Federal Broadband Permit Coordination Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3306 To facilitate Federal broadband permit coordination, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. CURTIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 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 facilitate Federal broadband permit coordination, 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 ‘‘Federal Broadband 4 Permit Coordination Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FEDERAL BROADBAND PERMIT COORDINATION. 6 (a) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not later 7 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 8 the Secretary concerned, in consultation with the National 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3306 IH Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers and the 1 National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Offi- 2 cers, shall enter into, in accordance with this section, a 3 memorandum of understanding with— 4 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture or the Sec- 5 retary of the Interior (as the case may be); 6 (2) the Director of the Bureau of Indian Af- 7 fairs; and 8 (3) the Director of the United States Fish and 9 Wildlife Service. 10 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the memorandum of 11 understanding entered into under subsection (a) shall be 12 to coordinate and expedite permitting decisions for 13 broadband projects. 14 (c) STATE OR TRIBAL PARTICIPATION.—The Sec- 15 retary concerned may request that the Governor of a State 16 or the officer designated by the governing body of an In- 17 dian Tribe with one or more broadband projects be a party 18 to the memorandum of understanding entered into under 19 subsection (a). 20 (d) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 22 the date of entrance into a memorandum of under- 23 standing under subsection (a), the head of each Fed- 24 eral agency that is a party to the memorandum of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3306 IH understanding (other than the Secretary concerned) 1 may, if the head of the Federal agency determines 2 it to be appropriate, designate to each State or re- 3 gional office (that has been delegated responsibility 4 by the Secretary concerned for issuing permits for 5 broadband projects) an employee of that Federal 6 agency with expertise in regulatory issues relating to 7 that Federal agency, including, as applicable, par- 8 ticular expertise in— 9 (A) planning under the Forest and Range- 10 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 11 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.) and planning 12 under the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 13 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); 14 (B) the preparation of analyses under the 15 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or 17 (C) consultation and the preparation of bi- 18 ological opinions under section 7 of the Endan- 19 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 20 (2) ESTABLISHMENT OF STREAMLINING 21 TEAM.—If employees are designated under para- 22 graph (1), the Secretary concerned shall establish a 23 broadband permit streamlining team, comprised of 24 such employees, in each State or regional office that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3306 IH has been delegated responsibility by the Secretary 1 concerned for issuing permits for broadband 2 projects. 3 (3) DUTIES.—Each employee designated under 4 paragraph (1) shall— 5 (A) be responsible for any issue relating to 6 any broadband project, within the jurisdiction 7 of the State or regional office, under the au- 8 thority of the Federal agency from which the 9 employee is assigned; and 10 (B) participate as part of the team of per- 11 sonnel working on one or more proposed 12 broadband projects, including with respect to 13 planning and environmental analyses. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this Act: 16 (1) BROADBAND PROJECT.—The term 17 ‘‘broadband project’’ means an installation, by a 18 broadband provider on Federal land, of wireline or 19 wireless broadband infrastructure that enables a 20 user to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, 21 graphics, and video telecommunications, including 22 copper lines, fiber optic lines, communications tow- 23 ers, buildings, or other improvements. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3306 IH (2) BROADBAND PROVIDER.—The term 1 ‘‘broadband provider’’ means a provider of wireline 2 or wireless broadband infrastructure that enables a 3 user to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, 4 graphics, and video telecommunications. 5 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 6 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 7 section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian 8 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130). 9 (4) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 10 ‘‘National Forest System’’ has the meaning given 11 that term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range- 12 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 13 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 14 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 15 retary concerned’’ means— 16 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture (acting 17 through the Chief of the Forest Service), with 18 respect to National Forest System land; and 19 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 20 spect to land managed by the Department of 21 the Interior (including land held in trust for an 22 Indian Tribe). 23 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 24 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3306 IH and each territory or possession of the United 1 States. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 May 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS