Broadband for Rural America Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3369 To codify the ReConnect Program, to expand rural broadband assistance, and to improve the administration and accountability of the broadband programs at the Department of Agriculture. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. JACOBS of New York, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. ROUZER, Ms. LETLOW, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. MANN, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LAMALFA, and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To codify the ReConnect Program, to expand rural broadband assistance, and to improve the administration and accountability of the broadband programs at the Department of Agriculture. 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 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3369 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband for Rural 2 America Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING DUPLICATIVE BROADBAND AU- 4 THORITIES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 601 of the Rural Elec- 6 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 7 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AC- 8 CESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 9 SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS’’ and inserting ‘‘RE- 10 CONNECT RURAL BROADBAND PROGRAM’’; 11 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.—The Secretary 14 shall establish a program, which shall be known as the 15 ‘ReConnect Rural Broadband Program’, to provide grants, 16 loans, and loan guarantees to finance the costs of the con- 17 struction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and 18 equipment for broadband service in rural areas.’’; 19 (3) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (2) 20 and redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); 21 (4) in subsection (c)— 22 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert- 23 ing the following: 24 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3369 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In providing assist- 1 ance under this section the Secretary shall— 2 ‘‘(i) give the highest priority to appli- 3 cations for projects to provide broadband 4 service to unserved rural communities that 5 do not have any residential broadband 6 service of at least— 7 ‘‘(I) a 10-Mbps downstream 8 transmission capacity; and 9 ‘‘(II) a 1-Mbps upstream trans- 10 mission capacity; 11 ‘‘(ii) give priority to applicants for 12 projects which propose to serve commu- 13 nities— 14 ‘‘(I) with a population of less 15 than 10,000 permanent residents; 16 ‘‘(II) that are experiencing out- 17 migration and have adopted a stra- 18 tegic community investment plan 19 under section 379H(d) of the Consoli- 20 dated Farm and Rural Development 21 Act that includes considerations for 22 improving and expanding broadband 23 service; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3369 IH ‘‘(III) with a high percentage of 1 low income families or persons (as de- 2 fined in section 501(b) of the Housing 3 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471(b)); or 4 ‘‘(IV) that are isolated from 5 other significant population centers. 6 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PRIORITY FOR AD- 7 VANCED PROJECTS.—After giving priority to 8 the applications described in subparagraph (A), 9 the Secretary shall then give priority to applica- 10 tions for projects which propose to provide— 11 ‘‘(i) the maximum level of broadband 12 service to the greatest proportion of rural 13 premises in the proposed service area iden- 14 tified in the application; 15 ‘‘(ii) rapid and expanded deployment 16 of fixed and mobile broadband on cropland 17 and ranchland within a service territory 18 that is not supported by funds from the 19 5G Fund for Rural America established by 20 the Federal Communications Commission 21 in the Report and Order in the matter of 22 Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America 23 (FCC 20–150; adopted October 27, 2020), 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3369 IH for use in various applications of precision 1 agriculture. 2 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL PRIORITY FOR COMMU- 3 NITY STAKEHOLDERS.—The Secretary shall 4 further prioritize projects based on the number 5 of community stakeholders served, including— 6 ‘‘(i) State, local, and tribal govern- 7 ment entities; 8 ‘‘(ii) nonprofit institutions; 9 ‘‘(iii) community anchor institutions, 10 such as— 11 ‘‘(I) public libraries; 12 ‘‘(II) elementary schools and sec- 13 ondary schools (as defined in section 14 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 16 U.S.C. 7801)); 17 ‘‘(III) institutions of higher edu- 18 cation; 19 ‘‘(IV) health care facilities; or 20 ‘‘(V) other essential community 21 facilities; 22 ‘‘(iv) rural businesses; or 23 ‘‘(v) philanthropic organizations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3369 IH ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION.—In implementing 1 this section, the Secretary shall— 2 ‘‘(i) provide equal consideration to all 3 eligible entities, including those that have 4 not previously received assistance under 5 this title; and 6 ‘‘(ii) with respect to 2 or more appli- 7 cations that are given the same priority 8 under this paragraph, give priority to an 9 application that is proposing to serve the 10 highest number of households without suf- 11 ficient broadband service.’’; and 12 (B) in paragraph (3)— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘GRANT AMOUNTS’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘ADDITIONAL REQUIRE- 15 MENTS FOR GRANT AWARDS’’; and 16 (ii) by striking subparagraph (E) and 17 inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(E) APPLICATIONS.— 19 ‘‘(i) GRANT-ONLY APPLICATIONS.— 20 The Secretary shall establish an applica- 21 tion process that permits an application for 22 a grant-only award. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3369 IH ‘‘(ii) COMBINED APPLICATIONS.—The 1 Secretary shall establish an application 2 process that permits— 3 ‘‘(I) a single application for a 4 grant and a loan under title I or II, 5 or this title, that is associated with 6 the grant; and 7 ‘‘(II) provides a single decision to 8 award the grant and the loan.’’; 9 (5) in subsection (d)— 10 (A) in paragraph (2)— 11 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 12 (I) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs 13 (B) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 14 graph (B)’’; 15 (II) by striking ‘‘submitted—’’ 16 and all that follows through ‘‘(i)’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘submitted’’; and 18 (III) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and all 19 that follows through ‘‘providers’’; and 20 (ii) by striking subparagraph (C); and 21 (B) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by striking 22 subclause (II) and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(II) demonstrated on the maps 24 required to be created under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3369 IH 802(c) of the Communications Act of 1 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)), if address 2 level data is available.’’; and 3 (6) by striking subsection (j) and inserting the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(j) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO- 6 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 7 Secretary to carry out this section, to remain available 8 until expended— 9 ‘‘(1) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 10 ‘‘(2) $3,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 11 ‘‘(3) $3,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 12 (b) SUNSET.—The authorities provided by section 13 779 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public 14 Law 115–141) shall have no force or effect after June 15 30, 2022. 16 (c) TRANSITION RULES.— 17 (1) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRA- 18 TIVE COSTS.—Not more than 1 percent of the unob- 19 ligated balances of amounts made available as of 20 June 1, 2021, to carry out the pilot program de- 21 scribed in section 779 of the Consolidated Appro- 22 priations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141) may be 23 used for the costs of transitioning from the pilot 24 program to the program under section 601 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3369 IH Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended by 1 this Act. 2 (2) CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The unobligated bal- 4 ances of all amounts made available on or be- 5 fore June 30, 2022, to carry out the pilot pro- 6 gram described in section 779 of the Consoli- 7 dated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 8 115–141) that are in excess of the amount de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph 10 are hereby transferred to and merged with 11 amounts made available to carry out the pro- 12 gram authorized under section 601 of the Rural 13 Electrification Act of 1936. 14 (B) UNFUNDED APPROVALS.—The amount 15 described in this subparagraph is the amount 16 required to fully fund each project approved as 17 of June 30, 2022, under the pilot program de- 18 scribed in such section 779 for which amounts 19 were not obligated or partially obligated as of 20 such date. 21 SEC. 3. EXPANDING MIDDLE-MILE INFRASTRUCTURE IN 22 RURAL AMERICA. 23 Section 602(g) of the Rural Electrification Act of 24 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–1(g)) is amended by striking 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3369 IH ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018’’ and inserting 1 ‘‘$150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021’’. 2 SEC. 4. FOSTERING BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY INNOVA- 3 TION. 4 Section 603(e) of the Rural Electrification Act of 5 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–2(e)) is amended by striking 6 ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021’’. 8 SEC. 5. BROADBAND PROGRAM OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNT- 9 ABILITY. 10 Section 701 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 11 (7 U.S.C. 950cc) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by inserting 13 ‘‘(which data shall include maps required to be cre- 14 ated under section 802(c) of the Communications 15 Act of 1934)’’ before ‘‘and the Administrator’’; and 16 (2) in subsection (e)— 17 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 18 by striking ‘‘program level amounts available 19 pursuant to’’ and inserting ‘‘the’’; and 20 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 21 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re- 22 spectively, and inserting before paragraph (2) 23 (as so redesignated) the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3369 IH ‘‘(1) administrative costs for carrying out such 1 title;’’. 2 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL BROADBAND PROGRAM 3 COORDINATION REQUIREMENTS. 4 Section 6212 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 5 2018 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–6) is amended— 6 (1) by striking subsection (a); 7 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) 8 as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; and 9 (3) by inserting before subsection (d) (as so re- 10 designated) the following: 11 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION.—The Secretary 12 shall consult with the Commission to assist in the verifica- 13 tion of eligibility of the broadband loan and grant pro- 14 grams of the Department of Agriculture. In providing as- 15 sistance under the preceding sentence, the Commission 16 shall make available the broadband assessment and map- 17 ping capabilities of the Commission. 18 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION-SHARING.— 19 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall semiannually submit 20 to the Assistant Secretary and the Commission com- 21 plete, reliable, and precise information (in a manner 22 consistent with how information is submitted under 23 section 802 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 24 U.S.C. 642)) which identifies the areas for which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3369 IH broadband service has been deployed under a loan or 1 grant program of the Department of Agriculture. 2 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary shall semiannually 3 submit to the Secretary complete, reliable, and pre- 4 cise information (in a manner consistent with how 5 information is submitted under section 802 of the 6 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642)) 7 which identifies the areas for which broadband serv- 8 ice has been deployed under any assistance provided 9 by the Assistant Secretary, unless the Assistant Sec- 10 retary has submitted the information to the Com- 11 mission and the information is incorporated into the 12 maps required to be created under section 802(c) of 13 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)) 14 and is shared with the Secretary under paragraph 15 (3) of this subsection. 16 ‘‘(3) On request of the Secretary, the Commis- 17 sion shall provide to the Secretary the maps required 18 to be created under section 802(c) of the Commu- 19 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)). 20 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN USDA AND 21 NTIA.— 22 ‘‘(1) BY USDA.—The Secretary shall consult 23 with the Assistant Secretary before providing 24 broadband assistance for a project to serve an area 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3369.IH H3369 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3369 IH with respect to which another entity is receiving as- 1 sistance under any broadband assistance program 2 administered by the Assistant Secretary. 3 ‘‘(2) BY NTIA.—The Assistant Secretary shall 4 consult with the Secretary before offering or pro- 5 viding broadband assistance for a project to serve an 6 area with respect to which [Text truncated for display. 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