Connect America Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1672 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the establishment of a program to expand access to broadband service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. TONKO, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the establishment of a program to expand access to broadband service, 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 ‘‘Connect America Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1672 IH SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN UNSERVED 1 AREAS AND AREAS WITH LOW-TIER OR MID- 2 TIER SERVICE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 4 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 5 at the end the following new section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 723. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS IN 7 UNSERVED AREAS AND AREAS WITH LOW- 8 TIER OR MID-TIER SERVICE. 9 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 180 10 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 11 Commission, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary, 12 shall establish a program to expand access to broadband 13 service for unserved areas, areas with low-tier service, 14 areas with mid-tier service, and unserved anchor institu- 15 tions in accordance with the requirements of this section 16 that— 17 ‘‘(1) is separate from any universal service pro- 18 gram established pursuant to section 254; and 19 ‘‘(2) does not require funding recipients to be 20 designated as eligible telecommunications carriers 21 under section 214(e). 22 ‘‘(b) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.— 23 ‘‘(1) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND SERV- 24 ICE THROUGH NATIONAL SYSTEM OF COMPETITIVE 25 BIDDING.—Not later than 18 months after the date 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1672 IH of the enactment of this section, the Commission 1 shall award 75 percent of the amounts appropriated 2 under subsection (g) through national systems of 3 competitive bidding to funding recipients only to ex- 4 pand access to broadband service in unserved areas 5 and areas with low-tier service. 6 ‘‘(2) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND SERV- 7 ICE THROUGH STATES.— 8 ‘‘(A) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO 9 STATES.—Not later than 255 days after the 10 date of the enactment of this section, the Com- 11 mission shall distribute 25 percent of the 12 amounts appropriated under subsection (g) 13 among the States, as follows: 14 ‘‘(i) $100,000,000 shall be distributed 15 to each of the 50 States, the District of 16 Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 17 ‘‘(ii) $100,000,000 shall be allocated 18 equally among and distributed to the 19 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 20 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 21 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Repub- 22 lic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 23 States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 24 Palau. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1672 IH ‘‘(iii) The remainder shall be allocated 1 among and distributed to the entities de- 2 scribed in clause (i), in proportion to the 3 population of each such entity. 4 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 195 5 days after the date of the enactment of this sec- 6 tion, the Commission shall issue a public notice 7 informing each State and the public of the 8 amounts to be distributed under this para- 9 graph. The notice shall include— 10 ‘‘(i) the manner in which a State shall 11 inform the Commission of that State’s ac- 12 ceptance or acceptance in part of the 13 amounts to be distributed under this para- 14 graph; 15 ‘‘(ii) the date (which is 30 days after 16 the date on which the public notice is 17 issued) by which such acceptance or ac- 18 ceptance in part is due; and 19 ‘‘(iii) the requirements as set forth 20 under this section and as may be further 21 prescribed by the Commission. 22 ‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE BY STATES.—Not later 23 than 30 days after the date on which a public 24 notice is issued under subparagraph (B), each 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1672 IH State accepting amounts to be distributed 1 under this paragraph shall inform the Commis- 2 sion of the acceptance or acceptance in part by 3 the State of the amounts to be distributed 4 under this paragraph in the manner described 5 by the Commission in the public notice. 6 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT 7 OF AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED.—Each State ac- 8 cepting amounts distributed under this para- 9 graph— 10 ‘‘(i) shall only award such amounts 11 through statewide systems of competitive 12 bidding, in the manner prescribed by the 13 State but subject to the requirements as 14 set forth under this section and as may be 15 further prescribed by the Commission; 16 ‘‘(ii) shall make such awards only— 17 ‘‘(I) to funding recipients to ex- 18 pand access to broadband service in 19 unserved areas and areas with low-tier 20 service; 21 ‘‘(II) to funding recipients to ex- 22 pand access to broadband service to 23 unserved anchor institutions; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1672 IH ‘‘(III) to funding recipients to ex- 1 pand access to broadband service in 2 areas with mid-tier service, but only if 3 a State does not have, or no longer 4 has, any unserved areas or areas with 5 low-tier service; 6 ‘‘(iii) shall conduct separate systems 7 of competitive bidding for awards made to 8 unserved anchor institutions under clause 9 (ii)(II), if a State awards any amounts dis- 10 tributed under this paragraph to unserved 11 anchor institutions; 12 ‘‘(iv) shall return any unused portion 13 of amounts distributed under this para- 14 graph to the Commission within 10 years 15 after the date of the enactment of this sec- 16 tion and shall submit a certification to the 17 Commission before receiving such amounts 18 that the State will return such amounts; 19 and 20 ‘‘(v) may not use more than 5 percent 21 of the amounts distributed under this 22 paragraph to administer a system or sys- 23 tems of competitive bidding authorized by 24 this paragraph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1672 IH ‘‘(3) FEDERAL AND STATE COORDINATION.— 1 The Commission, in consultation with the Office of 2 Internet Connectivity and Growth, shall establish 3 processes through the rulemaking under subsection 4 (e) to— 5 ‘‘(A) permit a State to elect for the Com- 6 mission to conduct statewide systems of com- 7 petitive bidding on behalf of such State as part 8 of, or in coordination with, national systems of 9 competitive bidding; 10 ‘‘(B) assist States in conducting statewide 11 systems of competitive bidding; 12 ‘‘(C) ensure that program funds awarded 13 by the Commission and program funds awarded 14 by the States are not used in the same areas; 15 and 16 ‘‘(D) ensure that program funds and funds 17 awarded through other Federal programs to ex- 18 pand broadband service with a download speed 19 of at least 100 megabits per second, an upload 20 speed of at least 100 megabits per second, and 21 latency that is sufficiently low to allow multiple, 22 simultaneous, real-time, interactive applications, 23 are not used in the same areas. 24 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1672 IH ‘‘(1) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.— 1 The entity administering a system of competitive 2 bidding (either a State or the Commission) in mak- 3 ing awards may not favor a project using any par- 4 ticular technology. 5 ‘‘(2) GIGABIT PERFORMANCE FUNDING.—The 6 Commission shall reserve 20 percent of the amounts 7 to be awarded by the Commission under subsection 8 (b)(1), and each State shall reserve 20 percent of 9 the amounts distributed to such State under sub- 10 section (b)(2), for bidders committing (with respect 11 to any particular project by such a bidder) to offer, 12 not later than the date that is 4 years after the date 13 on which funding is provided under this section for 14 such project— 15 ‘‘(A) broadband service with a download 16 speed of at least 1 gigabit per second, an 17 upload speed of at least 1 gigabit per second, 18 and latency that is sufficiently low to allow mul- 19 tiple, simultaneous, real-time, interactive appli- 20 cations; or 21 ‘‘(B) in the case of a project to provide 22 broadband service to an unserved anchor insti- 23 tution, broadband service with a download 24 speed of at least 10 gigabits per second per 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1672 IH 1,000 users, an upload speed of at least 10 gig- 1 abits per second per 1,000 users, and latency 2 that is sufficiently low to allow multiple, simul- 3 taneous, real-time, interactive applications. 4 ‘‘(3) SYSTEM OF COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROC- 5 ESS.—The entity administering a system of competi- 6 tive bidding (either a State or the Commission) shall 7 structure the system of competitive bidding process 8 to— 9 ‘‘(A) first hold a system of competitive bid- 10 ding only for bidders committing (with respect 11 to any particular project by such a bidder) to 12 offer, not later than the date that is 4 years 13 after the date on which funding is provided 14 under this section for such project— 15 ‘‘(i) broadband service with a 16 download speed of at least 1 gigabit per 17 second, an upload speed of at least 1 gig- 18 abit per second, and latency that is suffi- 19 ciently low to allow multiple, simultaneous, 20 real-time, interactive applications; or 21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a project to pro- 22 vide broadband service to an unserved an- 23 chor institution, broadband service with a 24 download speed of at least 10 gigabits per 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1672 IH second per 1,000 users, an upload speed of 1 at least 10 gigabits per second per 1,000 2 users, and latency that is sufficiently low 3 to allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, 4 interactive applications; and 5 ‘‘(B) after holding the system of competi- 6 tive bidding required by subparagraph (A), hold 7 one or more systems of competitive bidding, in 8 areas not receiving awards under subparagraph 9 (A), to award funds for projects in areas that 10 are estimated to remain unserved areas, areas 11 with low-tier service, or (to the extent permitted 12 under this section) areas with mid-tier service, 13 or (to the extent permitted under this section) 14 for projects to offer broadband service to an- 15 chor institutions that are estimated to remain 16 unserved anchor institutions, after the comple- 17 tion of the projects for which funding is award- 18 ed under the system of competitive bidding re- 19 quired by subparagraph (A) or any previous 20 system of competitive bidding under this sub- 21 paragraph. 22 ‘‘(4) FUNDS PRIORITY PREFERENCE.—There 23 shall be a preference in a system of competitive bid- 24 ding for projects that would expand access to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1672 IH broadband service in areas where at least 90 percent 1 of the population has no access to broadband service 2 or does not have access to broadband service offered 3 with a download speed of at least 25 megabits per 4 second, with an upload speed of at least 3 megabits 5 per second, and with latency that is sufficiently low 6 to allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, interactive 7 applications. Such projects shall be given priority in 8 such system of competitive bidding over all other 9 projects, regardless of how many preferences under 10 paragraph (5) for which such other projects qualify. 11 ‘‘(5) FUNDS PREFERENCE.—There shall be a 12 preference in a system of competitive bidding, as de- 13 termined by the entity administering the system of 14 competitive bidding (either a State or the Commis- 15 sion), for any of the following projects: 16 ‘‘(A) Projects with at least 20 percent 17 matching funds from non-Federal sources. 18 ‘‘(B) Projects that would expand access to 19 broadband service on Tribal lands, as defined 20 by the Commission. 21 ‘‘(C) Projects that would provide 22 broadband service with higher speeds than 23 those specified in subsection (d)(2), except in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1672 IH the case of funds awarded under subparagraph 1 (A) of paragraph (3). 2 ‘‘(D) Projects that would expand access to 3 broadband service in advance of the time speci- 4 fied in subsection (e)(5), except in the case of 5 funds awarded under subparagraph (A) of 6 paragraph (3). 7 ‘‘(E) Projects that would expand access to 8 broadband service to persistent poverty counties 9 or high-poverty areas at subsidized rates. 10 ‘‘(F) Projects that, at least until the date 11 that is 10 years after the date of the enactment 12 of this section, would provide broadband service 13 with comparable speeds to those provided in 14 areas that, on the day before such date of en- 15 actment, were not unserved areas, areas with 16 low-tier service, or areas with mid-tier service, 17 with minimal future investment. 18 ‘‘(G) Projects with support from the local 19 community, demonstrated by at least one letter 20 of support from local elected officials in the 21 community. 22 ‘‘(H) Projects that would provide for the 23 deployment of open-access broadband service 24 networks. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sf [Text truncated for display. 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