Senators Reintroduce Bill for Faster Broadband Permitting on Federal Land

According to reports, on March 5, Senators John Thune, Ben Ray Luján, and John Barrasso reintroduced the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act. The bill's purpose is to improve executive agencies' processing of permit applications to construct communications facilities on federal land. 

As explained in my blog post from August 7, 2024, executive agencies with supervision over federal lands have been found by have problems processing permit applications within the MOBILE NOW Act's 270-day deadline. The Accelerating Broadband Permits Act is intended to help identify instances where the agencies are at risk of missing deadlines deadline and ensure they meet them.

 

The Accelerating Broadband Permits Act isn't a big, wasteful spending bill. It is an agency accountability bill that could help accelerate broadband network on land held in trust or owned by the federal government. Senators Thune, Luján, and Barrasso deserve credit for bringing this bill back. Hopefully, the Act fares better in the 119th Congress and receives timely consideration.

 

(At the time of this blog post, no bill number or link to the bill are available on the Senate's website.) 

Senate Bill Would Ensure Timely Broadband Infrastructure Builds on Federal Land

On July 29, Senators John Thune, Ben Ray Luján, and John Barrasso introduced the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act. The purpose of the bill is to improve executive agencies’ processing of permit applications for the construction of communications facility installations on federal land. Under the MOBILE NOW Act of 2018, executive agencies with supervision over federal lands have 270 days to make decisions on applications for permits to build towers, antennas, cables, or any other infrastructure associated with wireless or wireline services. An April 2024 Government Accountability Office Report found problems with agencies processing those applications within the deadline. The Accelerating Broadband Permits Act is intended to address those problems and help identify instances where the agencies are likely to fail to meet the deadline and ensure timely processing.

The FCC has long recognized that local permitting processes are often a major impediment to timely broadband access. The Accelerating Broadband Permits Act would help alleviate that impediment on federal lands. The Act appears to be worthwhile legislation that could help accelerate network infrastructure deployment to underserved and unserved Americans. Much land in western states is held in trust or owned by the federal government, and federal agencies must fulfill the responsibilities that come with being a trustee or property owner, not to mention comply with the MOBILE NOW Act. 

 

Senators Thune, Luján, and Barrasso deserve credit for bringing forward this bill. Several billion dollars in subsidies are going to be distributed by NTIA to the states under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to fund new buildouts. The effectiveness of BEAD Program subsidy dollars will depend, to a significant extent, on having workable federal siting policies in place. The 118th Congress should give the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act timely consideration.  

Senators Reintroduce Bill to Require FCC Report on USF Contribution Reforms

On March 16, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Lujan, Roger Wicker, Todd Young, and Mark Kelly announced the reintroduction of the Funding Affordable Internet and Reliable (FAIR) Contributions Act. The bill, if passed by Congress, would require the FCC to conduct a feasibility study on collecting Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions from Internet edge providers. 

In a July 22, 2021 blog post, "Bill Would Require FCC to Consider Big Tech Contributions to Universal Service Fund," Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long wrote about the FAIR Contributions Act upon its introduction in the 117th Congress. As Mr. Long explained, the FAIR Contributions Act would require the FCC to study and report to Congress on the classes of services that potentially could be assessed, along with the relative merits for different proposals for selecting those services and ways of calculating the required USF contributions. The study and report also would address what sort of statutory authority the Commission would need in order to adopt such contribution reforms as well as the impact of such reforms on universal service programs. Additionally, the report would address the continued necessity of USF once broadband service capability has been deployed to all Americans. 

USF contribution reform is sorely needed, as I reiterated in my March 15 blog post, "Consumers Still Burdened as FCC Sets USF Surcharge Rate at 29%." Indeed, as Free State Foundation President Randolph May, Mr. Long, and I wrote in public comments filed in the FCC's Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund proceeding in February 2022: 

As it now stands, the existing universal service system is fiscally unsustainable, and it most likely will collapse unless it is fixed. The USF contribution base is shrinking while program expenditures exceed $8 billion per year. Voice consumers are subject to a 25%-to-30% surcharge rate that has climbed exponentially over the last two decades. When Congress enacted Section 254 in 1996, it primarily had in mind voice services, not broadband services. Going forward, the universal service system needs a substantial make-over to comport with today's broadband- centric Internet ecosystem. 

The FAIR Contributions Act is a step is step in the right direction. There is plenty of upside in authorizing a careful study of the issue and no downside in doing so. The Senate should timely advance the bill and the 118th Congress should pass it. 

Senators Introduce the Rural Internet Improvement Act

 On November 29, Senators John Thune and Ben Ray Lujan introduced S.5137 – the Rural Internet Improvement Act of 2022. The bill's purpose is to reform existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development broadband programs and ensure that program dollars are directed to connect rural areas that are unserved or underserved.

According to a press release for the Rural Internet Improvement Act, the legislation would do the following: 

1. Streamline USDA's broadband authorities by merging and codifying the popular Rural e-Connectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect) with USDA's traditional broadband loan and grant program;
2. Ensure ReConnect funding is going to areas most in need of reliable broadband service by limiting funding to areas where at least 90 percent of households lack access to broadband service;
3. Enhance the participation of all types of broadband providers in the ReConnect Program by removing unnecessary barriers;
4. Increase transparency by improving the challenge process in the ReConnect Program;
5. Improve the coordination between USDA and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on broadband programs; and
6. Require USDA to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the FCC and National Telecommunications and Information Administration to facilitate outreach to rural residents and businesses of available federal programs that promote broadband access, broadband affordability, and broadband inclusion.

No House companion legislation to S.5137 has yet been announced. 

 

The Rural Internet Improvement Act appears to be a responsible and constructive measure for helping to ensure that broadband subsidy programs are efficiently and effectively implemented by USDA. Along with interagency coordination among USDA, NTIA, and the FCC, intra-agency coordination of broadband deployment subsidy programs through streamlined processes or merging of disparate programs is no doubt essential to ensure that precious tax dollars are spent wisely and that duplicative efforts and other forms of fraud, waste, or abuse are avoided. 

 

Congressional oversight is also necessary to help ensure that the billions in subsidies Congress has allocated to promote broadband deployment are well spent. Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long addressed this important topic his November 10, 2022 Perspectives from FSF Scholars, "Absent Oversight, the Broadband Funding Faucet Likely Will Overflow."