[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4351 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4351

  To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve access to 
  broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, including by 
  encouraging the provision of broadband loans and grants to increase 
       broadband service in rural ports, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2023

Ms. Plaskett (for herself and Mr. Carl) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to 
 the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to improve access to 
  broadband telecommunications services in rural areas, including by 
  encouraging the provision of broadband loans and grants to increase 
       broadband service in rural ports, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Broadband Internet for Small Ports 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS.

    Section 601 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) in clause (i)--
                                            (aa) by striking ``of at 
                                        least--'' and inserting a 
                                        semicolon; and
                                            (bb) by striking subclauses 
                                        (I) and (II);
                                    (II) in clause (iii), by striking 
                                ``and'' at the end;
                                    (III) in clause (iv), by striking 
                                the period at the end and inserting ``; 
                                and''; and
                                    (IV) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(v) give priority to applications for 
                        projects to provide rapid and expanded 
                        deployment of fixed and mobile broadband on 
                        cropland and ranchland within a service 
                        territory for use in various applications of 
                        precision agriculture.'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) in clause (i)--
                                            (aa) in subclause (III), by 
                                        inserting ``or'' after the 
                                        semicolon;
                                            (bb) in subclause (IV), by 
                                        striking ``or'' and inserting 
                                        ``and''; and
                                            (cc) by striking subclause 
                                        (V); and
                                    (II) in clause (ii)--
                                            (aa) in the matter 
                                        preceding subclause (I), by 
                                        striking ``2'' and inserting 
                                        ``1'';
                                            (bb) in subclause (IV), by 
                                        inserting ``and'' after the 
                                        semicolon;
                                            (cc) in subclause (V), by 
                                        striking ``; and'' and 
                                        inserting a period at the end; 
                                        and
                                            (dd) by striking subclause 
                                        (VI); and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Ports in rural areas priority.--
                            ``(i) Definition of port.--In this 
                        subparagraph, the term `port' means--
                                    ``(I) any port on the navigable 
                                waters of the United States, including 
                                territories;
                                    ``(II) any harbor, marine terminal, 
                                or other shore side facility used 
                                principally for the movement of goods 
                                on inland waters; and
                                    ``(III) any port formed in 
                                accordance with applicable State or 
                                territory law.
                            ``(ii) Priority.--In addition to the 
                        priority given under subparagraph (B), the 
                        Secretary shall give equal priority to an 
                        application for a project that would increase 
                        the availability of broadband service in a port 
                        in a rural area.
                    ``(D) Identification of unserved communities.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In the case of an 
                        application given the highest priority under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary shall 
                        confirm that each unserved rural community 
                        identified in the application is eligible for 
                        funding by--
                                    ``(I) conferring with and obtaining 
                                data from the Chair of the Federal 
                                Communications Commission and the 
                                Administrator of the National 
                                Telecommunications and Information 
                                Administration with respect to the 
                                service area proposed in the 
                                application;
                                    ``(II) reviewing any other source 
                                that is relevant to service data 
                                validation, as determined by the 
                                Secretary; and
                                    ``(III) performing site-specific 
                                testing to verify the unavailability of 
                                any residential broadband service in 
                                the unserved rural community.
                            ``(ii) Adjustments.--Not less often than 
                        once every 2 years, the Secretary shall review, 
                        and may adjust through notice published in the 
                        Federal Register, the unserved communities 
                        identified under clause (i).''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking subparagraphs (C) 
                and (D) and inserting the following:
                    ``(C) Maximum.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (D), the amount of any grant made under this section 
                shall not exceed 50 percent of the development costs of 
                the project for which the grant is provided.
                    ``(D) Secretarial authority to adjust.--The 
                Secretary may make grants of up to 75 percent of the 
                development costs of the project for which the grant is 
                provided to an eligible entity if the Secretary 
                determines that the project serves--
                            ``(i) an area of rural households described 
                        in paragraph (2)(A)(ii); and
                            ``(ii) a rural community described in any 
                        of subclauses (I) through (IV) of paragraph 
                        (2)(B)(i).'';
            (2) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``subsection (j)'' and inserting ``subsection 
                        (l)''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Relation to universal service high-cost 
                support.--The Secretary shall communicate with the 
                Federal Communications Commission to ensure that any 
                grants, loans, or loan guarantees made under this 
                section provide a level of service that is not less 
                than the level of service provided through universal 
                service high-cost support (as defined in section 54.5 
                of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
                successor regulation) provided by the Commission.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) in clause (i), by striking 
                                ``50'' and inserting ``90''; and
                                    (II) in clause (ii), by striking 
                                ``3'' and inserting ``2''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Application process.--The Secretary shall provide to 
        an applicant of a grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this 
        section feedback and decisions on funding in a timely 
        manner.'';
            (3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as subsections 
        (l) and (m), respectively;
            (4) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
    ``(j) Broadband Buildout Data.--As a condition of receiving a 
grant, loan, or loan guarantee under this section, a recipient of 
assistance shall provide to the Secretary complete, reliable, and 
precise geolocation information that indicates the location of new 
broadband service that is being provided or upgraded within the service 
territory supported by the grant, loan, or loan guarantee not later 
than 30 days after the earlier of--
            ``(1) the date of completion of any project milestone 
        established by the Secretary; or
            ``(2) the date of completion of the project.
    ``(k) Environmental Reviews.--The Secretary may obligate, but not 
disperse, funds under this Act before the completion of otherwise 
required environmental, historical, or other types of reviews if the 
Secretary determines that a subsequent site-specific review shall be 
adequate and easily accomplished for the location of towers, poles, or 
other broadband facilities in the service area of the borrower without 
compromising the project or the required reviews.''; and
            (5) in subsection (l)(2)(A) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) set aside at least 1 percent to be 
                        used for--
                                    ``(I) conducting oversight under 
                                this section; and
                                    ``(II) implementing accountability 
                                measures and related activities 
                                authorized under this section.''.
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