| 1 | 1 | | ii |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 323 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and |
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| 6 | 6 | | Information to develop a National Strategy to Synchronize Federal |
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| 7 | 7 | | Broadband Programs, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY29, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. W |
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| 11 | 11 | | ICKER(for himself, Mr. LUJA´N, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the fol- |
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| 12 | 12 | | lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com- |
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| 13 | 13 | | merce, Science, and Transportation |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Commu- |
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| 16 | 16 | | nications and Information to develop a National Strategy |
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| 17 | 17 | | to Synchronize Federal Broadband Programs, and for |
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| 18 | 18 | | other purposes. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Proper Leadership to 4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Align Networks for Broadband Act’’ or the ‘‘PLAN for 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Broadband Act’’. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | In this Act: 8 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 30 | 30 | | (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON -1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | gress’’ means— 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | and Transportation of the Senate; and 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (B) the Committee on Energy and Com-6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | merce of the House of Representatives. 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) A |
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| 38 | 38 | | SSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist-8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Commerce for Communications and Information. 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (3) B |
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| 42 | 42 | | ROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE .— 11 |
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| 43 | 43 | | The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 12 |
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| 44 | 44 | | the meaning given the term in section 8.1(b) of title 13 |
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| 45 | 45 | | 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 14 |
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| 46 | 46 | | regulation. 15 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (4) C |
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| 48 | 48 | | OVERED AGENCIES .—The term ‘‘covered 16 |
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| 49 | 49 | | agencies’’ means— 17 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (A) the Federal Communications Commis-18 |
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| 51 | 51 | | sion; 19 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (B) the Department of Agriculture; 20 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (C) the National Telecommunications and 21 |
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| 54 | 54 | | Information Administration; 22 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (D) the Department of Health and Human 23 |
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| 56 | 56 | | Services; 24 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (E) the Appalachian Regional Commission; 25 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 61 | 61 | | (F) the Delta Regional Authority; 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (G) the Denali Commission; 2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (H) the Economic Development Adminis-3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | tration; 4 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (I) the Department of Education; 5 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (J) the Department of the Treasury; 6 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (K) the Department of Transportation; 7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (L) the Institute of Museum and Library 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Services; 9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (M) the Northern Border Regional Com-10 |
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| 71 | 71 | | mission; 11 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (N) the Department of Housing and 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Urban Development; and 13 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (O) the Department of the Interior. 14 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (5) D |
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| 76 | 76 | | EPLOYMENT LOCATIONS MAP .—The term 15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ‘‘Deployment Locations Map’’ has the meaning given 16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | the term in section 60105(a) of the Infrastructure 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | Investment and Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 1704(a)). 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (6) F |
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| 81 | 81 | | EDERAL BROADBAND PROGRAM .—The 19 |
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| 82 | 82 | | term ‘‘Federal broadband program’’ means any pro-20 |
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| 83 | 83 | | gram administered by a covered agency that is di-21 |
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| 84 | 84 | | rectly or indirectly intended to increase the deploy-22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ment of, access to, the affordability of, or the adop-23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | tion of broadband internet access service. 24 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 90 | 90 | | (7) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY .— 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | means— 3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (A) the National Park Service; 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (B) the Bureau of Land Management; 5 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (C) the Bureau of Reclamation; 6 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 7 |
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| 97 | 97 | | Service; 8 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (E) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 9 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (F) the Forest Service. 10 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (8) I |
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| 101 | 101 | | MPLEMENTATION PLAN .—The term ‘‘Im-11 |
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| 102 | 102 | | plementation Plan’’ means the implementation plan 12 |
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| 103 | 103 | | developed under section 4(a). 13 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (9) S |
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| 105 | 105 | | TRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 14 |
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| 106 | 106 | | the National Strategy to Synchronize Federal 15 |
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| 107 | 107 | | Broadband Programs developed under section 3(a). 16 |
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| 108 | 108 | | SEC. 3. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO SYNCHRONIZE FEDERAL 17 |
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| 109 | 109 | | BROADBAND PROGRAMS. 18 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (a) I |
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| 111 | 111 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 19 |
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| 112 | 112 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in 20 |
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| 113 | 113 | | consultation with the covered agencies, shall develop and 21 |
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| 114 | 114 | | submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a Na-22 |
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| 115 | 115 | | tional Strategy to Synchronize Federal Broadband Pro-23 |
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| 116 | 116 | | grams to— 24 |
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| 119 | 119 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 120 | 120 | | (1) support better management of Federal 1 |
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| 121 | 121 | | broadband programs to deliver on the goal of pro-2 |
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| 122 | 122 | | viding access to high-speed, affordable broadband 3 |
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| 123 | 123 | | internet access service to all individuals in the 4 |
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| 124 | 124 | | United States, while ensuring that funding for Fed-5 |
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| 125 | 125 | | eral broadband programs is used in the most effi-6 |
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| 126 | 126 | | cient and fiscally responsible manner; 7 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (2) synchronize interagency coordination among 8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | covered agencies for Federal broadband programs; 9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (3) synchronize interagency coordination re-10 |
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| 130 | 130 | | garding the process for approving the grant of any 11 |
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| 131 | 131 | | permit, easement, right of way, or lease to, in, over, 12 |
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| 132 | 132 | | or on a building or any other property owned by the 13 |
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| 133 | 133 | | Federal Government for the right to install, con-14 |
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| 134 | 134 | | struct, modify, or maintain infrastructure with re-15 |
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| 135 | 135 | | spect to broadband internet access service; and 16 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (4) reduce unnecessary barriers, eliminate un-17 |
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| 137 | 137 | | necessary costs, and ease administrative burdens to 18 |
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| 138 | 138 | | participate in Federal broadband programs. 19 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (b) R |
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| 140 | 140 | | EQUIREMENTS.—The Strategy shall— 20 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (1) list all— 21 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (A) Federal broadband programs; and 22 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (B) programs that exist at the State and 23 |
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| 144 | 144 | | local levels that are directly or indirectly in-24 |
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| 145 | 145 | | tended to increase the deployment of, access to, 25 |
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| 148 | 148 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 149 | 149 | | the affordability of, or the adoption of 1 |
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| 150 | 150 | | broadband internet access service; 2 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (2) describe current, as of the date on which 3 |
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| 152 | 152 | | the Strategy is submitted, Federal efforts to coordi-4 |
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| 153 | 153 | | nate Federal broadband programs; 5 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (3) identify gaps and limitations, including 6 |
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| 155 | 155 | | laws, regulations, and covered agency policies and 7 |
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| 156 | 156 | | practices, that hinder, or may hinder, coordination 8 |
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| 157 | 157 | | across Federal broadband programs; 9 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (4) establish clear roles and responsibilities for 10 |
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| 159 | 159 | | the covered agencies, as well as clear goals, objec-11 |
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| 160 | 160 | | tives, and performance measures, for— 12 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (A) the management of all Federal 13 |
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| 162 | 162 | | broadband programs; and 14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (B) interagency coordination efforts with 15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | respect to Federal broadband programs; 16 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (5) address the cost of the Strategy, the sources 17 |
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| 166 | 166 | | and types of resources and investments needed to 18 |
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| 167 | 167 | | carry out the Strategy, and where those resources 19 |
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| 168 | 168 | | and investments should be targeted based on bal-20 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ancing risk reductions with costs; 21 |
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| 170 | 170 | | (6) address factors that increase the costs and 22 |
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| 171 | 171 | | administrative burdens of participation in Federal 23 |
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| 172 | 172 | | broadband programs, including with respect to ac-24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 176 | 176 | | cess to infrastructure necessary for deployment of 1 |
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| 177 | 177 | | broadband internet access service; 2 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (7) report information on the effectiveness of 3 |
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| 179 | 179 | | each Federal broadband program in terms of how 4 |
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| 180 | 180 | | many locations received broadband internet access 5 |
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| 181 | 181 | | service or other assistance under each Federal 6 |
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| 182 | 182 | | broadband program; 7 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (8) address the extent to which covered agency 8 |
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| 184 | 184 | | policies and practices do or do not establish a tech-9 |
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| 185 | 185 | | nologically neutral program; 10 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (9) recommend incentives, legislative solutions, 11 |
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| 187 | 187 | | and administrative actions to help State, local, and 12 |
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| 188 | 188 | | Tribal governments more efficiently— 13 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (A) distribute, and effectively administer, 14 |
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| 190 | 190 | | funding received from Federal broadband pro-15 |
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| 191 | 191 | | grams and avoid duplication of— 16 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (i) existing infrastructure with respect 17 |
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| 193 | 193 | | to broadband internet access service; and 18 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (ii) funded projects with respect to 19 |
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| 195 | 195 | | broadband internet access service or such 20 |
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| 196 | 196 | | projects otherwise subject to enforceable 21 |
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| 197 | 197 | | deployment obligations; 22 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (B) resolve conflicts with respect to the 23 |
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| 199 | 199 | | funding described in subparagraph (A); 24 |
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| 202 | 202 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 203 | 203 | | (C) use the Deployment Locations Map as 1 |
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| 204 | 204 | | a key resource in carrying out subparagraphs 2 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (A) and (B); and 3 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (D) promote access to infrastructure or 4 |
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| 207 | 207 | | rights of way necessary for deployment of 5 |
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| 208 | 208 | | broadband internet access service, whether pri-6 |
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| 209 | 209 | | vately or government owned or cooperatively or-7 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ganized for broadband communications; 8 |
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| 211 | 211 | | (10) recommend incentives, legislative solutions, 9 |
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| 212 | 212 | | and administrative actions to— 10 |
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| 213 | 213 | | (A) improve the coordination and manage-11 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ment of Federal broadband programs; and 12 |
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| 215 | 215 | | (B) eliminate duplication with respect to 13 |
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| 216 | 216 | | Federal broadband programs and non-Federal 14 |
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| 217 | 217 | | programs with respect to broadband internet 15 |
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| 218 | 218 | | access service; 16 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (11) describe current, as of the date on which 17 |
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| 220 | 220 | | the Strategy is submitted, efforts by covered agen-18 |
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| 221 | 221 | | cies, Federal land management agencies, and State, 19 |
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| 222 | 222 | | local, and Tribal governments to streamline the 20 |
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| 223 | 223 | | process for granting a permit or access to an ease-21 |
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| 224 | 224 | | ment, right of way, or lease to, in, over, or on a 22 |
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| 225 | 225 | | building or any other property owned or controlled 23 |
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| 226 | 226 | | by a government for the right to install, construct, 24 |
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| 229 | 229 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 230 | 230 | | modify, or maintain infrastructure with respect to 1 |
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| 231 | 231 | | broadband internet access service; 2 |
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| 232 | 232 | | (12) identify gaps and limitations with respect 3 |
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| 233 | 233 | | to allowing regional, interstate, or cross-border eco-4 |
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| 234 | 234 | | nomic development organizations to participate in 5 |
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| 235 | 235 | | Federal broadband programs; 6 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (13) address specific issues relating to closing 7 |
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| 237 | 237 | | the gap on Tribal lands with respect to broadband 8 |
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| 238 | 238 | | internet access service; and 9 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (14) identify measures to prevent fraud and 10 |
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| 240 | 240 | | misuse of amounts made available to carry out Fed-11 |
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| 241 | 241 | | eral broadband programs, ensure accountability for 12 |
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| 242 | 242 | | the use of such funding, and implement effective re-13 |
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| 243 | 243 | | porting requirements to measure the success of Fed-14 |
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| 244 | 244 | | eral broadband programs. 15 |
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| 245 | 245 | | SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 16 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (a) I |
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| 247 | 247 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 17 |
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| 248 | 248 | | date on which the Assistant Secretary submits the Strat-18 |
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| 249 | 249 | | egy to the appropriate committees of Congress under sec-19 |
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| 250 | 250 | | tion 3(a), the Assistant Secretary shall develop and submit 20 |
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| 251 | 251 | | to the appropriate committees of Congress an implementa-21 |
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| 252 | 252 | | tion plan for the Strategy. 22 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (b) I |
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| 254 | 254 | | MPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The Implementation 23 |
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| 255 | 255 | | Plan shall, at a minimum— 24 |
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| 258 | 258 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 259 | 259 | | (1) provide a plan for implementing the roles, 1 |
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| 260 | 260 | | responsibilities, goals, objectives, and performance 2 |
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| 261 | 261 | | measures for the management of Federal broadband 3 |
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| 262 | 262 | | programs and interagency coordination efforts iden-4 |
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| 263 | 263 | | tified in the Strategy; 5 |
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| 264 | 264 | | (2) if the Strategy identifies policy and prac-6 |
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| 265 | 265 | | tices that result in programmatic differences among 7 |
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| 266 | 266 | | covered agencies with respect to Federal broadband 8 |
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| 267 | 267 | | programs, provide a plan to streamline and create 9 |
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| 268 | 268 | | consistent policies and practices across all covered 10 |
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| 269 | 269 | | agencies for the purposes of Federal broadband pro-11 |
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| 270 | 270 | | grams; 12 |
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| 271 | 271 | | (3) for Federal broadband programs that are 13 |
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| 272 | 272 | | not technologically neutral, determine a ceiling on 14 |
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| 273 | 273 | | the amount of a subsidy or funding award to provide 15 |
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| 274 | 274 | | broadband internet access service to a single loca-16 |
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| 275 | 275 | | tion, to be consistently applied and adopted by all 17 |
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| 276 | 276 | | covered agencies for the funding of infrastructure 18 |
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| 277 | 277 | | with respect to broadband internet access service; 19 |
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| 278 | 278 | | (4) provide a plan for holding the covered agen-20 |
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| 279 | 279 | | cies accountable for the roles, responsibilities, goals, 21 |
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| 280 | 280 | | objectives, and performance measures identified in 22 |
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| 281 | 281 | | the Strategy; 23 |
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| 284 | 284 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 285 | 285 | | (5) describe the roles and responsibilities of the 1 |
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| 286 | 286 | | covered agencies, and the interagency mechanisms, 2 |
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| 287 | 287 | | to coordinate the implementation of the Strategy; 3 |
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| 288 | 288 | | (6) provide a plan for coordination among Fed-4 |
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| 289 | 289 | | eral broadband programs and for permitting proc-5 |
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| 290 | 290 | | esses for infrastructure with respect to broadband 6 |
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| 291 | 291 | | internet access service; 7 |
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| 292 | 292 | | (7) provide a plan for regular evaluation and 8 |
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| 293 | 293 | | public reporting of Federal broadband programs 9 |
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| 294 | 294 | | against clear objectives and performance measures, 10 |
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| 295 | 295 | | permitting processes for infrastructure with respect 11 |
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| 296 | 296 | | to broadband internet access service, and progress in 12 |
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| 297 | 297 | | implementing the Strategy; 13 |
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| 298 | 298 | | (8) with respect to the awarding of Federal 14 |
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| 299 | 299 | | funds or subsidies to support the deployment of 15 |
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| 300 | 300 | | broadband internet access service, provide a plan for 16 |
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| 301 | 301 | | the adoption of— 17 |
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| 302 | 302 | | (A) common data sets regarding those 18 |
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| 303 | 303 | | awards, including a requirement that covered 19 |
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| 304 | 304 | | agencies use the maps created under title VIII 20 |
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| 305 | 305 | | of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 21 |
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| 306 | 306 | | 641 et seq.) and the Deployment Locations 22 |
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| 307 | 307 | | Map; 23 |
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| 310 | 310 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 311 | 311 | | (B) applications regarding those awards, 1 |
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| 312 | 312 | | as described in section 903(e) of the ACCESS 2 |
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| 313 | 313 | | BROADBAND Act (47 U.S.C. 1307(e)); and 3 |
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| 314 | 314 | | (C) rules for prohibiting awards by covered 4 |
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| 315 | 315 | | agencies in areas identified as served by the 5 |
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| 316 | 316 | | maps created under title VIII of the Commu-6 |
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| 317 | 317 | | nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 641 et seq.) 7 |
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| 318 | 318 | | or in areas already subject to an award or en-8 |
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| 319 | 319 | | forceable deployment obligations by a covered 9 |
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| 320 | 320 | | agency under a Federal broadband program or 10 |
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| 321 | 321 | | a State, local, or Tribal program with respect to 11 |
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| 322 | 322 | | broadband internet access service; 12 |
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| 323 | 323 | | (9) provide a plan to monitor, publicly report, 13 |
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| 324 | 324 | | and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal 14 |
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| 325 | 325 | | broadband programs, including wasteful spending re-15 |
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| 326 | 326 | | sulting from fragmented, overlapping, and duplica-16 |
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| 327 | 327 | | tive programs; 17 |
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| 328 | 328 | | (10) require consistent obligation and expendi-18 |
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| 329 | 329 | | ture reporting by covered agencies for Federal 19 |
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| 330 | 330 | | broadband programs, which shall be consistent with 20 |
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| 331 | 331 | | section 903(c)(2) of the ACCESS BROADBAND 21 |
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| 332 | 332 | | Act (47 U.S.C. 1307(c)(2)) and the Deployment Lo-22 |
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| 333 | 333 | | cations Map; 23 |
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| 334 | 334 | | (11) provide a plan to increase awareness of, 24 |
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| 335 | 335 | | and participation in, Federal broadband programs 25 |
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| 337 | 337 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13 |
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| 338 | 338 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 339 | 339 | | relating to the affordability and adoption of 1 |
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| 340 | 340 | | broadband internet access service; and 2 |
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| 341 | 341 | | (12) describe the administrative and legislative 3 |
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| 342 | 342 | | action that is necessary to carry out the Strategy. 4 |
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| 343 | 343 | | (c) P |
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| 344 | 344 | | UBLICCOMMENT.—In developing the Implemen-5 |
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| 345 | 345 | | tation Plan, the Assistant Secretary shall publish a draft 6 |
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| 346 | 346 | | version of the Implementation Plan in the Federal Reg-7 |
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| 347 | 347 | | ister for a period of notice and comment (and reply com-8 |
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| 348 | 348 | | ment) that is not less than 60 days. 9 |
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| 349 | 349 | | SEC. 5. BRIEFINGS AND IMPLEMENTATION. 10 |
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| 350 | 350 | | (a) B |
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| 351 | 351 | | RIEFING.—Not later than 21 days after the date 11 |
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| 352 | 352 | | on which the Assistant Secretary submits the Implementa-12 |
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| 353 | 353 | | tion Plan to the appropriate committees of Congress under 13 |
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| 354 | 354 | | section 4(a), the Assistant Secretary, and appropriate rep-14 |
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| 355 | 355 | | resentatives from the covered agencies involved in the for-15 |
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| 356 | 356 | | mulation of the Strategy, shall provide a briefing on the 16 |
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| 357 | 357 | | implementation of the Strategy to the appropriate commit-17 |
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| 358 | 358 | | tees of Congress. 18 |
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| 359 | 359 | | (b) I |
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| 360 | 360 | | MPLEMENTATION.— 19 |
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| 361 | 361 | | (1) I |
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| 362 | 362 | | N GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 20 |
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| 363 | 363 | | shall— 21 |
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| 364 | 364 | | (A) implement the Strategy in accordance 22 |
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| 365 | 365 | | with the terms of the Implementation Plan; and 23 |
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| 366 | 366 | | (B) not later than 90 days after the date 24 |
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| 367 | 367 | | on which the Assistant Secretary begins to im-25 |
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| 370 | 370 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 371 | 371 | | plement the Strategy, and not less frequently 1 |
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| 372 | 372 | | than once every 90 days thereafter until the 2 |
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| 373 | 373 | | date on which the Implementation Plan is fully 3 |
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| 374 | 374 | | implemented, brief the appropriate committees 4 |
|---|
| 375 | 375 | | of Congress on the progress in implementing 5 |
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| 376 | 376 | | the Implementation Plan. 6 |
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| 377 | 377 | | (2) R |
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| 378 | 378 | | ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this 7 |
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| 379 | 379 | | subsection may be construed to affect the authority 8 |
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| 380 | 380 | | or jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Com-9 |
|---|
| 381 | 381 | | mission or confer upon the Assistant Secretary or 10 |
|---|
| 382 | 382 | | any executive agency the power to direct the actions 11 |
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| 383 | 383 | | of the Federal Communications Commission, either 12 |
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| 384 | 384 | | directly or indirectly. 13 |
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| 385 | 385 | | SEC. 6. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY 14 |
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| 386 | 386 | | AND REPORT. 15 |
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| 387 | 387 | | Not later than 1 year after the date on which the 16 |
|---|
| 388 | 388 | | Assistant Secretary submits the Implementation Plan to 17 |
|---|
| 389 | 389 | | the appropriate committees of Congress under section 18 |
|---|
| 390 | 390 | | 4(a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 19 |
|---|
| 391 | 391 | | commence a study— 20 |
|---|
| 392 | 392 | | (1) that shall— 21 |
|---|
| 393 | 393 | | (A) examine the efficacy of the Strategy 22 |
|---|
| 394 | 394 | | and the Implementation Plan in coordinating 23 |
|---|
| 395 | 395 | | funding across the Federal Government with re-24 |
|---|
| 396 | 396 | | spect to broadband internet access service; 25 |
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| 400 | 400 | | (B) make recommendations regarding how 1 |
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| 401 | 401 | | to improve the Strategy and the Implementa-2 |
|---|
| 402 | 402 | | tion Plan; 3 |
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| 403 | 403 | | (C) examine any existing or new perform-4 |
|---|
| 404 | 404 | | ance goals and measures for Federal broadband 5 |
|---|
| 405 | 405 | | programs; 6 |
|---|
| 406 | 406 | | (D) examine any awards made by covered 7 |
|---|
| 407 | 407 | | agencies under Federal broadband programs, or 8 |
|---|
| 408 | 408 | | under State, local, and Tribal programs with 9 |
|---|
| 409 | 409 | | respect to broadband internet access service— 10 |
|---|
| 410 | 410 | | (i) in areas identified as served with 11 |
|---|
| 411 | 411 | | respect to broadband internet access serv-12 |
|---|
| 412 | 412 | | ice; or 13 |
|---|
| 413 | 413 | | (ii) that are duplicative of other 14 |
|---|
| 414 | 414 | | awards under such a program; and 15 |
|---|
| 415 | 415 | | (E) identify programmatic changes that 16 |
|---|
| 416 | 416 | | would prevent occurrences described in subpara-17 |
|---|
| 417 | 417 | | graph (D) in the future; and 18 |
|---|
| 418 | 418 | | (2) the results of which the Comptroller Gen-19 |
|---|
| 419 | 419 | | eral shall submit to the appropriate committees of 20 |
|---|
| 420 | 420 | | Congress. 21 |
|---|
| 421 | 421 | | SEC. 7. BROADBAND FUNDING MAP REPORTING. 22 |
|---|
| 422 | 422 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 423 | 423 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 23 |
|---|
| 424 | 424 | | date of enactment of this Act, the head of each covered 24 |
|---|
| 425 | 425 | | agency shall submit to the Assistant Secretary and the ap-25 |
|---|
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| 428 | 428 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 429 | 429 | | propriate committees of Congress a report containing a 1 |
|---|
| 430 | 430 | | comprehensive update on the measures that each respec-2 |
|---|
| 431 | 431 | | tive covered agency has taken since May 15, 2023, to co-3 |
|---|
| 432 | 432 | | ordinate with the National Telecommunications and Infor-4 |
|---|
| 433 | 433 | | mation Administration, pursuant to subsection (c)(2)(A) 5 |
|---|
| 434 | 434 | | of the ACCESS BROADBAND Act (47 U.S.C. 6 |
|---|
| 435 | 435 | | 1307(c)(2)(A)), and the Federal Communications Com-7 |
|---|
| 436 | 436 | | mission to populate the Deployment Locations Map. 8 |
|---|
| 437 | 437 | | (b) C |
|---|
| 438 | 438 | | ONTENTS.—Each report required under sub-9 |
|---|
| 439 | 439 | | section (a) shall include— 10 |
|---|
| 440 | 440 | | (1) a description of the extent to which the cov-11 |
|---|
| 441 | 441 | | ered agency submitting the report is submitting the 12 |
|---|
| 442 | 442 | | data necessary to populate the Deployment Loca-13 |
|---|
| 443 | 443 | | tions Map in a complete and timely manner; and 14 |
|---|
| 444 | 444 | | (2) identification of any outstanding challenges 15 |
|---|
| 445 | 445 | | associated with the requirement for the submission 16 |
|---|
| 446 | 446 | | of data described in paragraph (1). 17 |
|---|
| 447 | 447 | | SEC. 8. TRACKING AND IMPROVING PROCESSING TIMES 18 |
|---|
| 448 | 448 | | FOR COMMUNICATIONS USE APPLICATIONS. 19 |
|---|
| 449 | 449 | | Section 6409(b)(3) of the Middle Class Tax Relief 20 |
|---|
| 450 | 450 | | and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(b)(3)) is 21 |
|---|
| 451 | 451 | | amended by adding at the end the following: 22 |
|---|
| 452 | 452 | | ‘‘(E) T |
|---|
| 453 | 453 | | RACKING AND IMPROVING PROC -23 |
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| 454 | 454 | | ESSING TIMES.— 24 |
|---|
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| 457 | 457 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 458 | 458 | | ‘‘(i) DATA CONTROLS.—An executive 1 |
|---|
| 459 | 459 | | agency shall develop controls to ensure 2 |
|---|
| 460 | 460 | | that data is sufficiently accurate and com-3 |
|---|
| 461 | 461 | | plete to track the processing time for each 4 |
|---|
| 462 | 462 | | application described in subparagraph (A). 5 |
|---|
| 463 | 463 | | ‘‘(ii) R |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | EQUIREMENT TO ANALYZE , AD-6 |
|---|
| 465 | 465 | | DRESS, AND REPORT ON DELAY FAC -7 |
|---|
| 466 | 466 | | TORS.—With respect to the factors that 8 |
|---|
| 467 | 467 | | contribute to delays in processing applica-9 |
|---|
| 468 | 468 | | tions described in subparagraph (A), an 10 |
|---|
| 469 | 469 | | executive agency shall— 11 |
|---|
| 470 | 470 | | ‘‘(I) analyze the factors as the 12 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | delays are occurring; 13 |
|---|
| 472 | 472 | | ‘‘(II) take actions to address the 14 |
|---|
| 473 | 473 | | factors; and 15 |
|---|
| 474 | 474 | | ‘‘(III) provide an annual report 16 |
|---|
| 475 | 475 | | on the factors to— 17 |
|---|
| 476 | 476 | | ‘‘(aa) the Committee on 18 |
|---|
| 477 | 477 | | Commerce, Science, and Trans-19 |
|---|
| 478 | 478 | | portation of the Senate; 20 |
|---|
| 479 | 479 | | ‘‘(bb) the Committee on En-21 |
|---|
| 480 | 480 | | ergy and Natural Resources of 22 |
|---|
| 481 | 481 | | the Senate; 23 |
|---|
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| 484 | 484 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 485 | 485 | | ‘‘(cc) the Committee on En-1 |
|---|
| 486 | 486 | | ergy and Commerce of the House 2 |
|---|
| 487 | 487 | | of Representatives; 3 |
|---|
| 488 | 488 | | ‘‘(dd) the Committee on 4 |
|---|
| 489 | 489 | | Natural Resources of the House 5 |
|---|
| 490 | 490 | | of Representatives; and 6 |
|---|
| 491 | 491 | | ‘‘(ee) each committee of 7 |
|---|
| 492 | 492 | | Congress with jurisdiction over 8 |
|---|
| 493 | 493 | | the executive agency. 9 |
|---|
| 494 | 494 | | ‘‘(iii) M |
|---|
| 495 | 495 | | ETHOD FOR ALERTING STAFF 10 |
|---|
| 496 | 496 | | TO AT-RISK APPLICATIONS.—An executive 11 |
|---|
| 497 | 497 | | agency shall establish a method to alert 12 |
|---|
| 498 | 498 | | employees of the executive agency to any 13 |
|---|
| 499 | 499 | | application described in subparagraph (A) 14 |
|---|
| 500 | 500 | | with respect to which the executive agency 15 |
|---|
| 501 | 501 | | is at risk of failing to meet the 270-day 16 |
|---|
| 502 | 502 | | deadline under that subparagraph.’’. 17 |
|---|
| 503 | 503 | | SEC. 9. MINIMUM BROADBAND PROJECT COST. 18 |
|---|
| 504 | 504 | | Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 19 |
|---|
| 505 | 505 | | 4370m(6)(A)) is amended— 20 |
|---|
| 506 | 506 | | (1) in clause (iii)(III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 21 |
|---|
| 507 | 507 | | end; 22 |
|---|
| 508 | 508 | | (2) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v); 23 |
|---|
| 509 | 509 | | and 24 |
|---|
| 510 | 510 | | (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following: 25 |
|---|
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| 513 | 513 | | •S 323 IS |
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| 514 | 514 | | ‘‘(iv)(I) is subject to NEPA; 1 |
|---|
| 515 | 515 | | ‘‘(II) involves the construction of in-2 |
|---|
| 516 | 516 | | frastructure for broadband; and 3 |
|---|
| 517 | 517 | | ‘‘(III) is likely to require a total in-4 |
|---|
| 518 | 518 | | vestment of more than $5,000,000; or’’. 5 |
|---|
| 519 | 519 | | SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 6 |
|---|
| 520 | 520 | | Nothing in this Act, or any amendment made by this 7 |
|---|
| 521 | 521 | | Act, may be construed to confer authority on the Federal 8 |
|---|
| 522 | 522 | | Government, or any State, local, or Tribal government, to 9 |
|---|
| 523 | 523 | | regulate broadband internet access service. 10 |
|---|
| 524 | 524 | | Æ |
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