ROBUST Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3654 To expand access to electromagnetic spectrum for the provision of broadband service in rural areas, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2021 Mr. CAWTHORN (for himself and Mr. KELLY of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To expand access to electromagnetic spectrum for the provi- sion of broadband service in rural areas, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Opportunities 4 for Broadband in Underserved Settlements and Towns 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘ROBUST Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3654.IH H3654 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3654 IH SEC. 2. ACCESS TO ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM FOR 1 PROVISION OF BROADBAND SERVICE IN 2 RURAL AREAS. 3 (a) EVALUATION OF SPECTRUM USE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis- 6 sion shall conduct an evaluation of all covered li- 7 censes that are in effect as of the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act in order to determine whether spec- 9 trum usage rights under such licenses are unutilized 10 or underutilized in rural areas. 11 (2) EFFECT OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOY- 12 MENT ON DETERMINATION.—In conducting the eval- 13 uation under paragraph (1), the Commission may 14 not determine that spectrum usage rights are unuti- 15 lized or underutilized if— 16 (A) in the case of a license that contains 17 terms regarding when the licensee is required to 18 deploy infrastructure or to begin utilizing such 19 spectrum usage rights, the licensee is in compli- 20 ance with such terms; or 21 (B) in the case of a license that does not 22 contain such terms— 23 (i) the licensee is, at the time when 24 the Commission conducts the evaluation, in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3654.IH H3654 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3654 IH the process of deploying infrastructure to 1 utilize such spectrum usage rights; and 2 (ii) after the deployment is complete, 3 the spectrum usage rights will not be un- 4 utilized or underutilized. 5 (3) RECOMMENDATION TO LEASE UNUTILIZED 6 OR UNDERUTILIZED SPECTRUM USAGE RIGHTS.—If 7 the Commission determines in the evaluation con- 8 ducted under paragraph (1) that any spectrum 9 usage rights under a covered license are unutilized 10 or underutilized in a rural area, the Commission 11 shall, not later than 90 days after completing such 12 evaluation, issue a recommendation to the licensee 13 that the licensee lease such unutilized or underuti- 14 lized spectrum usage rights to other entities for the 15 provision of broadband service in such area, in ac- 16 cordance with subpart X of part 1 of title 47, Code 17 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON REDUCTION OF LI- 19 CENSE SIZES.—It is the sense of Congress that, in issuing 20 any covered license (except for a renewal of such a li- 21 cense), the Commission should ensure that the geographic 22 area in which such license permits the use of spectrum 23 is as small as feasible, as determined by the Commission. 24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3654.IH H3654 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3654 IH (1) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term 1 ‘‘broadband service’’ means broadband internet ac- 2 cess service (as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, 3 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu- 4 lation)). 5 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 6 means the Federal Communications Commission. 7 (3) COVERED LICENSE.—The term ‘‘covered li- 8 cense’’ means a license for the use of electro- 9 magnetic spectrum issued by the Commission under 10 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et 11 seq.)— 12 (A) under the terms of which a licensee 13 may use such spectrum for the provision of 14 broadband service, regardless of whether such 15 terms expressly refer to the provision of 16 broadband service; and 17 (B) any part of the geographic scope of 18 which includes a rural area, in whole or in part. 19 (4) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 20 means a county with a population density of fewer 21 than 100 individuals per square mile. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3654.IH H3654 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3654 IH SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS 1 UNDER THE BROADBAND RECONNECT PRO- 2 GRAM. 3 In carrying out the broadband loan and grant pilot 4 program authorized under section 779 of division A of the 5 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115– 6 141; 132 Stat. 399) (commonly known as the ‘‘Broadband 7 ReConnect Program’’, ‘‘ReConnect Program’’, or ‘‘Rural 8 eConnectivity Pilot Program’’), the Secretary of Agri- 9 culture shall— 10 (1) with respect to any award receiving grant 11 assistance under the program, give the highest pri- 12 ority to those projects providing a download speed of 13 at least 25 megabits per second and an upload speed 14 of at least 3 megabits per second; 15 (2) have a licensed engineer or otherwise quali- 16 fied person available to provide guidance to any new 17 applicant for assistance from the program; and 18 (3) use a portion of the amounts made available 19 for the program to cover the costs incurred by appli- 20 cants for a loan under the program to prepare re- 21 quired preliminary engineering reports. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3654.IH H3654 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS