National Broadband Plan for the Future Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 279 To require the Federal Communications Commission to update the national broadband plan, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 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 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 279 IS (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 health, economic, and 12 other societal effects of the Coronavirus Disease 13 2019 (referred to in this paragraph as ‘‘COVID– 14 19’’) relating to the public health emergency de- 15 clared by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 16 ices under section 319 of the Public Health Service 17 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, includ- 18 ing— 19 (A) any renewal of that declaration; and 20 (B) any subsequent declaration by the Sec- 21 retary of Health and Human Services relating 22 to COVID–19; 23 (5) the term ‘‘E-Rate program’’ means the pro- 24 gram set forth under subpart F of part 54 of title 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 279 IS 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 1 regulations; 2 (6) the term ‘‘Lifeline’’ means the program set 3 forth under subpart E of part 54 of title 47, Code 4 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations; 5 and 6 (7) the term ‘‘national broadband plan’’ means 7 the plan required to be submitted by the Commis- 8 sion to the appropriate committees of Congress 9 under section 6001(k) of the American Recovery and 10 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305(k)). 11 (b) UPDATE.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 14 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con- 15 gress a report containing an update to the national 16 broadband plan. 17 (2) CONTENTS.—The update to the national 18 broadband plan required under paragraph (1) 19 shall— 20 (A) assess the progress of the United 21 States in achieving the goals of the original na- 22 tional broadband plan during the 10-year period 23 preceding the date of enactment of this Act; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 279 IS (B) reassess the areas of focus contained 1 within the original national broadband plan, in- 2 cluding through— 3 (i) an analysis of the most effective 4 and efficient mechanisms for ensuring ac- 5 cess to broadband internet access service 6 by all people of the United States; 7 (ii) a detailed strategy for achieving— 8 (I) affordability of broadband 9 internet access service (including 10 through Lifeline); and 11 (II) maximum utilization of 12 broadband internet access service, and 13 the infrastructure with respect to that 14 service, by the public; 15 (iii) an evaluation of the status of de- 16 ployment of broadband internet access 17 service, including the progress of projects 18 supported by the grants made pursuant to 19 section 6001 of the American Recovery 20 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 21 1305); and 22 (iv) a plan for use of broadband inter- 23 net access service, and the infrastructure 24 with respect to that service, in advancing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 279 IS racial justice, socioeconomic equity, con- 1 sumer welfare, civic participation, public 2 safety and homeland security, community 3 development, health care delivery, energy 4 independence and efficiency, education, 5 worker training, private sector investment, 6 entrepreneurial activity, job creation and 7 economic growth, and other national pur- 8 poses; 9 (C) examine the effects of the COVID–19 10 pandemic on how the people of the United 11 States— 12 (i) learn, including— 13 (I) an analysis of the nature and 14 extent of gaps between students who 15 have access to broadband internet ac- 16 cess service at home and students who 17 do not have access to that service; and 18 (II) an identification of specific 19 ways to close the gaps described in 20 subclause (I), including through the 21 E-Rate program and Lifeline; 22 (ii) work, including by developing de- 23 tailed proposals that could make working 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 279 IS from home more practical for workers and 1 more productive for employers; 2 (iii) receive medical information and 3 treatment, including by— 4 (I) reviewing the adequacy and 5 effectiveness of telemedicine programs 6 implemented at the Federal and State 7 levels; and 8 (II) developing proposals for how 9 the programs described in subclause 10 (I) could be improved or expanded; 11 and 12 (iv) participate in civic communica- 13 tions, including by analyzing the effects 14 that the COVID–19 pandemic and the in- 15 frastructure with respect to broadband 16 internet access service in the United States 17 have had on— 18 (I) free expression and non-com- 19 mercial speakers in the United States; 20 and 21 (II) the availability of credible 22 news and information, including pub- 23 lic health information, with respect to 24 that pandemic; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 279 IS (D) analyze the change in reliance that the 1 people of the United States will have on services 2 enabled by broadband internet access service as 3 a result of the COVID–19 pandemic; and 4 (E) develop— 5 (i) short-term proposals to address the 6 reliance described in subparagraph (D); 7 and 8 (ii) a long-term plan to address any 9 systemic privacy and security challenges 10 associated with the use of services de- 11 scribed in subparagraph (D). 12 (3) SUBSEQUENT ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later 13 than 1 year after the date on which the Commission 14 submits the report of the Commission required 15 under paragraph (1), and annually thereafter, the 16 Commission shall submit to the appropriate commit- 17 tees of Congress a report on the progress of the 18 Commission in achieving the goals of the national 19 broadband plan, as updated under this subsection. 20 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission 21 shall publish the report submitted under paragraph 22 (1), and each report submitted under paragraph (3), 23 on a publicly available website. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 279 IS (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 18:53 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S279.IS S279 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS