Sneak Preview: Agencies Asked To Refine Broadband Grant Language

(The following is excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) Federal awarding agencies are being encouraged under a recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) controller alert to assess and potentially update language used in Assistance Listing descriptions for broadband programs to better meet intended goals under recent legislation.

OMB issues controller alerts to highlight emerging financial management issues that may require agency attention or action, but these are not official guidance, nor do they prescribe specific tasks for agencies to undertake beyond considering appropriate steps to address an issue.

The alert, CA-23-02, aims to ensure agencies’ broadband program descriptions satisfy provisions in the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand Act (ACCESS BROADBAND Act) (Pub. L. 116-260) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58).

Nonfederal entities refer to Assistance Listings at SAM.gov to find information on the overall goals and objectives of federal financial assistance programs (§200.203). Such information includes a brief summary of the statutory and regulatory requirements of the program and the intended outcome. Where appropriate, the program description, purpose, goals and measurement should align with the congressional intent of the program, the strategic goals and objectives within the federal awarding agency’s performance plan, and should support the awarding agency’s performance measurement, management and reporting efforts.

Therefore, OMB encouraged agencies awarding financial assistance to incorporate into their award descriptions the following specific language when making awards where broadband (including broadband planning, deployment and/or digital inclusion/adoption) is at least 51% of the planned purpose of the award:

• Broadband infrastructure deployment — Refers to infrastructure development for high-speed transmission technologies, such as fiber, wireless, satellite, digital subscriber line and cable, and may include last-mile and middle-mile deployments. Since an award description includes expected outcomes, agencies are also encouraged to include in the award description the number of households and/or businesses that are expected to be served by the award.
• Broadband digital inclusion or adoption — Refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of broadband internet access service. It includes internet service subsidies; devices and equipment funding; public computer and internet access funding; digital literacy, skills training and workforce development training; telemedicine funding; and remote learning funding.
• Broadband planning, data or mapping — Refers to funding for the planning of broadband initiatives (e.g., feasibility studies), or for capturing or plotting data on broadband deployment, availability, adoption or usage. This does not refer to a program’s own operational costs related to planning, data or mapping.

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