H.R. 1838 — Broadband Internet for Small Ports Act

This section revises funding priorities, grant limits, eligibility criteria, and administrative requirements for the rural broadband program (7 U.S.C. 950bb), which provides grants, loans, and loan guarantees to eligible entities for constructing, improving, or acquiring broadband facilities and equipment in rural areas. Specifically, it (1) removes the 10 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream speed thresholds defining unserved rural communities eligible for highest-priority funding; (2) adds priorities for projects providing the maximum broadband level to the greatest proportion of rural households, rapid fixed and mobile broadband deployment on cropland and ranchland for precision agriculture applications, and broadband at rural ports (defined to include marine terminals and inland-water facilities); (3) requires the Secretary to verify unserved communities via Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration data, other sources, and site-specific testing, with adjustments at least every two years; and (4) revises other priority criteria, including increasing a service coverage threshold from 50% to 90%, decreasing a related time period from 3 years to 2 years, and equalizing consideration among certain underserved locations. The section further (1) limits grants to 50% of project development costs, up to 75% for projects serving areas with low broadband availability or low median household income; (2) requires coordination with the Federal Communications Commission to ensure funded service levels meet or exceed universal service high-cost support levels; (3) requires timely application feedback and funding decisions; (4) mandates recipients to submit complete geolocation data on new or upgraded broadband service within 30 days of project milestones or completion; (5) authorizes the Secretary to obligate—but not disburse—funds before certain environmental, historical, or other reviews if subsequent site-specific reviews suffice without project compromise; and (6) requires a set-aside of at least 1% of funds for program oversight.