American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025

IB

Union Calendar No. 532 H. R. 2289

119 CONGRESS TH2 ESSION [Report No. 119-614, Part I] To provide that an eligible facilities request under section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 is not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or historical preserva- tion reviews.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

24, 2025 ARCHMr. Cof Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to ARTERthe Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 15, 2026 PRILAdditional sponsors: Mr. C, Mr. A , Mr. G , Mr. L , DRENSHAW SLLEN MRIFFITH AATTAMrs. H, Mr. F, Mr. W of Texas, Mr. G of Texas, OUCHINRYEBER OLDMANMr. Dof Florida, Mr. O , Mr. B , Mr. B -UNNBERNOLTE ALDERSON ILI, Mr. Jof Pennsylvania, and Mrs. H RAKISOYCE ARSHBARGER A15, 2026 PRILReported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with amendments

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A 15, 2026 PRILCommittee on Natural Resources discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 24, 2025]

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A BILL

To provide that an eligible facilities request under section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 is not subject to requirements to prepare certain environmental or historical preservation reviews.

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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3

(a) S .--This Act may be cited as the 4 HORT ITLE ''American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025''. 5 (b) T .--The table of contents for 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS this Act is as follows: 7

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I--STATE AND LOCAL SITING PROCESSES Sec. 101. Preservation of local zoning authority. Sec. 102. Removal of barriers to entry. Sec. 103. Requests for modification of certain existing wireless and wireline com- munications facilities. TITLE II--CABLE Sec. 201. Request for new franchise. Sec. 202. Request regarding placement, construction, or modification of cable equipment. Sec. 203. Cable franchise term and termination. Sec. 204. Sales of cable systems. TITLE III--ENVIRONMENTAL AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEWS Sec. 301. Application of NEPA and NHPA to certain communications projects. Sec. 302. Presumption with respect to certain complete FCC forms. Sec. 303. Rule of construction. Sec. 304. Definitions. TITLE IV--OTHER MATTERS Sec. 401. Timely consideration of applications for Federal easements, rights-of- way, and leases. Sec. 402. Report on fees.

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TITLE I--STATE AND LOCAL 1 SITING PROCESSES 2

SEC. 101. PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY. 3

Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 4 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) and 5 inserting the following: 6 ''(7) P -7 RESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHOR .-- 8ITY ''(A) G .--Except as 9 ENERAL AUTHORITY provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act 10 shall limit or affect the authority of a State or 11 local government or instrumentality thereof over 12 decisions regarding the placement, construction, 13 or modification of personal wireless service fa-14 cilities. 15 ''(B) L .-- 16 IMITATIONS ''(i) I .--The regulation of 17 N GENERAL the placement, construction, or modification 18 of a personal wireless service facility by any 19 State or local government or instrumen-20 tality thereof-- 21 ''(I) shall not discriminate among 22 personal wireless service facilities or 23 providers of communications service, 24 including by providing exclusive or 25

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preferential use of facilities to a par-1 ticular provider or class of providers of 2 personal wireless service; and 3 ''(II) shall not prohibit or have 4 the effect of prohibiting the provision, 5 improvement, or enhancement of per-6 sonal wireless service. 7 ''(ii) E ; -8 NGINEERING STANDARDS AES .--It is not a viola-9THETIC REQUIREMENTS tion of clause (i) for a State or local govern-10 ment or instrumentality thereof to establish 11 for personal wireless service facilities, or 12 structures that support such facilities, objec-13 tive, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory-- 14 ''(I) structural engineering stand-15 ards based on generally applicable 16 codes; 17 ''(II) safety requirements (subject 18 to clause (vi)); or 19 ''(III) aesthetic or concealment re-20 quirements, unless such requirements 21 prohibit or have the effect of prohib-22 iting the installation or modification 23 of such facilities or structures. 24 ''(iii) T .-- 25 IMEFRAMES

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''(I) I .--A State or 1 N GENERAL local government or instrumentality 2 thereof shall grant or deny a request 3 for authorization to place, construct, or 4 modify a personal wireless service fa-5 cility not later than-- 6 ''(aa) in the case of a request 7 for authorization to place, con-8 struct, or modify a personal wire-9 less service facility that is not a 10 small personal wireless service fa-11 cility-- 12 ''(AA) if the request is 13 for authorization to place, 14 construct, or modify such fa-15 cility using an existing 16 structure, including with re-17 spect to an area that has not 18 previously been zoned for 19 personal wireless service fa-20 cilities (other than small per-21 sonal wireless service facili-22 ties), 90 days after the date 23 on which the request is sub-24 mitted by the requesting 25

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party to the government or 1 instrumentality; or 2 ''(BB) if the request is 3 for any other action relating 4 to such facility, 150 days 5 after the date on which the 6 request is submitted by the 7 requesting party to the gov-8 ernment or instrumentality; 9 and 10 ''(bb) in the case of a request 11 for authorization to place, con-12 struct, or modify a small personal 13 wireless service facility-- 14 ''(AA) if the request is 15 for authorization to place, 16 construct, or modify such fa-17 cility using an existing 18 structure, including with re-19 spect to an area that has not 20 previously been zoned for 21 personal wireless service fa-22 cilities, 60 days after the 23 date on which the request is 24 submitted by the requesting 25

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party to the government or 1 instrumentality; or 2 ''(BB) if the request is 3 for any other action relating 4 to such facility, 90 days after 5 the date on which the request 6 is submitted by the request-7 ing party to the government 8 or instrumentality. 9 ''(II) T 10REATMENT OF BATCHED .--In the case of requests de-11REQUESTS scribed in subclause (I) that are sub-12 mitted as part of a single batch by the 13 requesting party to the government or 14 instrumentality on the same day, the 15 applicable timeframe under such sub-16 clause for each request in the batch 17 shall be the longest timeframe under 18 such subclause that would be applicable 19 to any request in the batch if such re-20 quests were submitted separately. 21 ''(III) A .--The ap-22 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 23 shall apply collectively to all pro-24 ceedings, including related permits and 25

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authorizations, required by a State or 1 local government or instrumentality 2 thereof for the approval of the request. 3 ''(IV) N .--A time-4 frame under subclause (I) may not be 5 tolled by any moratorium, whether ex-6 press or de facto, imposed by a State 7 or local government or instrumentality 8 thereof on the submission, acceptance, 9 or consideration of any request for au-10 thorization to place, construct, or mod-11 ify a personal wireless service facility. 12 ''(V) T -13 OLLING DUE TO INCOM .-- 14PLETENESS ''(aa) I -15 NITIAL REQUEST IN .-- 16COMPLETE ''(AA) S 17 MALL PERSONAL -18 WIRELESS SERVICE FACILI .--If, not later than 10 19 TIES days after the date on which 20 a requesting party submits to 21 a State or local government 22 or instrumentality thereof a 23 request for authorization to 24 place, construct, or modify a 25

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small personal wireless serv-1 ice facility, the government 2 or instrumentality provides 3 to the requesting party a 4 written notice described in 5 item (cc) with respect to the 6 request, the timeframe de-7 scribed in subclause (I) is 8 tolled with respect to the re-9 quest and shall restart at 10 zero on the date on which the 11 requesting party submits to 12 the government or instru-13 mentality a supplemental 14 submission in response to the 15 notice. 16 ''(BB) O -17 THER PER 18SONAL WIRELESS SERVICE .--If, not later 19FACILITIES than 30 days after the date 20 on which a requesting party 21 submits to a State or local 22 government or instrumen-23 tality thereof a request for 24 authorization to place, con-25

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struct, or modify a personal 1 wireless service facility that 2 is not a small personal wire-3 less service facility, the gov-4 ernment or instrumentality 5 provides to the requesting 6 party a written notice de-7 scribed in item (cc) with re-8 spect to the request, the time-9 frame described in subclause 10 (I) is tolled with respect to 11 the request until the date on 12 which the requesting party 13 submits to the government or 14 instrumentality a supple-15 mental submission in re-16 sponse to the notice. 17 ''(bb) S -18 UPPLEMENTAL SUB .--If, not 19MISSION INCOMPLETE later than 10 days after the date 20 on which a requesting party sub-21 mits to a State or local govern-22 ment or instrumentality thereof a 23 supplemental submission in re-24 sponse to a written notice de-25

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scribed in item (cc), the govern-1 ment or instrumentality provides 2 to the requesting party a written 3 notice described in item (cc) with 4 respect to the supplemental sub-5 mission, the timeframe under sub-6 clause (I) is further tolled until 7 the date on which the requesting 8 party submits to the government 9 or instrumentality a subsequent 10 supplemental submission in re-11 sponse to the notice. 12 ''(cc) W -13 RITTEN NOTICE DE .--The written notice de-14SCRIBED scribed in this item is, with re-15 spect to a request described in 16 subclause (I) or a supplemental 17 submission described in item (aa) 18 or (bb) submitted to a State or 19 local government or instrumen-20 tality thereof by a requesting 21 party, a written notice from the 22 government or instrumentality to 23 the requesting party-- 24

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''(AA) stating that all of 1 the information (including 2 any form or other document) 3 required by the government 4 or instrumentality to be sub-5 mitted for the request to be 6 considered complete has not 7 been submitted; 8 ''(BB) identifying the 9 information described in 10 subitem (AA) that was not 11 submitted; and 12 ''(CC) including a cita-13 tion to a specific provision of 14 a publicly available rule, reg-15 ulation, or standard issued 16 by the government or instru-17 mentality requiring that 18 such information be sub-19 mitted with such a request. 20 ''(dd) L -21IMITATION ON SUBSE .--If a 22QUENT WRITTEN NOTICE written notice provided by a State 23 or local government or instrumen-24 tality thereof to a requesting 25

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party under item (bb) with re-1 spect to a supplemental submis-2 sion identifies as not having been 3 submitted any information that 4 was not identified as not having 5 been submitted in the prior writ-6 ten notice under this subclause in 7 response to which the supple-8 mental submission was submitted, 9 the subsequent written notice shall 10 be treated as not having been pro-11 vided to the requesting party. 12 ''(VI) T 13 OLLING BY MUTUAL .--The timeframe under 14AGREEMENT subclause (I) may be tolled once, for a 15 period of not more than 30 days, by 16 mutual agreement between the State or 17 local government or instrumentality 18 thereof and the requesting party. 19 ''(iv) D .-- 20 ''(I) I .--If a State or 21 N GENERAL local government or instrumentality 22 thereof fails to take final action to 23 grant or deny a request within the ap-24 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 25

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of clause (iii), the request shall be 1 deemed granted on the date on which 2 the government or instrumentality re-3 ceives a written notice of the failure 4 from the requesting party. 5 ''(II) R .-- 6 In the case of a request that is deemed 7 granted under subclause (I), the place-8 ment, construction, or modification re-9 quested in the request shall be consid-10 ered to be authorized, without any fur-11 ther action by the government or in-12 strumentality, beginning on the date 13 on which the request is deemed granted 14 under such subclause. 15 ''(v) W 16 RITTEN DECISION AND .--Any decision by a State or local 17RECORD government or instrumentality thereof to 18 deny a request for authorization to place, 19 construct, or modify a personal wireless 20 service facility shall be-- 21 ''(I) in writing; 22 ''(II) supported by substantial 23 evidence contained in a written record; 24 and 25

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''(III) publicly released, and pro-1 vided to the requesting party, on the 2 same day such decision is made. 3 ''(vi) E 4NVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF .--No State 5RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS or local government or instrumentality 6 thereof may regulate the operation, place-7 ment, construction, or modification of per-8 sonal wireless service facilities on the basis 9 of the environmental effects of radio fre-10 quency emissions to the extent that such fa-11 cilities or structures comply with the Com-12 mission's regulations concerning such emis-13 sions. 14 ''(vii) F .--To the extent permitted 15EES by law, a State or local government or in-16 strumentality thereof may charge a fee to 17 consider a request for authorization to 18 place, construct, or modify a personal wire-19 less service facility or a fee for use of a 20 right-of-way or a facility in a right-of-way 21 owned or managed by the government or in-22 strumentality for the placement, construc-23 tion, or modification of a personal wireless 24 service facility, if the fee is-- 25

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''(I) competitively neutral, tech-1 nology neutral, and nondiscrim-2 inatory; 3 ''(II) established in advance and 4 publicly disclosed; 5 ''(III) calculated-- 6 ''(aa) based on actual and 7 direct costs for-- 8 ''(AA) review and proc-9 essing of requests; and 10 ''(BB) repairs and re-11 placement of components and 12 materials directly resulting 13 from and affected by the 14 placement, construction, or 15 modification (including the 16 installation or improvement) 17 of personal wireless service 18 facilities or repairs and re-19 placement of equipment that 20 facilitates the placement, 21 construction, or modification 22 (including the installation or 23 improvement) of such facili-24 ties; and 25

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''(bb) using, for purposes of 1 item (aa), only costs that are ob-2 jectively reasonable; and 3 ''(IV) described to a requesting 4 party in a manner that distinguishes 5 between-- 6 ''(aa) nonrecurring fees and 7 recurring fees; and 8 ''(bb) the use of facilities on 9 which personal wireless service fa-10 cilities are already located and fa-11 cilities on which there are no per-12 sonal wireless service facilities as 13 of the date on which the request is 14 submitted by the requesting party 15 to the government or instrumen-16 tality. 17 ''(C) J .--Any person ad-18UDICIAL REVIEW versely affected by any final action or failure to 19 act by a State or local government or any in-20 strumentality thereof that is inconsistent with 21 this paragraph may, within 30 days after the 22 action or failure to act, commence an action in 23 any court of competent jurisdiction, which shall 24 hear and decide the action on an expedited basis. 25

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''(D) W .--For the purposes of this paragraph, a 2MITTED request to a State or local government or instru-3 mentality thereof shall be considered submitted 4 on the date on which the requesting party takes 5 the first procedural step within the control of the 6 requesting party-- 7 ''(i) to submit such request in accord-8 ance with the procedures established by the 9 government or instrumentality for the re-10 view and approval of such a request; or 11 ''(ii) in the case of a government or in-12 strumentality that has not established spe-13 cific procedures for the review and approval 14 of such a request, to submit to the govern-15 ment or instrumentality the type of filing 16 that is typically required to initiate a 17 standard review for a similar facility or 18 structure. 19 ''(E) R .--Nothing in 20 this paragraph may be construed to affect section 21 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 22 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(a)). 23 ''(F) E .--Any regu-24 FFECT OF REGULATIONS lation promulgated by the Commission to imple-25

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ment this paragraph (including any interpreta-1 tion of the requirements of and terms used in 2 this paragraph contained in any such regula-3 tion) shall be binding on a court in any action 4 under subparagraph (C). 5 ''(G) D .--In this paragraph: 6 ''(i) A .--The term 'antenna' 7 NTENNA means an apparatus designed for the pur-8 pose of emitting radiofrequency radiation, 9 to be operated or operating from a fixed lo-10 cation for the transmission of writing, 11 signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 12 sounds of all kinds. 13 ''(ii) C .-- 14 OMMUNICATIONS NETWORK The term 'communications network' means 15 a network used to provide a communica-16 tions service. 17 ''(iii) C .-- 18 OMMUNICATIONS SERVICE The term 'communications service' means 19 each of-- 20 ''(I) cable service, as defined in 21 section 602; 22 ''(II) information service; 23 ''(III) telecommunications service; 24 and 25

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''(IV) personal wireless service. 1 ''(iv) G .-- 2ENERALLY APPLICABLE CODE The term 'generally applicable code' means 3 a uniform building, fire, electrical, plumb-4 ing, or mechanical code adopted by a na-5 tional code organization, or a local amend-6 ment to such a code, to the extent not incon-7 sistent with this Act. 8 ''(v) N .-- 9ETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE The term 'network interface device' means a 10 telecommunications demarcation device and 11 cross-connect point that-- 12 ''(I) is adjacent or proximate to-- 13 ''(aa) a small personal wire-14 less service facility; or 15 ''(bb) a structure supporting 16 a small personal wireless service 17 facility; and 18 ''(II) demarcates the boundary 19 with any wireline backhaul facility. 20 ''(vi) P .-- 21ERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE The term 'personal wireless service' means 22 any fixed or mobile service (other than a 23 broadcasting service) provided via licensed 24 or unlicensed frequencies, including-- 25

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''(I) commercial mobile service; 1 ''(II) commercial mobile data 2 service (as defined in section 6001 of 3 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 4 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 5 1401)); 6 ''(III) unlicensed wireless service; 7 and 8 ''(IV) common carrier wireless ex-9 change access service. 10 ''(vii) P 11ERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE .--The term 'personal wireless 12FACILITY service facility' means a facility used to 13 provide or support the provision of personal 14 wireless service. 15 ''(viii) S 16MALL PERSONAL WIRELESS .--The term 'small per-17SERVICE FACILITY sonal wireless service facility' means a per-18 sonal wireless service facility-- 19 ''(I) that is mounted-- 20 ''(aa) on a structure 50 feet 21 or less in height (including any 22 antenna); or 23

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''(bb) on a structure not more 1 than 10 percent taller than other 2 adjacent structures; 3 ''(II) that does not extend the 4 structure on which such facility is 5 mounted to a height of more than 50 6 feet or by more than 10 percent, which-7 ever is greater; and 8 ''(III) in which each antenna is 9 not more than 3 cubic feet in volume 10 (excluding a wireline backhaul facility 11 connected to such personal wireless 12 service facility). 13 ''(ix) U -14NLICENSED WIRELESS SERV .--The term 'unlicensed wireless serv-15ICE ice'-- 16 ''(I) means the offering of tele-17 communications service or information 18 service using a duly authorized device 19 that does not require an individual li-20 cense; and 21 ''(II) does not include the provi-22 sion of direct-to-home satellite services, 23 as defined in section 303(v). 24

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''(x) W .-- 1 IRELINE BACKHAUL FACILITY The term 'wireline backhaul facility' means 2 an above-ground or underground wireline 3 facility used to transport communications 4 service or other electronic communications 5 from a small personal wireless service facil-6 ity or the adjacent network interface device 7 of such facility to a communications net-8 work.''. 9

SEC. 102. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 10

Section 253 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 11 U.S.C. 253) is amended to read as follows: 12

''SEC. 253. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 13

''(a) I .--No State or local statute or regu-14 N ENERAL lation, or other State or local legal requirement, may pro-15 hibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability of any enti-16 ty to provide, improve, or enhance the provision of any 17 interstate or intrastate telecommunications service. 18 ''(b) P , C , M 19 TLACEMENT GONSTRUCTION SOR FODIFICATION .-- 20OFELECOMMUNICATIONS ERVICE ACILITIES ''(1) P .--The 21 ROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION regulation of the placement, construction, or modifica-22 tion of a telecommunications service facility by a 23 State or local government or instrumentality thereof 24 may not discriminate-- 25

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''(A) among telecommunications service fa-1 cilities-- 2 ''(i) based on the technology used to 3 provide services; or 4 ''(ii) based on the services provided; or 5 ''(B) against telecommunications service fa-6 cilities, as compared to the regulation of the 7 placement, construction, or modification of other 8 facilities. 9 ''(2) T -10IMEFRAME TO GRANT OR DENY RE .-- 11QUESTS ''(A) I .--A State or local govern-12 N GENERAL ment or instrumentality thereof shall grant or 13 deny a request for authorization to place, con-14 struct, or modify a telecommunications service 15 facility not later than-- 16 ''(i) if the request is for authorization 17 to place, construct, or modify such facility 18 in or on eligible support infrastructure, 90 19 days after the date on which the request is 20 submitted by the requesting party to the 21 government or instrumentality; or 22 ''(ii) for any other action relating to 23 such facility, 150 days after the date on 24 which the request is submitted by the re-25

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questing party to the government or instru-1 mentality. 2 ''(B) A .--The applicable time-3 frame under subparagraph (A) shall apply col-4 lectively to all proceedings, including related 5 permits and authorizations, required by a State 6 or local government or instrumentality thereof 7 for the approval of the request. 8 ''(C) N .--A timeframe under 9 subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any mor-10 atorium, whether express or de facto, imposed by 11 a State or local government or instrumentality 12 thereof on the submission, acceptance, or consid-13 eration of requests for authorization to place, 14 construct, or modify a telecommunications serv-15 ice facility. 16 ''(D) T .-- 17 ''(i) I .-- 18 If, not later than 30 days after the date on 19 which a requesting party submits to a State 20 or local government or instrumentality 21 thereof a request for authorization to place, 22 construct, or modify a telecommunications 23 service facility, the government or instru-24 mentality provides to the requesting party a 25

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written notice described in clause (iii) with 1 respect to the request, the timeframe de-2 scribed in subparagraph (A) is tolled with 3 respect to the request until the date on 4 which the requesting party submits to the 5 government or instrumentality a supple-6 mental submission in response to the notice. 7 ''(ii) S -8 .--If, not later than 10 days after 9COMPLETE the date on which a requesting party sub-10 mits to a State or local government or in-11 strumentality thereof a supplemental sub-12 mission in response to a written notice de-13 scribed in clause (iii), the government or in-14 strumentality provides to the requesting 15 party a written notice described in clause 16 (iii) with respect to the supplemental sub-17 mission, the timeframe under subparagraph 18 (A) is further tolled until the date on which 19 the requesting party submits to the govern-20 ment or instrumentality a subsequent sup-21 plemental submission in response to the no-22 tice. 23 ''(iii) W .-- 24 The written notice described in this clause 25

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is, with respect to a request described in 1 subparagraph (A) or a supplemental sub-2 mission described in clause (i) or (ii) sub-3 mitted to a State or local government or in-4 strumentality thereof by a requesting party, 5 a written notice from the government or in-6 strumentality to the requesting party-- 7 ''(I) stating that all of the infor-8 mation (including any form or other 9 document) required by the government 10 or instrumentality to be submitted for 11 the request to be considered complete 12 has not been submitted; 13 ''(II) identifying the information 14 described in subclause (I) that was not 15 submitted; and 16 ''(III) including a citation to a 17 specific provision of a publicly avail-18 able rule, regulation, or standard 19 issued by the government or instru-20 mentality requiring that such informa-21 tion be submitted with such a request. 22 ''(iv) L 23 IMITATION ON SUBSEQUENT .--If a written notice pro-24WRITTEN NOTICE vided by a State or local government or in-25

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strumentality thereof to a requesting party 1 under clause (ii) with respect to a supple-2 mental submission identifies as not having 3 been submitted any information that was 4 not identified as not having been submitted 5 in the prior written notice under this sub-6 paragraph in response to which the supple-7 mental submission was submitted, the subse-8 quent written notice shall be treated as not 9 having been provided to the requesting 10 party. 11 ''(E) T .-- 12 The timeframe under subparagraph (A) may be 13 tolled once, for a period of not more than 30 14 days, by mutual agreement between the State or 15 local government or instrumentality thereof and 16 the requesting party. 17 ''(3) D .-- 18 ''(A) I .--If a State or local gov-19 N GENERAL ernment or instrumentality thereof has neither 20 granted nor denied a request within the applica-21 ble timeframe under paragraph (2), the request 22 shall be deemed granted on the date on which the 23 government or instrumentality receives a written 24

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notice of the failure to grant or deny from the 1 requesting party. 2 ''(B) R .--In the case 3 of a request that is deemed granted under sub-4 paragraph (A), the placement, construction, or 5 modification requested in such request shall be 6 considered to be authorized, without any further 7 action by the government or instrumentality, be-8 ginning on the date on which such request is 9 deemed granted under such subparagraph. 10 ''(4) W .--A deci-11 RITTEN DECISION AND RECORD sion by a State or local government or instrumen-12 tality thereof to deny a request to place, construct, or 13 modify a telecommunications service facility shall 14 be-- 15 ''(A) in writing; 16 ''(B) supported by substantial evidence con-17 tained in a written record; and 18 ''(C) publicly released, and provided to the 19 requesting party, on the same day such decision 20 is made. 21 ''(5) F .-- 22 EES ''(A) I .--To the extent permitted 23 N GENERAL by law, a State or local government or instru-24

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mentality thereof may charge a fee that meets the 1 requirements under subparagraph (B)-- 2 ''(i) to consider a request for author-3 ization to place, construct, or modify a tele-4 communications service facility; or 5 ''(ii) for use of a right-of-way or a fa-6 cility in a right-of-way owned or managed 7 by the government or instrumentality for 8 the placement, construction, or modification 9 of a telecommunications service facility. 10 ''(B) R .--A fee charged under 11 EQUIREMENTS subparagraph (A) shall be-- 12 ''(i) competitively neutral, technology 13 neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 14 ''(ii) established in advance and pub-15 licly disclosed; 16 ''(iii) calculated-- 17 ''(I) based on actual and direct 18 costs for-- 19 ''(aa) review and processing 20 of requests; and 21 ''(bb) repairs and replace-22 ment of-- 23 ''(AA) components and 24 materials directly resulting 25

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from and affected by the 1 placement, construction, or 2 modification (including the 3 installation or improvement) 4 of telecommunications service 5 facilities; or 6 ''(BB) equipment that 7 facilitates the placement, 8 construction, or modification 9 (including the installation or 10 improvement) of such facili-11 ties; and 12 ''(II) using, for purposes of sub-13 clause (I), only costs that are objec-14 tively reasonable; and 15 ''(iv) described to a requesting party in 16 a manner that distinguishes between-- 17 ''(I) nonrecurring fees and recur-18 ring fees; and 19 ''(II) the use of facilities on which 20 telecommunications service facilities or 21 infrastructure for compatible uses are 22 already located and facilities on which 23 there are no telecommunications service 24 facilities or infrastructure for compat-25

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ible uses as of the date on which the re-1 quest is submitted by the requesting 2 party to the government or instrumen-3 tality. 4 ''(c) J .-- 5UDICIALEVIEW ''(1) I .--A person adversely affected 6N GENERAL by a State or local statute, regulation, or other legal 7 requirement, or by a final action or failure to act by 8 a State or local government or instrumentality there-9 of, that is inconsistent with this section may com-10 mence an action in any court of competent jurisdic-11 tion. 12 ''(2) T.-- 13IMING ''(A) E .--A court shall 14XPEDITED BASIS hear and decide an action commenced under 15 paragraph (1) on an expedited basis. 16 ''(B) F .-- 17INAL ACTION OR FAILURE TO ACT An action may only be commenced under para-18 graph (1) on the basis of a final action or failure 19 to act by a State or local government or instru-20 mentality thereof, if commenced not later than 21 30 days after such action or failure to act. 22 ''(d) P -23RRESERVATION OF STATE REGULATORY AUTHOR .--Nothing in this section shall affect the ability of a 24ITY State to impose, on a competitively neutral and non-25

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discriminatory basis and consistent with section 254, re-1 quirements necessary to preserve and advance universal 2 service, protect the public safety and welfare, ensure the con-3 tinued quality of telecommunications services, and safe-4 guard the rights of consumers. 5 ''(e) P S L G -6 RESERVATION OF TATE AND OCAL OVERN .--Except as explicitly set forth in this 7MENT UTHORITY section, nothing in this section affects the authority of a 8 State or local government or instrumentality thereof to 9 manage, on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory 10 basis, the public rights-of-way or to require, on a competi-11 tively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, fair and rea-12 sonable compensation from telecommunications providers 13 for use of public rights-of-way, if the compensation required 14 meets the requirements of subsection (b)(5). 15 ''(f) P .-- 16 AREEMPTION ''(1) I .--If, after notice and an op-17 N GENERAL portunity for public comment, the Commission deter-18 mines that a State or local government or instrumen-19 tality thereof has permitted or imposed a statute, reg-20 ulation, or legal requirement that violates or is incon-21 sistent with this section, the Commission shall pre-22 empt the enforcement of such statute, regulation, or 23 legal requirement to the extent necessary to correct 24 such violation or inconsistency. 25

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''(2) T .--Not later than 120 days after re-1 IMING ceiving a petition for preemption of the enforcement 2 of a statute, regulation, or legal requirement as de-3 scribed in paragraph (1), the Commission shall grant 4 or deny the petition. 5 ''(g) C M S P ; 6COMMERCIAL OOBILE RERVICE MROVIDERS .--Nothing in this section shall affect 7ABLEPERATORS the application of section 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile 8 service providers or section 621 to cable operators. 9 ''(h) R .--It shall not be a violation of 10URAL ARKETS this section for a State to require a telecommunications car-11 rier that seeks to provide telephone exchange service or ex-12 change access in a service area served by a rural telephone 13 company to meet the requirements in section 214(e)(1) for 14 designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier for 15 that area before being permitted to provide such service. 16 This subsection shall not apply-- 17 ''(1) to a service area served by a rural telephone 18 company that has obtained an exemption, suspension, 19 or modification of section 251(c)(4) that effectively 20 prevents a competitor from meeting the requirements 21 of section 214(e)(1); and 22 ''(2) to a provider of commercial mobile services. 23 ''(i) W C S .--For 24HEN EQUEST ONSIDERED UBMITTED the purposes of this section, a request to a State or local 25

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government or instrumentality thereof shall be considered 1 submitted on the date on which the requesting party takes 2 the first procedural step within the control of the requesting 3 party-- 4 ''(1) to submit such request in accordance with 5 the procedures established by the government or in-6 strumentality for the review and approval of such a 7 request; or 8 ''(2) in the case of a government or instrumen-9 tality that has not established specific procedures for 10 the review and approval of such a request, to submit 11 to the government or instrumentality the type of fil-12 ing that is typically required to initiate a standard 13 review for a similar facility or structure. 14 ''(j) E .--Any regulation pro-15 FFECT OF EGULATIONS mulgated by the Commission to implement this section (in-16 cluding any interpretation of the requirements of and terms 17 used in this section contained in any such regulation) shall 18 be binding on a court in any action under subsection (c). 19 ''(k) D .--In this section: 20 ''(1) E .-- 21 RLIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE The term 'eligible support infrastructure' means in-22 frastructure that supports or houses a telecommuni-23 cations service facility (or that is designed for or ca-24 pable of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 25

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time when a request to a State or local government 1 or instrumentality thereof for authorization to place, 2 construct, or modify a telecommunications service fa-3 cility in or on the infrastructure is submitted by the 4 requesting party to the government or instrumen-5 tality. 6 ''(2) T -7 GELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACIL .--The term 'telecommunications service facil-8ITY ity'-- 9 ''(A) means a facility that is designed or 10 used to provide or facilitate the provision of any 11 interstate or intrastate telecommunications serv-12 ice; and 13 ''(B) includes a facility described in sub-14 paragraph (A) that is used to provide other serv-15 ices.''. 16

SEC. 103. REQUESTS FOR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN EX-17 ISTING WIRELESS AND WIRELINE COMMU-18 NICATIONS FACILITIES. 19

(a) I .--Section 6409 of the Middle Class 20N ENERAL Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455) 21 is amended-- 22 (1) in the heading, by striking '' '' 23 WIRELESS and inserting '' ''; and 24 COMMUNICATIONS (2) in subsection (a)-- 25

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(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ''a State 1 or local government'' and all that follows and in-2 serting the following: ''a State or local govern-3 ment or instrumentality thereof may not deny, 4 and shall approve-- 5 ''(A) any eligible facilities request for a 6 modification of an existing wireless tower, base 7 station, or eligible support structure that does 8 not substantially change the physical dimensions 9 of such wireless tower, base station, or eligible 10 support structure; and 11 ''(B) any eligible wireline communications 12 facilities request for a modification of an exist-13 ing wireline communications facility that does 14 not substantially change the physical dimensions 15 of such facility.''; 16 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 17 follows: 18 ''(2) T .-- 19IMEFRAME ''(A) D .-- 20 EEMED APPROVAL ''(i) I .--If a State or local 21 N GENERAL government or instrumentality thereof does 22 not, before or on the date that is 60 days 23 after the date on which a requesting party 24 submits to the government or instrumen-25

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tality a request as an eligible facilities re-1 quest or an eligible wireline communica-2 tions facilities request (as the case may be), 3 approve the request or make the determina-4 tion and provide the written notice de-5 scribed in subparagraph (B) with respect to 6 the request, the request is deemed approved 7 on the day after the date that is 60 days 8 after the date on which the requesting party 9 submits the request. 10 ''(ii) R .--In the 11 case of a request that is deemed approved 12 under clause (i), the modification requested 13 in the request shall be authorized, without 14 any further action by the government or in-15 strumentality, beginning on the date on 16 which the request is deemed approved under 17 such clause. 18 ''(B) D 19 ETERMINATION REQUEST IS NOT AN .-- 20ELIGIBLE REQUEST ''(i) D .-- 21 ETERMINATION DESCRIBED The determination described in this sub-22 paragraph is a determination by a State or 23 local government or instrumentality thereof 24 that a request described in subparagraph 25

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(A)(i) is not an eligible facilities request or 1 an eligible wireline communications facili-2 ties request (as the case may be). 3 ''(ii) W .-- 4 The written notice described in this sub-5 paragraph is a written notice of the deter-6 mination described in clause (i) provided 7 by the government or instrumentality to the 8 requesting party that clearly describes the 9 reasons why the request is not an eligible 10 facilities request or an eligible wireline com-11 munications facilities request (as the case 12 may be) and includes a citation to a spe-13 cific provision of this subsection or the regu-14 lations promulgated under this subsection 15 relied upon for the determination. 16 ''(C) T .-- 17 ''(i) I .-- 18 If, not later than 30 days after the date on 19 which a requesting party submits to a State 20 or local government or instrumentality 21 thereof a request described in subparagraph 22 (A)(i), the government or instrumentality 23 provides to the requesting party a written 24 notice described in clause (iii) with respect 25

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to the request, the 60-day timeframe under 1 subparagraph (A)(i) is tolled until the date 2 on which the requesting party submits to 3 the government or instrumentality a supple-4 mental submission in response to the notice. 5 ''(ii) S -6 .--If, not later than 10 days after 7COMPLETE the date on which a requesting party sub-8 mits to a State or local government or in-9 strumentality thereof a supplemental sub-10 mission in response to a written notice de-11 scribed in clause (iii), the government or in-12 strumentality provides to the requesting 13 party a written notice described in clause 14 (iii) with respect to the supplemental sub-15 mission, the 60-day timeframe under sub-16 paragraph (A)(i) is further tolled until the 17 date on which the requesting party submits 18 to the government or instrumentality a sub-19 sequent supplemental submission in re-20 sponse to the notice. 21 ''(iii) W .-- 22 The written notice described in this clause 23 is, with respect to a request described in 24 subparagraph (A)(i) or a supplemental sub-25

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mission described in clause (i) or (ii) sub-1 mitted to a State or local government or in-2 strumentality thereof by a requesting party, 3 a written notice from the government or in-4 strumentality to the requesting party-- 5 ''(I) stating that all of the infor-6 mation (including any form or other 7 document) required by the government 8 or instrumentality to be submitted for 9 the request to be considered complete 10 has not been submitted; 11 ''(II) identifying the information 12 described in subclause (I) that was not 13 submitted; and 14 ''(III) including a citation to a 15 specific provision of a publicly avail-16 able rule, regulation, or standard 17 issued by the government or instru-18 mentality requiring that such informa-19 tion be submitted with such a request. 20 ''(iv) L .-- 21 IMITATION ''(I) I .-- 22 NITIAL WRITTEN NOTICE If a written notice provided by a State 23 or local government or instrumentality 24 thereof to a requesting party under 25

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clause (i) with respect to a request de-1 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i) identi-2 fies as not having been submitted any 3 information that the government or in-4 strumentality is prohibited by para-5 graph (5) from requiring to be sub-6 mitted, such notice shall be treated as 7 not having been provided to the re-8 questing party. 9 ''(II) S -10 UBSEQUENT WRITTEN NO .--If a written notice provided by 11TICE a State or local government or instru-12 mentality thereof to a requesting party 13 under clause (ii) with respect to a sup-14 plemental submission identifies as not 15 having been submitted any informa-16 tion that was not identified as not 17 having been submitted in the prior 18 written notice under this subparagraph 19 in response to which the supplemental 20 submission was submitted, the subse-21 quent written notice shall be treated as 22 not having been provided to the re-23 questing party. 24

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''(D) T .-- 1 The 60-day timeframe under subparagraph 2 (A)(i) may be tolled once, for a period of not 3 more than 30 days, by mutual agreement be-4 tween the State or local government or instru-5 mentality thereof and the requesting party.''; 6 and 7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 8 ''(4) W -9 .-- 10MITTED ''(A) I .--For the purposes of this 11 N GENERAL subsection, a request described in paragraph 12 (2)(A)(i) shall be considered submitted on the 13 date on which the requesting party takes the first 14 procedural step within the control of the request-15 ing party-- 16 ''(i) to submit such request in accord-17 ance with the procedures established by the 18 government or instrumentality for the re-19 view and approval of such a request; or 20 ''(ii) in the case of a government or in-21 strumentality that has not established spe-22 cific procedures for the review and approval 23 of such a request, to submit to the govern-24 ment or instrumentality the type of filing 25

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that is typically required to initiate a 1 standard review for a similar facility or 2 structure. 3 ''(B) N - -4 O PRE APPLICATION REQUIRE .--A State or local government or instru-5MENTS mentality thereof may not require a requesting 6 party to undertake any process, meeting, or other 7 step prior to or as a prerequisite to a request 8 being considered submitted. 9 ''(5) L -10IMITATION ON REQUIRED DOCUMENTA .--A State or local government or instrumen-11TION tality thereof may require a requesting party submit-12 ting a request as an eligible facilities request or an 13 eligible wireline communications facilities request to 14 submit information (including a form or other docu-15 ment) with such request only to the extent that such 16 information is reasonably related to determining 17 whether such request is an eligible facilities request or 18 an eligible wireline communications facilities request 19 (as the case may be) and is identified in a publicly 20 available rule, regulation, or standard issued by the 21 government or instrumentality requiring that such 22 information be submitted with such a request. A State 23 or local government or instrumentality thereof may 24

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not require a requesting party to submit any other 1 documentation or information with such a request. 2 ''(6) E .-- 3 NFORCEMENT ''(A) I .--A requesting party 4 N GENERAL may bring an action in any district court of the 5 United States to enforce the provisions of this 6 subsection. 7 ''(B) E .--A district court 8 XPEDITED REVIEW of the United States shall consider an action 9 under subparagraph (A) on an expedited basis. 10 ''(7) E .--Any regulation 11 FFECT OF REGULATIONS promulgated by the Commission to implement this 12 subsection (including any interpretation of the re-13 quirements of and terms used in this subsection con-14 tained in any such regulation) shall be binding on a 15 court in any action under paragraph (6). 16 ''(8) D .--In this subsection: 17 ''(A) E .--The 18 LIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST term 'eligible facilities request' means any re-19 quest for a modification of an existing wireless 20 tower, base station, or eligible support structure 21 that does not substantially change the physical 22 dimensions of such wireless tower, base station, 23 or eligible support structure and that involves-- 24

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''(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 modi-7 fication of equipment that-- 8 ''(I) improves the resiliency of the 9 wireless tower, base station, or eligible 10 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 eli-23 gible support structure. 24

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''(B) E .--The 1 LIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE term 'eligible support structure' means a struc-2 ture that, at the time when an eligible facilities 3 request for a modification of such structure is 4 submitted to a State or local government or in-5 strumentality thereof, supports or could support 6 transmission equipment. 7 ''(C) E 8 LIGIBLE WIRELINE COMMUNICATIONS .--The term 'eligible 9FACILITIES REQUEST wireline communications facilities request' 10 means any request for a modification of an ex-11 isting wireline communications facility that does 12 not substantially change the physical dimensions 13 of such facility and that involves-- 14 ''(i) collocation of new wireline com-15 munications facility equipment; 16 ''(ii) removal of wireline communica-17 tions facility equipment; or 18 ''(iii) replacement of wireline commu-19 nications facility equipment. 20 ''(D) T .--The 21 RANSMISSION EQUIPMENT term 'transmission equipment' has the meaning 22 given such term in section 1.6100(b)(8) of title 23 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 24 the date of the enactment of this paragraph). 25

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''(E) W DIRELINE COMMUNICATIONS FACIL .--The term 'wireline communications facil-2ITY ity' means a communications facility installa-3 tion, to the extent such installation is associated 4 with wireline transmissions.''. 5 (b) I .--Not later than 180 days after 6MPLEMENTATION the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu-7 nications Commission shall issue final rules to implement 8 the amendments made by subsection (a). 9 (c) A .--The amendments made by sub-10 section (a) shall apply with respect to any eligible facilities 11 request or eligible wireline communications facilities re-12 quest described in paragraph (1) of section 6409(a) of the 13 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 14 U.S.C. 1455(a)) that is submitted (as determined under 15 paragraph (4) of such section, as added by subsection (a)) 16 by a requesting party on or after the date of the enactment 17 of this Act. 18TITLE II--CABLE 19

SEC. 201. REQUEST FOR NEW FRANCHISE. 20

Section 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 21 U.S.C. 541) is amended by adding at the end the following: 22 ''(g) T R F -23 IMING OF ECISION ON EQUEST FOR RAN .-- 24CHISE

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''(1) I .--Not later than 120 days 1 N GENERAL after the date on which a requesting party submits to 2 a franchising authority a request for the grant of a 3 franchise, the franchising authority shall approve or 4 deny such request. 5 ''(2) D .--If 6 EEMED GRANT OF NEW FRANCHISE the franchising authority does not approve or deny a 7 request under paragraph (1) by the day after the date 8 on which the time period ends under such paragraph, 9 such request shall be deemed granted on such day. 10 ''(3) A .--Notwithstanding any pro-11 vision of this title, the timeframe under paragraph 12 (1) shall apply collectively to all proceedings required 13 by a franchising authority for the approval of the re-14 quest. 15 ''(4) N .--A timeframe under para-16 graph (1) may not be tolled by any moratorium, 17 whether express or de facto, imposed by a franchising 18 authority on the consideration of any request for a 19 franchise. 20 ''(5) T .-- 21 ''(A) I .--If, 22 not later than 30 days after the date on which 23 a franchising authority provides to a requesting 24 party a written notice described in subpara-25

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graph (C) with respect to a request described in 1 paragraph (1), the timeframe described in such 2 paragraph is tolled with respect to the request 3 until the date on which the requesting party sub-4 mits to the franchising authority a supplemental 5 submission in response to the notice. 6 ''(B) S -7 UPPLEMENTAL SUBMISSION INCOM .--If, not later than 10 days after the date 8PLETE on which a requesting party submits to the fran-9 chising authority a supplemental submission in 10 response to a written notice described in sub-11 paragraph (A), the franchising authority pro-12 vides to the requesting party a written notice de-13 scribed in subparagraph (A) with respect to the 14 supplemental submission, the timeframe under 15 paragraph (1) is further tolled until the date on 16 which the requesting party submits to the fran-17 chising authority a subsequent supplemental sub-18 mission in response to the notice. 19 ''(C) W .--The 20 written notice described in this subparagraph is, 21 with respect to a request described in paragraph 22 (1) or a supplemental submission described in 23 subparagraph (A) or (B) submitted to a fran-24 chising authority by a requesting party, a writ-25

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ten notice from the franchising authority to the 1 requesting party-- 2 ''(i) stating that all of the information 3 (including any form or other document) re-4 quired by the franchising authority to be 5 submitted for the request to be considered 6 complete has not been submitted; 7 ''(ii) identifying the information de-8 scribed in clause (i) that was not submitted; 9 ''(iii) demonstrating that such infor-10 mation is reasonable and directly related to 11 determining the qualifications of the re-12 questing party to operate the cable system; 13 and 14 ''(iv) including a citation to a specific 15 provision of a publicly available rule, regu-16 lation, or standard issued by the fran-17 chising authority requiring that such infor-18 mation be submitted with such a request. 19 ''(D) L 20 IMITATION ON SUBSEQUENT WRITTEN .--If a written notice provided by a fran-21NOTICE chising authority to a requesting party under 22 subparagraph (A) with respect to a supplemental 23 submission identifies as not having been sub-24 mitted any information that was not identified 25

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as not having been submitted in the prior writ-1 ten notice under this subparagraph in response 2 to which the supplemental submission was sub-3 mitted, the subsequent written notice shall be 4 treated as not having been provided to the re-5 questing party. 6 ''(6) T .--The 7 timeframe under paragraph (1) may be tolled once, 8 for a period of not more than 30 days, by mutual 9 agreement between the franchising authority and the 10 requesting party. 11 ''(7) W .--Any de-12 RITTEN DECISION AND RECORD cision by a franchising authority to deny a request 13 for a franchise shall be-- 14 ''(A) in writing; 15 ''(B) supported by substantial evidence con-16 tained in a written record; and 17 ''(C) publicly released, and provided to the 18 requesting party, on the same day such decision 19 is made. 20 ''(8) W -21 .--For the purposes of this subsection, a re-22MITTED quest to a franchising authority shall be considered 23 submitted on the date on which the requesting party 24

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takes the first procedural step within the control of 1 the requesting party-- 2 ''(A) to submit such request in accordance 3 with the procedures established by the fran-4 chising authority for the review and approval of 5 such a request; or 6 ''(B) in the case of a franchising authority 7 that has not established specific procedures for 8 the review and approval of such a request, to 9 submit to the franchising authority the type of 10 filing that is typically required of a cable oper-11 ator to initiate a standard review for a request 12 related to a franchise.''. 13

SEC. 202. REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUC-14 TION, OR MODIFICATION OF CABLE EQUIP-15 MENT. 16

(a) I .--Section 624 of the Communications 17N ENERAL Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 544) is amended by adding at the 18 end the following: 19 ''(j) R P , C -20 MEQUEST GEGARDING RLACEMENT FONSTRUC , .-- 21TIONOR ACILITIES ''(1) N -22 O EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF CERTAIN EN .--Except as provided in this subsection, noth-23TITIES ing in this title shall limit or affect the authority of 24 a covered entity over-- 25

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''(A) decisions regarding the placement, con-1 struction, or modification of covered equipment 2 within the jurisdiction of such covered entity; or 3 ''(B) safety standards for the placement, 4 construction, or modification of such covered 5 equipment. 6 ''(2) L .-- 7IMITATIONS ''(A) A 8 BILITY TO PROVIDE OR ENHANCE .--With respect to the regulation by a 9SERVICE covered entity for the placement, construction, or 10 modification of covered equipment, the covered 11 entity shall not prohibit or have the effect of pro-12 hibiting the ability of a cable operator to pro-13 vide, improve, or enhance the provision of service 14 using covered equipment under a franchise 15 granted by such covered entity, or within the ju-16 risdiction of such covered entity, as so may be 17 the case. 18 ''(B) N -19 O IMPOSITION OF CERTAIN CONDI .--A covered entity shall not, in connection 20TIONS with a request for authorization to place, con-21 struct, or modify covered equipment made after 22 the date of the enactment of this subsection, im-23 pose on the requesting party-- 24

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''(i) any requirement that the request-1 ing party, as a condition of obtaining such 2 authorization, install, or pay for the instal-3 lation of, any conduit or fiber for use by the 4 covered entity or any person other than the 5 requesting party; 6 ''(ii) any requirement that the request-7 ing party prepare or pay for the prepara-8 tion of any environmental, engineering, net-9 work design, mapping, or other survey or 10 study unrelated to the request; or 11 ''(iii) any other condition for obtain-12 ing such authorization, unless such condi-13 tion is specific to the precise geographic lo-14 cation at which the covered equipment is 15 being placed, constructed, or modified. 16 ''(C) T 17IMING OF DECISIONS ON REQUESTS , , 18FOR AUTHORIZATIONS TO PLACE CONSTRUCT OR .-- 19MODIFY FACILITY ''(i) T .--A covered entity 20 IMEFRAME shall approve or deny a request for author-21 ization to place, construct, or modify cov-22 ered equipment not later than-- 23 ''(I) if the request is for author-24 ization to place, construct, or modify 25

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covered equipment in or on a covered 1 easement or eligible support infrastruc-2 ture, 90 days after the date on which 3 requesting party submits the request to 4 the covered entity; or 5 ''(II) if the request is not for au-6 thorization to place, construct, or mod-7 ify covered equipment in or on a cov-8 ered easement or eligible support infra-9 structure, 150 days after the date on 10 which the requesting party submits the 11 request to the covered entity. 12 ''(ii) D .--If a covered 13 entity fails to grant or deny a request by 14 the applicable timeframe under clause (i), 15 the request shall be deemed granted and au-16 thorized on the date on which the covered 17 entity receives written notice of the failure 18 from the requesting party. 19 ''(iii) A .--Notwith-20 standing any provision of this title, the ap-21 plicable timeframe under clause (i) shall 22 apply collectively to all proceedings, includ-23 ing related permits and authorizations, re-24

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quired by a covered entity for the approval 1 of the request. 2 ''(iv) N .--A timeframe 3 under clause (i) may not be tolled by any 4 moratorium, whether express or de facto, 5 imposed by a covered entity on the consider-6 ation of any request for authorization to 7 place, construct, or modify covered equip-8 ment. 9 ''(v) T -10 OLLING DUE TO INCOMPLETE .-- 11NESS ''(I) I -12 NITIAL REQUEST INCOM .--If, not later than 30 days 13PLETE after the date on which a requesting 14 party submits to a covered entity a re-15 quest for authorization to place, con-16 struct, or modify covered equipment, 17 the covered entity provides to the re-18 questing party a written notice de-19 scribed in subclause (III) with respect 20 to the request, the timeframe described 21 in clause (i) is tolled with respect to 22 the request until the date on which the 23 requesting party submits to the covered 24

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entity a supplemental submission in 1 response to the notice. 2 ''(II) S 3 UPPLEMENTAL SUBMISSION .--If, not later than 10 4INCOMPLETE days after the date on which a request-5 ing party submits to the covered entity 6 a supplemental submission in response 7 to a written notice described in sub-8 clause (III), the covered entity provides 9 to the requesting party a written notice 10 described in subclause (III) with re-11 spect to the supplemental submission, 12 the timeframe under clause (i) is fur-13 ther tolled until the date on which the 14 requesting party submits to the covered 15 entity a subsequent supplemental sub-16 mission in response to the notice. 17 ''(III) W -18 RITTEN NOTICE DE .--The written notice de-19SCRIBED scribed in this subclause is, with re-20 spect to a request described in clause 21 (i) or a supplemental submission de-22 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) sub-23 mitted to a covered entity by a request-24

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ing party, a written notice from the re-1 questing party to the covered entity-- 2 ''(aa) stating that all of the 3 information (including any form 4 or other document) required by 5 the covered entity to be submitted 6 for the request to be considered 7 complete has not been submitted; 8 ''(bb) identifying the infor-9 mation described in item (aa) 10 that was not submitted; and 11 ''(cc) including a citation to 12 a specific provision of a publicly 13 available rule, regulation, or 14 standard issued by the covered en-15 tity requiring that such informa-16 tion be submitted with such a re-17 quest. 18 ''(IV) L -19 IMITATION ON SUBSE .--If a written 20QUENT WRITTEN NOTICE notice provided by covered entity to a 21 requesting party under subclause (I) 22 with respect to a supplemental submis-23 sion identifies as not having been sub-24 mitted any information that was not 25

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identified as not having been submitted 1 in the prior written notice under this 2 subparagraph in response to which the 3 supplemental submission was sub-4 mitted, the subsequent written notice 5 shall be treated as not having been pro-6 vided to the requesting party. 7 ''(vi) T -8 OLLING BY MUTUAL AGREE .--The timeframe under clause (i) 9MENT may be tolled once, for a period of not more 10 than 30 days, by mutual agreement between 11 the covered entity and the requesting party. 12 ''(vii) W 13 RITTEN DECISION AND .--Any decision by a covered entity 14RECORD to deny a request for authorization to place, 15 construct, or modify covered equipment 16 shall be-- 17 ''(I) in writing; 18 ''(II) supported by substantial 19 evidence contained in a written record; 20 and 21 ''(III) publicly released, and pro-22 vided to the requesting party, on the 23 same day such decision is made. 24

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''(viii) W HEN REQUEST CONSIDERED .--For the purposes of this sub-2SUBMITTED paragraph, a request to a covered entity 3 shall be considered submitted on the date on 4 which the requesting party takes the first 5 procedural step within the control of the re-6 questing party-- 7 ''(I) to submit such request in ac-8 cordance with the procedures estab-9 lished by the covered entity for the re-10 view and approval of such a request; or 11 ''(II) in the case of a covered enti-12 ty that has not established specific pro-13 cedures for the review and approval of 14 such a request, to submit to the covered 15 entity the type of filing that is typi-16 cally required of a cable operator to 17 initiate a standard review for a simi-18 lar request in a jurisdiction that has 19 not established specific procedures for 20 the relevant review and approval of 21 such a request. 22 ''(ix) E .-- 23 MERGENCY WORK ''(I) L .--A covered enti-24 IMITATION ty shall not require a cable operator to 25

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request or obtain authorization for the 1 placement, construction, or modifica-2 tion of covered equipment in or on a 3 covered easement before such cable op-4 erator performs, with respect to such 5 equipment, work to repair a system 6 damaged due to forces outside the con-7 trol of such cable operator. 8 ''(II) N .--A cable op-9 OTIFICATION erator shall promptly notify the af-10 fected covered entity of any such work 11 before performing any such work. 12 ''(3) F.-- 13EES ''(A) I .--A covered entity may 14N GENERAL charge a fee that meets the requirements under 15 subparagraph (B) to consider a request for au-16 thorization to place, construct, or modify covered 17 equipment. 18 ''(B) R .--A fee charged under 19EQUIREMENTS subparagraph (A) shall be-- 20 ''(i) competitively neutral, technology 21 neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 22 ''(ii) established and publicly disclosed 23 in advance; and 24 ''(iii) calculated-- 25

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''(I) based on actual and direct 1 costs for-- 2 ''(aa) review and processing 3 of requests; and 4 ''(bb) repairs and replace-5 ment of-- 6 ''(AA) components and 7 materials directly resulting 8 from and affected by the 9 placement, construction, or 10 modification of the covered 11 equipment (including compo-12 nents and materials directly 13 resulting from and affected 14 by the installation of covered 15 equipment or, with respect to 16 the placement, construction, 17 or modification of the covered 18 equipment, the improvement 19 of an eligible support infra-20 structure); or 21 ''(BB) equipment that 22 facilitates the repair and re-23 placement of such compo-24 nents and materials; 25

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''(II) using, for purposes of sub-1 clause (I), only costs that are objec-2 tively reasonable; and 3 ''(III) described to a requesting 4 party in a manner that distinguishes 5 between nonrecurring fees and recur-6 ring fees. 7 ''(C) N .-- 8O RELATION TO FRANCHISE FEES A fee charged under this paragraph to consider 9 a request for authorization to place, construct, or 10 modify covered equipment may not be considered 11 a franchise fee under section 622. 12 ''(4) D.--In this subsection: 13 ''(A) C .--The term 'cov-14OVERED EASEMENT ered easement' means an easement or public 15 right-of-way that exists at the time when a re-16 quest to a covered entity for authorization to 17 place, construct, or modify the covered equipment 18 in or on the easement or public right-of-way is 19 submitted to the covered entity. 20 ''(B) C .--The term 21OVERED EQUIPMENT 'covered equipment' means equipment or mate-22 rials (including any cable, fiber, conduit, or elec-23 tronics) used in or attached to a cable system to 24 provide any service through such system. 25

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''(C) C .--The term 'covered 1 POVERED ENTITY entity' means: 2 ''(i) A State. 3 ''(ii) A local government. 4 ''(iii) An instrumentality of a State or 5 a local government. 6 ''(iv) A franchising authority. 7 ''(D) E -8 LIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUC .--The term 'eligible support infrastruc-9TURE ture' means infrastructure that-- 10 ''(i) is located within a public right-of- 11 way or easement that-- 12 ''(I) is within the area served by 13 the cable system; and 14 ''(II) has been dedicated for com-15 patible uses; and 16 ''(ii) supports or houses a facility for 17 communication by wire (or that is designed 18 for or capable of supporting or housing such 19 a facility) at the time when a request to a 20 covered entity for authorization to place, 21 construct, or modify covered equipment in 22 or on the infrastructure is submitted to the 23 covered entity.''. 24 (b) A R .-- 25CTION ON ENDING EQUESTS

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(1) A .--Paragraphs (2)(B) and (4) 1 of section 624(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 2 (47 U.S.C. 544(j)), as added by subsection (a), shall 3 apply to a-- 4 (A) request submitted to a covered entity (as 5 such term is defined in section 624(j) of the 6 Communications Act of 1934)-- 7 (i) before the date of the enactment of 8 this Act; and 9 (ii) has not been approved or denied by 10 the covered entity on or before such date; 11 and 12 (B) a request submitted to a covered entity 13 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 14 (2) D .--The date of receipt by 15 FATE OF RECEIPT a covered entity of a request described under sub-16 section (a)(1) shall be deemed to be the date of the en-17 actment of this Act. 18

SEC. 203. CABLE FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 19

(a) E M R 20 LIMINATION OR EQUIREMENT .--Section 625 of the Communications Act 21INRANCHISE of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read as follows: 22

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''SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE-1 MENT IN FRANCHISE. 2

''(a) I .--During the period in which a 3 N ENERAL 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) E M R -8 LIMINATION OR EQUIRE .--The franchising authority shall 9MENT IN RANCHISE eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a 10 request submitted under subsection (a) not later than 120 11 days after the cable operator submits the request to the fran-12 chising authority if the cable operator demonstrates in the 13 request good cause for the elimination or modification of 14 the requirement, including the need to eliminate or modify 15 the requirement-- 16 ''(1) to conform to an applicable Federal or 17 State law; 18 ''(2) to address changes in technology; 19 ''(3) to address competitive disparities; or 20 ''(4) in the case of a requirement applicable to 21 the cable operator, due to commercial imprac-22 ticability. 23 ''(c) D M .--Ex-24 FEEMED GLIMINATION OR EODIFICATION cept in the case of a request for the elimination or modifica-25 tion of a requirement for services relating to public, edu-26

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cational, or governmental access, if the franchising author-1 ity fails to approve or deny the request submitted under 2 subsection (a) by the date described under subsection (b), 3 the requirement shall be deemed eliminated or modified in 4 accordance with the request on the day after such date. 5 ''(d) A .-- 6 RPPEAL ''(1) I .--Any cable operator whose re-7 N GENERAL quest for elimination or modification of a require-8 ment in a franchise under subsection (a) has been de-9 nied by a final decision of a franchising authority 10 may seek judicial review of the decision pursuant to 11 the provisions of section 635. 12 ''(2) G .--In the case of any 13 RANT OF REQUEST proposed elimination or modification of a require-14 ment in a franchise under subsection (a), the court 15 shall grant such elimination or modification only if 16 the cable operator demonstrates to the court that the 17 standards in subsection (b) have been met. 18 ''(e) W C S .--For 19 HEN EQUEST ONSIDERED UBMITTED the purposes of this section, a request to a franchising au-20 thority shall be considered submitted on the date on which 21 the requesting party takes the first procedural step within 22 the control of the requesting party-- 23

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''(1) to submit such request in accordance with 1 the procedures established by the franchising author-2 ity for the review and approval of such a request; or 3 ''(2) in the case of a franchising authority that 4 has not established specific procedures for the review 5 and approval of such a request, to submit to the fran-6 chising authority the type of filing that is typically 7 required to initiate a standard review for a request 8 related to a franchise.''. 9 (b) I .--Section 626 of the Communications 10NENERAL Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 546) is amended to read as follows: 11

''SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 12

''(a) F .--A franchise shall continue in 13 GRANCHISE TERM effect (without any requirement for renewal) until the date 14 on which the franchise is revoked or terminated in accord-15 ance with subsection (b). 16 ''(b) L .-- 17 IMITS ''(1) P ; -18 ROHIBITION AGAINST REVOCATION TERMI .--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 19NATION franchise may not be-- 20 ''(A) revoked by a franchising authority; 21 ''(B) terminated by a cable operator; or 22 ''(C) revoked or terminated by operation of 23 law, including by a term in a franchise that re-24 vokes or terminates such franchise on a specific 25

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date, after a period of time, or upon the occur-1 rence of an event. 2 ''(2) W 3 HEN TERMINATION OR REVOCATION OF .-- 4FRANCHISE PERMITTED ''(A) T .-- 5 ERMINATION BY CABLE OPERATOR ''(i) I .--A cable operator 6 N GENERAL may terminate a franchise by submitting to 7 the franchising authority a written request 8 to terminate such franchise. 9 ''(ii) T .--If the 10 IME OF TERMINATION cable operator submits a written request 11 under clause (i), the franchising authority 12 shall revoke the franchise on the date that is 13 90 days after the request is submitted to the 14 franchising authority. 15 ''(iii) D .--If a 16 EEMED TO BE REVOKED franchising authority does not approve a re-17 quest by the date required under clause (ii), 18 the franchise is deemed revoked on the day 19 after such date. 20 ''(B) T -21 ERMINATION BY FRANCHISING AU .--A franchising authority may revoke 22THORITY a franchise for cause if the franchising author-23 ity-- 24

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''(i) finds that the cable operator has 1 knowingly and willfully failed to substan-2 tially meet a material requirement imposed 3 by the franchise; 4 ''(ii) provides the cable operator a rea-5 sonable opportunity to cure such failure, 6 after which the cable operator fails to cure 7 such failure; and 8 ''(iii) does not waive the material re-9 quirement or acquiesce with the failure to 10 substantially meet such requirement. 11 ''(c) RR F 12EVIEW OF EVOCATION OF RANCHISE BY A .-- 13RANCHISINGUTHORITY ''(1) A .-- 14FDMINISTRATIVE OR JUDICIAL REVIEW With respect to a determination by a franchising au-15 thority to revoke a franchise for cause under sub-16 section (b)(2)(B), a cable operator may-- 17 ''(A) petition the Commission for review of 18 such determination; or 19 ''(B) seek judicial review of such determina-20 tion pursuant to the provisions of section 635. 21 ''(2) C .--With respect to a 22OMMISSION REVIEW petition for the review of a determination brought 23 under paragraph (1)(A), the Commission shall-- 24 ''(A) review the determination de novo; and 25

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''(B) invalidate the determination if, based 1 on the evidence presented during the review, the 2 Commission determines that the franchising au-3 thority has not demonstrated by a preponderance 4 of the evidence that the franchising authority re-5 voked the franchise for cause in accordance with 6 subsection (b)(2)(B). 7 ''(3) S -8CTAY OF DETERMINATION TO REVOKE FRAN .--A revocation of a franchise for cause under 9CHISE subsection (b)(2)(B) may be stayed-- 10 ''(A) in the case the cable operator petitions 11 the Commission for review of the determination 12 on which such revocation is based, by the Com-13 mission; and 14 ''(B) in the case the cable operator seeks ju-15 dicial review of the determination on which such 16 revocation is based, by the court in which the 17 cable operator seeks judicial review of the deter-18 mination.''. 19 (c) T A .--The 20ECHNICAL AND ONFORMING MENDMENTS Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is 21 amended-- 22 (1) in section 601-- 23 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi-24 colon at the end and inserting ''; and''; 25

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(B) by striking paragraph (5); and 1 (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 2 paragraph (5); 3 (2) in section 602(9)-- 4 (A) by striking ''initial''; and 5 (B) by striking '', or renewal thereof (in-6 cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 7 been granted subject to section 626),''; 8 (3) in section 611(b), by striking ''and may re-9 quire as part of a cable operator's proposal for a 10 franchise renewal, subject to section 626,''; 11 (4) in section 612(b)(3)-- 12 (A) by striking ''or as part of a proposal for 13 renewal, subject to section 626,''; and 14 (B) by striking '', or proposal for renewal 15 thereof,''; 16 (5) in section 621(b)(3)-- 17 (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ''or 18 franchise renewal''; and 19 (B) in subparagraph (D)-- 20 (i) by striking ''initial''; and 21 (ii) by striking '', a franchise re-22 newal,''; 23 (6) in section 624-- 24

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(A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ''(in-1 cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject to 2 section 626)''; and 3 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ''or re-4 newal thereof''; 5 (7) in section 635A(a), by striking ''renewal,''. 6 (d) E D ; A .-- 7FFECTIVE ATE (1) E .--This section, and the 8FFECTIVE DATE amendments made by this section, shall take effect 6 9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 10 (2) A .--This section, and the amend-11 ments made by this section, shall apply to a franchise 12 granted-- 13 (A) on or after the effective date established 14 by paragraph (1); or 15 (B) before such date, if-- 16 (i) such franchise (including, any re-17 newal thereof before the date of the enact-18 ment of this Act) is in effect on such date; 19 or 20 (ii) such franchise is expired and the 21 cable operator has continued to perform 22 under the provisions of such franchise as if 23 such franchise were not expired. 24

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SEC. 204. SALES OF CABLE SYSTEMS. 1

(a) I .--Section 627 of the Communications 2N ENERAL Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 547) is amended to read as follows: 3

''SEC. 627. CONDITIONS OF SALE OR TRANSFER. 4

''(a) V C S A R 5 AALUE OF FABLE GYSTEM WFTER REVOCATION .--If a franchise held by a cable operator 6OFRANCHISE is revoked for cause under section 626(b)(2)(B) and the 7 franchising authority acquires ownership of the cable sys-8 tem or effects a transfer of ownership of the system to an-9 other person, any such acquisition or transfer shall be at 10 fair market value. 11 ''(b) L A F 12 IMITATIONS ON UTHORITY OF RANCHISING T F -13UTHORITY ITH ESPECT TO RANSFER OF RAN .-- 14CHISE ''(1) I .--A franchising authority may 15 N GENERAL not preclude a cable operator from transferring a 16 franchise to any person-- 17 ''(A) to which such franchise was not ini-18 tially granted; and 19 ''(B) with respect to the terms of the fran-20 chise that apply to the cable operator, who agrees 21 to accept all such terms in effect at the time of 22 the transfer. 23 ''(2) N .--In the case of the transfer 24 OTIFICATION of a franchise to a person to which such franchise was 25 not originally granted, a franchising authority may 26

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require a cable operator to which a franchise was ini-1 tially granted to, not later than 15 days before the 2 transfer of the franchise, notify the franchising au-3 thority in writing of such transfer. 4 ''(c) T .--In this 5 DRANSFER OF A FRANCHISE DEFINED section, the term 'transfer of a franchise' means the transfer 6 or assignment of any rights under a franchise through any 7 transaction, including through-- 8 ''(1) a merger involving the cable operator or 9 cable system; 10 ''(2) a sale of the cable operator or cable system; 11 ''(3) an assignment of the cable operator or a 12 cable system; 13 ''(4) a restructuring of a cable operator or a 14 cable system; or 15 ''(5) the transfer of control of a cable operator or 16 a cable system.''. 17 (b) E .--This section, and the amend-18 FFECTIVE ATE ment made by subsection (a), shall take effect 6 months after 19 the date of the enactment of this Act. 20 (c) A .--This section, and the amendment 21 made by subsection (a), shall apply to a franchise grant-22 ed-- 23 (1) on or after the effective date established by 24 subsection (b); or 25

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(2) before such date, if-- 1 (A) such franchise (including any renewal 2 term thereof) is in effect on such date; or 3 (B) such franchise is expired and cable op-4 erator has continued to perform under the provi-5 sions of such franchise as if such franchise were 6 not expired. 7TITLE III--ENVIRONMENTAL 8

AND HISTORIC PRESERVA-9 TION REVIEWS 10

SEC. 301. APPLICATION OF NEPA AND NHPA TO CERTAIN 11 COMMUNICATIONS PROJECTS. 12

(a) I .-- 13N ENERAL (1) NEPA .--A Federal authoriza-14 EXEMPTION tion with respect to a covered project may not be con-15 sidered a major Federal action under section 16 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 17 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 18 (2) N -19 ATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX .--A covered project may not be considered 20EMPTION an undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, 21 United States Code. 22 (b) G .-- 23 GRANT OF EASEMENT ON FEDERAL PROPERTY (1) NEPA .--A Federal authoriza-24 EXEMPTION tion with respect to a covered easement for a commu-25

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nications facility may not be considered a major Fed-1 eral action under section 102(2)(C) of the National 2 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 3 4332(2)(C)), if-- 4 (A) a covered easement has previously been 5 granted for another communications facility or a 6 utility facility with respect to the same building 7 or other property owned by the Federal Govern-8 ment; or 9 (B) the covered easement is for a commu-10 nications facility in a public right-of-way. 11 (2) N -12 WATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT EX .--A covered easement for a communications 13EMPTION facility may not be considered an undertaking under 14 section 300320 of title 54, United States Code, if-- 15 (A) a covered easement has previously been 16 granted for another communications facility or a 17 utility facility with respect to the same building 18 or other property owned by the Federal Govern-19 ment; or 20 (B) the covered easement is for a commu-21 nications facility in a public right-of-way. 22 (c) R M C E -23EQUESTS FOR ERTAIN XIST W C F -24INGIRELESS AND IRELINE OMMUNICATIONS ACILI .--Section 6409(a)(3) of the Middle Class Tax Relief 25TIES

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and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(a)(3)) is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 ''(3) A ; .-- 3 PPLICATION OF NEPA NHPA ''(A) NEPA .--A Federal au-4 EXEMPTION thorization with respect to an eligible facilities 5 request or an eligible wireline communications 6 facilities request may not be considered a major 7 Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the 8 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 9 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 10 ''(B) N 11 ATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION .--An eligible facilities request or 12 ACT EXEMPTION an eligible wireline communications facilities re-13 quest may not be considered an undertaking 14 under section 300320 of title 54, United States 15 Code. 16 ''(C) F .-- 17 EDERAL AUTHORIZATION DEFINED In this paragraph, the term 'Federal authoriza-18 tion'-- 19 ''(i) means any authorization required 20 under Federal law with respect to an eligi-21 ble facilities request or an eligible wireline 22 communications facilities request; and 23 ''(ii) includes any permits, special use 24 authorizations, certifications, opinions, or 25

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other approvals as may be required under 1 Federal law with respect to an eligible fa-2 cilities request or an eligible wireline com-3 munications facilities request.''. 4

SEC. 302. PRESUMPTION WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN COM-5 PLETE FCC FORMS. 6

(a) P .--With respect to a project that is 7 RESUMPTION an undertaking under section 300320 of title 54, United 8 States Code, as determined by the Commission, if an Indian 9 Tribe is shown to have received a complete FCC Form 620 10 or FCC Form 621 (or any successor form), or can be reason-11 ably expected to have received a complete FCC Form 620 12 or FCC Form 621 (or any successor form), and has not 13 acted on a request contained in such complete form by the 14 date that is 45 days after the date of such receipt or reason-15 ably expected receipt-- 16 (1) the Commission and a court of competent ju-17 risdiction (as the case may be) shall presume the ap-18 plicant with respect to such complete form has made 19 a good faith effort to provide the information reason-20 ably necessary for such Indian Tribe to ascertain 21 whether historic properties of religious or cultural sig-22 nificance to such Indian Tribe may be affected by the 23 undertaking related to such complete form; and 24

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(2) such Indian Tribe shall be presumed to have 1 disclaimed interest in such undertaking. 2 (b) O .-- 3VERCOMING RESUMPTION (1) I .--An Indian Tribe may over-4 N GENERAL come a presumption under subsection (a) upon mak-5 ing, to the Commission or a court of competent juris-6 diction, a favorable demonstration with respect to 1 7 or more of the factors described in paragraph (2). 8 (2) F .--In making a deter-9 PACTORS CONSIDERED mination regarding a presumption under subsection 10 (a), the Commission or court of competent jurisdic-11 tion shall give substantial weight to-- 12 (A) whether the applicant with respect to 13 the relevant complete form failed to make a rea-14 sonable attempt to follow up with the applicable 15 Indian Tribe not earlier than 30 days, and not 16 later than 50 days, after the applicant submitted 17 a complete FCC Form 620 or FCC Form 621 (as 18 the case may be) to such Indian Tribe; and 19 (B) whether the regulations of the Commis-20 sion, or FCC Form 620 or FCC Form 621, are 21 found to be in violation of a Nationwide Pro-22 grammatic Agreement of the Commission. 23

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SEC. 303. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 1

Nothing in this title or any amendment made by this 2 title may be construed to affect the obligation of the Com-3 mission to evaluate radiofrequency exposure under the Na-4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 5 et seq.). 6

SEC. 304. DEFINITIONS. 7

In this title: 8 (1) C .--The term ''Chief Execu-9 HIEF EXECUTIVE tive'' means the person who is the Chief, Chairman, 10 Governor, President, or similar executive official of 11 an Indian tribal government. 12 (2) C .--The term ''Commission'' 13 OMMISSION means the Federal Communications Commission. 14 (3) C .--The term 15 OMMUNICATIONS FACILITY ''communications facility'' has the meaning given the 16 term ''communications facility installation'' in sec-17 tion 6409(d) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 18 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)). 19 (4) C .--The term ''covered 20 OVERED EASEMENT easement'' means an easement, right-of-way, or lease 21 with respect to a building or other property owned by 22 the Federal Government, excluding Tribal land held 23 in trust by the Federal Government (unless the In-24 dian tribal government with respect to such land re-25 quests that the Commission not exclude the land for 26

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purposes of this definition), for the right to install, 1 construct, modify, or maintain a communications fa-2 cility or a utility facility. 3 (5) C .--The term ''covered 4 OVERED PROJECT project'' means any of the following: 5 (A) A project-- 6 (i) for-- 7 (I) the mounting or installation of 8 a personal wireless service facility with 9 another personal wireless service facil-10 ity that exists at the time at which a 11 request for authorization of such 12 mounting or installation is submitted 13 to a State or local government or in-14 strumentality thereof or to an Indian 15 tribal government; or 16 (II) the modification of a personal 17 wireless service facility; and 18 (ii) for which a permit, license, or ap-19 proval from the Commission is required or 20 that is otherwise subject to the jurisdiction 21 of the Commission. 22 (B) A project-- 23 (i) for the placement, construction, or 24 modification of a facility for communica-25

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tion by wire in or on eligible support infra-1 structure; and 2 (ii) for which a permit, license, or ap-3 proval from the Commission is required or 4 that is otherwise subject to the jurisdiction 5 of the Commission. 6 (C) A project to deploy a small personal 7 wireless service facility. 8 (D) A project-- 9 (i) for the deployment or modification 10 of a communications facility that is to be 11 carried out entirely within a floodplain (as 12 defined in section 9.4 of title 44, Code of 13 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 14 of the enactment of this Act); and 15 (ii) for which a permit, license, or ap-16 proval from the Commission is required or 17 that is otherwise subject to the jurisdiction 18 of the Commission. 19 (E) A project-- 20 (i) for the deployment or modification 21 of a communications facility that is to be 22 carried out entirely within a brownfield site 23 (as defined in section 101 of the Com-24 prehensive Environmental Response, Com-25

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pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 1 U.S.C. 9601)); and 2 (ii) for which a permit, license, or ap-3 proval from the Commission is required or 4 that is otherwise subject to the jurisdiction 5 of the Commission. 6 (F) A project to permanently remove cov-7 ered communications equipment or services (as 8 defined in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted 9 Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 10 U.S.C. 1608)) and to replace such covered com-11 munications equipment or services with commu-12 nications equipment or services (as defined in 13 such section) that are not covered communica-14 tions equipment or services (as so defined). 15 (G) A project that-- 16 (i) is to be carried out entirely within 17 an area for which the President, the Gov-18 ernor of a State, or the Chief Executive of 19 an Indian tribal government has declared a 20 major disaster or an emergency; 21 (ii) is to be carried out not later than 22 5 years after the date on which the Presi-23 dent, Governor, or Chief Executive made 24 such declaration; and 25

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(iii) replaces a communications facil-1 ity damaged by such disaster or emergency 2 or makes improvements to a communica-3 tions facility in such area that could rea-4 sonably be considered as necessary for recov-5 ery from such disaster or emergency or to 6 prevent or mitigate any future disaster or 7 emergency. 8 (H) A project for the placement and instal-9 lation of a new communications facility if-- 10 (i) such new facility-- 11 (I) will be located within a public 12 right-of-way; and 13 (II) is not more than 50 feet tall 14 or 10 feet taller than any existing 15 structure in the public right-of-way, 16 whichever is higher; 17 (ii) such new facility is-- 18 (I) a replacement for an existing 19 communications facility; and 20 (II) the same as, or substantially 21 similar to (as such term is defined by 22 the Commission by regulation), the ex-23 isting communications facility that 24

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such new communications facility is 1 replacing; 2 (iii) such new facility is a type of com-3 munications facility that-- 4 (I) is described in section 5 6409(d)(1)(B) of the Middle Class Tax 6 Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 7 (47 U.S.C. 1455(d)(1)(B)); and 8 (II) meets the size limitation of a 9 small antenna established by the Com-10 mission; or 11 (iv) the placement and installation of 12 such new facility involves the expansion of 13 the site of an existing communications facil-14 ity not more than 30 feet in any direction. 15 (I) A project for the placement, construc-16 tion, or modification of a personal wireless serv-17 ice facility on an existing tower, building, or 18 structure. 19 (J) A project for the placement, construc-20 tion, or modification of a communications facil-21 ity-- 22 (i) for which the placement, construc-23 tion, or modification is undertaken pursu-24 ant to a geographic area license that has 25

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been issued by the Commission or is subject 1 to licensing by rule; and 2 (ii) with respect to which filing in the 3 antenna structure registration system of the 4 Commission is not required. 5 (6) E .--The 6LIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE term ''eligible support infrastructure'' means infra-7 structure that supports or houses a facility for com-8 munication by wire (or that is designed for or capa-9 ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 10 time when a request to a State or local government 11 or instrumentality thereof, or to an Indian tribal gov-12 ernment, for authorization to place, construct, or 13 modify a facility for communication by wire in or on 14 the infrastructure is submitted to the government or 15 instrumentality. 16 (7) E .--The term ''emergency'' 17MERGENCY means-- 18 (A) in the case of an emergency declared by 19 the President, an emergency declared by the 20 President under section 501 of the Robert T. 21 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-22 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191); and 23 (B) in the case of an emergency declared by 24 the Governor of a State or the Chief Executive of 25

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an Indian tribal government, any occasion or 1 instance with respect to which the Governor or 2 Chief Executive declares that an emergency exists 3 (or makes a similar declaration) under State or 4 Tribal law (as the case may be). 5 (8) F .--The term ''Fed-6 EDERAL AUTHORIZATION eral authorization''-- 7 (A) means any authorization required 8 under Federal law with respect to a covered 9 project or a covered easement; and 10 (B) includes any permits, special use au-11 thorizations, certifications, opinions, or other ap-12 provals as may be required under Federal law 13 with respect to a covered project or a covered 14 easement. 15 (9) G .--The term ''Governor'' means 16 OVERNOR the chief executive of any State. 17 (10) I .--The term 18 NDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT ''Indian tribal government'' means the governing 19 body of an Indian Tribe. 20 (11) I .--The term ''Indian Tribe'' 21 NDIAN TRIBE has the meaning given the term ''Indian tribe'' under 22 section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 23 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130). 24

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(12) M .--The term ''major dis-1 AJOR DISASTER aster'' means-- 2 (A) in the case of a major disaster declared 3 by the President, a major disaster declared by 4 the President under section 401 of the Robert T. 5 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-6 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); and 7 (B) in the case of a major disaster declared 8 by the Governor of a State or the Chief Executive 9 of an Indian tribal government, any occasion or 10 instance with respect to which the Governor or 11 Chief Executive declares that a disaster exists (or 12 makes a similar declaration) under State or 13 Tribal law (as the case may be). 14 (13) P .-- 15 ERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACILITY The term ''personal wireless service facility'' has the 16 meaning given such term in subparagraph (G) of sec-17 tion 332(c)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 18 U.S.C. 332(c)(7)), as amended by this Act. 19 (14) P - - .--The term ''public 20 UBLIC RIGHT OF WAY right-of-way''-- 21 (A) means-- 22 (i) the area on, below, or above a pub-23 lic roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, 24 alley, or similar property (whether cur-25

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rently or previously used in such manner); 1 and 2 (ii) any land immediately adjacent to 3 and contiguous with property described in 4 clause (i) that is within the right-of-way 5 grant; and 6 (B) does not include a portion of the Inter-7 state System (as such term is defined in section 8 101(a) of title 23, United States Code). 9 (15) S -10MALL PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FA .--The term ''small personal wireless service fa-11CILITY cility'' has the meaning given such term in subpara-12 graph (G) of section 332(c)(7) of the Communications 13 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(7)), as amended by this 14 Act. 15 (16) S .--The term ''State'' means each 16TATE State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 17 and each territory or possession of the United States. 18 (17) U .--The term ''utility facil-19TILITY FACILITY ity'' means any privately, publicly, or cooperatively 20 owned line, facility, or system for producing, trans-21 mitting, or distributing power, electricity, light, heat, 22 gas, oil, crude products, water, steam, waste, storm 23 water not connected with highway drainage, or any 24 other similar commodity, including any fire or police 25

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signal system or street lighting system, that directly 1 or indirectly serves the public. 2TITLE IV--OTHER MATTERS 3

SEC. 401. TIMELY CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR 4 FEDERAL EASEMENTS, RIGHTS-OF-WAY, AND 5 LEASES. 6

(a) I .--Section 6409(b)(3) of the Middle 7N ENERAL Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 8 1455(b)(3)) is amended-- 9 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ''an execu-10 tive agency receives a duly filed application'' and in-11 serting ''an application is submitted to an executive 12 agency''; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 14 ''(E) D .--If an executive 15 agency fails to grant or deny an application 16 under subparagraph (A) within the timeframe 17 under such subparagraph, the application shall 18 be deemed granted on the day after the last day 19 of such timeframe. 20 ''(F) T .-- 21 ''(i) I -22 GNITIAL APPLICATION INCOM .--If, not later than 30 days after the 23 PLETE date on which an applicant submits to an 24 executive agency an application under sub-25

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paragraph (A), the executive agency pro-1 vides to the applicant a written notice de-2 scribed in clause (iii) with respect to the 3 application, the timeframe described in sub-4 paragraph (A) is tolled with respect to the 5 application until the date on which the ap-6 plicant submits to the executive agency a 7 supplemental submission in response to the 8 notice. 9 ''(ii) S -10 .--If, not later than 10 days after 11COMPLETE the date on which an applicant submits to 12 an executive agency a supplemental submis-13 sion in response to a written notice de-14 scribed in clause (iii), the executive agency 15 provides to the applicant a written notice 16 described in clause (iii) with respect to the 17 supplemental submission, the timeframe 18 under subparagraph (A) is further tolled 19 until the date on which the applicant sub-20 mits to the executive agency a subsequent 21 supplemental submission in response to the 22 notice. 23 ''(iii) W .-- 24 The written notice described in this clause 25

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is, with respect to an application under 1 subparagraph (A) or a supplemental sub-2 mission described in clause (i) or (ii) sub-3 mitted to an executive agency by an appli-4 cant, a written notice from the executive 5 agency to the applicant-- 6 ''(I) stating that all of the infor-7 mation (including any form or other 8 document) required by the executive 9 agency to be submitted for the applica-10 tion to be considered complete has not 11 been submitted; 12 ''(II) identifying the information 13 described in subclause (I) that was not 14 submitted; and 15 ''(III) including a citation to a 16 specific provision of a publicly avail-17 able rule, regulation, or standard 18 issued by the executive agency requir-19 ing that such information be submitted 20 with such an application. 21 ''(iv) L 22 IMITATION ON SUBSEQUENT .--If a written notice pro-23WRITTEN NOTICE vided by an executive agency to an appli-24 cant under clause (ii) with respect to a sup-25

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plemental submission identifies as not hav-1 ing been submitted any information that 2 was not identified as not having been sub-3 mitted in the prior written notice under 4 this subparagraph in response to which the 5 supplemental submission was submitted, the 6 subsequent written notice shall be treated as 7 not having been provided to the applicant. 8 ''(G) T .-- 9 The timeframe under subparagraph (A) may be 10 tolled once, for a period of not more than 30 11 days, by mutual agreement between the executive 12 agency and the applicant. 13 ''(H) W 14 HEN APPLICATION CONSIDERED .--For the purposes of this para-15SUBMITTED graph, an application shall be considered sub-16 mitted to an executive agency on the date on 17 which the applicant takes the first procedural 18 step within the control of the applicant to submit 19 such application in accordance with the proce-20 dures established by the executive agency for the 21 review and approval of such an application.''. 22 (b) A .--The amendments made by sub-23 section (a) shall apply with respect to any application 24 under subsection (b) of section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax 25

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Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455) that 1 is submitted (as determined under subsection (b)(3)(H) of 2 such section) to an executive agency (as defined in sub-3 section (d) of such section) on or after the date of the enact-4 ment of this Act. 5

SEC. 402. REPORT ON FEES. 6

Section 60102 of the Infrastructure Investment and 7 Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 1702) is amended by adding at the 8 end the following: 9 ''(p) R F .--Not later than 180 days after 10 EPORT ON EES the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Assistant 11 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report-- 12 ''(1) detailing the fees charged by each eligible 13 entity (or any political subdivision thereof)-- 14 ''(A) to consider a request for authorization 15 to place, construct, or modify, using (in whole or 16 in part) grant funds received under this section, 17 infrastructure for the provision of broadband 18 service; or 19 ''(B) to use a right-of-way or infrastructure 20 in a right-of-way owned or managed by the enti-21 ty or political subdivision for the placement, 22 construction, or modification, using (in whole or 23 in part) grant funds received under this section, 24

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of infrastructure for the provision of broadband 1 service; and 2 ''(2) that identifies, with respect to any fee de-3 tailed pursuant to paragraph (1), any such fee that 4 is not-- 5 ''(A) competitively neutral, technology neu-6 tral, and nondiscriminatory; 7 ''(B) established in advance and publicly 8 disclosed; 9 ''(C) calculated-- 10 ''(i) based on actual and direct costs, 11 such as costs for-- 12 ''(I) review and processing of re-13 quests; and 14 ''(II) repairs and replacement 15 of-- 16 ''(aa) components and mate-17 rials directly resulting from and 18 affected by the placement, con-19 struction, or modification (includ-20 ing the installation or improve-21 ment) of infrastructure for the 22 provision of broadband service; or 23 ''(bb) equipment that facili-24 tates the placement, construction, 25

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or modification (including the in-1 stallation or improvement) of such 2 infrastructure; and 3 ''(ii) using, for purposes of clause (i), 4 only costs that are objectively reasonable; or 5 ''(D) described to a requesting party in a 6 manner that distinguishes between-- 7 ''(i) nonrecurring fees and recurring 8 fees; and 9 ''(ii) the use of infrastructure on which 10 infrastructure for the provision of 11 broadband service is already located and in-12 frastructure on which there is no infrastruc-13 ture for the provision of broadband service 14 as of the date on which the request is sub-15 mitted to the eligible entity or political sub-16 division.''. 17

Amend the title so as to read: ''A bill to streamline Federal, State, and local permitting and regulatory re- views to expedite the deployment of communications fa- cilities, and for other purposes.''.

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To provide that an eligible facilities request under Committee on Natural Resources discharged; committed 119Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce historical preservation reviews. requirements to prepare certain environmental or and Job Creation Act of 2012 is not subject to section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief the Union and ordered to be printed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 2 TH D CONGRESS S ESSION [Report No. 119-614, Part I] H. R. 2289 A BILL with amendments Union Calendar No. APRILAPRIL 15, 2026 15, 2026

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