A partnership between two federal agencies will speed the expansion of high-speed-internet service into tribal lands while safeguarding the environment, histories and cultures of Tribal communities.
The Department of Commerce’s (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) announced the collaboration Aug. 9. The BIA and NTIA will "coordinate responsibilities in ensuring compliance with environmental, historic preservation, and cultural resources requirements related to the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP)," the announcement states.
"This collaboration allows high-speed internet service to be deployed quickly while also ensuring safeguards to protect Native lands and interests," the BIA states in the announcement. "Additionally, it streamlines the National Environmental Policy Act reviews for both NTIA, as the lead Federal agency for high-speed internet grant programs, and BIA, as authorized to grant rights-of-way over and across land held in trust or restricted status by the United States under the Indian Right-of-Way Act."
Alan Davidson, the BIA's assistant secretary for communications and information, said efficiently streamlining initiatives within the federal government will more quickly get needed resources to Tribal communities.
“Tribal communities are long overdue to gain access to life-saving technologies, economic and educational opportunities," Davidson said in the report, "and countless other benefits of high-speed internet.”
The BIA's and NTIA's agreement to collaborate on their responsibilities will both further the DOI's efforts to provide high-speed internet access to Tribal communities and the BIA's directive to preserve cultural resources, according to the DOI's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland.
Newland also extolled Tribal Broadband Connectivity (TBC) program, part of President Joe Biden's "Internet For All" initiative, saying it "will expand opportunities for people to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives in their Tribal communities.”
The grant program, which offers funding to native communities for improved internet infrastructure, was allocated $1 billion by the NTIA from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the BIA reports in the announcement. The funds go toward a Notice of Funding Opportunity announced in June 2021, bringing the total funding for high-speed internet grants to $1.98 billion, according to the report.
On Aug. 11, the NTIA awarded $146 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 to five tribal entities in New Mexico, the agency announced at the time. The award was announced in a press call by Vice President Kamala Harris and will provide the five groups with funding for high-speed-internet projects through the Internet For All's TBC program, the announcement reports.
DOC Secretary Gina Raimondo said the grants are "just the beginning" and that the BIL has provided the resources to transform infrastructure in Native communities to bring them new educational and economic opportunities while ensuring they can also preserve their heritage and traditions.
“Tribal lands have been called the least connected places in America," Raimondo said in the announcement. "The Biden-Harris Administration will change that."
