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US Congress · H.R. 1343 · Passed the House

Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act

Introduced
Moved
Reached a final decision
Introduced 2025-02-13
Derived from the official record below.

Officially: “Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act Read the full text

Science, Technology, Communications

What it does

Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to submit a plan to Congress for tracking the acceptance, processing, and disposition of applications for communications use authorizations. (These are requests for easements, rights-of-way, leases, licenses, or other authorizations to locate or modify a transmitting device, support structure, or other communications facility on public lands or National Forest System land.)
Summary by the Congressional Research Service, from the official record. Plain-language version below. Not legal advice.

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AI plain language2 sections
Written by AI from the complete official bill text and independently fact-checked against it. Not legal advice.
1Short title

This section would let the Act be called the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act.

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Official text, verbatim from the record

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act .

2Plan for assistant secretary to track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of certain form 299s

This section would require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit a plan to Congress no later than 180 days after this Act becomes law. The plan would go to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The plan must describe the process the Assistant Secretary proposes to use to track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of each Form 299 application for a communications use authorization; to give applicants more information about the status of their own Form 299; and to put the plan into effect as quickly as possible. The plan must also describe any potential barriers to putting the plan into effect that the Assistant Secretary identifies. For this section, a communications facility has the meaning given to communications facility installation in section 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)). Communications use means placing and operating a communications facility. A communications use authorization is an easement, right-of-way, lease, license, or other authorization that the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture provides to locate or modify a communications facility on covered land, where the main purpose is to authorize occupying and using that land for communications use. Covered land means public lands and National Forest System land. Form 299 means the form established under section 6409(b)(2)(A) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(b)(2)(A)), or any form that replaces it. National Forest System has the meaning given in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). Public lands means land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Bureau of Reclamation.

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Official text, verbatim from the record

2. Plan for assistant secretary to track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of certain form 299s (a) Plan Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan containing a description of— (1) the process by which the Assistant Secretary proposes to— (A) track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of each Form 299 for communications use authorization; (B) provide applicants additional transparency with respect to the status of the applicable Form 299 for communications use authorization; and (C) most expeditiously implement the plan; and (2) any potential barriers to implementing the plan that are identified by the Assistant Secretary. (b) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. (2) Assistant secretary The term Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. (3) Communications facility The term communications facility has the meaning given the term communications facility installation in section 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( 47 U.S.C. 1455(d) ). (4) Communications use The term communications use means the placement and operation of a communications facility. (5) Communications use authorization The term communications use authorization means an easement, right-of-way, lease, license, or other authorization— (A) provided by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture; (B) to locate or modify a communications facility on covered land; and (C) for the primary purpose of authorizing the occupancy and use of such covered land for communications use. (6) Covered land The term covered land means— (A) public lands; and (B) National Forest System land. (7) Form 299 The term Form 299 means the form established under section 6409(b)(2)(A) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( 47 U.S.C. 1455(b)(2)(A) ), or any successor form. (8) National forest system The term National Forest System has the meaning given the term in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 ( 16 U.S.C. 1609(a) ). (9) Public lands The term public lands means land under the management of— (A) the Bureau of Land Management; (B) the National Park Service; (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; or (D) the Bureau of Reclamation.

AI plain languageRead the whole bill in plain language, 2 sections

Where it is

Introduced · 2025-02-13

In the House.

Passed the House · 2026-04-20
Senate floor vote · next · the next step

Official documents

The on-site text is shown verbatim from the GovInfo publication, captured 2026-07-23. The same version at GovInfo.

The numbers

29%
of bills that passed one chamber became law in the 118th Congress, 2023 to 2024 (n=939)
3
sponsors, out of 218 needed to pass

Who is lobbying on this

COMPETITIVE CARRIERS ASSOCIATIONvia COMPETITIVE CARRIERS ASSOCIATION
6 filings
NEBRASKA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATIONvia NEBRASKA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
6 filings
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INCvia CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
4 filings
TELECOMMUNITYvia BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP
4 filings
AT&T SERVICES INC AND ITS AFFILIATESvia MERCURY STRATEGIES, LLC
3 filings
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.via CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.
3 filings
WTA -- ADVOCATES FOR RURAL BROADBANDvia WTA -- ADVOCATES FOR RURAL BROADBAND
3 filings
CTIA-THE WIRELESS ASSOCIATIONvia CTIA-THE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION
1 filing
From 33 filings in federal lobbying disclosures (LDA), via lda.gov, naming this bill (2025 to 2026). Filings are self-reported by lobbying firms and show who is paid to influence this bill. They do not say which side, or whether it worked.
Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record. Last action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (2026-04-21).