Sec. 4. GRID broadband grants
955 words·~4 min read·
/bill/117/s/4763/is/section-4·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Assistant Secretary shall establish a program, in consultation with the Secretary, and subject to subsection (c), to be known as the GRID Broadband Facilitation Program , under which the Assistant Secretary makes grants to eligible entities to facilitate— the construction of fiber optic communications infrastructure with sufficient capacity to serve as middle mile infrastructure; the enhancement or expansion of existing (as of the date of the grant award) fiber optics communications infrastructure for the purpose of serving as middle mile infrastructure; the use of lit or dark fiber to increase broadband capability or capacity; or the acquisition or installation of the equipment and other resources necessary for interconnection of middle mile infrastructure with last mile broadband infrastructure to allow for the exchange of internet traffic between networks.
The Assistant Secretary shall establish an application process for GRID broadband grants. In selecting projects for which to provide GRID broadband grants, the Assistant Secretary shall give priority to projects that meet criteria described in paragraph (3). The criteria described in this paragraph are that a project— leverages existing (as of the date of the grant award) rights-of-way, easements, assets, and infrastructure to minimize financial, regulatory, and permitting barriers; is located in a State or political subdivision of a State, or within a Tribal jurisdiction, that allows rights-of-way, easements, and cost recovery for constructing and operating middle mile infrastructure by eligible entities; is used to connect or construct middle mile infrastructure on trust land (as defined in section 3765 of title 38, United States Code) that is owned by, or held in trust for the benefit of, as applicable, a Native entity; aligns with broadband access goals established by States, Tribal governments, and localities; is most likely to expeditiously provide affordable broadband service to areas with unserved locations and underserved locations; is most likely to expeditiously provide affordable broadband service to urban areas that have a demonstrated lack of internet usage and access; has partnerships with last mile providers who commit to provide broadband through their last mile infrastructure that— meets the threshold speeds and capabilities for broadband to no longer declare a location an unserved location or underserved location; and ensures that the networks built by the project are easily scalable to— meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses; and support the deployment of 5G, successor wireless technologies, and other advanced services; helps provide affordable gigabit upload and download speeds to community institutions such as a school, library, medical or healthcare provider, community college or other institution of higher education, or other community support organization or entity; contributes to broadband resilience and minimizes the occurrence and duration of outages through the creation of alternative network connection paths designed to prevent single points of failure on a broadband network; would accelerate the rate and scope of deployment of 5G infrastructure, successor wireless technologies, and other advanced services; reduces the natural and man-made threats to the telecommunication and electricity networks of the United States that are identified in the North American Energy Resilience Model, as determined in consultation with the Secretary; supports the security of the electric grid by installing a private, closed-loop communications network for grid operators; helps provide monitoring of threats to the electric grid, including with respect to purposeful physical attacks, extreme weather impacts, and wildfire detection; demonstrates the ability to improve critical services to communities such as healthcare, communications for first responders, fire, and safety management, and seismic early warning systems; enhances the ability to sense and monitor power characteristics in near-real time in order to— optimize electric grid operations; and manage the integration of more distributed resources and intermittent renewable power sources; or will provide significant non-Federal matching funds or other monetary or in-kind consideration.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall— issue a notice inviting eligible entities to submit applications for GRID broadband grants, which shall contain details about how awarding decisions will be made; and outline— the requirements for applications for GRID broadband grants; and the allowed uses of GRID broadband grant funds. An eligible entity that receives a GRID broadband grant shall offer, for the life of the project, interconnection directly, or indirectly through another entity— to any last mile provider making a bona fide request for available capacity pursuant to a sustainable business plan that meets 1 or more of the priority criteria described in subsection (b)(3); and on reasonable rates and terms to be negotiated with requesting parties.
The interconnection required to be offered under subparagraph
(A)includes— the ability to connect to the public internet; and physical interconnection for the exchange of traffic with last mile interconnection. The Assistant Secretary shall— in consultation with the Secretary, oversee interconnection agreements between recipients of GRID broadband grants and last mile providers seeking to interconnect with— the middle mile infrastructure deployed using GRID broadband grants; and other middle mile infrastructure owned or operated by eligible entities; and review the interconnection terms and conditions proposed by an eligible entity to ensure that the terms and conditions— provide for reasonable cost recovery by the eligible entity; and in the case of a recipient of a GRID broadband grant that qualifies under subsection
(j)or
(k)of section 5— help decrease the cost for resulting last mile broadband service to consumers; and include affordable options for low-income households. The use of GRID broadband grant funds by an eligible entity, or partner of an eligible entity, shall not impact the eligibility of, or otherwise disadvantage, the eligible entity or partner with respect to participation in any other Federal broadband program. The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that GRID broadband grant funds are not used to duplicate existing or planned last mile broadband infrastructure.