Sec. 202. Request regarding placement, construction, or modification of cable equipment
1,625 words·~7 min read·
/bill/119/hr/2289/rh/section-202A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 624 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 544 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: Except as provided in this subsection, nothing in this title shall limit or affect the authority of a covered entity over— decisions regarding the placement, construction, or modification of covered equipment within the jurisdiction of such covered entity; or safety standards for the placement, construction, or modification of such covered equipment. With respect to the regulation by a covered entity for the placement, construction, or modification of covered equipment, the covered entity shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability of a cable operator to provide, improve, or enhance the provision of service using covered equipment under a franchise granted by such covered entity, or within the jurisdiction of such covered entity, as so may be the case.
A covered entity shall not, in connection with a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment made after the date of the enactment of this subsection, impose on the requesting party— any requirement that the requesting party, as a condition of obtaining such authorization, install, or pay for the installation of, any conduit or fiber for use by the covered entity or any person other than the requesting party; any requirement that the requesting party prepare or pay for the preparation of any environmental, engineering, network design, mapping, or other survey or study unrelated to the request; or any other condition for obtaining such authorization, unless such condition is specific to the precise geographic location at which the covered equipment is being placed, constructed, or modified.
A covered entity shall approve or deny a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment not later than— if the request is for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment in or on a covered easement or eligible support infrastructure, 90 days after the date on which requesting party submits the request to the covered entity; or if the request is not for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment in or on a covered easement or eligible support infrastructure, 150 days after the date on which the requesting party submits the request to the covered entity.
If a covered entity fails to grant or deny a request by the applicable timeframe under clause (i), the request shall be deemed granted and authorized on the date on which the covered entity receives written notice of the failure from the requesting party. Notwithstanding any provision of this title, the applicable timeframe under clause
(i)shall apply collectively to all proceedings, including related permits and authorizations, required by a covered entity for the approval of the request. A timeframe under clause
(i)may not be tolled by any moratorium, whether express or de facto, imposed by a covered entity on the consideration of any request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment. If, not later than 30 days after the date on which a requesting party submits to a covered entity a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment, the covered entity provides to the requesting party a written notice described in subclause
(III)with respect to the request, the timeframe described in clause
(i)is tolled with respect to the request until the date on which the requesting party submits to the covered entity a supplemental submission in response to the notice. If, not later than 10 days after the date on which a requesting party submits to the covered entity a supplemental submission in response to a written notice described in subclause (III), the covered entity provides to the requesting party a written notice described in subclause
(III)with respect to the supplemental submission, the timeframe under clause
(i)is further tolled until the date on which the requesting party submits to the covered entity a subsequent supplemental submission in response to the notice. The written notice described in this subclause is, with respect to a request described in clause
(i)or a supplemental submission described in subclause
(I)or
(II)submitted to a covered entity by a requesting party, a written notice from the requesting party to the covered entity— stating that all of the information (including any form or other document) required by the covered entity to be submitted for the request to be considered complete has not been submitted; identifying the information described in item
(aa)that was not submitted; and including a citation to a specific provision of a publicly available rule, regulation, or standard issued by the covered entity requiring that such information be submitted with such a request. If a written notice provided by covered entity to a requesting party under subclause
(I)with respect to a supplemental submission identifies as not having been submitted any information that was not identified as not having been submitted in the prior written notice under this subparagraph in response to which the supplemental submission was submitted, the subsequent written notice shall be treated as not having been provided to the requesting party. The timeframe under clause
(i)may be tolled once, for a period of not more than 30 days, by mutual agreement between the covered entity and the requesting party. Any decision by a covered entity to deny a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment shall be— in writing; supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record; and publicly released, and provided to the requesting party, on the same day such decision is made. For the purposes of this subparagraph, a request to a covered entity shall be considered submitted on the date on which the requesting party takes the first procedural step within the control of the requesting party— to submit such request in accordance with the procedures established by the covered entity for the review and approval of such a request; or in the case of a covered entity that has not established specific procedures for the review and approval of such a request, to submit to the covered entity the type of filing that is typically required of a cable operator to initiate a standard review for a similar request in a jurisdiction that has not established specific procedures for the relevant review and approval of such a request. A covered entity shall not require a cable operator to request or obtain authorization for the placement, construction, or modification of covered equipment in or on a covered easement before such cable operator performs, with respect to such equipment, work to repair a system damaged due to forces outside the control of such cable operator. A cable operator shall promptly notify the affected covered entity of any such work before performing any such work. A covered entity may charge a fee that meets the requirements under subparagraph
(B)to consider a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment. A fee charged under subparagraph
(A)shall be— competitively neutral, technology neutral, and nondiscriminatory; established and publicly disclosed in advance; and calculated— based on actual and direct costs for— review and processing of requests; and repairs and replacement of— components and materials directly resulting from and affected by the placement, construction, or modification of the covered equipment (including components and materials directly resulting from and affected by the installation of covered equipment or, with respect to the placement, construction, or modification of the covered equipment, the improvement of an eligible support infrastructure); or equipment that facilitates the repair and replacement of such components and materials; using, for purposes of subclause (I), only costs that are objectively reasonable; and described to a requesting party in a manner that distinguishes between nonrecurring fees and recurring fees. A fee charged under this paragraph to consider a request for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment may not be considered a franchise fee under section 622. In this subsection: The term covered easement means an easement or public right-of-way that exists at the time when a request to a covered entity for authorization to place, construct, or modify the covered equipment in or on the easement or public right-of-way is submitted to the covered entity. The term covered equipment means equipment or materials (including any cable, fiber, conduit, or electronics) used in or attached to a cable system to provide any service through such system. The term covered entity means: A State. A local government. An instrumentality of a State or a local government. A franchising authority. The term eligible support infrastructure means infrastructure that— is located within a public right-of-way or easement that— is within the area served by the cable system; and has been dedicated for compatible uses; and supports or houses a facility for communication by wire (or that is designed for or capable of supporting or housing such a facility) at the time when a request to a covered entity for authorization to place, construct, or modify covered equipment in or on the infrastructure is submitted to the covered entity. . Paragraphs (2)(B) and
(4)of section 624(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 544(j) ), as added by subsection (a), shall apply to a— request submitted to a covered entity (as such term is defined in section 624(j) of the Communications Act of 1934)— before the date of the enactment of this Act; and has not been approved or denied by the covered entity on or before such date; and a request submitted to a covered entity on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. The date of receipt by a covered entity of a request described under subsection (a)(1) shall be deemed to be the date of the enactment of this Act.
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 202
Request regarding placement, construction, or modification of cable equipment
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources