This bill directs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to create a National Strategy to Synchronize Federal Broadband Programs. The Strategy must be submitted to key congressional committees within 1 year and, in consultation with many Federal agencies, must list federal, state, and local broadband programs; describe current coordination efforts; identify gaps and barriers; set roles, goals, and performance measures; and recommend incentives, legislative fixes, and administrative actions. The bill also requires an Implementation Plan within 120 days after the Strategy, a public 60-day comment period on the draft Implementation Plan, regular briefings to Congress during implementation, and a Government Accountability Office study starting within one year after the Implementation Plan.
The bill requires covered agencies to report within 60 days after enactment on their efforts to populate the Deployment Locations Map. It adds requirements for tracking and improving processing times for communications use applications, including data controls, analysis of delay factors, annual reporting to congressional committees, and alerts for applications at risk of missing a 270-day review deadline. The bill amends an existing FAST Act provision to note that certain broadband projects subject to NEPA likely requiring more than $5,000,000 in total investment are covered. The bill also clarifies it does not give authority to regulate broadband service.
The bill requires the Strategy to address the costs, resources, and investments needed to carry out the plan, but it does not set or estimate specific costs or budgets. No publicly available information on total costs or funding sources is included in the bill text.
The bill states its goals are to support better management of federal broadband programs, synchronize interagency coordination, streamline permitting for broadband infrastructure on federal property, reduce unnecessary barriers and costs, and prevent waste or duplication of funding. It requires plans and performance measures intended to make federal broadband funding more efficient and accountable.
No publicly available information.