Rural Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior, for public lands, and the Department of Agriculture, for National Forest System lands, to issue regulations to: (1) streamline the process for the consideration of applications to locate or modify broadband facilities on such lands; and (2) require that such applications be considered and granted on a competitively and technologically neutral, non-discriminatory basis.
The bill amends the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to require executive agencies to grant or deny within 270 days applications for an easement or right-of-way on federal property to install, construct, and maintain wireless service antenna structures and equipment and backhaul transmission equipment.
The Government Accountability Office shall report on:
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1363 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1363
To streamline the process for broadband facility location applications
on Federal land, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 15, 2017
Mr. Heller (for himself and Mr. Manchin) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To streamline the process for broadband facility location applications
on Federal land, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Broadband Deployment
Streamlining Act''.
SEC. 2. STREAMLINING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND THE FOREST
SERVICE PROCESS FOR BROADBAND FACILITY LOCATION
APPLICATIONS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Broadband facility.--The term ``broadband facility''
means any communications plant, equipment, supplies, cable,
wire, box, device, meter, tower, pole, duct, conduit, or other
facility related to the provision of advanced
telecommunications capability (as defined in section 706 of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302)).
(2) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means--
(A) public land administered by the Secretary of
the Interior; and
(B) National Forest System land administered by the
Secretary of Agriculture.
(3) Department concerned.--The term ``Department
concerned'' means the Department of which the Secretary
concerned is the head.
(4) Organizational unit.--The term ``organizational unit''
means--
(A) within the Bureau of Land Management--
(i) a State office;
(ii) a district office; or
(iii) a field office; and
(B) within the Forest Service--
(i) a regional office;
(ii) the headquarters;
(iii) a management unit; or
(iv) a ranger district office.
(5) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned''
means--
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to
public land; and
(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to
National Forest System land.
(b) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary concerned shall issue regulations--
(1) to streamline the process for considering applications
to locate or modify broadband facilities on covered land
administered by the Secretary concerned;
(2) to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the
process is uniform and standardized across the organizational
units of the Department concerned; and
(3) to require that the applications described in paragraph
(1) be considered and granted on a competitively and
technologically neutral, non-discriminatory basis.
(c) Requirements.--The regulations issued under subsection (b)
shall include--
(1) procedures that require the tracking of applications
described in subsection (b)(1), including--
(A) identifying the number of applications--
(i) received;
(ii) approved; and
(iii) denied;
(B) in the case of an application that is denied,
describing the reasons for the denial; and
(C) describing the amount of time between the
receipt of an application and the issuance of a final
decision on an application;
(2) minimum terms of not less than 5 years for leases with
respect to the location of broadband facilities on covered
land;
(3) a policy under which an easement, license, or other
authorization to locate a broadband facility on covered land
renews automatically on expiration, unless the authorization is
revoked for good cause; and
(4) fees for--
(A) submitting an application described in
subsection (b)(1), based on the cost to the Department
concerned of considering such an application; and
(B) granting an easement, license, or other
authorization to locate or modify a broadband facility
on covered land, based on the cost to the Department
concerned of any maintenance or other activities
required to be performed by the Department concerned as
a result of the location or modification of the
facility.
(d) Additional Considerations.--In issuing regulations under
subsection (b), the Secretary concerned shall consider--
(1) how discrete reviews in considering an application
described in subsection (b)(1) can be conducted simultaneously,
rather than sequentially, by the organizational units of the
Department concerned that must approve the location or
modification; and
(2) how to eliminate overlapping requirements among the
organizational units of the Department concerned with respect
to the location or modification of a broadband facility on
covered land administered by those organizational units.
(e) Communication of Streamlined Process to Organizational Units.--
The Secretary concerned shall, with respect to the regulations issued
under subsection (b)--
(1) communicate the regulations to the organizational units
of the Department concerned; and
(2) ensure that the organizational units of the Department
concerned follow the regulations.
SEC. 3. COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES DEPLOYMENT ON FEDERAL PROPERTY.
Section 6409(b) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act
of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(b)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(5) Timely consideration of applications.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 270 days after
the date on which an executive agency receives a duly
filed application for an easement or right-of-way under
this subsection, the executive agency shall--
``(i) grant or deny, on behalf of the
Federal Government, the application; and
``(ii) notify the applicant of the grant or
denial.
``(B) Explanation of denial.--If an executive
agency denies an application under subparagraph (A),
the executive agency shall notify the applicant in
writing, including a clear statement of the reasons for
the denial.
``(C) Deemed granted.--If an executive agency does
not grant or deny a duly filed application under
subparagraph (A) by the deadline set forth in that
subparagraph, the executive agency shall be deemed to
have granted the application.
``(D) Applicability of environmental laws.--Nothing
in this paragraph shall be construed to relieve an
executive agency of the requirements of division A of
subtitle III of title 54, United States Code, or the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.).
``(E) Point of contact.--Upon receiving an
application under subparagraph (A), an executive agency
shall designate one or more appropriate individuals
within the executive agency to act as a point of
contact with the applicant.''.
SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``National Broadband
Map'' means the map established by the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration under section 6001(l) of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305(l)).
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
Congress a report evaluating--
(1) how the Federal Communications Commission ensures that
the broadband data collected for the National Broadband Map is
accurate, complete, and reliable, including--
(A) the source of the data; and
(B) whether data may be available from alternative
commercial sources;
(2) the extent to which Federal agencies or other entities
authorized to distribute Federal grants or loans for broadband
projects rely on data from the National Broadband Map to--
(A) award grants or loans for broadband projects;
or
(B) determine whether Federal Government funds will
be used to deploy broadband in areas already served by
private broadband providers;
(3) the actions the Federal Communications Commission has
taken or plans to take to address the limitations, if any, in
using data from the National Broadband Map for policy or
funding decisions;
(4) the extent to which interested parties have challenged
the accuracy of information on the National Broadband Map,
including how the challenges were resolved; and
(5) whether the Federal Communications Commission should
collect data for the National Broadband Map from additional or
alternative commercial sources.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
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