H.R. 1681, Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act

H.R. 1681 would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish an interagency strike force to help prioritize the review of communications use authorizations by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service. Communications use authorizations are requests for the placement and operation of a communications facility on federal land. That group would establish goals for reviewing communications use authorizations and monitor each agency to ensure goals are met. The NTIA also would be required to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of the strike force.

Using information from the affected agencies, CBO estimates that it would cost $10 million over the 2026-2031 period to establish and administer the interagency group, as well as write the report; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. That amount would support 12 employees each year across the three affected agencies at an average cost of $155,000 per employee in 2026, with increases in later years to account for anticipated inflation.

On August 8, 2025, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources, on April 9, 2025. The two pieces of legislation are similar. CBO estimated the cost of H.R. 1681, as ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources, relative to its January 2025 baseline and estimated H.R. 1681, as ordered reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce, relative to its February 2026 baseline. As a result of differences in anticipated inflation and one additional year in the budget window, the estimate of spending subject to appropriation shown here is $1 million more than the estimate published in August 2025.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Hughes. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.