Sec. 1. Technical assistance for Indian tribes in applying for financial assistance to maintain, expand, or deploy broadband systems
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The Secretary of Agriculture, through the Office of Tribal Relations in the Department of Agriculture, shall, in consultation with the Office of Native Affairs and Policy of the Federal Communications Commission— create a database of Federal programs and activities under which Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and agencies and instrumentalities of Indian tribes and tribal organizations, may obtain financial assistance for the maintenance, expansion, or deployment of broadband systems; provide technical assistance to entities described in paragraph
(1)in applying for or using the financial assistance; and submit to the Congress annual reports on— the number of the entities to which the technical assistance was provided in the fiscal year covered by the report; the number of applications for the financial assistance that the entities submitted in the fiscal year covered by the report; and the number of efforts made to facilitate the efforts of the entities to obtain the financial assistance in the fiscal year covered by the report. Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Office of Tribal Relations in the Department of Agriculture, shall develop and publish in the Federal Register a model broadband development plan using the database created under subsection (a)(1), that— identifies overlaps and unique target areas in each programs listed in the database; identifies options for obtaining the financial assistance referred to in subsection (a)(1), and propose opportunities to enable the entities described in subsection (a)(1) overcome any obstacles in doing so; describes the goals of technical assistance provided under subsection (a)(2); and proposes a course for the provision of the technical assistance that is proven to enhance broadband access on tribal lands. Subject to subparagraph (B), in developing the plan, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Federal Communications Commission shall jointly— conduct an in-person consultation with the Indian tribes and tribal members involved, in a forum open to the public; publish in the Federal Register the date of the consultation not later than 14 days before that date; within 30 days after the date of the consultation, transcribe or record the consultation, and make the transcription or record available to the public; and not later than 30 days before finalizing the plan, make available to the public a document that demonstrates how the consultation affected the development of the plan. The Secretary of Agriculture and the Federal Communications Commission may jointly waive the requirement of subparagraph
(A)with respect to a group of Indian tribes if at least 5/6 of the Indian tribes involved agree to the waiver. In this section, the term Indian tribe has the meaning given the term in section 102(2) of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994. To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture not more than $500,000 for each fiscal year.