E-BRIDGE Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3193 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 15, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works AN ACT To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to provide for a high-speed broadband de- ployment initiative. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3193 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eliminating Barriers 2 to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility Act’’ or 3 the ‘‘E-BRIDGE Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA- 5 TIVE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 7 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et 8 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘SEC. 219. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA- 10 TIVE. 11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND PROJECT.—The term 13 ‘broadband project’ means, for the purpose of pro- 14 viding, extending, expanding, or improving high- 15 speed broadband service to further the goals of this 16 Act— 17 ‘‘(A) planning, technical assistance, or 18 training; 19 ‘‘(B) the acquisition or development of 20 land; or 21 ‘‘(C) the acquisition, design and engineer- 22 ing, construction, rehabilitation, alteration, ex- 23 pansion, or improvement of facilities, including 24 related machinery, equipment, contractual 25 rights, and intangible property. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3193 RFS ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible re- 2 cipient’ means an eligible recipient. 3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible re- 4 cipient’ includes— 5 ‘‘(i) a public-private partnership; and 6 ‘‘(ii) a consortium formed for the pur- 7 pose of providing, extending, expanding, or 8 improving high-speed broadband service 9 between 1 or more eligible recipients and 1 10 or more for-profit organizations. 11 ‘‘(3) HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND.—The term 12 ‘high-speed broadband’ means the provision of 2-way 13 data transmission with sufficient downstream and 14 upstream speeds to end users to permit effective 15 participation in the economy and to support eco- 16 nomic growth, as determined by the Secretary. 17 ‘‘(b) BROADBAND PROJECTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an el- 19 igible recipient, the Secretary may make grants 20 under this title for broadband projects, which shall 21 be subject to the provisions of this section. 22 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing applica- 23 tions submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 24 shall take into consideration geographic diversity of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3193 RFS grants allocated, including consideration of under- 1 served markets, in addition to data requested in 2 paragraph (3). 3 ‘‘(3) DATA REQUESTED.—In reviewing an ap- 4 plication submitted under paragraph (1), the Sec- 5 retary shall request from the Federal Communica- 6 tions Commission, the Administrator of the National 7 Telecommunications and Information Administra- 8 tion, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Appa- 9 lachian Regional Commission data on— 10 ‘‘(A) the level and extent of broadband 11 service that exists in the area proposed to be 12 served; and 13 ‘‘(B) the level and extent of broadband 14 service that will be deployed in the area pro- 15 posed to be served pursuant to another Federal 16 program. 17 ‘‘(4) INTEREST IN REAL OR PERSONAL PROP- 18 ERTY.—For any broadband project carried out by an 19 eligible recipient that is a public-private partnership 20 or consortium, the Secretary shall require that title 21 to any real or personal property acquired or im- 22 proved with grant funds, or if the recipient will not 23 acquire title, another possessory interest acceptable 24 to the Secretary, be vested in a public partner or eli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3193 RFS gible nonprofit organization or association for the 1 useful life of the project, after which title may be 2 transferred to any member of the public-private 3 partnership or consortium in accordance with regu- 4 lations promulgated by the Secretary. 5 ‘‘(5) PROCUREMENT.—Notwithstanding any 6 other provision of law, no person or entity shall be 7 disqualified from competing to provide goods or serv- 8 ices related to a broadband project on the basis that 9 the person or entity participated in the development 10 of the broadband project or in the drafting of speci- 11 fications, requirements, statements of work, or simi- 12 lar documents related to the goods or services to be 13 provided. 14 ‘‘(6) BROADBAND PROJECT PROPERTY.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 16 permit a recipient of a grant for a broadband 17 project to grant an option to acquire real or 18 personal property (including contractual rights 19 and intangible property) related to that project 20 to a third party on such terms as the Secretary 21 determines to be appropriate, subject to the 22 condition that the option may only be exercised 23 after the Secretary releases the Federal interest 24 in the property. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3193 RFS ‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—The grant or exercise 1 of an option described in subparagraph (A) 2 shall not constitute a redistribution of grant 3 funds under section 217. 4 ‘‘(c) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—In determining the 5 amount of the non-Federal share of the cost of a 6 broadband project, the Secretary may provide credit to- 7 ward the non-Federal share for the present value of allow- 8 able contributions over the useful life of the broadband 9 project, subject to the condition that the Secretary may 10 require such assurances of the value of the rights and of 11 the commitment of the rights as the Secretary determines 12 to be appropriate.’’. 13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 14 in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic Devel- 15 opment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; Public Law 16 89–136) is amended by inserting after the item relating 17 to section 218 the following: 18 ‘‘Sec. 219. High-speed broadband deployment initiative.’’. SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 19 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 20 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 21 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 22 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 23 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 24 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 3193 RFS vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 1 vote on passage. 2 Passed the House of Representatives November 4, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Nov 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3193.RFS H3193 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS