| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2298 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To ensure that certain broadband projects are not subject to requirements |
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| 6 | 6 | | to prepare certain environmental or historical preservation reviews, and |
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| 7 | 7 | | for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | MARCH24, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. F |
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| 11 | 11 | | ULCHERintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- |
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| 12 | 12 | | mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on |
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| 13 | 13 | | Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the |
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| 14 | 14 | | Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within |
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| 15 | 15 | | the jurisdiction of the committee concerned |
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| 16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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| 17 | 17 | | To ensure that certain broadband projects are not subject |
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| 18 | 18 | | to requirements to prepare certain environmental or his- |
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| 19 | 19 | | torical preservation reviews, and for other purposes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Barriers for 4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Broadband on Federal Lands Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 2298 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. EXEMPTIONS FOR CERTAIN BROADBAND 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | PROJECTS. 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (a) NEPA E |
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| 31 | 31 | | XEMPTION.—The issuance of a Federal 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | authorization with respect to a broadband project carried 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | out in a right-of-way may not be considered a major Fed-5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | eral action under section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi-6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (b) N |
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| 37 | 37 | | ATIONALHISTORICPRESERVATIONACTEX-8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | EMPTION.—A broadband project carried out in a right- 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | of-way may not be considered an undertaking under sec-10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | tion 300320 of title 54, United States Code. 11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (c) D |
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| 42 | 42 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (1) B |
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| 44 | 44 | | ROADBAND PROJECT .—The term 13 |
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| 45 | 45 | | ‘‘broadband project’’ means an installation, by a 14 |
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| 46 | 46 | | broadband provider on Federal land, of wireline or 15 |
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| 47 | 47 | | wireless broadband infrastructure that enables a 16 |
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| 48 | 48 | | user to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, 17 |
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| 49 | 49 | | graphics, and video telecommunications, including 18 |
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| 50 | 50 | | copper lines, fiber optic lines, communications tow-19 |
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| 51 | 51 | | ers, buildings, or other improvements. 20 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (2) B |
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| 53 | 53 | | ROADBAND PROVIDER .—The term 21 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ‘‘broadband provider’’ means a provider of wireline 22 |
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| 55 | 55 | | or wireless broadband infrastructure that enables a 23 |
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| 56 | 56 | | user to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, 24 |
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| 57 | 57 | | graphics, and video telecommunications. 25 |
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| 59 | 59 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •HR 2298 IH |
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| 61 | 61 | | (3) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION .—The term 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | ‘‘Federal authorization’’— 2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (A) means any authorization required 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | under Federal law with respect to a project; 4 |
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| 65 | 65 | | and 5 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (B) includes any permits, special use au-6 |
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| 67 | 67 | | thorizations, certifications, opinions, or other 7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | approvals as may be required under Federal law 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | with respect to a project. 9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (4) R |
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| 71 | 71 | | IGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘‘right-of- 10 |
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| 72 | 72 | | way’’— 11 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (A) means— 12 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (i) the area on, below, or above a 13 |
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| 75 | 75 | | roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, alley, 14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | or similar property (whether currently or 15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | previously used in such manner); and 16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (ii) any land immediately adjacent to 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | and contiguous with property described in 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | clause (i) that is within the right-of-way 19 |
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| 81 | 81 | | grant; and 20 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (B) does not include a portion of the Inter-21 |
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| 83 | 83 | | state System (as such term is defined in section 22 |
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| 84 | 84 | | 101(a) of title 23, United States Code). 23 |
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| 85 | 85 | | Æ |
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| 86 | 86 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Mar 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2298.IH H2298 |
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| 87 | 87 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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