NO CAP Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2666 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit providers of broadband internet access service from increasing rates or enforcing data caps or allowances during an emergency or major disaster, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2021 Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit pro- viders of broadband internet access service from increas- ing rates or enforcing data caps or allowances during an emergency or major disaster, 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 ‘‘New Overages in Crisis 4 Areas Prevention Act’’ or the ‘‘NO CAP Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2666 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR BROADBAND PROVIDERS 1 DURING EMERGENCIES AND MAJOR DISAS- 2 TERS. 3 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 4 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 5 following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 723. REQUIREMENTS FOR BROADBAND PROVIDERS 7 DURING EMERGENCIES AND MAJOR DISAS- 8 TERS. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During a covered period with re- 10 spect to a covered area, a provider of broadband internet 11 access service may not, with respect to a customer of such 12 provider in such area— 13 ‘‘(1) increase any rate, fee, or other charge re- 14 lating to such service; 15 ‘‘(2) impose any rate, fee, or other charge relat- 16 ing to such service that did not apply before such 17 period; or 18 ‘‘(3) enforce any data cap or allowance, regard- 19 less of whether such data cap or allowance applied 20 before such period. 21 ‘‘(b) INAPPLICABILITY TO MOBILE BROADBAND 22 INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.—This section does not apply 23 with respect to mobile broadband internet access service. 24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2666 IH ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV- 1 ICE.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘broadband 3 internet access service’ means a mass-market 4 retail service by wire or radio that provides the 5 capability to transmit data to and receive data 6 from all or substantially all internet endpoints, 7 including any capabilities that are incidental to 8 and enable the operation of the communications 9 service, but excluding dial-up internet access 10 service. 11 ‘‘(B) FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT; EVA- 12 SION.—The term ‘broadband internet access 13 service’ includes any service that— 14 ‘‘(i) provides a functional equivalent 15 of the service described in subparagraph 16 (A); or 17 ‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 18 set forth in this section. 19 ‘‘(2) COVERED AREA.—The term ‘covered area’ 20 means a geographical area with respect to which— 21 ‘‘(A) a major disaster or emergency is de- 22 clared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 23 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 24 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2666 IH ‘‘(B) a public health emergency is declared 1 under section 319 of the Public Health Service 2 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d). 3 ‘‘(3) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe- 4 riod’ means, with respect to a covered area, the pe- 5 riod that— 6 ‘‘(A) begins on the date of the declaration 7 with respect to such area of— 8 ‘‘(i) a major disaster or emergency 9 under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re- 10 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 11 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or 12 ‘‘(ii) a public health emergency under 13 section 319 of the Public Health Service 14 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); and 15 ‘‘(B) ends on the date that is 60 days after 16 the termination of such major disaster, emer- 17 gency, or public health emergency (as the case 18 may be). 19 ‘‘(4) DATA CAP OR ALLOWANCE.—The term 20 ‘data cap or allowance’ means a limit on, or a fee- 21 based structure with the purpose of limiting, the 22 number of bits a customer may download or upload 23 using broadband internet access service during a pe- 24 riod of time specified by the provider of such service. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2666 IH ‘‘(5) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 1 ‘educational institution’ means— 2 ‘‘(A) an elementary school (as defined in 3 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 5 ‘‘(B) a secondary school (as defined in 6 such section); and 7 ‘‘(C) an institution of higher education (as 8 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 10 ‘‘(6) MOBILE BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS 11 SERVICE.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘mobile 13 broadband internet access service’ means a 14 broadband internet access service that serves 15 end users primarily using mobile stations. 16 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘mobile 17 broadband internet access service’ includes— 18 ‘‘(i) broadband internet access serv- 19 ices that use smartphones or mobile-net- 20 work-enabled tablet computers as the pri- 21 mary endpoints for connection to the inter- 22 net; and 23 ‘‘(ii) mobile satellite broadband serv- 24 ices. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2666 IH ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘mobile 1 broadband internet access service’ does not in- 2 clude a broadband internet access service pro- 3 vided to an educational institution and made 4 available by such institution for educational 5 purposes to students enrolled at such institu- 6 tion.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS