Federal efforts to speed up broadband permitting miss the mark

By Damon Conklin, legislative advocate (infrastructure)

Both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress have intensified efforts to accelerate broadband deployment by revisiting and potentially restructuring the nation’s broadband permitting frameworks. While these initiatives emphasize speed and cost reduction for private sector providers, they raise significant concerns for cities due to their cost and scope.

In a letter to the FCC, Cal Cities and others urged the agency to instead work with states and cities to develop incentive-based models that reward providers who commit to rural buildout and infrastructure resilience.

Cal Cities has long championed efforts to increase timely, safe, and cost-effective broadband deployment. In fact, increasing access to broadband internet was one of Cal Cities’ core advocacy priorities for many years. However, many of these proposed changes would widen, not close, the digital divide — especially in rural areas.

FCC initiates new permitting reform proceeding

Early indications suggest the FCC’s efforts to reform broadband permitting will focus on four areas:

• Limit local discretion over broadband and wireline siting decisions.
• Change the Spectrum Act and the Telecommunications Act, including updates to small-cell and collocation frameworks.
• Enact uniform national standards for environmental and historic preservation reviews, potentially narrowing local and tribal oversight.
• Create additional federal shot clocks, fee caps, or categorical exclusions, similar to reforms the industry has long championed.

Cal Cities and the National League of Cities both submitted letters urging the agency to consider how changing the rules — especially for small wireless facilities — can impact wildfire prevention, flood control, and traffic management. It is imperative that cities retain their authority to review construction in the public right-of-way, coordinate across agencies to prevent service disruptions, ensure compliance with environmental and historic preservation laws, and protect public infrastructure.

House subcommittee advances sweeping permitting bills

Concurrently, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology marked up over two dozen bills aimed at streamlining various broadband permitting processes. Several measures that advanced out of committee would substantially curtail what lawmakers frame as “regulatory barriers” at the state and local levels.

Echoing the FCC’s efforts, these bills would pressure cities to process increasingly complex applications on shortened timelines, preempt local review authority, tack on new federal standards for fees and applications, and undermine community planning processes. Congress has framed the reforms as essential to national competitiveness and closing the digital divide.

Many of the proposals would shift the impacts of broadband deployment onto local governments. For example, broadband projects often directly impact local roads and underground conduits. Rigid federal timelines that ignore local staffing and conditions, combined with an inability to enforce safety requirements, could compromise cities’ ability to plan for and respond to wildfires and floods.

Local government concerns

These actions signal a coordinated federal effort to resolve frustrations raised during the last several years over the broadband permitting process, magnified by billions of dollars in recent federal investments. However, this approach risks overriding nuanced local planning and procedural safeguards that protect public safety, aesthetics, and community character.

Preemptive federal mandates ignore real challenges to broadband deployment and undermine cities’ ability to ensure responsible deployment. Rural areas, for example, must contend with limited construction seasons, steep topography, wildfire hazards, and workforce constraints. Additionally, fee caps and administrative mandates shift costs onto local taxpayers while reducing the resources needed for effective, timely permitting. Limited public engagement can lead to resident frustration and contentious community relationships.

As Congress and the FCC push forward, Cal Cities and local governments will continue to advocate for collaborative, balanced approaches that expand broadband access without sacrificing local control.