Broadband/repair and replace

AN ACT Relating to repair and replace public works broadband 1
projects; and amending RCW 43.155.160. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 43.155.160 and 2022 c 201 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) The board, in collaboration with the office, shall establish 6
a competitive grant and loan program to award funding to eligible 7
applicants in order to promote ((the expansion of )) access to 8
broadband service in unserved areas of the state. 9
(2)(a) Grants and loans may be awarded under this section to 10
assist in funding acquisition, installation, ((and)) construction of, 11
and repairs to middle mile and last mile infrastructure that supports 12
broadband services and to assist in funding strategic planning for 13
deploying broadband service in unserved areas. 14
(b) The board may choose to fund all or part of an application 15
for funding for a proposed broadband project , provided that the 16
application meets the requirements of subsection (11) of this 17
section. 18
(3) Eligible applicants for grants and loans awarded under this 19
section include: 20
(a) Local governments; 21
H-0626.2
HOUSE BILL 1441
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Ryu, Donaghy, and Reed
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on Capital Budget.
p. 1 HB 1441
(b) Tribes; 1
(c) Nonprofit organizations; 2
(d) Cooperative associations; 3
(e) Multiparty entities comprised of public entity members;4
(f) Limited liability corporations organized for the purpose of 5
expanding broadband access; and 6
(g) Incorporated businesses or partnerships. 7
(4)(a) The board shall develop administrative procedures 8
governing the preapplication and award process for proposed broadband 9
projects. The preapplication, application, notice, objection, and 10
award processes described in subsections (5) through (9) of this 11
section do not apply to repair and replace public works broadband 12
projects, as described in subsection (14) of this section . The board 13
shall act as fiscal agent for the program and is responsible for 14
receiving and reviewing applications and awarding funds for proposed 15
broadband projects under this section. 16
(b) At least ((sixty)) 60 days prior to the first day 17
preapplications may be submitted each fiscal year, the board must 18
publish on its website the specific criteria and any quantitative 19
weighting scheme or scoring system that the board will use to 20
evaluate or rank applications and award funding for proposed 21
broadband projects. 22
(c) The board may maintain separate accounting in the statewide 23
broadband account created in RCW 43.155.165 as the board deems 24
necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.25
(d) The board must provide a method for the allocation of loans, 26
grants, provision of technical assistance, and interest rates under 27
this section. 28
(5) An applicant for a grant or loan for a proposed broadband 29
project under this section must provide the following information on 30
the preapplication: 31
(a) The location and description of the project;32
(b) Evidence regarding the unserved nature of the community in 33
which the project is to be located; 34
(c) Evidence that proposed infrastructure will be capable of 35
scaling to greater download and upload speeds; 36
(d) The number of households passed that will gain access to 37
broadband service as a result of the project or whose broadband 38
service will be upgraded as a result of the project;39
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(e) Evidence that before submission of the application, the 1
applicant contacted, in writing, all entities providing broadband 2
service near the proposed project area to ask each broadband service 3
provider's plan to upgrade broadband service in the project area to 4
speeds that meet or exceed the state's definition for broadband 5
service as defined in RCW 43.330.530, within the time frame specified 6
in the proposed grant or loan activities; 7
(f) If applicable, the broadband service providers' written 8
responses to the inquiry made under (e) of this subsection;9
(g) The proposed geographic broadband service area and the 10
proposed broadband speeds in the form and manner prescribed by the 11
board; 12
(h) Evidence of community support for the project; and13
(i) Any additional information requested by the board.14
(6) An applicant for a grant or loan for a proposed broadband 15
project under this section must provide the following information on 16
the application: 17
(a) The final location and description of the project;18
(b) Evidence that the proposed infrastructure will be capable of 19
scaling to greater download and upload speeds; 20
(c) The number of households passed that will gain access to 21
broadband service as a result of the project or whose broadband 22
service will be upgraded as a result of the project;23
(d) The estimated cost of retail services to end users 24
facilitated by a project; 25
(e) The proposed actual download and upload speeds experienced by 26
end users; 27
(f) Evidence of significant community institutions that will 28
benefit from the proposed project; 29
(g) Anticipated economic, educational, health care, or public 30
safety benefits created by the project; 31
(h) If available, a description of the applicant's user adoption 32
assistance program and efforts to promote the use of newly available 33
broadband services created by the project; 34
(i) The estimated total cost of the project; 35
(j) Other sources of funding for the project that will supplement 36
any grant or loan award; 37
(k) A demonstration of the project's long-term sustainability, 38
including the applicant's financial soundness, organizational 39
capacity, and technical expertise; 40
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(l) A strategic plan to maintain long-term operation of the 1
infrastructure; 2
(m) If applicable, documentation describing the outcome of the 3
broadband service providers' written responses to the inquiry made 4
prior to or during the preapplication phase; and 5
(n) Any additional information requested by the board.6
(7)(a) The board shall publish on its website for at least 30 7
days the proposed geographic broadband service area and the proposed 8
broadband speeds for each proposed broadband project submitted in the 9
preapplication period. 10
(b) The board shall, within three business days following the 11
close of the preapplication cycle, publish on its website 12
preapplications as described in subsection (5) of this section.13
(c) The board shall set an objection period of at least 30 days 14
for proposed broadband projects. 15
(8)(a) Any existing broadband service provider near the proposed 16
project area may submit in writing to the board an objection to a 17
proposed broadband project. An objection must contain information 18
demonstrating that: 19
(i) The project would result in overbuild, meaning that the 20
objecting provider currently provides, or has begun construction to 21
provide, broadband service to end users in the proposed project area 22
at speeds equal to or greater than the speeds contained in the 23
definition of broadband in RCW 43.330.530(((2))) (4); or24
(ii) The objecting provider commits to complete construction of 25
broadband infrastructure and provide broadband service to end users 26
in the proposed project area at speeds equal to or greater than the 27
speeds contained in the definition of broadband in RCW 28
43.330.530(((2))) (4), no later than ((twenty-four)) 24 months after 29
the date awards are made under this section for the grant and loan 30
cycle under which the preapplication was submitted.31
(b) Objections submitted to the board under this subsection must 32
be certified by affidavit. 33
(c) The board may evaluate the information submitted under this 34
section by the objecting provider and must consider it in making a 35
determination on the proposed broadband project objected to. The 36
board may request clarification or additional information. The board 37
may choose to not fund a proposed broadband project if the board 38
determines that the objecting provider's commitment to provide 39
broadband service that meets the requirements of (a) of this 40
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subsection in the proposed project area is credible. In assessing the 1
commitment, the board may consider whether the objecting provider has 2
or will provide a bond, letter of credit, or other indicia of 3
financial commitment guaranteeing the project's completion.4
(d) If the board denies funding to an applicant for a proposed 5
broadband project as a result of a broadband service provider's 6
objection made under this section, and the broadband service provider 7
does not fulfill its commitment to provide broadband service in the 8
project area, then for the following two grant and loan cycles, the 9
board is prohibited from denying funding to an applicant for a 10
proposed broadband project on the basis of a challenge by the same 11
broadband service provider, unless the board determines that the 12
broadband service provider's failure to fulfill the provider's 13
commitment was the result of factors beyond the broadband service 14
provider's control. The board is not prohibited from denying funding 15
to an applicant for a proposed broadband project for reasons other 16
than an objection by the same broadband service provider.17
(e) An applicant or broadband service provider that objected to 18
the application for a proposed broadband project may request a 19
debriefing conference regarding the board's decision on the 20
application. Requests for debriefing must be coordinated by the 21
office and must be submitted in writing in accordance with procedures 22
specified by the office. 23
(f) Confidential business and financial information submitted by 24
an objecting provider under this subsection is exempt from disclosure 25
under chapter 42.56 RCW. 26
(9)(a) In evaluating applications and awarding funds for proposed 27
broadband projects , the board shall give priority to applications 28
that are constructed in areas identified as unserved.29
(b) In evaluating applications and awarding funds for proposed 30
broadband projects, the board may give priority to applications that:31
(i) Provide assistance to public-private partnerships deploying 32
broadband infrastructure from areas currently served with broadband 33
service to areas currently lacking access to broadband services;34
(ii) Demonstrate project readiness to proceed;35
(iii) Construct infrastructure that is open access, meaning that 36
during the useful life of the infrastructure, service providers may 37
use network services and facilities at rates, terms, and conditions 38
that are not discriminatory or preferential between providers, and 39
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employing accountable interconnection arrangements published and 1
available publicly; 2
(iv) Are submitted by tribal governments whose reservations are 3
in rural and remote areas where reliable and efficient broadband 4
services are unavailable to many or most residents;5
(v) Bring broadband service to tribal lands, particularly to 6
rural and remote tribal lands or areas servicing rural and remote 7
tribal entities; 8
(vi) Are submitted by tribal governments in rural and remote 9
areas that have spent significant amounts of tribal funds to address 10
the problem but cannot provide necessary broadband services without 11
either additional state support, additional federal support, or both;12
(vii) Serve economically distressed areas of the state as the 13
term "distressed area" is defined in RCW 43.168.020;14
(viii) Offer new or substantially upgraded broadband service to 15
important community anchor institutions including, but not limited 16
to, libraries, educational institutions, public safety facilities, 17
and health care facilities; 18
(ix) Facilitate the use of telemedicine and electronic health 19
records, especially in deliverance of behavioral health services and 20
services to veterans; 21
(x) Provide technical support and train residents, businesses, 22
and institutions in the community served by the project to utilize 23
broadband service; 24
(xi) Include a component to actively promote the adoption of 25
newly available broadband services in the community;26
(xii) Provide evidence of strong support for the project from 27
citizens, government, businesses, and community institutions;28
(xiii) Provide access to broadband service to a greater number of 29
unserved households and businesses, including farms;30
(xiv) Utilize equipment and technology demonstrating greater 31
longevity of service; 32
(xv) Seek the lowest amount of state investment per new location 33
served and leverage greater amounts of funding for the project from 34
other private and public sources; 35
(xvi) Include evidence of a customer service plan;36
(xvii) Consider leveraging existing broadband infrastructure and 37
other unique solutions; 38
(xviii) Benefit public safety and fire preparedness; or39
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(xix) Demonstrate other priorities as the board, in collaboration 1
with the office, may prescribe by rule. 2
(c) The board shall endeavor to award funds under this section to 3
qualified applicants in all regions of the state. 4
(d) The board shall consider affordability and quality of service 5
to end users in making a determination on any application.6
(e) The board, in collaboration with the office, may develop 7
additional rules for eligibility, project preapplications, project 8
applications, the associated objection process, and funding priority, 9
as provided under this subsection and subsections (3), (5), (6), (7), 10
and (8) of this section. 11
(f) The board, in collaboration with the office, may adopt rules 12
for a voluntary nonbinding mediation between incumbent providers and 13
applicants to the grant and loan program for proposed broadband 14
projects created in this section. 15
(10) To ensure a grant or loan to a private entity under this 16
section primarily serves the public interest and benefits the public, 17
any such grant or loan must be conditioned on a guarantee that the 18
asset or infrastructure to be developed will be maintained for public 19
use for a period of at least ((fifteen)) 15 years.20
(11)(a) No funds awarded under this section may fund more than 21
((fifty)) 50 percent of the total cost of the project, except as 22
provided in (b) of this subsection. 23
(b) The board may choose to fund up to ((ninety)) 90 percent of 24
the total cost of a project in financially distressed areas as the 25
term "distressed area" is defined in RCW 43.168.020, and in areas 26
identified as Indian country as the term "Indian country" is defined 27
in WAC 458-20-192. 28
(c) Funds awarded to a single project under this section must not 29
exceed ((two million dollars )) $2,000,000, except that the board may 30
choose to fund projects qualifying for the exception in (b) of this 31
subsection up to, but not to exceed, ((five million dollars )) 32
$5,000,000. 33
(12) The board shall have such rights of recovery in the event of 34
default in payment or other breach of financing agreement as may be 35
provided in the agreement or otherwise by law. 36
(13) The community economic revitalization board shall facilitate 37
the timely transmission of information and documents from its 38
broadband program to the board in order to effectuate an orderly 39
transition. 40
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(14)(a) Subject to rules promulgated by the board, the board may 1
make low-interest or interest-free loans or grants to eligible 2
applicants for ((emergency)) repair and replace public works 3
broadband projects. ((While developing rules, the board shall 4
consider prioritizing broadband infrastructure projects that replace 5
existing infrastructure impacted by an emergency, as described in (b) 6
of this subsection.))7
(b) ((Emergency)) Repair and replace public works broadband 8
projects include ((construction,)) repair, reconstruction, 9
replacement, rehabilitation, or improvement to critical broadband 10
infrastructure that has been made necessary ((by a natural disaster 11
or damaged)) by unforeseen events. ((To ensure limited resources are 12
provided as efficiently as possible, the board shall grant priority 13
to emergency public works projects that replace existing 14
infrastructure of the provider whose facilities were damaged by the 15
unforeseen event and shall )) The board may not provide funds under 16
this subsection (14) to a new provider to overbuild the existing 17
provider. The loans or grants may be used to help fund all or part of 18
((an emergency )) a repair and replace public works broadband 19
infrastructure project less any reimbursement from any of the 20
following sources: (i) Federal disaster or emergency funds, including 21
funds from the federal emergency management agency; (ii) state 22
disaster or emergency funds; (iii) insurance settlements; and (iv) 23
litigation. 24
(c) Eligible applicants for grants and loans awarded under this 25
subsection (14) are the same as those described in subsection (3) of 26
this section. 27
(15) The definitions in RCW 43.330.530 apply throughout this 28
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.29
(16) For purposes of this section, a "proposed broadband project" 30
means a project that has been submitted as a preapplication to the 31
public works board. A "proposed broadband project" does not include 32
repair and replace public works broadband projects, as described in 33
subsection (14) of this section.34
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