Wireless Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3313 To amend the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to streamline the consideration by State and local governments of requests for modification of certain existing wireless facilities, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. BUCSHON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to streamline the consideration by State and local governments of requests for modification of certain existing wireless 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 ‘‘Wireless Resiliency and 4 Flexible Investment Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3313 IH SEC. 2. REQUESTS FOR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN EXIST- 1 ING WIRELESS FACILITIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6409(a) of the Middle 3 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 4 1455(a)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a State or 6 local government’’ and all that follows and inserting 7 the following: ‘‘a State or local government or in- 8 strumentality thereof may not deny, and shall ap- 9 prove, any eligible facilities request for a modifica- 10 tion of an existing wireless tower, base station, or el- 11 igible support structure that does not substantially 12 change the physical dimensions of such wireless 13 tower, base station, or eligible support structure.’’; 14 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol- 15 lows: 16 ‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME.— 17 ‘‘(A) DEEMED APPROVAL.—If a State or 18 local government or instrumentality thereof 19 does not, before or on the date that is 60 days 20 after the date on which a requesting party sub- 21 mits to the government or instrumentality a re- 22 quest as an eligible facilities request, approve 23 the request or make the determination and pro- 24 vide the written notice described in subpara- 25 graph (B) with respect to the request, the re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3313 IH quest is deemed approved on the day after the 1 date that is 60 days after the date on which the 2 requesting party submits the request. 3 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION REQUEST IS NOT 4 ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST.— 5 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION DESCRIBED.— 6 The determination described in this sub- 7 paragraph is a determination by a State or 8 local government or instrumentality thereof 9 that a request described in subparagraph 10 (A) is not an eligible facilities request. 11 ‘‘(ii) WRITTEN NOTICE DESCRIBED.— 12 The written notice described in this sub- 13 paragraph is a written notice of the deter- 14 mination described in clause (i) provided 15 by the government or instrumentality to 16 the requesting party that clearly describes 17 the reasons why the request is not an eligi- 18 ble facilities request and includes a citation 19 to a specific provision of this subsection or 20 the regulations promulgated under this 21 subsection relied upon for the determina- 22 tion. 23 ‘‘(C) TOLLING DUE TO INCOMPLETE- 24 NESS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3313 IH ‘‘(i) INITIAL REQUEST INCOM- 1 PLETE.—If, not later than 30 days after 2 the date on which a requesting party sub- 3 mits to a State or local government or in- 4 strumentality thereof a request described 5 in subparagraph (A), the government or 6 instrumentality provides to the requesting 7 party a written notice described in clause 8 (iii) with respect to the request, the 60-day 9 timeframe under subparagraph (A) is 10 tolled until the date on which the request- 11 ing party submits to the government or in- 12 strumentality a supplemental submission in 13 response to the notice. 14 ‘‘(ii) SUPPLEMENTAL SUBMISSION IN- 15 COMPLETE.—If, not later than 10 days 16 after the date on which a requesting party 17 submits to a State or local government or 18 instrumentality thereof a supplemental 19 submission in response to a written notice 20 under clause (i) with respect to a request 21 described in subparagraph (A) or a written 22 notice under this clause with respect to a 23 subsequent supplemental submission, the 24 government or instrumentality provides to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3313 IH the requesting party a written notice de- 1 scribed in clause (iii) with respect to the 2 supplemental submission, the 60-day time- 3 frame under subparagraph (A) is further 4 tolled until the date on which the request- 5 ing party submits to the government or in- 6 strumentality a subsequent supplemental 7 submission in response to the notice. 8 ‘‘(iii) WRITTEN NOTICE DE- 9 SCRIBED.—The written notice described in 10 this clause is, with respect to a request de- 11 scribed in subparagraph (A) or a supple- 12 mental submission described in clause (i) 13 or (ii) submitted to a State or local govern- 14 ment or instrumentality thereof by a re- 15 questing party, a written notice from the 16 government or instrumentality to the re- 17 questing party— 18 ‘‘(I) stating that all of the infor- 19 mation (including any form or other 20 document) required by the govern- 21 ment or instrumentality to be sub- 22 mitted for the request to be consid- 23 ered complete has not been submitted; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3313 IH ‘‘(II) identifying the information 1 described in subclause (I) that was 2 not submitted; and 3 ‘‘(III) including a citation to a 4 specific provision of a publicly avail- 5 able rule, regulation, or standard 6 issued by the government or instru- 7 mentality requiring that such informa- 8 tion be submitted with such a request. 9 ‘‘(iv) LIMITATION.— 10 ‘‘(I) INITIAL WRITTEN NOTICE.— 11 If a written notice provided by a State 12 or local government or instrumentality 13 thereof to a requesting party under 14 clause (i) with respect to a request de- 15 scribed in subparagraph (A) identifies 16 as not having been submitted any in- 17 formation that the government or in- 18 strumentality is prohibited by para- 19 graph (5) from requiring to be sub- 20 mitted, such notice shall be treated as 21 not having been provided to the re- 22 questing party. 23 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT WRITTEN NO- 24 TICE.—If a written notice provided by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3313 IH a State or local government or instru- 1 mentality thereof to a requesting 2 party under clause (ii) with respect to 3 a supplemental submission identifies 4 as not having been submitted any in- 5 formation that was not identified as 6 not having been submitted in the prior 7 written notice under clause (i) or (ii) 8 in response to which the supplemental 9 submission was submitted, the subse- 10 quent written notice shall be treated 11 as not having been provided to the re- 12 questing party. 13 ‘‘(D) TOLLING BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT.— 14 In addition to any tolling under subparagraph 15 (C), the 60-day timeframe under subparagraph 16 (A) may be tolled by mutual agreement between 17 the State or local government or instrumen- 18 tality thereof and the requesting party.’’; 19 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘paragraph 20 (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; and 21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(4) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED SUB- 23 MITTED.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3313 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 1 this subsection, a request described in para- 2 graph (2)(A) shall be considered submitted on 3 the date on which the requesting party takes 4 the first procedural step within the control of 5 the requesting party— 6 ‘‘(i) to submit such request in accord- 7 ance with the procedures established by the 8 government or instrumentality for the re- 9 view and approval of such a request; or 10 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a government or 11 instrumentality that has not established 12 specific procedures for the review and ap- 13 proval of such a request, to submit to the 14 government or instrumentality the type of 15 filing that is typically required to initiate a 16 standard review for a similar facility or 17 structure. 18 ‘‘(B) NO PRE-APPLICATION REQUIRE- 19 MENTS.—A State or local government or instru- 20 mentality thereof may not require a requesting 21 party to undertake any process, meeting, or 22 other step prior to or as a prerequisite to a re- 23 quest being considered submitted. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3313 IH ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON REQUIRED DOCUMENTA- 1 TION.—A State or local government or instrumen- 2 tality thereof may require a requesting party submit- 3 ting a request as an eligible facilities request to sub- 4 mit information (including a form or other docu- 5 ment) with such request only to the extent that such 6 information is reasonably related to determining 7 whether such request is an eligible facilities request 8 and is identified in a publicly available rule, regula- 9 tion, or standard issued by the government or in- 10 strumentality requiring that such information be 11 submitted with such a request. A State or local gov- 12 ernment or instrumentality thereof may not require 13 a requesting party to submit any other documenta- 14 tion or information with such a request. 15 ‘‘(6) ENFORCEMENT.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A requesting party 17 may bring an action in any district court of the 18 United States to enforce the provisions of this 19 subsection. 20 ‘‘(B) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—A district 21 court of the United States shall consider an ac- 22 tion under subparagraph (A) on an expedited 23 basis. 24 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3313 IH ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST.— 1 The term ‘eligible facilities request’ means any 2 request for a modification of an existing wire- 3 less tower, base station, or eligible support 4 structure that does not substantially change the 5 physical dimensions of such wireless tower, base 6 station, or eligible support structure and that 7 involves— 8 ‘‘(i) collocation of new transmission 9 equipment; 10 ‘‘(ii) removal of transmission equip- 11 ment; 12 ‘‘(iii) replacement of transmission 13 equipment; or 14 ‘‘(iv) placement, construction, or 15 modification of equipment that— 16 ‘‘(I) improves the resiliency of 17 the wireless tower, base station, or eli- 18 gible support structure; and 19 ‘‘(II) provides a direct benefit to 20 public safety, such as— 21 ‘‘(aa) providing backup 22 power for the wireless tower, base 23 station, or eligible support struc- 24 ture; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3313 IH ‘‘(bb) hardening the wireless 1 tower, base station, or eligible 2 support structure; or 3 ‘‘(cc) providing more reliable 4 connection capability using the 5 wireless tower, base station, or 6 eligible support structure. 7 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE.— 8 The term ‘eligible support structure’ means a 9 structure that, at the time when an eligible fa- 10 cilities request for a modification of such struc- 11 ture is submitted to a State or local government 12 or instrumentality thereof, supports or could 13 support transmission equipment. 14 ‘‘(C) TRANSMISSION EQUIPMENT.—The 15 term ‘transmission equipment’ has the meaning 16 given such term in section 1.6100(b)(8) of title 17 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 18 the date of the enactment of this paragraph).’’. 19 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 21 Communications Commission shall issue final rules to im- 22 plement the amendments made by subsection (a). 23 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub- 24 section (a) shall apply with respect to any eligible facilities 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3313 IH request described in paragraph (1) of section 6409(a) of 1 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 2 (47 U.S.C. 1455(a)) that is submitted (as determined 3 under paragraph (4) of such section, as added by sub- 4 section (a)) by a requesting party on or after the date 5 of the enactment of this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3313.IH H3313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB