Sponsors (4)
The bill shifts authority and creates unified security and permitting rules to make undersea and cross-border communications infrastructure more resilient and better monitored, but it raises costs, reduces local environmental control, and creates legal, privacy, and implementation risks for operators, communities, and agencies.
Internet and communications users (households, businesses, hospitals, financial institutions) will face lower risk of major service disruptions because the bill strengthens protection and resilience of undersea and cross-border cables.
Operators, emergency responders, and federal agencies will get faster, clearer incident reporting and information sharing (24-hour / 7-day deadlines, CISA/Navy/NOAA access), improving detection and federal response to outages or attacks.
Cable builders and permit applicants will benefit from centralized FCC licensing and a consolidated federal application and permitting process, reducing duplicative federal reviews and speeding some build/repair actions.
Companies that build, repair, or operate cables (and ultimately consumers and businesses) will face higher compliance, construction, and operational costs because of new licensing, security standards, siting constraints, and reporting requirements.
State and local governments, coastal communities, fishermen, and Indigenous groups may lose environmental protections and local control over siting, increasing the risk of ecological harm to marine habitats and cultural resources.
Tight statutory deadlines, automatic license consequences, and rules that apply only to projects after new regulations create legal and regulatory uncertainty for applicants and could lead to inadvertent approvals or project delays.
Based on analysis of 20 sections of legislative text.
Moves submarine-cable licensing to the FCC, adds security and reporting rules for submarine and certain cross-border terrestrial cables, requires Corps general permit, and raises penalties for harming cables.
Introduced May 19, 2025 by Rudy Yakym · Last progress May 19, 2025
Transfers licensing authority for submarine cables from the President to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requires the FCC to join the International Cable Protection Committee, and imposes new licensing, security, reporting, and consultation rules for submarine cables and certain terrestrial cables that directly connect the United States with foreign countries. The bill also directs the Army Corps to issue a nationwide Clean Water Act general permit for submarine cable work, mandates incident reporting to the FCC and CISA, requires interagency and international coordination on security standards, and raises criminal penalties for knowingly injuring submarine cables.