Official Summaries

Broadband Expansion And Deployment Fee Equity and Efficiency Act of 2025 or the BEAD FEE Act of 2025

This bill limits the nature of fees that states and territories receiving Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funding may impose on applicants seeking authorization to construct or deploy broadband infrastructure. 

(The BEAD Program is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and provides funding to eligible entities for broadband deployment, connectivity, mapping, and adoption projects. Eligible entities include U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia.) 

Under the bill, BEAD funds may not be provided to an eligible entity if the entity or a political subdivision of the entity charges fees (1) to consider a request to place, construct, or modify broadband infrastructure; or (2) for the use of a right-of-way owned or managed by the entity or a political subdivision, or for the use of infrastructure within such a right-of-way, to place, construct, or modify broadband infrastructure. However, this restriction does not apply to fees that are competitively neutral, technology neutral, nondiscriminatory, publicly disclosed, and based on actual, direct, and objectively reasonable costs. Any such fee must be described to applicants in a manner that distinguishes between (1) recurring and nonrecurring fees, and (2) the use of infrastructure on which there is no existing broadband infrastructure and the use of infrastructure on which there is existing broadband infrastructure as of the date of the application. 

Current Full Text

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

<DOC>






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.''.
                                 <all>