E-BRIDGE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3648 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 7, 2020 Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 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 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3648.IS S3648 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3648 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.—The term ‘eligible 23 recipient’ includes— 24 ‘‘(A) a public-private partnership; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3648.IS S3648 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3648 IS ‘‘(B) a consortium formed for the purpose 1 of providing, extending, expanding, or improv- 2 ing high-speed broadband service between 1 or 3 more eligible recipients and 1 or more for-profit 4 organizations. 5 ‘‘(3) HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND.—The term 6 ‘high-speed broadband’ means the provision of 2-way 7 data transmission with sufficient downstream and 8 upstream speeds to end users to permit effective 9 participation in the economy and to support eco- 10 nomic growth, as determined by the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(b) BROADBAND PROJECTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the application of an el- 13 igible recipient, the Secretary may make grants 14 under this title for broadband projects, which shall 15 be subject to the provisions of this section. 16 ‘‘(2) INTEREST IN REAL OR PERSONAL PROP- 17 ERTY.—For any broadband project carried out by an 18 eligible recipient that is a public-private partnership 19 or consortium, the Secretary shall require that title 20 to any real or personal property acquired or im- 21 proved with grant funds, or if the recipient will not 22 acquire title, another possessory interest acceptable 23 to the Secretary, be vested in a public partner or eli- 24 gible nonprofit organization or association for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3648.IS S3648 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3648 IS useful life of the project, after which title may be 1 transferred to any member of the public-private 2 partnership or consortium in accordance with regu- 3 lations promulgated by the Secretary. 4 ‘‘(3) PROCUREMENT.—Notwithstanding any 5 other provision of law, no person or entity shall be 6 disqualified from competing to provide goods or serv- 7 ices related to a broadband project on the basis that 8 the person or entity participated in the development 9 of the broadband project or in the drafting of speci- 10 fications, requirements, statements of work, or simi- 11 lar documents related to the goods or services to be 12 provided. 13 ‘‘(4) BROADBAND PROJECT PROPERTY.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 15 permit a recipient of a grant for a broadband 16 project to grant an option to acquire real or 17 personal property (including contractual rights 18 and intangible property) related to that project 19 to a third party on such terms as the Secretary 20 determines to be appropriate, subject to the 21 condition that the option may only be exercised 22 after the Secretary releases the Federal interest 23 in the property. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3648.IS S3648 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3648 IS ‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—The grant or exercise 1 of an option described in subparagraph (A) 2 shall not constitute a redistribution of grant 3 funds under section 217. 4 ‘‘(c) SOURCES OF ASSISTANCE.—A grant provided 5 under this section may be provided from amounts made 6 available to carry out this title in combination with 7 amounts made available under any other Federal program. 8 ‘‘(d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—In determining the 9 amount of the non-Federal share of the cost of a 10 broadband project, the Secretary may provide credit to- 11 ward the non-Federal share for the present value of allow- 12 able contributions over the useful life of the broadband 13 project, subject to the condition that the Secretary may 14 require such assurances of the value of the rights and of 15 the commitment of the rights as the Secretary determines 16 to be appropriate.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18 in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Economic Devel- 19 opment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; Public Law 20 89–136) is amended by inserting after the item relating 21 to section 218 the following: 22 ‘‘Sec. 219. High-speed broadband deployment initiative.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3648.IS S3648 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS