To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require States and political subdivisions of States to streamline certain fees relating to broadband infrastructure in order to receive grant funds under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · May 19, 2023
Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
Broadband Expansion And Deployment Fee Equity and Efficiency Act of 2023 or the BEAD FEE Act of 2023
This bill restricts recipients of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants from charging fees related to the deployment of broadband infrastructure. The BEAD Program provides funds to states and territories for broadband deployment, connectivity, mapping, and adoption projects.
Generally, the bill prohibits grant recipients from charging fees for (1) considering requests for deploying broadband infrastructure; or (2) using or accessing land, or existing infrastructure on land, that is owned or managed by a state, territory, or locality (i.e., a right-of-way) to deploy broadband infrastructure.
However, the bill permits recipients to charge fees if they are nondiscriminatory, publicly disclosed, and based on actual and direct costs. Additionally, recipients must describe the fees in a manner that distinguishes between (1) recurring and nonrecurring fees, and (2) using a right-of-way with and without existing infrastructure.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.