The FCC NPRM looking at potential changes to the commission’s enforcement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) has numerous changes between it and the draft Chairman Brendan Carr circulated. Industry officials expect the FCC to move quickly since NEPA reform has been a top focus of the Donald Trump administration, they said Friday.
States received BEAD applications from providers of a wide range of technologies during the "Benefit of the Bargain" application round, according to initial data that some states released (see 2506060052). NTIA required all eligible entities to conduct a new round of applications so previously excluded providers could submit proposals for the $42.5 billion program.
The FCC on Thursday approved 3-0 an NPRM examining potential changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which have been a focus of the Trump administration. Commissioner Anna Gomez said she was able to get a few changes in the NPRM, which led to her yes vote.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., blamed President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans on Friday night for CPB’s announcement that day that it will end operations when its federal funding lapses Oct. 1 (see 2508010061). Trump signed off in late July on the 2025 Rescissions Act to claw back $1.1 billion of CPB's advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 (see 2507250047). The Senate Appropriations Committee also advanced its FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee spending bill last week without language to restore that funding (see 2507310062).
The FCC’s draft NPRM on changing how the agency enforces the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) has led to only one ex parte meeting at the FCC (see 2507170048); however, that doesn’t mean the changes aren’t controversial, industry and agency officials said. They predicted approval when commissioners vote Thursday, but potentially with at least a partial dissent from Commissioner Anna Gomez.
The FCC’s final order addressing rules for the AWS-3 reauction, approved 3-0 by commissioners Thursday adds several sentences on tribal sovereignty to a section denying a tribal priority window for the auction. Commissioner Anna Gomez said Thursday she had asked for the language (see 2507240055). Gomez voted to approve the order with a partial concurrence. The order was posted Friday.
An FCC order couched as being about deleting outdated rules but outlining a new agency process that does away with notice-and-comment drew Anna Gomez’s first dissent as a commissioner. The direct final rule (DFR) order was approved at the agency’s open meeting Thursday over her objections, 2-1. The commissioners also approved items on auctioning AWS-3 spectrum, georouting 988 texts, and slamming rules. “The way we do things matters,” Gomez said. “The fact that the process adopted today effectively evades review by an informed public is a feature not a bug.”
President Donald Trump on Friday hailed the House’s passage (see 2507170045) just after midnight of a Senate-amended version of the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4), which includes a clawback of $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027. As expected, the House voted for HR-4 216-213, with only two Republicans -- Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio -- joining Democrats against the measure. Several Democratic leaders and other advocates predicted dire consequences for many local public broadcasters.
Despite pressure from tribal and public interest groups, the FCC appears unlikely to change rules for the AWS-3 auction to allow a tribal window, industry officials and observers said Friday. With Olivia Trusty, a second Republican, joining the commission, Chairman Brendan Carr probably has the votes to approve auction rules regardless of opposition from Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez, officials said. The agency is scheduled to vote on the order Thursday.
Representatives of public interest and tribal groups met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to ask that the FCC change course and create a tribal window prior to the AWS-3 reauction (see 2507140042). Commissioners are to vote July 24 on auction rules (see 2507030049). Attending the meeting were representatives of Public Knowledge, X-Lab, the Navajo Nation and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association.