[House Report 119-487]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Rept. 119-487
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { Part 2
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DEPLOYING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH GREATER INTERNET
TRANSACTIONS AND LEGACY APPLICATIONS ACT
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February 4, 2026.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1665]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1665) to require the Department of the Interior
and the Department of Agriculture to establish online portals
to accept, process, and dispose of certain Form 299s, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION
The purpose of H.R. 1665 is to require the Department of
the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to establish
online portals to accept, process, and dispose of certain Form
299s, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
An affordable and reliable connection to high-speed
internet, or broadband, is vital to many aspects of modern
life.\1\ Broadband access requires the support of various
technologies, including cable, telephone wire, fiber,
satellite, and mobile and fixed wireless transmitters.\2\ From
online education to telemedicine and ecommerce, essential
activities, experiences, and interactions increasingly occur
online.\3\ For large segments of the population, however, the
transition into the digital world remains elusive.\4\ Deploying
broadband technology in rural areas presents challenges, due to
lower population densities, vast distances, and rugged
topography.\5\ To reach rural and tribal areas, much of this
infrastructure must be installed on federal land.\6\ However,
broadband providers must endure burdensome permitting
requirements and application processes imposed by federal,
state, and local governments.\7\ These regulatory hurdles raise
the costs of, and bring delay and uncertainty to, broadband
development plans.\8\ As a result, rural and tribal areas
``tend to lag behind urban and suburban areas in broadband
deployment and the speed of service offered.''\9\ This
discrepancy in broadband accessibility is so pronounced it is
now broadly known as the ``digital divide.''\10\
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\1\Colby Leigh Rachfal, ``The Digital Divide: What Is It, Where Is
It, and Federal Assistance Programs,'' Congressional Research Service,
March 9, 2021, https://crsreports.congress.gov/
product/pdf/R/R46613.
\2\Id.
\3\Id.
\4\Id.
\5\Id.
\6\``Special Uses--Communications Uses,'' U.S. Department of
Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-
land/special-uses/communications-uses. Streamlining Federal Siting
Working Group Final Report, FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory
Committee, January 24, 2018, https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/
bdac-federalsiting-01232018.pdf.
\7\Streamlining Federal Siting Working Group Final Report, FCC
Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, January 24, 2018, https://
www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/bdac-federalsiting-01232018.pdf.
\8\Id.
\9\Id.
\10\Id.
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) process the most applications and communications
use authorizations to install communications facilities on
federal property.\11\ Communications use authorizations are
requests for easements, rights-of-way, leases, or other
authorizations ``to locate or modify a transmitting device,
support structure, or other communications facility'' on public
lands.\12\ USFS manages over 1,400 communications sites and
administers more than 4,000 communications use authorizations
on national forests and grasslands.\13\ Communications
facilities support over 10,000 ``wireless uses'' for
governments, utility companies, private businesses, and
individuals.\14\ Similarly, on public lands, BLM administers
more than 1,500 communications sites and has authorized the
installation and operation of more than 4,000 additional
communications facilities.\15\
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\11\``Broadband Deployment: Agencies Should Take Steps to Better
Meet Deadline for Processing Permits,'' U.S. Government Accountability
Office, April 10, 2024, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106157#.
\12\Id.
\13\``Communication Uses--Wireless Uses,'' U.S. Department of
Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-
land/special-uses/communications-uses/wireless-uses.
\14\Id.
\15\``Communications Sites,'' U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, https://www.blm.gov/programs/lands-and-
realty/communication-sites.
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Despite these figures, the Department of the Interior (DOI)
and USFS impose formidable regulatory barriers to broadband
deployment.\16\ Before they can construct or operate the
necessary facilities on federal land, broadband providers must
typically participate in a pre-application meeting, complete
the Standard Form 299 application materials, and undergo
extensive review periods.\17\ The agencies face a statutory
requirement to grant or deny these applications within 270
days.\18\ In practice, however, this process can be much
lengthier. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
recently reported that roughly half of the communications use
applications submitted to the BLM and USFS from fiscal year
(FY) 2018 to FY 2022 either exceeded the 270-day deadline or
lacked sufficient data to conclude whether the deadline had
been met.\19\ Broadband developers report that fiber deployment
in rural areas takes, on average, between five to ten years to
complete.\20\ These lengthy wait times dissuade many would-be-
providers from even applying in the first place. Without
lowering these obstacles, the ``digital divide,'' and its
harmful consequences, will persist.
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\16\Streamlining Federal Siting Working Group Final Report, FCC
Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, January 24, 2018, https://
www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/bdac-federalsiting-01232018.pdf.
\17\Id.
\18\Id.
\19\Id.
\20\Linda Hardesty, ``Whoa--the fiber permitting process could
crush digital divide dreams,'' Fierce Network, December 9, 2021,
https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/whoa-fiber-
permitting-process-could-crush-digital-divide-dreams.
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H.R. 1665 addresses these challenges by advancing broadband
deployment in rural and Tribal areas. Specifically, the bill
would require DOI and USFS to establish online portals for
processing Standard Form 299s for communications use
authorizations. The legislation also requires DOI and USFS to
notify the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) within three business days of
establishing their respective portals.\21\ After this period,
NTIA must create links to those portals from its own
website.\22\ Together, these provisions create an online,
``one-stop-shop'' for applicants to apply for communications
use authorizations from federal land managers.\23\ In the
process, the bill promises to bring transparency and
accountability to an important application system increasing
opportunity and leveling the playing field for rural areas.
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\21\H.R. 1665, 119th Congress, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-
congress/house-bill/1665/text.
\22\Id.
\23\``Reps. Cammack, Matsui Introduce H.R. 3299, Bipartisan DIGITAL
Applications Act To Close Digital Divide,'' The Office of Congresswoman
Kat Cammack, May 16, 2023, https://cammack.house.gov/media/press-
releases/reps-cammack-matsui-introduce-hr-3299-bipartisan-digital-
applications-act.
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COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1665 was introduced on February 27, 2025, by
Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources. The bill was also referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on
Agriculture. On April 9, 2025, the Committee on Natural
Resources met to consider the bill. The bill was then ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
HEARINGS
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure:
hearing in the 118th Congress by the Subcommittee on Federal
Lands held on July 9, 2024.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Names the bill the ``Deploying Infrastructure with Greater
Internet Transactions And Legacy (DIGITAL) Applications Act.''
Section 2. Establishment of online portals to accept, process, and
dispose of certain form 299s
Section 2 requires the Secretaries of Agriculture and the
Interior to establish, not later than one year after enactment
of the bill, respective online portals for the acceptance,
processing, and disposal of a Form 299 for communications use
authorizations. Further, this section requires the Secretaries
to notify the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information within three business days of
their respective portal being established. Once notified, the
section directs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information to publish, on the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration's official
website, a link to each online portal established by the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL
BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to
clause 3(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this bill.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to require the Department of the
Interior and the Department of Agriculture to establish online
portals to accept, process, and dispose of certain Form 299s,
and for other purposes.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT
An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chair of
the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee, if such
estimate is not publicly available on the Congressional Budget
Office website.
EXISTING PROGRAMS
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
As ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources,
H.R. 1665 would make no changes in existing law.
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