D.C. Law 24-291. Internet Equity Amendment Act of 2022.
AN ACT
To amend the Office of the Chief Technology Officer Establishment Act of 1998 to clarify the obligation and function of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer to pursue reasonable, affordable, and equitable access to high-speed internet services for all District residents and businesses, to require the Office of the Chief Technology Officer to identify and remedy various barriers to equitable internet access, and to require a status report on the District's participation in certain federal programs promoting internet equity, a study of the feasibility of federally funded fiber and conduit broadband infrastructure, and an assessment of the extent of certain potential gaps in federally supported internet equity programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "Internet Equity Amendment Act of 2022".
Sec. 2. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer Establishment Act of 1998, effective March 26, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-175; D.C. Official Code § 1-1401, et seq.), is amended as follows:
(a) A new section 1812a is added to read as follows:
"Sec. 1812a. Definitions.
"For the purpose of
(b) Section 1813 (D.C. Official Code § 1-1402) is amended by striking the phrase "In addition, the Office may work to ensure that reasonable, affordable access to high-speed Internet services is available to District residents and businesses." and inserting the phrase "In addition, the Office shall work to ensure that all District residents and businesses have reasonable, affordable, and equitable access to high-speed Internet services." in its place.
(c) Section 1814(11) (D.C. Official Code § 1-1403(11)) is amended to read as follows:
"(11) Develop and implement solutions designed to ensure that all District residents and businesses have equitable and affordable access to high-speed Internet services;".
(d) A new section 1814a is added to read as follows:
"Sec. 1814a. Digital equity planning and reporting.
"(a) The Office shall work to identify and remedy barriers to equitable access to internet service in the District, including racial, socioeconomic, geographic, and other inequities in connectivity infrastructure, in device ownership, in the compatibility between devices and critical services, in digital literacy, and in awareness and adoption of digital tools and benefits.
"(b) Within 90 days after the effective date of the Internet Equity Amendment Act of 2022, passed on second reading on December 20, 2022 (Enrolled version of Bill 24-200), the Office shall deliver to the Council and post on its website an internet equity status report.
"(1) The report shall include a description of the District's participation in federal programs pursuant to BIL, including:
"(A) A list of federal programs established pursuant to BIL that the District government is participating in, including a description of:
"(i) The District's current participation in each; and
"(ii) Anticipated uses of funds to advance digital equity as described in subsection (a) of this section;
"(B) A list of any federal programs established pursuant to BIL that the District government is potentially eligible to participate in but has decided not to, with an explanation; and
"(C) A list of any federal programs established pursuant to BIL that the District government is still evaluating as of the date of the initial report, with the Office's best estimate of a timeline for deciding whether to participate in each.
"(2) The initial report shall describe how the Office plans to conduct community outreach and engagement regarding the District's applications for federal internet infrastructure funding.
"(c) Within 1 year after the effective date of the Internet Equity Amendment Act of 2022, passed on second reading on December 20, 2022 (Enrolled version of Bill 24-200), the Office shall develop or obtain and shall deliver to the Council and post on its website a study of the feasibility and anticipated consequences of one or more projects using local or federal grant funds to increase District-owned fiber and conduit broadband infrastructure in areas identified by the Office as least likely to receive affordable, reliable high-speed internet service absent such investments, including:
"(1) Overall recommendations as to the scale of such projects that may reasonably be completed within the implementation periods of any major BIL programs in which the Office intends to participate;
"(2) Estimated costs and buildout timelines;
"(3) Barriers that may increase implementation costs;
"(4) Estimated District revenues that might reasonably result during the useful life of the resulting infrastructure;
"(5) Estimated economic benefits to District residents and businesses that might reasonably result during the useful life of the resulting infrastructure; and
"(6) Estimates of the scale of any other significant benefits likely to accrue to District residents and businesses as a result of the projects.
"(d)(1) Within 1 year after the effective date of the Internet Equity Amendment Act of 2022, passed on second reading on December 20, 2022 (Enrolled version of Bill 24-200), the Office shall deliver to the Council, and post on its website, an internet equity gap assessment report ("GA report").
"(2) The GA report shall address the digital equity goals of:
"(A) Ensuring that all District households earning 50% of the area median family income or less are able to obtain home internet access, with adequate speed and reliability to support ordinary digital participation in important activities such as employment, education, and health care, and at a cost of no more than 0.5% of household income; and
"(B) Ensuring that all applications for important services or benefits that District agencies offer in online formats may be accessed reliably and in a consistent manner via:
"(i) Desktop computers;
"(ii) Laptop computers;
"(iii) Tablet devices;
"(iv) Smartphones; and
"(v) Widely used internet browsers.
"(3) For each digital equity goal enumerated in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the GA report shall:
"(A) Estimate the extent to which existing District government programs, including programs that the Office anticipates pursuing using BIL funding, are unlikely to achieve the goal within 3 years after the date of the GA report;
"(B) Note any significant barriers to achieving the goal;
"(C) Estimate the level of additional local funding that might be needed to fully achieve the goal; and
"(D) Provide any policy recommendations that the Office believes would help further the goal.
"(e) For the purpose of this section, the term:
"(1) "BIL" means the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, approved November 15, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-58; 135 Stat. 429).
"(2) "Broadband" means the transmission of wide bandwidth data over a high-speed internet connection, including via fiber optic, wireless, cable, digital subscriber line, and satellite technology.".
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a).
Sec. 4. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.
