Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1695 To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to provide for a high-speed broadband deployment initiative. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 19, 2021 Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. GRAHAM) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Environment and Public Works A BILL 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eliminating Barriers 4 to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘E-BRIDGE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1695.IS S1695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1695 IS SEC. 2. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA- 1 TIVE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 3 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et 4 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 219. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT INITIA- 6 TIVE. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND PROJECT.—The term 9 ‘broadband project’ means, for the purpose of pro- 10 viding, extending, expanding, or improving high- 11 speed broadband service to further the goals of this 12 Act— 13 ‘‘(A) planning, technical assistance, or 14 training; 15 ‘‘(B) the acquisition or development of 16 land; or 17 ‘‘(C) the acquisition, design and engineer- 18 ing, construction, rehabilitation, alteration, ex- 19 pansion, or improvement of facilities, including 20 related machinery, equipment, contractual 21 rights, and intangible property. 22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible re- 24 cipient’ means an eligible recipient. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1695.IS S1695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1695 IS ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible re- 1 cipient’ includes— 2 ‘‘(i) a public-private partnership; and 3 ‘‘(ii) a consortium formed for the pur- 4 pose of providing, extending, expanding, or 5 improving high-speed broadband service 6 between 1 or more eligible recipients and 1 7 or more for-profit organizations. 8 ‘‘(3) HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND.—The term 9 ‘high-speed broadband’ means the provision of 2-way 10 data transmission with sufficient downstream and 11 upstream speeds to end users to permit effective 12 participation in the economy and to support eco- 13 nomic growth, as determined by the Secretary. 14 ‘‘(b) BROADBAND PROJECTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an el- 16 igible recipient, the Secretary may make grants 17 under this title for broadband projects, which shall 18 be subject to the provisions of this section. 19 ‘‘(2) DATA REQUESTED.—In reviewing an ap- 20 plication submitted under paragraph (1), the Sec- 21 retary shall request from the Federal Communica- 22 tions Commission, the Administrator of the National 23 Telecommunications and Information Administra- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1695.IS S1695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1695 IS tion, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Appa- 1 lachian Regional Commission data on— 2 ‘‘(A) the level and extent of broadband 3 service that exists in the area proposed to be 4 served; and 5 ‘‘(B) the level and extent of broadband 6 service that will be deployed in the area pro- 7 posed to be served pursuant to another Federal 8 program. 9 ‘‘(3) INTEREST IN REAL OR PERSONAL PROP- 10 ERTY.—For any broadband project carried out by an 11 eligible recipient that is a public-private partnership 12 or consortium, the Secretary shall require that title 13 to any real or personal property acquired or im- 14 proved with grant funds, or if the recipient will not 15 acquire title, another possessory interest acceptable 16 to the Secretary, be vested in a public partner or eli- 17 gible nonprofit organization or association for the 18 useful life of the project, after which title may be 19 transferred to any member of the public-private 20 partnership or consortium in accordance with regu- 21 lations promulgated by the Secretary. 22 ‘‘(4) PROCUREMENT.—Notwithstanding any 23 other provision of law, no person or entity shall be 24 disqualified from competing to provide goods or serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1695.IS S1695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1695 IS ices related to a broadband project on the basis that 1 the person or entity participated in the development 2 of the broadband project or in the drafting of speci- 3 fications, requirements, statements of work, or simi- 4 lar documents related to the goods or services to be 5 provided. 6 ‘‘(5) BROADBAND PROJECT PROPERTY.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 8 permit a recipient of a grant for a broadband 9 project to grant an option to acquire real or 10 personal property (including contractual rights 11 and intangible property) related to that project 12 to a third party on such terms as the Secretary 13 determines to be appropriate, subject to the 14 condition that the option may only be exercised 15 after the Secretary releases the Federal interest 16 in the property. 17 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—The grant or exercise 18 of an option described in subparagraph (A) 19 shall not constitute a redistribution of grant 20 funds under section 217. 21 ‘‘(c) SOURCES OF ASSISTANCE.—A grant provided 22 under this section may be provided from amounts made 23 available to carry out this title in combination with 24 amounts made available under any other Federal program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1695.IS S1695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1695 IS ‘‘(d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—In determining the 1 amount of the non-Federal share of the cost of a 2 broadband project, the Secretary may provide credit to- 3 ward the non-Federal share for the present value of allow- 4 able contributions over the useful life of the broadband 5 project, subject to the condition that the Secretary may 6 require such assurances of the value of the rights and of 7 the commitment of the rights as the Secretary determines 8 to be appropriate.’’. 9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 10 in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic Devel- 11 opment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; Public Law 12 89–136) is amended by inserting after the item relating 13 to section 218 the following: 14 ‘‘Sec. 219. High-speed broadband deployment initiative.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1695.IS S1695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS