SPEED for Broadband Infrastructure Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3342 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that certain projects for the placement and installation of communications facilities are not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or historical preservation reviews, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. PENCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that certain projects for the placement and installation of communications facilities are not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or historical preserva- tion reviews, 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 ‘‘Streamlining Permit- 4 ting to Enable Efficient Deployment for Broadband Infra- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3342 IH structure Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘SPEED for Broadband 1 Infrastructure Act of 2023’’. 2 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM REVIEW FOR CERTAIN COMMU- 3 NICATIONS FACILITIES. 4 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 5 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 14. EXEMPTION FROM REVIEW FOR CERTAIN COMMU- 8 NICATIONS FACILITIES. 9 ‘‘(a) PERMITTING OF COVERED PROJECTS.— 10 ‘‘(1) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A Federal authoriza- 11 tion with respect to a covered project may not be 12 considered a major Federal action under section 13 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 14 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 15 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT 16 EXEMPTION.—A covered project may not be consid- 17 ered an undertaking under section 300320 of title 18 54, United States Code. 19 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub- 20 section may be construed to affect— 21 ‘‘(A) the obligation of the Commission to 22 evaluate radiofrequency exposure under the Na- 23 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 24 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3342 IH ‘‘(B) except as explicitly provided in this 1 subsection, the obligation of a provider of a 2 communications service to comply with the Na- 3 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 or di- 4 vision A of subtitle III of title 54, United 5 States Code; 6 ‘‘(C) the authority of a State or local gov- 7 ernment to apply and enforce the zoning and 8 other land use regulations of the State or local 9 government to the extent consistent with this 10 subsection and sections 253, 332(c)(7), and 11 621; or 12 ‘‘(D) the authority or obligations estab- 13 lished under section 20156(e) of title 49, 14 United States Code. 15 ‘‘(b) GRANT OF EASEMENT ON FEDERAL PROP- 16 ERTY.— 17 ‘‘(1) NEPA EXEMPTION.—A Federal authoriza- 18 tion with respect to a covered easement for a com- 19 munications facility may not be considered a major 20 Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the Na- 21 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 22 4332(2)(C)), if a covered easement has previously 23 been granted for another communications facility or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3342 IH a utility facility with respect to the same building or 1 other property owned by the Federal Government. 2 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT 3 EXEMPTION.—A covered easement for a communica- 4 tions facility may not be considered an undertaking 5 under section 300320 of title 54, United States 6 Code, if a covered easement has previously been 7 granted for another communications facility or a 8 utility facility with respect to the same building or 9 other property owned by the Federal Government. 10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 ‘‘(1) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ means 12 communications equipment that transmits or re- 13 ceives electromagnetic radio frequency signals used 14 in the provision of wireless services. 15 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY.—The term 16 ‘communications facility’ has the meaning given the 17 term ‘communications facility installation’ in section 18 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 19 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)). 20 ‘‘(3) COVERED EASEMENT.—The term ‘covered 21 easement’ means an easement, right-of-way, or lease 22 with respect to a building or other property owned 23 by the Federal Government, excluding Tribal land 24 held in trust by the Federal Government (unless the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3342 IH Tribal Government with respect to such land re- 1 quests that the Commission not exclude the land for 2 purposes of this definition), for the right to install, 3 construct, modify, or maintain a communications fa- 4 cility or a utility facility. 5 ‘‘(4) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘covered 6 project’ means the placement and installation of a 7 new communications facility if— 8 ‘‘(A) such new facility— 9 ‘‘(i) will be located within a public 10 right-of-way; and 11 ‘‘(ii) is not more than 50 feet tall or 12 10 feet taller than any existing structure 13 in the public right-of-way, whichever is 14 higher; 15 ‘‘(B) such new facility is— 16 ‘‘(i) a replacement for an existing 17 communications facility; and 18 ‘‘(ii) the same as, or substantially 19 similar to (as such term is defined by the 20 Commission), the existing communications 21 facility that such new communications fa- 22 cility is replacing; 23 ‘‘(C) such new facility is a type of commu- 24 nications facility that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3342 IH ‘‘(i) is described in section 1 6409(d)(1)(B) of the Middle Class Tax Re- 2 lief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 3 U.S.C. 1455(d)(1)(B)); and 4 ‘‘(ii) meets the size limitation of a 5 small antenna established by the Commis- 6 sion; or 7 ‘‘(D) the placement and installation of 8 such new facility involves the expansion of the 9 site of an existing communications facility not 10 more than 30 feet in any direction. 11 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.—The term 12 ‘Federal authorization’— 13 ‘‘(A) means any authorization required 14 under Federal law with respect to a project; 15 and 16 ‘‘(B) includes any permits, special use au- 17 thorizations, certifications, opinions, or other 18 approvals as may be required under Federal law 19 with respect to a project. 20 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘public 21 right-of-way’— 22 ‘‘(A) means— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3342 IH ‘‘(i) the area on, below, or above a 1 public roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, 2 alley, or similar property; and 3 ‘‘(ii) any land immediately adjacent to 4 and contiguous with property described in 5 clause (i) that is within the right-of-way 6 grant; and 7 ‘‘(B) does not include a portion of the 8 Interstate System (as such term is defined in 9 section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code). 10 ‘‘(7) UTILITY FACILITY.—The term ‘utility fa- 11 cility’ means any privately, publicly, or cooperatively 12 owned line, facility, or system for producing, trans- 13 mitting, or distributing power, electricity, light, heat, 14 gas, oil, crude products, water, steam, waste, storm 15 water not connected with highway drainage, or any 16 other similar commodity, including any fire or police 17 signal system or street lighting system, that directly 18 or indirectly serves the public. 19 ‘‘(8) WIRELESS SERVICE.—The term ‘wireless 20 service’ means the transmission by radio commu- 21 nication of voice, video, or data communications 22 services, including Internet Protocol or any suc- 23 cessor protocol-enabled services, or any combination 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3342 IH of those services, whether provided on a licensed or 1 permitted unlicensed basis.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3342.IH H3342 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS