Broadband Parity Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1884 To ensure that fixed broadband internet access service assisted by any Federal broadband support program meets a minimum level of service. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To ensure that fixed broadband internet access service as- sisted by any Federal broadband support program meets a minimum level of service. 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 ‘‘Broadband Parity Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1884 IS (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 1 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 2 United States Code. 3 (2) FEDERAL BROADBAND SUPPORT PRO- 4 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal broadband support pro- 5 gram’’ means any of the following programs (or any 6 other similar Federal program) to the extent the 7 program offers fixed broadband internet access serv- 8 ice or programs for promoting access to and adop- 9 tion of fixed broadband internet access service for 10 various demographic communities through various 11 media for residential, commercial, or community 12 providers, or academic establishments: 13 (A) The Telecommunications and Tech- 14 nology Program of the Appalachian Regional 15 Commission. 16 (B) The following programs of the Rural 17 Utilities Service of the Department of Agri- 18 culture: 19 (i) The Telecommunications Infra- 20 structure Loan and Loan Guarantee Pro- 21 gram established under the Rural Elec- 22 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et 23 seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1884 IS (ii) Any program to provide grants, 1 loans, or loan guarantees under sections 2 601 through 603 of the Rural Electrifica- 3 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.). 4 (iii) The substantially underserved 5 trust area initiative under section 306F of 6 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 7 U.S.C. 936f). 8 (iv) The Community Connect Grant 9 Program established under section 604 of 10 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 11 U.S.C. 950bb–3). 12 (v) The distance learning and tele- 13 medicine grant program established under 14 chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXII of the 15 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 16 Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et 17 seq.). 18 (C) The following programs of the Eco- 19 nomic Development Administration of the De- 20 partment of Commerce: 21 (i) The Public Works and Economic 22 Adjustment Assistance Programs. 23 (ii) The Planning and Local Technical 24 Assistance Programs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1884 IS (D) The following programs of the Depart- 1 ment of Housing and Urban Development: 2 (i) The Community Development 3 Block Grant Program under title I of the 4 Housing and Community Development Act 5 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 6 (ii) The loan guarantee program 7 under section 108 of the Housing and 8 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 9 U.S.C. 5308) (commonly known as the 10 ‘‘Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program’’). 11 (iii) Assistance from the Public Hous- 12 ing Capital Fund established under section 13 9(d) of the United States Housing Act of 14 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d)). 15 (iv) Assistance from the Public Hous- 16 ing Operating Fund established under sec- 17 tion 9(e) of the United States Housing Act 18 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(e)). 19 (v) The Multifamily Housing Pro- 20 grams. 21 (vi) The Indian Community Develop- 22 ment Block Grant Program. 23 (vii) The Indian Housing Block Grant 24 Program under section 101 of the Native 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1884 IS American Housing Assistance and Self-De- 1 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4111). 2 (viii) Loan guarantees under title VI 3 of the Native American Housing Assist- 4 ance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 5 (25 U.S.C. 4191 et seq.) (commonly known 6 as the ‘‘Title VI Loan Guarantee Pro- 7 gram’’). 8 (ix) The Choice Neighborhoods Initia- 9 tive. 10 (x) The HOME Investment Partner- 11 ships Program authorized under title II of 12 the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 13 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.). 14 (xi) The Housing Trust Fund estab- 15 lished under section 1338 of the Federal 16 Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and 17 Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568). 18 (xii) The Housing Opportunities for 19 Persons With AIDS Program authorized 20 under the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act 21 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.). 22 (E) The American Job Centers of the Em- 23 ployment and Training Administration of the 24 Department of Labor. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1884 IS (F) The Library Services and Technology 1 Grant Programs of the Institute of Museum 2 and Library Services. 3 (G) Any Universal Service Fund high-cost 4 program authorized to help deploy fixed 5 broadband internet access service. 6 (H) The following programs of the Depart- 7 ment of the Treasury: 8 (i) The Coronavirus State Fiscal Re- 9 covery Fund under section 602 of the So- 10 cial Security Act, as added by section 11 9901(a) of the American Rescue Plan Act 12 of 2021 (Public Law 117–2). 13 (ii) The Coronavirus Local Fiscal Re- 14 covery Fund under section 603 of the So- 15 cial Security Act, as added by section 16 9901(a) of the American Rescue Plan Act 17 of 2021 (Public Law 117–2). 18 (iii) The Coronavirus Capital Projects 19 Fund under section 604 of the Social Se- 20 curity Act, as added by section 9901(a) of 21 the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 22 (Public Law 117–2). 23 (3) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND HIGH-COST PRO- 24 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Universal Service Fund high-cost 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1884 IS program’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1 903 of division FF of the Consolidated Appropria- 2 tions Act, 2021 (47 U.S.C. 1307). 3 SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL MINIMUM LEVEL OF SERVICE FOR FED- 4 ERALLY SUPPORTED FIXED BROADBAND. 5 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communica- 7 tions Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of 8 Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 9 Housing and Urban Development, and the head of each 10 other agency that provides assistance under a Federal 11 broadband support program, shall conduct a rulemaking 12 to establish a minimum level of service for fixed broadband 13 internet access service assisted by a Federal broadband 14 support program to ensure that such service can sup- 15 port— 16 (1) virtual learning; 17 (2) telehealth services; and 18 (3) telework. 19 (b) MINIMUM LEVEL OF SERVICE.—The minimum 20 level of service established under subsection (a) shall, in 21 a technology-neutral manner, include— 22 (1) a minimum download speed; 23 (2) a minimum upload speed; and 24 (3) a maximum latency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1884 IS (c) REQUIREMENT.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 2 graph (2), subject to subsection (e), and notwith- 3 standing any other provision of law, an agency may 4 not provide assistance under a Federal broadband 5 support program unless the fixed broadband internet 6 access service to be assisted meets or exceeds, or will 7 meet or exceed when deployed, the minimum level of 8 service established under subsection (a) that was in 9 effect on the date on which the agency made the de- 10 termination to provide the assistance. 11 (2) INFEASIBILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not 12 apply if the agency providing assistance determines 13 that the provision of fixed broadband internet access 14 service that meets or exceeds the minimum level of 15 service described in that paragraph is infeasible. 16 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 17 Section 601(e) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 18 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(e)) is amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘at least—’’ 20 and all that follows through the period at the end 21 of subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘not less than 22 the minimum level of service established under sec- 23 tion 3(a) of the Broadband Parity Act of 2021.’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1884 IS (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, subject to 1 the condition that the minimum acceptable level of 2 broadband service, as adjusted under this para- 3 graph, may not be less than the minimum level of 4 service described in paragraph (1)’’ before the period 5 at the end. 6 (e) PROSPECTIVE APPLICABILITY.—This section and 7 the amendments made by this section— 8 (1) shall apply to any determination of an agen- 9 cy to provide assistance under a Federal broadband 10 support program that is made on or after the date 11 of enactment of this Act; and 12 (2) shall not affect any award of assistance 13 made under a Federal broadband support program 14 before the date of enactment of this Act. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1884.IS S1884 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS