A message from the NTIA for folks wanting to comment…

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) launched a request for comment (RFC) yesterday seeking input on the extent of any exemptions from the Uniform Guidance that might help facilitate the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

The Uniform Guidance is the federal government’s framework for grants management, providing rules and requirements for federal awards and subawards. Following the publication of the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity last year, various stakeholders requested that NTIA clarify the extent to which the Uniform Guidance applies to grants and subgrants awarded under the BEAD Program, if at all, and identified provisions of the Uniform Guidance that they argue will deter the participation of Internet service providers and/or increase the costs that subgrantees will incur—and the award amounts they will require—to participate in the program without concomitant benefit. These stakeholders also requested that NTIA address their concerns by waiving or otherwise modifying the application of the Uniform Guidance to the BEAD Program.

In Minnesota, Uniform Guidance requirements will apply to the Federal BEAD funding distributed through the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development’s broadband grant programs.

This Request for Comment affords all interested persons an opportunity to provide input on the extent of any exemptions from the Uniform Guidance that might help facilitate the implementation of the BEAD Program.

Written comments in response to the RFC should be filed by 5 p.m. ET on August 4, 2023, 30 days from yesterday’s publication of the RFC in the Federal Register, on https://www.regulations.gov. Comments submitted in response to the RFC will be made publicly available.