Sponsor
Thomas Kean
Representative · R-NJ
Representative · R-NJ
This bill speeds broadband deployment on public and National Forest lands by streamlining permitting and planning—helping rural communities and providers—while trading off increased administrative costs and risks of environmental impacts or delays to other land uses.
Rural residents and communities: faster approvals to place broadband on public and National Forest lands will speed network buildout and improve access.
State and local governments and broadband providers: clearer permitting rules and required staffing plans can make reviews more predictable and reduce permitting backlogs.
Private companies and local economies: improved permitting on federal lands can encourage private investment and create jobs in broadband deployment.
Public lands and nearby communities: expediting reviews or altering rules could lead to permitting decisions that insufficiently consider environmental or recreational impacts on public and National Forest lands.
Users of other land uses (grazing, recreation, etc.): prioritizing broadband authorizations could delay other land‑use permits and services.
Taxpayers: implementing required staffing plans may require additional federal hiring or resource reallocation, increasing federal costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs Interior and Agriculture to jointly study and report within one year on barriers, process improvements, and staffing needs to speed broadband land-use reviews on federal lands.
Requires the Interior Department and the Agriculture Department (through the Forest Service) to jointly study and report to Congress within one year on barriers and opportunities to speed up reviews of broadband land-use authorizations on federal lands. The agencies must identify administrative or programmatic obstacles, possible regulatory fixes, prioritization processes, and a staffing plan for BLM and Forest Service field and regional offices to ensure timely review.
Introduced September 17, 2025 by Thomas Kean · Last progress March 4, 2026