Enhancing Administrative Reviews for Broadband Deployment Act
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The bill would direct the Interior Department and the Forest Service to study barriers to timely approval of broadband infrastructure on public and national forest land, and to report to Congress within a year on staffing needed to speed up reviews.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to each study whether there are programmatic or administrative barriers slowing review of requests to place or modify communications facilities—such as cell towers or transmitting equipment—on public lands or National Forest System land. The study would also look at possible regulatory changes and prioritization processes to speed up reviews.
Within one year of enactment, the two agencies would have to jointly submit a report to specified House and Senate committees describing the study results and laying out a staffing plan for the relevant field, district, and regional offices to ensure timely review of these broadband land use authorizations. The bill does not itself change any approval process, funding, or staffing levels.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the Interior Department and Forest Service to study barriers, possible rule changes, and prioritization processes for reviewing broadband land use authorizations
- 2Would require a joint report to Congress within one year of enactment describing study results and a staffing plan for timely review
- 3Defines 'broadband land use authorization' to cover easements, rights-of-way, leases, licenses, or other authorizations for communications facilities on public or National Forest System land
Who would be affected
The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management offices and the Forest Service's regional and ranger district offices, which process broadband land use authorizations, as well as broadband companies and other applicants seeking easements, rights-of-way, leases, or licenses to install communications equipment on federal land.
Why it matters
Slow federal reviews can delay broadband buildout on public and forest land. The report and staffing plan required by this bill could inform future agency or congressional action to speed up approvals, though the bill itself only requires study and reporting rather than mandating faster reviews or new resources.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Deadline for the joint report and staffing plan on broadband land use authorization reviews
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5419 would have an insignificant cost (less than $500,000) over the 2026–2031 period, with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
CBO estimates that H.R. 5419 would have no effect on direct (mandatory) spending, revenues, or the deficit over the 2026–2036 period. Any spending to implement the bill — which would require the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to review their permitting and land-use processes for broadband deployment and report findings to Congress — would be insignificant (less than $500,000 over 2026–2031) and subject to the availability of appropriated (discretionary) funds. CBO found no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
The Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture (through the Forest Service) would each study administrative barriers, potential rule changes, and prioritization options for reviewing broadband land use authorizations at their organizational units, such as Bureau of Land Management field offices and Forest Service ranger districts. Within one year of enactment, they would jointly submit a report and staffing plan to four named House and Senate committees. The bill sets no further enforcement mechanism or funding beyond the study and report itself.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to study and report on any barriers to and staffing needs for completing timely reviews of requests for communications use authorizations. (These are requests for easements, rights-of-way, leases, licenses, or other authorizations to locate or modify a transmitting device, support structure, or other communications facility on public lands or National Forest System land.)
Legislative subjects
Advisory bodies; Congressional oversight; Government buildings, facilities, and property; Infrastructure development; Intergovernmental relations; Internet, web applications, social media; Land use and conservation; Public Lands and Natural Resources
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-516