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additional copy of those comments on
diskette.
Any interested party may request a
hearing within 30 days of publication of
this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
Hearing requests should contain the
following information: (1) the party’s
name, address, and telephone number;
(2) the number of participants; and (3)
a list of the issues to be discussed. Oral
presentations will be limited to issues
raised in the briefs. If a request for a
hearing is made, parties will be notified
of the time and date for the hearing to
be held at the U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.
See 19 CFR 351.310(d).
The Department will issue the final
results of this administrative review,
which will include the results of its
analysis of issues raised in any such
comments, within 120 days of
publication of these preliminary results,
pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of the
Act.
Assessment Rates
The Department will determine, and
CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on
all appropriate entries of subject
merchandise in accordance with the
final results of this review. For
assessment purposes, we calculated
exporter/importer- (or customer)
-specific assessment rates for
merchandise subject to this review.
Where appropriate, we calculated an ad
valorem rate for each importer (or
customer) by dividing the total dumping
margins for reviewed sales to that party
by the total entered values associated
with those transactions. For duty–
assessment rates calculated on this
basis, we will direct CBP to assess the
resulting ad valorem rate against the
entered customs values for the subject
merchandise. Where appropriate, we
calculated a per–unit rate for each
importer (or customer) by dividing the
total dumping margins for reviewed
sales to that party by the total sales
quantity associated with those
transactions. For duty–assessment rates
calculated on this basis, we will direct
CBP to assess the resulting per–unit rate
against the entered quantity of the
subject merchandise. Where an
importer- (or customer) -specific
assessment rate is de minimis (i.e., less
than 0.50 percent), the Department will
instruct CBP to assess that importer (or
customer’s) entries of subject
merchandise without regard to
antidumping duties. We intend to
instruct CBP to liquidate entries
containing subject merchandise
exported by the PRC–wide entity at the
PRC–wide rate we determine in the final
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results of this review. The Department
intends to issue appropriate assessment
instructions directly to CBP 15 days
after publication of the final results of
this review.
Cash–Deposit Requirements
The following cash–deposit
requirements will be effective upon
publication of the final results of this
administrative review for all shipments
of the subject merchandise from the PRC
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,
for consumption on or after the
publication date, as provided by section
751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) for CPZ, the
cash deposit rate will be that established
in the final results of this review, except
if the rate is zero or de minimis no cash
deposit will be required; (2) for
previously investigated or reviewed PRC
and non–PRC exporters not listed above
that have separate rates, the cash
deposit rate will continue to be the
exporter–specific rate published for the
most recent period; (3) for all PRC
exporters of subject merchandise which
have not been found to be entitled to a
separate rate, the cash deposit rate will
be the PRC–wide rate of 92.84 percent;
and (4) for all non–PRC exporters of
subject merchandise which have not
received their own rate, the cash deposit
rate will be the rate applicable to the
PRC exporters that supplied that non–
PRC exporter. These deposit
requirements, when imposed, shall
remain in effect until further notice.
Notification to Importers
This notice also serves as a
preliminary reminder to importers of
their responsibility under 19 CFR
351.402(f) to file a certificate regarding
the reimbursement of antidumping
duties prior to liquidation of the
relevant entries during this review
period. Failure to comply with this
requirement could result in the
Secretary’s presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties
occurred and the subsequent assessment
of double antidumping duties.
We are issuing and publishing these
preliminary results of review in
accordance with sections 751(a)(2)(B)
and 777(i)(1) of the Act, and 19 CFR
351.221(b).
Dated: June 30, 2009.
John M. Andersen,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Operations.
[FR Doc. E9–16096 Filed 7–7–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–S
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and
Information Administration
RIN 0660–ZA29
State Broadband Data and
Development Grant Program
AGENCY: The National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of funds availability
(Notice) and solicitation of applications.
SUMMARY: The National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA), U.S.
Department of Commerce, publishes
this Notice to announce the availability
of funds pursuant to the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Recovery Act), Public Law 111–5 (Feb.
17, 2009), and the Broadband Data
Improvement Act (BDIA), Title I of
Public Law 110–385, 122 Stat. 4096
(Oct. 10, 2008) and to provide
guidelines for the State Broadband Data
and Development Grant Program (State
Broadband Data Program or Program).
The State Broadband Data Program is a
competitive, merit-based matching grant
program that effects the joint purposes
of the Recovery Act and the BDIA by
funding projects that collect
comprehensive and accurate State-level
broadband mapping data, develop Statelevel broadband maps, aid in the
development and maintenance of a
national broadband map, and fund
statewide initiatives directed at
broadband planning.
DATES: Applications will be accepted
from July 14, 2009 at 8 a.m. Eastern
Time (ET) until August 14, 2009 at
11:59 p.m. ET.
ADDRESSES: All applications must be
submitted through the online Grants.gov
system no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on
August 14, 2009, as more fully
described in the section entitled
‘‘Request for Application Package’’
below. Failure to properly register and
apply for State Broadband Data Program
funds by the deadlines may result in
forfeiture of the grant opportunity.
Applications are accepted until the
deadline and processed as received.
Applications submitted by hand
delivery, mail, email or facsimile will
not be accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
general inquiries regarding the State
Broadband Data Program, applicants
may contact Edward ‘‘Smitty’’ Smith,
Program Director, State Broadband Data
and Development Grant Program,
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 8, 2009 / Notices
National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 4898,
Washington, DC 20230; by telephone at
202–482–4949 or via electronic mail at
broadbandmapping@ntia.doc.gov.
Information about the State Broadband
Data Program can also be obtained
electronically via the Internet at http://
www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)
Number: 11.558.
Additional Items in SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION:
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I. Overview: Describes the statutory origin
of the broadband mapping requirement under
the Recovery Act, the applicability of the
BDIA, the structure of the Program and the
public comment process.
II. Funding Opportunity Description:
Provides a more thorough description of the
Program, including a description of mapping
and planning priorities, and the application
review process.
III. Definitions: Sets forth the key terms and
other terms used in this Notice.
IV. Award Information: Describes funding
availability and other award information.
V. Eligibility Information: Discusses
eligibility criteria, including the 20 percent
match, confidentiality requirements, and
funding restrictions.
VI. Application and Submission
Information: Provides information about how
to apply, application materials, and the
application process.
VII. Application Review Information:
Establishes the scoring criteria for evaluating
applications.
VIII. Anticipated Award Dates: Identifies
the initial award announcement and award
dates for Program awards.
IX. Award Administration Information:
Provides award notice information,
administrative requirements, terms and
conditions, and other reporting requirements
for award recipients.
X. Other Information: Sets forth guidance
on funding, compliance with various laws,
regulations and other such requirements.
I. Overview
A. The Recovery Act: Section 6001(l)
of the Recovery Act requires the
Assistant Secretary to develop and
maintain a comprehensive, interactive,
and searchable nationwide inventory
map of existing broadband service
capability and availability in the United
States that depicts the geographic extent
to which broadband service capability is
deployed and available from a
commercial or public provider
throughout each State.1 The Recovery
Act requires the Assistant Secretary to
make the national broadband map
1 Recovery Act section 6001(l), 123 Stat. at 516.
See Section IV for the definition of ‘‘State’’ and
other relevant definitions.
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accessible by the public on an NTIA
Web site no later than February 17,
2011.2 The Recovery Act authorizes
NTIA to expend up to $350 million
pursuant to the BDIA and for the
purposes of developing and maintaining
a broadband inventory map.3
Implementation of the BDIA is useful to
fulfill Congress’ intent to develop a
national broadband map as expressed
and funded under the Recovery Act.
B. The BDIA: The BDIA is intended to
improve data on the deployment and
adoption of broadband service to assist
in the extension of broadband
technology across all regions of the
United States.4 Section 106 of the BDIA
directs the Secretary of Commerce to
establish the State Broadband Data
Program and to award grants to eligible
entities to develop and implement
statewide initiatives to identify and
track the adoption and availability of
broadband services within each State.5
In effecting this purpose, the BDIA
provides several eligible uses for grant
funds, including uses related to the
gathering of broadband-related data at
the State level and the development of
statewide broadband maps.6
C. The State Broadband Data
Program: In keeping with the Recovery
Act’s direction that NTIA develop and
maintain a comprehensive and
interactive national broadband map and
the requirements of the BDIA, NTIA has
established this grant program.
Awardees under this Program will
2 Id.
3 Recovery Act, Title II, Div. A, 123 Stat. at 123
(to be codified at 47 U.S.C. 1301).
4 BDIA § 102, 122 Stat. at 4096.
5 BDIA § 106(b), 122 Stat. at 4099. The Secretary
delegated his authority to meet the obligations of
Section 106 of the BDIA to the Assistant Secretary
for Communications and Information (Assistant
Secretary) on April 9, 2009.
6 The BDIA authorizes the Secretary to make
grants to eligible entities for the following eligible
uses: (1) To develop and provide a baseline
assessment of broadband deployment in each State;
(2) to identify and track the areas with low levels
of deployment, the rate at which residential and
business users adopt broadband service and other
related information technology services, and
possible suppliers of such services; (3) to identify
barriers to the adoption of broadband service and
information technology services; (4) to identify the
available speeds for broadband connection; (5) to
create and facilitate by county or designated region
in a State, local technology planning teams; (6) to
collaborate with broadband service providers and
information technology companies to encourage
deployment and use; (7) to establish computer
ownership and Internet access programs in
unserved and areas with lower than average
penetration on a national basis; (8) to collect and
analyze detailed market data concerning use and
demand for broadband service; (9) to facilitate
information exchange regarding use and demand for
broadband services between public and private
sector users; and (10) to create within each State a
geographic inventory map of broadband service.
BDIA § 106(e), 122 Stat. at 4100–4101.
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receive grants to fund their collection of
broadband-related data as well as
funding for planning programs at the
State level. Awardees will use the
broadband-related data that they collect
to develop statewide broadband maps,
which will be linked to a Department of
Commerce Web page. In addition, the
awardees will submit all of their
collected data to NTIA for use by NTIA
and the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in developing and
maintaining the national broadband
map, which will be displayed on an
NTIA Web page before February 17,
2011.
NTIA’s decisions are based on the
statutory requirements of the Recovery
Act and are informed by NTIA’s own
expertise, the expertise of other Federal
agencies, including the FCC, and public
comment.
D. Public Comment: On March 10,
2009, NTIA, the FCC, and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Rural
Utilities Service (RUS) cosponsored a
public meeting to initiate public
outreach about the current availability
of broadband service in the United
States and ways in which the
availability of broadband service could
be expanded.7 The March 10th meeting
was followed by the release of a Request
for Information (RFI) and six days of
additional public meetings and field
hearings during March.8 The RFI
requested the submission of information
on a broad range of topics including
topics related to broadband mapping,
the Recovery Act and the BDIA. The
meetings and hearings included nearly
120 panelists with representatives from
consumer and public interest groups,
State and local governments, tribal
governments, minority and vulnerable
populations, industry, academia and
other institutions.
In response to the RFI and the public
meetings, NTIA received over 1,000
comments from institutions and
individuals on the broadband initiatives
funded by the Recovery Act.9 With
regard to the issues surrounding the
State Broadband Data Program and the
national broadband map that NTIA is
7 See Notice: American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 Broadband Initiatives, 74
FR 8914 (Feb. 27, 2009).
8 See Notice: American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 Broadband Initiatives, 74
FR 10716 (March 12, 2009). Agendas, transcripts
and presentations from each meeting are available
on NTIA’s Web site at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/
broadbandgrants/meetings.html.
9 Agendas, transcripts, and presentations from
each meeting are available on NTIA’s Web site at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/
meetings.html. All public comments in Docket No.
090309298–9299–01 are on file with NTIA and may
be viewed on NTIA’s Web site at http://
www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/comments.cfm.
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required to prepare under Section
6001(l) of the Recovery Act, NTIA
received more than 200 comments,
many of which played a role in
formulating the structure of this
Program. For further discussion and
explanation of the policy decisions
involved in establishing this program,
see the attached Policy Justification
Appendix.
II. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Program Description: The State
Broadband Data Program is a
competitive, merit-based matching grant
program that implements the joint
purposes of the Recovery Act and the
BDIA through the award of grants. This
Program is designed to fund projects
that gather comprehensive and accurate
State-level broadband mapping data,
develop State-level broadband maps, aid
in the development and maintenance of
a national broadband map, and fund
statewide initiatives for broadband
planning.
While the BDIA mandates that each
State may have only a single eligible
entity, each applicant will be carefully
evaluated against a program standard.
Any applicant that fails to meet the
program standard will not receive grant
funding; therefore, the efficient
fulfillment of the goals of the Recovery
Act and the BDIA will be advanced by
the submission of a qualifying
application from each State highly
responsive to the review criteria
contained in this Notice. In the event
that a State fails to produce a grant
awardee, NTIA reserves the right to
perform the necessary broadband data
collection.
1. Use of Collected Broadband Data
by Awardees. Awardees may use the
data collected under this Program for
any lawful use consistent with the
requirements of this Program, including
the confidentiality restrictions
contained herein, and existing
agreements between the awardee, the
State, and broadband service providers.
It is expected, however, that, in addition
to providing all collected data to NTIA,
applicants will use the data to develop
and maintain a statewide broadband
map that will be separate and distinct
from the national broadband map and
will be tailored to suit the needs of the
particular State. Though it will be
separate and distinct from the national
broadband map, applicants must
provide NTIA with a hypertext link to
the State maps for display on a Web
page on the Department of Commerce
Web site.
2. Use of Collected Broadband Data
by NTIA and the FCC. The data
collected under this Program will be
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used for public purposes and also
utilized by governmental entities. For
example, because of its value in
identifying appropriate areas for
broadband investment and economic
stimulus, the collected data will inform
NTIA’s grant-making decisions under
the Broadband Technology
Opportunities Program (BTOP). The
national broadband map that will be
developed and maintained using these
and other data will publicly display the
following information about broadband
service available from a public or
private provider:
(a) Geographic areas in which
broadband service is available;
(b) The technologies used to provide
broadband service in such areas;
(c) The spectrum used for the
provision of wireless broadband service
in such areas;
(d) The speeds at which broadband
service is available in such areas; and
(e) Broadband service availability at
public schools, libraries, hospitals,
colleges and universities and all public
buildings owned or leased by agencies
or instrumentalities of the States or
municipalities or other subdivisions of
the States and their respective agencies
or instrumentalities.
The national map will also be
searchable by address. To the greatest
extent possible, at every address, the
type and speed of broadband service
will be provided. For providers of
wireless broadband service, the
spectrum used for the provision of
service will be provided. If the
applicable broadband service provider
so chooses, the provider’s identity will
also be available, otherwise the map
will simply display that an anonymous
provider utilizing a particular type of
technology is providing service to a
location. Furthermore, to the extent
possible, the service areas of individual
providers will be aggregated with other
providers of the same technology type.
Though collected under this Program,
data concerning the Average Revenue
Per User (ARPU) and data regarding the
type, technical specification, or location
of infrastructure owned, leased, or used
by a broadband service provider will not
be displayed on the public national
broadband map.10 The above paragraphs
notwithstanding, if provider consent is
granted, NTIA may display the above
provider-specific information on the
national broadband map.
In addition to the above broadbandrelated information, the national
broadband map may display a wide
10 However, NTIA is considering methods for
displaying some pricing data that will be collected
through other avenues.
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range of additional, economic, and
demographic data derived from other
sources. Such data, however, are not the
subject of this Notice.
B. Program Priorities:
1. Broadband Mapping. With respect
to this Program, NTIA’s highest priority
is the development and maintenance of
a national broadband map. Therefore,
NTIA intends to fund high-quality
projects that are designed to gather data
at the address-level on broadband
availability, technology, speed,
infrastructure, ARPU, and, in the case of
wireless broadband, the spectrum used,
across the project areas. NTIA has
determined that the BDIA’s eligible uses
regarding State-specific data collection
and geographic inventory broadband
mapping activities are encompassed
within the broadband mapping grant
guidelines described herein. Successful
projects must propose: (a) To provide
comprehensive and verifiable data
meeting the Program standards as
published in this Notice, such data will
be accessible and clearly presented to
NTIA, the public, and State and local
governments without unduly
compromising data or the protection of
Confidential Information as defined in
this notice; (b) a workable and
sustainable framework for repeated
updating of data; (c) a plan for
collaboration with State-level agencies,
local authorities, and other
constituencies, as well as a proposal for
planning projects designed to identify
and address broadband challenges in
the State; (d) feasible projects as
demonstrated by a reasonable and costefficient budget, and a showing of
applicant capacity, knowledge and
experience; and (e) a timeline for
expedient data delivery.
2. Broadband Planning. Only
applications that meet the broadband
mapping purposes set forth in the above
paragraph will be considered for
planning funding, and mapping
proposals do not need to include a
planning component. However,
applicants may propose projects or
award uses that relate to an enumerated
BDIA purpose described in Section I of
this Notice that addresses a need in
their State. Any proposed use of funds
that is not directed towards the
collection of data for, or the
development and maintenance of, the
State or national broadband map will be
considered a planning use. There is a
presumption that the BDIA purposes
involving the identification of barriers
to the adoption of broadband service
and information technology services,
the creation and facilitation of local
technology planning teams, and the
establishment of computer ownership
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and Internet access programs are not
mapping-related and therefore are only
eligible for broadband planning funding.
However, applicants may demonstrate
in their applications how a use under
such categories will inform the
collection of broadband data or
development of State and national
broadband maps. Broadband planning
funds will be limited, and broadband
planning-related uses under any grant
application budget may not exceed
$500,000.
C. Review and Selection Processes:
The review process involves the three
stages outlined below. NTIA anticipates
that the processing and selection of
applications for funding will require
one (1) month from the date of
submission.
1. Eligibility. Upon receipt, NTIA will
screen applications for factors
determining eligibility as described in
the section entitled ‘‘Eligibility
Information’’ below. In the case that
NTIA determines that an application
fails to address adequately any
eligibility criteria before the application
deadline, NTIA may alert the applicant
of such deficiency and the applicant
may revise such application before the
application deadline to comply with
Program requirements. However, NTIA
has no affirmative obligation to notify
applicants of a deficient application and
will not be held responsible for any
deficiencies that are not remedied in a
timely manner.
2. Technical Review. Each eligible
application will be reviewed by a panel
of at least three peer/expert reviewers
who have demonstrated expertise in
both the programmatic and
technological aspects of the Program.
The peer/expert review panel members
will individually evaluate applications
according to the review criteria
provided in Section VII of this Notice
and provide ratings to the Program staff.
Each peer/expert reviewer will be
required to sign and submit a
nondisclosure and confidentiality form
to prevent the dissemination of
Confidential Information, and to prevent
financial and other conflicts of interest.
3. Programmatic Review and Revision
Process. Following the Technical
Review, each eligible application will be
reviewed by Program staff for policy
determinations and conformity with
programmatic goals. Program staff will
analyze applications considered for
award to assess: (a) Whether a proposed
project meets the Program’s funding
constraints; (b) the eligibility of costs
and matching funds included in an
application’s budget; and (c) the extent
to which an application complements or
duplicates projects previously funded or
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under consideration by NTIA or other
Federal programs. Following this
programmatic review, Program staff may
contact an eligible applicant to discuss
any recommended adjustments or
revisions to their applications necessary
to better meet Program goals. Revisions
are intended to resolve any differences
that exist between the applicant’s
original request and what the State
Broadband Data Program proposes to
fund and, if necessary, to clarify items
in the application. Staff may also
request additional corroborating
documentation from applicants. These
documents will be reviewed by Program
staff with the support of external
engineering, design, information
technology, geographic information
systems, broadband, and other subjectmatter experts to evaluate the
consistency of the applications with the
supporting documents and ensure that
applications merit State Broadband Data
Program awards.
Upon the conclusion of the
programmatic review and revision
process, each application will continue
through the selection process. The
Program Director will prepare and
present a slate of recommended grant
awards to the Associate Administrator
for review and approval. The Program
Director’s recommendations and the
Associate Administrator’s review and
approval of those recommendations will
take into account the selection factors
listed below.
Upon approval by the Associate
Administrator, the Program Director’s
recommendations will be presented to
the Selecting Official, the Assistant
Secretary. The Assistant Secretary
selects the applications for grant award,
taking into consideration the Program
Director’s recommendations and the
degree to which the slate of
applications, taken as a whole, satisfies
the selection factors described below
and the Program’s stated purposes as set
forth in the section entitled ‘‘Program
Description.’’
The Selecting Official will issue
awards after considering the following
selection factors:
(a) The evaluations of the peer/expert
reviewers;
(b) The analysis of Program staff;
(c) The degree to which the proposed
grants meet the Program’s purpose as
described in this Notice;
(d) Avoidance of redundancy and
conflicts with the initiatives of other
Federal agencies; and
(e) The availability of funds.
III. Definitions
For the purposes of this Program,
NTIA has adopted the following
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definitions for the State Broadband Data
Program, many of which were
developed for BTOP, pursuant to
Recovery Act Section 6001(a).
Applicants for these grants should refer
to the following definitions when
completing their applications:
Applicant. An entity requesting
approval for an award under this Notice.
ARPU. Average Revenue Per User.
Average Revenue Per User for this
Program is as defined in the Technical
Appendix.
Assistant Secretary. The Assistant
Secretary for Communications and
Information, National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration, Department of
Commerce, or the Assistant Secretary’s
designee.
Associate Administrator. The
Associate Administrator of the National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration, Department of
Commerce/the Director of the Office of
Telecommunications and Information
Applications, or the Associate
Administrator’s designee.
Available. Broadband service is
‘‘available’’ to an end user at an address
if a broadband service provider does, or
could, within a typical service interval
(7 to 10 business days) without an
extraordinary commitment of resources,
provision two-way data transmission to
and from the Internet with advertised
speeds of at least 768 kilobits per
second (kbps) downstream and at least
200 kbps upstream to the end user at the
address.
Award. A grant made under this
Notice by NTIA.
Awardee. A recipient of an Award
under this Notice; a grantee.
Broadband. Data transmission
technology that provides two-way data
transmission to and from the Internet
with advertised speeds of at least 768
kilobits per second (kbps) downstream
and at least 200 kbps upstream to end
users, or providing sufficient capacity in
a middle mile project to support the
provision of broadband service to end
users within the project area.
Broadband Service. The provision of
broadband on either a commercial or
non-commercial basis.
BTOP. The Broadband Technology
Opportunities Program, administered by
NTIA, under Section 6001 of the
Recovery Act.
Community Anchor Institutions.
Schools, libraries, medical and
healthcare providers, public safety
entities, community colleges and other
institutions of higher education, and
other community support organizations
and entities.
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Confidential Information. Any
information, including trade secrets, or
commercial or financial information,
submitted under this Program that: (1)
Identifies the type and technical
specification of infrastructure owned,
leased, or used by a specific broadband
service provider; (2) identifies the
average revenue per user (ARPU) for a
specific broadband service provider; or
(3) explicitly identifies a broadband
service provider in relation to its
specific Service Area or at a specific
Service Location. For example, a
broadband service provider’s specific
service ‘‘footprint’’, as identified with
such provider, will be considered
Confidential Information for the
purposes of this Program and will either
(a) be aggregated with other available
providers of the same technology type
before being published in the national
broadband map, in which case the map
would only display the aggregated list of
providers that have consented to have
their names displayed for such service
area; or (b) in the absence of other
providers of the same technology type
with which a provider’s specific service
‘‘footprint’’ can be aggregated, be
displayed without providing the
provider’s identity, unless the provider
gives its consent. NTIA and the FCC
may otherwise aggregate, combine or
mask broadband service provider data,
and take other steps so as to make such
data suitable for public release.
Notwithstanding the foregoing,
Confidential Information, as defined
herein and as provided as part of a
project funded under this Program, will
not be made publicly available,
pursuant to the limitations set forth in
the BDIA, except as required by
applicable law or judicial or
administrative action or proceeding,
including the Freedom of Information
Act requirements.11
Data. Statistics, figures, descriptions,
maps, geographic coordinates, or other
such information relating to the
provision of broadband services.
End User. A residential or business
party, institution or State or local
government entity, including a
Community Anchor Institution, that
may use broadband service for its own
purposes and that does not resell such
service to other entities or incorporate
such service into retail Internet-access
services. Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) are not ‘‘end users’’ for this
purpose.
In-Kind Contribution. Qualifying noncash donations, including third-party
in-kind contributions, of property,
goods or services, which benefit a
11 BDIA
§ 106(h), 122 Stat. at 4101.
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Federally assisted project, and which
may count toward satisfying the nonFederal matching requirement. See the
section entitled ‘‘Eligibility
Information’’ below for a full discussion
of the Program’s treatment of in-kind
contributions and the Federal structure
for determining when a contribution
qualifies.
Pre-Award Costs. Reasonable costs
incurred after the enactment of the
Recovery Act (February 17, 2009) but
prior to the effective date of the award
directly pursuant to and in anticipation
of the award where such costs are
necessary to comply with the proposed
delivery schedule or period of
performance. Such costs are allowable
only to the extent that they would have
been allowable if incurred after the date
of the award, and only with the written
approval of NTIA.
Recovery Act. The American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public
Law 111–5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009).
Rural Area. Any area, as confirmed by
the latest decennial census of the
Bureau of the Census, which is not
located within: (i) A city, town, or
incorporated area that has a population
of greater than 20,000 inhabitants; or (ii)
an urbanized area contiguous and
adjacent to a city or town that has a
population of greater than 50,000
inhabitants. For purposes of the
definition of rural area, an urbanized
area means a densely populated
territory as defined in the latest
decennial census of the U.S. Census
Bureau.
Secretary. The Secretary of
Commerce.
Service Area. The entire area within
which an existing service provider
offers broadband service.
Service Location. The specific
geographic point or location at which a
service provider offers broadband
service, such as a specific residence or
business.
State. A State, the District of
Columbia, or a territory or possession of
the United States. For the purposes of
the designation of an eligible entity, the
term ‘‘State’’ will be interpreted to mean
the Governor or in the absence of a
designation by the Governor, the
Legislature, officer, or executive agency
within the State that the Governor or
State Constitution authorizes to take
binding action for the State. In the case
State, the District of Columbia, or a
territory or possession of the United
States, the terms Governor, Legislature
or State Constitution shall mean their
respective functional equivalents.
Substantially Complete Data Set. A
data set is substantially complete when
it contains data on broadband services
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provided by (a) 70 percent of broadband
service providers in a State; (b) to 80
percent of households in a State; (c) to
90 percent of households in rural areas
of the State; and (d) to 95 percent of
public Community Anchor Institutions.
Underserved Area. An area composed
of one or more contiguous census blocks
meeting certain criteria that measure the
availability of broadband service and
the level of advertised broadband
speeds.12 Specifically, an area is
underserved if at least one of the
following factors is met, though the
presumption will be that more than one
factor is present: (i) No more than 50
percent of households in the service
area have access to facilities-based
terrestrial broadband service at greater
than the minimum broadband
transmission speed (set forth in the
definition of broadband above); (ii) no
fixed or mobile broadband service
provider advertises broadband
transmission speeds of at least three
megabits per second (‘‘mbps’’)
downstream in the area; or (iii) the rate
of broadband subscribership for the area
is 40 percent of households or less.13 A
household has access to broadband
service if the household can readily
subscribe to that service upon request.
Unserved Area. An area composed of
one or more contiguous census blocks
where at least 90 percent of households
in the service area lack access to
facilities-based terrestrial broadband
service, either fixed or mobile, at the
minimum broadband transmission
speed (set forth in the definition of
broadband above). A household has
access to broadband service if the
household can readily subscribe to that
service upon request.
IV. Award Information
A. Funding Availability and
Estimated Funding: The Recovery Act
authorizes NTIA to expend up to $350
million for the purposes of developing
and maintaining a broadband inventory
map and pursuant to the BDIA.14 NTIA
expects grant awards to range between
$1.9 million and $3.8 million per State
for the mapping portion of each project,
12 Census blocks are the smallest geographic areas
for which the U.S. Bureau of the Census collects
and tabulates decennial census data. Census blocks
are formed by streets, roads, railroads, streams and
other bodies of water, other visible physical and
cultural features, and the legal boundaries shown
on Census Bureau maps. Census data at this level
serve as a valuable source for small-area geographic
studies. See the Census Bureau’s Web site at
http://www.census.gov for more detailed
information on its data gathering methodology.
13 These criteria conform to the two distinct
components of the BIP and BTOP categories of
eligible projects—Last Mile and Middle Mile.
14 Recovery Act, Title II, Div. A. 123 Stat. at 128.
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and up to $500,000 for the planning
portion of each project. The exact size
of any award will depend on the
specifics of each project, the quality of
each project as determined in NTIA’s
review, as well as demographic and
geographic features unique to each
State. Project budgets will be carefully
reviewed to ensure that they are
appropriate given the specifics of the
project and the project State. Fiscally
irresponsible budgets will be
detrimental to an application. Any
funds not expended under this Program
will be reallocated to BTOP purposes.
Publication of this Notice does not
obligate NTIA to award any specific
project or obligate all or any parts of any
available funds.
B. Award Period: All awards under
this Program must be made no later than
September 30, 2010. The period of
performance will be five (5) years from
the date of award.
C. Type of Funding Instrument: Grant.
V. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants: Pursuant to the
BDIA, eligible recipients of State
Broadband Data Program grants are:
(a) Entities that are either (i) an
agency or instrumentality of a State, or
a municipality or other subdivision (or
agency or instrumentality of a
municipality or other subdivision) of a
State; (ii) a nonprofit organization that
is described in Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and that
is exempt from taxation under Section
501(a) of such Code; or (iii) an
independent agency or commission in
which an office of a State is a member
on behalf of the State; and
(b) The single eligible entity in the
State that has been designated by the
State to receive a grant under this
section.15
Matching Funds and Cost Sharing
Requirements: Awardees under this
Program will be required to provide and
document at least 20 percent nonFederal matching funds toward the total
eligible project cost.16 Applicants must
document their capacity to provide
matching funds. Matching funds may be
in the form of either cash or in-kind
contributions consistent with 15 CFR
14.23, 24.3, and 24.24. Certain preaward costs may be credited towards an
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15 BDIA
§ 106(i)(2)(B), 122 Stat. at 4102.
§ 106(c)(2), 122 Stat. at 4099. Generally,
Federal funds may not be used as matching funds
except as provided by Federal statute. See ‘‘Uniform
Administrative Requirements for Grants and
Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education,
Hospitals, Other Non-profit, and Commercial
Organizations,’’ 15 CFR 14.23(a)(5); see also
‘‘Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants
and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local
Governments,’’ 15 CFR 24.24(b)(1).
16 BDIA
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applicant’s matching funds
requirements. As provided in 48 U.S.C.
1469a, the requirement for local
matching funds under $200,000
(including in-kind contributions) is
waived for the Territorial governments
in Guam, American Samoa, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands. Grant
funds under this Program will be
released in direct proportion to the
documented expenditure of matching
funds.
In-Kind Contributions. In-kind
contributions, which include third-party
in-kind contributions, are non-cash
donations of property, goods or services,
which benefit a Federally assisted
project, and which may count toward
satisfying the non-Federal matching
requirement when they meet certain
criteria.17 The rules governing allowable
in-kind contributions are very detailed
and encompass a wide range of
properties and services. NTIA
encourages grant applicants to consider
thoroughly potential sources of in-kind
contributions which, depending on the
particular property or service and the
cost principles applicable to the
applicants’ organization type, could
include: employee or volunteer services;
equipment; supplies; indirect costs;18
computer hardware and software; use of
facilities; expenditures for existing
programs presented as part of the
project proposal under this Program. In
addition, applicants may propose as inkind contributions the ascertainable fair
market value of data previously
collected and related to the BDIAeligible uses under this Program. If data
previously collected is to be claimed as
an in-kind contribution, applicants must
provide a basis for estimating fair
market value, including but not limited
to the documented costs incurred for
data collection. NTIA reserves the right
at its discretion to provide in-kind
credit for an amount different than that
claimed by the applicant.
17 15 CFR 14.23, 24.3, 24.22, 24.24. See also OMB
Circular A–87, ‘‘Cost Principles for State, Local and
Indian Tribal Governments’’ (Rev. May 10, 2004),
OMB Circular A–122, Cost Principles for Non-Profit
Organizations (Rev. May 10, 2004), and 48 CFR pt.
31, ‘‘Contract Cost Principles and Procedures.’’
18 Reasonable indirect costs may be included as
part of cost sharing or matching only with the prior
approval of NTIA. The amount of indirect charges
allocated to the budget is based on an applicant’s
indirect cost rate. An applicant may already have
an indirect cost rate negotiated with a Federal
agency, in which case, that rate may be applied to
the applicant’s grant if it is current. If it is not
current, the applicant will need to update it. If an
applicant does not have a negotiated rate, but
would like to include indirect costs, the applicant
will need to establish a rate with the Department
of Commerce.
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B. Confidentiality Requirements: The
BDIA requires that to be eligible to
receive a grant under this Program,
entities must agree to treat any matter
that is a trade secret, commercial or
financial information, or privileged or
confidential, as a record not subject to
public disclosure except as otherwise
mutually agreed to by the broadband
service provider and the entity.19 As a
condition of grant funding under this
Program, awardees may not agree to a
more restrictive definition of
Confidential Information than the
definition adopted by this Program.
Nondisclosure Agreements. As a
measure to protect the confidential or
proprietary nature of the information
received from broadband service
providers and other organizations
during the data collection phase,
awardees may execute nondisclosure
agreements (consistent with applicable
law) that require the awardees to treat
any matter that is a trade secret,
commercial or financial information, or
privileged or confidential, as a record
not subject to public disclosure except
where mutually agreed upon by the
information provider and the awardee,
provided, however, that any such
nondisclosure restriction (a) will not
restrict the providing of all data
collected under this Program to NTIA,
nor (b) restrict NTIA’s use of such data
as contemplated under this Notice
(including sharing such data with the
FCC or other Federal agencies).
To the extent required by law, NTIA
agrees that it will not publicly disclose
any Confidential Information, as defined
herein, provided to it by an applicant or
awardee under this Program. Providing
Confidential Information to the FCC, or
other Federal agencies as necessary,
shall not constitute public disclosure. In
any disclosure to the FCC or other
Federal agencies, NTIA will request that
such agency make no further disclosure
of the Confidential Information except
as required by applicable law or judicial
or administrative action or
proceeding.20
C. Information Provided: In order to
be eligible for a grant under this
Program, each applicant must agree to
provide NTIA with broadband data, of
19 BDIA §§ 106(c)(3) and 106(h)(2), 122 Stat. at
4101–2 (This requirement applies only to
information submitted by the FCC or a broadband
provider to carry out the provisions of the BDIA and
shall not otherwise limit or affect the rules
governing public disclosure of information
collected by any Federal or State entity under any
other Federal or State law or regulation).
20 The provisions of this section notwithstanding,
all information submitted by an applicant or
awardee to NTIA for the purposes of this Program
will be subject to Freedom of Information Act
requirements under 5 U.S.C. 552.
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the type and in the format provided in
the Technical Appendix, from all
commercial or public providers of
broadband service in their respective
States, including, but not limited to,
commercial or public providers of
broadband service to Indian tribes (as
defined in Section 4 of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education
Assistance Act 21), Native Hawaiian
organizations, Community Anchor
Institutions or agencies or
instrumentalities of the States, or
municipalities or other subdivisions of
the States and their respective agencies
or instrumentalities.
In no case, however, are applicants
required to propose collecting data on
broadband service provided by the
Federal government or any agencies or
instrumentalities of the Federal
government or broadband service
provided on property owned or leased
by the Federal government or any
agencies, or instrumentalities of the
Federal government.
Failure to agree to collect the required
data will render an applicant ineligible
for funding under this Program.
D. Participation Limit: This is a new
program and no activities have been
funded under it as of the date of this
Notice. BDIA stipulates that no Statedesignated entity may receive a grant
under this Program to fund activities
described above if that entity, or another
entity designated by that State, obtained
prior grant awards under this section to
fund the same activities in that State in
each of the previous four (4) consecutive
years.22 Because the Recovery Act
requires the obligation of all funds by
September 30, 2010, NTIA does not
anticipate any situations where a
violation of this provision could occur.
E. Funding Restrictions:
1. Eligible Costs. Grant funds must be
used only to pay for eligible costs.
Under this Notice, eligible costs are
governed by the Federal cost principles
identified in the applicable OMB
circulars and in the Program’s
authorizing legislation.23 In addition,
21 25
U.S.C. 450(b).
§ 106(f), 122 Stat. at 4101.
23 The government has established a set of Federal
principles for determining eligible or allowable
costs. Allowability of costs will be determined in
accordance with the cost principles applicable to
the entity incurring the costs. Thus, allowability of
costs incurred by State, local or Federallyrecognized Indian tribal governments is determined
in accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular
A–87, ‘‘Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian
Tribal Governments.’’ The allowability of costs
incurred by non-profit organizations is determined
in accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular
A–122, ‘‘Cost Principles for Non-Profit
Organizations.’’ The allowability of costs incurred
by institutions of higher education is determined in
accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular A–
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22 BDIA
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costs must be reasonable, allocable,
necessary to the project, and comply
with the funding statute requirements.
Neither mapping nor planning projects
may include any construction costs.
2. Recovery Act-Specific Restrictions.
The Recovery Act imposes an additional
limitation on the use of funds expended
or obligated from appropriations made
pursuant to its provisions. Specifically,
for purposes of this Notice, none of the
funds appropriated or otherwise made
available under the Recovery Act may
be used by any State or local
government, or any private entity, for
any casino or other gambling
establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf
course, or swimming pool.24
VI. Application and Submission
Information
A. Address To Request Application
Package: To ensure a successful
submission, applicants must apply for
State Broadband Data Program funding
through the online Grants.gov system
through the Authorized Organization
Representative (AOR). Grants.gov, an eGovernment initiative, is a ‘‘storefront’’
that provides a unified process for all
seekers of Federal grants to find funding
opportunities and apply for funding. If
applicants have previously used
Grants.gov, the existing account may be
used for the State Broadband Data
Program. States that have not previously
submitted an application through
Grants.gov are strongly encouraged to
initiate the registration process as soon
as possible. Instructions are available on
the Grants.gov Web site (http://
www.grants.gov). Application forms and
instructions are also available at
Grants.gov. To access these materials, go
to http://www.grants.gov, select ‘‘Apply
for Grants,’’ and then select ‘‘Download
Application Package.’’ Enter the CFDA
and/or the funding opportunity number
located on the cover of this
announcement. Select ‘‘Download
Application Package,’’ and then follow
the prompts. To download the
instructions, go to ‘‘Download
Application Package’’ and select
‘‘Instructions.’’ Applicants should visit
Grants.gov prior to filing their
21, ‘‘Cost Principles for Educational Institutions.’’
The allowability of costs incurred by hospitals is
determined in accordance with the provisions of
Appendix E of 45 CFR pt. 74, ‘‘Principles for
Determining Costs Applicable to Research and
Development under Grants and Contracts with
Hospitals.’’ The allowability of costs incurred by
commercial organizations and those non-profit
organizations listed in Attachment C to Circular A–
122 is determined in accordance with the
provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) at 48 CFR pt. 31. See 15 CFR 14.27, 24.22
(governing the Department of Commerce’s
implementation of OMB requirements).
24 Recovery Act § 1604, 123 Stat. at 303.
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32551
applications so that they fully
understand the process and
requirements. Failure to properly
register and apply for State Broadband
Data Program funds by the deadlines
may result in forfeiture of the grant
opportunity. Applications are accepted
until the deadline and processed as
received. Applications submitted by
hand delivery, mail, e-mail or facsimile
will not be accepted.
B. Registration:
1. DUNS Number.—All applicants
must supply a Dun and Bradstreet Data
Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
number. Applicants can receive a DUNS
number at no cost by calling the
dedicated toll-free DUNS number
request line at 1–866–705–5711 or via
the Internet at http://
www.dunandbradstreet.com.
2. Central Contractor Registration
(CCR). All applicants must provide a
CCR (CAGE) number evidencing current
registration in the Central Contractor
Registration (CCR) database. If the
applicant does not have a current CCR
(CAGE) number, the applicant must
register in the CCR system available at:
http://www.ccr.gov/
StartRegistration.aspx.
C. Content and Form of Application
Submitted Through Grants.gov: The
following is a list of required
application forms:
• Standard Form 424, Program
Abstract/Program Narrative;
• Standard Form 424, Application for
Federal Assistance;
• Standard Form 424A, Budget
Information—Non-Construction
Programs;
• Standard Form 424B, Assurances—
Non-Construction Programs;
• Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of
Lobbying Activities;
• CD–511 Certification Regarding
Lobbying; and
• Letter of State Designation.
Program Narrative. The applicant
must complete a Program Narrative
including responses to the five review
criteria listed in Section VII (A) and
listed below.
The Narrative should begin with an
introduction that serves as an Executive
Summary of the project. It should be a
brief, straightforward statement of what
the application proposes to accomplish.
The Narrative should also include a
description of all unserved and
underserved areas in their State as
defined herein, to the extent they are
known, and a prioritization for the
allocation of grant funds within that
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State for projects in or affecting the
State.25
The Narrative should then address the
five review criteria in separate sections
of the Narrative. Applicants should
address the five criteria in the following
order and each section should be
labeled with the name of the criterion
being discussed to help the reviewers
who evaluate the application. Any
exhibits, maps, timelines, or
spreadsheets should be placed within
the appropriate section of the narrative.
1. Data:
(a) Data Gathering. Applicants must
provide a comprehensive description of
how the applicant plans to obtain all
data required under the Technical
Appendix from commercial or public
providers, as applicable (such
description should identify general or
specific methods, or legal authorities
upon which applicants will rely to
obtain the required data). Applicants
should refer to specific data elements in
the Technical Appendix when
appropriate as part of their narrative.
(b) Accuracy and Verification.
Applicants must provide a description
of what methods the applicant intends
to employ to verify data accuracy.
(c) Accessibility. Applicants must
provide a description of how the State’s
broadband data will be publicly
accessible, clearly presented, and easily
understood by the public, government
and the research community.
Applicants must also describe the
applicant’s proposed State-level map.
(d) Security and Confidentiality.
Applicants must provide a description
of what methods the applicant intends
to employ to ensure both transparency
of process and protection of collected
data, including Confidential Information
as defined herein.
2. Project Feasibility:
(a) Applicant Capabilities. Applicants
must provide a detailed budget narrative
providing detailed description of
proposed project costs (including a
detailed description of any proposed
expenditures for the purchase of
computer hardware, software, other
information systems or the
compensation of information technology
personnel that will be used to collect
and store all required data) and
describing any proposed sources of inkind match. The budget narrative must
provide sufficient explanation of each
budget category in order to establish the
need for the funds in each category, and
the basis for figures used. The budget
narrative must be accompanied by a
25 Applicants may illustrate such known
unserved areas through submission of a map.
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17:23 Jul 07, 2009
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spreadsheet supporting how the budget
request was calculated.
Applicants that include requests for
Broadband Planning activities within
their application must provide a
separate budget narrative and
spreadsheet for the planning portion of
their request.
All applicants must demonstrate that
they have the ability to secure the
funding necessary to meet the required
20 percent non-Federal matching
contribution.
(b) Applicant Capacity, Knowledge
and Experience. Applicants must
provide a description of applicant
qualifications, including knowledge and
experience of the applicant and the
associated project personnel with
conducting projects of similar scope and
scale, including dealing with broadband
or telecommunications technology,
overseeing the projects that collect
broadband or telecommunicationsrelated data, or Geographic Information
System (GIS) data.
3. Expedient Data Delivery:
Applicants must provide a timeline
for major project goals, including
anticipated dates of data delivery. This
timeline should be ambitious and
designed to facilitate the delivery of all
data required by the Technical
Appendix. NTIA will have a preference
for the provision of a substantially
complete set of availability data by
November 1, 2009. Applicants that
cannot provide a substantially complete
set of availability data by November 1,
2009, may propose to provide an
alternative data set by that date.
Applicants must demonstrate that they
have the ability to complete the project
requirements within the proposed
timeline, including the requirements to
provide a substantially complete set of
all broadband mapping data on or before
February 1, 2010 and to complete such
data collection by March 1, 2010. All
data provided in the first collection
should be accurate as of June 30, 2009.
4. Process for Repeated Data
Updating:
Applicants must provide a
description of what methods the
applicant intends to use to provide for
repeated updating of data on at least a
semi-annual basis continuing for at least
five (5) years after the date of the initial
collection.26
26 Broadband mapping data should be updated at
least on March 1 of each year (by submitting data
as of December 31 of the previous year) and at least
September 1 of each year (by submitting data as of
June 30 of that year). Because the initial data
collection is due on February 1, 2010, the next
update will be due on September 1, 2010 but
should include data accurate as of both December
31, 2009 and June 30, 2010, after which, the
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5. Planning and Collaboration:
Applicants must provide a
description of how the applicant
intends to collaborate with State-level
agencies and local authorities in
carrying out the mapping effort.
Applicants that include a planning
component must provide a description
and justification on how well the
proposed planning process will address
one or more of the projects identified
earlier in the BDIA.
The narrative should be no longer
than forty (40) pages in length, single
spaced in 12 point Times New Roman
font (or equivalent).
Letter of State Designation. This letter,
signed by the Governor or equivalent
chief executive of the State, or his duly
authorized designee, affirms that the
applicant is the single eligible entity in
the State that has been designated by the
State to receive a grant under this
Program.
D. Submission Dates and Times: All
applications must be submitted between
July 14, 2009 at 8 a.m. ET and 11:59
p.m. ET on August 14, 2009. The
electronic application system at
Grants.gov will provide a date and time
stamped confirmation number that will
serve as proof of submission.
E. Material Representations: The
application, including certifications,
and all forms submitted as part of the
application will be treated as a material
representation of fact upon which NTIA
will rely in awarding grants.
F. Material Revisions: No material
revision will be permitted for any
applicant after the submission deadline.
VII. Application Review Information
A. Evaluation Criteria: NTIA will
evaluate applications for Mapping
Grants on the basis of the following
criteria. The relative weight of each
criterion is identified in parenthesis.
1. Data (30%)—All applicants will be
evaluated based on the data they
propose to provide to NTIA. As
provided above in the section entitled
‘‘Eligibility Information’’, each applicant
must agree to provide NTIA with
broadband data, of the type and in the
format provided in the Technical
Appendix, from all commercial or
public providers of broadband service in
their respective States, including, but
not limited to, commercial or public
providers of broadband service to Indian
tribes (as defined in Section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and
collections will follow the specified schedule. For
the purposes of this program, an update will be
deemed to be a verification of existing data and a
collection of any additional data reflecting the
expansion or contraction of broadband availability
since the previous data collection or update.
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Education Assistance Act), Native
Hawaiian organizations, Community
Anchor Institutions or agencies or
instrumentalities of the States, or
municipalities or other subdivisions of
the States and their respective agencies
or instrumentalities. Failure to agree to
collect such data will render an
applicant ineligible for funding under
this Program. In no case, however, are
applicants required to propose
collecting data on broadband service
provided by the Federal government or
any agencies or instrumentalities of the
Federal government or broadband
service provided on property owned or
leased by the Federal government or any
agencies, or instrumentalities of the
Federal government.
Reviewers will consider the following
factors in scoring this criterion:
(a) Accuracy and Verification. Data
accuracy is extremely important and,
while NTIA recognizes that 100 percent
accuracy is not possible, reviewers will
carefully consider an applicant’s
proposed methods for verifying data.27
Also, proposed data collection methods
that do not provide more than one way
to determine the accuracy of availability
data at any given location will not
receive high scores.
(b) Accessibility. Applicants will be
evaluated based on how the data are
accessible to, clearly presented to, and
easily understood by the public,
including members of the research
community, and local and State
government, excluding any data
considered to be Confidential
Information, as defined in this Notice.
(c) Security and Confidentiality. Some
data collected under the Program may
be considered highly sensitive or
confidential. Therefore, applicants must
demonstrate and will be evaluated
based on how well the applicant
proposes to protect collected data,
including Confidential Information as
defined herein, while fulfilling the other
criteria provided in this section.
2. Project Feasibility (30%)—
(a) Budget. This criterion evaluates
whether the applicant presents a budget
that is both reasonable and cost
efficient, considering the full nature and
scope of the project. Reviewers will also
consider whether the applicant has
demonstrated ability to secure the
27 For example, a project should propose to
collect availability data by address, as required by
the Technical Appendix, and should cross-check
that data for accuracy by using at least one other
metric (e.g., the location and capability of local
infrastructure and whether such infrastructure
could realistically serve a supposed service address,
on-the-ground verification or telephone survey.
Each method should be used to check a statistically
significant sample of all addresses, and a
statistically significant sample of rural addresses).
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funding necessary to meet the required
20 percent non-Federal matching
contribution.
(b) Applicant Capacity, Knowledge,
and Experience. Reviewers also will
assess whether the applicant possesses
the necessary qualifications to complete
the proposed project within Program
standards. In performing this
assessment reviewers will consider the
capacity and relevant subject matter
specific knowledge and experience of
the applicant and the associated project
personnel with conducting projects of
similar scope and scale. Reviewers will
assess the qualifications and past
experience of the project leaders and/or
partners in dealing with broadband or
telecommunications technology and in
designing, implementing, and
effectively managing and overseeing the
projects that collect broadband or
telecommunications-related data, and
utilize and manage Geographic
Information System (GIS) data.
3. Expedient Data Delivery (20%)—
Applicants will be reviewed based on
the timeline on which they project
delivery of the initial submission of a
substantially complete set of broadband
mapping data. This timeline should be
ambitious and designed to facilitate the
delivery of all data required by the
Technical Appendix. NTIA will have a
preference for the provision of a
substantially complete set of availability
data by November 1, 2009. Applicants
that cannot provide a substantially
complete set of availability data by
November 1, 2009, may propose to
provide an alternative data set by that
date. Applicants must demonstrate that
they have the ability to complete the
project requirements within the
proposed timeline, including the
requirements to provide a substantially
complete set of all broadband mapping
data on or before February 1, 2010 and
to and to complete such data collection
by March 1, 2010. All data provided in
the first collection should be accurate as
of June 30, 2009.
4. Process for Repeated Data
Updating (10%)—The broadband
landscape is rapidly changing, and both
the State broadband maps and national
broadband map must be able to reflect
these changes. All applicants will be
evaluated based on their ability to
update the data at least semi-annually
and on a continuing basis. Because the
initial data collection is due on
February 1, 2010, the next update will
be due on September 1, 2010 but will
collect data as of both December 31,
2009 and June 30, 2010. For all
subsequent data updates, data should be
updated at least on March 1 of each year
(by submitting data as of December 31
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of the previous year) and at least
September 1 of each year (by submitting
data as of June 30 of that year), so as to
coincide with the Federal
Communications Commission’s Form
477 data collections. Applicants are
expected to propose to update data for
at least five (5) years from the date of
award. Applicants are encouraged to
consider methods of automated or
direct-from-provider data input, while
also considering Data Accuracy and
Verification needs.
5. Planning and Collaboration
(10%)—
(a) Collaboration. Collaboration with
State-level agencies, local authorities,
businesses and non-profit organizations
will be a critical component of any
successful data collection or mapping
effort. Reviewers will carefully consider
the transparency and inclusiveness of
the process used to plan and execute
data collection and State-level
broadband mapping. Reviewers will
also examine the existing relationships
and proposed collaborations with
necessary parties, including broadband
service providers, information
technology companies, mapping
companies, State and local
governments, geographic information
agencies and councils, Community
Anchor Institutions, consumer and
public interest groups, Indian tribes (as
defined in Section 4 of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education
Assistance Act), Native Hawaiian
organizations, minority and vulnerable
populations, industry, and other such
parties and institutions.
If applicable, any applications that do
not include the collection of data from
Indian tribes (as defined in Section 4 of
the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act), tribal lands,
or Native Hawaiian organizations will
not be eligible for grants.
(b) Planning. In addition to
inclusiveness and collaboration,
proposals including planning
components will be evaluated based on
how well the proposed planning process
will identify service availability and
gaps, analyze problems and
opportunities related to broadband
deployment, and determine priorities as
well as resolve conflicting priorities.
Planning proposals must present the
following: (1) The BDIA-related purpose
as listed footnote 6; (2) the problem(s)
to be addressed; (3) the proposed
solution; (4) the anticipated outcomes of
the project; and (5) the cost of such
proposal in light of the previous factors.
VIII. Anticipated Award Dates
NTIA will announce the awards
starting on or about September 15, 2009.
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NTIA will make award documents
available to successful applicants within
thirty (30) calendar days of the award
announcement. NTIA expects
compliance with all applicable
documentation requirements from
successful applicants within sixty (60)
calendar days of award announcement.
IX. Award Administration Information
A. Award Notices: Applicants will be
notified by the Department of
Commerce’s Grants Officer if their
applications are selected for an award.
If the application is selected for funding,
the Department of Commerce’s Grants
Officer will issue the grant award (Form
CD–450), which is the authorizing
financial assistance award document.
By signing the Form CD–450, the
awardee agrees to comply with all
award provisions. NTIA will provide
the Form CD–450 by mail or overnight
delivery to the appropriate business
office of the recipient’s organization.
The awardee must sign and return the
Form CD–450 without modification
within thirty (30) calendar days of
receipt.
If an applicant is awarded funding,
neither the Department of Commerce
nor NTIA is under any obligation to
provide any additional future funding in
connection with that award or to make
any future award(s). Amendment or
renewal of an award to increase funding
or to extend the period of performance
is at the discretion of the Department of
Commerce and of NTIA.
B. Award Terms and Conditions:
1. Scope. Awardees, including all
contractors and subcontractors, are
required to comply with the obligations
set forth in the Recovery Act and the
requirements established herein. Any
obligation that applies to the awardee
shall extend for the life of the Federallyfunded facilities.
2. Access to Records for Audits, Site
Visits, Monitoring and Law Enforcement
Purposes. The Inspector General of the
Department of Commerce, or any of his
or her duly authorized representatives,
and NTIA representatives, or any of
their duly authorized representatives,
shall have access to and the right to
inspect any property or documents
funded by the grant, or relating to the
grant funding, of the parties to a grant,
including their subsidiaries, if any,
whether written, printed, recorded,
produced, or reproduced by any
electronic, mechanical, magnetic or
other process or medium, in order to
make audits, inspections, site visits,
excerpts, transcripts, copies, or other
examinations as authorized by law. An
audit of an award may be conducted at
any time.
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C. Award Conditions: Awardees are
required to comply with the Department
of Commerce Financial Assistance
Standard Terms and Conditions (March
8, 2008), the Department of Commerce
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act Award Terms (April 9, 2009), and
any Special Award Terms and
Conditions that are included by the
Grants Officer in the award.
X. Other Information
A. Discretionary Awards: The Federal
Government is not obligated to make
any award as a result of this
announcement, and will fund only
projects that are deemed likely to
achieve the Program’s goals and for
which funds are available.
B. Third Party Beneficiaries: The State
Broadband Data Program is a
discretionary grant program that is not
intended to and does not create any
rights enforceable by third party
beneficiaries.
C. Recovery Act Logo: As provided
above in the section entitled ‘‘Funding
Restrictions,’’ neither mapping nor
planning projects may include
construction costs. However, all projects
that are funded by the Recovery Act,
including projects under this Program,
shall display signage that features the
Primary Emblem throughout the
construction phase. The signage should
be displayed in a prominent location on
site. Some exclusions may apply. The
Primary Emblem should not be
displayed at a size less than 6 inches in
diameter.
D. Environmental and National
Historic Preservation Requirements: All
applicants seeking Federal funding may
be required to provide adequate
environmental information and gather
information from Federal and State
regulatory agencies, including the
designated State Historic Preservation
Officer and Indian tribes, as appropriate.
Applications must comply with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and Section
106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, as amended
(NHPA), and may require the
submission of additional information
early in the application process.
Applicants will also be required to
cooperate with NTIA in identifying
feasible measures to reduce or avoid any
identified adverse environmental
impacts of their proposal. The failure to
do so shall be grounds for not selecting
an application. In some cases if
additional information is required after
an application is selected, funds can be
withheld by the Grants Officer under a
special award condition requiring the
recipient to submit additional
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environmental compliance information
sufficient to enable NTIA to make an
assessment on any impacts that a project
may have on the environment.
NEPA’s implementing regulations
require NTIA to provide, as appropriate,
public notice of the availability of
project-specific environmental
documents. Detailed information on
NTIA compliance with NEPA can be
found at the following NOAA NEPA
Web site: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/
procedures.html under ‘‘Department of
Commerce Categorical Exclusions and
Administrative Record’’ and the ‘‘NTIA
Broadband Technology Opportunity
Program Categorical Exclusions and
Administrative Record.’’ Written
requests for a hard copy should be
submitted to: Steve Kokkinakis,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Office of Program
Planning & Integration, SSMC3, Room
15723, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910.
E. Davis-Bacon Wage Requirements:
Pursuant to section 1606 of the
Recovery Act, any project using
Recovery Act funds requires the
payment of not less than the prevailing
wages for ‘‘all laborers and mechanics
employed by contractors and
subcontractors on projects funded
directly by or assisted in whole or in
part by and through the Federal
Government.’’ 28
F. Buy America: None of the funds
appropriated or otherwise made
available by the Recovery Act may be
used for the construction, alteration,
maintenance, or repair of a public
building or public work (as such terms
are defined in 2 CFR 176.140) unless all
of the iron, steel, and manufacturing
goods used in the project are produced
in the United States.29
G. Financial and Audit Requirements:
To maximize the transparency and
accountability of funds authorized
under the Recovery Act, all applicants
are required to comply with the
applicable regulations set forth in
OMB’s Interim Final Guidance for
Federal Financial Assistance.30
Recipients that expend $500,000 or
more of Federal funds during their fiscal
year are required to submit an
organization-wide financial and
compliance audit report. The audit must
be performed in accordance with the
U.S. General Accountability Office,
Government Auditing Standards,
located at http://www.gao.gov/govaud/
28 Recovery
Act § 1606, 123 Stat. at 303.
Act, § 1605, 123 Stat. at 303.
30 See Requirements for Implementing Sections
1512, 1605, and 1606 of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 for Financial Assistance
Awards, 74 FR 18, 449 (Apr. 23, 2009).
29 Recovery
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ybk01.htm, and OMB Circular A–133,
Audits of States, Local Governments,
and Non-Profit Organizations, located at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
circulars/a133/a133.html. Awardees are
responsible for ensuring that subrecipient audit reports are received and
for resolving any audit findings.
H. Deobligation: NTIA reserves the
right to deobligate awards to recipients
under this Notice that demonstrate an
insufficient level of performance, or
wasteful or fraudulent spending, and
award these funds competitively to new
or existing applicants.
I. Disposition of Unsuccessful
Applications: Unsuccessful applications
accepted for review for the Fiscal Year
2009 the State Broadband Data Program
will be retained for two years, after
which they will be destroyed.
J. Compliance with Applicable Laws
and Administrative Requirements: Any
recipient and subrecipient of funds
under this Notice shall be required to
comply with all applicable obligations
set forth in the Recovery Act and all
Federal and State laws. Administrative
and national policy requirements for
State Broadband Data Program funding,
inter alia, are contained in the DOC
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act Award Terms (Apr. 9, 2009) and
Pre-Award Notification Requirements
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements
(DOC Pre-Award Notice), published in
the Federal Register on February 11,
2008 (73 FR 7696), as amended. This
notice may be accessed by entering the
Federal Register volume and page
number provided in the previous
sentence at the following Internet Web
site: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/
index.html. All State Broadband Data
Program applicants are required to
comply with all applicable provisions
set forth in the DOC Pre-Award Notice.
Note that section 1515 of the Recovery
Act authorizes the Inspector General to
examine records and interview officers
and employees of the grantee and other
entities regarding the award of funds.31
K. Waiver Authority: It is the general
intent of NTIA not to waive any of the
provisions set forth in this Notice.
However, under extraordinary
circumstances and when it is in the best
interests of the Federal government,
NTIA, upon its own initiative or when
requested, may waive the provisions in
this Notice. Waivers may only be
granted for requirements that are
discretionary and not mandated by
statute or other applicable law. Any
request for a waiver must set forth the
extraordinary circumstances for the
request and be included in the
31 Recovery
Act § 1515, 123 Stat. at 289.
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application or sent to the address
provided in ‘‘NTIA Contacts’’ above.
L. Limitation of Liability: Under no
circumstances will NTIA or the
Department of Commerce be responsible
for proposal preparation costs if this
Program fails to receive funding or is
canceled because of other NTIA
priorities. Publication of this
announcement does not oblige NTIA to
award any specific project or to obligate
any available funds.
M. Cooperation with NTIA and FCC
National Broadband Mapping Efforts:
Cooperation. In addition to the other
requirements provided in this Notice,
all awardees agree to cooperate with
NTIA and the FCC’s national broadband
mapping efforts. In particular, awardees
agree that, to the extent necessary, they
will coordinate with and lend
reasonable assistance to NTIA and the
FCC, or the employees, agents,
representatives, contractors, vendors or
consultants of each, in such parties’
efforts to assist the recipients in their
data collection or to collect broadband
mapping related data directly in the
States.
In the case that an application on
behalf of a State fails to satisfy the
requirements of this Program, NTIA
reserves the right to collect broadband
mapping data relating to such State
directly or through NTIA’s authorized
agent, contractor or representative,
using whatever means are within its
legal authority.32
FCC Authority. Insofar as awardees
are unwilling or unable to obtain
requested data, NTIA reserves the right
to request that the FCC exercise its
authority to compel data production
from any broadband service provider
subject to its jurisdiction.
N. Administrative Procedure Act and
Regulatory Flexibility Act Statement:
This Notice is being issued without
prior notice or public comment. The
Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5
U.S.C. 553, has several exemptions to
rulemaking requirements. Among them
is an exemption for ‘‘good cause’’ found
at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), which allows
effective government action without
rulemaking procedures where
withholding the action would be
‘‘impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary
to the public interest.’’
Commerce has determined, consistent
with the APA, that making these funds
available under this Notice for
broadband development, as mandated
by the Recovery Act, is in the public
32 Recovery Act § 6001(l), 123 Stat. at 516 requires
that NTIA develop and maintain a comprehensive
nationwide inventory map of existing broadband
service capability and availability in the United
States.
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interest. Given the emergency nature of
the Recovery Act and the extremely
short time period within which all
funds must be obligated, withholding
this Notice to provide for public notice
and comment would unduly delay the
provision of benefits associated with
these broadband initiatives and be
contrary to the public interest.
For the same reasons, Commerce finds
good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to
waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness
for this action. Because notice and
opportunity for comment are not
required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3)
or any other law, the analytical
requirements of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are
inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory
flexibility analysis is not required and
has not been prepared.
O. Congressional Review of Act: NTIA
has submitted this Notice to the
Congress and the Government
Accountability Office under the
Congressional Review of Agency
Rulemaking Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.
This Notice is a ‘‘major rule’’ within the
meaning of the Act because it will result
in an annual effect on the economy of
$100,000,000 or more. This Notice sets
out the administrative procedures for
making grants to State, local, tribal and
other State approved organizations for
the development and implementation of
statewide initiatives to identify and
track the availability and adoption of
broadband services within each State
through the State Broadband Data
Program.
With funds made available through
the Recovery Act, the State Broadband
Data Program will provide
approximately $240 million in grants to
assist eligible entities, including States,
in developing State-specific data on the
deployment levels and adoption rates of
broadband services. All grant funds
must be obligated by September 30,
2010. The State-specific data collected
through this Program will help to
determine those areas of the United
States that are ‘‘unserved’’ or
‘‘underserved’’ and so inform the award
of grants under BTOP, which grants also
must be awarded no later than
September 30, 2010. The data will also
be used in the development of the
national broadband map that NTIA is
required to create and make publicly
available by February 2011 under
Section 6001(l) of the Recovery Act. A
60-day delay in implementing this
Notice would hamper NTIA’s mission to
expeditiously provide assistance to
eligible entities for the development of
this key State-specific data on
broadband deployment levels and
adoption rates as well as hinder NTIA’s
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ability to meet the purposes of the BTOP
and national broadband map
development in a timely fashion.
Thus, in compliance with Section
808(2) of the Congressional Review of
Agency Rulemaking Act, 5 U.S.C.
808(2), for good cause, NTIA finds that
notice and public comment on this
Notice is impracticable and contrary to
the public interest. This finding is
consistent with the objectives of the
Recovery Act, which specifically
provides clear preferences for rapid
agency action and quick-start activities
designed to spur job creation and
economic benefit.33 Accordingly, this
Notice shall take effect upon publication
in the Federal Register.
P. Paperwork Reduction Act: This
notice contains an information
collection requirement subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Applicants have been requested to
submit applications using Standard
Form 424, Program Abstract/Program
Narrative; Standard Form 424,
Application for Federal Assistance;
Standard Form 424A, Budget
Information—Non-Construction
Programs; Standard Form 424B,
Assurances—Non-Construction
Programs; and Standard Form LLL,
Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, all of
which have been approved by OMB
under the respective control numbers
4040–0003, 4040–0004, 4040–0006,
4040–0007 and 0348–0046.
Copies of all forms, regulations, and
instructions referenced in this Notice
may be obtained from NTIA. Data
furnished by the applicants will be used
to determine eligibility for Program
benefits. Furnishing the data is
voluntary; however, the failure to
provide data could result in Program
benefits being withheld or denied.
The collection of information is vital
to NTIA to ensure compliance with the
provisions of this Notice and to fulfill
the requirements of the Recovery Act. In
summary, the collection of broadband
data, as required under the Technical
Appendix, is necessary in order to
implement this Program.
Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, no person is required to respond
to, nor shall any person be subject to a
penalty for failure to comply with a
collection of information subject to the
Paperwork Reduction Act unless that
collection displays a currently valid
OMB Control Number.
1. General Recovery Act and BDIA
Reporting Requirements
(a) OMB Reporting Requirements
Implementing the Recovery Act. Any
33 See,
e.g., Recovery Act § 1602, 123 Stat. at 302.
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grant awarded under this Notice shall be
subject to the applicable regulations and
statutes regarding reporting on Recovery
Act funds. For specific Recovery Act
requirements, see 2 CFR part 176.34
(b) Accounting. If Recovery Act funds
are combined with other funds to fund
or complete projects and activities,
Recovery Act funds must be accounted
for separately from other funds and
reported to NTIA or any Federal Web
site established for Recovery Act
reporting purposes. Moreover,
recipients of funds under this Notice
must also comply with the accounting
requirements as established or referred
to in this Notice.
(c) Required Data Elements. The
awardee and each contractor engaged by
the awardee must submit the following
information to NTIA:
i. The total amount of Recovery Act
funds received;
ii. The amount of Recovery Act funds
received that were expended or
obligated to projects or activities;
iii. A detailed list of all projects or
activities for which Recovery Act funds
were expended or obligated, including
(a) the name of the project or activity;
(b) a description of the project or
activity; (c) an evaluation of the
completion status of the project or
activity; (d) an estimate of the number
of jobs created and the number of jobs
retained by the project or activity; and
iv. Detailed information on any
subcontracts or subgrants awarded by
the awardee to include the data
elements required to comply with the
Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 102–
282), allowing aggregate reporting on
awards below $25,000 or to
individuals.35
2. Reporting Deadlines. Recovery Act
reports are due to NTIA ten (10)
calendar days after the quarter in which
the award was issued ends and, unless
otherwise noted, each quarter thereafter
until a final report is made at the end
of five (5) years. The final report should
summarize the awardee’s quarterly
filings and state whether the project
goals have been satisfied. Pursuant to
OMB Guidelines, reports should be
submitted electronically to http://
www.federalreporting.gov. If the
awardee fails to submit an acceptable
quarterly report or audited financial
34 See also OMB Memorandum M–09–21,
Implementing Guidance for the Reports on Use of
Funds Pursuant to the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, June 22, 2009 (OMB
Implementing Guidance). For additional Recovery
Act Implementation Guidance applicable to
recipients, see OMB Implementing Guidance
at 6–7.
35 Recovery Act § 1512(c), 123 Stat. at 287.
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statement within the timeframe
designated in the grant or loan award,
NTIA may suspend further payments
until the awardee complies with the
reporting requirements. Additional
information regarding reporting
requirements will also be specified at
the time the award is issued.
3. State Broadband Data Program
Reporting Requirements. All awardees
under this Program will provide
quarterly reports on:
(a) Achievement of project goals,
objectives, and milestones (e.g.,
collection of a ‘‘substantially complete
data set’’; completion of data review or
quality control process) as set forth by
the applicant in their application
timeline:
i. Expenditure of grant funds and how
much of the award remains;
ii. Amount of non-Federal cash or inkind investment that is being added to
complete the project; and
iii. Whether the awardee is on
schedule to provide broadband-related
data in accordance with the mapping
project timeline.
Upon completion of its State-level
broadband map, each awardee will
provide NTIA with a hypertext link to
such map for display on a Web page on
the Department of Commerce Web site.
Q. Payment of Federal Funds: NTIA
will not make any payment under an
award until the grantee has returned the
signed CD–450 accepting the award and
unless and until the recipient complies
with all relevant requirements.
R. Executive Order 12372
(Intergovernmental Review):
Applications under this Program are not
subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372,
‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs.’’
S. Executive Order 12866: This notice
has been determined to be Economically
Significant under Executive Order
12866. The Secretary of Commerce was
authorized by the Recovery Act to fund
the BDIA and implement the State
Broadband Data Program. This Program
will make approximately $240 million
in funds available for eligible entities to
develop and implement statewide
initiatives to identify and track the
availability and adoption of broadband
services within each State. This is a onetime grant program in which funds will
be awarded no later than September 30,
2010.
T. Executive Order 13132
(Federalism): It has been determined
that this Notice does not contain
policies with Federalism implications as
that term is defined in E.O. 13132.
U. Recovery Act: Additional
information about the Recovery Act is
available at http://www.Recovery.gov.
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Authority: Title II, Division A of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, Public Law 111–5, 123 Stat. 115 (Feb.
17, 2009); Broadband Data Improvement Act,
Title I of Public Law 110–385, 122 Stat. 4096
(Oct. 10, 2008).
1. Broadband Service Availability in
Provider’s Service Area
Dated: July 2, 2009.
Lawrence E. Strickling,
Assistant Secretary for Communications and
Information.
For each facilities-based provider of
broadband service to specified end-user
locations in their State, awardees shall
provide NTIA with a list of all addresses
at which broadband service is available
to end users in the provider’s service
area, along with the associated service
characteristics identified below.
For this purpose, ‘‘broadband service’’
is the provision, on either a commercial
or non-commercial basis, of data
transmission technology that provides
two-way data transmission to and from
the Internet with advertised speeds of at
least 768 kilobits per second (kbps)
downstream and greater than 200 kbps
upstream to end users, or providing
sufficient capacity in a middle mile
project to support the provision of
broadband service to end-users within
the project area.
For this purpose, an ‘‘end user’’ of
broadband service is a residential or
business party, institution or State or
local government entity that may use
broadband service for its own purposes
and that does not resell such service to
Appendix A: Technical Appendix
Awardees shall provide the following
information to NTIA in the format
specified via ftp to sftp.ntia.doc.gov or
CD/DVD to Edward ‘‘Smitty’’ Smith,
Program Director, State Broadband Data
Program, National Telecommunications
and Information Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 4898,
Washington, DC 20230 no later than
February 1, 2010. All data should be
accurate as of June 30, 2009, unless
otherwise indicated. Questions about
the data content or formats should be
addressed to Your Name at
broadbandmapping@ntia.doc.gov.
(a) Availability by Service AddressService Associated With Specific
Addresses
other entities or incorporate such
service into retail Internet-access
services. Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) are not ‘‘end users’’ for this
purpose. An entity is a ‘‘facilitiesbased’’ provider of broadband service
connections to end user locations if any
of the following conditions are met: (1)
It owns the portion of the physical
facility that terminates at the end user
location; (2) it obtains unbundled
network elements (UNEs), special access
lines, or other leased facilities that
terminate at the end user location and
provisions/equips them as broadband;
or (3) it provisions/equips a broadband
wireless channel to the end user
location over licensed or unlicensed
spectrum.
For this purpose, ‘‘broadband service’’
is ‘‘available’’ at an address if the
provider does, or could, within a typical
service interval (7 to 10 business days)
without an extraordinary commitment
of resources, provision two-way data
transmission to and from the Internet
with advertised speeds of at least 768
kilobits per second (kbps) downstream
and greater than 200 kbps upstream to
end-users at that address. The list of
addresses shall be submitted to NTIA as
a tab-delimited text file in which each
record has the following format:
RECORD FORMAT FOR ADDRESS DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER
Field
Provider Identification Data:
Provider Name .................
DBA Name .......................
FRN ..................................
ID ......................................
End User location/Service
Data:
End-User Address ............
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End-User Building Number
End-User Prefix Direction
End-User Street ................
End-User Street Type ......
End-User Suffix Direction
End-User City ...................
End-User State Abbreviation.
End-User ZIP Code ..........
End-User ZIP Plus 4 ........
Category of End User ......
Technology of Transmission.
Maximum Advertised
Downstream Speed.
Maximum Advertised Upstream Speed.
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Description
Type
Provider Name ..........................................................................
‘‘Doing-business-as’’ name .......................................................
Provider FCC Registration Number ..........................................
Sequential record number .........................................................
Text ..............
Text ..............
Integer ..........
Integer ..........
ABC Co.
Superfone, Inc.
8402202.
1.
Complete address .....................................................................
Text ..............
Building number ........................................................................
Prefix direction ..........................................................................
Street name ...............................................................................
Street type .................................................................................
Suffix direction ...........................................................................
City ............................................................................................
Two-letter State postal abbreviation .........................................
Text ..............
Text.
Text ..............
Text ..............
Text ..............
Text ..............
Text ..............
1401 Constitution Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
1401.
5-digit ZIP code (with leading zeros) ........................................
4-digit add-on code (with leading zeros) ..................................
Category of End User Served at Address (see details below
for codes).
Category of technology available for the provision of service
at the address (see details below for codes).
Speed tier code for the maximum advertised downstream
speed available at the address (see details below for
codes).
Speed tier code for the maximum advertised upstream speed
that is offered with the above maximum advertised downstream speed available at the address (see details below
for codes).
Text ..............
Text ..............
Integer ..........
20230.
0005.
3.
Integer ..........
50.
Integer ..........
8.
Integer ..........
8.
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Example
Constitution.
Ave.
NW.
Washington.
DC.
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RECORD FORMAT FOR ADDRESS DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER—Continued
Field
Typical Downstream
Speed.
Typical Upstream Speed ..
Description
Type
Speed tier code for the downstream data transfer throughput
rate that most subscribers to service at the maximum advertised downstream speed (above) can achieve consistently during expected periods of heavy network usage (see
details below for codes).
Speed tier code for the upstream data transfer throughput
rate that most subscribers to service at the maximum advertised upstream speed (above) can achieve consistently
during expected periods of heavy network usage (see details below for codes).
Integer ..........
8
Integer ..........
8.
Address Record Format Details:
1. All fields are required.
2. Instructions for providers needing
to obtain a FRN can be accessed at
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coresWeb/
publicHome.do.
3. The ID field is a sequential integer
ranging from 1 to the total number of
addresses.
4. Address data fields should be
space-delimited in standardized Postal
Example
Service form. See http://pe.usps.gov/
cpim/ftp/pubs/Pub28/pub28.pdf.
5. Categories of end users should be
entered as integers based on the
following reference:
END USER CODES
End user
category
code
End user category
Description
1 ...............
Residential ..................................................
2 ...............
Governmental .............................................
3 ...............
4 ...............
5 ...............
Small Business ...........................................
Medium or Large Enterprise .......................
Other ...........................................................
Address denotes a residential living unit, individual living unit in institutional settings
such as college dormitories and nursing homes and other locations designed primarily for residential use at which broadband service is available.
Address denotes a State or local government location at which broadband service is
available.
Address denotes the location of a small business.
Address denotes the location of a medium or large enterprise.
Address denotes a location not meeting any of the above descriptions.
6. For reporting the technology of
transmission, report the technology
used by the portion of the connection
that terminates at the end-user location.
If different technologies are used in the
two directions of information transfer
(‘‘downstream’’ and ‘‘upstream’’), report
the connection in the technology
category for the downstream direction.
The technology of transmission should
be entered as an integer based on the
following reference:
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TECHNOLOGY OF TRANSMISSION CODES
Technology
code
Description
10 ..............
20 ..............
30 ..............
Asymmetric xDSL.
Symmetric xDSL.
Other Copper Wireline ..................................................................
40 ..............
41 ..............
50 ..............
Cable Modem—DOCSIS 3.0.
Cable Modem—Other.
Optical Carrier/Fiber to the End User ...........................................
60 ..............
70 ..............
71 ..............
80 ..............
90 ..............
0 ................
Satellite.
Terrestrial Fixed Wireless—Unlicensed.
Terrestrial Fixed Wireless—Licensed.
Terrestrial Mobile Wireless.
Electric Power Line.
All Other ........................................................................................
Details
All copper-wire based technologies other than xDSL (Ethernet
over copper and T–1 are examples).
Fiber to the home or business end user (does not include ‘‘fiber
to the curb’’).
Any specific technology not listed above.
7. Speed tiers should be entered as
integers based on the following
reference:
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SPEED TIER CODES
Upload
speed tier
Download
speed tier
1 ................
2 ................
3 ................
4 ................
5 ................
6 ................
7 ................
8 ................
9 ................
10 ..............
11 ..............
....................
....................
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Description
Less than or equal to 200 kbps.
Greater than 200 kbps and less than 768 kbps.
Greater than or equal to 768 kbps and less than 1.5 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 1.5 mbps and less than 3 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 3 mbps and less than 6 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 6 mbps and less than 10 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 10 mbps and less than 25 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 25 mbps and less than 50 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 50 mbps and less than 100 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 100 mbps and less than 1 gbps.
Greater than or equal to 1 gbps.
8. Data for the entire State or territory
should be submitted as a single, tabdelimited plain text file named
‘‘address_availability_XX.txt’’ where XX
is the two-letter postal abbreviation for
the State or territory.
(b) Availability by Shapefile—Wireless
Services not Provided to a Specific
Address
For those facilities-based providers of
wireless broadband service that is not
address specific (e.g., nomadic,
terrestrial mobile wireless, or satellite),
awardees may alternatively provide
NTIA with GIS-compatible map layers
depicting areas in which broadband
service is available to end users.
For this purpose, an ‘‘end user’’ of
broadband service is a residential or
business party, institution, or State or
local government entity that may use
broadband service for its own purposes
and that does not resell such service to
other entities or incorporate such
service into retail Internet-access
service. Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
are not ‘‘end users’’ for this purpose. An
entity is a ‘‘facilities-based’’ provider of
broadband service connections to end
user locations if any of the following
conditions are met: (1) It owns the
portion of the physical facility that
terminates at the end user location; (2)
it obtains unbundled network elements
(UNEs), special access lines, or other
leased facilities that terminate at the end
user location and provisions/equips
them as broadband; or (3) it provisions/
equips a broadband wireless channel to
the end user location over licensed or
unlicensed spectrum.
For this purpose, ‘‘broadband service’’
is ‘‘available’’ at a location if the
provider does, or could, within a typical
service interval (7 to 10 business days)
without an extraordinary commitment
of resources, provision two-way data
transmission with advertised speeds of
at least 768 kilobits per second (kbps)
downstream and greater than 200 kbps
upstream to end-users at that location.
The data shall be submitted to NTIA as
an ESRI Shapefile such that the
associated data contains the following
fields:
RECORD FORMAT FOR AVAILABILITY AREA DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER—USE ONLY IN CONNECTION WITH WIRELESS
SERVICES NOT PROVIDED TO A SPECIFIC ADDRESS
Field
Description
Type
Provider Name ................................................
DBA Name ......................................................
FRN .................................................................
Technology of Transmission ...........................
Provider Name .................................................................
‘‘Doing-business-as’’ name ..............................................
Provider FCC Registration Number .................................
Category of technology for the provision of service (see
details following Part 1(a) for codes).
If technology of transmission is wireless, is Cellular
spectrum (824–849 MHz; 862–869) used to provide
service (Y/N)?
If technology of transmission is wireless, is 700 MHz
spectrum (698–758 MHz; 775–788 MHz; 805–806
MHz) used to provide service (Y/N)?
If technology of transmission is wireless, is Broadband
Personal Communications Services spectrum (1850–
1915 MHz; 1930–1995) used to provide service
(Y/N)?
If technology of transmission is wireless, is Advanced
Wireless Services spectrum (1710–1755 MHz; 2100–
2155) used to provide service (Y/N)?
If technology of transmission is wireless, is Broadband
Radio Service/Educational Broadband Service spectrum (2496–2690 MHz) used to provide service (Y/
N)?
If technology of transmission is wireless, is Unlicensed
(including broadcast television ‘‘white spaces’’) spectrum used to provide service (Y/N)?
Text ......................
Text ......................
Integer ..................
Integer ..................
ABC Co.
Superfone, Inc.
8402202.
41.
Text ......................
Y.
Text ......................
Y.
Text ......................
Y.
Text ......................
N.
Text ......................
N.
Text ......................
N.
Spectrum Used ................................................
Spectrum Used ................................................
Spectrum Used ................................................
Spectrum Used ................................................
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Spectrum Used ................................................
Spectrum Used ................................................
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Example
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RECORD FORMAT FOR AVAILABILITY AREA DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER—USE ONLY IN CONNECTION WITH WIRELESS
SERVICES NOT PROVIDED TO A SPECIFIC ADDRESS—Continued
Field
Description
Type
Spectrum Used ................................................
If technology of transmission is wireless, but the spectrum used to provide service is not listed above,
please identify as one of the following: Specialized
Mobile Radio Service (SMR) (817–824 MHz; 862–869
MHz; 896–901 MHz; 935–940 MHz), Wireless Communications Service (WCS) spectrum (2305–2320
MHz; 2345–2360 MHz), 3650–3700 MHz, Satellite (Lband, Big LEO, Little LEO, 2 GHz).
Speed tier code for the maximum advertised downstream speed available (see details following Part
1(a) for codes).
Speed tier code for the maximum advertised upstream
speed that is offered with the above maximum advertised downstream speed available (see details following Part 1(a) for codes).
Speed tier code for the downstream data transfer
throughput rate that most subscribers to service at the
maximum advertised downstream speed (above) can
achieve consistently during expected periods of heavy
network usage (see details following Part 1(a) for
codes).
Speed tier code for the upstream data transfer throughput rate that most subscribers to service at the maximum advertised upstream speed (above) can
achieve consistently during expected periods of heavy
network usage (see details following Part 1(a) for
codes).
Text ......................
SMR.
Integer ..................
8.
Integer ..................
8.
Integer ..................
8.
Integer ..................
8.
Maximum Advertised Downstream Speed ......
Maximum Advertised Upstream Speed ..........
Typical Downstream Speed ............................
Typical Upstream Speed .................................
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Availability Area Shapefile Details:
1. Instructions for providers needing
to obtain a FRN can be accessed at
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coresWeb/
publicHome.do.
2. All map areas must be closed, nonoverlapping polygons with a single,
unique identifier.
3. Any variation in any of the required
fields necessitates the creation of a
separate closed, non-overlapping
polygon.
4. In the area covered by each
polygon, subscribers must have
broadband service with the speed
characteristics shown in the data record
95% of the time to within 50 feet of the
polygon’s boundary.
5. The technology of transmission
should be entered as an integer based on
the coding scheme shown in Part 1(a)
above.
6. The speed tiers should be entered
as integers according to the reference in
Part 1(a) above.
7. The data must be expressed using
the WGS 1984 geographic coordinate
system.
8. Maps must be accompanied by
metadata or a plain text ‘‘readme’’ file
that contains a comprehensive
explanation of the methodology
employed to generate the map layer
including any necessary assumptions
and an assessment of the accuracy of the
finished product.
9. Since ESRI Shapefiles typically
consist of 5 to 7 individual files
including the associated metadata and
geodatabase, data for the entire State or
territory should be submitted as a
single, zipped file containing all the
component files. The file should be
named ‘‘area_availability_XX.zip’’
where XX is the two-letter postal
abbreviation for the State or territory.
2. Residential Broadband Service
Pricing in Provider’s Service Area
Example
subscribers in the month for which
other data is reported (i.e., June or
December, as applicable) by county, and
(2) subscriber-weighted nominal speed
(blended average rate).
For this purpose, a ‘‘residential
subscriber’’ of broadband service is any
end user assigned to Category 1, in Part
1.(a), above.
For this purpose, ‘‘broadband service’’
is the provision to end users of two-way
data transmission to and from the
Internet with advertised speeds of at
least 768 kilobits per second (kbps)
downstream and greater than 200 kbps
upstream.
These data shall be submitted to NTIA
as a tab-delimited text file in which
each record has the following format:
(a) Average Revenue per End User and
Weighted Average Speed
For each broadband service provider
in the State, awardees shall provide
NTIA with (1) average revenue per end
user (ARPU) associated with residential
RECORD FORMAT FOR RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND SERVICE PRICING AND SPEED CHARACTERISTICS BY COUNTY FOR EACH
PROVIDER
Field
Description
Type
Record Identifiers:
Provider Name .........................................
DBA Name ...............................................
FRN ..........................................................
Provider Name .................................................................
‘‘Doing-business-as’’ name ..............................................
Provider FCC Registration Number .................................
Text ......................
Text ......................
Integer ..................
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Example
ABC Co.
Superfone, Inc.
8402202.
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RECORD FORMAT FOR RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND SERVICE PRICING AND SPEED CHARACTERISTICS BY COUNTY FOR EACH
PROVIDER—Continued
Field
County ......................................................
State .........................................................
Technology of Transmission ....................
ARPU, All Advertised Speed Offerings ....
Subscriber-Weighted Nominal Speed ......
Service Plan Record Detail:
1. Instructions for providers needing
to obtain a FRN can be accessed at
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coresWeb/
publicHome.do.
2. Use the set of counties that best
approximate each market area of the
provider. County ANSI (formerly FIPS)
codes may be accessed at http://
www.census.gov/geo/www/ansi/
ansi.html.
3. For each county in the provider’s
broadband Internet service area, all
applicable fields must be populated.
4. For reporting the technology of
transmission, report the technology
used by the portion of the connection
that terminates at the end-user location.
If different technologies are used in the
two directions of information transfer
(‘‘downstream’’ and ‘‘upstream’’), report
the connection in the technology
category for the downstream direction.
The technology of transmission should
be entered as an integer based on the
coding scheme shown in Part 1(a)
above.
( speed tier-1 in kbps
Description
Type
3-digit County ANSI (FIPS) Code ....................................
2-digit State ANSI (FIPS) Code .......................................
Category of technology used in the provision of service
(see details following Part 1(a) for codes).
Average monthly revenue per residential user for the
county (see details below for methodology).
Subscriber-weighted nominal speed (blended average
rate in kbps) (see details below for methodology).
Integer ..................
Integer ..................
Integer ..................
560.
51.
2.
Float .....................
34.45.
Float .....................
2753.3.
5. The speed tiers should be entered
as integers according to the reference in
Part 1(a) above.
6. As an example, for June 2009, a
provider’s ARPU should be calculated
by dividing the provider’s total monthly
residential broadband service revenue
for the county by its average monthly
residential broadband subscribers.
(a). The ARPU entered in the record
format above must be the monthly
ARPU for June 2009 calculated by
dividing (i) total monthly residential
broadband service revenue by (ii)
average monthly residential broadband
subscribers.
i. Numerator: Total monthly
residential broadband service revenue
must be calculated as total revenue for
the month (monthly data access fees
including discounts, overage charges
and service or connection fees, but
excluding all taxes, fees and surcharges
paid to government programs, e.g.,
E911) attributable to the provision of
broadband service to billed residential
subscribers in the county for June 2009.
Example
ii. Denominator: Average monthly
residential broadband subscribers must
be calculated as the simple average of
beginning-of-month and end-of-month
counts of billed residential subscribers
to broadband service in the county for
June 2009.
7. A provider’s subscriber-weighted
nominal speed (in kbps) should be
calculated as the sum of the products of
the provider’s advertised maximum
download data transmission rate (in
kbps) for each residential rate tier
advertised by the provider in the
county, times the average monthly
number of residential subscribers
receiving the advertised download
transmission rate tier for the relevant
reporting month (i.e., June or December,
as applicable), divided by the average
total number of residential subscribers
for all the included data transmission
rate tiers in the county for that month.
This is expressed in the following
formula:
× no. of tier-1 subscribers ) + ( speed tier-2 in kbps × no. of tier-2 subscribers ) + ...
For example, if the service provider
offers two tiers of service with
advertised maximum download speeds
of 1500 kbps and 6000 kbps, calculate
the product of 1500 kbps times the
average monthly number of residential
subscribers to the 1500 kbps speed tier
plus the product of 6000 kbps times the
average monthly number of residential
subscribers to the 6000 kbps speed tier
and divide the sum by the sum (or total)
of the average monthly number of
residential subscribers in both tiers.
8. Data for the entire State or territory
should be submitted as a single, tabdelimited plain text file named
‘‘pricing_XX.txt’’ where XX is the twoletter postal abbreviation for the State or
territory.
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3. Broadband Service Infrastructure in
Provider’s Service Area
(a) Last-Mile Connection Points
Awardees shall provide NTIA with a
list of the locations of the first points of
aggregation in the networks (serving
facilities) used by facilities-based
providers to provide broadband service
to end users.
For this purpose, an ‘‘end user’’ of
broadband service is a residential or
business party, institution, or State or
local government entity that may use
broadband service for its own purposes
and that does not resell such service to
other entities or incorporate such
service into retail Internet-access
service. Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
are not ‘‘end users’’ for this purpose. An
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entity is a ‘‘facilities-based’’ provider of
broadband service connections to end
user locations if any of the following
conditions are met: (1) It owns the
portion of the physical facility that
terminates at the end user location; (2)
it obtains unbundled network elements
(UNEs), special access lines, or other
leased facilities that terminate at the end
user location and provisions/equips
them as broadband; or (3) it provisions/
equips a broadband wireless channel to
the end user location over licensed or
unlicensed spectrum.
‘‘Last-mile’’ infrastructure consists of
facilities used to provide broadband
service between end-user (including
residences, businesses, community
anchor institutions, etc.) equipment and
the appropriate access point, router or
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first significant aggregation point in the
broadband network. Examples of such
facilities include, among other things:
For broadband service provided by
incumbent local exchange carriers,
connections between end users and the
central office or remote terminal; for
cable modem service, connections
between end users and the cable
headend or fiber node; for wireless
broadband service, connections between
the wireless end-user device or
customer premises equipment and the
wireless tower or base station; for WiFi
broadband service, connections between
end users and the WiFi access point; or
the analogous portion of the facilities of
other providers of broadband services.
The first points of aggregation in this
context are therefore the central office,
remote terminal, cable headend,
wireless tower or base station, or the
like.
For this purpose, ‘‘broadband service’’
is the provision of two-way data
transmission with advertised speeds of
at least 768 kilobits per second (kbps)
downstream and greater than 200 kbps
upstream to end users. These data shall
be submitted to NTIA as a tab-delimited
text file in which each record has the
following format:
RECORD FORMAT FOR LAST-MILE CONNECTION POINTS DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER
Field
Description
Type
Provider Name ................................................
DBA Name ......................................................
FRN .................................................................
Technology of Transmission ...........................
Provider Name .................................................................
‘‘Doing-business-as’’ name ..............................................
FCC Registration Number ................................................
Category of technology for the provision of service (see
details following Part 1(a) for codes).
Upstream capacity of the serving facility (see details
below).
Type of upstream transport facility (1=Fiber; 2=Copper;
3=Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC); 4=Wireless).
Count of end users served from this point of aggregation.
Latitude in decimal degrees of facility ..............................
Longitude in decimal degrees of facility ...........................
Elevation relative to grade to the nearest foot (positive
integers indicate above grade, negative below grade).
Text ......................
Text ......................
Integer ..................
Integer ..................
ABC Co.
Superfone, Inc.
8402202.
10.
Integer ..................
1.
Integer ..................
1.
Integer ..................
24.
Float .....................
Float .....................
Integer ..................
38.884560.
¥77.028123.
2.
Serving Facility Backhaul Capacity .................
Serving Facility Backhaul Type .......................
End-users served ............................................
Latitude ............................................................
Longitude .........................................................
Elevation ..........................................................
Connections to Last-Mile
Infrastructure Record Detail:
1. Instructions for providers needing
to obtain a FRN can be accessed at
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coresWeb/
publicHome.do.
2. The technology of transmission
should be entered as an integer based on
the coding scheme shown in Part 1(a)
above.
3. The capacity of the serving facility
should represent the capacity as
currently configured and be expressed
according to the following reference:
SERVING FACILITY CODES
Data rate
code
Data rate
1 ...............
2 ...............
Less than 1.5 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 1.5
mbps and less than 3 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 3 mbps
and less than 6 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 6 mbps
and less than 10 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 10
mbps and less than 25 mbps.
3 ...............
4 ...............
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5 ...............
Example
interconnection points of facilities in
their State that provide connectivity
Data rate
between (a) a service provider’s network
Data
rate
code
elements (or segments) or (b) between a
service provider’s network and another
6 ............... Greater than or equal to 25
provider’s network, including the
mbps and less than 50 mbps.
7 ............... Greater than or equal to 50 Internet backbone. (Collectively, (a) and
mbps and less than 100 (b) are ‘‘middle-mile and backbone
interconnection points’’).
mbps.
8 ............... Greater than or equal to 100
Middle-mile and backbone
mbps and less than 1 gbps.
interconnection points typically enable
9 ............... Greater than or equal to 1 gbps. relatively fast data rates, are built to
handle substantial capacities, and may
4. Coordinates must be expressed
be service-quality assured.
using the WGS 1984 geographic
Examples might include: points of
coordinate system.
5. Data for the entire State or territory interconnection enabling
communications between an incumbent
should be submitted as a single, tablocal exchange carrier central office and
delimited plain text file named
the Internet, between a cable aggregation
‘‘lastmile_XX.txt’’ where XX is the twoletter postal abbreviation for the State or point (headend) and the Internet, or
between a wireless base station and the
territory.
provider’s core network elements that
(b) Middle-Mile and Backbone
connect to other networks including the
Interconnection Points
Internet.
In addition to the information shown
These data shall be submitted to NTIA
in the tables above, awardees shall
as a tab-delimited text file in which
provide NTIA with a list of
each record has the following format:
SERVING FACILITY CODES—Continued
RECORD FORMAT FOR MIDDLE-MILE AND INTERNET BACKHAUL CONNECTION POINTS DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER
Field
Description
Type
Provider Name .........
DBA Name ...............
FRN ..........................
Ownership ................
Provider Name ..............................................................................................................
Doing-business-as name ..............................................................................................
FCC Registration Number .............................................................................................
Is the facility owned (0) or leased (1)? .........................................................................
Text ..........
Text ..........
Integer .....
Integer .....
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Example
ABC Co.
Superfone, Inc.
8402202.
0.
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RECORD FORMAT FOR MIDDLE-MILE AND INTERNET BACKHAUL CONNECTION POINTS DATA FOR EACH PROVIDER—
Continued
Field
Description
Type
Serving Facility Capacity.
Serving Facility Type
Serving capacity of transport facility (see details below) .............................................
Integer .....
1.
Type of transport facility (1=Fiber; 2=Copper; 3=Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC);
4=Wireless).
Latitude in decimal degrees ..........................................................................................
Longitude in decimal degrees .......................................................................................
Elevation relative to grade to the nearest foot (positive integers indicate above
grade, negative below grade).
Integer .....
1.
Float .........
Float .........
Integer .....
38.884560.
¥77.028123.
¥10.
Latitude ....................
Longitude .................
Elevation ..................
Connections Record Detail:
1. Instructions for providers needing
to obtain a FRN can be accessed at
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coresWeb/
publicHome.do.
The capacity of the serving facility
should represent the capacity as
currently configured and be expressed
according to the following reference:
Data rate
code
Interconnection point data rate
3 ...............
Greater than 150 mbps and less
than 600 mbps.
Greater than or equal to 600
mbps and less than 2.4 gbps.
Greater than or equal to 2.4
gbps and less than 10 gbps.
Greater than or equal to 10
gbps.
Data rate
code
Interconnection point data rate
1 ...............
Multiple T1s and less than 40
mbps.
Greater than 40 mbps and less
than 150 mbps.
‘‘middlemile_XX.txt’’ where XX is the
two-letter postal abbreviation for the
State or territory.
4. Community Anchor Institutions
4 ...............
5 ...............
6 ...............
SERVING FACILITY CODES
2 ...............
SERVING FACILITY CODES—Continued
Example
2. Coordinates must be expressed
using the WGS 1984 geographic
coordinate system.
3. Data for the entire State or territory
should be submitted as a single, tabdelimited plain text file named
Awardees shall provide NTIA with a
list of community anchor institutions in
their State, along with the associated
information described below.
‘‘Community Anchor Institutions’’
consist of schools, libraries, medical and
healthcare providers, public safety
entities, community colleges and other
institutions of higher education, and
other community support organizations
and entities.
The list shall be submitted to NTIA as
a tab-delimited text file in which each
record has the following format:
RECORD FORMAT FOR COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS
Field
Description
Type
Example
Name ........................
Institution Name ............................................................................................................
Text ..........
Address ....................
Complete address of institution ....................................................................................
Text ..........
Latitude ....................
Longitude .................
Category ...................
Broadband Service?
Technology of Transmission.
Advertised Downstream Service
Speed.
Advertised Upstream
Service Speed.
Latitude in decimal degrees of institution .....................................................................
Longitude in decimal degrees of institution ..................................................................
Category of institution (see details below for category codes) ....................................
Does institution subscribe to broadband service at location?
Category of technology used for the provision of broadband service to the institution
(see details following Part 1(a) for codes).
Speed tier code for the downstream advertised data transfer throughput rate associated with the service that the institution receives (see details following Part 1(a)
for codes).
Speed tier code for the upstream data transfer throughput rate associated with the
service that the institution receives (see details following Part 1(a) for codes).
Float .........
Float .........
Integer .....
Text ..........
Integer .....
John Smith Community Center.
1401 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington DC 20230
38.884560.
¥77.028123.
2.
Y.
10.
Integer .....
8.
Integer .....
8.
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The category of each Community
Anchor Institution should be expressed
according to the following reference:
COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTION
CATEGORY CODES
Category
code
1
2
3
4
...............
...............
...............
...............
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Category
School—K through 12.
Library.
Medical/healthcare.
Public safety.
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COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTION
CATEGORY CODES—Continued
Category
code
Category
5 ...............
University, college, other postsecondary.
Other community support—government.
Other community support—nongovernmental.
6 ...............
7 ...............
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Appendix B: Policy Justification
As discussed in the Notice of Funds
Availability (Notice) for the State
Broadband Data Program, dated July 1,
2009, NTIA, the FCC, and the RUS
cosponsored a series of public meetings
and released a Request for Information
(RFI) to initiate public outreach about
the current availability of broadband
service in the United States and ways in
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which the availability of broadband
service could be expanded.36
The RFI requested the submission of
information on a broad range of topics
including topics related to broadband
mapping, the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) and
the Broadband Data Improvement Act
(BDIA). In response to the RFI and the
public meetings, NTIA received over
1,000 comments from institutions and
individuals on the broadband initiatives
funded by the Recovery Act and over
200 comments relating to broadband
mapping.37
The comments relating to broadband
mapping included comments regarding:
(1) The information that should be
included on the national broadband
map; (2) the level of geographic or other
granularity the national broadband map
should provide; (3) whether there are
State or other mapping programs that
provide models for the statewide
inventory grants; (4) the information
States should collect as conditions of
receiving statewide inventory grants;
and (5) the technical specifications that
should be required of grantees to ensure
that statewide inventory maps can be
efficiently included in a national
broadband map.
Map Information. In the RFI, NTIA
requested additional information
regarding the elements that the national
broadband map should include.38 NTIA
also examined mapping methodologies
employed at the State level and
consulted with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to
determine what data elements should be
included in a national standard that
would be applied to the collection of
broadband mapping related data by
awardees under this Program so as to
better ensure comprehensiveness,
cohesiveness and uniformity in the
national broadband map.39
36 See Notice: American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 Broadband Initiatives, 74
FR 8914 (Feb. 27, 2009).
37 Agendas, transcripts, and presentations from
each meeting are available on NTIA’s Web site at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/
meetings.html. All public comments in Docket No.
090309298–9299–01 are on file with NTIA and may
be viewed on NTIA’s Web site at http://
www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/comments.
38 74 FR at 10718.
39 Commenters offered a range of comments about
what data the map should include: State of North
Dakota at 9 (Apr. 14, 2009) (types of technology
used by providers); National Association of
Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
(NATOA) at 24 (Apr. 13, 2009) (actual and offered
speeds and prices for a particular area); Joint
Comments of Massachusetts Broadband Institute,
Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications
and Cable, and Vermont Department of Public
Service (Joint Comments) at 7 (Apr. 14, 2009)
(current availability of service, adoption rates, and
service provider identity); The Telecommunications
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NTIA finds that the data elements
contained in the Technical Appendix
attached to the Notice must be collected
by each awardee under this Program
and that such data must be provided to
NTIA pursuant to the terms of the
Notice. To the greatest extent possible,
at every address, the type and speed of
broadband service will be provided. For
providers of wireless broadband service,
the spectrum used for the provision of
service will be provided. If the
applicable broadband service provider
so chooses, the provider’s identity will
Industry Association (TIA) at 19 (Apr. 10, 2009)
(location of infrastructure points); Pennsylvania
Governor’s Office of Administration (Apr. 13, 2009)
(location of water and cell towers); Big Think
Strategies at 9 (Apr. 13, 2009) (location of ‘‘meetme-backbone-points’’); University of Nebraska at 4
(Apr. 13, 2009) (both dark and lit fiber); FiberTower
Corporation at 13 (Apr. 13, 2009) (locations of
broadband enabled buildings); County Office of
Economic Development, Garrett County, MD at 13
(trunking locations/nodes); Wireless Internet
Service Providers Associations (WISPA) at 13 (Apr.
13, 2009) (point-of-presence locations); Public
Interest Spectrum Coalition at 10 (Apr. 13, 2009)
(spectrum frequency/signal strength by time of
year/day); ZeroDivide at 13 (Apr. 13, 2009)
(adoption rates in new broadband deployment
areas); RF Check, Inc. at 1 (GPS mapping); City of
Boston at 9 (Apr. 13, 2009) (data transfer rates);
Association of Public Safety Communications
Officials (APCO) at 13 (Apr. 13, 2009) (network
interoperability); FiberTower Corporation at 4–6
(Apr. 14, 2009) (bandwidth availability for
backhaul); CostQuest/LinkAmerica Alliance at 10
(RF propagation and antennae direction);
FiberTower Corporation at 10 (middle and last mile
bandwidth capacity); CostQuest/LinkAmerica
Alliance at 12 (topography features and location of
facilities); Rural Internet and Broadband Policy
Group at 9, 10 (traffic network architecture);
CostQuest/LinkAmerica Alliance at 10 (social
demographic data); National Organization of Black
County Officials (NCBM et al.) at 3 (Apr. 14, 2009)
(race); NCBM et al. at 3 (gender, income, age,
education, and difference in language(s)); Rural and
Tribal Systems Development (RTSD) at 17 (Apr. 14,
2009) (political subdivisions); NCBM et al. at 3
(employment status); Space Data at 6 (economically
disadvantaged areas); FirstMile.US at 14 (Apr. 10,
2009) (physical and financial accessibility);
CostQuest/LinkAmerica Alliance at 10 (location of
public technology access and learning centers
(schools); Level 3 Communications at 15 (Apr. 13,
2009) (population trends); The People of the State
of California and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
at 42, 46, 48 (Apr. 13, 2009) (subscriber data);
CostQuest/LinkAmerica Alliance at 10 (customer
class); National Emergency Number Association
(NENA) at 16–18 (Apr. 13, 2009) (public safety
broadband availability); Intrado Inc. and Intrado
Communications Inc. (Intrado) at 10 (Apr. 10, 2009)
(PSAP locations); Apex CoVantage at 4 (road
segments); Joint Comments at 7 (Apr. 14, 2009)
(broadband availability type); CostQuest/
LinkAmerica Alliance at 10 (locations of public
libraries); Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of
Administration at 6, 7 (broadband stimulus fund
projects); State of Iowa at 7 (Apr. 13, 2009) (rightsof-way); National Association of County and City
Health Officials (NACCHO) at 3 (Apr. 13, 2009)
(health care facilities); Rural Internet and
Broadband Policy Group at 4 (Apr. 13, 2009) (voice
and data connectivity rates in tribal areas);
Broadpoint Inc. at 3 (Apr. 13, 2009) (offshore
economic and business hubs); Stratsoft LLC at 1
(Mar. 23, 2009) (frequency of electrical outages,
electrical currents for radios, and usage data).
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also be available, otherwise the map
will simply display that an anonymous
provider utilizing a particular type of
technology is providing service to a
location. Furthermore, to the extent
possible, the service areas of individual
providers will be aggregated with other
providers of the same technology type.
NTIA has made this determination
based on its review of the comments, an
examination of mapping methodologies
employed at the State level, and
consultation with the FCC.
Though collected under this Program,
data concerning the Average Revenue
Per User (ARPU) and data regarding the
type, technical specification, or location
of infrastructure owned, leased, or used
by a broadband service provider will not
be displayed on the public national
broadband map.40 The above paragraphs
notwithstanding, if provider consent is
granted, NTIA may display the above
provider-specific information on the
national broadband map.
In addition to the above broadbandrelated information, the national
broadband map may display a wide
range of additional, economic, and
demographic data derived from other
sources. Such data, however, are not the
subject of the Notice.
State broadband maps developed
pursuant to awards under this Program
should display, at a minimum,
technology type and speed, subject to
the restrictions contained herein,
including those within the section
entitled ‘‘Confidential Information’’ of
the Notice. Nothing in the Notice,
however, is intended to otherwise limit
the data elements that States may
include in their State broadband maps
or the format that they use to display
such data elements, and States are
encouraged to adapt their maps to fit
their individual State needs.41
Level of Granularity. NTIA’s RFI
included a question regarding the level
of geographic or other granularity at
which the national broadband map
should display information on
broadband service.42 Commenters
presented a range of suggestions for the
appropriate level of granularity.43
40 However, NTIA is considering methods for
displaying some pricing data that will be collected
through other avenues.
41 The fact that some data elements have not been
included in the technical requirements for the
national broadband map, or not made publicly
available, does not indicate that those elements may
not be useful for individual State purposes.
42 74 FR at 10718.
43 The majority of commenters supported street
address level granularity. See, e.g., Vermont Center
for Geographical Information (VCGI) at 2 (Mar. 24,
2009). There was also support for data collection at
lower levels of granularity. See, e.g., City of Beverly
Hills at 3 (Apr. 10, 2009) (census block); Lehigh
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Based on its review of the comments,
examination of mapping methodologies
currently employed at the State level,
and consultation with the FCC, NTIA
finds that data at the address level, or
as close to the address level as
practicable considering the technology
type being employed, as set out in the
Technical Appendix, should be
collected by each awardee under this
Program and that such data must be
provided to NTIA pursuant to the terms
of the Notice. State broadband maps
developed pursuant to awards under
this Program should display data at the
address level, or as close to the address
level as practicable considering the
technology type being employed and as
provided more fully in the Technical
Appendix.
State Models. NTIA has gathered
information from a variety of sources,
including mapping experts from many
States. Additionally, commenters
provided suggestions on what maps
NTIA should use as models for the
national broadband map.44 After careful
consideration and consultation with the
FCC and other agencies, determined that
none of the suggested State map models
contain all of the data sets necessary for
the national broadband map, but may
prove to be instructive and the source of
valuable ideas. The information
required under the Notice and
Technical Appendix, however, is the
principal source of information for the
national map and guidance for
applicants under this Program.
State Collection of Mapping
Information. State participation is
critical to the national broadband
mapping effort. Commenters expressed
a range of opinions on the information
that States should be required to collect
as a condition of receiving statewide
inventory grants.45 In order to promote
Valley Cooperative Telephone Association at 6
(Apr. 13, 2009) (census tract level per FCC form 477
data collection); Traverse Technologies, Inc. at 2
(Mar. 25, 2009) (providers’ customer service areas).
44 See, e.g., CostQuest/LinkAmerica Alliance at
17 (Alabama map); State of Arizona Government
Information Technology Agency at 9 (Arizona Map);
City and County of San Francisco at 25 (Apr. 13,
2009) (California Map); State of Iowa at 7 (Hawaii
map); Oakland County, Michigan at 7 (Illinois
Map); ConnectKentucky at 3 (Kentucky Map); Joint
Comments at 8, 13 (Massachusetts Map); Diane
Wells at 1, 2 (Apr. 13, 2009) (Minnesota Map); State
of Iowa at 7 (Missouri Map); Joint Response of the
New York State CIO et al. at 4 (New York Map);
Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Administration
at 8 (North Carolina Map); Pennsylvania Governor’s
Office of Administration at 8 (Pennsylvania Map);
Scott County Mayor Ricky A. Keeton at 1 (Apr. 13,
2009) (Tennessee Map); Stratrum Broadband at 19
(Mar. 31, 2009) (Vermont Map); City of Boston at
9 (Virginia Tech Map); ViaStat, Inc. at 14, 15 (Apr.
13, 2009) (Australia Map); City of Boston at 9 (New
Zealand Map).
45 The RFI included a question regarding the
specific information the States should collect as
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the efficient creation of the State and
national broadband maps, NTIA and
RUS will require that broadband
internet service providers that apply for
infrastructure grants under BTOP and
RUS’ Broadband Initiatives Program
(BIP) agree to provide the data that
awardees under this Program are
required to collect pursuant to the
Technical Appendix. NTIA and RUS
find that the BIP/BTOP program’s
incentive structure should complement
the goals of the State and national
mapping efforts and this requirement
will further facilitate data collection.
Technical Specifications of State
Maps. The BDIA is silent on the
technical specifications that should be
included in each State map. NTIA
sought comment in the RFI on the
specifications that should be required of
State Broadband Data Program grantees
to ensure that the data collected at the
State level can be efficiently
incorporated into the national
broadband map.46 As stated above,
NTIA also consulted with the FCC and
examined mapping methodologies
currently employed at the State level,
regarding the technical specifications
with which awardees should comply in
composing their maps with program
funds.
In response to the RFI, commenters
provided varying insights on the data
sets that should be displayed,47 and the
technical format of the information
conditions of receiving statewide inventory grants
(74 FR 10718). Most commenters agreed that States
should collect information. See, e.g., WISPA at 13.
There was disagreement over whether State data
collection should be a condition to qualify for
grants. See, e.g., Windstream Communications, Inc.
at 27. Some commenters did not think providers
should be required to provide mapping data. See,
e.g., Independent Telephone and
Telecommunications Alliance at 35. Some
commenters recommended that providers be
required to submit data. See, e.g., State of Missouri/
Missouri Public Services Commission at 12.
46 74 FR at 10718.
47 NTIA received comments on the technical
specifications of the map including the following:
Triangle J Council of Governments Cable Broadband
Consortium at 15 (Apr. 13, 2009) (NTIA should
establish a standard template, such as a database
directory, by which information is submitted);
CostQuest/LinkAmerica Alliance at 18 (NTIA
should clearly define certain data sets such as:
Coverage areas, speed and service attributes, quality
of service data, technologies, infrastructure
elements, demand and demographic data price,
deployment costs); The People of the State of
California and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at
46 (NTIA should establish definitions for address);
National Tribal Telecommunications Association at
3, 4 (NTIA should show customer class (residential,
business, etc.); Joint Response of the New York
State CIO et al. at 11 (data should allow for multiple
demographic overlays); Apex CoVantage at 4 (link
the customer database to the provider database and
link the political data to census data); SEDA—
Council of Governments at 6 (searchable by address
and display in graphical rather than tabular format).
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provided.48 NTIA has determined to
require that data be collected as
specified in the Technical Appendix
attached hereto.
[FR Doc. E9–16103 Filed 7–7–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–60–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XQ00
Taking and Importing Marine
Mammals: Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Harbor Activities Related
to the Delta IV/Evolved Expendable
Launch Vehicle at Vandenberg Air
Force Base, CA
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; proposed incidental
harassment authorization; request for
comments.
SUMMARY: NMFS has received an
application from United Launch
Alliance (ULA) for an Incidental
Harassment Authorization (IHA) to take
small numbers of marine mammals, by
harassment, incidental to conducting
Delta Mariner operations, cargo
unloading activities, harbor
maintenance dredging, and kelp habitat
mitigation activities related to the Delta
IV/Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
(Delta IV/EELV) at south Vandenberg
Air Force Base, CA (VAFB). Pursuant to
the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS requests comments on
its proposal to authorize ULA to take, by
Level B harassment only, small numbers
of two species of pinnipeds at south
VAFB beginning August, 2009.
DATES: Comments and information must
be received no later than August 7,
2009.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the
application should be addressed to
48 Link America Alliance at 17 (NTIA should
follow Federal Geospatial Data Content standards
that included geographic and topographic
information); University of Nebraska at 4 (NTIA
should require GIS software compatibility); The
People of the State of California and Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger at 47 (NTIA should create
Metadata (data about the data) according to Federal
Geospatial Data Content (FGDC) standards to be
generated after geo-coding); State of Arizona
Government Information Technology Agency at 9
(NTIA should create Metadata (data about the data)
according to ESRI mapping standards); CostQuest/
Link America Alliance at 18, 19 (maps and features
(data layers) should be collected in accordance with
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards for
geospatial data).
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| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | Document |
| Subject | Extracted Pages |
| Author | U.S. Government Printing Office |
| File Modified | 2009-07-08 |
| File Created | 2009-07-08 |