NTIA released Friday its long-awaited plan for awarding $42.45 billion in BEAD program money, reversing much of what the Biden administration developed in the initial rules. Delaware, Louisiana and Nevada, which have completed state plans, will have to relaunch the process. Fiber will no longer get priority under the plan. NTIA called the guidance a “BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice,” rather than a new notice of funding opportunity.
FCC commissioners may end up deciding on a single item at their June 26 meeting -- text telephone-based telecom relay service rules -- the only NPRM teed up for a vote (see 2506050056). The other items, addressing cable regulation and broadband data collection, may likely wait until the Senate confirms Olivia Trusty and restores a quorum lost with the departures of Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks. The situation raises interesting issues for Chairman Brendan Carr and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez, officials noted.
Shippers are continuing to press the Federal Maritime Commission for clarity around which agency should regulate certain rail storage fees imposed by ocean carriers on through bills of lading, saying little progress has been made in recent months, despite urging from the National Shipping Advisory Committee.
As the California Privacy Protection Agency ramps up enforcement, it will “telegraph” how it plans to enforce the state’s privacy law and will act in ways that aren’t far from what other states would do, CPPA Executive Director Tom Kemp said in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday with Privacy Daily. In addition, Kemp panned Congress’ proposed 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation while saying the agency is being careful about what aspects of AI may come under its jurisdiction.
Shippers are continuing to press the Federal Maritime Commission for clarity around which agency should regulate certain rail storage fees imposed by ocean carriers on through bills of lading, saying little progress has been made in recent months, despite urging from the National Shipping Advisory Committee.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during a Senate hearing Wednesday that NTIA will issue a new notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for its $42.5 billion BEAD program and will require all states to resubmit their applications. But the agency would still be able to dole out much of the money before year-end, he told the Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee. Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., expressed reservations about President Donald Trump’s proposal to claw back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding as part of a rescission package that congressional GOP leaders want expedited (see 2506030065).
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged the Trump administration June 4 to investigate whether terrorists have used Elon Musk's social media platform X to raise money, in violation of U.S. sanctions.
A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is expected in a matter of weeks in the Consumers' Research case challenging the USF contribution factor and the USF generally, even as SCOTUS wades through numerous emergency petitions from the Trump administration, industry experts said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. USF likely needs an overhaul, they added, but that could be difficult if the FCC loses at SCOTUS, which typically issues several high-profile decisions in June.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana rejected four members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe's bid to get the Montana court to reconsider its decision to transfer a challenge to tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge Dana Christensen said that now that the trade court has made an "express finding of its own jurisdiction," when it vacated the executive orders imposed by President Donald Trump implementing tariffs under IEEPA, "the Court concludes that transfer remains the appropriate action" (Susan Webber v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, D.Mont. # 4:25-00026).
The Court of International Trade on June 2 sustained the Commerce Department's second remand results in the antidumping duty investigation on Indian forged steel fluid end blocks, rejecting claims from the petitioners, led by Ellwood City Forge Co., that the agency should have expanded its use of adverse facts available. Judge Stephen Vaden said "neither statute nor case law requires such an inequitable result," given the limited nature of the gaps on the record.