Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act
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The bill would require the Commerce Department's Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information to set up an interagency strike force to push the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to speed up reviews of broadband and other communications facility permits on federal land.
It targets a bottleneck broadband providers have cited for delaying rural network buildout, aiming to make agencies more accountable for how quickly they process right-of-way and lease requests on public and national forest land.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish, within 180 days of enactment, an interagency strike force made up of the Assistant Secretary, the heads of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, and designees from the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior. The strike force would hold periodic calls, set goals for reviewing requests for "communications use authorizations" (easements, rights-of-way, leases, or licenses to place communications facilities on public or National Forest System land), and monitor agency accountability for meeting those goals.
It would not itself change permitting standards, approve any specific project, or alter the substantive criteria agencies use to grant or deny authorizations. Its main operative requirement beyond forming the strike force is a report to designated congressional committees, due within 270 days of enactment, on the strike force's effectiveness.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce to establish an interagency strike force within 180 days of enactment
- 2Would set strike force membership to include the Assistant Secretary, land management agency heads, and Agriculture and Interior designees
- 3Would direct the strike force to hold periodic calls, set review goals, and monitor agency accountability for communications use authorization reviews
- 4Would require a report to specified congressional committees on the strike force's effectiveness within 270 days of enactment
Who would be affected
The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service (including their state, regional, district, and field offices), the Commerce Department's Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and companies or entities seeking authorizations to build or modify communications facilities, such as broadband infrastructure, on public lands or National Forest System land.
Why it matters
Faster, more coordinated federal review could shorten permitting timelines for communications infrastructure on federal land, which broadband providers have identified as a source of delay in rural deployment. The bill relies on interagency coordination and reporting rather than new binding deadlines or permitting standards, so its practical effect depends on how the strike force implements its goals.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Deadline to establish the interagency strike force
- Deadline for the Assistant Secretary's report to Congress on strike force effectiveness
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1681 would cost $9 million over the 2025–2030 period, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
CBO estimates H.R. 1681 would cost $9 million over the 2025–2030 period to establish and administer an interagency strike force — housed at NTIA — tasked with prioritizing reviews of communications use authorizations on federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, and to produce a required report to Congress. The funding would support 12 employees per year across the three affected agencies at an average cost of $150,000 per employee in 2025, with adjustments for inflation in later years. Because spending is subject to future congressional appropriations (discretionary funding), it would not directly affect the federal deficit unless funds are appropriated. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
Within 180 days of enactment, the Assistant Secretary would convene the strike force with agency heads and departmental designees. The strike force would hold periodic coordination calls, establish review-time goals for communications use authorizations, and monitor each land management agency's progress toward those goals. Within 270 days of enactment, the Assistant Secretary would report to six named House and Senate committees on the strike force's effectiveness, providing a checkpoint for congressional oversight but no enforcement mechanism beyond that reporting.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Official CRS summary
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Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act
This bill establishes an interagency strike force to support federal land management agencies' review of requests for communications use authorizations. (A communications use authorization is required to modify or locate communications facilities on public lands.)
The strike force must (1) conduct periodic calls with strike force members to ensure that each agency prioritizes the review of requests for communications use authorizations, (2) establish goals for the review of the requests, and (3) monitor and facilitate agency accountability for meeting the established goals.
The bill specifies that the strike force must include the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the head of each federal land management agency, and other members designated by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior. The bill also requires the strike force to report to Congress regarding its effectiveness.
Legislative subjects
Advisory bodies; Congressional oversight; Government buildings, facilities, and property; Infrastructure development; Intergovernmental relations; Internet, web applications, social media; Land use and conservation; Science, Technology, Communications
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-439,Part 1