Standard FEES Act
Standard FEES Act
Plain Language Summary
# Standard FEES Act Summary **What the Bill Does:** The Standard FEES Act would require the General Services Administration (GSA)—the federal agency that manages government buildings and property—to create a uniform, standardized fee schedule for companies and organizations that want to place communications equipment (like cell towers, antennas, or internet equipment) on federal buildings and land. Currently, different federal agencies may charge different fees for similar requests, which the bill's supporters argue creates confusion and unfairness. The new standardized fees would be based on the actual costs of reviewing and processing these applications. **Who It Affects:** This bill primarily affects telecommunications companies, internet service providers, and other businesses seeking to install equipment on federal property.
It also impacts federal agencies that currently process these applications and collect fees for them. The standardized approach could make it easier and more predictable for private companies to do business with the government. **Key Provisions:** Fees must be "competitively neutral" (treating similar applicants equally), based on actual processing costs, and can only be used to pay for application review expenses. The GSA can allow case-by-case exceptions to the standard fees if warranted, though these exceptions must also be applied fairly across different categories of applicants. **Current Status:** The bill is currently in committee and has not yet been voted on by the full House of Representatives.
CRS Official Summary
Standard Fees to Expedite Evaluation and Streamlining Act or the Standard FEES ActThis bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish, and federal agencies to adopt, a uniform schedule of fees for applications to place, modify, or maintain communications facilities in, over, or on federally owned buildings and property. The fees established by the GSA must be competitively neutral with respect to other application fees for similar uses of federal buildings and property and based on the direct and actual costs of processing such applications. The GSA may establish exceptions to the fee schedule to be granted by agencies on a case-by-case basis, provided the exceptions are competitively neutral with respect to the categories of individuals or entities granted exceptions and meet certain other requirements. Agencies may only use fees collected to cover the costs of processing applications, and only to the extent that the funds are provided in advance in appropriations acts.
Latest Action
Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-488, Part I.