Standard Fees for Communication Facility Applications

Standard Fees to Expedite Evaluation and Streamlining Act or the Standard FEES Act This 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.

1. This bill creates a standard fee schedule for processing applications to place communication facilities on federal property. 2. The fees will be based on the actual costs incurred by the government in processing these applications. 3. Federal agencies must adopt these fees and can only grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis. 4. The bill aims to streamline the application process for communication facilities, like cell towers. 5. It also encourages the expansion of broadband internet access across the country.