I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3970 
To require Federal agencies to timely respond to right-of-way requests for 
the build out of broadband service, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2021 
Mr. CURTIS (for himself and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To require Federal agencies to timely respond to right-of- 
way requests for the build out of broadband service, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerating Rural 
Broadband Deployment Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL RIGHTS-OF-WAY FOR BUILD 
OUT OF BROADBAND SERVICE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term ‘‘broad-
band service’’ means— 
(A) any service that has the capacity to 
transmit data to enable users or devices to 
originate and receive high-quality voice, data, 
graphics, and video; 
(B) any service by wire or radio that pro-
vides the capability to transmit data to, and re-
ceive data from, all or substantially all internet 
endpoints— 
(i) including any capabilities that are 
incidental to, and enable the operation of, 
the service; and 
(ii) excluding dial-up internet access 
service; or 
(C) any service that is the functional 
equivalent of a service described in subpara-
graph (A) or (B). 
(2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 
agency’’— 
(A) has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 
(B) does not include the Department of 
Defense, except for the Army Corps of Engi-
neers. 
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(b) ACCESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If an Executive agency, a 
State, a political subdivision or agency of a State, an 
Indian tribal government, or a person, firm, or orga-
nization requests access to a right-of-way owned by 
the Federal Government, or an instrumentality 
thereof, in order to place, construct, modify, or oper-
ate facilities for the provision of broadband service, 
the Executive agency having control of the right-of- 
way may grant to the applicant, on behalf of the 
Federal Government, a license of occupancy author-
izing the deployment of all equipment required to 
deploy broadband service. 
(2) DURATION.— A license of occupancy issued 
under this subsection shall be issued with a duration 
of not more than 30 years and may be automatically 
renewed for additional periods of like duration. 
(3) FEE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Executive agency 
shall establish an annual license fee for a li-
cense of occupancy issued under this subsection. 
(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing a 
fee under subparagraph (A), an Executive agen-
cy shall— 
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(i) consider property valuations based 
on the restricted and limited use nature of 
the underlying parcel (adjacent commer-
cial, private or multiple use properties shall 
not be used for the purpose of determining 
comparable valuations); and 
(ii) the size of the portion of land re-
quested to accommodate the equipment of 
the licensee that is required to deploy 
broadband service. 
(C) ADJUSTMENTS.—An annual license fee 
established under this paragraph may be ad-
justed, not more frequently than once every 6 
years, to reflect the current valuations upon re-
newal of such license. 
(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall be construed to exempt an Execu-
tive agency from 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 et seq.). 
(c) TIMELY CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 
the date on which an Executive agency receives a re-
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quest under subsection (b), the Executive agency 
shall— 
(A) on behalf of the Federal Government, 
grant the application, grant the application sub-
ject to conditions, or deny the application; and 
(B) notify the applicant of the decision of 
the Executive agency under subparagraph (A). 
(2) EXPLANATION OF DENIAL.—If an Executive 
agency denies an application under this subsection, 
the Executive agency shall notify the applicant in 
writing of such denial, which shall— 
(A) be supported by substantial evidence 
contained in a written record; and 
(B) include a clear statement of the rea-
sons for the denial. 
(3) PUBLIC RELEASE OF RECORD.—The written 
record described in paragraph (2)(A) shall be made 
available to the public on the date on which the writ-
ten notification is provided to the applicant under 
paragraph (2). 
(4) AUTOMATIC
GRANT
OF
REQUEST.—If an 
Executive agency fails to act on a request received 
under subsection (b) by the end of the 60-day period 
described in paragraph (1), the application shall be 
considered granted. 
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(d) REQUIREMENT.—Any regulation issued by an Ex-
ecutive agency governing management of access to a Fed-
eral right-of-way under this section shall— 
(1) be competitively and technologically neutral; 
and 
(2) apply to all providers of broadband service 
on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory 
basis. 
Æ 
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