Report Title:

Broadband Permitting; ARRA Federal Funds; Work Group

 

Description:

Designates where to deposit federal funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Establishes a work group to develop procedures to streamline state and county broadband regulation, franchising, and permitting and report to the legislature.  Establishes a subaccount within the compliance resolution fund to deposit federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Makes an appropriation.  Effective 7/1/2050.  (SD2)

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

984

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 4

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 2

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO TECHNOLOGY.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  Through Act 2 of the first special session of 2007, the legislature created the Hawaii broadband task force to provide recommendations on how to advance Hawaii's broadband capabilities and use.  The legislature finds that advanced broadband services are essential infrastructure for an innovation economy and a knowledge society in the twenty-first century.  High-speed broadband services at affordable prices are essential for the advancement of education, health, public safety, research and innovation, civic participation, e‑government, economic development and diversification, and public safety and services.  The legislature also recognizes the evolution in the manner in which communications and information services are delivered to the consumer, including by wireline, wireless, cable television, and satellite infrastructures, and that the voice, video, and data services provided over these infrastructures are converging.  In order to position Hawaii for global competitiveness in the twenty-first century, this Act promotes the following goals:

     (1)  Access to broadband communications to all households, businesses, and organizations throughout the State by 2012 at speeds and prices comparable to the average speeds and prices available in the top three performing countries in the world;

     (2)  Availability of advanced broadband communications service on a competitive basis to reduce prices, increase service penetration, and improve service to all persons in the State;

     (3)  Increased broadband availability at affordable costs to low-income and other disadvantaged groups, including by making low-cost, broadband-capable computers available to eligible recipients;

     (4)  Increased sharing of the infrastructure used to deploy broadband in order to speed up implementation, reduce costs to providers, reduce underlying costs to providers through incentives rather than eminent domain procedures, ease deployment of broadband, and ease entry into a competitive broadband marketplace;

     (5)  Increased, flexible, timely, and responsible access to public rights-of-way and public facilities for broadband service providers; and

     (6)  A more streamlined permit approval process that reduces the time and cost of infrastructure deployment, to be created jointly by disparate permitting agencies, stakeholders, and other interested parties.

     SECTION 2.  Use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, federal funds from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures, and other federal moneys.  (a)  The department of commerce and consumer affairs may apply for, and expend, federal moneys from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, federal funds from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures, and other applicable federal acts.

     (b)  The department of commerce and consumer affairs may purchase broadband facilities, services, or equipment and may enter into contracts for broadband-related projects through the use of federal funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 resulting from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures, as well as other federal funds, that are deposited into a subaccount established within the compliance resolution fund under section 5 of this Act.

     (c)  The department of commerce and consumer affairs may assign to the subaccount established within the compliance resolution fund federal moneys appropriated under federal laws that authorize principal forgiveness, zero and negative interest loans, and grants, including without limitation the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, federal funds from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures, and other applicable federal acts.  The department of commerce and consumer affairs may use those moneys and, in so doing, may include additional requirements and subsidization not applicable to the remainder of the subaccount of the compliance resolution fund, including forgiveness of principal and zero and negative interest loans.

     (d)  Any moneys applied for or received by the department of commerce and consumer affairs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or federal funds from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures for uses related to the purposes of this Act and not yet encumbered shall be transferred to the subaccount of the compliance resolution fund upon its establishment.

     (e)  The department of commerce and consumer affairs shall certify that a project has been identified for expenditure of funds received pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is entitled to priority over other eligible projects on the basis of the overall public benefit associated with the project and financial needs, as well as a preference to those projects that can be started and completed expeditiously as stipulated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

     (f)  Contracts or purchases hereunder using moneys from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or federal funds from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures shall be exempt from chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     (g)  For the purposes of this section:

     "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" means

the federal law, P.L. 111-5, making appropriations for various purposes, including job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and state and local fiscal stabilization purposes.

     SECTION 3.  Work group established.  The director of commerce and consumer affairs shall convene a work group to develop procedures for streamlined permitting functions that are applicable to the development of broadband services and broadband technology which are normally available to state and local governments for the use or development of broadband service or broadband technology.  Members of the work group shall include:

     (1)  The director of commerce and consumer affairs, or the director's designee;

     (2)  The mayor of the county of Hawaii, or the mayor's designee;

     (3)  The mayor of the city and county of Honolulu, or the mayor's designee;

     (4)  The mayor of the county of Kauai, or the mayor's designee;

     (5)  The mayor of the county of Maui, or the mayor's designee;

     (6)  The chairperson of the Hawaii broadband task force established by Act 2, First Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2007; and

     (7)  Two representatives of state agencies with jurisdiction over land use and permitting at the state level.

     SECTION 4.  The work group established under section 3 shall submit to the legislature no later than January 1, 2010, a report with its recommended procedures for streamlining and expediting all permitting functions normally available to state and local governments for the use or development of broadband service or broadband technology.  The procedures shall be consistent across all counties and shall provide that any permitting fees and revenues traditionally accruing to the counties that relate to the use or development of broadband service or broadband technology will continue to accrue to the counties once the procedures go into effect.

     SECTION 5.  Compliance resolution fund subaccount established.  Within the compliance resolution fund established pursuant to section 26-9(o), Hawaii Revised Statutes, there is established a subaccount to be administered by the director of commerce and consumer affairs.  The federal funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 appropriation measures, as well as other federal funds, shall be deposited into the subaccount.  The moneys in the subaccount shall be used by the director of commerce and consumer affairs for all expenses incurred in the operation of programs developed by the director to develop and construct, or encourage the construction of, broadband infrastructure, make broadband capable services available to low-income and disadvantaged persons, or otherwise promote universal availability of communications services.  The expenditures made by the director pursuant to this section shall be in accordance with legislative appropriations.

     SECTION 6.  There is appropriated out of the federal funds deposited into the subaccount of the compliance resolution fund the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 to purchase broadband facilities, services, or equipment or to fund broadband-related infrastructure projects pursuant to this Act.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the director of commerce and consumer affairs for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050, to promote further discussion on various segments of this Act.