WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 26-24 along party lines Wednesday to advance a bill to overhaul the broadband permitting system.

The permitting bill would set deadlines for state and local governments to approve or deny certain projects, including personal wireless facilities and telecommunications service facilities, after which the projects would be deemed approved. The bill also would set rules for what fees can be charged for permitting applications. It would similarly set deadlines for the approval of requests related to cable franchises.

The bill also would exempt certain connectivity projects, including those in public rights of way or where easements have already been granted for communications facilities, as well as those in floodplains or brownfield sites, from certain reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.

The effort comes as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has begun approving state proposals for grants to expand access to high-speed internet through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment — or BEAD — program, and as the Trump administration mulls connecting some of the funding to state laws governing artificial intelligence.

A draft executive order first published by a news outlet in late November would require the federal government to develop a list of state AI laws that make those states ineligible for non-deployment funds through the program.

A White House spokesperson said in a statement that “until officially announced by the WH, discussion about potential executive orders is speculation.”

The committee also advanced six bipartisan bills, including some to modernize the permitting process for connectivity projects on federal lands. Those bills would create an online portal for applications, require a plan for tracking applications and creating greater transparency and require a report on barriers to establishing an online portal.

Committee Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said the broadband bills would expand access to broadband around the country, especially as BEAD funds flow out to communities to build new connectivity projects.

“We must also remove other barriers to deployment. Unpredictable timeliness, expensive and sometimes duplicative reviews and lack of transparency all contribute to deployment delays,” he said.

The panel’s ranking member, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., commended bipartisan work on many of the broadband bills but noted his opposition to the permitting overhaul bill and that similar proposals did not pass in the House last year, despite committee approval.

“This legislation shows our colleagues would rather force unfunded mandates on state, local or tribal agencies than make even a modest investment to help those offices hire a sufficient number of qualified staff to speed up permit reviews,” Pallone said.

Republicans said governments would not be forced to automatically approve applications, because they could deny them. Democrats said this would cause further delays, because applicants would be forced to reapply.

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., opposed part of the bill that would set a clock on tribal consideration of the impact on historic sites of new tower construction or modification.

“Streamlining federal processes is a goal many of us share, but efficiency cannot come at the expense of stripping tribes of their sovereignty, their self-determination, and sacred cultural and historic sites,” he said.

Republicans said the provisions of the bill that would exempt certain projects from environmental and historic reviews apply to sites where reviews often have already been conducted.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said Republicans want to protect the environment.

“We preserved all those reviews. All we’re saying is, you shouldn’t have to duplicate them. You shouldn’t have to do it more than once. If you’ve got a tower, and you need to replace the antenna on it, you shouldn’t have to wait years to do a new environmental review.”

Democrats offered two amendments to the bill, both of which were rejected.

One amendment, sponsored by Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., would have conditioned the bill’s provisions on presentations by NTIA showing evidence that projects selected under the BEAD program can scale to speeds needed for community needs.

Carter said changes made by the Trump administration to the BEAD program prioritize the lowest costs, rather than fiber-based broadband.

“Under the Trump administration’s new rules, many Louisianans will now receive second-tier internet service,” he said.

Republicans said the law that authorized BEAD was technology neutral.

The other amendment, sponsored by Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., would have required broadband providers who saved money because of the new fee and permitting processes to pass those savings onto broadband customers.

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