Federal land-use fees get a uniform price tag—but who sets it?

What it does

This bill amends federal law to require the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish a uniform fee schedule for processing certain federal land-use forms (easements, rights-of-way, leases, and broadband facility placements). Federal agencies must then adopt these standardized fees by regulation, with limited case-by-case exceptions allowed. Fees collected go only to cover the direct costs of processing those forms, and the new schedule supersedes any other fee structure for the same forms.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to replace ad-hoc federal land-use fees with a uniform, cost-based schedule administered by GSA. This is a procedural/administrative reform, not a substantive policy change, though it may have downstream effects on broadband deployment and land-use applicants.

What the text implies

• The bill allows GSA to set fees based on 'direct costs incurred' but does not cap or audit those costs; agencies could inflate processing costs to generate revenue, effectively raising fees without legislative scrutiny.
• The 'competitively neutral' language for exceptions is vague and may permit GSA to carve out favored applicants (e.g., large telecom companies seeking broadband placements) while charging full fees to smaller competitors.
• Fees collected are available 'to the extent, and in such amounts, as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts'—meaning Congress must separately appropriate funds for fee collection to occur, creating a potential implementation gap.
• The bill does not specify what 'forms' are covered beyond cross-reference to Section 6409 of the 2012 Act; without seeing that underlying statute, the scope of fees affected is unclear from this text alone.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill creates transparency and uniformity in federal land-use fees, which may reduce arbitrary pricing and improve predictability for applicants—a modest public benefit. However, the bill does not restrict fee amounts themselves, only standardize them; if the GSA sets fees high enough to recover full processing costs, applicants (including small businesses and nonprofits seeking broadband access) may face higher barriers than before. The broadband carve-out suggests some public-interest inten

Who stands to gain

• telecommunications companies (broadband deployment carve-out)
• federal agencies (fee revenue for processing operations)

Named in the bill

General Services Administration (GSA), Executive agencies, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Section 6409, FCC (referenced via 47 CFR 8.1), Broadband internet access service

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.

• Feb 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management”
• Nov 18, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Dec 3, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 49 - 0”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 lobbying clients named this bill on 7 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $41,780,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 25 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.

Gary Palmer, the sponsor, reported $482,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $36,700,000 on 2 filings
• Charter Communications Inc — $5,020,000 on 2 filings
• Wireless Infrastructure Association — $60,000 on 2 filings
• Telecommunity — $0 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.