H.R. 1975

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1975 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1975

To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require States 
and political subdivisions of States to streamline certain fees 
relating to broadband infrastructure in order to receive grant funds 
under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 10, 2025

Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require States 
and political subdivisions of States to streamline certain fees 
relating to broadband infrastructure in order to receive grant funds 
under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, 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 ``Broadband Expansion And Deployment 
Fee Equity and Efficiency Act of 2025'' or the ``BEAD FEE Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. STREAMLINING OF CERTAIN FEES RELATING TO BROADBAND 
INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE GRANT FUNDS UNDER BEAD 
PROGRAM.

Section 60102(e) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (47 
U.S.C. 1702(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Streamlining of certain fees relating to broadband 
infrastructure required.--After the date of the enactment of 
this paragraph, the Assistant Secretary may not make available 
to an eligible entity grant funds under this section (except 
for grant funds under paragraph (1)(C)) if the eligible entity, 
or any political subdivision of the eligible entity, charges a 
fee to consider a request for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify infrastructure for the provision of 
broadband service, or a fee for use of a right-of-way or 
infrastructure in a right-of-way owned or managed by the entity 
or political subdivision for the placement, construction, or 
modification of infrastructure for the provision of broadband 
service, unless such fee is--
``(A) competitively neutral, technology neutral, 
and nondiscriminatory;
``(B) publicly disclosed;
``(C) calculated--
``(i) based on actual and direct costs, 
such as costs for--
``(I) review and processing of 
requests; and
``(II) repairs and replacement of--
``(aa) components and 
materials resulting from and 
affected by the placement, 
construction, or modification 
(including the installation or 
improvement) of infrastructure 
for the provision of broadband 
service; or
``(bb) equipment that 
facilitates the placement, 
construction, or modification 
(including the installation or 
improvement) of such 
infrastructure; and
``(ii) using, for purposes of clause (i), 
only costs that are objectively reasonable; and
``(D) described to a requesting party in a manner 
that distinguishes between--
``(i) nonrecurring fees and recurring fees; 
and
``(ii) the use of infrastructure on which 
infrastructure for the provision of broadband 
service is already located and infrastructure 
on which there is no infrastructure for the 
provision of broadband service as of the date 
on which the request is received by the 
eligible entity or political subdivision.''.
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