Borrowing from Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Headlines…

Andrew Von Ah  |  Research  |  Government Accountability Office

The federal government is investing billions of dollars in expanding broadband access. Some new infrastructure—such as broadband towers—will be situated on federal lands. Federal agencies are required to process applications for such permits within 270 days. The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service process most of these applications. Between 2018-2022, both agencies missed the deadline for some applications and for others couldn’t determine if they processed the applications on time. GAO analyzed federal permitting data; reviewed laws and reports on the application review process; and interviewed agency officials. Based on this analysis, GAO is making six recommendations—three to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and three to Forest Service—to improve their processing of communications use applications, so that they are better able to meet the 270-day deadline. BLM and the Forest Service agreed with the recommendations.

1. The Director of BLM should develop controls to ensure BLM data are sufficiently accurate and complete to track processing times for all communications use applications

2. The Chief of the Forest Service should develop controls to ensure Forest Service data are sufficiently accurate and complete to track processing times for all communications use applications

3. The Director of BLM should continue to analyze the factors that contribute to delays in processing communications use applications as they occur and take actions to address those factors

4. The Chief of the Forest Service should continue to analyze the factors that contribute to delays in processing communications use applications as they occur, as well as the efficacy of the actions the agency has taken to address those factors, and take additional actions as necessary

5. The Director of BLM should establish a method to alert staff to communications use applications at risk of exceeding the 270-day deadline

6. The Chief of the Forest Service should establish a method to alert staff to communications use applications at risk of exceeding the 270-day deadline

Earlier this week, the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development hosted a conversation with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) about how broadband providers could best work with their office to get necessary permits and permission. SHPO aims to responds to people within 30 days but they admit that can often be 60 days. And if there’s anything amiss with the original application it may take 30-60 days to get a response after each modification. Why? Because they are terribly short staffed and it didn’t sound like they were optimistic about getting funding for more staff anytime soon. I suspect the BLM could be faster with more staff too.

The question is whether we’d like to spend money to streamline permits or on the deplo