II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1301

To provide reasonable and non-discriminatory access to buildings owned or

used by the Federal Government for the provision of competitive telecommunications services by telecommunications carriers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 1999

Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. HOLLINGS, and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide reasonable and non-discriminatory access to buildings owned or used by the Federal Government for the

provision of competitive telecommunications services by

telecommunications carriers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Competitive Access to

5 Federal Buildings Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
2

S 1301 IS

1 (1) non-discriminatory access to, and use of,

2 the rooftops, risers, telephone cabinets, conduits,

3 points of entry or demarcation for internal wiring,

4 and all utility spaces in or on federal buildings and

5 commercial property is essential to the competitive

6 provision of telecommunications services and infor7 mation services;

8 (2) incumbent telecommunications carriers

9 often enjoy access to such buildings and property

10 through historic rights of way that were developed

11 before the advent of new means of providing such

12 services, in particular the provision of such services

13 using terrestrial fixed wireless or satellite services

14 that enter a building through equipment located on

15 rooftops;

16 (3) the National Telecommunications and Infor17 mation Administration is the Federal agency tasked

18 with developing policies for the efficient and com19 petitive use of emerging technologies that combine

20 spectrum use with the convergence of communica21 tions and computer technologies for the utilization of

22 telecommunications services and information services

23 by Federal agencies;

24 (4) that several States, for example Connecticut

25 and Texas, have already enacted measures to pro-
3

S 1301 IS

1 mote non-discriminatory access by telecommuni2 cations carriers to rooftops, risers, conduits, utility

3 spaces, and points of entry and demarcation in order

4 to promote the competitive provision of telecommuni5 cations services and information services; and

6 (5) that the Federal Government should en7 courage States to develop similar policies by estab8 lishing as Federal policy requirements to promote

9 non-discriminatory access to Federal buildings and

10 commercial property used by agencies of the Federal

11 Government so that taxpayers receive the benefits

12 and cost savings from the competitive provision of

13 telecommunications services and information services

14 by telecommunications carriers.

15 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO BUILDINGS FOR COMPETITIVE TELE16 COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.

17 The National Telecommunications and Information

18 Administration Organization Act (Title I of Public Law

19 102–538; 47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended—

20 (1) in section 103(b)(2) (47 U.S.C. 902(b)(2))

21 by adding at the end the following new subpara22 graph:

23 ‘‘(U) The authority to implement policies

24 for buildings and other structures owned or

25 used by agencies of the Federal Government in
4

S 1301 IS

1 order to provide for non-discriminatory access

2 to such buildings and structures for the provi3 sion of telecommunications services or informa4 tion services by telecommunications carriers,

5 and to advise the Commission on the develop6 ment of policies for non-discriminatory access

7 by such carriers to commercial property in gen8 eral for the provision of such services.’’; and

9 (2) in section 105 (47 U.S.C. 904) by adding

10 at the end the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATORY ACCESS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No Federal agency shall

13 enter into a contract with the owner or operator of

14 any commercial property for the rental or lease of all

15 or some portion of such property unless the owner

16 or operator permits non-discriminatory access to,

17 and use of, the rooftops, risers, telephone cabinets,

18 conduits, points of entry or demarcation for internal

19 wiring, easements, rights of way, and all utility

20 spaces in or on such commercial property, for the

21 provision of telecommunications services or informa22 tion services by any telecommunications carrier that

23 has obtained, where required, a Federal or State

24 certificate of public convenience and necessity for

25 the provision of such services, and which seeks to
5

S 1301 IS

1 provide or provides such services to tenants (includ2 ing, but not limited to, the Federal agency for which

3 such rental or lease is made) of such property. Such

4 owner or operator may—

5 ‘‘(A) charge a reasonable and non-discrimi6 natory fee (which shall be based on the com7 mercial rental value of the space actually used

8 by the telecommunications carrier) for such ac9 cess and use;

10 ‘‘(B) impose reasonable and non-discrimi11 natory requirements necessary to protect the

12 safety and condition of the property, and the

13 safety and convenience of tenants and other

14 persons (including hours when entry and work

15 may be conducted on the property);

16 ‘‘(C) require the telecommunications car17 rier to indemnify the owner or operator for

18 damage caused by the installation, mainte19 nance, or removal of any facilities of such car20 rier; and

21 ‘‘(D) require the telecommunications car22 rier to bear the entire cost of installing, oper23 ating, maintaining, and removing any facilities

24 of such carrier.
6

S 1301 IS

1 ‘‘(2) STATE LAW OR CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION

2 REQUIRED.—No Federal agency shall enter into a

3 contract with the owner or operator of any commer4 cial property for the rental or lease of all or some

5 portion of such property unless the owner or oper6 ator submits to such agency a notarized statement

7 that such owner or operator is obligated under State

8 law, or is obligated or will undertake an obligation

9 through a contractual commitment with each tele10 communication carrier providing or seeking to pro11 vide service, to resolve any disputes between such

12 telecommunication carriers and such owner or oper13 ator that may arise regarding access to the commer14 cial property or the provision of competitive tele15 communications services or information services to

16 tenants of such property. To meet the requirements

17 of this paragraph such State process or contractual

18 commitment must—

19 ‘‘(A) provide an effective means for resolu20 tion of disputes within 30 days (unless other21 wise required by State law or agreed by the

22 parties involved), either through arbitration or

23 order of a State agency or through binding ar24 bitration;
7

S 1301 IS

1 ‘‘(B) permit the telecommunications car2 rier to initiate service or continue service while

3 any dispute is pending;

4 ‘‘(C) provide that any fee charged for ac5 cess to, or use of, building space (including con6 duits, risers, and utility closets), easements or

7 rights of way, or rooftops to provide tele8 communications service or information service

9 be reasonable and applied in a non-discrimina10 tory manner to all providers of such service, in11 cluding the incumbent local exchange carrier;

12 and

13 ‘‘(D) provide that requirements with re14 spect to the condition of the property are lim15 ited to those necessary to ensure that the value

16 of the property is not diminished by the instal17 lation, maintenance, or removal of the facilities

18 of the telecommunications carrier, and do not

19 require the telecommunications carrier to im20 prove the condition of the property in order to

21 obtain access or use.

22 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraphs (1) and

23 (2) shall take effect six months after the date of en24 actment of this subsection for all lease or rental
8

S 1301 IS

1 agreements entered into or renewed by any Federal

2 agency after such date.

3 ‘‘(4) WAIVER PERMITTED.—The requirements

4 of paragraphs (1) or (2) may be waived on a case

5 by case basis—

6 ‘‘(A) by the head of the agency seeking

7 space in a commercial property upon a deter8 mination, which shall be made in writing and be

9 available to the public upon request, that such

10 requirements would result in the affected agen11 cy being unable, in that particular case, to ob12 tain any space suitable for the needs of that

13 agency in that general geographic area; or

14 ‘‘(B) by the President upon a finding that

15 waiver of such requirements is necessary to ob16 tain space for the affected agency in that par17 ticular case, and that enforcement of such re18 quirements in that particular case would be

19 contrary to the interests of national security.

20 Any determination under subparagraph (A) may be

21 appealed by any affected telecommunications carrier

22 to the Assistant Secretary, who shall review the

23 agency determination and issue a decision upholding

24 or revoking the agency determination within 30 days

25 of an appeal being filed. The burden shall be on the
9

S 1301 IS

1 agency head to demonstrate through the written de2 termination that all reasonable efforts had been

3 made to find suitable alternative space for the agen4 cy’s needs before the waiver determination was

5 made. The Assistant Secretary shall revoke any

6 agency determination made without all reasonable

7 efforts being made. The decision of the Assistant

8 Secretary shall be binding on the agency whose waiv9 er determination was appealed.

10 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(A) Nothing in this subsection shall waive

12 or modify any requirements or restrictions im13 posed by any Federal, State, or local agency

14 with authority under other law to impose such

15 restrictions or requirements on the provision of

16 telecommunications services or the facilities

17 used to provide such services.

18 ‘‘(B) Refusal by an owner to provide ac19 cess to a telecommunications carrier seeking to

20 provide telecommunications services or informa21 tion services to a commercial property due to a

22 demonstrated lack of available space at a com23 mercial property on a rooftop or in a riser, tele24 phone cabinet, conduit, point of entry or demar25 cation for internal wiring, or utility space due
10

S 1301 IS

1 to existing occupation of such space by two or

2 more telecommunications carriers providing

3 service to that commercial property shall not be

4 a violation of paragraphs (1)(B) or (2)(D) if

5 the owner has made reasonable efforts to per6 mit access by such telecommunications carrier

7 to any space that is available.

8 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

9 subsection the term—

10 ‘‘(A) ‘Federal agency’ shall mean any exec11 utive agency or any establishment in the legisla12 tive or judicial branch of the Government;

13 ‘‘(B) ‘commercial property’ shall include

14 any buildings or other structures offered, in

15 whole or in part, for rent or lease to any Fed16 eral agency;

17 ‘‘(C) ‘incumbent local exchange carrier’

18 shall have the same meaning given such term in

19 section 251(h) of the Communications Act of

20 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(h)); and

21 ‘‘(D) ‘information service’, ‘telecommuni22 cations carrier’, and ‘telecommunications serv23 ice’ shall have the same meaning given such

24 terms, respectively, in section 3 of the Commu25 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).’’.
11

S 1301 IS

1 SEC. 4. APPLICATION TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

2 Within six months after the date of enactment of this

3 Act the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Assist4 ant Secretary of Commerce for Telecommunications and

5 Information, shall promulgate final rules, after notice and

6 opportunity for public comment, to apply the requirements

7 of section 105(f) of the National Telecommunications and

8 Information Administration Organization Act, as added by

9 this Act, to all buildings and other structures owned or

10 operated by any Federal agency. In promulgating such

11 rules the Assistant Secretary may, at the direction of the

12 President, exempt any buildings or structures owned or

13 operated by a Federal agency if the application of such

14 requirements would be contrary to the interests of national

15 security. The Assistant Secretary shall coordinate the pro16 mulgation of the rules required by this section with the

17 Administrator of the General Services Administration and

18 the heads of any establishments in the legislative and judi19 cial branches of government which are responsible for

20 buildings and other structures owned or operated by such

21 establishments. Such rules may include any requirements

22 for identification, background checks, or other matters

23 necessary to ensure access by telecommunications carriers

24 under this section does not compromise the safety and se25 curity of agency operations in government owned or oper26 ated buildings or structures. For the purposes of this sec-
12

S 1301 IS

1 tion, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ shall have the same

2 meaning given such term in section 105(f)(6) of the Na3 tional Telecommunications and Information Administra4 tion Organization Act, as added by this Act.

Æ