Title: Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior, for public lands, and the Department of Agriculture, for National Forest System lands, to issue regulations to: (1) streamline the process for the consideration of applications to locate or modify communications facilities on such lands; and (2) require that such applications be considered and granted on a neutral and non-discriminatory basis.
The bill amends the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to require executive agencies to grant or deny within 270 days applications for an easement or right-of-way on federal property to install, construct, and maintain wireless service antenna structures and equipment and backhaul transmission equipment.
The Government Accountability Office shall report on:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4847 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4847

  To streamline the process for consideration of applications for the 
 placement of communications facilities on certain Federal lands, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 2018

  Mrs. Brooks of Indiana (for herself and Ms. Matsui) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
 and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, 
    Natural Resources, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To streamline the process for consideration of applications for the 
 placement of communications facilities on certain Federal lands, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Broadband Deployment Streamlining 
Act''.

SEC. 2. STREAMLINING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND THE FOREST 
              SERVICE PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNICATIONS 
              FACILITY LOCATION APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Communications facility.--The term ``communications 
        facility'' includes--
                    (A) any infrastructure, including any transmitting 
                device, tower, or support structure, and any equipment, 
                switches, wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters, or 
                cabinets, associated with the licensed or permitted 
                unlicensed wireless or wireline transmission of 
                writings, signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 
                sounds of all kinds; and
                    (B) any antenna or apparatus that--
                            (i) is designed for the purpose of emitting 
                        radio frequency;
                            (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 
                        operating, from a fixed location pursuant to 
                        authorization by the Federal Communications 
                        Commission or is using duly authorized devices 
                        that do not require individual licenses; and
                            (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 
                        other structure.
            (2) Communications site.--The term ``communications site'' 
        means an area of covered land designated for communications 
        uses.
            (3) Communications use.--The term ``communications use'' 
        means the placement and operation of communications facility.
            (4) Communications use authorization.--The term 
        ``communications use authorization'' means an easement, right-
        of-way, lease, license, or other authorization to locate or 
        modify a communications facility on covered land by the 
        Department concerned for the primary purpose of authorizing the 
        occupancy and use of the covered land for communications use.
            (5) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means--
                    (A) public land administered by the Secretary of 
                the Interior; and
                    (B) National Forest System land.
            (6) Department concerned.--The term ``Department 
        concerned'' means the Department of the Interior or the 
        Department of Agriculture.
            (7) Organizational unit.--The term ``organizational unit'' 
        means--
                    (A) with respect to public land administered by the 
                Secretary of the Interior--
                            (i) a State office;
                            (ii) a district office; or
                            (iii) a field office; and
                    (B) within the Forest Service--
                            (i) a regional office;
                            (ii) the headquarters;
                            (iii) a management unit; or
                            (iv) a ranger district office.
            (8) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
                public land; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
                National Forest System land.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary concerned shall issue regulations--
            (1) to streamline the process for considering applications 
        to locate or modify communications facilities on covered land 
        of the Department concerned;
            (2) to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the 
        process is uniform and standardized across the organizational 
        units of the Department concerned; and
            (3) to require that the applications described in paragraph 
        (1) be considered and granted on a competitively neutral, 
        technology neutral, and non-discriminatory basis.
    (c) Requirements.--The regulations issued under subsection (b) 
shall include the following:
            (1) Procedures for the tracking of applications described 
        in subsection (b)(1), including--
                    (A) identifying the number of applications--
                            (i) received;
                            (ii) approved; and
                            (iii) denied;
                    (B) in the case of an application that is denied, 
                describing the reasons for the denial; and
                    (C) describing the amount of time between the 
                receipt of an application and the issuance of a final 
                decision on an application.
            (2) Provision for minimum lease terms of not less than five 
        years for leases with respect to the location of communications 
        facilities on covered land.
            (3) A policy under which a communications use authorization 
        renews automatically on expiration, unless the communications 
        use authorization is revoked for good cause; and
            (4) A structure of fees for--
                    (A) submitting an application described in 
                subsection (b)(1), based on the cost to the Department 
                concerned of considering such an application; and
                    (B) issuing communications use authorizations, 
                based on the cost to the Department concerned of any 
                maintenance or other activities required to be 
                performed by the Department concerned as a result of 
                the location or modification of the communications 
                facility.
    (d) Additional Considerations.--In issuing regulations under 
subsection (b), the Secretary concerned shall consider--
            (1) how discrete reviews in considering an application 
        described in subsection (b)(1) can be conducted simultaneously, 
        rather than sequentially, by any organizational units of the 
        Department concerned that must approve the location or 
        modification; and
            (2) how to eliminate overlapping requirements among the 
        organizational units of the Department concerned with respect 
        to the location or modification of a communications facility on 
        covered land administered by those organizational units.
    (e) Communication of Streamlined Process to Organizational Units.--
The Secretary concerned shall, with respect to the regulations issued 
under subsection (b)--
            (1) communicate the regulations to the organizational units 
        of the Department concerned; and
            (2) ensure that the organizational units of the Department 
        concerned follow the regulations.
    (f) Deposit and Availability of Fees.--
            (1) Special account.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        establish a special account in the Treasury for each Department 
        concerned for the deposit of fees collected by the Department 
        concerned under subsection (c)(4) for communications use 
        authorizations on covered land granted, issued, or executed by 
        the Department concerned.
            (2) Requirements for fees collected.--Fees collected by the 
        Department concerned under subsection (c)(4) shall be--
                    (A) based on the costs described in subsection 
                (c)(4); and
                    (B) competitively neutral, technology neutral, and 
                nondiscriminatory with respect to other users of the 
                communications site.
            (3) Deposit of fees.--Fees collected by the Department 
        concerned under subsection (c)(4) shall be deposited in the 
        special account established for that Department concerned under 
        paragraph (1).
            (4) Availability of fees.--Amounts deposited in the special 
        account for a Department concerned shall be available, to the 
        extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in 
        appropriation Acts, to the Secretary concerned to cover costs 
        incurred by the Department concerned described in subsection 
        (c)(4), including the following:
                    (A) Preparing needs assessments or other 
                programmatic analyses necessary to designate 
                communications sites and issue communications use 
                authorizations.
                    (B) Developing management plans for communications 
                sites.
                    (C) Training for management of communications 
                sites.
                    (D) Obtaining or improving access to communications 
                sites.
            (5) No additional appropriations authorized.--Except as 
        provided in paragraph (4), no other amounts are authorized to 
        be appropriated to carry out this section.

SEC. 3. WIRELESS FACILITIES DEPLOYMENT ON FEDERAL PROPERTY.

    Section 6409(b) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act 
of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(5) Timely consideration of applications.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 270 days after 
                the date on which an executive agency receives a duly 
                filed application for an easement or right-of-way under 
                this subsection, the executive agency shall--
                            ``(i) grant or deny, on behalf of the 
                        Federal Government, the application; and
                            ``(ii) notify the applicant of the grant or 
                        denial.
                    ``(B) Explanation of denial.--If an executive 
                agency denies an application under subparagraph (A), 
                the executive agency shall notify the applicant in 
                writing, including a clear statement of the reasons for 
                the denial.
                    ``(C) Deemed granted.--If an executive agency does 
                not grant or deny a duly filed application under 
                subparagraph (A) by the deadline set forth in such 
                subparagraph, the executive agency shall be deemed to 
                have granted the application.
                    ``(D) Applicability of environmental laws.--Nothing 
                in this paragraph shall be construed to relieve an 
                executive agency of 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.).
                    ``(E) Point of contact.--Upon receiving an 
                application under subparagraph (A), an executive agency 
                shall designate one or more appropriate individuals 
                within the executive agency to act as a point of 
                contact with the applicant.
                    ``(F) Rule of construction.--An application shall 
                not be considered duly filed for purposes of this 
                paragraph unless the application is complete.''.

SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
to Congress a report evaluating--
            (1) how the Federal Communications Commission ensures that 
        the broadband data collected for the National Broadband Map is 
        accurate, complete, and reliable, including--
                    (A) the source of the data; and
                    (B) whether data may be available from alternative 
                commercial sources;
            (2) the extent to which Federal agencies or other entities 
        authorized to distribute Federal grants or loans for broadband 
        projects rely on data from the National Broadband Map to--
                    (A) award grants or loans for broadband projects; 
                or
                    (B) determine whether Federal Government funds will 
                be used to deploy broadband in areas already served by 
                private broadband providers;
            (3) the actions the Federal Communications Commission has 
        taken or plans to take to address the limitations, if any, in 
        using data from the National Broadband Map for policy or 
        funding decisions;
            (4) the extent to which interested parties have challenged 
        the accuracy of information on the National Broadband Map, 
        including how the challenges were resolved; and
            (5) whether the Federal Communications Commission should 
        collect data for the National Broadband Map from additional or 
        alternative commercial sources.
    (b) National Broadband Map Defined.--In this section, the term 
``National Broadband Map'' means the map established by the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration under section 6001(l) 
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 
1305(l)).
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