FACT SHEET: ENDING BIDEN’S BROADBAND BURDENS

Trump Administration Announces the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD Program

Removing Unnecessary Regulatory Barriers to High-Speed Broadband

Today, the Trump Administration announced critical reforms to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. As Secretary Lutnick said in March, the Biden Administration imposed burdensome extralegal mandates on states and providers, which resulted in the failure to connect a single person to the internet. 

All states and territories can now begin implementing the Trump Administration’s reforms to make their programs more efficient and effective. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Lutnick, states and territories will be able to deliver broadband infrastructure to Americans at a much lower cost, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.  

Reforms announced today include:  

INSTITUTING a Tech-Neutral Approach 

NTIA will adopt a technology neutral approach for the BEAD subgrantee selection process by returning the definition of a “Priority Broadband Project” to statutory language. Removing the preference for a single technology will bring the full force of the competitive marketplace to bear and allow American taxpayers to obtain the greatest return on their investment. 

REMOVING Burdensome Labor and Employment Requirements 

NTIA will limit the labor and employment requirement of the statute to a certification of compliance with existing law and eliminate the central planning and DEI labor and employment edicts that disadvantaged both workers and providers, drove up costs, and undermined broadband buildouts.

ELIMINATING Climate Change Requirements 

NTIA will eliminate the extraneous and burdensome obligations to conduct climate analyses. Instead, NTIA guidance will focus on ensuring reliability and resiliency of the network. 

ENDING Oppressive Net Neutrality Requirements 

NTIA will eliminate the NOFO requirement that micromanaged network management and imposed wholesale access requirements on applicants. 

REMOVING Time-Consuming, DEI-Driven Coordination Requirements 

NTIA will eliminate expansive, extralegal requirements on Eligible Entities to consult with a myriad of special interest groups, including representatives from demographic and identity-based organizations. 

ENDING Needless Municipal Broadband Paperwork 

NTIA will eliminate the flawed requirement in the Final Proposal that Eligible Entities favor participation of non-traditional broadband providers (such as municipalities or political subdivisions), an incentive that risked redirecting scarce funds to less capable providers.  

ENDING Backdoor Rate Regulation 

NTIA will refuse to accept any low-cost service option proposed in an Eligible Entity’s Final Proposal that attempts to impose a specific rate level (i.e., dollar amount) and instead call on Eligible Entities to permit providers to propose their existing, market driven low-cost plans to meet the statutory low-cost requirement. NTIA will also eliminate the requirement that Eligible Entities have a middle-class affordability plan, which was undefined and impossible to operationalize. 

STREAMLINING Environmental Reviews

NTIA will require the use of an NTIA-developed tool to significantly reduce the time and effort required for broadband permitting. The Environmental Screening and Permitting Tracking Tool (ESAPTT) is designed to accelerate National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processing timelines by several months and will be utilized by all Eligible Entities deploying BEAD.