I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7362 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes 

for personal wireless service facilities, including small personal wireless 

service facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2020 

Mr. LATTA 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 personal wireless service facilities, 

including small personal wireless 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 ‘‘Winning the Inter5 national Race for Economic Leadership and Expanding 

6 Service to Support Leadership Act’’ or the ‘‘WIRELESS 

7 Leadership Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY. 

2 Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 

3 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) 

4 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AU6 THORITY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as 

8 provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act 

9 shall limit or affect the authority of a State or 

10 local government or instrumentality thereof over 

11 decisions regarding the placement, construction, 

12 and modification of personal wireless service fa13 cilities. 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of 

16 the placement, construction, or modifica17 tion of a personal wireless service facility 

18 by any State or local government or instru19 mentality thereof— 

20 ‘‘(I) shall not unreasonably dis21 criminate among providers of the 

22 same service using comparable equip23 ment, including by providing exclusive 

24 or preferential use of facilities to a 

25 particular provider or class of pro26 viders of personal wireless service; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) shall not prohibit or have 

2 the effect of prohibiting the provision 

3 of personal wireless service, including 

4 by materially limiting or inhibiting the 

5 ability of any provider or potential 

6 provider of such service to compete in 

7 a fair and balanced legal and regu8 latory environment, including by lim9 iting the ability of any such provider 

10 or potential provider to— 

11 ‘‘(aa) fill gaps in coverage of 

12 personal wireless service; 

13 ‘‘(bb) densify a personal 

14 wireless service network; 

15 ‘‘(cc) introduce new personal 

16 wireless service; or 

17 ‘‘(dd) otherwise improve per18 sonal wireless service capabilities. 

19 ‘‘(ii) ENGINEERING STANDARDS; AES20 THETIC REQUIREMENTS.—It is not a viola21 tion of clause (i) for a State or local gov22 ernment or instrumentality thereof to es23 tablish for small personal wireless service 

24 facilities objective, reasonable, and non25 discriminatory— 


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1 ‘‘(I) structural engineering stand2 ards based on generally applicable 

3 codes; 

4 ‘‘(II) safety requirements; or 

5 ‘‘(III) aesthetic or concealment 

6 requirements. 

7 ‘‘(iii) TIMEFRAMES.— 

8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State or 

9 local government or instrumentality 

10 thereof shall grant or deny a complete 

11 request for authorization to place, 

12 construct, or modify a personal wire13 less service facility not later than— 

14 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a per15 sonal wireless service facility that 

16 is not a small personal wireless 

17 service facility— 

18 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 

19 for authorization to place, 

20 construct, or modify such fa21 cility on an eligible support 

22 structure, including in an 

23 area that has not previously 

24 been zoned for personal 

25 wireless service facilities 


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1 (other than small personal 

2 wireless service facilities), 90 

3 days after the date on which 

4 the complete request is re5 ceived by the government or 

6 instrumentality; or 

7 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 

8 for any other action relating 

9 to such facility, 150 days 

10 after the date on which the 

11 complete request is received 

12 by the government or instru13 mentality; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a small 

15 personal wireless service facil16 ity— 

17 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 

18 for authorization to place, 

19 construct, or modify such fa20 cility on an eligible support 

21 structure, including in an 

22 area that has not previously 

23 been zoned for personal 

24 wireless service facilities, 60 

25 days after the date on which 


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1 the complete request is re2 ceived by the government or 

3 instrumentality; or 

4 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 

5 for any other action relating 

6 to such facility, 90 days 

7 after the date on which the 

8 complete request is received 

9 by the government or instru10 mentality. 

11 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BATCHED

12 REQUESTS.—In the case of complete 

13 requests described in subclause (I) 

14 that are submitted as part of a single 

15 batch and received by the government 

16 or instrumentality on the same day, 

17 the applicable timeframe under such 

18 subclause for each request in the 

19 batch shall be the longest timeframe 

20 under such subclause that would be 

21 applicable to any request in the batch 

22 if such requests were submitted sepa23 rately. 

24 ‘‘(III) APPLICABILITY.—The ap25 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 


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1 shall apply collectively to all pro2 ceedings required by a State or local 

3 government or instrumentality thereof 

4 for the approval of the request. 

5 ‘‘(IV) NO TOLLING.—A time6 frame under subclause (I) may not be 

7 tolled by any moratorium, whether ex8 press or de facto, imposed by a State 

9 or local government or instrumentality 

10 thereof on the consideration of any re11 quest for authorization to place, con12 struct, or modify a personal wireless 

13 service facility. 

14 ‘‘(V) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The 

15 Commission may temporarily waive 

16 the applicability of subclause (I) for 

17 not longer than a single 30-day period 

18 for any complete request upon a dem19 onstration by a State or local govern20 ment or instrumentality thereof that 

21 the waiver would be consistent with 

22 the public interest, convenience, and 

23 necessity. 

24 ‘‘(iv) DEEMED GRANTED.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a State or 

2 local government or instrumentality 

3 thereof has neither granted nor denied 

4 a complete request within the applica5 ble timeframe under subclause (I) of 

6 clause (iii), including any temporary 

7 waiver granted under subclause (V) of 

8 such clause, the request shall be 

9 deemed granted on the date on which 

10 the government or instrumentality re11 ceives a written notice of the failure 

12 from the requesting party. 

13 ‘‘(II) RULE OF CONSTRUC14 TION.—In the case of a request that 

15 is deemed granted under subclause 

16 (I), the placement, construction, or 

17 modification requested in the request 

18 shall be considered to be authorized, 

19 without any further action by the gov20 ernment or instrumentality, beginning 

21 on the date on which the request is 

22 deemed granted under such subclause. 

23 ‘‘(v) WRITTEN DECISION AND

24 RECORD.—Any decision by a State or local 

25 government or instrumentality thereof to 


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1 deny a request for authorization to place, 

2 construct, or modify a personal wireless 

3 service facility shall be— 

4 ‘‘(I) in writing; and 

5 ‘‘(II) supported by substantial 

6 evidence contained in a written 

7 record. 

8 ‘‘(vi) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF

9 RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State 

10 or local government or instrumentality 

11 thereof may regulate the placement, con12 struction, or modification of personal wire13 less service facilities on the basis of the en14 vironmental effects of radio frequency 

15 emissions to the extent that such facilities 

16 comply with the Commission’s regulations 

17 concerning such emissions. 

18 ‘‘(vii) FEES.—Notwithstanding any 

19 other provision of law, a State or local gov20 ernment or instrumentality thereof may 

21 charge a fee to consider a request for au22 thorization to place, construct, or modify a 

23 personal wireless service facility, or a fee 

24 for use of a right-of-way or a facility in a 

25 right-of-way owned or managed by the govVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jul 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7362.IH H7362

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1 ernment or instrumentality for the place2 ment, construction, or modification of a 

3 personal wireless service facility, if the fee 

4 is— 

5 ‘‘(I) competitively neutral, tech6 nology neutral, and nondiscrim7 inatory; 

8 ‘‘(II) publicly disclosed; 

9 ‘‘(III) calculated— 

10 ‘‘(aa) based on actual and 

11 direct costs, such as costs for— 

12 ‘‘(AA) review and proc13 essing of requests; and 

14 ‘‘(BB) repairs and re15 placement of components 

16 and materials resulting from 

17 and affected by the installa18 tion or improvement of per19 sonal wireless service facili20 ties, or repairs and replace21 ment of equipment that fa22 cilitates the installation or 

23 improvement of such facili24 ties; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) using, for purposes of 

2 item (aa), only costs that are ob3 jectively reasonable; and 

4 ‘‘(IV) described to a requesting 

5 party in a manner that distinguishes 

6 between— 

7 ‘‘(aa) nonrecurring fees and 

8 recurring fees; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) the use of facilities on 

10 which personal wireless service 

11 facilities are already located and 

12 those on which there are no per13 sonal wireless service facilities as 

14 of the date on which the complete 

15 request is received by the govern16 ment or instrumentality. 

17 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as 

18 provided in subparagraph (B)(iv), nothing in 

19 this paragraph shall be construed to prevent 

20 any State or local government or instrumen21 tality thereof from imposing any additional limi22 tation or requirement relating to consideration 

23 by the government or instrumentality of a re24 quest for authorization to place, construct, or 

25 modify a personal wireless service facility. 


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1 ‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY.—This paragraph 

2 shall apply to any request to a State or local 

3 government or instrumentality thereof for au4 thorization to place, construct, or modify any 

5 personal wireless service facility, including a re6 quest for authorization to place, construct, or 

7 modify a personal wireless service facility on an 

8 eligible support structure. 

9 ‘‘(E) JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE RE10 VIEW.— 

11 ‘‘(i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person 

12 adversely affected by any final action or 

13 failure to act by a State or local govern14 ment or any instrumentality thereof that is 

15 inconsistent with this paragraph may, 

16 within 30 days after the action or failure 

17 to act, commence an action in any court of 

18 competent jurisdiction, which shall hear 

19 and decide the action on an expedited 

20 basis. 

21 ‘‘(ii) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Any 

22 person adversely affected by an act or fail23 ure to act by a State or local government 

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1 consistent with subparagraph (B)(vi) may 

2 petition the Commission for relief. 

3 ‘‘(F) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM4 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

6 this paragraph, a request to a State or 

7 local government or instrumentality thereof 

8 shall be considered— 

9 ‘‘(I) complete if— 

10 ‘‘(aa) the requesting party 

11 makes the request by submitting 

12 to the government or instrumen13 tality the form required to be 

14 used for making the request; 

15 ‘‘(bb) the form submitted 

16 contains all of the information 

17 specified by the form as being re18 quired to be included in the form; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(cc) the requesting party 

21 has not received a written notice 

22 from the government or instru23 mentality within 10 business 

24 days after the date on which the 


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1 request is received by the govern2 ment or instrumentality— 

3 ‘‘(AA) stating that the 

4 form does not contain all of 

5 the information required to 

6 be included in the form; and 

7 ‘‘(BB) identifying the 

8 information required to be 

9 included in the form that 

10 was not included; and 

11 ‘‘(II) received by the government 

12 or instrumentality— 

13 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re14 quest submitted electronically, on 

15 the date on which the form re16 quired to be used for making the 

17 request is transmitted; 

18 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re19 quest submitted in person, on the 

20 date on which the form required 

21 to be used for making the re22 quest is delivered to the indi23 vidual or at the location specified 

24 in the form for in-person submis25 sion; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re2 quest submitted in any other 

3 manner, on the date determined 

4 under regulations promulgated by 

5 the Commission for the manner 

6 in which the request is sub7 mitted. 

8 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE

9 FORMS.—If a State or local government or 

10 instrumentality thereof requires the use of 

11 multiple forms for making a request, such 

12 forms shall be treated as a single form for 

13 purposes of clause (i). 

14 ‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(i) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ 

16 means an apparatus designed for the pur17 pose of emitting radiofrequency radiation, 

18 to be operated or operating from a fixed 

19 location for the transmission of writing, 

20 signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 

21 sounds of all kinds. 

22 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.— 

23 The term ‘communications network’ means 

24 a network used to provide a communica25 tions service. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.— 

2 The term ‘communications service’ 

3 means— 

4 ‘‘(I) cable service, as defined in 

5 section 602; 

6 ‘‘(II) information service; 

7 ‘‘(III) telecommunications serv8 ice; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) personal wireless service. 

10 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUC11 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support struc12 ture’ means a tower, base station, or other 

13 structure that supports a personal wireless 

14 service facility at the time when a complete 

15 request to a State or local government or 

16 instrumentality thereof for authorization to 

17 place, construct, or modify a personal wire18 less service facility on the structure is re19 ceived by the government or instrumen20 tality. 

21 ‘‘(v) GENERALLY APPLICABLE

22 CODE.—The term ‘generally applicable 

23 code’ means a uniform building, fire, elec24 trical, plumbing, or mechanical code adopt25 ed by a national code organization, or a 


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1 local amendment to such a code, to the ex2 tent not inconsistent with this Act. 

3 ‘‘(vi) NETWORK INTERFACE DE4 VICE.—The term ‘network interface device’ 

5 means a telecommunications demarcation 

6 device and cross-connect point that— 

7 ‘‘(I) is adjacent or proximate 

8 to— 

9 ‘‘(aa) a small personal wire10 less service facility; or 

11 ‘‘(bb) a structure supporting 

12 a small personal wireless service 

13 facility; and 

14 ‘‘(II) demarcates the boundary 

15 with any wireline backhaul facility. 

16 ‘‘(vii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERV17 ICE.—The term ‘personal wireless service’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(I) commercial mobile service; 

20 ‘‘(II) commercial mobile data 

21 service (as defined in section 6001 of 

22 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 

23 Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

24 1401)); 


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1 ‘‘(III) unlicensed wireless service; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(IV) common carrier wireless 

4 exchange access service. 

5 ‘‘(viii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE

6 FACILITY.—The term ‘personal wireless 

7 service facility’ means a facility for the 

8 provision of personal wireless service. 

9 ‘‘(ix) SMALL PERSONAL WIRELESS

10 SERVICE FACILITY.—The term ‘small per11 sonal wireless service facility’— 

12 ‘‘(I) means a personal wireless 

13 service facility in which each antenna 

14 is not more than 3 cubic feet in vol15 ume; and 

16 ‘‘(II) does not include a wireline 

17 backhaul facility. 

18 ‘‘(x) UNLICENSED WIRELESS SERV19 ICE.—The term ‘unlicensed wireless serv20 ice’— 

21 ‘‘(I) means the offering of tele22 communications service using a duly 

23 authorized device that does not re24 quire an individual license; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) does not include the provi2 sion of direct-to-home satellite service, 

3 as defined in section 303(v). 

4 ‘‘(xi) WIRELINE BACKHAUL FACIL5 ITY.—The term ‘wireline backhaul facility’ 

6 means an above-ground or underground 

7 wireline facility used to transport commu8 nications service or other electronic com9 munications from a small personal wireless 

10 service facility or the adjacent network 

11 interface device of such facility to a com12 munications network.’’. 

Æ 


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