I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3193 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

provide for a high-speed broadband deployment initiative. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2021 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri (for himself and Mr. GUEST) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

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

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘E-BRIDGE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA2 TIVE. 

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

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

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

6 ‘‘SEC. 219. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA7 TIVE. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND PROJECT.—The term 

10 ‘broadband project’ means, for the purpose of pro11 viding, extending, expanding, or improving high12 speed broadband service to further the goals of this 

13 Act— 

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

15 training; 

16 ‘‘(B) the acquisition or development of 

17 land; or 

18 ‘‘(C) the acquisition, design and engineer19 ing, construction, rehabilitation, alteration, ex20 pansion, or improvement of facilities, including 

21 related machinery, equipment, contractual 

22 rights, and intangible property. 

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible re25 cipient’ means an eligible recipient. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible re2 cipient’ includes— 

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

4 ‘‘(ii) a consortium formed for the pur5 pose of providing, extending, expanding, or 

6 improving high-speed broadband service 

7 between 1 or more eligible recipients and 1 

8 or more for-profit organizations. 

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

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

11 data transmission with sufficient downstream and 

12 upstream speeds to end users to permit effective 

13 participation in the economy and to support eco14 nomic growth, as determined by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(b) BROADBAND PROJECTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an el17 igible recipient, the Secretary may make grants 

18 under this title for broadband projects, which shall 

19 be subject to the provisions of this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) DATA REQUESTED.—In reviewing an ap21 plication submitted under paragraph (1), the Sec22 retary shall request from the Federal Communica23 tions Commission, the Administrator of the National 

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1 tion, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Appa2 lachian Regional Commission data on— 

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

4 service that exists in the area proposed to be 

5 served; and 

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

7 service that will be deployed in the area pro8 posed to be served pursuant to another Federal 

9 program. 

10 ‘‘(3) INTEREST IN REAL OR PERSONAL PROP11 ERTY.—For any broadband project carried out by an 

12 eligible recipient that is a public-private partnership 

13 or consortium, the Secretary shall require that title 

14 to any real or personal property acquired or im15 proved with grant funds, or if the recipient will not 

16 acquire title, another possessory interest acceptable 

17 to the Secretary, be vested in a public partner or eli18 gible nonprofit organization or association for the 

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

20 transferred to any member of the public-private 

21 partnership or consortium in accordance with regu22 lations promulgated by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(4) PROCUREMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

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

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1 ices related to a broadband project on the basis that 

2 the person or entity participated in the development 

3 of the broadband project or in the drafting of speci4 fications, requirements, statements of work, or simi5 lar documents related to the goods or services to be 

6 provided. 

7 ‘‘(5) BROADBAND PROJECT PROPERTY.— 

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

9 permit a recipient of a grant for a broadband 

10 project to grant an option to acquire real or 

11 personal property (including contractual rights 

12 and intangible property) related to that project 

13 to a third party on such terms as the Secretary 

14 determines to be appropriate, subject to the 

15 condition that the option may only be exercised 

16 after the Secretary releases the Federal interest 

17 in the property. 

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

19 of an option described in subparagraph (A) 

20 shall not constitute a redistribution of grant 

21 funds under section 217. 

22 ‘‘(c) SOURCES OF ASSISTANCE.—A grant provided 

23 under this section may be provided from amounts made 

24 available to carry out this title in combination with 

25 amounts made available under any other Federal program. 


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1 ‘‘(d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—In determining the 

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

3 broadband project, the Secretary may provide credit to4 ward the non-Federal share for the present value of allow5 able contributions over the useful life of the broadband 

6 project, subject to the condition that the Secretary may 

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

8 the commitment of the rights as the Secretary determines 

9 to be appropriate.’’. 

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

11 in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic Devel12 opment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; Public Law 

13 89–136) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

14 to section 218 the following: 

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

Æ 


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