16 on covered land in an area to be determined as 

17 unserved by the Commission on the basis of the 

18 maps created under section 802(c) of the Com19 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)); 

20 and 

21 (B) an assessment of whether the Depart22 ment concerned prioritized the review of appli23 cations for a communications use authorization 

24 in an area to be determined as unserved by the 


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1 Commission on the basis of the maps created 

2 under such section. 

3 SEC. 224. FEDERAL BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT TRACKING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

6 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

7 a report containing the elements described in subsection 

8 (b). 

9 (b) ELEMENTS DESCRIBED.—The elements described 

10 in this subsection are the following: 

11 (1) A plan describing how the Assistant Sec12 retary will track the acceptance, processing, and dis13 posal of a Form 299 submitted to the Secretary con14 cerned by a requesting party. 

15 (2) A description of how the Assistant Sec16 retary would most expeditiously implement the plan 

17 described in paragraph (1). 

18 (3) A description of how the Assistant Sec19 retary may increase transparency to a requesting 

20 party on the status of a Form 299 received by the 

21 Secretary concerned. 

22 (4) A description of any barriers the Assistant 

23 Secretary determines could delay the implementation 

24 of the plan described in paragraph (1). 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com5 merce of the House of Representatives; 

6 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

7 and Transportation of the Senate; 

8 (C) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

9 House of Representatives; and 

10 (D) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri11 tion, and Forestry of the Senate. 

12 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist13 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

14 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

15 (3) FORM 299.—The term ‘‘Form 299’’ means 

16 the form developed pursuant to section 

17 6409(b)(2)(A) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and 

18 Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

19 1455(b)(2)(A)), or any successor form. 

20 (4) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

21 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 

22 the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range23 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

24 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 


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1 (5) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

2 means land under the management of— 

3 (A) the Bureau of Land Management; 

4 (B) the National Park Service; 

5 (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife 

6 Service; or 

7 (D) the Bureau of Reclamation. 

8 (6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec9 retary concerned’’ means— 

10 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re11 spect to public land; and 

12 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re13 spect to National Forest System land. 

Æ 


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