Standard FEES Act
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The bill would require the General Services Administration to create a single, uniform fee schedule for applications to place communications equipment like cell antennas on federal buildings and land, replacing the patchwork of fees different agencies currently charge.
Federal agencies would have to adopt the standard fees within set deadlines, with limited case-by-case exceptions meant to encourage broadband deployment, aiming to make costs predictable for companies seeking to install equipment on government property.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to require the General Services Administration to establish a single, uniform fee schedule for processing applications to place, modify, or maintain communications facilities on federal buildings and property. The fees would have to be based on agencies' direct processing costs and be competitively neutral compared to fees charged for similar uses. The GSA could allow limited, competitively neutral exceptions tied to the public benefit of granting access or expanding broadband deployment. Every executive agency would be required to adopt the GSA's fee schedule and any exceptions by regulation, granting exceptions only case-by-case. Fees collected could only be used to cover processing costs, and only when Congress provides the funds in advance through appropriations. The new fee schedule would supersede any other fee currently chargeable under a different statute for the same forms.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the GSA Administrator to establish a uniform fee schedule for processing applications described in existing law's subsections on easements, rights-of-way, leases, and communications facility contracts.
- 2Would require fees to be based on direct processing costs and be competitively neutral relative to fees for similar uses of federal property.
- 3Would allow the GSA to create competitively neutral exceptions to the fee schedule tied to public benefit or expanding broadband access.
- 4Would require every executive agency to adopt the GSA's fee schedule and exceptions by regulation, granting exceptions only case-by-case.
- 5Would restrict use of collected fees to processing costs, available only as provided in advance in appropriations acts.
- 6Would require the GSA to establish the fee schedule within 30 days of enactment, and agencies to adopt it within 120 days after that.
Who would be affected
The General Services Administration, which must build the fee schedule; executive branch agencies that own buildings or land hosting communications equipment; and telecommunications and broadband companies that apply to place antennas, towers, or other facilities on federal property.
Why it matters
Companies seeking to deploy wireless and broadband infrastructure on federal property would face predictable, standardized fees instead of varying charges across agencies, potentially speeding up deployment and reducing costs. Agencies would lose some flexibility to set their own fees but gain a common cost-recovery framework tied strictly to appropriated funds.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. § 1455, Section 6409) (Sec. 2(a))
Adds a new subsection creating a uniform GSA fee schedule for communications facility applications, mandatory agency adoption, and rules on exceptions and fee use.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- GSA must establish the uniform fee schedule
- Executive agencies must adopt the fee schedule and exceptions
How implementation would work
The GSA Administrator would draft a uniform fee schedule within 30 days of enactment, based on agencies' direct processing costs and competitively neutral across similar uses, plus optional exceptions for public-benefit or broadband-expansion cases. Within 120 days after that schedule is set, each executive agency would have to adopt the fees and any exceptions through its own regulations, granting exceptions only case-by-case. Agencies could spend collected fees only on processing costs, and only if Congress separately appropriates the funds in advance, creating a two-step rulemaking and appropriations dependency before the new fees take full effect.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-488, Part I.
Official CRS summary
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This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish, and federal agencies to adopt, a uniform schedule of fees for applications to place, modify, or maintain communications facilities in, over, or on federally owned buildings and property.
The fees established by the GSA must be competitively neutral with respect to other application fees for similar uses of federal buildings and property and based on the direct and actual costs of processing such applications. The GSA may establish exceptions to the fee schedule to be granted by agencies on a case-by-case basis, provided the exceptions are competitively neutral with respect to the categories of individuals or entities granted exceptions and meet certain other requirements.
Agencies may only use fees collected to cover the costs of processing applications, and only to the extent that the funds are provided in advance in appropriations acts.
Legislative subjects
Government buildings, facilities, and property; Infrastructure development; Internet, web applications, social media; Science, Technology, Communications; Telephone and wireless communication; User charges and fees
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-488