119-hr1343

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1343 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1343

 To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 
Information to submit to Congress a plan for the Assistant Secretary to 
 track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of certain Form 299s, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 13, 2025

 Mr. Pfluger (for himself and Mr. Soto) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 
Information to submit to Congress a plan for the Assistant Secretary to 
 track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of certain Form 299s, 
 and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Broadband Deployment 
Tracking Act''.

SEC. 2. PLAN FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY TO TRACK THE ACCEPTANCE, 
 PROCESSING, AND DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN FORM 299S.

    (a) Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a plan containing a description of--

    (1) the process by which the Assistant Secretary proposes 
 to--
        (A) track the acceptance, processing, and disposal 
 of each Form 299 for communications use authorization;
        (B) provide applicants additional transparency with 
 respect to the status of the applicable Form 299 for 
 communications use authorization; and
            (C) most expeditiously implement the plan; and

    (2) any potential barriers to implementing the plan that 
 are identified by the Assistant Secretary.

    (b) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
        (A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
 House of Representatives; and
        (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
 Transportation of the Senate.

    (2) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary'' 
 means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 
 and Information.

    (3) Communications facility.--The term ``communications 
 facility'' has the meaning given the term communications 
 facility installation in 

section 6409
            (d) of the Middle Class 
 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455
            (d) ).

    (4) Communications use.--The term ``communications use'' 
 means the placement and operation of a communications facility.

    (5) Communications use authorization.--The term 
 ``communications use authorization'' means an easement, right-
 of-way, lease, license, or other authorization--
        (A) provided by the Secretary of the Interior or 
 the Secretary of Agriculture;
        (B) to locate or modify a communications facility 
 on covered land; and
            (C) for the primary purpose of authorizing the 
 occupancy and use of such covered land for 
 communications use.

    (6) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means--
        (A) public lands; and
        (B) National Forest System land.

    (7) Form 299.--The term ``Form 299'' means the form 
 established under 

section 6409

    (b)

    (2)
        (A) of the Middle Class Tax 
 Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455

    (b)

    (2)
        (A) ), 
 or any successor form.

    (8) National forest system.--The term ``National Forest 
 System'' has the meaning given the term in 

section 11

    (a) of the 
 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 
 (16 U.S.C. 1609

    (a) ).

    (9) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' means land 
 under the management of--
        (A) the Bureau of Land Management;
        (B) the National Park Service;
            (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; or
            (D) the Bureau of Reclamation.
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