Federal Broadband Deployment in Unserved Areas Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7344 To require the Federal Communications Commission to provide broadband availability data to the Department of the Interior. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 25, 2020 Mr. CURTIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Federal Communications Commission to pro- vide broadband availability data to the Department of the Interior. 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 ‘‘Federal Broadband 4 Deployment in Unserved Areas Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LOCATING FEDERAL FACILITIES IN UNSERVED 6 AREAS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Jul 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7344 IH (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 1 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com- 4 merce of the House of Representatives; 5 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 6 of the House of Representatives; 7 (C) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 8 and Transportation of the Senate; and 9 (D) the Committee on Environment and 10 Public Works of the Senate. 11 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 12 means the Federal Communications Commission. 13 (3) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 14 ‘‘communications facility’’ includes— 15 (A) any infrastructure, including any 16 transmitting device, tower, or support structure, 17 and any equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, 18 power sources, shelters, or cabinets, associated 19 with the licensed or permitted unlicensed wire- 20 less or wireline transmission of writings, signs, 21 signals, data, images, pictures, and sounds of 22 all kinds; and 23 (B) any antenna or apparatus that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:14 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7344 IH (i) is designed for the purpose of 1 emitting radio frequency; 2 (ii) is designed to be operated, or is 3 operating, from a fixed location pursuant 4 to authorization by the Commission or is 5 using duly authorized devices that do not 6 require individual licenses; and 7 (iii) is added to a tower, building, or 8 other structure. 9 (4) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘‘covered land’’ 10 means— 11 (A) public land administered by the Sec- 12 retary of the Interior; and 13 (B) National Forest System land. 14 (5) DEPARTMENT CONCERNED.—The term 15 ‘‘Department concerned’’ means the Department of 16 the Interior or the Department of Agriculture. 17 (6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 18 retary concerned’’ means— 19 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 20 spect to public land; 21 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 22 spect to National Forest System land; and 23 (C) the Secretary of Commerce. 24 (b) SHARING BROADBAND AVAILABILITY DATA.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:14 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7344 IH (1) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 2 business 1 days after creating the maps required under section 2 802(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 3 U.S.C. 642(c)(1)), the Commission shall notify the 4 Secretary concerned that such maps have been cre- 5 ated. 6 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Not later 7 than 5 business days after the notification described 8 in paragraph (1), the Commission shall provide the 9 Secretary concerned any information the Commis- 10 sion has collected pursuant to title VIII of the Com- 11 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 641 et seq.). 12 (3) CONTINUATION.—The Commission shall 13 provide the Secretary concerned the information de- 14 scribed in paragraph (2) every 6 months unless the 15 Commission no longer has such information. 16 (4) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 18 specify to the Secretary concerned which infor- 19 mation provided under paragraph (2) was col- 20 lected in a confidential or proprietary manner, 21 and the Secretary concerned may not make 22 such information publicly available. 23 (B) FOIA.—Information provided under 24 paragraph (2) shall not be disclosed to the pub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:14 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7344 IH lic pursuant to section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5, 1 United States Code. 2 (c) WORKING GROUP.— 3 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 4 after the date of enactment of this section, the Com- 5 mission and the Secretary concerned shall establish 6 an interagency working group to facilitate the prepa- 7 ration and interoperability of information technology 8 systems for the provision and receipt of the informa- 9 tion described in subsection (b)(2). 10 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 11 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 12 apply to the interagency working group established 13 under paragraph (1). 14 (3) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 15 Any employee of the Federal Government may be 16 detailed to the interagency working group estab- 17 lished under paragraph (1) without reimbursement, 18 and that detail shall be without interruption or loss 19 of civil service status or privilege. 20 (d) REPORTS.— 21 (1) PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL 22 BARRIERS.—Not later 120 days after the date on 23 which the interagency working group is established 24 pursuant to subsection (c)(1), the Commission and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:14 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7344 IH the Secretary concerned shall jointly submit a report 1 to the appropriate committees of Congress with a 2 preliminary assessment of any potential barriers to 3 sharing the information described under subsection 4 (b)(2). 5 (2) ASSESSMENTS.—Not later than 1 year after 6 the date on which the Commission provides the in- 7 formation described under subsection (b)(2) to the 8 Department concerned, the Commission and the Sec- 9 retary concerned shall jointly submit a report to the 10 appropriate committees of Congress with— 11 (A) an assessment of the effectiveness of a 12 user’s ability to locate broadband infrastructure 13 on covered land in an area to be determined as 14 unserved by the Commission on the basis of the 15 maps created under section 802(c) of the Com- 16 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)); 17 and 18 (B) an assessment of whether the Depart- 19 ment concerned prioritized the review of appli- 20 cations for a communications use authorization 21 in an area to be determined as unserved by the 22 Commission on the basis of the maps created 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:14 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7344 IH under section 802(c) of the Communications 1 Act of 1934. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:14 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7344.IH H7344 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS