WIRELESS Leadership Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1060 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes for personal wireless service facilities, including small personal wireless service facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 15, 2021 Mr. LATTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes for personal wireless service facilities, including small personal wireless service facilities, 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 ‘‘Winning the Inter- 4 national Race for Economic Leadership and Expanding 5 Service to Support Leadership Act’’ or the ‘‘WIRELESS 6 Leadership Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1060 IH SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY. 1 Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 2 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) 3 and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AU- 5 THORITY.— 6 ‘‘(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as 7 provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act 8 shall limit or affect the authority of a State or 9 local government or instrumentality thereof over 10 decisions regarding the placement, construction, 11 and modification of personal wireless service fa- 12 cilities. 13 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of 15 the placement, construction, or modifica- 16 tion of a personal wireless service facility 17 by any State or local government or instru- 18 mentality thereof— 19 ‘‘(I) shall not unreasonably dis- 20 criminate among providers of the 21 same service, including by providing 22 exclusive or preferential use of facili- 23 ties to a particular provider or class of 24 providers of personal wireless service; 25 and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1060 IH ‘‘(II) shall not prohibit or have 1 the effect of prohibiting the provision 2 or enhancement of personal wireless 3 service. 4 ‘‘(ii) ENGINEERING STANDARDS; AES- 5 THETIC REQUIREMENTS.—It is not a viola- 6 tion of clause (i) for a State or local gov- 7 ernment or instrumentality thereof to es- 8 tablish for small personal wireless service 9 facilities objective, reasonable, and non- 10 discriminatory— 11 ‘‘(I) structural engineering stand- 12 ards based on generally applicable 13 codes; 14 ‘‘(II) safety requirements; or 15 ‘‘(III) aesthetic or concealment 16 requirements. 17 ‘‘(iii) TIMEFRAMES.— 18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State or 19 local government or instrumentality 20 thereof shall grant or deny a complete 21 request for authorization to place, 22 construct, or modify a personal wire- 23 less service facility not later than— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1060 IH ‘‘(aa) in the case of a per- 1 sonal wireless service facility that 2 is not a small personal wireless 3 service facility— 4 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 5 for authorization to place, 6 construct, or modify such fa- 7 cility on an eligible support 8 structure, including in an 9 area that has not previously 10 been zoned for personal 11 wireless service facilities 12 (other than small personal 13 wireless service facilities), 90 14 days after the date on which 15 the complete request is re- 16 ceived by the government or 17 instrumentality; or 18 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 19 for any other action relating 20 to such facility, 150 days 21 after the date on which the 22 complete request is received 23 by the government or instru- 24 mentality; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1060 IH ‘‘(bb) in the case of a small 1 personal wireless service facil- 2 ity— 3 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 4 for authorization to place, 5 construct, or modify such fa- 6 cility on an eligible support 7 structure, including in an 8 area that has not previously 9 been zoned for personal 10 wireless service facilities, 60 11 days after the date on which 12 the complete request is re- 13 ceived by the government or 14 instrumentality; or 15 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 16 for any other action relating 17 to such facility, 90 days 18 after the date on which the 19 complete request is received 20 by the government or instru- 21 mentality. 22 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BATCHED 23 REQUESTS.—In the case of complete 24 requests described in subclause (I) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1060 IH that are submitted as part of a single 1 batch and received by the government 2 or instrumentality on the same day, 3 the applicable timeframe under such 4 subclause for each request in the 5 batch shall be the longest timeframe 6 under such subclause that would be 7 applicable to any request in the batch 8 if such requests were submitted sepa- 9 rately. 10 ‘‘(III) APPLICABILITY.—The ap- 11 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 12 shall apply collectively to all pro- 13 ceedings required by a State or local 14 government or instrumentality thereof 15 for the approval of the request. 16 ‘‘(IV) NO TOLLING.—A time- 17 frame under subclause (I) may not be 18 tolled by any moratorium, whether ex- 19 press or de facto, imposed by a State 20 or local government or instrumentality 21 thereof on the consideration of any re- 22 quest for authorization to place, con- 23 struct, or modify a personal wireless 24 service facility. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1060 IH ‘‘(V) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The 1 Commission may temporarily waive 2 the applicability of subclause (I) for 3 not longer than a single 30-day period 4 for any complete request upon a dem- 5 onstration by a State or local govern- 6 ment or instrumentality thereof that 7 the waiver would be consistent with 8 the public interest, convenience, and 9 necessity. 10 ‘‘(iv) DEEMED GRANTED.— 11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a State or 12 local government or instrumentality 13 thereof has neither granted nor denied 14 a complete request within the applica- 15 ble timeframe under subclause (I) of 16 clause (iii), including any temporary 17 waiver granted under subclause (V) of 18 such clause, the request shall be 19 deemed granted on the date on which 20 the government or instrumentality re- 21 ceives a written notice of the failure 22 from the requesting party. 23 ‘‘(II) RULE OF CONSTRUC- 24 TION.—In the case of a request that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1060 IH is deemed granted under subclause 1 (I), the placement, construction, or 2 modification requested in the request 3 shall be considered to be authorized, 4 without any further action by the gov- 5 ernment or instrumentality, beginning 6 on the date on which the request is 7 deemed granted under such subclause. 8 ‘‘(v) WRITTEN DECISION AND 9 RECORD.—Any decision by a State or local 10 government or instrumentality thereof to 11 deny a request for authorization to place, 12 construct, or modify a personal wireless 13 service facility shall be— 14 ‘‘(I) in writing; and 15 ‘‘(II) supported by substantial 16 evidence contained in a written 17 record. 18 ‘‘(vi) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF 19 RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State 20 or local government or instrumentality 21 thereof may regulate the placement, con- 22 struction, or modification of personal wire- 23 less service facilities on the basis of the en- 24 vironmental effects of radio frequency 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1060 IH emissions to the extent that such facilities 1 comply with the Commission’s regulations 2 concerning such emissions. 3 ‘‘(vii) FEES.—Notwithstanding any 4 other provision of law, a State or local gov- 5 ernment or instrumentality thereof may 6 charge a fee to consider a request for au- 7 thorization to place, construct, or modify a 8 personal wireless service facility, or a fee 9 for use of a right-of-way or a facility in a 10 right-of-way owned or managed by the gov- 11 ernment or instrumentality for the place- 12 ment, construction, or modification of a 13 personal wireless service facility, if the fee 14 is— 15 ‘‘(I) competitively neutral, tech- 16 nology neutral, and nondiscrim- 17 inatory; 18 ‘‘(II) publicly disclosed; 19 ‘‘(III) calculated— 20 ‘‘(aa) based on actual and 21 direct costs, such as costs for— 22 ‘‘(AA) review and proc- 23 essing of requests; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1060 IH ‘‘(BB) repairs and re- 1 placement of components 2 and materials resulting from 3 and affected by the installa- 4 tion or improvement of per- 5 sonal wireless service facili- 6 ties, or repairs and replace- 7 ment of equipment that fa- 8 cilitates the installation or 9 improvement of such facili- 10 ties; and 11 ‘‘(bb) using, for purposes of 12 item (aa), only costs that are ob- 13 jectively reasonable; and 14 ‘‘(IV) described to a requesting 15 party in a manner that distinguishes 16 between— 17 ‘‘(aa) nonrecurring fees and 18 recurring fees; and 19 ‘‘(bb) the use of facilities on 20 which personal wireless service 21 facilities are already located and 22 those on which there are no per- 23 sonal wireless service facilities as 24 of the date on which the complete 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1060 IH request is received by the govern- 1 ment or instrumentality. 2 ‘‘(C) JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE RE- 3 VIEW.— 4 ‘‘(i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person 5 adversely affected by any final action or 6 failure to act by a State or local govern- 7 ment or any instrumentality thereof that is 8 inconsistent with this paragraph may, 9 within 30 days after the action or failure 10 to act, commence an action in any court of 11 competent jurisdiction, which shall hear 12 and decide the action on an expedited 13 basis. 14 ‘‘(ii) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 15 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Any person 16 adversely affected by any final action 17 or failure to act by a State or local 18 government or any instrumentality 19 thereof that is inconsistent with this 20 paragraph may petition the Commis- 21 sion to order the government or in- 22 strumentality to reconsider the action 23 or failure to act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1060 IH ‘‘(II) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COM- 1 MENT; TIMING.—Not later than 60 2 days after receiving a petition under 3 subclause (I), the Commission shall— 4 ‘‘(aa) provide public notice 5 of, and an opportunity for public 6 comment on, such petition; and 7 ‘‘(bb) grant or deny such pe- 8 tition. 9 ‘‘(D) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM- 10 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 11 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED 12 COMPLETE.— 13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur- 14 poses of this paragraph, a request to 15 a State or local government or instru- 16 mentality thereof shall be considered 17 complete if the requesting party has 18 not received a written notice from the 19 government or instrumentality within 20 10 business days after the date on 21 which the request is received by the 22 government or instrumentality— 23 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in- 24 formation (including any form or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1060 IH other document) required by the 1 government or instrumentality to 2 be submitted for the request to 3 be considered complete has not 4 been submitted; and 5 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor- 6 mation required to be submitted 7 that was not submitted. 8 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 9 clause, the term ‘received by the gov- 10 ernment or instrumentality’ means— 11 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re- 12 quest submitted electronically, on 13 the date on which the request is 14 transmitted; 15 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re- 16 quest submitted in person, on the 17 date on which the request is de- 18 livered to the individual or at the 19 location specified by the govern- 20 ment or instrumentality for in- 21 person submission; and 22 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re- 23 quest submitted in any other 24 manner, on the date determined 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 1060 IH under regulations promulgated by 1 the Commission for the manner 2 in which the request is sub- 3 mitted. 4 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON- 5 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 6 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 7 considered received on the date on which 8 the requesting party submits to the gov- 9 ernment or instrumentality all information 10 (including any form or other document) re- 11 quired by the government or instrumen- 12 tality to be submitted for the request to be 13 considered complete. 14 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 15 ‘‘(i) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ 16 means an apparatus designed for the pur- 17 pose of emitting radiofrequency radiation, 18 to be operated or operating from a fixed 19 location for the transmission of writing, 20 signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 21 sounds of all kinds. 22 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.— 23 The term ‘communications network’ means 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 15 •HR 1060 IH a network used to provide a communica- 1 tions service. 2 ‘‘(iii) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.— 3 The term ‘communications service’ 4 means— 5 ‘‘(I) cable service, [Text truncated for display. 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