On Thursday, the House Committee on Natural Resources reviewed H.R. 2425, the “Public Lands Telecommunications Act.” H.R. 2425, authored by Representative Jared Huffman (D-North Coast), would establish and improve broadband and telecommunications deployment on and near public lands.
As currently written, H.R. 2425 would provide fee retention authority for rights-of-way and other telecommunications infrastructure. This would ensure funds are reinvested to further broadband and telecommunications deployment. In addition, it would provide cooperative agreement authority to federal land management agencies to breakdown funding silos, and encourage new federal partnerships.
RCRC’s H.R. 2425 support letter can be accessed here.