Accelerating Broadband Permits Act
Sponsored By: Senator Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced
Summary
Speed up federal permitting for broadband projects. This bill would require agencies to track and fix causes of delays in processing applications, alert staff when a case risks missing the 270-day deadline, and report delay factors to Congress. It would also lower the FAST Act cost threshold from $200 million to $5 million so many more broadband projects could qualify for expedited environmental review.
Show full summary
- Broadband builders and providers: Many more projects would be eligible for expedited federal environmental review because the FAST Act covered-project threshold drops from $200 million to $5 million.
- Federal agencies and staff: Agencies would have to adopt data controls to ensure accurate tracking of processing times, analyze and address delay factors as they occur, and establish methods to alert employees about applications at risk of missing the 270-day deadline.
- Communities and local governments: More broadband permits would be tracked and potentially processed faster, which could speed up federally reviewed broadband builds and upgrades.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Faster permit tracking for broadband
If enacted, agencies that handle communications permit applications with a 270-day deadline would have to track processing time and keep application data accurate. Agencies would analyze delay causes as they happen, take steps to fix them, and alert staff when an application is at risk of missing the 270-day deadline. Agencies would send a yearly report on delay factors to the Senate Commerce; Senate Energy and Natural Resources; House Energy and Commerce; House Natural Resources; and each congressional committee with jurisdiction over the agency.
Environmental review for $5 million broadband builds
If enacted, the bill would change the FAST Act test for qualifying broadband projects. A project would count only if it is subject to environmental review, involves construction of broadband infrastructure, and is likely to require more than $5,000,000 in total investment. The bill text also inserts a trailing unfinished "or" token, which leaves some legal detail unclear about the rule's scope.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
SD • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 3/5/2025
Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]
WY • R
Sponsored 3/5/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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