House Communications Subcommittee Reps Introduce First Round of Broadband Infrastructure Bills

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced a series of bills introduced by subcommittee members aimed at reducing the regulatory barriers to broadband infrastructure expansion:

1. Communications Facilities Deployment on Federal Property Act of 2018, sponsored by Rep Mimi Walters (R-CA), would amend Sec. 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (47 USC 1455) to require executive agencies to use common application forms and cost-based application fees for easements, rights-of-way, and lease requests, and master contracts for placement of communications facility installations on federal property.
2. Inventory of Assets for Communications Facilities Act of 2018, sponsored by Rep Chris Collins (R-NY), would require the General Services Administration (GSA) to coordinate with the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) to ensure federal agencies include an inventory of assets that can be used to attach or install broadband infrastructure. This inventory would be available to communications providers, and include a description of assets, their locations, and a point of contact from each agency for more information on a given asset.
3. Streamlining and Expediting Approval for Communications Technologies Act, sponsored by Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), would require the Senior Real Property Officer of covered agencies to track, record, and report on specified data on the applications to locate or modify communications facilities on covered, federal assets. The data would include the number of applications submitted, the number of applications approved or denied (including the reason for any denial), and the amount of time and money spent by an agency reviewing applications. Each agency’s Senior Real Property Officer would be required to report annually to NTIA on its progress, and NTIA would report to Congress.