Broadband grant & loan prg.

AN ACT Relating to modifying eligibility for the broadband 1
service expansion grant and loan program; and amending RCW 2
43.155.160. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 43.155.160 and 2022 c 201 s 1 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) The board, in collaboration with the office, shall establish 7
a competitive grant and loan program to award funding to eligible 8
applicants in order to promote the expansion of access to broadband 9
service in unserved areas of the state. 10
(2)(a) Grants and loans may be awarded under this section to 11
assist in funding acquisition, installation, and construction of 12
middle mile and last mile infrastructure that supports broadband 13
services and to assist in funding strategic planning for deploying 14
broadband service in unserved areas. 15
(b) The board may choose to fund all or part of an application 16
for funding, provided that the application meets the requirements of 17
subsection (11) of this section. 18
(3) Eligible applicants for grants and loans awarded under this 19
section include: 20
(a) Local governments; 21
S-1172.1
SENATE BILL 5671
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Hansen and Hasegawa
Read first time 02/05/25. Referred to Committee on Environment,
Energy & Technology.
p. 1 SB 5671
(b) Tribes; 1
(c) Nonprofit organizations; 2
(d) Cooperative associations; and3
(e) Multiparty entities comprised of public entity members((;4
(f) Limited liability corporations organized for the purpose of 5
expanding broadband access; and6
(g) Incorporated businesses or partnerships)). 7
(4)(a) The board shall develop administrative procedures 8
governing the preapplication and award process. The board shall act 9
as fiscal agent for the program and is responsible for receiving and 10
reviewing applications and awarding funds under this section.11
(b) At least sixty days prior to the first day preapplications 12
may be submitted each fiscal year, the board must publish on its 13
website the specific criteria and any quantitative weighting scheme 14
or scoring system that the board will use to evaluate or rank 15
applications and award funding. 16
(c) The board may maintain separate accounting in the statewide 17
broadband account created in RCW 43.155.165 as the board deems 18
necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.19
(d) The board must provide a method for the allocation of loans, 20
grants, provision of technical assistance, and interest rates under 21
this section. 22
(5) An applicant for a grant or loan under this section must 23
provide the following information on the preapplication:24
(a) The location and description of the project;25
(b) Evidence regarding the unserved nature of the community in 26
which the project is to be located; 27
(c) Evidence that proposed infrastructure will be capable of 28
scaling to greater download and upload speeds; 29
(d) The number of households passed that will gain access to 30
broadband service as a result of the project or whose broadband 31
service will be upgraded as a result of the project;32
(e) Evidence that before submission of the application, the 33
applicant contacted, in writing, all entities providing broadband 34
service near the proposed project area to ask each broadband service 35
provider's plan to upgrade broadband service in the project area to 36
speeds that meet or exceed the state's definition for broadband 37
service as defined in RCW 43.330.530, within the time frame specified 38
in the proposed grant or loan activities; 39
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(f) If applicable, the broadband service providers' written 1
responses to the inquiry made under (e) of this subsection;2
(g) The proposed geographic broadband service area and the 3
proposed broadband speeds in the form and manner prescribed by the 4
board; 5
(h) Evidence of community support for the project; and6
(i) Any additional information requested by the board.7
(6) An applicant for a grant or loan under this section must 8
provide the following information on the application:9
(a) The final location and description of the project;10
(b) Evidence that the proposed infrastructure will be capable of 11
scaling to greater download and upload speeds; 12
(c) The number of households passed that will gain access to 13
broadband service as a result of the project or whose broadband 14
service will be upgraded as a result of the project;15
(d) The estimated cost of retail services to end users 16
facilitated by a project; 17
(e) The proposed actual download and upload speeds experienced by 18
end users; 19
(f) Evidence of significant community institutions that will 20
benefit from the proposed project; 21
(g) Anticipated economic, educational, health care, or public 22
safety benefits created by the project; 23
(h) If available, a description of the applicant's user adoption 24
assistance program and efforts to promote the use of newly available 25
broadband services created by the project; 26
(i) The estimated total cost of the project; 27
(j) Other sources of funding for the project that will supplement 28
any grant or loan award; 29
(k) A demonstration of the project's long-term sustainability, 30
including the applicant's financial soundness, organizational 31
capacity, and technical expertise; 32
(l) A strategic plan to maintain long-term operation of the 33
infrastructure; 34
(m) If applicable, documentation describing the outcome of the 35
broadband service providers' written responses to the inquiry made 36
prior to or during the preapplication phase; and 37
(n) Any additional information requested by the board.38
(7)(a) The board shall publish on its website for at least 30 39
days the proposed geographic broadband service area and the proposed 40
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broadband speeds for each proposed broadband project submitted in the 1
preapplication period. 2
(b) The board shall, within three business days following the 3
close of the preapplication cycle, publish on its website 4
preapplications as described in subsection (5) of this section.5
(c) The board shall set an objection period of at least 30 days.6
(8)(a) Any existing broadband service provider near the proposed 7
project area may submit in writing to the board an objection to a 8
proposed broadband project. An objection must contain information 9
demonstrating that: 10
(i) The project would result in overbuild, meaning that the 11
objecting provider currently provides, or has begun construction to 12
provide, broadband service to end users in the proposed project area 13
at speeds equal to or greater than the speeds contained in the 14
definition of broadband in RCW 43.330.530(((2))); or15
(ii) The objecting provider commits to complete construction of 16
broadband infrastructure and provide broadband service to end users 17
in the proposed project area at speeds equal to or greater than the 18
speeds contained in the definition of broadband in RCW 19
43.330.530(((2))), no later than twenty-four months after the date 20
awards are made under this section for the grant and loan cycle under 21
which the preapplication was submitted. 22
(b) Objections submitted to the board under this subsection must 23
be certified by affidavit. 24
(c) The board may evaluate the information submitted under this 25
section by the objecting provider and must consider it in making a 26
determination on the proposed broadband project objected to. The 27
board may request clarification or additional information. The board 28
may choose to not fund a project if the board determines that the 29
objecting provider's commitment to provide broadband service that 30
meets the requirements of (a) of this subsection in the proposed 31
project area is credible. In assessing the commitment, the board may 32
consider whether the objecting provider has or will provide a bond, 33
letter of credit, or other indicia of financial commitment 34
guaranteeing the project's completion. 35
(d) If the board denies funding to an applicant as a result of a 36
broadband service provider's objection made under this section, and 37
the broadband service provider does not fulfill its commitment to 38
provide broadband service in the project area, then for the following 39
two grant and loan cycles, the board is prohibited from denying 40
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funding to an applicant on the basis of a challenge by the same 1
broadband service provider, unless the board determines that the 2
broadband service provider's failure to fulfill the provider's 3
commitment was the result of factors beyond the broadband service 4
provider's control. The board is not prohibited from denying funding 5
to an applicant for reasons other than an objection by the same 6
broadband service provider. 7
(e) An applicant or broadband service provider that objected to 8
the application may request a debriefing conference regarding the 9
board's decision on the application. Requests for debriefing must be 10
coordinated by the office and must be submitted in writing in 11
accordance with procedures specified by the office.12
(f) Confidential business and financial information submitted by 13
an objecting provider under this subsection is exempt from disclosure 14
under chapter 42.56 RCW. 15
(9)(a) In evaluating applications and awarding funds, the board 16
shall give priority to applications that are constructed in areas 17
identified as unserved. 18
(b) In evaluating applications and awarding funds, the board may 19
give priority to applications that: 20
(i) Provide assistance to public-private partnerships deploying 21
broadband infrastructure from areas currently served with broadband 22
service to areas currently lacking access to broadband services;23
(ii) Demonstrate project readiness to proceed;24
(iii) Construct infrastructure that is open access, meaning that 25
during the useful life of the infrastructure, service providers may 26
use network services and facilities at rates, terms, and conditions 27
that are not discriminatory or preferential between providers, and 28
employing accountable interconnection arrangements published and 29
available publicly; 30
(iv) Are submitted by tribal governments whose reservations are 31
in rural and remote areas where reliable and efficient broadband 32
services are unavailable to many or most residents;33
(v) Bring broadband service to tribal lands, particularly to 34
rural and remote tribal lands or areas servicing rural and remote 35
tribal entities; 36
(vi) Are submitted by tribal governments in rural and remote 37
areas that have spent significant amounts of tribal funds to address 38
the problem but cannot provide necessary broadband services without 39
either additional state support, additional federal support, or both;40
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(vii) Serve economically distressed areas of the state as the 1
term "distressed area" is defined in RCW 43.168.020;2
(viii) Offer new or substantially upgraded broadband service to 3
important community anchor institutions including, but not limited 4
to, libraries, educational institutions, public safety facilities, 5
and health care facilities; 6
(ix) Facilitate the use of telemedicine and electronic health 7
records, especially in deliverance of behavioral health services and 8
services to veterans; 9
(x) Provide technical support and train residents, businesses, 10
and institutions in the community served by the project to utilize 11
broadband service; 12
(xi) Include a component to actively promote the adoption of 13
newly available broadband services in the community;14
(xii) Provide evidence of strong support for the project from 15
citizens, government, businesses, and community institutions;16
(xiii) Provide access to broadband service to a greater number of 17
unserved households and businesses, including farms;18
(xiv) Utilize equipment and technology demonstrating greater 19
longevity of service; 20
(xv) Seek the lowest amount of state investment per new location 21
served and leverage greater amounts of funding for the project from 22
other private and public sources; 23
(xvi) Include evidence of a customer service plan;24
(xvii) Consider leveraging existing broadband infrastructure and 25
other unique solutions; 26
(xviii) Benefit public safety and fire preparedness; or27
(xix) Demonstrate other priorities as the board, in collaboration 28
with the office, may prescribe by rule. 29
(c) The board shall endeavor to award funds under this section to 30
qualified applicants in all regions of the state. 31
(d) The board shall consider affordability and quality of service 32
to end users in making a determination on any application.33
(e) The board, in collaboration with the office, may develop 34
additional rules for eligibility, project preapplications, project 35
applications, the associated objection process, and funding priority, 36
as provided under this subsection and subsections (3), (5), (6), (7), 37
and (8) of this section. 38
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(f) The board, in collaboration with the office, may adopt rules 1
for a voluntary nonbinding mediation between incumbent providers and 2
applicants to the grant and loan program created in this section.3
(10) To ensure a grant or loan to a private entity under this 4
section primarily serves the public interest and benefits the public, 5
any such grant or loan must be conditioned on a guarantee that the 6
asset or infrastructure to be developed will be maintained for public 7
use for a period of at least fifteen years. 8
(11)(a) No funds awarded under this section may fund more than 9
fifty percent of the total cost of the project, except as provided in 10
(b) of this subsection. 11
(b) The board may choose to fund up to ninety percent of the 12
total cost of a project in financially distressed areas as the term 13
"distressed area" is defined in RCW 43.168.020, and in areas 14
identified as Indian country as the term "Indian country" is defined 15
in WAC 458-20-192. 16
(c) Funds awarded to a single project under this section must not 17
exceed two million dollars, except that the board may choose to fund 18
projects qualifying for the exception in (b) of this subsection up 19
to, but not to exceed, five million dollars. 20
(12) The board shall have such rights of recovery in the event of 21
default in payment or other breach of financing agreement as may be 22
provided in the agreement or otherwise by law. 23
(13) The community economic revitalization board shall facilitate 24
the timely transmission of information and documents from its 25
broadband program to the board in order to effectuate an orderly 26
transition. 27
(14)(a) Subject to rules promulgated by the board, the board may 28
make low-interest or interest-free loans or grants to eligible 29
applicants for emergency public works broadband projects. While 30
developing rules, the board shall consider prioritizing broadband 31
infrastructure projects that replace existing infrastructure impacted 32
by an emergency, as described in (b) of this subsection.33
(b) Emergency public works broadband projects include 34
construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation, or 35
improvement to critical broadband infrastructure that has been made 36
necessary by a natural disaster or damaged by unforeseen events. To 37
ensure limited resources are provided as efficiently as possible, the 38
board shall grant priority to emergency public works projects that 39
replace existing infrastructure of the provider whose facilities were 40
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damaged by the unforeseen event and shall not provide funds to a new 1
provider to overbuild the existing provider. The loans or grants may 2
be used to help fund all or part of an emergency public works 3
broadband infrastructure project less any reimbursement from any of 4
the following sources: (i) Federal disaster or emergency funds, 5
including funds from the federal emergency management agency; (ii) 6
state disaster or emergency funds; (iii) insurance settlements; and 7
(iv) litigation. 8
(c) Eligible applicants for grants and loans awarded under this 9
subsection are the same as those described in subsection (3) of this 10
section. 11
(15) The definitions in RCW 43.330.530 apply throughout this 12
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.13
(16) For purposes of this section, a "proposed broadband project" 14
means a project that has been submitted as a preapplication to the 15
public works board. 16
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