American Broadband Buildout Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 436 To provide Federal matching funding for State-level broadband programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide Federal matching funding for State-level broadband programs. 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 ‘‘American Broadband 4 Buildout Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist- 8 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 9 Commerce for Communications and Information. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 436 IS (2) BROADBAND AVAILABILITY MAPS.—The 1 term ‘‘broadband availability maps’’ means the maps 2 created by the Federal Communications Commission 3 under section 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act 4 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)). 5 (3) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 6 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’— 7 (A) means mass-market retail service by 8 wire or radio that provides the capability to 9 transmit data to and receive data from all or 10 substantially all internet endpoints, including 11 any capabilities that are incidental to and en- 12 able the operation of the communications serv- 13 ice, but excluding dial-up internet access serv- 14 ice; and 15 (B) includes any service that the Commis- 16 sion finds to be providing a functional equiva- 17 lent of the service described in subparagraph 18 (A) or that is used to evade the protections set 19 forth in part 8 of title 47, Code of Federal Reg- 20 ulations, or any successor thereto. 21 (4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 22 means the Federal Communications Commission. 23 (5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 24 ty’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 436 IS (A) a State; or 1 (B) an entity authorized by a State to 2 spend funds for a purpose described in section 3 3 or 4. 4 (6) LAST-MILE INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 5 ‘‘last-mile infrastructure’’ means infrastructure the 6 predominant purpose of which is to provide 7 broadband internet access service to end users or 8 end user devices, including households, businesses, 9 community anchor institutions, public safety entities, 10 and critical community facilities. 11 (7) OVERBUILDING.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 13 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘overbuilding’’ 14 means deploying broadband infrastructure in an 15 area— 16 (i) that already has— 17 (I) facilities capable of providing 18 standard broadband service; or 19 (II) broadband infrastructure 20 that was built using funds from a 21 Federal or State program that were 22 provided for the express purpose of 23 deploying broadband infrastructure; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 436 IS (ii) where Federal or State funding 1 has already been committed for the deploy- 2 ment of facilities capable of providing 3 standard broadband service, even if such 4 service is not yet available, provided that 5 the funding recipient is meeting any appli- 6 cable buildout deadlines; or 7 (iii) with respect to which a broad- 8 band internet access service provider has 9 already made enforceable commitments to 10 a Federal agency or State to deploy facili- 11 ties capable of providing standard broad- 12 band service, even if such service is not yet 13 available, provided that the broadband 14 internet access service provider is meeting 15 any applicable buildout deadlines. 16 (B) INTERCONNECT POINTS.—The term 17 ‘‘overbuilding’’ does not include deploying 18 broadband infrastructure in an area described 19 in subparagraph (A) if the infrastructure is de- 20 ployed for the purpose of reaching interconnect 21 points of standard broadband service to meet 22 the needs of broadband users in another area 23 that is an unserved area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 436 IS (8) QUALIFYING PROJECT.—The term ‘‘quali- 1 fying project’’ means a project— 2 (A) to construct last-mile infrastructure 3 that will provide broadband internet access 4 service at a speed of not less than 100 megabits 5 per second for downloads and 10 megabits per 6 second for uploads in an unserved area, without 7 engaging in overbuilding; and 8 (B) that is funded by a public-private part- 9 nership in which— 10 (i)(I) the State in which the project is 11 located provides a portion of the funds; or 12 (II) the State in which the project is 13 located and another entity, which may be 14 a political subdivision of the State in which 15 the project is located, together provide not 16 less than 25 percent of the funds; and 17 (ii) the private company or electric co- 18 operative that will provide broadband 19 internet access service to customers con- 20 nected to the last-mile infrastructure pro- 21 vides not less than 25 percent of the funds. 22 (9) STANDARD BROADBAND SERVICE.—The 23 term ‘‘standard broadband service’’ means broad- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 436 IS band internet access service with a speed of not less 1 than— 2 (A) 25 megabits per second for downloads; 3 and 4 (B) 3 megabits per second for uploads. 5 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 6 ing given the term in section 3 of the Communica- 7 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 8 (11) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘‘unserved 9 area’’ means a census block in which standard 10 broadband service is not available to all households 11 according to— 12 (A) the broadband availability maps; or 13 (B) if the maps described in subparagraph 14 (A) have not been completed at the time when 15 the relevant grant is being awarded, any exist- 16 ing broadband availability data of the Commis- 17 sion, as well as any relevant data from the Na- 18 tional Broadband Availability Map produced by 19 the Assistant Secretary. 20 SEC. 3. LAST-MILE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE. 21 (a) GRANTS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall award 23 grants to eligible entities for qualifying projects. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 436 IS (2) ADVISORY ROLE OF NTIA.—The Commis- 1 sion shall carry out paragraph (1) in consultation 2 with the Assistant Secretary, including by soliciting 3 and taking into account the advice of the Assistant 4 Secretary. 5 (b) PRIORITIZATION.—The Commission shall give 6 priority to qualifying projects in States in which, accord- 7 ing to the broadband availability maps— 8 (1) less than 68 percent of households subscribe 9 to fixed terrestrial broadband internet access service 10 with a speed of not less than— 11 (A) 10 megabits per second for downloads; 12 and 13 (B) 1 megabit per second for uploads; and 14 (2) less than 40.5 percent of households sub- 15 scribe to fixed terrestrial standard broadband serv- 16 ice. 17 (c) HIGH-COST, GEOGRAPHICALLY CHALLENGED 18 AREAS.—The Commission shall ensure that not less than 19 15 percent of the amounts awarded under this section are 20 used in unserved areas that are high-cost and geographi- 21 cally challenged, as determined by the Commission. 22 (d) POPULATION-BASED ALLOCATION.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under 24 this section, the Commission shall allocate not less 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 436 IS than $5,000,000,000 among the States based on the 1 proportion that the population of each State bears to 2 the population of all States. 3 (2) EXCESS FUNDS.—If the amount allocated 4 for a State under paragraph (1) exceeds the allow- 5 able Federal share of the costs of projects of the 6 State (or other eligible entity acting on behalf of the 7 State) that are eligible for funding under this sec- 8 tion, the Commission shall withhold the excess 9 amount, which shall revert to the general fund of the 10 Treasury. 11 (3) FAILURE TO APPLY.—If an eligible entity 12 does not apply for a grant under this section by the 13 last day of fiscal year 2022, the amount that would 14 have been awarded to the eligible entity under para- 15 graph (1) shall revert to the general fund of the 16 Treasury. 17 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS; DIGITAL LIT- 18 ERACY PROGRAMS. 19 The Commission shall award grants to eligible enti- 20 ties— 21 (1) to carry out public awareness campaigns de- 22 signed to highlight the value and benefits of 23 broadband internet access service, in order to in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 436 IS crease the adoption of broadband internet access 1 service; and 2 (2) to support digital literacy programs in areas 3 in which a qualifying project that receives funding 4 under section 3 is located. 5 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SHARE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the cost of 7 a project, campaign, or program that receives funding 8 under this Act shall be not more than 50 percent. 9 (b) USE OF CERTAIN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR NON- 10 FEDERAL SHARE.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State may use any 12 amounts described in paragraph (2) for the non- 13 Federal share of the cost of a project, campaign, or 14 program that receives funding under this Act. 15 (2) ELIGIBLE AMOUNTS.—The amounts re- 16 ferred to in paragraph (1) are amounts received 17 from— 18 (A) the Secretary of Housing and Urban 19 Development under the community development 20 block grant program under title I of the Hous- 21 ing and Community Development Act of 1974 22 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 436 IS (B) the Appalachian Regional Commission 1 established under section 14301(a) of title 40, 2 United States Code; 3 (C) the Economic Development Adminis- 4 tration of the Department of Commerce; 5 (D) any rural telehealth program of the 6 Commission; or 7 (E) the Northern Border Regional Com- 8 mission established under section 15301(a)(3) 9 of title 40, United States Code. 10 SEC. 6. TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED. 11 The Commission shall award grants to eligible enti- 12 ties under this Act in a manner that does not favor the 13 use of any particular technology. 14 SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 15 (a) LAST-MILE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE 16 GRANTS.—For grants awarded under section 3, the Com- 17 mission shall establish transparency and accountability 18 rules under which— 19 (1) after receiving an application for a grant to 20 carry out a qualifying project in an area, the Com- 21 mission shall determine whether the area is served 22 or unserved using accurate and granular information 23 regarding the availability of broadband internet ac- 24 cess service at the sub-census block level; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 436 IS (2) the Commission shall— 1 (A) permit a person or entity to challenge 2 an initial determination of the Commission 3 under paragraph (1); and 4 (B) provide a period of not less than 45 5 days, after the Commission makes an initial de- 6 termination under paragraph (1) with respect 7 to an area, during which a provider of broad- 8 band internet access service may voluntarily 9 submit information concerning the broadband 10 internet access service that the provider offers 11 in the area; 12 (3) the Commission shall provide the public 13 with notice of— 14 (A) an initial determination with respect to 15 an area under paragraph (1); 16 (B) the final determination of whether an 17 area is served or unserved after the process for 18 challenging the initial determination, as de- 19 scribed in paragraph (2), has concluded; 20 (C) the entities that have applied for a 21 grant; and 22 (D) the results of any decision regarding a 23 grant application, including by identifying— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 436 IS (i) each eligible entity that was award- 1 ed a grant; 2 (ii) the areas that each grantee will 3 serve using the grant funds; 4 (iii) the nature of the service that 5 each grantee will provide in each area de- 6 scribed in clause (ii); and 7 (iv) the amount that the Commission 8 has authorized each grantee to use to carry 9 out a qualifying project in each unserved 10 area; and 11 (4) the Commission shall establish— 12 (A) broadband buildout milestones and 13 periodic certifications that a grantee must sub- 14 mit to demonstrate compliance with the broad- 15 band buildout milestones; 16 (B) a maximum buildout timeframe of 5 17 years from the date on which the Commission 18 first awards a grant to an eligible entity; 19 (C) requirements for grantees to submit to 20 the Commission and to the broadband office or 21 other applicable authority of the State in which 22 the grantee is carrying out the project periodic 23 reports that identify— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 436 IS (i) the nature of the service provided 1 in each unserved area; and 2 (ii) the latitude and longitude coordi- 3 nates of each location to which the grantee 4 has provided broadband internet access 5 service in each census block; 6 (D) penalties for noncompliance with— 7 (i) the broadband buildout milestones 8 under subparagraph (A); 9 (ii) the certification requirements 10 under subparagraph (A); and 11 (iii) the reporting requirements under 12 subparagraph (C); 13 (E) procedures through which the Commis- 14 sion may recover grant funds, in whole or in 15 part, from a grantee if the grantee defaults or 16 does not comply with [Text truncated for display. 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