I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1038 
To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 
to provide a plan to ensure adequate staffing throughout organizational 
units of the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture 
to review communications use authorizations in a timely manner. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2021 
Mr. ARMSTRONG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
of Agriculture to provide a plan to ensure adequate staff-
ing throughout organizational units of the Department 
of the Interior and Department of Agriculture to review 
communications use authorizations in a timely manner. 
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 ‘‘Enhancing Adminis-
trative Reviews for Broadband Deployment Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENABLING ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) 
APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives; 
(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives; 
(C) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate; and 
(D) the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works of the Senate. 
(2) COMMUNICATIONS
FACILITY.—The term 
‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 
(A) any infrastructure, including any 
transmitting device, tower, or support structure, 
and any equipment, switch, wiring, cabling, 
power source, shelter, or cabinet, associated 
with the licensed or permitted unlicensed wire-
less or wireline transmission of any writing, 
sign, signal, data, image, picture, and sound of 
any kind; and 
(B) any antenna or apparatus that— 
(i) is designed for the purpose of 
emitting radio frequency; 
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(ii) is designed to be operated, or is 
operating, from a fixed location pursuant 
to authorization by the Commission or is 
using a duly authorized device that does 
not require an individual license; and 
(iii) is added to a tower, building, or 
other structure. 
(3) COMMUNICATIONS SITE.—The term ‘‘com-
munications site’’ means an area of covered land 
designated for communications uses. 
(4) COMMUNICATIONS USE.—The term ‘‘com-
munications use’’ means the placement and oper-
ation of communications facility. 
(5) COMMUNICATIONS USE AUTHORIZATION.— 
The term ‘‘communications use authorization’’ 
means an easement, right-of-way, lease, license, or 
other authorization to locate or modify a commu-
nications facility on covered land by the Department 
concerned for the primary purpose of authorizing 
the occupancy and use of the covered land for com-
munications use. 
(6) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 
means— 
(A) public land administered by the Sec-
retary of the Interior; and 
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shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 
a report that— 
(1) provides an assessment on programmatic or 
administrative barriers to reviewing communications 
use authorizations by the Department concerned or 
organizational units of the Department concerned; 
(2) provides an assessment whether there are 
rules or regulations of the Department concerned 
that could be revised to improve the efficiency of re-
viewing a communications use authorization; 
(3) describes the process for prioritizing the re-
view of a communications use authorization; and 
(4) provides a plan to ensure adequate staffing 
throughout organizational units of the Department 
concerned to review communications use authoriza-
tions in a timely manner. 
Æ 
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