License Transfer Modernization Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5365 To require the Federal Communications Commission to approve or deny a license transfer application within 180 days of submission, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 9, 2019 Mr. FLORES (for himself, Mr. LONG, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require the Federal Communications Commission to ap- prove or deny a license transfer application within 180 days of submission, 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 ‘‘License Transfer Mod- 4 ernization Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5365 IH SEC. 2. TIME LIMITS FOR COMMISSION ACTION ON TRANS- 1 FERS AND ASSIGNMENTS. 2 Title IV of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 3 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 417. TIME LIMITS FOR COMMISSION ACTION ON 6 TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENTS. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 8 application’ means an application for the transfer of con- 9 trol or assignment of any license or authorization subject 10 to the jurisdiction of the Commission. 11 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 13 provision of law, including section 309(e), the Com- 14 mission— 15 ‘‘(A) shall approve or deny a covered appli- 16 cation; and 17 ‘‘(B) may not designate a covered applica- 18 tion for hearing, unless the Commission first 19 determines by a majority vote that a material 20 factual question exists about misrepresentation 21 or lack of candor by the applicant. 22 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—Except as provided in 23 paragraph (3), the Commission shall make a deter- 24 mination to approve or deny a covered application 25 during the period that begins on the date on which 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5365 IH the applicants provide to the Commission the last 1 submission relating to the application before the 2 Commission issues the initial public notice seeking 3 comment on the application and ends 180 days 4 thereafter. 5 ‘‘(3) EXTENSIONS.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 7 ‘‘(i) REQUEST.—During the 180-day 8 review period described under paragraph 9 (2)(A), the Commission may apply to the 10 United States District Court for the Dis- 11 trict of Columbia for an extension of that 12 period for an additional 30 days by filing 13 a motion to extend that references this sec- 14 tion. 15 ‘‘(ii) COURT DETERMINATION.—The 16 court may grant an extension of the 180- 17 day review period requested under clause 18 (i) if— 19 ‘‘(I) the court finds that the ap- 20 plicants for the transfer of control or 21 assignment have not substantially 22 complied in a timely manner with a 23 reasonable request by the Commission 24 for information; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5365 IH ‘‘(II) the Commission shows, by 1 clear and convincing evidence, that 2 the Commission is unable to complete 3 review within the 180-day review pe- 4 riod; or 5 ‘‘(III) an Executive agency (as 6 defined in section 105 of title 5, 7 United States Code) has requested in 8 writing that the Commission delay a 9 determination pending the Executive 10 agency’s national security review of 11 the transfer of control or assignment. 12 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL EXTENSIONS.—The 13 Commission may request, and the court may 14 grant, additional 30-day extensions in the same 15 manner as an initial extension under subpara- 16 graph (A). 17 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL ABSENT COMMISSION ACTION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered application shall 19 be deemed approved without conditions if the Com- 20 mission does not approve or deny the application or 21 apply for an extension during the applicable period 22 under subsection (b). 23 ‘‘(2) PENDING LITIGATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5365 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 subparagraph (B), if the 180-day review period 2 under subsection (b)(2) has expired, the Com- 3 mission may not deny a covered application or 4 approve a covered application with conditions, 5 during the pendency of any litigation relating to 6 a request by the Commission for an extension 7 under subsection (b)(3) with respect to the cov- 8 ered application, including any time during 9 which a court has entered a stay pending ap- 10 peal or administrative stay of such litigation. 11 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION REQUEST DENIED AFTER 12 180-DAY REVIEW PERIOD.—If a request for an 13 extension under subsection (b)(3) is denied 14 after the expiration of the 180-day review pe- 15 riod under subsection (b)(2)— 16 ‘‘(i) the Commission shall make a de- 17 termination to approve or deny the covered 18 application not later than 10 days after the 19 date on which the extension request is de- 20 nied; and 21 ‘‘(ii) the covered application shall be 22 deemed approved without conditions if the 23 Commission does not approve or deny the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5365 IH application during the 10-day period de- 1 scribed in clause (i). 2 ‘‘(d) BURDEN OF PERSUASION SHIFTED.—Notwith- 3 standing any other provision of law, including section 706 4 of title 5, United States Code, in a judicial appeal of a 5 Commission decision to deny a covered application, the 6 Commission shall bear the burden of persuasion to dem- 7 onstrate that the decision is— 8 ‘‘(1) permitted under applicable statutes and 9 regulations; and 10 ‘‘(2) supported by the required amount of fac- 11 tual evidence.’’. 12 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 13 Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 14 (47 U.S.C. 310(d)) is amended, in the second sentence, 15 by inserting before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, except 16 as otherwise provided in section 417’’. 17 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 18 The amendment made by section 1 shall apply with 19 respect to any covered application that is submitted to the 20 Federal Communications Commission on or after the date 21 of the enactment of this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS