BEAD FEE Act of 2023

To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require States and political subdivisions of States to streamline certain fees relating to broadband infrastructure in order to receive grant funds under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Broadband Expansion And Deployment Fee Equity and Efficiency Act of 2023 BEAD FEE Act of 2023 2. Streamlining of certain fees relating to broadband infrastructure required to receive grant funds under BEAD Program Section 60102(e) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ( 47 U.S.C. 1702(e) (5) Streamlining of certain fees relating to broadband infrastructure required After the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Assistant Secretary may not make available to an eligible entity grant funds under this section (except for grant funds under paragraph (1)(C)) if the eligible entity, or any political subdivision of the eligible entity, charges a fee to consider a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify infrastructure for the provision of broadband service, or a fee for use of a right-of-way or infrastructure in a right-of-way owned or managed by the entity or political subdivision for the placement, construction, or modification of infrastructure for the provision of broadband service, unless such fee is— (A) competitively neutral, technology neutral, and nondiscriminatory; (B) publicly disclosed; (C) calculated— (i) based on actual and direct costs, such as costs for— (I) review and processing of requests; and (II) repairs and replacement of— (aa) components and materials resulting from and affected by the placement, construction, or modification (including the installation or improvement) of infrastructure for the provision of broadband service; or (bb) equipment that facilitates the placement, construction, or modification (including the installation or improvement) of such infrastructure; and (ii) using, for purposes of clause (i), only costs that are objectively reasonable; and (D) described to a requesting party in a manner that distinguishes between— (i) nonrecurring fees and recurring fees; and (ii) the use of infrastructure on which infrastructure for the provision of broadband service is already located and infrastructure on which there is no infrastructure for the provision of broadband service as of the date on which the request is received by the eligible entity or political subdivision. .

Summary: Broadband Expansion And Deployment Fee Equity and Efficiency Act of 2023 or the BEAD FEE Act of 2023 This bill restricts recipients of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants from charging fees related to the deployment of broadband infrastructure. The BEAD Program provides funds to states and territories for broadband deployment, connectivity, mapping, and adoption projects. Generally, the bill prohibits grant recipients from charging fees for (1) considering requests for deploying broadband infrastructure; or (2) using or accessing land, or existing infrastructure on land, that is owned or managed by a state, territory, or locality (i.e., a right-of-way) to deploy broadband infrastructure. However, the bill permits recipients to charge fees if they are nondiscriminatory, publicly disclosed, and based on actual and direct costs. Additionally, recipients must describe the fees in a manner that distinguishes between (1) recurring and nonrecurring fees, and (2) using a right-of-way with and without existing infrastructure.