Sec. 6000.
Table of contents.
Sec. 6001.
Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.
SEC. 6001.
BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.
(a) The Assistant
Secretary of Commerce for Communications and
Information (Assistant Secretary), in
consultation with the Federal Communications
Commission (Commission), shall establish a
national broadband service development and
expansion program in conjunction with the
technology opportunities program, which shall be
referred to as the Broadband Technology
Opportunities Program. The Assistant Secretary
shall ensure that the program complements and
enhances and does not conflict with other
Federal broadband initiatives and programs.
(b) The purposes
of the program are to--
(1) provide
access to broadband service to consumers
residing in unserved areas of the United
States;
(2) provide
improved access to broadband service to
consumers residing in underserved areas of
the United States;
(3) provide
broadband education, awareness, training,
access, equipment, and support to--
(A)
schools, libraries, medical and
healthcare providers, community colleges
and other institutions of higher
education, and other community support
organizations and entities to facilitate
greater use of broadband service by or
through these organizations;
(B)
organizations and agencies that provide
outreach, access, equipment, and support
services to facilitate greater use of
broadband service by low-income,
unemployed, aged, and otherwise
vulnerable populations; and
(C)
job-creating strategic facilities
located within a State-designated
economic zone, Economic Development
District designated by the Department of
Commerce, Renewal Community or
Empowerment Zone designated by the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, or Enterprise Community
designated by the Department of
Agriculture;
(4) improve
access to, and use of, broadband service by
public safety agencies; and
(5) stimulate
the demand for broadband, economic growth,
and job creation.
(c) The Assistant
Secretary may consult a State, the District of
Columbia, or territory or possession of the
United States with respect to--
(1) the
identification of areas described in
subsection (b)(1) or (2) located in that
State; and
(2) the
allocation of grant funds within that State
for projects in or affecting the State.
(d) The Assistant
Secretary shall--
(1) establish
and implement the grant program as
expeditiously as practicable;
(2) ensure
that all awards are made before the end of
fiscal year 2010;
(3) seek such
assurances as may be necessary or
appropriate from grantees under the program
that they will substantially complete
projects supported by the program in
accordance with project timelines, not to
exceed 2 years following an award; and
(4) report on
the status of the program to the Committees
on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate, the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives, and the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate, every 90 days.
(e) To be eligible
for a grant under the program, an applicant
shall--
(1)(A) be a
State or political subdivision thereof, the
District of Columbia, a territory or
possession of the United States, an Indian
tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian
Self-Determination and Education Assistance
Act (25 U.S.C. 450(b)) or native Hawaiian
organization;
(C) any
other entity, including a broadband
service or infrastructure provider, that
the Assistant Secretary finds by rule to
be in the public interest. In
establishing such rule, the Assistant
Secretary shall to the extent
practicable promote the purposes of this
section in a technologically neutral
manner;
(2) submit an
application, at such time, in such form, and
containing such information as the Assistant
Secretary may require;
(3) provide a
detailed explanation of how any amount
received under the program will be used to
carry out the purposes of this section in an
efficient and expeditious manner, including
a showing that the project would not have
been implemented during the grant period
without Federal grant assistance;
(4)
demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the
Assistant Secretary, that it is capable of
carrying out the project or function to
which the application relates in a competent
manner in compliance with all applicable
Federal, State, and local laws;
(5)
demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the
Assistant Secretary, that it will
appropriate (if the applicant is a State or
local government agency) or otherwise
unconditionally obligate, from non-Federal
sources, funds required to meet the
requirements of subsection (f);
(6) disclose
to the Assistant Secretary the source and
amount of other Federal or State funding
sources from which the applicant receives,
or has applied for, funding for activities
or projects to which the application
relates; and
(7) provide
such assurances and procedures as the
Assistant Secretary may require to ensure
that grant funds are used and accounted for
in an appropriate manner.
(f) The Federal
share of any project may not exceed 80 percent,
except that the Assistant Secretary may increase
the Federal share of a project above 80 percent
if--
(1) the
applicant petitions the Assistant Secretary
for a waiver; and
(2) the
Assistant Secretary determines that the
petition demonstrates financial need.
(g) The Assistant
Secretary may make competitive grants under the
program to--
(1) acquire
equipment, instrumentation, networking
capability, hardware and software, digital
network technology, and infrastructure for
broadband services;
(2) construct
and deploy broadband service related
infrastructure;
(3) ensure
access to broadband service by community
anchor institutions;
(4) facilitate
access to broadband service by low-income,
unemployed, aged, and otherwise vulnerable
populations in order to provide educational
and employment opportunities to members of
such populations;
(5) construct
and deploy broadband facilities that improve
public safety broadband communications
services; and
(6) undertake
such other projects and activities as the
Assistant Secretary finds to be consistent
with the purposes for which the program is
established.
(h) The Assistant
Secretary, in awarding grants under this
section, shall, to the extent practical--
(1) award not
less than 1 grant in each State;
(2) consider
whether an application to deploy
infrastructure in an area--
(A) will,
if approved, increase the affordability
of, and subscribership to, service to
the greatest population of users in the
area;
(B) will,
if approved, provide the greatest
broadband speed possible to the greatest
population of users in the area;
(C) will,
if approved, enhance service for health
care delivery, education, or children to
the greatest population of users in the
area; and
(D) will,
if approved, not result in unjust
enrichment as a result of support for
non-recurring costs through another
Federal program for service in the area;
and
(3) consider
whether the applicant is a socially and
economically disadvantaged small business
concern as defined under section 8(a) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637).
(i) The Assistant
Secretary--
(1) shall
require any entity receiving a grant
pursuant to this section to report
quarterly, in a format specified by the
Assistant Secretary, on such entity's use of
the assistance and progress fulfilling the
objectives for which such funds were
granted, and the Assistant Secretary shall
make these reports available to the public;
(2) may
establish additional reporting and
information requirements for any recipient
of any assistance made available pursuant to
this section;
(3) shall
establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure
appropriate use and compliance with all
terms of any use of funds made available
pursuant to this section;
(4) may, in
addition to other authority under applicable
law, deobligate awards to grantees that
demonstrate an insufficient level of
performance, or wasteful or fraudulent
spending, as defined in advance by the
Assistant Secretary, and award these funds
competitively to new or existing applicants
consistent with this section; and
(5) shall
create and maintain a fully searchable
database, accessible on the Internet at no
cost to the public, that contains at least a
list of each entity that has applied for a
grant under this section, a description of
each application, the status of each such
application, the name of each entity
receiving funds made available pursuant to
this section, the purpose for which such
entity is receiving such funds, each
quarterly report submitted by the entity
pursuant to this section, and such other
information sufficient to allow the public
to understand and monitor grants awarded
under the program.
(j) Concurrent
with the issuance of the Request for Proposal
for grant applications pursuant to this section,
the Assistant Secretary shall, in coordination
with the Commission, publish the
non-discrimination and network interconnection
obligations that shall be contractual conditions
of grants awarded under this section, including,
at a minimum, adherence to the principles
contained in the Commission's broadband policy
statement (FCC 05-15, adopted August 5, 2005).
(k)(1) Not later
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
section, the Commission shall submit to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate, a
report containing a national broadband plan.
(2) The
national broadband plan required by this
section shall seek to ensure that all people
of the United States have access to
broadband capability and shall establish
benchmarks for meeting that goal. The plan
shall also include--
(A) an
analysis of the most effective and
efficient mechanisms for ensuring
broadband access by all people of the
United States;
(B) a
detailed strategy for achieving
affordability of such service and
maximum utilization of broadband
infrastructure and service by the
public;
(C) an
evaluation of the status of deployment
of broadband service, including progress
of projects supported by the grants made
pursuant to this section; and
(D) a plan
for use of broadband infrastructure and
services in advancing consumer welfare,
civic participation, public safety and
homeland security, community
development, health care delivery,
energy independence and efficiency,
education, worker training, private
sector investment, entrepreneurial
activity, job creation and economic
growth, and other national purposes.
(3) In
developing the plan, the Commission shall
have access to data provided to other
Government agencies under the Broadband Data
Improvement Act (47 U.S.C. 1301 note).
(l) The Assistant
Secretary shall develop and maintain a
comprehensive nationwide inventory map of
existing broadband service capability and
availability in the United States that depicts
the geographic extent to which broadband service
capability is deployed and available from a
commercial provider or public provider
throughout each State. Not later than 2 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Assistant Secretary shall make the broadband
inventory map developed and maintained pursuant
to this section accessible by the public on a
World Wide Web site of the National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration in a form that is interactive and
searchable.
(m) The Assistant
Secretary shall have the authority to prescribe
such rules as are necessary to carry out the
purposes of this section.
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