Congress fast-tracks undersea cables, strips states of environmental say
H.R. 3479 — SECURE American Telecommunications Act · Filed by Rudy Yakym (R-IN) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 19, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal licensing system for submarine and cross-border terrestrial telecommunications cables, requiring FCC approval before construction and operation. It establishes cybersecurity and physical security standards, mandates 24-hour incident reporting to the FCC and CISA, streamlines permitting by exempting cables from most environmental reviews and state/local regulation, and significantly increases criminal penalties for damaging cables (up to 25 years imprisonment). It also directs the FCC to join the International Cable Protection Committee and requires the State Department to negotiate common security standards with allied nations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's primary functional effect is to streamline and accelerate submarine cable deployment by removing environmental review, state/local permitting, and most federal authorization requirements—a significant deregulatory move. The security framework (licensing, cybersecurity standards, incident reporting) is real but secondary to the permitting acceleration and preemption provisions.
What the text implies
- The categorical exclusion from NEPA review (section 4) means submarine cable projects avoid environmental impact assessments entirely, potentially affecting marine sanctuaries and coastal ecosystems without public comment periods.
- Preemption of state and local authority (section 4) strips coastal states of power to regulate cable placement on environmental grounds, centralizing control in the FCC and removing a traditional check on infrastructure projects.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
major telecommunications carriers (Verizon, Charter, Comcast, T-Mobile, Liberty Media); submarine cable operators and landing station owners; data center operators