GREEN Communications Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1506 To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to carry out a grant and revolving loan program to provide funding for projects to increase the resiliency and energy efficiency of communications networks, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Commu- nications and Information to carry out a grant and re- volving loan program to provide funding for projects to increase the resiliency and energy efficiency of commu- nications networks, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Generating Resilient 4 and Energy Efficient Network Communications Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘GREEN Communications Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1506 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist- 3 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 4 Commerce for Communications and Information. 5 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 6 means the Federal Communications Commission. 7 (3) COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 8 term ‘‘communications infrastructure’’ means any 9 equipment, tower, support structure, facility, prod- 10 uct, or technology that is essential to the operation 11 of a communications network. 12 (4) COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.—The term 13 ‘‘communications network’’ means— 14 (A) a broadband network; 15 (B) a cellular network; 16 (C) a telephone network; 17 (D) a cable system; 18 (E) a network that is primarily used for 19 public safety or first responder communications; 20 or 21 (F) a network that provides any other 22 communications or telecommunications service. 23 (5) COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK OUTAGE.—The 24 term ‘‘communications network outage’’ means an 25 outage with respect to a communications network 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1506 IS that results in the disruption of services provided by 1 the communications network. 2 (6) COVERED EFFICIENCY PROJECT.—The term 3 ‘‘covered efficiency project’’ means, with respect to 4 action taken by an eligible entity— 5 (A) the purchase or upgrading of equip- 6 ment or technology, including an electrical or 7 thermal monitoring system, that is dem- 8 onstrated to increase the energy efficiency of 9 communications infrastructure; 10 (B) the installation or upgrading of perma- 11 nent solar panels, wind turbines, combined heat 12 and power technology, or other renewable en- 13 ergy generators that are used in communica- 14 tions infrastructure, or at a data center, pro- 15 vided, operated, or owned by the eligible entity; 16 (C) entering into a partnership with an en- 17 ergy utility company to purchase land for re- 18 newable energy infrastructure, or to construct 19 renewable energy infrastructure, that will be 20 used to power a data center, an internet ex- 21 change point, or communications infrastructure 22 provided, operated, or owned by the eligible en- 23 tity; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1506 IS (D) the reduction of water consumption for 1 cooling a data center, or operating other com- 2 munications infrastructure, provided, operated, 3 or owned by the eligible entity, in an area that 4 is likely to experience drought; 5 (E) the study of ways to make a commu- 6 nications network provided, operated, or owned 7 by the eligible entity, or communications infra- 8 structure provided, operated, or owned by the 9 eligible entity, more energy and resource effi- 10 cient; 11 (F) the study, including through pilot 12 projects, of green technologies to make a com- 13 munications network provided, operated, or 14 owned by the eligible entity more energy and re- 15 source efficient; or 16 (G) any other type of project carried out 17 by the eligible entity that the Assistant Sec- 18 retary determines will promote the adoption of 19 energy efficient, renewable energy, and carbon- 20 neutral technologies and practices with respect 21 to communications networks, or communica- 22 tions infrastructure, provided, operated, or 23 owned by the eligible entity. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1506 IS (7) COVERED RESILIENCY PROJECT.—The term 1 ‘‘covered resiliency project’’ means, with respect to 2 action taken by an eligible entity— 3 (A) the construction of communications in- 4 frastructure to be provided, operated, or owned 5 by the eligible entity in a location that is not 6 vulnerable to projected severe effects with re- 7 spect to extreme weather, natural disasters, or 8 climate change-related events, including sea- 9 level rise, flooding, and increased risk of wild- 10 fire; 11 (B) the relocation of communications in- 12 frastructure provided, operated, or owned by 13 the eligible entity to a location that is less vul- 14 nerable to projected severe effects with respect 15 to extreme weather, natural disasters, or cli- 16 mate change-related events, including sea-level 17 rise, flooding, and increased risk of wildfire; 18 (C) the reinforcement, hardening, or re- 19 placement of communications infrastructure 20 provided, operated, or owned by the eligible en- 21 tity in a location that is increasingly vulnerable 22 to projected severe effects with respect to ex- 23 treme weather, natural disasters, or climate 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1506 IS change-related events, including sea-level rise, 1 flooding, and increased risk of wildfire; 2 (D) the construction of a fortification, such 3 as a sea wall or embankment, or the develop- 4 ment of green infrastructure solutions, such as 5 wetlands or drainage ponds, to protect commu- 6 nications infrastructure provided, operated, or 7 owned by the eligible entity from projected se- 8 vere effects with respect to extreme weather, 9 natural disasters, or climate change-related 10 events, including sea-level rise, flooding, and in- 11 creased risk of wildfire; 12 (E) the undertaking of research with re- 13 spect to communications infrastructure pro- 14 vided, operated, or owned by the eligible entity 15 to identify vulnerabilities of that infrastructure 16 to climate change based on the best available 17 data, analysis, and projections regarding that 18 change, including sea-level rise projections, 100- 19 year floodplain maps, and heat and temperature 20 projections; 21 (F) the undertaking of research (using the 22 best available data, analysis and projections re- 23 garding tectonic science and structural engi- 24 neering) with respect to communications infra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1506 IS structure provided, operated, or owned by the 1 eligible entity to identify vulnerabilities, or the 2 susceptibility, of that communications infra- 3 structure to damage caused by natural disas- 4 ters; 5 (G) the purchase of renewable energy or 6 low-emission backup generators, fuel cells, or 7 batteries to maximize the likelihood that com- 8 munications infrastructure provided, operated, 9 or owned by the eligible entity can continue op- 10 erating in the event of an electrical system out- 11 age, without regard to whether the eligible enti- 12 ty is required to provide such backup power 13 with respect to that communications infrastruc- 14 ture; 15 (H) the purchase of cooling equipment or 16 insulation, or the development of green infra- 17 structure, to protect communications infrastruc- 18 ture provided, operated, or owned by the eligible 19 entity from extreme heat events; 20 (I) the piloting of technologies to make a 21 communications network provided, operated, or 22 owned by the eligible entity more resilient 23 through energy efficient and low carbon emis- 24 sion measures; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1506 IS (J) in order to facilitate faster detection 1 of, or response to, a communications network 2 outage with respect to a communications net- 3 work provided, operated, or owned by the eligi- 4 ble entity— 5 (i) the training of employees of the el- 6 igible entity relating to such a detection or 7 response; 8 (ii) the conducting of communications 9 network outage tests or simulations; 10 (iii) the participation in communica- 11 tions network outage tests or simulations, 12 including those administered by local, 13 State, or Federal governmental entities; or 14 (iv) the purchase of equipment or 15 technology relating to such a detection or 16 response, including communications infra- 17 structure (including deployable commu- 18 nications infrastructure) that can expedite 19 the restoration of communications or tele- 20 communications services after such a com- 21 munications network outage; 22 (K) the undertaking of research to develop 23 technologies that can expedite the restoration of 24 communications or telecommunications services 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1506 IS after an outage with respect to communications 1 infrastructure provided, operated, or owned by 2 the eligible entity; 3 (L) the construction, purchase, relocation, 4 reinforcement, or replacement of communica- 5 tions infrastructure provided, operated, or 6 owned by the eligible entity in order to mini- 7 mize the risk of a communications network out- 8 age caused by an affirmative power shut-off by 9 a utility; or 10 (M) any other type of project carried out 11 by the eligible entity that the Assistant Sec- 12 retary determines will increase the resiliency of 13 a communications network or communications 14 infrastructure provided, operated, or owned by 15 the eligible entity with respect to— 16 (i) severe weather; 17 (ii) natural disasters; and 18 (iii) climate change-related events, in- 19 cluding extreme weather events, droughts, 20 coastal and inland flooding, sea level rise, 21 increased storm surge, wildfires, mudslides, 22 and extreme temperatures. 23 (8) DATA CENTER.—The term ‘‘data center’’ 24 means a centralized location at which computing and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1506 IS networking equipment is concentrated for the pur- 1 pose of collecting, storing, processing, distributing, 2 or allowing access to large amounts of electronic 3 data. 4 (9) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 5 ty’’ means any private or public entity, including a 6 State, local, or Tribal government, that provides, op- 7 erates, or owns a communications network or com- 8 munications infrastructure. 9 (10) NATURAL DISASTER.—The term ‘‘natural 10 disaster’’ includes a natural event that is not related 11 to climate change, including an earthquake, a tor- 12 nado, a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, a solar flare, 13 a geomagnetic disturbance, and an electromagnetic 14 pulse. 15 (11) NTIA.—The term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the Na- 16 tional Telecommunications and Information Admin- 17 istration. 18 SEC. 3. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNICATIONS 19 NETWORK RESILIENCY AND ENERGY EFFI- 20 CIENCY. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.— 22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assist- 24 ant Secretary shall establish a program in the NTIA 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1506 IS (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’) 1 through which the Assistant Secretary, subject to 2 the other provisions of this section, shall competi- 3 tively award grants and revolving loans to eligible 4 entities to carry out covered efficiency projects and 5 covered resiliency projects. 6 (2) PRELIMINARY RULEMAKING.—Before ac- 7 cepting applications for a grant or a revolving loan 8 under the Program, the Assistant Secretary shall, 9 under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 10 and after consultation with eligible entities and the 11 Secretary of Homeland Security, conduct a rule- 12 making to develop a process for— 13 (A) identifying proprietary and confidential 14 information contained in such an application; 15 and 16 (B) handling and protecting information 17 described in subparagraph (A). 18 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 20 eligible entity seeking a grant or a revolving loan 21 under the Program shall submit to the Assistant 22 Secretary an application at such time, in such man- 23 ner, and containing such information as the Assist- 24 ant Secretary may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1506.IS S1506 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1506 IS (2) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—An application 1 submitted by an eligible entity under paragraph (1) 2 shall contain, at a minimum, and to the extent appli- 3 cable— 4 (A) with respect to a covered efficiency 5 project— 6 (i) an overview of the energy sourcing 7 of the communications infrastructure or 8 other equipment that is the subject of the 9 project; and 10 (ii) a description of how the grant or 11 revolving loan sought by the eligible entity 12 will improve the energy or resource effi- 13 ciency of the communications infrastruc- 14 ture or other equipment that is the subject 15 of the project; and 16 (B) with respect to a covered resiliency 17 project— 18 (i) a description of the current, as of 19 the date on which the application is sub- 20 mitted, resiliency efforts of the eligible en- 21 tity with respect to the communications in- 22 frastructure or communications network 23 that is the subject of the project; 24 V [Text truncated for display. 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