Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1700 To establish a broadband infrastructure finance and innovation program to make available loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit for the con- struction and deployment of broadband infrastructure, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mrs. AXNE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish a broadband infrastructure finance and innova- tion program to make available loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit for the construction and deployment of broadband infrastructure, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 5 2021’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1700 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Determination of eligibility and project selection. Sec. 4. Secured loans. Sec. 5. Lines of credit. Sec. 6. Alternative prudential lending standards for small projects. Sec. 7. Program administration. Sec. 8. State and local permits. Sec. 9. Regulations. Sec. 10. Funding. Sec. 11. Reports to Congress. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist- 3 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 4 Commerce for Communications and Information. 5 (2) BIFIA PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘BIFIA pro- 6 gram’’ means the broadband infrastructure finance 7 and innovation program established under this Act. 8 (3) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 9 ‘‘broadband service’’— 10 (A) means broadband internet access serv- 11 ice that is a mass-market retail service, or a 12 service provided to an entity described in para- 13 graph (16)(B)(ii), by wire or radio that pro- 14 vides the capability to transmit data to and re- 15 ceive data from all or substantially all internet 16 endpoints, including any capabilities that are 17 incidental to and enable the operation of the 18 communications service; 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1700 IH (B) includes any service that is a func- 1 tional equivalent of the service described in sub- 2 paragraph (A); and 3 (C) does not include dial-up internet access 4 service. 5 (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COSTS.—The term ‘‘eli- 6 gible project costs’’ means amounts substantially all 7 of which are paid by, or for the account of, an obli- 8 gor in connection with a project, including the cost 9 of— 10 (A) development phase activities, including 11 planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore- 12 casting, environmental review, historic preserva- 13 tion review, permitting, preliminary engineering 14 and design work, and other preconstruction ac- 15 tivities; 16 (B) construction and deployment phase ac- 17 tivities, including— 18 (i) construction, reconstruction, reha- 19 bilitation, replacement, and acquisition of 20 real property (including land relating to 21 the project and improvements to land), 22 equipment, instrumentation, networking 23 capability, hardware and software, and dig- 24 ital network technology; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1700 IH (ii) environmental mitigation; and 1 (iii) construction contingencies; and 2 (C) capitalized interest necessary to meet 3 market requirements, reasonably required re- 4 serve funds, capital issuance expenses, and 5 other carrying costs during construction and 6 deployment. 7 (5) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 8 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 9 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 10 (6) FEDERAL CREDIT INSTRUMENT.—The term 11 ‘‘Federal credit instrument’’ means a secured loan, 12 loan guarantee, or line of credit authorized to be 13 made available under the BIFIA program with re- 14 spect to a project. 15 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 16 has the meaning given such term in section 4(e) of 17 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist- 18 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 19 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 20 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 21 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec- 22 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 23 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1700 IH (B) includes a postsecondary vocational in- 1 stitution. 2 (9) INVESTMENT-GRADE RATING.—The term 3 ‘‘investment-grade rating’’ means a rating of BBB 4 minus, Baa3, bbb minus, BBB (low), or higher as- 5 signed by a rating agency to project obligations. 6 (10) LENDER.—The term ‘‘lender’’ means any 7 non-Federal qualified institutional buyer (as defined 8 in section 230.144A(a) of title 17, Code of Federal 9 Regulations (or any successor regulation), known as 10 Rule 144A(a) of the Securities and Exchange Com- 11 mission and issued under the Securities Act of 1933 12 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.)), including— 13 (A) a qualified retirement plan (as defined 14 in section 4974(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 15 of 1986) that is a qualified institutional buyer; 16 and 17 (B) a governmental plan (as defined in 18 section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 19 1986) that is a qualified institutional buyer. 20 (11) LETTER OF INTEREST.—The term ‘‘letter 21 of interest’’ means a letter submitted by a potential 22 applicant prior to an application for credit assistance 23 in a format prescribed by the Assistant Secretary on 24 the website of the BIFIA program that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1700 IH (A) describes the project and the location, 1 purpose, and cost of the project; 2 (B) outlines the proposed financial plan, 3 including the requested credit assistance and 4 the proposed obligor; 5 (C) provides a status of environmental re- 6 view; and 7 (D) provides information regarding satis- 8 faction of other eligibility requirements of the 9 BIFIA program. 10 (12) LINE OF CREDIT.—The term ‘‘line of cred- 11 it’’ means an agreement entered into by the Assist- 12 ant Secretary with an obligor under section 5 to pro- 13 vide a direct loan at a future date upon the occur- 14 rence of certain events. 15 (13) LOAN GUARANTEE.—The term ‘‘loan guar- 16 antee’’ means any guarantee or other pledge by the 17 Assistant Secretary to pay all or part of the prin- 18 cipal of and interest on a loan or other debt obliga- 19 tion issued by an obligor and funded by a lender. 20 (14) OBLIGOR.—The term ‘‘obligor’’ means a 21 party that— 22 (A) is primarily liable for payment of the 23 principal of or interest on a Federal credit in- 24 strument; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1700 IH (B) may be a corporation, company, part- 1 nership, joint venture, trust, or governmental 2 entity, agency, or instrumentality. 3 (15) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU- 4 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu- 5 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 6 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 8 (16) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 9 project— 10 (A) to construct and deploy infrastructure 11 for the provision of broadband service; and 12 (B) that the Assistant Secretary deter- 13 mines will— 14 (i) provide access or improved access 15 to broadband service to consumers residing 16 in areas of the United States that have no 17 access to broadband service or do not have 18 access to broadband service offered— 19 (I) with a download speed of at 20 least 100 megabits per second; 21 (II) with an upload speed of at 22 least 100 megabits per second; and 23 (III) with latency that is suffi- 24 ciently low to allow multiple, simulta- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1700 IH neous, real-time, interactive applica- 1 tions; or 2 (ii) provide access or improved access 3 to broadband service to— 4 (I) schools, libraries, medical and 5 healthcare providers, community col- 6 leges and other institutions of higher 7 education, museums, religious organi- 8 zations, and other community support 9 organizations and entities to facilitate 10 greater use of broadband service by or 11 through such organizations; 12 (II) organizations and agencies 13 that provide outreach, access, equip- 14 ment, and support services to facili- 15 tate greater use of broadband service 16 by low-income, unemployed, aged, and 17 otherwise vulnerable populations; 18 (III) job-creating strategic facili- 19 ties located within a State-designated 20 economic zone, Economic Develop- 21 ment District designated by the De- 22 partment of Commerce, Empower- 23 ment Zone designated by the Depart- 24 ment of Housing and Urban Develop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1700 IH ment, or Enterprise Community des- 1 ignated by the Department of Agri- 2 culture; or 3 (IV) public safety agencies. 4 (17) PROJECT OBLIGATION.—The term 5 ‘‘project obligation’’ means any note, bond, deben- 6 ture, or other debt obligation issued by an obligor in 7 connection with the financing of a project, other 8 than a Federal credit instrument. 9 (18) PUBLIC AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘public 10 authority’’ means a Federal, State, county, town or 11 township, Indian Tribe, municipal, or other local 12 government or instrumentality with authority to fi- 13 nance, build, operate, or maintain infrastructure for 14 the provision of broadband service. 15 (19) RATING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘rating agen- 16 cy’’ means a credit rating agency registered with the 17 Securities and Exchange Commission as a nationally 18 recognized statistical rating organization (as defined 19 in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 20 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))). 21 (20) SECURED LOAN.—The term ‘‘secured 22 loan’’ means a direct loan or other debt obligation 23 issued by an obligor and funded by the Assistant 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1700 IH Secretary in connection with the financing of a 1 project under section 4. 2 (21) SMALL PROJECT.—The term ‘‘small 3 project’’ means a project having eligible project costs 4 that are reasonably anticipated not to equal or ex- 5 ceed $20,000,000. 6 (22) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 7 ing given the term in section 3 of the Communica- 8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 9 (23) SUBSIDY AMOUNT.—The term ‘‘subsidy 10 amount’’ means the amount of budget authority suf- 11 ficient to cover the estimated long-term cost to the 12 Federal Government of a Federal credit instru- 13 ment— 14 (A) calculated on a net present value basis; 15 and 16 (B) excluding administrative costs and any 17 incidental effects on governmental receipts or 18 outlays in accordance with the Federal Credit 19 Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 20 (24) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION.—The term 21 ‘‘substantial completion’’ means, with respect to a 22 project receiving credit assistance under the BIFIA 23 program— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1700 IH (A) the commencement of the provision of 1 broadband service using the infrastructure 2 being financed; or 3 (B) a comparable event, as determined by 4 the Assistant Secretary and specified in the 5 credit agreement. 6 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY AND PROJECT SE- 7 LECTION. 8 (a) ELIGIBILITY.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A project shall be eligible to 10 receive credit assistance under the BIFIA program 11 if— 12 (A) the entity proposing to carry out the 13 project submits a letter of interest prior to sub- 14 mission of a formal application for the project; 15 and 16 (B) the project meets the criteria described 17 in this subsection. 18 (2) CREDITWORTHINESS.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 20 subparagraph (B), to be eligible for assistance 21 under the BIFIA program, a project shall sat- 22 isfy applicable creditworthiness standards, 23 which, at a minimum, shall include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1700 IH (i) adequate coverage requirements to 1 ensure repayment; 2 (ii) an investment-grade rating from 3 at least two rating agencies on debt senior 4 to the Federal credit instrument; and 5 (iii) a rating from at least two rating 6 agencies on the Federal credit instrument. 7 (B) SMALL PROJECTS.—In order for a 8 small project to be eligible for assistance under 9 the BIFIA program, such project shall satisfy 10 alternative creditworthiness standards that shall 11 be established by the Assistant Secretary under 12 section 6 for purposes of this paragraph. 13 (3) APPLICATION.—A State, local government, 14 agency or instrumentality of a State or local govern- 15 ment, public authority, public-private partnership, or 16 any other legal entity undertaking the project and 17 authorized by the Assistant Secretary shall submit a 18 project application that is acceptable to the Assist- 19 ant Secretary. 20 (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COST PARAMETERS FOR 21 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.—Eligible project costs 22 shall be reasonably anticipated to equal or exceed 23 $2,000,000 in the case of a project or program of 24 projects— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1700.IH H1700 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1700 IH (A) in which the applicant is a local gov- 1 ernment, instrumentality of local government, 2 or public authority (other than a public author- 3 ity that is a Federal or State government or in- 4 str [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]