Rep Johnson Introduces Bill to Streamline Rural Broadband Projects

Rep Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced legislation to streamline the permitting process for broadband infrastructure projects. The Facilitating Optimal and Rapid Expansion and Siting of Telecommunications (FOREST) Act will cut down bureaucratic red tape to improve broadband access in rural America. The lengthy permitting process on federal lands has prevented the federal government from improving broadband access, even though billions of dollars are available to improve broadband deployment. The FOREST Act expedites broadband projects in places where the government has already conducted the appropriate environmental and historical preservation reviews. Specifically, the FOREST Act:

• Grants exemptions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historical Preservation Act (NHPA) for a communications facility or communications use authorization on National Forest System lands if it is an upgrade or addition to existing infrastructure, or if the United States Forest Service has already conducted the appropriate environmental and historical preservation reviews.
• Allows USFS to waive the consultation requirements under NEPA and NHPA for a communications use authorization on previously analyzed areas of National Forest System lands.
• Streamlines the NEPA permitting process by allowing broadband infrastructure to be built on land that has already gone through the appropriate reviews as it pertains to the National Forest System.