I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5365 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to approve or deny 

a license transfer application within 180 days of submission, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2019 

Mr. FLORES (for himself, Mr. LONG, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to approve or deny a license transfer application within 180 

days of submission, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘License Transfer Mod5 ernization Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TIME LIMITS FOR COMMISSION ACTION ON TRANS2 FERS AND ASSIGNMENTS. 

3 Title IV of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 417. TIME LIMITS FOR COMMISSION ACTION ON 

7 TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 

9 application’ means an application for the transfer of con10 trol or assignment of any license or authorization subject 

11 to the jurisdiction of the Commission. 

12 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

14 provision of law, including section 309(e), the Com15 mission— 

16 ‘‘(A) shall approve or deny a covered appli17 cation; and 

18 ‘‘(B) may not designate a covered applica19 tion for hearing, unless the Commission first 

20 determines by a majority vote that a material 

21 factual question exists about misrepresentation 

22 or lack of candor by the applicant. 

23 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—Except as provided in 

24 paragraph (3), the Commission shall make a deter25 mination to approve or deny a covered application 

26 during the period that begins on the date on which 


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1 the applicants provide to the Commission the last 

2 submission relating to the application before the 

3 Commission issues the initial public notice seeking 

4 comment on the application and ends 180 days 

5 thereafter. 

6 ‘‘(3) EXTENSIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(i) REQUEST.—During the 180-day 

9 review period described under paragraph 

10 (2)(A), the Commission may apply to the 

11 United States District Court for the Dis12 trict of Columbia for an extension of that 

13 period for an additional 30 days by filing 

14 a motion to extend that references this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(ii) COURT DETERMINATION.—The 

17 court may grant an extension of the 180- 

18 day review period requested under clause 

19 (i) if— 

20 ‘‘(I) the court finds that the ap21 plicants for the transfer of control or 

22 assignment have not substantially 

23 complied in a timely manner with a 

24 reasonable request by the Commission 

25 for information; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the Commission shows, by 

2 clear and convincing evidence, that 

3 the Commission is unable to complete 

4 review within the 180-day review pe5 riod; or 

6 ‘‘(III) an Executive agency (as 

7 defined in section 105 of title 5, 

8 United States Code) has requested in 

9 writing that the Commission delay a 

10 determination pending the Executive 

11 agency’s national security review of 

12 the transfer of control or assignment. 

13 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL EXTENSIONS.—The 

14 Commission may request, and the court may 

15 grant, additional 30-day extensions in the same 

16 manner as an initial extension under subpara17 graph (A). 

18 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL ABSENT COMMISSION ACTION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered application shall 

20 be deemed approved without conditions if the Com21 mission does not approve or deny the application or 

22 apply for an extension during the applicable period 

23 under subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(2) PENDING LITIGATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), if the 180-day review period 

3 under subsection (b)(2) has expired, the Com4 mission may not deny a covered application or 

5 approve a covered application with conditions, 

6 during the pendency of any litigation relating to 

7 a request by the Commission for an extension 

8 under subsection (b)(3) with respect to the cov9 ered application, including any time during 

10 which a court has entered a stay pending ap11 peal or administrative stay of such litigation. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION REQUEST DENIED AFTER

13 180-DAY REVIEW PERIOD.—If a request for an 

14 extension under subsection (b)(3) is denied 

15 after the expiration of the 180-day review pe16 riod under subsection (b)(2)— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Commission shall make a de18 termination to approve or deny the covered 

19 application not later than 10 days after the 

20 date on which the extension request is de21 nied; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the covered application shall be 

23 deemed approved without conditions if the 

24 Commission does not approve or deny the 


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1 application during the 10-day period de2 scribed in clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(d) BURDEN OF PERSUASION SHIFTED.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law, including section 706 

5 of title 5, United States Code, in a judicial appeal of a 

6 Commission decision to deny a covered application, the 

7 Commission shall bear the burden of persuasion to dem8 onstrate that the decision is— 

9 ‘‘(1) permitted under applicable statutes and 

10 regulations; and 

11 ‘‘(2) supported by the required amount of fac12 tual evidence.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

14 Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 

15 (47 U.S.C. 310(d)) is amended, in the second sentence, 

16 by inserting before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, except 

17 as otherwise provided in section 417’’. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 The amendment made by section 1 shall apply with 

20 respect to any covered application that is submitted to the 

21 Federal Communications Commission on or after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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