Reducing Barriers for Broadband on Federal Lands Act of 2025

This bill exempts certain broadband projects on federal lands from environmental and historical preservation reviews. It specifies that federal authorizations for broadband projects in rights-of-way are not considered major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and are not considered undertakings under the National Historic Preservation Act.

Sec. 2, Exemptions for certain broadband projects: The bill provides two exemptions. First, issuing a federal authorization for a broadband project in a right-of-way cannot be treated as a major federal action under NEPA. Second, such a project cannot be treated as an undertaking under the National Historic Preservation Act. The section defines key terms: 'broadband project' means installing wireline or wireless broadband infrastructure on federal land by a broadband provider; 'broadband provider' means a provider of such infrastructure; 'federal authorization' includes any permit, certification, or approval required under federal law; and 'right-of-way' means the area on, below, or above a roadway or similar property and adjacent land within the right-of-way grant, but excludes portions of the Interstate System.