Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025

[119th Congress Public Law 89]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

[[Page 140 STAT. 818]]

Public Law 119-89
119th Congress

                                 An Act

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a vetting
   process for prospective applicants for high-cost universal service
           program funding. <<NOTE: May 11, 2026 -  [S. 98]>>

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Rural Broadband
Protection Act of 2025.>>
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 47 USC 609 note.>> SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Broadband Protection Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. VETTING PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE HIGH-COST UNIVERSAL
                    SERVICE FUND APPLICANTS.

    Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Vetting of High-Cost Fund Recipients.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `covered funding' means any new offer
                of high-cost universal service program funding,
                including funding provided through a reverse competitive
                bidding mechanism provided under this section, for the
                deployment of a broadband-capable network and the
                provision of supported services over the network; and
                    ``(B) the term `new covered funding award' means an
                award of covered funding that is made based on an
                application submitted to the Commission on or after the
                date on which rules are promulgated under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Commission rulemaking.--Not later
        than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection,
        the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to
        establish a vetting process for applicants for, and other
        recipients of, a new covered funding award.
            ``(3) Contents.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In promulgating rules under
                paragraph (2), the Commission shall provide that,
                consistent with principles of technology neutrality, the
                Commission will only award covered funding to applicants
                that can demonstrate that they meet the qualifications
                in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) <<NOTE: Proposal. Records.>> Qualifications
                described.--An applicant for a new covered funding award
                shall include in the initial application a proposal
                containing sufficient detail and documentation for the
                Commission to ascertain that the applicant possesses the
                technical, financial, and operational capabilities, and
                has a reasonable business plan, to deploy the proposed
                network and deliver services with the relevant

[[Page 140 STAT. 819]]

                performance characteristics and requirements defined by
                the Commission and as pledged by the applicant.
                    ``(C) Evaluation of proposal.--The Commission shall
                evaluate a proposal described in subparagraph (B)
                against--
                          ``(i) reasonable and well-established
                      technical, financial, and operational standards,
                      including the technical standards adopted by the
                      Commission in orders of the Commission relating to
                      Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data
                      Collection (WC Docket No. 19-195) (or orders of
                      the Commission relating to modernizing any
                      successor collection) for purposes of entities
                      that must report broadband availability coverage;
                      and
                          ``(ii) the applicant's history of complying
                      with requirements in Commission and other
                      government broadband deployment funding programs.
                    ``(D) Penalties for pre-authorization defaults.--In
                adopting rules for any new covered funding award, the
                Commission shall set a penalty for pre-authorization
                defaults of at least $9,000 per violation and may not
                limit the base forfeiture to an amount less than 30
                percent of the applicant's total support, unless the
                Commission demonstrates the need for lower penalties in
                a particular instance.''.

    Approved May 11, 2026.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 98 (H.R. 2399):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 119-78 (Comm. on Energy and Commerce) accompanying
H.R. 2399.
SENATE REPORTS: No. 119-14 (Comm. on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 171 (2025):
                                    June 26, considered and passed
                                        Senate.
                                                        Vol. 172 (2026):
                                    Apr. 20, considered and passed
                                        House.

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