PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-488, Part I.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 27, 2025
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.
People & committees
Rep. Palmer, Gary J. [R-AL-6] · R–AL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-488, Part I.
Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-488, Part I.
Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 49 - 0.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jun 11, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1731 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1731 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1731 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1731 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-27 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Standard FEES Act would require a uniform schedule of processing fees for certain forms specified in existing law. It would affect federal agencies and people or organizations submitting those forms. Fees would be based on direct processing costs, with exceptions allowed under conditions tied to competitive neutrality, public benefit, and expanded broadband deployment.
This Act may be cited as the Standard Fees to Expedite Evaluation and Streamlining Act or the Standard FEES Act.
The Administrator of General Services shall establish a uniform schedule of fees applicable to the processing of the forms described under subsections (b)(2) and (c)(3).
based on the direct costs incurred by an agency in processing a form described under subsection (b)(2) or (c)(3)
The Administrator of General Services may establish exceptions to the schedule of fees established under paragraph (1)— (A) that are competitively neutral with respect to the categories of individuals or entities to be granted the exception; (B) in consideration of the public benefit of— (i) granting an easement, right-of-way, or lease described under subsection (b)(1); or (ii) entering into a contract for the placement of a communications facility installation under subsection (c)(1); and (C) in the interest of expanding the deployment of broadband internet access service
The bill would add the fee schedule to section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. The Administrator of General Services would set the schedule for forms referenced in that law's subsections (b)(2) and (c)(3).
Section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: (d) Common fee schedule
The Administrator of General Services shall establish a uniform schedule of fees applicable to the processing of the forms described under subsections (b)(2) and (c)(3).
The proposed fees would have to reflect agencies' direct processing costs. They would also have to be competitively neutral relative to processing fees for similar uses of federally owned buildings or other property—meaning the fee structure should not give a competitive advantage or disadvantage.
The schedule of fees established under paragraph (1) shall be— (A) based on the direct costs incurred by an agency in processing a form described under subsection (b)(2) or (c)(3); and (B) competitively neutral with respect to any fee established for the processing of a form for a similar use of the building or other property owned by the Federal Government.
The Administrator could establish fee exceptions, but would not be required to do so. Exceptions would have to be competitively neutral among eligible categories, consider the public benefit of specified property-use permissions or communications-facility contracts, and serve the interest of expanding broadband deployment.
The Administrator of General Services may establish exceptions to the schedule of fees established under paragraph (1)— (A) that are competitively neutral with respect to the categories of individuals or entities to be granted the exception; (B) in consideration of the public benefit of— (i) granting an easement, right-of-way, or lease described under subsection (b)(1); or (ii) entering into a contract for the placement of a communications facility installation under subsection (c)(1); and (C) in the interest of expanding the deployment of broadband internet access service, as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).
Executive agency heads would have to adopt corresponding fees and any Administrator-established exceptions through regulations. Agencies could grant an exception only after considering an individual case.
The head of each executive agency shall adopt by regulation— (i) fees that correspond to the schedule established by the Administrator under paragraph (2); and (ii) any exceptions to such schedule established by the Administrator under paragraph (3).
The head of an executive agency may only grant an exception pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) on a case-by-case basis.
Collected fees would be available to cover the agency's costs of processing the specified forms only when, and in the amounts, Congress provides in advance through appropriations laws. Collecting a fee would not itself authorize the agency to spend it.
Any fee collected by an executive agency under this section shall only be available to the extent, and in such amounts, as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts, to the agency to cover the costs of processing the forms described under subsections (b)(2) and (c)(3).
A fee chargeable under the new subsection would replace any fee authorized by another statute for processing the same covered form.
Any fee chargeable under this subsection shall supercede any other fee applicable to the processing of a form described under subsection (b)(2) or (c)(3) that is chargeable under another statute.
If enacted, the bill would give the Administrator no more than 30 days after enactment to establish the fee schedule.
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall establish the schedule of fees required by section 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)), as added by subsection (a).
Required executive agencies would then have no more than 120 days after the Administrator establishes the schedule to establish their fees and exceptions.
Not later than 120 days after the Administrator of General Services establishes the schedule of fees described under paragraph (1), the head of an executive agency required to adopt the fees and exceptions required by section 6409(d)(4) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)(4)), as added by subsection (a), shall establish such fees and exceptions.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated June 11, 2026, records House introduction on February 27, 2025, an order to report by a 49–0 vote on December 3, 2025, and reporting by the Committee on Energy and Commerce on February 4, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-06-11T23:41:23Z.
2025-02-27: Introduced in House
2025-12-03: Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 49 - 0.
2026-02-04: Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-488, Part I.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-27. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for a particular recipient or place was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying materials needed to assess formal earmark status are absent.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow beneficiary-specific carve-out or preference was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The discretionary exception framework does not itself specify a narrow favored recipient or category. This conclusion does not extend to later regulations, other bill versions, or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jun 11, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI