I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5486 
To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve access to 
broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, including by en-
couraging the provision of broadband loans and grants to increase 
broadband service in emerging harbor projects, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 18, 2019 
Ms. PLASKETT (for herself, Mr. YOHO, and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto 
Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, 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 amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve 
access to broadband telecommunications services in rural 
areas, including by encouraging the provision of 
broadband loans and grants to increase broadband serv-
ice in emerging harbor projects, 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 ‘‘Broadband Internet 
for Small Ports Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS. 
Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 
(7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in clause (i)— 
(aa) by striking ‘‘of at 
least—’’ and inserting a semi-
colon; and 
(bb) by striking subclauses 
(I) and (II); 
(II) in clause (iii), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(III) in clause (iv), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 
and’’; and 
(IV) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(v) give priority to applications for 
projects to provide rapid and expanded de-
ployment of fixed and mobile broadband on 
cropland and ranchland within a service 
territory for use in various applications of 
precision agriculture.’’; 
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(ii) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) in clause (i)— 
(aa) in subclause (III), by 
inserting ‘‘or’’ after the semi-
colon; 
(bb) in subclause (IV), by 
striking 
‘‘or’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘and’’; and 
(cc) by striking subclause 
(V); and 
(II) in clause (ii)— 
(aa) in the matter preceding 
subclause (I), by striking ‘‘2’’ 
and inserting ‘‘1’’; 
(bb) in subclause (IV), by 
inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semi-
colon; 
(cc) in subclause (V), by 
striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 
period at the end; and 
(dd) by striking subclause 
(VI); and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(C) EMERGING
HARBOR
PROJECT
PRI-
ORITY.—In addition to the priority given under 
subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall give 
equal priority to an application for a project 
that 
would 
increase 
the 
availability 
of 
broadband service in an emerging harbor 
project (as defined in section 210(f) of the 
Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 
U.S.C. 2238(f))), without regard to whether the 
application is from an emerging harbor project. 
‘‘(D) IDENTIFICATION OF UNSERVED COM-
MUNITIES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 
application given the highest priority under 
subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary shall 
confirm that each unserved rural commu-
nity identified in the application is eligible 
for funding by— 
‘‘(I) conferring with and obtain-
ing data from the Federal Commu-
nications Commission and the Assist-
ant Secretary of Commerce for Com-
munications and Information with re-
spect to the service area proposed in 
the application; 
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‘‘(II) reviewing any other source 
that is relevant to service data valida-
tion, as determined by the Secretary; 
and 
‘‘(III) 
performing 
site-specific 
testing to verify the unavailability of 
any residential broadband service in 
the unserved rural community. 
‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENTS.—Not less often 
than once every 2 years, the Secretary 
shall review, and may adjust through no-
tice published in the Federal Register, the 
unserved communities identified under 
clause (i).’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking subpara-
graphs (C) and (D) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(C) MAXIMUM.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (D), the amount of any grant 
made under this section shall not exceed 50 
percent of the development costs of the project 
for which the grant is provided. 
‘‘(D) SECRETARIAL
AUTHORITY
TO
AD-
JUST.—The Secretary may make grants of up 
to 75 percent of the development costs of the 
project for which the grant is provided to an el-
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igible entity if the Secretary determines that 
the project serves— 
‘‘(i) an area of rural households de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and 
‘‘(ii) a rural community described in 
any of subclauses (I) through (IV) of para-
graph (2)(B)(i).’’; 
(2) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘subsection (j)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 
(l)’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) RELATION
TO
UNIVERSAL
SERVICE 
HIGH-COST SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall co-
ordinate with the Federal Communications 
Commission to ensure that any grants, loans, or 
loan guarantees made under this section com-
plement and do not conflict with universal serv-
ice high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 
of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
successor regulation) provided by the Commis-
sion.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
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(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘50’’ 
and inserting ‘‘90’’; and 
(II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘3’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) APPLICATION
PROCESS.—The Secretary 
shall provide to an applicant of a grant, loan, or 
loan guarantee under this section feedback and deci-
sions on funding in a timely manner.’’; 
(3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 
subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 
(4) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(j) BROADBAND BUILDOUT DATA.—As a condition 
of receiving a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this 
section, a recipient of assistance shall provide to the Sec-
retary complete, reliable, and precise geolocation informa-
tion that indicates the location of new broadband service 
that is being provided or upgraded within the service terri-
tory supported by the grant, loan, or loan guarantee not 
later than 30 days after the earlier of— 
‘‘(1) the date of completion of any project mile-
stone established by the Secretary; or 
‘‘(2) the date of completion of the project. 
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‘‘(k) ENVIRONMENTAL
REVIEWS.—The Secretary 
may obligate, but not disperse, funds under this Act before 
the completion of otherwise required environmental, his-
torical, or other types of reviews if the Secretary deter-
mines that a subsequent site-specific review shall be ade-
quate and easily accomplished for the location of towers, 
poles, or other broadband facilities in the service area of 
the borrower without compromising the project or the re-
quired reviews.’’; and 
(5) in subsection (l)(2)(A) (as so redesig-
nated)— 
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 
used for— 
‘‘(I) conducting oversight under 
this section; and 
‘‘(II) implementing accountability 
measures and related activities au-
thorized under this section.’’. 
Æ 
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