Broadband repair loans

AN ACT Relating to broadband infrastructure repair loans; and 1
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) To support broadband services and assist in funding 10
strategic planning for deploying broadband service in unserved areas, 11
the board may award:12
(i) Grants and loans ((may be awarded under this section )) to 13
assist in funding acquisition, installation, and construction of 14
middle mile and last mile infrastructure ((that supports broadband 15
services and to assist in funding strategic planning for deploying 16
broadband service in unserved areas)); and17
(ii) Loans to assist in funding repair and replacement of middle 18
mile and last mile infrastructure. 19
S-0300.1
SENATE BILL 5188
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Wellman, Hansen, Lovick, Kauffman, Krishnadasan, Nobles,
and Riccelli
Prefiled 01/08/25. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Environment, Energy & Technology.
p. 1 SB 5188
(b) The board may choose to fund all or part of an application 1
for funding, provided that the application meets the requirements of 2
subsection (11) of this section. 3
(3) Eligible applicants for grants and loans awarded under this 4
section include: 5
(a) Local governments; 6
(b) Tribes; 7
(c) Nonprofit organizations; 8
(d) Cooperative associations; 9
(e) Multiparty entities comprised of public entity members;10
(f) Limited liability corporations organized for the purpose of 11
expanding broadband access; and 12
(g) Incorporated businesses or partnerships. 13
(4)(a) The board shall develop administrative procedures 14
governing the preapplication and award process. The board shall act 15
as fiscal agent for the program and is responsible for receiving and 16
reviewing applications and awarding funds under this section.17
(b) At least sixty days prior to the first day preapplications 18
may be submitted each fiscal year, the board must publish on its 19
website the specific criteria and any quantitative weighting scheme 20
or scoring system that the board will use to evaluate or rank 21
applications and award funding. 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 under this section must 29
provide the following information on the preapplication:30
(a) The location and description of the project;31
(b) Evidence regarding the unserved nature of the community in 32
which the project is to be located; 33
(c) Evidence that proposed infrastructure will be capable of 34
scaling to greater download and upload speeds; 35
(d) The number of households passed that will gain access to 36
broadband service as a result of the project or whose broadband 37
service will be upgraded or maintained as a result of the project;38
(e) Evidence that before submission of the application, the 39
applicant contacted, in writing, all entities providing broadband 40
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service near the proposed project area to ask each broadband service 1
provider's plan to upgrade broadband service in the project area to 2
speeds that meet or exceed the state's definition for broadband 3
service as defined in RCW 43.330.530, within the time frame specified 4
in the proposed grant or loan activities; 5
(f) If applicable, the broadband service providers' written 6
responses to the inquiry made under (e) of this subsection;7
(g) The proposed geographic broadband service area and the 8
proposed broadband speeds in the form and manner prescribed by the 9
board; 10
(h) Evidence of community support for the project; and11
(i) Any additional information requested by the board.12
(6) An applicant for a grant or loan under this section must 13
provide the following information on the application:14
(a) The final location and description of the project;15
(b) Evidence that the proposed infrastructure will be capable of 16
scaling to greater download and upload speeds; 17
(c) The number of households passed that will gain access to 18
broadband service as a result of the project or whose broadband 19
service will be upgraded or maintained as a result of the project;20
(d) The estimated cost of retail services to end users 21
facilitated by a project; 22
(e) The proposed actual download and upload speeds experienced by 23
end users; 24
(f) Evidence of significant community institutions that will 25
benefit from the proposed project; 26
(g) Anticipated economic, educational, health care, or public 27
safety benefits created by the project; 28
(h) If available, a description of the applicant's user adoption 29
assistance program and efforts to promote the use of newly available 30
broadband services created by the project; 31
(i) The estimated total cost of the project; 32
(j) Other sources of funding for the project that will supplement 33
any grant or loan award; 34
(k) A demonstration of the project's long-term sustainability, 35
including the applicant's financial soundness, organizational 36
capacity, and technical expertise; 37
(l) A strategic plan to maintain long-term operation of the 38
infrastructure; 39
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(m) If applicable, documentation describing the outcome of the 1
broadband service providers' written responses to the inquiry made 2
prior to or during the preapplication phase; and 3
(n) Any additional information requested by the board.4
(7)(a) The board shall publish on its website for at least 30 5
days the proposed geographic broadband service area and the proposed 6
broadband speeds for each proposed broadband project submitted in the 7
preapplication period. 8
(b) The board shall, within three business days following the 9
close of the preapplication cycle, publish on its website 10
preapplications as described in subsection (5) of this section.11
(c) The board shall set an objection period of at least 30 days.12
(8)(a) Any existing broadband service provider near the proposed 13
project area may submit in writing to the board an objection to a 14
proposed broadband project. An objection must contain information 15
demonstrating that: 16
(i) The project would result in overbuild, meaning that the 17
objecting provider currently provides, or has begun construction to 18
provide, broadband service to end users in the proposed project area 19
at speeds equal to or greater than the speeds contained in the 20
definition of broadband in RCW 43.330.530(((2))); or21
(ii) The objecting provider commits to complete construction of 22
broadband infrastructure and provide broadband service to end users 23
in the proposed project area at speeds equal to or greater than the 24
speeds contained in the definition of broadband in RCW 25
43.330.530(((2))), no later than twenty-four months after the date 26
awards are made under this section for the grant and loan cycle under 27
which the preapplication was submitted. 28
(b) Objections submitted to the board under this subsection must 29
be certified by affidavit. 30
(c) The board may evaluate the information submitted under this 31
section by the objecting provider and must consider it in making a 32
determination on the proposed broadband project objected to. The 33
board may request clarification or additional information. The board 34
may choose to not fund a project if the board determines that the 35
objecting provider's commitment to provide broadband service that 36
meets the requirements of (a) of this subsection in the proposed 37
project area is credible. In assessing the commitment, the board may 38
consider whether the objecting provider has or will provide a bond, 39
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letter of credit, or other indicia of financial commitment 1
guaranteeing the project's completion. 2
(d) If the board denies funding to an applicant as a result of a 3
broadband service provider's objection made under this section, and 4
the broadband service provider does not fulfill its commitment to 5
provide broadband service in the project area, then for the following 6
two grant and loan cycles, the board is prohibited from denying 7
funding to an applicant on the basis of a challenge by the same 8
broadband service provider, unless the board determines that the 9
broadband service provider's failure to fulfill the provider's 10
commitment was the result of factors beyond the broadband service 11
provider's control. The board is not prohibited from denying funding 12
to an applicant for reasons other than an objection by the same 13
broadband service provider. 14
(e) An applicant or broadband service provider that objected to 15
the application may request a debriefing conference regarding the 16
board's decision on the application. Requests for debriefing must be 17
coordinated by the office and must be submitted in writing in 18
accordance with procedures specified by the office.19
(f) Confidential business and financial information submitted by 20
an objecting provider under this subsection is exempt from disclosure 21
under chapter 42.56 RCW. 22
(9)(a) In evaluating applications and awarding funds, the board 23
shall give priority to applications that are constructed in areas 24
identified as unserved or areas that would be unserved if repair or 25
replacement did not take place. 26
(b) In evaluating applications and awarding funds, the board may 27
give priority to applications that: 28
(i) Provide assistance to public-private partnerships deploying 29
broadband infrastructure from areas currently served with broadband 30
service to areas currently lacking access to broadband services;31
(ii) Demonstrate project readiness to proceed;32
(iii) Construct or repair infrastructure that is open access, 33
meaning that during the useful life of the infrastructure, service 34
providers may use network services and facilities at rates, terms, 35
and conditions that are not discriminatory or preferential between 36
providers, and employing accountable interconnection arrangements 37
published and available publicly; 38
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(iv) Are submitted by tribal governments whose reservations are 1
in rural and remote areas where reliable and efficient broadband 2
services are unavailable to many or most residents;3
(v) Bring broadband service to tribal lands, particularly to 4
rural and remote tribal lands or areas servicing rural and remote 5
tribal entities; 6
(vi) Are submitted by tribal governments in rural and remote 7
areas that have spent significant amounts of tribal funds to address 8
the problem but cannot provide or repair necessary broadband services 9
without either additional state support, additional federal support, 10
or both; 11
(vii) Serve economically distressed areas of the state as the 12
term "distressed area" is defined in RCW 43.168.020;13
(viii) Offer new or substantially upgraded broadband service to 14
important community anchor institutions including, but not limited 15
to, libraries, educational institutions, public safety facilities, 16
and health care facilities; 17
(ix) Facilitate the use of telemedicine and electronic health 18
records, especially in deliverance of behavioral health services and 19
services to veterans; 20
(x) Provide technical support and train residents, businesses, 21
and institutions in the community served by the project to utilize 22
broadband service; 23
(xi) Include a component to actively promote the adoption of 24
newly available broadband services in the community;25
(xii) Provide evidence of strong support for the project from 26
citizens, government, businesses, and community institutions;27
(xiii) Provide access to broadband service to a greater number of 28
unserved households and businesses, including farms;29
(xiv) Utilize equipment and technology demonstrating greater 30
longevity of service; 31
(xv) Seek the lowest amount of state investment per new location 32
served and leverage greater amounts of funding for the project from 33
other private and public sources; 34
(xvi) Include evidence of a customer service plan;35
(xvii) Consider leveraging existing broadband infrastructure and 36
other unique solutions; 37
(xviii) Benefit public safety and fire preparedness; or38
(xix) Demonstrate other priorities as the board, in collaboration 39
with the office, may prescribe by rule. 40
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(c) The board shall endeavor to award funds under this section to 1
qualified applicants in all regions of the state. 2
(d) The board shall consider affordability and quality of service 3
to end users in making a determination on any application.4
(e) The board, in collaboration with the office, may develop 5
additional rules for eligibility, project preapplications, project 6
applications, the associated objection process, and funding priority, 7
as provided under this subsection and subsections (3), (5), (6), (7), 8
and (8) of this section. 9
(f) The board, in collaboration with the office, may adopt rules 10
for a voluntary nonbinding mediation between incumbent providers and 11
applicants to the grant and loan program created in this section.12
(10) To ensure a grant or loan to a private entity under this 13
section primarily serves the public interest and benefits the public, 14
any such grant or loan must be conditioned on a guarantee that the 15
asset or infrastructure to be developed will be maintained for public 16
use for a period of at least fifteen years. 17
(11)(a) No funds awarded under this section may fund more than 18
fifty percent of the total cost of the project, except as provided in 19
(b) of this subsection. 20
(b) The board may choose to fund up to ninety percent of the 21
total cost of a project in financially distressed areas as the term 22
"distressed area" is defined in RCW 43.168.020, and in areas 23
identified as Indian country as the term "Indian country" is defined 24
in WAC 458-20-192. 25
(c) Funds awarded to a single project under this section must not 26
exceed two million dollars, except that the board may choose to fund 27
projects qualifying for the exception in (b) of this subsection up 28
to, but not to exceed, five million dollars. 29
(12) The board shall have such rights of recovery in the event of 30
default in payment or other breach of financing agreement as may be 31
provided in the agreement or otherwise by law. 32
(13) The community economic revitalization board shall facilitate 33
the timely transmission of information and documents from its 34
broadband program to the board in order to effectuate an orderly 35
transition. 36
(14)(a) Subject to rules promulgated by the board, the board may 37
make low-interest or interest-free loans or grants to eligible 38
applicants for emergency public works broadband projects. While 39
developing rules, the board shall consider prioritizing broadband 40
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infrastructure projects that replace existing infrastructure impacted 1
by an emergency, as described in (b) of this subsection.2
(b) Emergency public works broadband projects include 3
construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation, or 4
improvement to critical broadband infrastructure that has been made 5
necessary by a natural disaster or damaged by unforeseen events. To 6
ensure limited resources are provided as efficiently as possible, the 7
board shall grant priority to emergency public works projects that 8
replace existing infrastructure of the provider whose facilities were 9
damaged by the unforeseen event and shall not provide funds to a new 10
provider to overbuild the existing provider. The loans or grants may 11
be used to help fund all or part of an emergency public works 12
broadband infrastructure project less any reimbursement from any of 13
the following sources: (i) Federal disaster or emergency funds, 14
including funds from the federal emergency management agency; (ii) 15
state disaster or emergency funds; (iii) insurance settlements; and 16
(iv) litigation. 17
(c) Eligible applicants for grants and loans awarded under this 18
subsection are the same as those described in subsection (3) of this 19
section. 20
(15) The definitions in RCW 43.330.530 apply throughout this 21
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.22
(16) For purposes of this section, a "proposed broadband project" 23
means a project that has been submitted as a preapplication to the 24
public works board. 25
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