Streamlining Permitting to Enable Efficient Deployment of Broadband Infrastructure Act of 2017 or the SPEED Act
This bill exempts certain broadband infrastructure project actions, including granting a covered easement, placement and installation of a small wireless facility, and placement and installation of a wireless service facility located in an existing public right-of-way, from environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
The bill requires the Government Accountability Office to study and report about challenges to and administrative delays in efficiently siting communications facility installations on federal land, and to provide recommendations for how Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can address such challenges and reduce delays identified in the report.
The FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee's Streamlining Federal Siting Working Group must submit a report analyzing the challenges to and administrative delays in efficiently siting communications facility installations on federal land, including whether it is necessary to develop: (1) standard procedures for communications facility installation siting, (2) methods that federal agencies may use to identify and report on coverage gaps and deficiencies in communications facility installation siting, and (3) procedures for creating and maintaining a publicly accessible inventory of space that can be used to attach or install communications facility installations.