This bill establishes a federal grant program to help local governments and tribal nations speed up their review and approval of zoning and permitting applications needed for broadband infrastructure deployment. The grants, managed by the Commerce Department's Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, would go to eligible local jurisdictions that adopt efficient permitting processes, implement expedited deployment methods like micro-trenching, and charge reasonable, transparent fees for processing applications. Recipients can use grant funds to build staff capacity, provide employee training, and purchase technology to streamline their permitting processes. The bill also requires the creation of a Local Broadband Advisory Council within 90 days to develop solutions for broadband deployment challenges and report back to Congress within one year. While the bill authorizes necessary funding without specifying an amount, it addresses a key bottleneck in broadband expansion: the speed at which local governments can process the applications needed to deploy new broadband networks, particularly in underserved rural and low-income communities.
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