I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7352 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes 

for telecommunications service facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2020 

Mr. GRIFFITH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline 

siting processes for telecommunications service facilities, 

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 ‘‘Barriers and Regu5 latory Obstacles Avoids Deployment of Broadband Access 

6 and Needs Deregulatory Leadership Act’’ or the 

7 ‘‘BROADBAND Leadership Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 

9 Section 253 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

10 U.S.C. 253) is amended to read as follows: 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 7352 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 253. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in 

3 this section, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the 

4 authority of a State or local government or instrumen5 tality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, con6 struction, and modification of telecommunications service 

7 facilities. 

8 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of the 

10 placement, construction, or modification of a tele11 communications service facility by any State or local 

12 government or instrumentality thereof— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall not prohibit or have the effect 

14 of prohibiting the ability of any entity to pro15 vide any interstate or intrastate telecommuni16 cations service; and 

17 ‘‘(B) shall not unreasonably discriminate 

18 among providers of functionally equivalent serv19 ices. 

20 ‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or local gov22 ernment or instrumentality thereof shall grant 

23 or deny a complete request for authorization to 

24 place, construct, or modify a telecommuni25 cations service facility not later than— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 7352 IH

1 ‘‘(i) if the request is for authorization 

2 to place, construct, or modify such facility 

3 in or on eligible support infrastructure, 90 

4 days after the date on which the complete 

5 request is received by the government or 

6 instrumentality; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) for any other action relating to 

8 such facility, 150 days after the date on 

9 which the complete request is received by 

10 the government or instrumentality. 

11 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—The applicable 

12 timeframe under subparagraph (A) shall apply 

13 collectively to all proceedings required by a 

14 State or local government or instrumentality 

15 thereof for the approval of the request. 

16 ‘‘(C) NO TOLLING.—A timeframe under 

17 subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any 

18 moratorium, whether express or de facto, im19 posed by a State or local government or instru20 mentality thereof on the consideration of any 

21 request for authorization to place, construct, or 

22 modify a telecommunications service facility. 

23 ‘‘(D) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The Commis24 sion may temporarily waive the applicability of 

25 subparagraph (A) for not longer than a single 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 7352 IH

1 30-day period for any complete request upon a 

2 demonstration by a State or local government 

3 or instrumentality thereof that the waiver would 

4 be consistent with the public interest, conven5 ience, and necessity. 

6 ‘‘(3) DEEMED GRANTED.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State or local 

8 government or instrumentality thereof has nei9 ther granted nor denied a complete request 

10 within the applicable timeframe under para11 graph (2), the request shall be deemed granted 

12 on the date on which the government or instru13 mentality receives a written notice of the failure 

14 from the requesting party. 

15 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In the 

16 case of a request that is deemed granted under 

17 subparagraph (A), the placement, construction, 

18 or modification requested in such request shall 

19 be considered to be authorized, without any fur20 ther action by the government or instrumen21 tality, beginning on the date on which such re22 quest is deemed granted under such subpara23 graph. 

24 ‘‘(4) WRITTEN DECISION AND RECORD.—Any 

25 decision by a State or local government or instruVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 7352 IH

1 mentality thereof to deny a request to place, con2 struct, or modify a telecommunications service facil3 ity shall be— 

4 ‘‘(A) in writing; and 

5 ‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 

6 contained in a written record. 

7 ‘‘(5) FEES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of law, a State or local govern10 ment or instrumentality thereof may charge a 

11 fee that meets the requirements under subpara12 graph (B)— 

13 ‘‘(i) to consider a request for author14 ization to place, construct, or modify a 

15 telecommunications service facility; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) for use of a right-of-way or a fa17 cility in a right-of-way owned or managed 

18 by the government or instrumentality for 

19 the placement, construction, or modifica20 tion of a telecommunications service facil21 ity. 

22 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A fee charged 

23 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

24 ‘‘(i) competitively neutral, technology 

25 neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 7352 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) publicly disclosed; 

2 ‘‘(iii) calculated— 

3 ‘‘(I) based on actual and direct 

4 costs, such as costs for— 

5 ‘‘(aa) review and processing 

6 of requests; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) repairs and replace8 ment of— 

9 ‘‘(AA) components and 

10 materials resulting from and 

11 affected by the installation 

12 or improvement of tele13 communications service fa14 cilities; or 

15 ‘‘(BB) equipment that 

16 facilitates the installation or 

17 improvement of such facili18 ties; and 

19 ‘‘(II) using, for purposes of sub20 clause (I), only costs that are objec21 tively reasonable; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) described to a requesting party 

23 in a manner that distinguishes between— 

24 ‘‘(I) nonrecurring fees and recur25 ring fees; and 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 7352 IH

1 ‘‘(II) the use of facilities on 

2 which telecommunications service fa3 cilities are already located and those 

4 on which there are no telecommuni5 cations service facilities as of the date 

6 on which the complete request is re7 ceived by the government or instru8 mentality. 

9 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided 

10 in subsection (b)(3), nothing in this section shall be con11 strued to prevent any State or local government or instru12 mentality thereof from imposing any additional limitation 

13 or requirement relating to consideration by the govern14 ment or instrumentality of a request for authorization to 

15 place, construct, or modify a telecommunications service 

16 facility. 

17 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to any 

18 request to a State or local government or instrumentality 

19 thereof for authorization to place, construct, or modify any 

20 telecommunications service facility, including a request for 

21 authorization to place, construct, or modify a tele22 communications service facility in or on eligible support 

23 infrastructure. 

24 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 7352 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af2 fected by a final action or failure to act by a State 

3 or local government or instrumentality thereof that 

4 is inconsistent with this section may, not later than 

5 30 days after the action or failure to act, commence 

6 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

7 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—A court shall hear and decide an 

8 action described in paragraph (1) on an expedited 

9 basis. 

10 ‘‘(f) PRESERVATION OF STATE REGULATORY AU11 THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall affect the ability 

12 of a State to impose, on a competitively neutral and non13 discriminatory basis and consistent with section 254, re14 quirements necessary to preserve and advance universal 

15 service, protect the public safety and welfare, ensure the 

16 continued quality of telecommunications services, and 

17 safeguard the rights of consumers. 

18 ‘‘(g) PRESERVATION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN19 MENT AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this section affects the 

20 authority of a State or local government or instrumen21 tality thereof to manage the public rights-of-way or to re22 quire fair and reasonable compensation from telecommuni23 cations providers, on a competitively neutral and non24 discriminatory basis, for use of public rights-of-way on a 

25 competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, if the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 7352 IH

1 compensation required meets the requirements of sub2 section (b)(5). 

3 ‘‘(h) PREEMPTION.—If, after notice and an oppor4 tunity for public comment, the Commission determines 

5 that a State or local government or instrumentality there6 of has permitted or imposed any statute, regulation, or 

7 legal requirement that violates or is inconsistent with sub8 section (b), (f), or (g), the Commission shall preempt the 

9 enforcement of such statute, regulation, or legal require10 ment to the extent necessary to correct such violation or 

11 inconsistency. 

12 ‘‘(i) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

13 Nothing in this section shall affect the application of sec14 tion 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile service providers. 

15 ‘‘(j) RURAL MARKETS.—It shall not be a violation of 

16 this section for a State to require a telecommunications 

17 carrier that seeks to provide telephone exchange service 

18 or exchange access in a service area served by a rural tele19 phone company to meet the requirements in section 

20 214(e)(1) for designation as an eligible telecommuni21 cations carrier for that area before being permitted to pro22 vide such service. This subsection shall not apply— 

23 ‘‘(1) to a service area served by a rural tele24 phone company that has obtained an exemption, sus25 pension, or modification of section 251(c)(4) that efVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7352.IH H7352

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 7352 IH

1 fectively prevents a competitor from meeting the re2 quirements of section 214(e)(1); and 

3 ‘‘(2) to a provider of commercial mobile serv4 ices. 

5 ‘‘(k) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE6 CEIVED.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec8 tion, a request to a State or local government or in9 strumentality thereof shall be considered— 

10 ‘‘(A) complete if— 

11 ‘‘(i) the requesting party makes the 

12 request by submitting to the government 

13 or instrumentality the form required to be 

14 used for making the request; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the form submitted contains all 

16 of the information specified by the form as 

17 being required to be included in the form; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) the requesting party has not re20 ceived a written notice from the govern21 ment or instrumentality within 10 business 

22 days after the date on which the request is 

23 received by the government or instrumen24 tality— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 7352 IH

1 ‘‘(I) stating that the form does 

2 not contain all of the information re3 quired to be included in the form; and 

4 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 

5 required to be included in the form 

6 that was not included; and 

7 ‘‘(B) received by the government or instru8 mentality— 

9 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 

10 electronically, on the date on which the 

11 form required to be used for making the 

12 request is transmitted; 

13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub14 mitted in person, on the date on which the 

15 form required to be used for making the 

16 request is delivered to the individual or at 

17 the location specified in the form for in18 person submission; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub20 mitted in any other manner, on the date 

21 determined under regulations promulgated 

22 by the Commission for the manner in 

23 which the request is submitted. 

24 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.—If a 

25 State or local government or instrumentality thereof 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 7352 IH

1 requires the use of multiple forms for making a re2 quest, such forms shall be treated as a single form 

3 for purposes of paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

6 The term ‘eligible support infrastructure’ means in7 frastructure that supports or houses a facility for 

8 communication by wire (or is designed to and capa9 ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 

10 time when a complete request to a State or local 

11 government or instrumentality thereof for authoriza12 tion to place, construct, or modify a telecommuni13 cations service facility in or on the infrastructure is 

14 received by the government or instrumentality. 

15 ‘‘(2) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACIL16 ITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service facility’ 

17 means a facility for the provision of any interstate 

18 or intrastate telecommunications service.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS