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Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce (acting under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act) from banning or from requiring any permit or other authorization for installation, presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary when a federal or state license, lease, or permit authorizing those activities is already in effect. It preserves existing interagency cooperation requirements for federal agency actions involving such cable activities. Also makes purely organizational edits to existing special-use permit text in the National Marine Sanctuaries Act by deleting two paragraphs and renumbering another paragraph without adding new substantive requirements, deadlines, or funding.
The bill accelerates undersea cable deployment and reduces permitting burdens—improving internet infrastructure and lowering costs—while weakening sanctuary-specific environmental oversight and creating legal uncertainty about permit conditions.
Communities and internet users will get faster, more reliable high-capacity undersea internet connectivity because the bill prevents sanctuary-specific permitting from blocking federally or state‑authorized cable projects and cuts permitting duplication, speeding deployments.
Utilities, cable operators, and permit applicants will face simpler, quicker permitting because NOAA's rules are administratively streamlined (paragraphs removed/renumbered) and the bill prevents additional sanctuary permits when a valid federal or state authorization exists.
Cable operators and related businesses may see lower deployment costs and fewer project delays, which can reduce project expenses and potentially lower costs or increase competition for downstream users.
Conservation managers, the public, and marine ecosystems in national marine sanctuaries will have diminished ability to limit or condition undersea cable activities, increasing the risk of harm to sensitive marine habitats because sanctuary-specific restrictions can be preempted by federal or state authorizations.
Utilities, nonprofits, state governments, and other stakeholders will face greater legal uncertainty and potential litigation because removing statutory NOAA text and permit clarifications eliminates specific restrictions and creates ambiguity about allowable activities under sanctuary special‑use permits.
Introduced January 9, 2025 by Buddy Carter · Last progress February 12, 2026