Cable Transparency Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1064 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provisions relating to franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the elimi- nation or modification of requirements in franchises, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 15, 2021 Mr. MULLIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provi- sions relating to franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the elimination or modification of requirements in franchises, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cable Transparency 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 2 •HR 1064 IH SEC. 2. CABLE FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 626 of the Communica- 2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 546) is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 5 ‘‘(a) FRANCHISE TERM.—A franchise shall continue 6 in effect (without any requirement for renewal) until the 7 date on which the franchise is revoked or terminated in 8 accordance with subsection (b). 9 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.— 10 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST REVOCATION; TER- 11 MINATION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 12 franchise may not be— 13 ‘‘(A) revoked by a franchising authority; 14 ‘‘(B) terminated by a cable operator; or 15 ‘‘(C) revoked or terminated by operation of 16 law, including by a term in a franchise that re- 17 vokes or terminates such franchise on a specific 18 date, after a period of time, or upon the occur- 19 rence of an event. 20 ‘‘(2) WHEN TERMINATION OR REVOCATION OF 21 FRANCHISE PERMITTED.— 22 ‘‘(A) TERMINATION BY CABLE OPER- 23 ATOR.— 24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A cable operator 25 may terminate a franchise by submitting 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 3 •HR 1064 IH to the franchising authority a written re- 1 quest for the franchising authority to re- 2 voke such franchise. 3 ‘‘(ii) TIME OF REVOCATION.—If the 4 cable operator submits a complete request 5 under clause (i), the franchising authority 6 shall revoke the franchise on the date that 7 is 90 days after the franchising authority 8 receives such request. 9 ‘‘(iii) DEEMED TO BE REVOKED.—If a 10 franchising authority does not approve a 11 request by the date required under clause 12 (ii), the franchise is deemed revoked on the 13 day after such date. 14 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION BY FRANCHISING AU- 15 THORITY.—A franchising authority may revoke 16 a franchise if the franchising authority— 17 ‘‘(i) finds that the cable operator has 18 knowingly and willfully failed to substan- 19 tially meet a material requirement imposed 20 by the franchise; 21 ‘‘(ii) provides the cable operator a rea- 22 sonable opportunity to cure such failure, 23 after which the cable operator fails to cure 24 such failure; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 4 •HR 1064 IH ‘‘(iii) does not waive the material re- 1 quirement or acquiesce with the failure to 2 substantially meet such requirement. 3 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM- 4 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 5 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED 6 COMPLETE.— 7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur- 8 poses of this paragraph, a request to 9 a franchising authority shall be con- 10 sidered complete if the cable operator 11 has not received a written notice from 12 the franchising authority within 10 13 business days after the date on which 14 the request is received by the fran- 15 chising authority— 16 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in- 17 formation (including any form or 18 other document) required by the 19 franchising authority to be sub- 20 mitted for the request to be con- 21 sidered complete has not been 22 submitted; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 5 •HR 1064 IH ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor- 1 mation required to be submitted 2 that was not submitted. 3 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 4 clause, the term ‘received by the fran- 5 chising authority’ means— 6 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re- 7 quest submitted electronically, on 8 the date on which the request is 9 transmitted; 10 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re- 11 quest submitted in person, on the 12 date on which the request is de- 13 livered to the individual or at the 14 location specified by the fran- 15 chising authority for in-person 16 submission; and 17 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re- 18 quest submitted in any other 19 manner, on the date determined 20 under regulations promulgated by 21 the Commission for the manner 22 in which the request is sub- 23 mitted. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 6 •HR 1064 IH ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON- 1 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 2 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 3 considered received on the date on which 4 the cable operator submits to the fran- 5 chising authority all information (including 6 any form or other document) required by 7 the franchising authority to be submitted 8 for the request to be considered complete. 9 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.— 10 ‘‘(1) PETITION.—A cable operator may petition 11 the Commission for review of a determination by a 12 franchising authority to revoke a franchise under 13 subsection (b)(2)(B). 14 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The Commission shall review 15 the determination de novo. 16 ‘‘(3) ORDER.—If, based on the evidence pre- 17 sented during the review, the Commission deter- 18 mines that the franchising authority has not dem- 19 onstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that 20 the franchising authority revoked the franchise in 21 accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B), the Commis- 22 sion shall order the franchising authority to rein- 23 state the franchise.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 7 •HR 1064 IH (b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE- 1 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica- 2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE- 5 MENT IN FRANCHISE. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During the period in which a 7 franchise is in effect, the cable operator may obtain the 8 elimination or modification of any requirement in the fran- 9 chise by submitting to the franchising authority a request 10 for the elimination or modification of such requirement. 11 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE- 12 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—The franchising authority shall 13 eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a 14 complete request submitted under subsection (a) not later 15 than 120 days after receiving such request if the cable 16 operator demonstrates in the request— 17 ‘‘(1) good cause for the elimination or modifica- 18 tion of the requirement; and 19 ‘‘(2) that the mix, quality, and level of services 20 required by the franchise at the time the franchise 21 was granted will be maintained after the elimination 22 or modification of the requirement. 23 ‘‘(c) DEEMED ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION.— 24 Except in the case of a request for the elimination or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 8 •HR 1064 IH modification of a requirement for services relating to pub- 1 lic, educational, or governmental access, if the franchising 2 authority fails to approve or deny the complete request 3 submitted under subsection (a) by the date described 4 under subsection (b), the requirement shall be deemed 5 eliminated or modified in accordance with the request on 6 the day after such date. 7 ‘‘(d) APPEAL.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any cable operator whose 9 request for elimination or modification of a require- 10 ment in a franchise under subsection (a) has been 11 denied by a final decision of a franchising authority 12 may obtain the elimination or modification of such 13 franchise requirements pursuant to the provisions of 14 section 635. 15 ‘‘(2) GRANT OF REQUEST.—In the case of any 16 proposed elimination or modification of a require- 17 ment in a franchise under subsection (a), the court 18 shall grant such elimination or modification only if 19 the cable operator demonstrates to the court— 20 ‘‘(A) good cause for the elimination or 21 modification of the requirement; and 22 ‘‘(B) that the mix, quality, and level of 23 services required by the franchise at the time 24 the franchise was granted will be maintained 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 9 •HR 1064 IH after the elimination or modification of the re- 1 quirement. 2 ‘‘(e) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE- 3 CEIVED.— 4 ‘‘(1) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM- 5 PLETE.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 7 this section, a request to a franchising author- 8 ity shall be considered complete if the cable op- 9 erator has not received a written notice from 10 the franchising authority within 10 business 11 days after the date on which the request is re- 12 ceived by the franchising authority— 13 ‘‘(i) stating that all the information 14 (including any form or other document) re- 15 quired by the franchising authority to be 16 submitted for the request to be considered 17 complete has not been submitted; and 18 ‘‘(ii) identifying the information re- 19 quired to be submitted that was not sub- 20 mitted. 21 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 22 term ‘received by the franchising authority’ 23 means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 10 •HR 1064 IH ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 1 electronically, on the date on which the re- 2 quest is transmitted; 3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub- 4 mitted in person, on the date on which the 5 request is delivered to the individual or at 6 the location specified by the franchising 7 authority for in-person submission; and 8 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub- 9 mitted in any other manner, on the date 10 determined under regulations promulgated 11 by the Commission for the manner in 12 which the request is submitted. 13 ‘‘(2) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSIDERED 14 RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this section, a com- 15 plete request shall be considered received on the date 16 on which the cable operator submits to the fran- 17 chising authority all information (including any form 18 or other document) required by the franchising au- 19 thority to be submitted for the request to be consid- 20 ered complete.’’. 21 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 22 The Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 23 is amended— 24 (1) in section 601— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 11 •HR 1064 IH (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi- 1 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 2 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 3 (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 4 paragraph (5); 5 (2) in section 602(9)— 6 (A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in- 8 cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 9 been granted subject to section 626),’’; 10 (3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re- 11 quire as part of a cable operator’s proposal for a 12 franchise renewal, subject to section 626’’; 13 (4) in section 612(b)(3)— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘or as part of a proposal 15 for renewal, subject to section 626,’’; and 16 (B) by striking ‘‘, or proposal for renewal 17 thereof,’’; 18 (5) in section 621(b)(3)— 19 (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 20 ‘‘or franchise renewal’’; and 21 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 22 (i) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 23 (ii) by striking ‘‘, a franchise re- 24 newal,’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 12 •HR 1064 IH (6) in section 624— 1 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in- 2 cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject 3 to section 626)’’; and 4 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or 5 renewal thereof’’; 6 (7) in section 627— 7 (A) by striking subsection (a); 8 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, as de- 9 scribed in section 626(b)(2)(B),’’ after ‘‘for 10 cause’’; and 11 (C) by striking ‘‘(b) If’’ and inserting ‘‘If’’; 12 and 13 (8) in section 635A(a), by striking ‘‘renewal,’’. 14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 15 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 16 amendments made by this section, shall take effect 17 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 18 Act. 19 (2) APPLICATION.—This section, and the 20 amendments made by this section, shall apply to a 21 franchise granted— 22 (A) on or after the effective date estab- 23 lished by paragraph (1); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064 13 •HR 1064 IH (B) before such date, if such franchise (in- 1 cluding, notwithstanding the amendment made 2 by subsection (c)(2)(B), any renewal thereof) is 3 in effect on such date. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:10 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1064.IH H1064