National Broadband Plan for the Future Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 870 To require the Federal Communications Commission to update the national broadband plan, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 5, 2021 Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CASE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis- sissippi, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require the Federal Communications Commission to update the national broadband plan, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Broadband 4 Plan for the Future Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. UPDATE TO NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 (1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 8 gress’’ means— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 870 IH (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 1 and Transportation of the Senate; and 2 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com- 3 merce of the House of Representatives; 4 (2) the term ‘‘broadband internet access serv- 5 ice’’ has the meaning given the term in section 6 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 7 any successor regulation; 8 (3) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 9 Communications Commission; 10 (4) the term ‘‘COVID–19 pandemic’’ means the 11 outbreak and associated public heath, economic, and 12 other societal effects of the Coronavirus Disease 13 2019 (COVID–19) related to the emergency de- 14 clared by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 15 ices on January 31, 2020, under section 319 of the 16 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), and 17 any renewals thereof and any subsequent declara- 18 tions by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 19 ices related to the coronavirus; 20 (5) the term ‘‘E-Rate program’’ means the pro- 21 gram set forth under subpart F of part 54 of title 22 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 23 regulations; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 870 IH (6) the term ‘‘Lifeline’’ means the program set 1 forth under subpart E of part 54 of title 47, Code 2 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations; 3 and 4 (7) the term ‘‘national broadband plan’’ means 5 the plan required to be submitted by the Commis- 6 sion to the appropriate committees of Congress 7 under section 6001(k) of the American Recovery and 8 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305(k)). 9 (b) UPDATE.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 12 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con- 13 gress a report containing an update to the national 14 broadband plan. 15 (2) CONTENTS.—The update to the national 16 broadband plan required under paragraph (1) 17 shall— 18 (A) assess the progress of the United 19 States in achieving the goals of the original na- 20 tional broadband plan during the 10-year period 21 preceding the date of enactment of this Act; 22 (B) reassess the areas of focus contained 23 within the original national broadband plan, in- 24 cluding through— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 870 IH (i) an analysis of the most effective 1 and efficient mechanisms for ensuring ac- 2 cess to broadband internet access service 3 by all people of the United States; 4 (ii) a detailed strategy for achieving— 5 (I) affordability of broadband 6 internet access service (including 7 through Lifeline); and 8 (II) maximum utilization of 9 broadband internet access service, and 10 the infrastructure with respect to that 11 service, by the public; 12 (iii) an evaluation of the status of de- 13 ployment of broadband internet access 14 service, including the progress of projects 15 supported by the grants made pursuant to 16 section 6001 of the American Recovery 17 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 18 1305); and 19 (iv) a plan for use of broadband inter- 20 net access service, and the infrastructure 21 with respect to that service, in advancing 22 racial justice, socioeconomic equity, con- 23 sumer welfare, civic participation, public 24 safety and homeland security, community 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 870 IH development, health care delivery, energy 1 independence and efficiency, education, 2 worker training, private sector investment, 3 entrepreneurial activity, job creation and 4 economic growth, and other national pur- 5 poses; 6 (C) examine the effects of the COVID–19 7 pandemic on how the people of the United 8 States— 9 (i) learn, including— 10 (I) an analysis of the nature and 11 extent of gaps between students who 12 have access to broadband internet ac- 13 cess service at home and students who 14 do not have access to such service; 15 and 16 (II) an identification of specific 17 ways to close the gaps described in 18 subclause (I), including through the 19 E-Rate program and Lifeline; 20 (ii) work, including by developing de- 21 tailed proposals that could make working 22 from home more practical for workers and 23 more productive for employers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 870 IH (iii) receive medical information and 1 treatment, including by— 2 (I) reviewing the adequacy and 3 effectiveness of telemedicine programs 4 implemented at the Federal and State 5 levels; and 6 (II) developing proposals for how 7 the programs described in subclause 8 (I) could be improved or expanded; 9 and 10 (iv) participate in civic communica- 11 tions, including by analyzing the effects 12 that the COVID–19 pandemic and the in- 13 frastructure with respect to broadband 14 internet access service in the United States 15 have had on— 16 (I) free expression and non-com- 17 mercial speakers in the United States; 18 and 19 (II) the availability of credible 20 news and information, including pub- 21 lic health information, with respect to 22 that pandemic; 23 (D) analyze the change in reliance that the 24 people of the United States will have on services 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 870 IH enabled by broadband internet access service as 1 a result of the COVID–19 pandemic; and 2 (E) develop— 3 (i) short-term proposals to address the 4 reliance described in subparagraph (D); 5 and 6 (ii) a long-term plan to address any 7 systemic privacy and security challenges 8 associated with the use of services de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (D). 10 (3) SUBSEQUENT ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later 11 than 1 year after the date on which the Commission 12 submits the report of the Commission required 13 under paragraph (1), and annually thereafter, the 14 Commission shall submit to the appropriate commit- 15 tees of Congress a report on the progress of the 16 Commission in achieving the goals of the national 17 broadband plan, as updated under this subsection. 18 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission 19 shall publish the report submitted under paragraph 20 (1), and each report submitted under paragraph (3), 21 on a publicly available website. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 870 IH (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such 2 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H870.IH H870 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS