281.
(a) The commission shall develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund program to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies, consistent with this section and with the statements of intent in Section 2 of the Internet for All Now Act (Chapter 851 of the Statutes of 2017). section. (b) (1) (A) The goal of the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account program is, no later than December 31, 2032, 2015, to approve funding for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98 percent of California households in each consortia region, as identified by the commission. The commission shall be responsible for achieving the goals of the program. households.
(B) For purposes of the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, both of the following definitions apply:
(i) “Mbps” means megabits per second.
(ii) (I) Except as provided in subclause (II), “unserved area” means an area for which there is no facility-based broadband provider offering at least one tier of broadband service at speeds of at least 25 mbps downstream, 3 mbps upstream, and a latency that is sufficiently low to allow realtime interactive applications, considering updated federal and state broadband mapping data.
(II) For projects funded, in whole or in part, from moneys received from the federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, “unserved area” means an area in which no facility-based broadband provider offers broadband service at speeds consistent with the standards established by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to In the Matter of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, WC Docket No. 19-126, Report and Order, FCC 20-5 (adopted January 30, 2020, and released February 7, 2020), or as it may be later modified by the Federal Communications Commission.
(2) In approving infrastructure projects funded through the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, the commission shall do both of the following:
(A) (2) Approve In approving infrastructure projects, the commission shall give priority to projects that provide last-mile broadband access to households that are unserved by an existing facility-based broadband provider. facilities-based broadband provider. The commission shall provide each applicant, and any party challenging an application, the opportunity to demonstrate actual levels of broadband service in the project area, which the commission shall consider in reviewing the application.
(B) (i) Prioritize projects in unserved areas where internet connectivity is available only at speeds at or below 10 mbps downstream and 1 mbps upstream or areas with no internet connectivity.
(ii) This subparagraph does not prohibit the commission from approving funding for projects outside of the areas specified in clause (i).
(3) Moneys appropriated for purposes of this section may be used to match or leverage federal moneys for communications infrastructure, digital equity, and adoption, including, but not limited to, moneys from the United States Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture ReConnect Loan and Grant Program, and the Federal Communications Commission for communications infrastructure, digital equity, and adoption.
(4) The commission shall transition California Advanced Services Fund program methodologies to provide service to serviceable locations and evaluate other program changes to align with other funding sources, including, but not limited to, funding locations.
(5) The commission shall maximize investments in new, robust, and scalable infrastructure and use California Advanced Services Fund moneys to leverage federal and non-California Advanced Services Fund moneys by undertaking activities, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Providing technical assistance to local governments and providers.
(B) Assisting in developing grant applications.
(C) Assisting in preparing definitive plans for deploying necessary infrastructure in each county, including coordination across contiguous counties.
(6) Moneys appropriated for purposes of this section may be used to fund projects that deploy broadband infrastructure to unserved nonresidential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, including, but not limited to, fairgrounds.
(c) The commission shall establish the following accounts within the fund:
(1) The Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account.
(2) The Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account.
(3) The Broadband Public Housing Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account.
(4) The Broadband Adoption Public Housing Account.
(5) The Federal Funding Account.
(d) (1) All moneys collected by the surcharge authorized by the commission pursuant to Decision 07-12-054 shall be transmitted to the commission pursuant to a schedule established by the commission. The commission shall transfer the moneys received by the commission from the surcharge the commission may impose pursuant to paragraph (4) to fund the accounts to the to the Controller for deposit into in the California Advanced Services Fund. Moneys collected on and after January 1, 2011, shall be deposited in the following amounts in the following accounts:
(A) One hundred ninety million dollars ($190,000,000) into the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account.
(B) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) into the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account.
(C) Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) into the Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account.
(2) All interest earned on moneys in the fund shall be deposited into in the fund.
(3) The commission may make recommendations to the Legislature regarding appropriations from the California Advanced Services Fund and the accounts established pursuant to subdivision (c).
(4) (3) For the period described in Section 281.1, the The commission shall not collect moneys, by imposing the surcharge described in paragraph (1) for deposit in the fund, in an amount that exceeds one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) before January 1, 2011. On and after January 1, 2011, the commission may collect a an additional sum not to exceed one two hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) per fifteen million dollars ($215,000,000), for a sum total of moneys collected by imposing the surcharge described in paragraph (1) not to exceed three hundred fifteen million dollars ($315,000,000). The commission may collect the additional sum beginning with the calendar year starting on January 1, 2011, and continuing through the 2020 calendar year, in an amount not to exceed twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) per year, unless the commission determines that collecting a higher amount in any year will not result in an increase in the total amount of all surcharges collected from telephone customers that year.
(e) (1) All moneys in the California Advanced Services Fund, including moneys in the accounts within the fund, Fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the commission for the California Advanced Services Fund program administered by the commission pursuant to this section, including the costs incurred by the commission in developing, implementing, and administering the program and the fund.
(f) In administering the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, the commission shall do all of the following:
(1) The commission shall award grants from the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account on a technology-neutral basis, taking into account the useful economic life of capital investments, and including both wireline and wireless technology.
(2) The commission shall consult with regional consortia, stakeholders, local governments, existing facility-based broadband providers, and consumers regarding unserved areas and cost-effective strategies to achieve the broadband access goal through public workshops conducted at least annually no later than April 30 of each year.
(3) The commission shall identify unserved rural and urban areas and delineate the areas in the annual report prepared pursuant to Section 914.7.
(4) An existing facility-based broadband provider may, but is not required to, apply for funding from the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account to make an upgrade pursuant to this subdivision.
(5) Projects eligible for grant awards shall deploy infrastructure capable of providing broadband access at speeds of a minimum of 100 mbps downstream and 20 mbps upstream, or the most current broadband definition speed standard set by the Federal Communications Commission from time to time, as determined appropriate by the commission, whichever broadband access speed is greater, to unserved areas or unserved households.
(6) (A) An individual household or property owner shall be eligible to apply for a grant to offset the costs of connecting the household or property to an existing or proposed facility-based broadband provider. Any infrastructure built to connect a household or property with funds provided under this paragraph shall become the property of, and part of, the network of the facility-based broadband provider to which it is connected.
(B) (2) (i) Notwithstanding In approving a project pursuant to this paragraph, the commission shall consider limiting funding to households based on income so that funds are provided only to households that would not otherwise be able to afford a line extension to the property, limiting the amount of grants on a per-household basis, and requiring a percentage of the project to be paid by the household or the owner of the property. any other law and for the sole purpose of providing matching funds pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), any entity eligible for funding pursuant to that act shall be eligible to apply to participate in the program administered by the commission pursuant to this section, if that entity otherwise satisfies the eligibility requirements under that program. Nothing in this section shall impede the ability of an incumbent local exchange carrier, as defined by subsection (h) of Section 251 of Title 47 of the United States Code, that is regulated under a rate of return regulatory structure, to recover, in rate base, California infrastructure investment not provided through federal or state grant funds for facilities that provide broadband service and California intrastate voice service.
(ii) The aggregate amount of grants awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000).
(7) (3) An Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 270, an entity that is not a telephone corporation shall be eligible to apply to participate in the program administered by the commission pursuant to this section to provide access to broadband to an unserved area or underserved household, as defined in commission Decision 12-02-015, if the entity otherwise meets the eligibility requirements and complies with program requirements established by the commission. These requirements shall include all of the following:
(A) That projects under this paragraph provide last-mile broadband access to households that are unserved by an existing facilities-based broadband provider and only receive funding to provide broadband access to households that are unserved or underserved, as defined in commission Decision 12-02-015.
(B) That funding for a project providing broadband access to an underserved household shall not be approved until after any existing facilities-based provider has an opportunity to demonstrate to the commission that it will, within a reasonable timeframe, upgrade existing service. An existing facilities-based provider may, but is not required to, apply for funding under this section to make that upgrade.
(8) (C) The That the commission shall provide each applicant, and any party challenging an application, the opportunity to demonstrate actual levels of broadband service in the project area, which the commission shall consider in reviewing the application.
(D) That a local governmental agency may be eligible for an infrastructure grant only if the infrastructure project is for an unserved household or business, the commission has conducted an open application process, and no other eligible entity applied.
(9) (E) The That the commission shall establish a service list of interested parties to be notified of any California Advanced Services Fund applications. Any application and any amendment to an application for project funding shall be served to those on the service list and posted on the commission’s internet website at least 30 days before publishing the corresponding draft resolution.
(10) A grant awarded pursuant to this subdivision may include funding for the following costs consistent with paragraph (5):
(A) Costs directly related to the deployment of infrastructure.
(B) Costs to lease access to property or for internet backhaul services for a period not to exceed five years.
(C) Costs incurred by an existing facility-based broadband provider to upgrade its existing facilities to provide for interconnection.
(11) The commission may award grants to fund all or a portion of the project. The commission shall determine, on a case-by-case basis, the level of funding to be provided for a project and shall consider factors that include, but are not limited to, the location and accessibility of the area, the existence of communication facilities that may be upgraded to deploy broadband, and whether the project makes a significant contribution to achievement of the program goal.
(g) (f) (1) Moneys in the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account shall be available for grants to eligible consortia to facilitate deployment of broadband services by assisting infrastructure applicants in the project development or grant application process. fund the cost of broadband deployment activities other than the capital cost of facilities, as specified by the commission. An eligible consortium may include, as specified by the commission, representatives of organizations, including, but not limited to, local and regional government, public safety, elementary and secondary education, health care, libraries, postsecondary education, community-based organizations, tourism, parks and recreation, agricultural, business, workforce organizations, and air pollution control or air quality management districts, and business, and is not required to have as its lead fiscal agent an entity with a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
(2) Each consortium shall conduct an annual audit of its expenditures for programs funded pursuant to this subdivision and shall submit to the commission an annual report that includes both of the following:
(A) A description of activities completed during the prior year, how each activity promotes the deployment of broadband services, and the cost associated with each activity.
(B) The number of project applications assisted.
(h) (g) (1) Moneys All remaining moneys in the Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account that are unencumbered as of January 1, 2018, shall be transferred into shall be available to finance capital costs of broadband facilities not funded by a grant from the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account. The commission shall periodically set interest rates on the loans based on surveys of existing financial markets.
(2) All repayments of loans funded by the former Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account shall be deposited into the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account.
(i) (h) (1) For purposes of this subdivision, “low-income community” includes, but is not limited to, publicly supported housing developments, and other housing developments or mobilehome parks with low-income residents, as determined by the commission. the following terms have the following meanings:
(A) “Publicly subsidized” means either that the housing development receives financial assistance from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to an annual contribution contract or is financed with low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, or local, state, or federal loans or grants and the rents of the occupants, who are lower income households, do not exceed those prescribed by deed restrictions or regulatory agreements pursuant to the terms of the financing or financial assistance.
(B) “Publicly supported community” means a publicly subsidized multifamily housing development that is wholly owned by either of the following:
(i) A public housing agency that has been chartered by the state, or by any city or county in the state, and has been determined to be an eligible public housing agency by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(ii) An incorporated nonprofit organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3)) that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(a) of that code (16 U.S.C. Sec. 501(a)), and that has received public funding to subsidize the construction or maintenance of housing occupied by residents whose annual income qualifies as “low” or “very low” income according to federal poverty guidelines.
(2) Moneys Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 270, moneys in the Broadband Public Housing Account shall be available for the commission to award grants and loans pursuant to this subdivision to a low-income community that an eligible publicly supported community if that entity otherwise meets eligibility requirements and complies with program requirements established by the commission.
(3) Not more than twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) shall be available for grants and loans to a publicly supported community to finance a project to connect a broadband network to that publicly supported community. A publicly supported community may be an eligible applicant only if the publicly supported community can verify to the commission that the publicly supported community has not denied a right of access to any broadband provider that is willing to connect a broadband network to the facility for which the grant or loan is sought.
(3) (4) Moneys (A) deposited into the Broadband Public Housing Account Not more than five million dollars ($5,000,000) shall be available for grants and loans to low-income communities to finance projects to connect broadband networks that offer free broadband service that meets or exceeds state standards, as determined by the commission, a publicly supported community to support programs designed to increase adoption rates for broadband services for residents of the low-income communities. A low-income that publicly supported community. A publicly supported community may be an eligible applicant if the low-income community does not eligible for funding for a broadband adoption program only if the residential units in the facility to be served have access to any broadband service provider that offers free broadband service that meets or exceeds state standards, as determined by the commission, for the residents of the low-income community. broadband services or will have access to broadband services at the time the funding for adoption is implemented.
(B) A publicly supported community may contract with other nonprofit or public agencies to assist in implementation of a broadband adoption program.
(4) (5) To the extent feasible, the commission shall approve projects for funding from the Broadband Public Housing Account in a manner that reflects the statewide distribution of low-income publicly supported communities.
(5) (6) In reviewing a project application under this subdivision, the commission shall consider the availability of other funding sources for that project, any financial contribution from the broadband service provider to the project, the availability of any other public or private broadband adoption or deployment program, including tax credits and other incentives, and whether the applicant has sought funding from, or participated in, any reasonably available program. The commission may require an applicant to provide match funding, and shall not deny funding for a project solely because the applicant is receiving funding from another source.
(6) The commission shall prioritize grants pursuant to this subdivision to those existing publicly supported housing developments that have not yet received a grant pursuant to this subdivision and do not have access to free broadband internet service onsite.
(j) (1) Moneys in the Broadband Adoption Account shall be available to the commission to award grants to increase publicly available or after school broadband access and digital inclusion, such as grants for digital literacy training programs and public education to communities with limited broadband adoption, including low-income communities, senior communities, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption.
(2) Eligible applicants are local governments, senior centers, schools, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, including nonprofit religious organizations, and community-based organizations with programs to increase publicly available or after school broadband access and digital inclusion, such as digital literacy training programs.
(3) Payment pursuant to a grant for digital inclusion shall be based on digital inclusion metrics established by the commission that may include the number of residents trained, the number of residents served, or the actual verification of broadband subscriptions resulting from the program funded by the grant.
(4) The commission shall give preference to programs in communities with demonstrated low broadband access, including low-income communities, senior communities, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption. The commission shall determine how best to prioritize projects for funding pursuant to this paragraph.
(5) (7) Moneys (A) To provide funding for the purposes of this subdivision, the commission shall transfer to the Broadband Public Housing Account twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) from the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account and five million dollars ($5,000,000) from the Broadband Revolving Loan Account. Any moneys in the Broadband Public Housing Account that have not been awarded pursuant to this subdivision shall not be used to subsidize the costs of providing broadband service to households. by December 31, 2016, shall be transferred back to the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account and Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account in proportion to the amount transferred from the respective accounts.
(B) The commission shall transfer funds pursuant to subparagraph (A) only if the commission is otherwise authorized to collect funds for purposes of this section in excess of the total amount authorized pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d).
(k) (i) (1) The commission shall post on the home page conduct two interim financial audits and a final financial audit and two interim performance audits and a final performance audit of the implementation and effectiveness of the California Advanced Services Fund on its internet website a list of all pending applications, application challenge deadlines, and notices of amendments to pending applications. to ensure that funds have been expended in accordance with the approved terms of the grant awards and loan agreements and this section. The commission shall report its interim findings to the Legislature by April 1, 2011, and April 1, 2017. The commission shall report its final findings to the Legislature by April 1, 2021. The reports shall also include an update to the maps in the final report of the California Broadband Task Force and data on the types and numbers of jobs created as a result of the program administered by the commission pursuant to this section.
(2) (A) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2022, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
( (j) l
) (1)
The commission shall require each entity that receives funding or financing for a project pursuant to this section to report monthly to the commission, at minimum, Beginning on January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, the commission shall provide a report to the Legislature that includes all of the following information:
(A) The name and contractor’s license number of each licensed contractor and subcontractor undertaking a contract or subcontract in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) to perform work on a project funded or financed pursuant to this section.
(B) The location where a contractor or subcontractor described in subparagraph (A) will be performing that work.
(C) The anticipated dates when that work will be performed.
(2) (A) The commission shall, on a monthly basis, post the information reported pursuant to this subdivision on the commission’s amount of funds expended from the California Advanced Services Fund internet website. in the prior year.
(m) The commission shall notify the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on the date on which the goal specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) is achieved.
(n) (1) Upon the deposit of state or federal infrastructure moneys into the Federal Funding Account, the commission shall implement a program using those moneys to expeditiously connect unserved and underserved communities by applicable federal deadlines.
(2) (B) Projects funded pursuant to this subdivision shall be implemented consistent with Part 35 of Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations and any conditions or guidelines applicable to these one-time federal infrastructure moneys. The recipients of funds expended from the California Advanced Services Fund in the prior year.
(3) Of the two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000) appropriated to the commission to fund last-mile broadband infrastructure in the Budget Act of 2021, the commission shall allocate those moneys to applicants for the construction of last-mile broadband infrastructure as follows:
(A) The commission shall initially allocate one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) for last-mile broadband projects in urban counties as follows:
(i) The commission shall first allocate five million dollars ($5,000,000) for last-mile broadband projects in each urban county.
(ii) (C) The commission shall allocate the remaining moneys based on each urban county’s proportionate share of the California households without access to broadband internet access service with at least 100 megabits per second download speeds, as identified and validated by the commission pursuant to the most recent broadband data collection, as of July 1, 2021, as ordered in commission Decision 16-12-025 (December 1, 2016), Decision Analyzing the California Telecommunications Market and Directing Staff to Continue Data Gathering, Monitoring and Reporting on the Market. geographic regions of the state affected by funds expended from the California Advanced Services Fund in the prior year.
(D) The expected benefits to be derived from the funds expended from the California Advanced Services Fund in the prior year.
(B) (E) The commission shall allocate at least one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) for last-mile broadband projects in rural counties as follows: Actual broadband adoption levels from the funds expended from the California Advanced Services Fund in the prior year.
(i) (F) The commission shall first allocate five million dollars ($5,000,000) for last-mile broadband projects in each rural county. amount of funds expended from the California Advanced Services Fund used to match federal funds.
(G) An update on the expenditures from California Advanced Services Fund and broadband adoption levels, and an accounting of remaining unserved and underserved households and areas of the state.
(ii) (H) The commission shall allocate the remaining moneys based on each rural county’s proportionate share status of the California households without broadband internet access service with at least 100 megabits per second download speeds, as identified and validated by the commission pursuant to the most recent broadband data collection, as of July 1, 2021, as ordered in commission Decision 16-12-025 (December 1, 2016), Decision Analyzing the California Telecommunications Market and Directing Staff to Continue Data Gathering, Monitoring and Reporting on the Market. Advanced Services Fund balance and the projected amount to be collected in each year through 2020 to fund approved projects.
(2) (A) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(4) (B) Until September 30, 2024, applicants may apply for and encumber moneys allocated pursuant to this subdivision for last-mile broadband projects. Any moneys allocated pursuant to this subdivision that are not encumbered on or before September 30, 2024, shall be made available to the commission to allocate for the construction of last-mile broadband infrastructure anywhere in the state. A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.