Sens Thune, Luján, Barrasso Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Expedite Broadband Permits to Unserved, Rural Communities

Sens John Thune (R-SD), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act, bipartisan legislation that would improve federal agencies’ review and processing of broadband permits and allow service to be more quickly deployed to unserved communities. The legislation cuts unnecessary red tape, increases transparency into the federal permitting process, and requires all federal agencies to implement controls to ensure broadband applications are being processed within the required 270-day deadline. In April 2024, the Government Accountability Office reported significant issues with federal agencies processing broadband applications within the 270-day deadline. Following that report, Sens Thune and Barrasso urged the Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service to fix the broken permitting process for broadband infrastructure on federal lands.