application without assistance under 
subsection (c); 
‘‘(II) the covered provider could 
initiate 
qualifying 
connectivity 
through a routine installation within 
10 business days of a request with no 
extraordinary monetary charges or 
delays attributable to the extension of 
the network of the covered provider; 
or 
‘‘(III) the covered provider has 
an enforceable commitment to deploy 
broadband to the eligible land. 
‘‘(ii) 
ADJUDICATION
OF
CHAL-
LENGES.— 
‘‘(I) PROCESS.—The Secretary 
shall establish a transparent, evi-
dence-based, and expeditious process 
for adjudicating a challenge submitted 
under clause (i) with respect to a loca-
tion within 90 business days of the 
date on which the Secretary posts the 
information described in subpara-
graph (B)(i). 
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‘‘(II) REQUIREMENT.—The proc-
ess established by the Secretary under 
subclause (I) shall include making 
publicly available on the website of the 
Secretary a written notice describing 
the outcome and reason for the deci-
sion of the Secretary with respect to 
each challenge submitted under clause 
(i). 
‘‘(III) LIMITATION.—The Sec-
retary may not award any assistance 
under subsection (c) for a particular 
application until all challenges with 
respect to the eligible land described 
in that application have been fully ad-
judicated. 
‘‘(iii) NEW
SOLICITATION.—If, after 
adjudicating a challenge under clause (i), 
the Secretary determines that the land 
subject to the challenge is eligible land that 
is unserved or underserved, the Secretary 
shall transmit to each covered provider 
registered under paragraph (2)(A) a bid 
notification for the provision of qualifying 
connectivity to the eligible land. 
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‘‘(D) COMPETING BID APPLICATIONS.—A 
covered provider registered under paragraph 
(2)(A) that receives a notification under sub-
paragraph (B)(ii) or a notification under sub-
paragraph (C)(iii) and wishes to submit a com-
peting bid application for provision of qualifying 
connectivity to the eligible land described in 
that notification shall, not later than 120 days 
after the date on which the covered provider 
registered under paragraph (2)(A) receives the 
notification, submit to the Secretary a com-
peting bid application to provide that qualifying 
connectivity in accordance with paragraph (1). 
‘‘(E) EVALUATION.—Not later than 30 
business days after the date on which the 120- 
day period described in subparagraph (D) ends, 
the Secretary shall evaluate the bid applications 
received and select the applicant that— 
‘‘(i) presents the lowest cost to the 
Secretary for the provision of qualifying 
connectivity to the eligible land that is 
unserved or underserved; and 
‘‘(ii) best demonstrates to the covered 
producer the ability to provide downstream 
and upstream transmission capacity that 
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can 
reliably 
support 
the 
specific 
connectivity needs of all on-farm applica-
tions described in the bid application, in-
cluding mobility, if mobility was included 
in the bid application. 
‘‘(F) ENHANCED SPEEDS.— 
‘‘(i) FINDING.—Congress finds that 
there are unique connectivity needs to sup-
port the adoption of precision agriculture. 
‘‘(ii) PRIORITIZATION.—In selecting 
bid applicants under subparagraph (E), 
the Secretary may give priority to a cov-
ered provider that offers enhanced service 
speeds that are greater than those de-
scribed in subsection (b)(11)(A)(i), if the 
applicant demonstrates that the proposal 
to serve the eligible land of a covered pro-
ducer that is unserved or underserved re-
quires such enhanced service speeds. 
‘‘(G) TREATMENT
OF
PROPRIETARY
IN-
FORMATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The prohibition 
under paragraph (2)(C)(i) shall not apply 
to a covered provider in the submission of 
a bid application under this subsection, in-
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cluding a competing bid application under 
subparagraph (D) or a challenge under 
subparagraph (C), if the proprietary infor-
mation is necessary for the Secretary— 
‘‘(I) to determine the eligibility of 
a covered provider; or 
‘‘(II) to evaluate an initial bid 
application, competing bid application, 
or challenge. 
‘‘(ii) 
DISCLOSURE
IN
NOTIFICA-
TION.— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In the notifi-
cation required under subparagraph 
(B), the Secretary— 
‘‘(aa) shall only disclose the 
necessary and appropriate infor-
mation contained within an ini-
tial bid application for the pur-
poses of facilitating competing 
bid applications; and 
‘‘(bb) shall not divulge pro-
prietary information of the appli-
cable covered provider and cov-
ered producer in the application. 
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‘‘(II) REQUIREMENT.—In a bid 
application under this subsection, in-
cluding a competing bid application 
under subparagraph (D) or a chal-
lenge under subparagraph (C), an ap-
plicant shall clearly mark any propri-
etary information with the term ‘con-
fidential proprietary information’. 
‘‘(iii) TREATMENT.—If a covered pro-
vider provides in a bid application under 
this subsection, including a competing bid 
application under subparagraph (D) or a 
challenge under subparagraph (C), propri-
etary information that constitutes a trade 
secret, proprietary commercial or financial 
information, confidential business informa-
tion, or data affecting national security, 
the Secretary shall treat the information in 
confidence to the greatest extent permitted 
by law. 
‘‘(iv) PRIVACY.—Nothing in this sec-
tion affects the applicability to this section 
of section 1619 of the Food, Conservation, 
and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8791). 
‘‘(4) TIMELINE.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each project for 
which assistance under subsection (c) is pro-
vided, the Secretary shall establish service 
buildout milestones and periodic certifications 
by recipients of the assistance for purposes of 
project compliance and implementation. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The milestones re-
quired under subparagraph (A) shall establish a 
maximum buildout timeframe of not more than 
4 years from the date on which the assistance 
is provided. 
‘‘(C) PENALTIES.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish and enforce standardized penalties, 
fines, and sanctions for noncompliance with a 
milestone or certification established under sub-
paragraph (A). 
‘‘(f) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under sub-
section (c), the Secretary shall give priority to applications 
to carry out projects in the following order: 
‘‘(1) Unserved eligible land in remote areas. 
‘‘(2) Other unserved eligible land. 
‘‘(3) Underserved eligible land in remote areas. 
‘‘(4) Other underserved eligible land. 
‘‘(g) CYBERSECURITY.—As a condition on receipt of 
assistance under subsection (c), a covered provider shall— 
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‘‘(1) ensure that any structure, device, or sys-
tem provided or constructed using the assistance in-
corporates a layered defense strategy as a means of 
defensible security architecture; and 
‘‘(2) certify to the Secretary that the covered 
provider maintains a regularly updated configuration 
management plan. 
‘‘(h) PROHIBITION.—In selecting recipients of assist-
ance under subsection (c), the Secretary shall not advan-
tage or disadvantage the selection of a recipient under this 
section based on consideration of the existence, or lack 
thereof, of any State law. 
‘‘(i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall, on 
an annual basis— 
‘‘(1) submit to the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Agriculture of the House of Representa-
tives a report that describes the outcome of the bids 
that occurred during the previous fiscal year, includ-
ing the number of parcels of eligible land for which 
initial bid applications were submitted during the 
previous fiscal year, the number of challenges filed 
under subsection (e)(3)(C) during the previous fiscal 
year, the outcomes of those challenges, the number 
of competing bid applications received under this 
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section, and the respective amounts awarded for eli-
gible land; and 
‘‘(2) make the report required under paragraph 
(1) publicly available on the website of the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(j) PROVISION OF DATA TO FCC.—The Secretary 
shall, on an annual basis, make the necessary data avail-
able to the Commission for inclusion on the broadband 
maps. 
‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 
(b) REPEAL.—Section 602 of the Rural Electrifica-
tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–1) is repealed. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE 
DATA COLLECTION ON BROADBAND ADOP-
TION. 
To provide for the collection and analysis by the Na-
tional Agricultural Statistics Service of more comprehen-
sive broadband usage data, the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall update the computer usage and ownership survey 
and the census of agriculture conducted under section 2 
of the Census of Agriculture Act of 1997 (7 U.S.C. 2204g) 
to contain questions relating to— 
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(1) whether the respondent subscribes to a 
broadband internet access service for a farm site (as 
defined in section 607(b) of the Rural Electrification 
Act of 1936); and 
(2) if the respondent subscribes to the 
broadband internet access service described in para-
graph (1)— 
(A) the download and upload speeds of the 
broadband internet access service to which the 
respondent is subscribed; and 
(B) the purposes for which the internet ac-
cess is used, including the use of precision agri-
culture (as defined in section 607(b) of the 
Rural Electrification Act of 1936). 
Æ 
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