I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3654 

To expand access to electromagnetic spectrum for the provision of broadband 

service in rural areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2021 

Mr. CAWTHORN (for himself and Mr. KELLY of Mississippi) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 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 expand access to electromagnetic spectrum for the provision of broadband service in rural areas, 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 ‘‘Rural Opportunities 

5 for Broadband in Underserved Settlements and Towns 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘ROBUST Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM FOR 

2 PROVISION OF BROADBAND SERVICE IN 

3 RURAL AREAS. 

4 (a) EVALUATION OF SPECTRUM USE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis7 sion shall conduct an evaluation of all covered li8 censes that are in effect as of the date of the enact9 ment of this Act in order to determine whether spec10 trum usage rights under such licenses are unutilized 

11 or underutilized in rural areas. 

12 (2) EFFECT OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOY13 MENT ON DETERMINATION.—In conducting the eval14 uation under paragraph (1), the Commission may 

15 not determine that spectrum usage rights are unuti16 lized or underutilized if— 

17 (A) in the case of a license that contains 

18 terms regarding when the licensee is required to 

19 deploy infrastructure or to begin utilizing such 

20 spectrum usage rights, the licensee is in compli21 ance with such terms; or 

22 (B) in the case of a license that does not 

23 contain such terms— 

24 (i) the licensee is, at the time when 

25 the Commission conducts the evaluation, in 


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1 the process of deploying infrastructure to 

2 utilize such spectrum usage rights; and 

3 (ii) after the deployment is complete, 

4 the spectrum usage rights will not be un5 utilized or underutilized. 

6 (3) RECOMMENDATION TO LEASE UNUTILIZED

7 OR UNDERUTILIZED SPECTRUM USAGE RIGHTS.—If 

8 the Commission determines in the evaluation con9 ducted under paragraph (1) that any spectrum 

10 usage rights under a covered license are unutilized 

11 or underutilized in a rural area, the Commission 

12 shall, not later than 90 days after completing such 

13 evaluation, issue a recommendation to the licensee 

14 that the licensee lease such unutilized or underuti15 lized spectrum usage rights to other entities for the 

16 provision of broadband service in such area, in ac17 cordance with subpart X of part 1 of title 47, Code 

18 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

19 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON REDUCTION OF LI20 CENSE SIZES.—It is the sense of Congress that, in issuing 

21 any covered license (except for a renewal of such a li22 cense), the Commission should ensure that the geographic 

23 area in which such license permits the use of spectrum 

24 is as small as feasible, as determined by the Commission. 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 

2 ‘‘broadband service’’ means broadband internet ac3 cess service (as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu5 lation)). 

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

7 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

8 (3) COVERED LICENSE.—The term ‘‘covered li9 cense’’ means a license for the use of electro10 magnetic spectrum issued by the Commission under 

11 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et 

12 seq.)— 

13 (A) under the terms of which a licensee 

14 may use such spectrum for the provision of 

15 broadband service, regardless of whether such 

16 terms expressly refer to the provision of 

17 broadband service; and 

18 (B) any part of the geographic scope of 

19 which includes a rural area, in whole or in part. 

20 (4) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

21 means a county with a population density of fewer 

22 than 100 individuals per square mile. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS 

2 UNDER THE BROADBAND RECONNECT PRO3 GRAM. 

4 In carrying out the broadband loan and grant pilot 

5 program authorized under section 779 of division A of the 

6 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115– 

7 141; 132 Stat. 399) (commonly known as the ‘‘Broadband 

8 ReConnect Program’’, ‘‘ReConnect Program’’, or ‘‘Rural 

9 eConnectivity Pilot Program’’), the Secretary of Agri10 culture shall— 

11 (1) with respect to any award receiving grant 

12 assistance under the program, give the highest pri13 ority to those projects providing a download speed of 

14 at least 25 megabits per second and an upload speed 

15 of at least 3 megabits per second; 

16 (2) have a licensed engineer or otherwise quali17 fied person available to provide guidance to any new 

18 applicant for assistance from the program; and 

19 (3) use a portion of the amounts made available 

20 for the program to cover the costs incurred by appli21 cants for a loan under the program to prepare re22 quired preliminary engineering reports. 

Æ 


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