Cable Transparency Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7369 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 JUNE 25, 2020 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 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7369 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 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7369 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 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7369 IH ‘‘(iii) does not waive the material re- 1 quirement or acquiesce with the failure to 2 substantially meet such requirement. 3 ‘‘(3) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; 4 RECEIVED.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 6 this subsection, a request shall be considered— 7 ‘‘(i) complete if— 8 ‘‘(I) the cable operator makes the 9 request by submitting to the fran- 10 chising authority the form required to 11 be used for making the request; 12 ‘‘(II) the form submitted con- 13 tains all of the information specified 14 by the form as being required to be 15 included in form; and 16 ‘‘(III) the cable operator has not 17 received a written notice from the 18 franchising authority within 10 busi- 19 ness days after the date on which the 20 request is received by the franchising 21 authority— 22 ‘‘(aa) stating that the form 23 does not contain all of the infor- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7369 IH mation required to be included in 1 the form; and 2 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor- 3 mation required to be included in 4 the form that was not included; 5 and 6 ‘‘(ii) received by franchising author- 7 ity— 8 ‘‘(I) in the case of a request sub- 9 mitted electronically, on the date on 10 which the form required to be used 11 for making the request is transmitted; 12 ‘‘(II) in the case of a request 13 submitted in person, on the date on 14 which the form required to be used 15 for making the request is delivered to 16 the individual or at the location speci- 17 fied in the form for in-person submis- 18 sion; or 19 ‘‘(III) in the case of a request 20 submitted in any other manner, on 21 the date determined by the fran- 22 chising authority for the manner in 23 which the request is made. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7369 IH ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.— 1 If a franchising authority requires the use of 2 multiple forms for making a request under this 3 subsection, such forms shall be treated as a sin- 4 gle form for purposes of subparagraph (A). 5 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.— 6 ‘‘(1) PETITION.—A cable operator may petition 7 the Commission for review of a determination by a 8 franchising authority to revoke a franchise under 9 subsection (b)(2)(B). 10 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The Commission shall review 11 the determination de novo. 12 ‘‘(3) ORDER.—If, based on the evidence pre- 13 sented during the review, the Commission deter- 14 mines that the franchising authority has not dem- 15 onstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that 16 the franchising authority revoked the franchise in 17 accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B), the Commis- 18 sion shall order the franchising authority to rein- 19 state the franchise.’’. 20 (b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE- 21 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica- 22 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read 23 as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7369 IH ‘‘SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE- 1 MENT IN FRANCHISE. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During the period in which a 3 franchise is in effect, the cable operator may obtain the 4 elimination or modification of any requirement in the fran- 5 chise by submitting to the franchising authority a request 6 for the elimination or modification of such requirement. 7 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE- 8 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—The franchising authority shall 9 eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a 10 complete request submitted under subsection (a) not later 11 than 120 days after receiving such request if the cable 12 operator demonstrates in the request— 13 ‘‘(1) good cause for the elimination or modifica- 14 tion of the requirement; and 15 ‘‘(2) that the mix, quality, and level of services 16 required by the franchise at the time the franchise 17 was granted will be maintained after the elimination 18 or modification of the requirement. 19 ‘‘(c) DEEMED ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION.— 20 Except in the case of a request for the elimination or 21 modification of a requirement for services relating to pub- 22 lic, educational, or governmental access, if the franchising 23 authority fails to approve or deny the complete request 24 submitted under subsection (a) by the date described 25 under subsection (b), the requirement shall be deemed 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7369 IH eliminated or modified in accordance with the request on 1 the day after such date. 2 ‘‘(d) APPEAL.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any cable operator whose 4 request for elimination or modification of a require- 5 ment in a franchise under subsection (a) has been 6 denied by a final decision of a franchising authority 7 may obtain the elimination or modification of such 8 franchise requirements pursuant to the provisions of 9 section 635. 10 ‘‘(2) GRANT OF REQUEST.—In the case of any 11 proposed elimination or modification of a require- 12 ment in a franchise under subsection (a), the court 13 shall grant such elimination or modification only if 14 the cable operator demonstrates to the court— 15 ‘‘(A) good cause for the elimination or 16 modification of the requirement; and 17 ‘‘(B) that the mix, quality, and level of 18 services required by the franchise at the time 19 the franchise was granted will be maintained 20 after the elimination or modification of the re- 21 quirement. 22 ‘‘(e) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE- 23 CEIVED.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7369 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this 1 section, a request shall be considered— 2 ‘‘(A) complete if— 3 ‘‘(i) the cable operator makes the re- 4 quest by submitting to the franchising au- 5 thority the form required to be used for 6 making the request; 7 ‘‘(ii) the form submitted contains all 8 of the information specified by the form as 9 being required to be included in form; and 10 ‘‘(iii) the cable operator has not re- 11 ceived a written notice from the fran- 12 chising authority within 10 business days 13 after the date on which the request is re- 14 ceived by the franchising authority— 15 ‘‘(I) stating that the form does 16 not contain all of the information re- 17 quired to be included in the form; and 18 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 19 required to be included in the form 20 that was not included; and 21 ‘‘(B) received by franchising authority— 22 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 23 electronically, on the date on which the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7369 IH form required to be used for making the 1 request is transmitted; 2 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub- 3 mitted in person, on the date on which the 4 form required to be used for making the 5 request is delivered to the individual or at 6 the location specified in the form for in- 7 person submission; or 8 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub- 9 mitted in any other manner, on the date 10 determined by the franchising authority for 11 the manner in which the request is made. 12 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.—If a 13 franchising authority requires the use of multiple 14 forms for making a request under this section, such 15 forms shall be treated as a single form for purposes 16 of paragraph (1).’’. 17 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 18 The Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 19 is amended— 20 (1) in section 601— 21 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi- 22 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 23 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7369 IH (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 1 paragraph (5); 2 (2) in section 602(9)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 4 (B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in- 5 cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 6 been granted subject to section 626),’’; 7 (3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re- 8 quire as part of a cable operator’s proposal for a 9 franchise renewal, subject to section 626’’; 10 (4) in section 612(b)(3)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘or as part of a proposal 12 for renewal, subject to section 626,’’; and 13 (B) by striking ‘‘, or proposal for renewal 14 thereof,’’; 15 (5) in section 621(b)(3)— 16 (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 17 ‘‘or franchise renewal’’; and 18 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 19 (i) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 20 (ii) by striking ‘‘, a franchise re- 21 newal,’’; 22 (6) in section 624— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7369 IH (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in- 1 cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject 2 to section 626)’’; and 3 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or 4 renewal thereof’’; 5 (7) in section 627— 6 (A) by striking subsection (a); 7 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, as de- 8 scribed in section 626(b)(2)(B),’’ after ‘‘for 9 cause’’; and 10 (C) by striking ‘‘(b) If’’ and inserting ‘‘If’’; 11 and 12 (8) in section 635A(a), by striking ‘‘renewal,’’. 13 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 14 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 15 amendments made by this section, shall take effect 16 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 17 Act. 18 (2) APPLICATION.—This section, and the 19 amendments made by this section, shall apply to a 20 franchise granted— 21 (A) on or after the effective date estab- 22 lished by paragraph (1); or 23 (B) before such date, if such franchise (in- 24 cluding, notwithstanding the amendment made 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 7369 IH by subsection (c)(2)(B), any renewal thereof) is 1 in effect on such date. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS