Official Summaries

Deploying Infrastructure with Greater Internet Transactions And Legacy Applications Act or the DIGITAL Applications Act

This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to each establish an online portal for accepting, processing, and disposal of applications for communications use authorizations. These are requests for easements, rights-of-way, leases, licenses, or other authorizations to locate or modify a transmitting device, support structure, or other communications facility on public lands or National Forest System land.

Interior and the Forest Service must also notify the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) within three business days of establishing their respective portals, and once the portals are established, the NTIA must link to them from its website.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1665 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 1665


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2026

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
    To require the Department of the Interior and the Department of 
Agriculture to establish online portals to accept, process, and dispose 
             of certain Form 299s, 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 ``Deploying Infrastructure with 
Greater Internet Transactions And Legacy Applications Act'' or the 
``DIGITAL Applications Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTALS TO ACCEPT, PROCESS, AND DISPOSE 
              OF CERTAIN FORM 299S.

    (a) Establishment of Online Portals.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall each 
        establish, with respect to the relevant covered department, an 
        online portal for the acceptance, processing, and disposal of a 
        Form 299 for communications use authorizations.
            (2) Notification.--Not later than 3 business days after the 
        date on which an online portal has been established by a 
        Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1), that Secretary shall 
        notify the Assistant Secretary of the establishment of such 
        portal.
    (b) Availability of Online Portals.--The Assistant Secretary shall 
publish on the website of the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration a link to each online portal established 
pursuant to subsection (a)(1).
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary'' 
        means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 
        and Information.
            (2) Communications facility.--The term ``communications 
        facility'' has the meaning given the term ``communications 
        facility installation'' in section 6409(d) of the Middle Class 
        Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)).
            (3) Communications use.--The term ``communications use'' 
        means the placement and operation of a communications facility.
            (4) Communications use authorization.--The term 
        ``communications use authorization'' means an easement, right-
        of-way, lease, license, or other authorization--
                    (A) provided by the Secretary of the Interior or 
                the Secretary of Agriculture;
                    (B) to locate or modify a communications facility 
                on covered land; and
                    (C) for the primary purpose of authorizing the 
                occupancy and use of such covered land for 
                communications use.
            (5) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means--
                    (A) public lands; and
                    (B) National Forest System land.
            (6) Form 299.--The term ``Form 299'' means the form 
        established under section 6409(b)(2)(A) of the Middle Class Tax 
        Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(b)(2)(A)), 
        or any successor form.
            (7) National forest system.--The term ``National Forest 
        System'' has the meaning given that term in section 11(a) of 
        the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 
        1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).
            (8) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 103 of the Federal Land 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702).
            (9) Relevant covered department.--The term ``relevant 
        covered department'' means--
                    (A) with respect to the Secretary of the Interior, 
                the Department of the Interior; and
                    (B) with respect to the Secretary of Agriculture, 
                the Department of Agriculture.
            (10) Secretaries concerned.--The term ``Secretaries 
        concerned'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 
                the Chief of the Forest Service.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 16, 2026.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.