Accelerating Rural Broadband Deployment Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3970 To require Federal agencies to timely respond to right-of-way requests for the build out of broadband service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. CURTIS (for himself and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To require Federal agencies to timely respond to right-of- way requests for the build out of broadband service, 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 ‘‘Accelerating Rural 4 Broadband Deployment Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL RIGHTS-OF-WAY FOR BUILD 6 OUT OF BROADBAND SERVICE. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3970.IH H3970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3970 IH (1) BROADBAND SERVICE.—The term ‘‘broad- 1 band service’’ means— 2 (A) any service that has the capacity to 3 transmit data to enable users or devices to 4 originate and receive high-quality voice, data, 5 graphics, and video; 6 (B) any service by wire or radio that pro- 7 vides the capability to transmit data to, and re- 8 ceive data from, all or substantially all internet 9 endpoints— 10 (i) including any capabilities that are 11 incidental to, and enable the operation of, 12 the service; and 13 (ii) excluding dial-up internet access 14 service; or 15 (C) any service that is the functional 16 equivalent of a service described in subpara- 17 graph (A) or (B). 18 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 19 agency’’— 20 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec- 21 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 22 (B) does not include the Department of 23 Defense, except for the Army Corps of Engi- 24 neers. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3970.IH H3970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3970 IH (b) ACCESS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—If an Executive agency, a 2 State, a political subdivision or agency of a State, an 3 Indian tribal government, or a person, firm, or orga- 4 nization requests access to a right-of-way owned by 5 the Federal Government, or an instrumentality 6 thereof, in order to place, construct, modify, or oper- 7 ate facilities for the provision of broadband service, 8 the Executive agency having control of the right-of- 9 way may grant to the applicant, on behalf of the 10 Federal Government, a license of occupancy author- 11 izing the deployment of all equipment required to 12 deploy broadband service. 13 (2) DURATION.— A license of occupancy issued 14 under this subsection shall be issued with a duration 15 of not more than 30 years and may be automatically 16 renewed for additional periods of like duration. 17 (3) FEE.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each Executive agency 19 shall establish an annual license fee for a li- 20 cense of occupancy issued under this subsection. 21 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing a 22 fee under subparagraph (A), an Executive agen- 23 cy shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3970.IH H3970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3970 IH (i) consider property valuations based 1 on the restricted and limited use nature of 2 the underlying parcel (adjacent commer- 3 cial, private or multiple use properties shall 4 not be used for the purpose of determining 5 comparable valuations); and 6 (ii) the size of the portion of land re- 7 quested to accommodate the equipment of 8 the licensee that is required to deploy 9 broadband service. 10 (C) ADJUSTMENTS.—An annual license fee 11 established under this paragraph may be ad- 12 justed, not more frequently than once every 6 13 years, to reflect the current valuations upon re- 14 newal of such license. 15 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 16 subsection shall be construed to exempt an Execu- 17 tive agency from the requirements of division A of 18 subtitle III of title 54, United States Code, or the 19 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 20 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 21 (c) TIMELY CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 23 the date on which an Executive agency receives a re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3970.IH H3970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3970 IH quest under subsection (b), the Executive agency 1 shall— 2 (A) on behalf of the Federal Government, 3 grant the application, grant the application sub- 4 ject to conditions, or deny the application; and 5 (B) notify the applicant of the decision of 6 the Executive agency under subparagraph (A). 7 (2) EXPLANATION OF DENIAL.—If an Executive 8 agency denies an application under this subsection, 9 the Executive agency shall notify the applicant in 10 writing of such denial, which shall— 11 (A) be supported by substantial evidence 12 contained in a written record; and 13 (B) include a clear statement of the rea- 14 sons for the denial. 15 (3) PUBLIC RELEASE OF RECORD.—The written 16 record described in paragraph (2)(A) shall be made 17 available to the public on the date on which the writ- 18 ten notification is provided to the applicant under 19 paragraph (2). 20 (4) AUTOMATIC GRANT OF REQUEST.—If an 21 Executive agency fails to act on a request received 22 under subsection (b) by the end of the 60-day period 23 described in paragraph (1), the application shall be 24 considered granted. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3970.IH H3970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3970 IH (d) REQUIREMENT.—Any regulation issued by an Ex- 1 ecutive agency governing management of access to a Fed- 2 eral right-of-way under this section shall— 3 (1) be competitively and technologically neutral; 4 and 5 (2) apply to all providers of broadband service 6 on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory 7 basis. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3970.IH H3970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS