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Title II — Tribal Set-Aside

S. 3264 · 116th Congress · Feb 11, 2020 · Lineage

II Tribal Set-Aside

Sec. 201 Rural Utilities Service

(a)
Tribal set-Aside— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective beginning in fiscal year 2020 and for each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the Secretary) shall set aside for broadband adoption and deployment on Tribal land not less than 20 percent of the amounts made available for that fiscal year for each of the following:
(1)
The Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program established under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.).
(2)
The initiative under section 306F of that Act (7 U.S.C. 936f).
(3)
The Community Connect Grant Program established under section 604 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 950bb–3).
(4)
Financial assistance under chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXIII of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et seq.), under section 2335A of that Act (7 U.S.C. 950aaa–5).
(5)
The broadband loan and grant pilot program described in section 779 of division A of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141).
(b)
Community Connect Grant Program—
(1)
Definition of eligible entity— Section 604(a)(3) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–3(a)(3)) is amended—
(A)
in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), by striking “or Tribal organization” and inserting “, Tribal organization, or Indian-owned business (as defined in section 3 of the Native American Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302))”; and
(B)
in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting “, unless the partnership is an Indian-owned business (as defined in section 3 of the Native American Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302))” before the period at the end.
(2)
Exemption from matching funds requirement— Section 604(e)(1) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–3(e)(1)) is amended by inserting “(other than an underserved Tribal entity (as defined in section 2 of the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020))” after “eligible entity”.
(3)
Exemption from application requirements— Section 604(f) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–3(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(3) Exemptions for Tribal entities—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), the Secretary shall not require a Tribal entity (as defined in section 2 of the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020) to submit a system design described in subsection (d) of section 1739.15 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), or financial information described in subsection (h)(2) of that section, to be eligible to receive a grant under the Program.”

(c)
Broadband loan and grant pilot program—
(1)
In general— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Tribal entity shall be considered to be eligible for funding under the broadband loan and grant pilot program described in section 779 of division A of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141; 132 Stat. 399).
(2)
Exemptions— The Secretary of Agriculture shall exempt underserved Tribal entities from the application requirements under the pilot program described in paragraph (1)—
(A)
to submit a network design; and
(B)
to provide a matching contribution equal to 25 percent of the overall cost of the project.

Sec. 202 Universal Service Fund

(a)
Universal Service generally— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations under which the Commission, on and after the effective date of the regulations, shall—
(1)
set aside 5 percent of the amounts allocated for each Federal universal service support program established under section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254), including each program carried out under subparts D through G and J through M of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations; and
(2)
with respect to the amount set aside from each program under paragraph (1), distribute that amount for the purpose of expanding access to broadband service on Tribal land, in accordance with the otherwise applicable requirements of the program.
(b)
Lifeline program—
(1)
Initial increase in Tribal land support amount— For the first 12-month period beginning 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, in the case of Tribal land pertaining to a Tribal entity that has not met the Tribal broadband benchmark, the Commission shall increase the monthly cap on additional Federal lifeline support made available to an eligible telecommunications carrier providing Lifeline service to an eligible resident of that Tribal land under section 54.403(a)(3) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, by $10.
(2)
Annual increase— For each subsequent 12-month period after the 12-month period described in paragraph (1), in the case of Tribal land pertaining to a Tribal entity that has not met the Tribal broadband benchmark, the Commission shall increase the monthly cap described in that paragraph by an additional $10.