S 323 — PLAN for Broadband Act

changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change 
is proposed is shown in roman):

 FAST ACT

 * * * * * * *

 DIVISION D--MISCELLANEOUS

 TITLE XLI--FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT

 [42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)(A)]

SEC. 41001. DEFINITIONS.

 In this title:
 (1) * * *
 (2) * * *
 (3) * * *
 (4) * * *
 (5) * * *
 (6) Covered project.--
 (A) In general.--The term ``covered 
 project'' means any activity in the United 
 States that requires authorization or 
 environmental review by a Federal agency 
 involving construction of infrastructure for 
 renewable or conventional energy production, 
 electricity transmission, surface 
 transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, 
 water resource projects, broadband, pipelines, 
 manufacturing, semiconductors, artificial 
 intelligence and machine learning, high-
 performance computing and advanced computer 
 hardware and software, quantum information 
 science and technology, data storage and data 
 management, cybersecurity, carbon capture, 
 energy storage, or any other sector as 
 determined by a majority vote of the Council 
 that--
 (i)(I) is subject to NEPA;
 (II) is likely to require a total 
 investment of more than $200,000,000; 
 and
 (III) does not qualify for 
 abbreviated authorization or 
 environmental review processes under 
 any applicable law;
 (ii) is covered by a programmatic 
 plan or environmental review developed 
 for the primary purpose of facilitating 
 development of carbon dioxide 
 pipelines;
 (iii) is--
 (I) subject to NEPA;
 (II) sponsored by an Indian 
 Tribe (as defined in section 4 
 of the Indian Self-
 Determination and Education 
 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
 5304)), an Alaska Native 
 Corporation, a Native Hawaiian 
 organization (as defined in 
 section 6207 of the Elementary 
 and Secondary Education Act of 
 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517)), the 
 Department of Hawaiian Home 
 Lands, or the Office of 
 Hawaiian Affairs; and
 (III) located on land owned 
 or under the jurisdiction of 
 the entity that sponsors the 
 activity under subclause (II); 
 [or]
 (iv)(I) is subject to NEPA;
 (II) involves the construction of 
 infrastructure for broadband; and
 (III) is likely to require a total 
 investment of more than $5,000,000; or
 [(iv)](v) is subject to NEPA and 
 the size and complexity of which, in 
 the opinion of the Council, make the 
 project likely to benefit from enhanced 
 oversight and coordination, including a 
 project likely to require--
 (I) authorization from or 
 environmental review involving 
 more than 2 Federal agencies; 
 or
 (II) the preparation of an 
 environmental impact statement 
 under NEPA.

 * * * * * * *

 MIDDLE CLASS TAX RELIEF AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2012

 * * * * * * *

 [47 U.S.C. 1455(b)(3); Public Law 112-96]

SEC. 6409. WIRELESS FACILITIES DEPLOYMENT.

 (a) * * *
 (b) Federal Easements, Rights-of-way, and Leases.--
 (1) * * *
 (2) * * *
 (3) Timely consideration of applications.--
 (A) In general.--Not later than 270 days 
 after the date on which an executive agency 
 receives a duly filed application for an 
 easement, right-of-way, or lease under this 
 subsection, the executive agency shall--
 (i) grant or deny, on behalf of the 
 Federal Government, the application; 
 and
 (ii) notify the applicant of the 
 grant or denial.
 (B) Explanation of denial.--If an executive 
 agency denies an application under subparagraph 
 (A), the executive agency shall notify the 
 applicant in writing, including a clear 
 statement of the reasons for the denial.
 (C) Applicability of environmental laws.--
 Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to 
 relieve an executive agency of the requirements 
 of division A of subtitle III of title 54, 
 United States Code, or the National 
 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
 4321 et seq.).
 (D) Point of contact.--Upon receiving an 
 application under subparagraph (A), an 
 executive agency shall designate one or more 
 appropriate individuals within the executive 
 agency to act as a point of contact with the 
 applicant.
 (E) Tracking and improving processing 
 times.--
 (i) Data controls.--An executive 
 agency shall develop controls to ensure 
 that data is sufficiently accurate and 
 complete to track the processing time 
 for each application described in 
 subparagraph (A).
 (ii) Requirement to analyze, 
 address, and report on delay factors.--
 With respect to the factors that 
 contribute to delays in processing 
 applications described in subparagraph 
 (A), an executive agency shall--
 (I) analyze the factors as 
 the delays are occurring;
 (II) take actions to 
 address the factors; and
 (III) provide an annual 
 report on the factors to--
 (aa) the Committee 
 on Commerce, Science, 
 and Transportation of 
 the Senate;
 (bb) the Committee 
 on Energy and Natural 
 Resources of the 
 Senate;
 (cc) the Committee 
 on Energy and Commerce 
 of the House of 
 Representatives;
 (dd) the Committee 
 on Natural Resources of 
 the House of 
 Representatives; and
 (ee) each committee 
 of Congress with 
 jurisdiction over the 
 executive agency.
 (iii) Method for alerting staff to 
 at-risk applications.--An executive 
 agency shall establish a method to 
 alert employees of the executive agency 
 to any application described in 
 subparagraph (A) with respect to which 
 the executive agency is at risk of 
 failing to meet the 270-day deadline 
 under that subparagraph.

 * * * * * * *