On April 13 a broad coalition of 13 associations representing different parts of America’s communications infrastructure wrote a joint letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to support passage of H.R 2289, the American Broadband Deployment Act (ABDA). The House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed the bill 26-24. The Rules Committee is scheduled to consider it on Monday, April 20.
The letter pointed out that, while Congress has devoted over $42 billion to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment and other programs, builders continue to face persistent permitting barriers that delay deployment and realizing the full benefits of the funds. The letter makes several common arguments in favor of implementing permitting reform. First, the cost of delay due to inefficient permitting processes limits the reach of broadband networks and raises costs to consumers. Second, every dollar that is devoted to the permitting process is a dollar that cannot be invested in more efficient networking equipment. Third, broadband deployment supports America’s strategic position in the global contest to advance artificial intelligence because AI cannot function without connectivity.
H.R 2289 seeks to advance broadband deployment by establishing seamless, nationwide rules for obtaining federal, state, and local permits needed to complete broadband deployment. The ABDA codifies the FCC’s deployment streamlining orders and interpretations developed over the past two decades and builds on two current FCC efforts to speed permitting for wireless and wired deployments, respectively. The bill attempts to set out clear rules for state and local agencies, including streamlined review for deployments on existing infrastructure, binding shot clocks, and limits on the amount of fees and other conditions that can be imposed by agencies.
At the federal level, the bill provides that certain requests to modify an existing wireless tower or base station by collecting, removing, or replacing transmission equipment will not be considered a “major federal action” under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or an undertaking” under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). This excuses companies from having to undergo long and costly environmental reviews.
The letter notes that the House has already passed two pieces of permitting legislation on a voice vote. H.R. 1665 passed the House on March 16, 2026. It directs the Secretaries of the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture to establish an online portal for the acceptance, processing, and disposal of forms seeking permission to use federal land for communications purposes. Each portal will be published on the website of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for public use.
H.R. 5419 passed the House on March 3, 2026. It directs the Secretaries of the Department of the Interior and Agriculture to each conduct a study of programmatic or administrative barriers to the timely review of requests for broadband use authorizations, whether revisions to rules or regulations could improve efficiency with respect to reviewing requests for broadband land use authorizations, and whether there are processes for prioritizing the review of requests for broadband land use authorizations. Within a year the Secretaries must give a joint report to Congress describing the results of their respective studies, including any reforms described therein, together with a plan for providing the staffing necessary to ensure timely review of broadband land use authorizations.
It is notable that the focus on federal permitting efforts seems largely confined to reducing the requirements of the two major pieces of environmental legislation. This is consistent with two recent reports on federal permitting requirements. A 2024 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service process most applications from telecommunications providers to install communications use equipment or facilities—including for broadband Internet—on federal property. However, GAO found that from fiscal years 2018 through 2022, these agencies lacked accurate and complete data needed to determine the processing time for 42 percent and 7 percent, respectively, of their communications use applications. These agencies also lacked the necessary controls to ensure staff entered key information, such as start and end dates, in their electronic systems. A more recent study concluded that there are no recent data on the costs that wireless providers face when complying with NEPA and NHPA. Using data obtained through surveys and working sessions, it estimated that mobile wireless providers would spend over $2.2 billion on regulatory compliance within the next decade.
While H.R.2289 will certainly help companies obtain federal licenses faster and with less expense, state and local requirements may be less amenable to reform. The ABDA has generated significant opposition from state and local agencies. As part of its broader efforts to reform regulations, the FCC has initiated two important proceedings to eliminate unnecessary delays in broadband deployment imposed by state and local governments. These include a Notice of Inquiry focused on eliminating barriers to wireline deployments and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for wireless deployments. Both efforts attracted a large number of public comments including from trade associations detailing several projects experiencing cost and schedule increases that seem unrelated to the true cost of access to public land.
Permitting reform is much needed. Hopefully, the American Broadband Deployment Act and other related legislation implementing permitting reform will be speedily adopted. And, in any event, the FCC's own efforts will still be important.
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