Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§8452 Broadband Internet Connectivity at Developed Recreation Sites

Title 16 › Chapter 103— EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES › Subchapter I— OUTDOOR RECREATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE › Part D— Broadband Connectivity on Federal Recreational Lands and Waters › § 8452

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Make a deal with the Secretary of Commerce to help build or install broadband internet at developed recreation sites on federal lands and waters. The work must wait for money to be provided and must follow all other laws. Within 3 years after January 4, 2025, and then every year through fiscal year 2031, the Secretary and the Chief of the Forest Service, working with States and local communities, must publish a public list of the highest priority developed recreation sites that lack broadband. They must, when possible, give cost estimates to equip and to run the internet there, list likely obstacles to operating the service, and suggest ways to pay for it. Priority goes to sites skipped because of hard geography, too few nearby year‑round residents despite heavy seasonal or daily visitors, or sites in economically distressed counties that could gain from outdoor recreation.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §8452

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary and the Chief of the Forest Service shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Commerce to foster the installation or construction of broadband internet infrastructure at developed recreation sites on Federal recreational lands and waters to establish broadband internet connectivity—

(1)subject to the availability of appropriations; and

(2)in accordance with applicable law.

(b)Not later than 3 years after January 4, 2025, and annually thereafter through fiscal year 2031, the Secretary and the Chief of the Forest Service, in coordination with States and local communities, shall make publicly available—

(1)a list of the highest priority developed recreation sites, as determined under subsection (c), on Federal recreational lands and waters that lack broadband internet;

(2)to the extent practicable, an estimate of—

(A)the cost to equip each of those sites with broadband internet infrastructure; and

(B)the annual cost to operate that infrastructure; and

(3)a list of potential—

(A)barriers to operating the infrastructure described in paragraph (2)(A); and

(B)methods to recover the costs of that operation.

(c)In selecting developed recreation sites for the list described in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary and the Chief of the Forest Service shall give priority to developed recreation sites—

(1)at which broadband internet infrastructure has not been constructed due to—

(A)geographic challenges; or

(B)the location having an insufficient number of nearby permanent residents, despite high seasonal or daily visitation levels; or

(2)that are located in an economically distressed county that could benefit significantly from developing the outdoor recreation economy of the county.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 8452

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60