Broadband Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3319 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 telecommuni- cations service facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. CRENSHAW 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 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 ‘‘Broadband Resiliency 4 and Flexible Investment Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3319 IH SEC. 2. REQUESTS FOR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN EXIST- 1 ING WIRELESS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2 SERVICE FACILITIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6409(a) of the Middle 4 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 5 1455(a)) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a State or 7 local government’’ and all that follows and inserting 8 the following: ‘‘a State or local government or in- 9 strumentality thereof may not deny, and shall ap- 10 prove— 11 ‘‘(A) any eligible facilities request for a 12 modification of an existing wireless tower, base 13 station, or eligible support structure that does 14 not substantially change the physical dimen- 15 sions of such wireless tower, base station, or eli- 16 gible support structure; and 17 ‘‘(B) any eligible telecommunications facili- 18 ties request for a modification of an existing 19 telecommunications service facility in or on eli- 20 gible support infrastructure that does not sub- 21 stantially change the physical dimensions of 22 such facility.’’; 23 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol- 24 lows: 25 ‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(A) DEEMED APPROVAL.—If a State or 1 local government or instrumentality thereof 2 does not, before or on the date that is 60 days 3 after the date on which a requesting party sub- 4 mits to the government or instrumentality a re- 5 quest as an eligible facilities request or an eligi- 6 ble telecommunications facilities request (as the 7 case may be), approve the request or make the 8 determination and provide the written notice 9 described in subparagraph (B) with respect to 10 the request, the request is deemed approved on 11 the day after the date that is 60 days after the 12 date on which the requesting party submits the 13 request. 14 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION REQUEST IS NOT 15 AN ELIGIBLE REQUEST.— 16 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION DESCRIBED.— 17 The determination described in this sub- 18 paragraph is a determination by a State or 19 local government or instrumentality thereof 20 that a request described in subparagraph 21 (A) is not an eligible facilities request or 22 an eligible telecommunications facilities re- 23 quest (as the case may be). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(ii) WRITTEN NOTICE DESCRIBED.— 1 The written notice described in this sub- 2 paragraph is a written notice of the deter- 3 mination described in clause (i) provided 4 by the government or instrumentality to 5 the requesting party that clearly describes 6 the reasons why the request is not an eligi- 7 ble facilities request or an eligible tele- 8 communications facilities request (as the 9 case may be) and includes a citation to a 10 specific provision of this subsection or the 11 regulations promulgated under this sub- 12 section relied upon for the determination. 13 ‘‘(C) TOLLING DUE TO INCOMPLETE- 14 NESS.— 15 ‘‘(i) INITIAL REQUEST INCOM- 16 PLETE.—If, not later than 30 days after 17 the date on which a requesting party sub- 18 mits to a State or local government or in- 19 strumentality thereof a request described 20 in subparagraph (A), the government or 21 instrumentality provides to the requesting 22 party a written notice described in clause 23 (iii) with respect to the request, the 60-day 24 timeframe under subparagraph (A) is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3319 IH tolled until the date on which the request- 1 ing party submits to the government or in- 2 strumentality a supplemental submission in 3 response to the notice. 4 ‘‘(ii) SUPPLEMENTAL SUBMISSION IN- 5 COMPLETE.—If, not later than 10 days 6 after the date on which a requesting party 7 submits to a State or local government or 8 instrumentality thereof a supplemental 9 submission in response to a written notice 10 under clause (i) with respect to a request 11 described in subparagraph (A) or a written 12 notice under this clause with respect to a 13 subsequent supplemental submission, the 14 government or instrumentality provides to 15 the requesting party a written notice de- 16 scribed in clause (iii) with respect to the 17 supplemental submission, the 60-day time- 18 frame under subparagraph (A) is further 19 tolled until the date on which the request- 20 ing party submits to the government or in- 21 strumentality a subsequent supplemental 22 submission in response to the notice. 23 ‘‘(iii) WRITTEN NOTICE DE- 24 SCRIBED.—The written notice described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3319 IH this clause is, with respect to a request de- 1 scribed in subparagraph (A) or a supple- 2 mental submission described in clause (i) 3 or (ii) submitted to a State or local govern- 4 ment or instrumentality thereof by a re- 5 questing party, a written notice from the 6 government or instrumentality to the re- 7 questing party— 8 ‘‘(I) stating that all of the infor- 9 mation (including any form or other 10 document) required by the govern- 11 ment or instrumentality to be sub- 12 mitted for the request to be consid- 13 ered complete has not been submitted; 14 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 15 described in subclause (I) that was 16 not submitted; and 17 ‘‘(III) including a citation to a 18 specific provision of a publicly avail- 19 able rule, regulation, or standard 20 issued by the government or instru- 21 mentality requiring that such informa- 22 tion be submitted with such a request. 23 ‘‘(iv) LIMITATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(I) INITIAL WRITTEN NOTICE.— 1 If a written notice provided by a State 2 or local government or instrumentality 3 thereof to a requesting party under 4 clause (i) with respect to a request de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (A) identifies 6 as not having been submitted any in- 7 formation that the government or in- 8 strumentality is prohibited by para- 9 graph (5) from requiring to be sub- 10 mitted, such notice shall be treated as 11 not having been provided to the re- 12 questing party. 13 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT WRITTEN NO- 14 TICE.—If a written notice provided by 15 a State or local government or instru- 16 mentality thereof to a requesting 17 party under clause (ii) with respect to 18 a supplemental submission identifies 19 as not having been submitted any in- 20 formation that was not identified as 21 not having been submitted in the prior 22 written notice under clause (i) or (ii) 23 in response to which the supplemental 24 submission was submitted, the subse- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3319 IH quent written notice shall be treated 1 as not having been provided to the re- 2 questing party. 3 ‘‘(D) TOLLING BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT.— 4 In addition to any tolling under subparagraph 5 (C), the 60-day timeframe under subparagraph 6 (A) may be tolled by mutual agreement between 7 the State or local government or instrumen- 8 tality thereof and the requesting party.’’; 9 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘paragraph 10 (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; and 11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(4) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED SUB- 13 MITTED.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 15 this subsection, a request described in para- 16 graph (2)(A) shall be considered submitted on 17 the date on which the requesting party takes 18 the first procedural step within the control of 19 the requesting party— 20 ‘‘(i) to submit such request in accord- 21 ance with the procedures established by the 22 government or instrumentality for the re- 23 view and approval of such a request; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(ii) in the case of a government or 1 instrumentality that has not established 2 specific procedures for the review and ap- 3 proval of such a request, to submit to the 4 government or instrumentality the type of 5 filing that is typically required to initiate a 6 standard review for a similar facility or 7 structure. 8 ‘‘(B) NO PRE-APPLICATION REQUIRE- 9 MENTS.—A State or local government or instru- 10 mentality thereof may not require a requesting 11 party to undertake any process, meeting, or 12 other step prior to or as a prerequisite to a re- 13 quest being considered submitted. 14 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON REQUIRED DOCUMENTA- 15 TION.—A State or local government or instrumen- 16 tality thereof may require a requesting party submit- 17 ting a request as an eligible facilities request or an 18 eligible telecommunications facilities request to sub- 19 mit information (including a form or other docu- 20 ment) with such request only to the extent that such 21 information is reasonably related to determining 22 whether such request is an eligible facilities request 23 or an eligible telecommunications facilities request 24 (as the case may be) and is identified in a publicly 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3319 IH available rule, regulation, or standard issued by the 1 government or instrumentality requiring that such 2 information be submitted with such a request. A 3 State or local government or instrumentality thereof 4 may not require a requesting party to submit any 5 other documentation or information with such a re- 6 quest. 7 ‘‘(6) ENFORCEMENT.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A requesting party 9 may bring an action in any district court of the 10 United States to enforce the provisions of this 11 subsection. 12 ‘‘(B) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—A district 13 court of the United States shall consider an ac- 14 tion under subparagraph (A) on an expedited 15 basis. 16 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 17 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST.— 18 The term ‘eligible facilities request’ means any 19 request for a modification of an existing wire- 20 less tower, base station, or eligible support 21 structure that does not substantially change the 22 physical dimensions of such wireless tower, base 23 station, or eligible support structure and that 24 involves— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(i) collocation of new transmission 1 equipment; 2 ‘‘(ii) removal of transmission equip- 3 ment; 4 ‘‘(iii) replacement of transmission 5 equipment; or 6 ‘‘(iv) placement, construction, or 7 modification of equipment that— 8 ‘‘(I) improves the resiliency of 9 the wireless tower, base station, or eli- 10 gible support structure; and 11 ‘‘(II) provides a direct benefit to 12 public safety, such as— 13 ‘‘(aa) providing backup 14 power for the wireless tower, base 15 station, or eligible support struc- 16 ture; 17 ‘‘(bb) hardening the wireless 18 tower, base station, or eligible 19 support structure; or 20 ‘‘(cc) providing more reliable 21 connection capability using the 22 wireless tower, base station, or 23 eligible support structure. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUC- 1 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support infrastruc- 2 ture’ means infrastructure that supports or 3 houses a telecommunications service facility at 4 the time when an eligible telecommunications 5 facilities request for a modification of such fa- 6 cility is submitted to a State or local govern- 7 ment or instrumentality thereof. 8 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE.— 9 The term ‘eligible support structure’ means a 10 structure that, at the time when an eligible fa- 11 cilities request for a modification of such struc- 12 ture is submitted to a State or local government 13 or instrumentality thereof, supports or could 14 support transmission equipment. 15 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS FA- 16 CILITIES REQUEST.—The term ‘eligible tele- 17 communications facilities request’ means any 18 request for a modification of an existing tele- 19 communications service facility in or on eligible 20 support infrastructure that does not substan- 21 tially change the physical dimensions of such 22 facility and that involves— 23 ‘‘(i) collocation of new telecommuni- 24 cations service facility equipment; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 3319 IH ‘‘(ii) removal of telecommunications 1 service facility equipment; or 2 ‘‘(iii) replacement of telecommuni- 3 cations service facility equipment. 4 ‘‘(E) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FA- 5 CILITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service 6 facility’— 7 ‘‘(i) means a facility that is designed 8 or used to provide or facilitate the provi- 9 sion of any interstate or intrastate tele- 10 communications service; and 11 ‘‘(ii) includes a facility described in 12 clause (i) that is used to provide other 13 servic [Text truncated for display. 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