BROADBAND Leadership Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7352 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes for telecommunications service facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 25, 2020 Mr. GRIFFITH 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 telecommunications 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 ‘‘Barriers and Regu- 4 latory Obstacles Avoids Deployment of Broadband Access 5 and Needs Deregulatory Leadership Act’’ or the 6 ‘‘BROADBAND Leadership Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 8 Section 253 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 9 U.S.C. 253) is amended to read as follows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7352 IH ‘‘SEC. 253. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 1 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in 2 this section, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the 3 authority of a State or local government or instrumen- 4 tality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, con- 5 struction, and modification of telecommunications service 6 facilities. 7 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of the 9 placement, construction, or modification of a tele- 10 communications service facility by any State or local 11 government or instrumentality thereof— 12 ‘‘(A) shall not prohibit or have the effect 13 of prohibiting the ability of any entity to pro- 14 vide any interstate or intrastate telecommuni- 15 cations service; and 16 ‘‘(B) shall not unreasonably discriminate 17 among providers of functionally equivalent serv- 18 ices. 19 ‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or local gov- 21 ernment or instrumentality thereof shall grant 22 or deny a complete request for authorization to 23 place, construct, or modify a telecommuni- 24 cations service facility not later than— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7352 IH ‘‘(i) if the request is for authorization 1 to place, construct, or modify such facility 2 in or on eligible support infrastructure, 90 3 days after the date on which the complete 4 request is received by the government or 5 instrumentality; or 6 ‘‘(ii) for any other action relating to 7 such facility, 150 days after the date on 8 which the complete request is received by 9 the government or instrumentality. 10 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—The applicable 11 timeframe under subparagraph (A) shall apply 12 collectively to all proceedings required by a 13 State or local government or instrumentality 14 thereof for the approval of the request. 15 ‘‘(C) NO TOLLING.—A timeframe under 16 subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any 17 moratorium, whether express or de facto, im- 18 posed by a State or local government or instru- 19 mentality thereof on the consideration of any 20 request for authorization to place, construct, or 21 modify a telecommunications service facility. 22 ‘‘(D) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The Commis- 23 sion may temporarily waive the applicability of 24 subparagraph (A) for not longer than a single 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7352 IH 30-day period for any complete request upon a 1 demonstration by a State or local government 2 or instrumentality thereof that the waiver would 3 be consistent with the public interest, conven- 4 ience, and necessity. 5 ‘‘(3) DEEMED GRANTED.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State or local 7 government or instrumentality thereof has nei- 8 ther granted nor denied a complete request 9 within the applicable timeframe under para- 10 graph (2), the request shall be deemed granted 11 on the date on which the government or instru- 12 mentality receives a written notice of the failure 13 from the requesting party. 14 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In the 15 case of a request that is deemed granted under 16 subparagraph (A), the placement, construction, 17 or modification requested in such request shall 18 be considered to be authorized, without any fur- 19 ther action by the government or instrumen- 20 tality, beginning on the date on which such re- 21 quest is deemed granted under such subpara- 22 graph. 23 ‘‘(4) WRITTEN DECISION AND RECORD.—Any 24 decision by a State or local government or instru- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7352 IH mentality thereof to deny a request to place, con- 1 struct, or modify a telecommunications service facil- 2 ity shall be— 3 ‘‘(A) in writing; and 4 ‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 5 contained in a written record. 6 ‘‘(5) FEES.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 8 other provision of law, a State or local govern- 9 ment or instrumentality thereof may charge a 10 fee that meets the requirements under subpara- 11 graph (B)— 12 ‘‘(i) to consider a request for author- 13 ization to place, construct, or modify a 14 telecommunications service facility; or 15 ‘‘(ii) for use of a right-of-way or a fa- 16 cility in a right-of-way owned or managed 17 by the government or instrumentality for 18 the placement, construction, or modifica- 19 tion of a telecommunications service facil- 20 ity. 21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A fee charged 22 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 23 ‘‘(i) competitively neutral, technology 24 neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7352 IH ‘‘(ii) publicly disclosed; 1 ‘‘(iii) calculated— 2 ‘‘(I) based on actual and direct 3 costs, such as costs for— 4 ‘‘(aa) review and processing 5 of requests; and 6 ‘‘(bb) repairs and replace- 7 ment of— 8 ‘‘(AA) components and 9 materials resulting from and 10 affected by the installation 11 or improvement of tele- 12 communications service fa- 13 cilities; or 14 ‘‘(BB) equipment that 15 facilitates the installation or 16 improvement of such facili- 17 ties; and 18 ‘‘(II) using, for purposes of sub- 19 clause (I), only costs that are objec- 20 tively reasonable; and 21 ‘‘(iv) described to a requesting party 22 in a manner that distinguishes between— 23 ‘‘(I) nonrecurring fees and recur- 24 ring fees; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7352 IH ‘‘(II) the use of facilities on 1 which telecommunications service fa- 2 cilities are already located and those 3 on which there are no telecommuni- 4 cations service facilities as of the date 5 on which the complete request is re- 6 ceived by the government or instru- 7 mentality. 8 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided 9 in subsection (b)(3), nothing in this section shall be con- 10 strued to prevent any State or local government or instru- 11 mentality thereof from imposing any additional limitation 12 or requirement relating to consideration by the govern- 13 ment or instrumentality of a request for authorization to 14 place, construct, or modify a telecommunications service 15 facility. 16 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to any 17 request to a State or local government or instrumentality 18 thereof for authorization to place, construct, or modify any 19 telecommunications service facility, including a request for 20 authorization to place, construct, or modify a tele- 21 communications service facility in or on eligible support 22 infrastructure. 23 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7352 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af- 1 fected by a final action or failure to act by a State 2 or local government or instrumentality thereof that 3 is inconsistent with this section may, not later than 4 30 days after the action or failure to act, commence 5 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. 6 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—A court shall hear and decide an 7 action described in paragraph (1) on an expedited 8 basis. 9 ‘‘(f) PRESERVATION OF STATE REGULATORY AU- 10 THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall affect the ability 11 of a State to impose, on a competitively neutral and non- 12 discriminatory basis and consistent with section 254, re- 13 quirements necessary to preserve and advance universal 14 service, protect the public safety and welfare, ensure the 15 continued quality of telecommunications services, and 16 safeguard the rights of consumers. 17 ‘‘(g) PRESERVATION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN- 18 MENT AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this section affects the 19 authority of a State or local government or instrumen- 20 tality thereof to manage the public rights-of-way or to re- 21 quire fair and reasonable compensation from telecommuni- 22 cations providers, on a competitively neutral and non- 23 discriminatory basis, for use of public rights-of-way on a 24 competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, if the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7352 IH compensation required meets the requirements of sub- 1 section (b)(5). 2 ‘‘(h) PREEMPTION.—If, after notice and an oppor- 3 tunity for public comment, the Commission determines 4 that a State or local government or instrumentality there- 5 of has permitted or imposed any statute, regulation, or 6 legal requirement that violates or is inconsistent with sub- 7 section (b), (f), or (g), the Commission shall preempt the 8 enforcement of such statute, regulation, or legal require- 9 ment to the extent necessary to correct such violation or 10 inconsistency. 11 ‘‘(i) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 12 Nothing in this section shall affect the application of sec- 13 tion 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile service providers. 14 ‘‘(j) RURAL MARKETS.—It shall not be a violation of 15 this section for a State to require a telecommunications 16 carrier that seeks to provide telephone exchange service 17 or exchange access in a service area served by a rural tele- 18 phone company to meet the requirements in section 19 214(e)(1) for designation as an eligible telecommuni- 20 cations carrier for that area before being permitted to pro- 21 vide such service. This subsection shall not apply— 22 ‘‘(1) to a service area served by a rural tele- 23 phone company that has obtained an exemption, sus- 24 pension, or modification of section 251(c)(4) that ef- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7352 IH fectively prevents a competitor from meeting the re- 1 quirements of section 214(e)(1); and 2 ‘‘(2) to a provider of commercial mobile serv- 3 ices. 4 ‘‘(k) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE- 5 CEIVED.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 7 tion, a request to a State or local government or in- 8 strumentality thereof shall be considered— 9 ‘‘(A) complete if— 10 ‘‘(i) the requesting party makes the 11 request by submitting to the government 12 or instrumentality the form required to be 13 used for making the request; 14 ‘‘(ii) the form submitted contains all 15 of the information specified by the form as 16 being required to be included in the form; 17 and 18 ‘‘(iii) the requesting party has not re- 19 ceived a written notice from the govern- 20 ment or instrumentality within 10 business 21 days after the date on which the request is 22 received by the government or instrumen- 23 tality— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7352 IH ‘‘(I) stating that the form does 1 not contain all of the information re- 2 quired to be included in the form; and 3 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 4 required to be included in the form 5 that was not included; and 6 ‘‘(B) received by the government or instru- 7 mentality— 8 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 9 electronically, on the date on which the 10 form required to be used for making the 11 request is transmitted; 12 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub- 13 mitted in person, on the date on which the 14 form required to be used for making the 15 request is delivered to the individual or at 16 the location specified in the form for in- 17 person submission; and 18 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub- 19 mitted in any other manner, on the date 20 determined under regulations promulgated 21 by the Commission for the manner in 22 which the request is submitted. 23 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.—If a 24 State or local government or instrumentality thereof 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7352 IH requires the use of multiple forms for making a re- 1 quest, such forms shall be treated as a single form 2 for purposes of paragraph (1). 3 ‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 5 The term ‘eligible support infrastructure’ means in- 6 frastructure that supports or houses a facility for 7 communication by wire (or is designed to and capa- 8 ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 9 time when a complete request to a State or local 10 government or instrumentality thereof for authoriza- 11 tion to place, construct, or modify a telecommuni- 12 cations service facility in or on the infrastructure is 13 received by the government or instrumentality. 14 ‘‘(2) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACIL- 15 ITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service facility’ 16 means a facility for the provision of any interstate 17 or intrastate telecommunications service.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS