Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3343) to require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit to Congress a plan for the Assistant Secretary to track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of certain Form 299s, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3343

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 ``Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act''. SEC. 2. PLAN FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY TO TRACK THE ACCEPTANCE, PROCESSING, AND DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN FORM 299S.

(a) Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan containing a description of--

(1) the process by which the Assistant Secretary proposes to--

(A) track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of each Form 299 for communications use authorization;

(B) provide applicants additional transparency with respect to the status of the applicable Form 299 for communications use authorization; and

(C) most expeditiously implement the plan; and

(2) any potential barriers to implementing the plan that are identified by the Assistant Secretary.

(b) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--

(A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and

(B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

(2) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary'' means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information.

(3) Communications facility.--The term ``communications facility'' has the meaning given the term communications facility installation in section 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)).

(4) Communications use.--The term ``communications use'' means the placement and operation of a communications facility.

(5) Communications use authorization.--The term ``communications use authorization'' means an easement, right-of-way, lease, license, or other authorization--

(A) provided by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture;

(B) to locate or modify a communications facility on covered land; and

(C) for the primary purpose of authorizing the occupancy and use of such covered land for communications use.

(6) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means--

(A) public lands; and

(B) National Forest System land.

(7) Form 299.--The term ``Form 299'' means the form established under section 6409(b)(2)(A) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(b)(2)(A)), or any successor form.

(8) National forest system.--The term ``National Forest System'' has the meaning given the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).

(9) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' means land under the management of--

(A) the Bureau of Land Management;

(B) the National Park Service;

(C) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; or

(D) the Bureau of Reclamation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3343, the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act. This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to develop a plan for tracking the broadband permitting applications on Federal lands.

Broadband is essential to participate in everyday activities. Americans rely on their internet for their work, healthcare, education, and more. Congress has provided billions of dollars to close the digital divide. The NTIA is in the process of administering the $42.45 billion BEAD program and must ensure that these dollars are spent wisely.

Too often, broadband deployment is delayed or prevented due to unnecessary red tape in the form of burdensome permitting requirements. Federal agencies are some of the biggest culprits behind the red tape, delaying the deployment of broadband to the communities that are in need.

The process of application approval for some of these permits has unfortunately become duplicative, ineffective, and time consuming. Worse, there is no transparency in the process.

Opaque Federal permitting review processes leave applicants in the dark on whether their application is complete, where it is in the review process, and when they can finally expect a decision.

The Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act addresses these concerns by providing clarity into the Federal permitting process, giving applicants transparency into the status of their reviews and improving the processing speed and disposition of applications.

Mr. Speaker, this is an important moment in time, and we must do all we can to ensure that every American can access reliable broadband.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, if the gentleman is ready to close.

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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, this bill is very essential because, again, as we have seen, broadband is absolutely essential for everyday Americans.

As we think about what happened during COVID, Americans were shut in, and they relied on broadband for everything from education to telehealth to business. It went across the board.

It is absolutely essential we get this bill passed today, and I urge passage of this legislation.

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