Title: Community Broadband Mapping Act
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Community Broadband Mapping Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service to award telecommunications grants to local governments, electric and telephone cooperatives, economic development and community groups, and small internet providers for collecting local broadband service information.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4642 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4642

 To allow Rural Utilities Service telecommunications grants to be made 
     for the collection of broadband infrastructure data by local 
  governments, economic development or other community organizations, 
   electric or telephone cooperatives, and small internet providers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 11, 2019

 Mr. Delgado introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on 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 allow Rural Utilities Service telecommunications grants to be made 
     for the collection of broadband infrastructure data by local 
  governments, economic development or other community organizations, 
   electric or telephone cooperatives, and small internet providers.

    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 ``Community Broadband Mapping Act''.

SEC. 2. RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS GRANTS.

    Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Authority To Make Grants to Certain Entities To Collect 
Broadband Infrastructure Data.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, the Secretary may make a grant under this section to a 
unit of local government, an economic development or other community 
organization, an electric cooperative (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Power Act) that sells electric energy to persons in rural 
areas, a telephone cooperative, or an internet service provider that 
has not more than 100,000 subscribers, for the purpose of enabling the 
collection of data relating to where broadband infrastructure is 
located and which homes are provided with non-satellite broadband 
service, without regard to any household service percentage 
requirement, and in determining the eligibility of any such entity for 
such a grant, the term `rural area' means an area that is not in an 
urbanized area or urban cluster with a population of 25,000 or more as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census.''.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF MIDDLE MILE INFRASTRUCTURE INTO RURAL AREAS 
              GRANTS.

    Section 602 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb-1) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Authority To Make Grants to Certain Entities To Collect 
Broadband Infrastructure Data.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, the Secretary may make a grant under this section to a 
unit of local government, an economic development or other community 
organization, an electric cooperative (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Power Act) that sells electric energy to persons in rural 
areas, a telephone cooperative, or an internet service provider that 
has not more than 100,000 subscribers, for the purpose of enabling the 
collection of data relating to where broadband infrastructure is 
located and which homes are provided with non-satellite broadband 
service, without regard to any household service percentage 
requirement, and in determining the eligibility of any such entity for 
such a grant, the term `rural area' means an area that is not in an 
urbanized area or urban cluster with a population of 25,000 or more as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census.''.

SEC. 4. INNOVATIVE BROADBAND ADVANCEMENT GRANTS.

    Section 603 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb-2) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Authority To Make Grants to Certain Entities To Collect 
Broadband Infrastructure Data.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, the Secretary may make a grant under this section to a 
unit of local government, an economic development or other community 
organization, an electric cooperative (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Power Act) that sells electric energy to persons in rural 
areas, a telephone cooperative, or an internet service provider that 
has not more than 100,000 subscribers, for the purpose of enabling the 
collection of data relating to where broadband infrastructure is 
located and which homes are provided with non-satellite broadband 
service, without regard to any household service percentage 
requirement, and in determining the eligibility of any such entity for 
such a grant, the term `rural area' means an area that is not in an 
urbanized area or urban cluster with a population of 25,000 or more as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census.''.

SEC. 5. COMMUNITY CONNECT GRANTS.

    Section 604 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb-3) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Authority To Make Grants to Certain Entities To Collect 
Broadband Infrastructure Data.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, the Secretary may make a grant under this section to a 
unit of local government, an economic development or other community 
organization, an electric cooperative (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Power Act) that sells electric energy to persons in rural 
areas, a telephone cooperative, or an internet service provider that 
has not more than 100,000 subscribers, for the purpose of enabling the 
collection of data relating to where broadband infrastructure is 
located and which homes are provided with non-satellite broadband 
service, without regard to any household service percentage 
requirement, and in determining the eligibility of any such entity for 
such a grant, the term `rural area' means an area that is not in an 
urbanized area or urban cluster with a population of 25,000 or more as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census.''.

SEC. 6. DISTANCE LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE GRANTS.

    Section 2333 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act 
of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa-2) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(j) Authority To Make Grants to Certain Entities To Collect 
Broadband Infrastructure Data.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, the Secretary may make a grant under this section to a 
unit of local government, an economic development or other community 
organization, an electric cooperative (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Power Act) that sells electric energy to persons in rural 
areas, a telephone cooperative, or an internet service provider that 
has not more than 100,000 subscribers, for the purpose of enabling the 
collection of data relating to where broadband infrastructure is 
located and which homes are provided with non-satellite broadband 
service, without regard to any household service percentage 
requirement, and in determining the eligibility of any such entity for 
such a grant, the term `rural area' means an area that is not in an 
urbanized area or urban cluster with a population of 25,000 or more as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census.''.

SEC. 7. RECONNECT GRANTS.

    Section 779 of division A of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2018 (132 Stat. 399; Public Law 115-141) is amended by inserting ``: 
Provided further, That, notwithstanding any other provision of this 
section, the Secretary may make a grant under this section to a unit of 
local government, an economic development or other community 
organization, an electric cooperative (as defined in section 3 of the 
Federal Power Act) that sells electric energy to persons in rural 
areas, a telephone cooperative, or an internet service provider that 
has not more than 100,000 subscribers, for the purpose of enabling the 
collection of data relating to where broadband infrastructure is 
located and which homes are provided with non-satellite broadband 
service, without regard to any household service percentage 
requirement, and in determining the eligibility of any such entity for 
such a grant, the term `rural area' means an area that is not in an 
urbanized area or urban cluster with a population of 25,000 or more as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census'' before the period.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
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