H.R. 3479 — SECURE American Telecommunications Act

This section provides a short title for the Act as the “Safeguarding Essential Cables through Undersea Risk Elimination American Telecommunications Act” or the “SECURE American Telecommunications Act” and sets forth the table of contents.

This section amends the Act of May 27, 1921 (47 U.S.C. 34 et seq.), which requires licenses for submarine cables landing in U.S. territorial waters. Specifically, it (1) transfers licensing authority from the President to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for issuing, withholding, and (in most cases) revoking licenses; (2) prohibits issuance of licenses for submarine cables directly connecting the United States to areas controlled by a foreign adversary (as defined in 15 C.F.R. 791.4(a)) or facilities using equipment or services on the FCC's Covered List under 47 U.S.C. 1601(a) (i.e., communications equipment or services determined to pose unacceptable national security risks); (3) conditions licenses on 24-hour reporting of cybersecurity incidents to the FCC and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, adherence to FCC-established minimum physical security and cybersecurity standards (including seabed spacing for cables, to be promulgated within 180 days of enactment and reviewed biennially after consultation with the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, and others), and FCC notification of relevant entities upon receiving reports; and (4) requires the FCC to issue a final license determination within 540 days of receiving a complete application, after which the license is deemed granted.

This section establishes a licensing requirement administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for any person to construct, connect, operate, or maintain a terrestrial telecommunications cable directly connecting the United States to a foreign country. It subjects such cables to the same requirements as submarine cables under the Act of May 27, 1921 (i.e., Submarine Cable Landing License Act), to the maximum extent practicable (as determined by the FCC); exempts them from Executive Order 13867 (relating to permits for facilities and land transportation crossings at U.S. international boundaries); and directs the FCC to promulgate regulations within 180 days of enactment establishing a single application process for the license and any other required federal authorizations. The new requirements apply to cables constructed after the regulations are promulgated.

This section directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to issue not later than 180 days after enactment a nationwide general permit under section 404(e) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(e))—which authorizes general permits for activities with minimal individual and cumulative adverse effects on waters of the United States—for the construction, repair, and maintenance of submarine cables and their landing stations, incorporating minimum seabed distance standards between cables required under the Act of May 27, 1921, as amended. It prohibits any other federal authorization—except an FCC submarine cable license, a certificate under section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214), or the general permit—for such activities, including in national marine sanctuaries under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). It bars the FCC from removing construction of new submarine cable systems from actions categorically excluded from NEPA review under 47 CFR 1.1306. It preempts state and local governments from regulating, on environmental grounds, the placement, construction, modification, or repair of FCC-licensed submarine cables or their landing stations.

This section requires any individual or entity repairing damage to a submarine cable, its landing station, or a terrestrial telecommunications cable to submit a report on the damage—including known causes—to the Commission through its Network Outage Reporting System within 7 days after commencing the repair. The Commission must transmit the report within 7 days to (1) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and (2) for submarine cables or landing stations, the Department of the Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Reports may be submitted in classified form.

This section directs the Commission, the Secretary of the Army (acting through the Chief of Engineers), and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to jointly conduct a study on the benefits, costs, and feasibility of establishing U.S. submarine cable protection zones, consulting with the Secretary of State on foreign protection zones. The study must analyze the U.S. submarine, commercial, and regulatory environments, as well as associated benefits, costs, and obstacles. The entities must submit a report on the study results to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

This section directs the Commission to submit to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter, a report describing any cybersecurity incident caused by a foreign country or non-state actor during the preceding year that targeted (1) a submarine cable licensed by the Commission, (2) a submarine cable of a U.S. ally (as determined by the Secretary of State), or (3) a landing station for such a cable. The report must be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.

This section directs the Secretary of State, not later than 180 days after enactment, to seek an agreement with covered countries to establish minimum security standards for submarine cables, their landing stations, and licenses to land and operate such cables.

This section increases criminal penalties under the Act of February 29, 1888, for injury to submarine cables. Specifically, (1) for willful injury, it increases the maximum imprisonment term to 25 years (from 2 years) or a fine under Title 18, U.S. Code (replacing the $5,000 cap), or both; and (2) for culpable negligence, it increases the maximum imprisonment term to 1 year (from 3 months) or a fine under Title 18, U.S. Code (replacing the $500 cap), or both.

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including (1) "Commission" (i.e., Federal Communications Commission); (2) "covered countries" (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom); (3) "cybersecurity risk" (i.e., specified threats to information or systems, excluding violations solely of consumer terms of service or licensing agreements); (4) "Federal authorization" (i.e., any federal license, permit, or approval required for submarine or terrestrial telecommunications cables or their landing stations); (5) "State" (as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153); (6) "submarine cable license" (i.e., license to land or operate a submarine cable under 47 U.S.C. 34); (7) "submarine cable protection zone" (i.e., maritime zone restricting activity to protect submarine cables); and (8) "terrestrial telecommunications cable" (i.e., any terrestrial cable or associated infrastructure used for telecommunications).