Rural Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act

To streamline the process for broadband facility location applications on Federal land, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Rural Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act 2. Streamlining the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service process for broadband facility location applications (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Broadband facility The term broadband facility 47 U.S.C. 1302 (2) Covered land The term covered land (A) public land administered by the Secretary of the Interior; and (B) National Forest System land administered by the Secretary of Agriculture. (3) Department concerned The term Department concerned (4) Organizational unit The term organizational unit (A) within the Bureau of Land Management— (i) a State office; (ii) a district office; or (iii) a field office; and (B) within the Forest Service— (i) a regional office; (ii) the headquarters; (iii) a management unit; or (iv) a ranger district office. (5) Secretary concerned The term Secretary concerned (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public land; and (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System land. (b) Regulations Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned shall issue regulations— (1) to streamline the process for considering applications to locate or modify broadband facilities on covered land administered by the Secretary concerned; (2) to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the process is uniform and standardized across the organizational units of the Department concerned; and (3) to require that the applications described in paragraph (1) be considered and granted on a competitively and technologically neutral, non-discriminatory basis. (c) Requirements The regulations issued under subsection (b) shall include— (1) procedures that require the tracking of applications described in subsection (b)(1), including— (A) identifying the number of applications— (i) received; (ii) approved; and (iii) denied; (B) in the case of an application that is denied, describing the reasons for the denial; and (C) describing the amount of time between the receipt of an application and the issuance of a final decision on an application; (2) minimum terms of not less than 5 years for leases with respect to the location of broadband facilities on covered land; (3) a policy under which an easement, license, or other authorization to locate a broadband facility on covered land renews automatically on expiration, unless the authorization is revoked for good cause; and (4) fees for— (A) submitting an application described in subsection (b)(1), based on the cost to the Department concerned of considering such an application; and (B) granting an easement, license, or other authorization to locate or modify a broadband facility on covered land, based on the cost to the Department concerned of any maintenance or other activities required to be performed by the Department concerned as a result of the location or modification of the facility. (d) Additional considerations In issuing regulations under subsection (b), the Secretary concerned shall consider— (1) how discrete reviews in considering an application described in subsection (b)(1) can be conducted simultaneously, rather than sequentially, by the organizational units of the Department concerned that must approve the location or modification; and (2) how to eliminate overlapping requirements among the organizational units of the Department concerned with respect to the location or modification of a broadband facility on covered land administered by those organizational units. (e) Communication of streamlined process to organizational units The Secretary concerned shall, with respect to the regulations issued under subsection (b)— (1) communicate the regulations to the organizational units of the Department concerned; and (2) ensure that the organizational units of the Department concerned follow the regulations. 3. Communications facilities deployment on Federal property Section 6409(b) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( 47 U.S.C. 1455(b) (5) Timely consideration of applications (A) In general Not later than 270 days after the date on which an executive agency receives a duly filed application for an easement or right-of-way under this subsection, the executive agency shall— (i) grant or deny, on behalf of the Federal Government, the application; and (ii) notify the applicant of the grant or denial. (B) Explanation of denial If an executive agency denies an application under subparagraph (A), the executive agency shall notify the applicant in writing, including a clear statement of the reasons for the denial. (C) Deemed granted If an executive agency does not grant or deny a duly filed application under subparagraph (A) by the deadline set forth in that subparagraph, the executive agency shall be deemed to have granted the application. (D) Applicability of environmental laws Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to relieve an executive agency of the requirements of division A of subtitle III of title 54, United States Code, or the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 (E) Point of contact Upon receiving an application under subparagraph (A), an executive agency shall designate one or more appropriate individuals within the executive agency to act as a point of contact with the applicant. . 4. GAO report (a) Definition In this section, the term National Broadband Map 47 U.S.C. 1305(l) (b) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report evaluating— (1) how the Federal Communications Commission ensures that the broadband data collected for the National Broadband Map is accurate, complete, and reliable, including— (A) the source of the data; and (B) whether data may be available from alternative commercial sources; (2) the extent to which Federal agencies or other entities authorized to distribute Federal grants or loans for broadband projects rely on data from the National Broadband Map to— (A) award grants or loans for broadband projects; or (B) determine whether Federal Government funds will be used to deploy broadband in areas already served by private broadband providers; (3) the actions the Federal Communications Commission has taken or plans to take to address the limitations, if any, in using data from the National Broadband Map for policy or funding decisions; (4) the extent to which interested parties have challenged the accuracy of information on the National Broadband Map, including how the challenges were resolved; and (5) whether the Federal Communications Commission should collect data for the National Broadband Map from additional or alternative commercial sources.

Summary: Rural Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior, for public lands, and the Department of Agriculture, for National Forest System lands, to issue regulations to: (1) streamline the process for the consideration of applications to locate or modify broadband facilities on such lands; and (2) require that such applications be considered and granted on a competitively and technologically neutral, non-discriminatory basis. The bill amends the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to require executive agencies to grant or deny within 270 days applications for an easement or right-of-way on federal property to install, construct, and maintain wireless service antenna structures and equipment and backhaul transmission equipment. The Government Accountability Office shall report on: how the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ensures that the broadband data collected for the National Broadband Map is accurate, complete, and reliable; the extent to which federal agencies or other entities authorized to distribute federal grants or loans for broadband projects rely on such data; FCC actions to address the limitations on using such data for policy or funding decisions; the extent to which interested parties have challenged the accuracy of information on the map; and whether the FCC should collect such data from additional or alternative commercial sources.