I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1060 

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 

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 

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, including by providing 

23 exclusive or preferential use of facili24 ties to a particular provider or class of 

25 providers of personal wireless service; 

26 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) shall not prohibit or have 

2 the effect of prohibiting the provision 

3 or enhancement of personal wireless 

4 service. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ENGINEERING STANDARDS; AES6 THETIC REQUIREMENTS.—It is not a viola7 tion of clause (i) for a State or local gov8 ernment or instrumentality thereof to es9 tablish for small personal wireless service 

10 facilities objective, reasonable, and non11 discriminatory— 

12 ‘‘(I) structural engineering stand13 ards based on generally applicable 

14 codes; 

15 ‘‘(II) safety requirements; or 

16 ‘‘(III) aesthetic or concealment 

17 requirements. 

18 ‘‘(iii) TIMEFRAMES.— 

19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State or 

20 local government or instrumentality 

21 thereof shall grant or deny a complete 

22 request for authorization to place, 

23 construct, or modify a personal wire24 less service facility not later than— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a per2 sonal wireless service facility that 

3 is not a small personal wireless 

4 service facility— 

5 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 

6 for authorization to place, 

7 construct, or modify such fa8 cility on an eligible support 

9 structure, including in an 

10 area that has not previously 

11 been zoned for personal 

12 wireless service facilities 

13 (other than small personal 

14 wireless service facilities), 90 

15 days after the date on which 

16 the complete request is re17 ceived by the government or 

18 instrumentality; or 

19 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 

20 for any other action relating 

21 to such facility, 150 days 

22 after the date on which the 

23 complete request is received 

24 by the government or instru25 mentality; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a small 

2 personal wireless service facil3 ity— 

4 ‘‘(AA) if the request is 

5 for authorization to place, 

6 construct, or modify such fa7 cility on an eligible support 

8 structure, including in an 

9 area that has not previously 

10 been zoned for personal 

11 wireless service facilities, 60 

12 days after the date on which 

13 the complete request is re14 ceived by the government or 

15 instrumentality; or 

16 ‘‘(BB) if the request is 

17 for any other action relating 

18 to such facility, 90 days 

19 after the date on which the 

20 complete request is received 

21 by the government or instru22 mentality. 

23 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BATCHED

24 REQUESTS.—In the case of complete 

25 requests described in subclause (I) 


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1 that are submitted as part of a single 

2 batch and received by the government 

3 or instrumentality on the same day, 

4 the applicable timeframe under such 

5 subclause for each request in the 

6 batch shall be the longest timeframe 

7 under such subclause that would be 

8 applicable to any request in the batch 

9 if such requests were submitted sepa10 rately. 

11 ‘‘(III) APPLICABILITY.—The ap12 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 

13 shall apply collectively to all pro14 ceedings required by a State or local 

15 government or instrumentality thereof 

16 for the approval of the request. 

17 ‘‘(IV) NO TOLLING.—A time18 frame under subclause (I) may not be 

19 tolled by any moratorium, whether ex20 press or de facto, imposed by a State 

21 or local government or instrumentality 

22 thereof on the consideration of any re23 quest for authorization to place, con24 struct, or modify a personal wireless 

25 service facility. 


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1 ‘‘(V) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The 

2 Commission may temporarily waive 

3 the applicability of subclause (I) for 

4 not longer than a single 30-day period 

5 for any complete request upon a dem6 onstration by a State or local govern7 ment or instrumentality thereof that 

8 the waiver would be consistent with 

9 the public interest, convenience, and 

10 necessity. 

11 ‘‘(iv) DEEMED GRANTED.— 

12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a State or 

13 local government or instrumentality 

14 thereof has neither granted nor denied 

15 a complete request within the applica16 ble timeframe under subclause (I) of 

17 clause (iii), including any temporary 

18 waiver granted under subclause (V) of 

19 such clause, the request shall be 

20 deemed granted on the date on which 

21 the government or instrumentality re22 ceives a written notice of the failure 

23 from the requesting party. 

24 ‘‘(II) RULE OF CONSTRUC25 TION.—In the case of a request that 


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1 is deemed granted under subclause 

2 (I), the placement, construction, or 

3 modification requested in the request 

4 shall be considered to be authorized, 

5 without any further action by the gov6 ernment or instrumentality, beginning 

7 on the date on which the request is 

8 deemed granted under such subclause. 

9 ‘‘(v) WRITTEN DECISION AND

10 RECORD.—Any decision by a State or local 

11 government or instrumentality thereof to 

12 deny a request for authorization to place, 

13 construct, or modify a personal wireless 

14 service facility shall be— 

15 ‘‘(I) in writing; and 

16 ‘‘(II) supported by substantial 

17 evidence contained in a written 

18 record. 

19 ‘‘(vi) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF

20 RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State 

21 or local government or instrumentality 

22 thereof may regulate the placement, con23 struction, or modification of personal wire24 less service facilities on the basis of the en25 vironmental effects of radio frequency 


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1 emissions to the extent that such facilities 

2 comply with the Commission’s regulations 

3 concerning such emissions. 

4 ‘‘(vii) FEES.—Notwithstanding any 

5 other provision of law, a State or local gov6 ernment or instrumentality thereof may 

7 charge a fee to consider a request for au8 thorization to place, construct, or modify a 

9 personal wireless service facility, or a fee 

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

11 right-of-way owned or managed by the gov12 ernment or instrumentality for the place13 ment, construction, or modification of a 

14 personal wireless service facility, if the fee 

15 is— 

16 ‘‘(I) competitively neutral, tech17 nology neutral, and nondiscrim18 inatory; 

19 ‘‘(II) publicly disclosed; 

20 ‘‘(III) calculated— 

21 ‘‘(aa) based on actual and 

22 direct costs, such as costs for— 

23 ‘‘(AA) review and proc24 essing of requests; and 


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1 ‘‘(BB) repairs and re2 placement of components 

3 and materials resulting from 

4 and affected by the installa5 tion or improvement of per6 sonal wireless service facili7 ties, or repairs and replace8 ment of equipment that fa9 cilitates the installation or 

10 improvement of such facili11 ties; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) using, for purposes of 

13 item (aa), only costs that are ob14 jectively reasonable; and 

15 ‘‘(IV) described to a requesting 

16 party in a manner that distinguishes 

17 between— 

18 ‘‘(aa) nonrecurring fees and 

19 recurring fees; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) the use of facilities on 

21 which personal wireless service 

22 facilities are already located and 

23 those on which there are no per24 sonal wireless service facilities as 

25 of the date on which the complete 


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1 request is received by the govern2 ment or instrumentality. 

3 ‘‘(C) JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE RE4 VIEW.— 

5 ‘‘(i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person 

6 adversely affected by any final action or 

7 failure to act by a State or local govern8 ment or any instrumentality thereof that is 

9 inconsistent with this paragraph may, 

10 within 30 days after the action or failure 

11 to act, commence an action in any court of 

12 competent jurisdiction, which shall hear 

13 and decide the action on an expedited 

14 basis. 

15 ‘‘(ii) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

16 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Any person 

17 adversely affected by any final action 

18 or failure to act by a State or local 

19 government or any instrumentality 

20 thereof that is inconsistent with this 

21 paragraph may petition the Commis22 sion to order the government or in23 strumentality to reconsider the action 

24 or failure to act. 


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1 ‘‘(II) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COM2 MENT; TIMING.—Not later than 60 

3 days after receiving a petition under 

4 subclause (I), the Commission shall— 

5 ‘‘(aa) provide public notice 

6 of, and an opportunity for public 

7 comment on, such petition; and 

8 ‘‘(bb) grant or deny such pe9 tition. 

10 ‘‘(D) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM11 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

12 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

13 COMPLETE.— 

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur15 poses of this paragraph, a request to 

16 a State or local government or instru17 mentality thereof shall be considered 

18 complete if the requesting party has 

19 not received a written notice from the 

20 government or instrumentality within 

21 10 business days after the date on 

22 which the request is received by the 

23 government or instrumentality— 

24 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in25 formation (including any form or 


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1 other document) required by the 

2 government or instrumentality to 

3 be submitted for the request to 

4 be considered complete has not 

5 been submitted; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor7 mation required to be submitted 

8 that was not submitted. 

9 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

10 clause, the term ‘received by the gov11 ernment or instrumentality’ means— 

12 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re13 quest submitted electronically, on 

14 the date on which the request is 

15 transmitted; 

16 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re17 quest submitted in person, on the 

18 date on which the request is de19 livered to the individual or at the 

20 location specified by the govern21 ment or instrumentality for in22 person submission; and 

23 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re24 quest submitted in any other 

25 manner, on the date determined 


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1 under regulations promulgated by 

2 the Commission for the manner 

3 in which the request is sub4 mitted. 

5 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON6 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

7 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 

8 considered received on the date on which 

9 the requesting party submits to the gov10 ernment or instrumentality all information 

11 (including any form or other document) re12 quired by the government or instrumen13 tality to be submitted for the request to be 

14 considered complete. 

15 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(i) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ 

17 means an apparatus designed for the pur18 pose of emitting radiofrequency radiation, 

19 to be operated or operating from a fixed 

20 location for the transmission of writing, 

21 signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 

22 sounds of all kinds. 

23 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.— 

24 The term ‘communications network’ means 


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1 a network used to provide a communica2 tions service. 

3 ‘‘(iii) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.— 

4 The term ‘communications service’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(I) cable service, as defined in 

7 section 602; 

8 ‘‘(II) information service; 

9 ‘‘(III) telecommunications serv10 ice; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) personal wireless service. 

12 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUC13 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support struc14 ture’ means a tower, base station, or other 

15 structure that supports a personal wireless 

16 service facility at the time when a complete 

17 request to a State or local government or 

18 instrumentality thereof for authorization to 

19 place, construct, or modify a personal wire20 less service facility on the structure is re21 ceived by the government or instrumen22 tality. 

23 ‘‘(v) GENERALLY APPLICABLE

24 CODE.—The term ‘generally applicable 

25 code’ means a uniform building, fire, elecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1060.IH H1060

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1 trical, plumbing, or mechanical code adopt2 ed by a national code organization, or a 

3 local amendment to such a code, to the ex4 tent not inconsistent with this Act. 

5 ‘‘(vi) NETWORK INTERFACE DE6 VICE.—The term ‘network interface device’ 

7 means a telecommunications demarcation 

8 device and cross-connect point that— 

9 ‘‘(I) is adjacent or proximate 

10 to— 

11 ‘‘(aa) a small personal wire12 less service facility; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) a structure supporting 

14 a small personal wireless service 

15 facility; and 

16 ‘‘(II) demarcates the boundary 

17 with any wireline backhaul facility. 

18 ‘‘(vii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERV19 ICE.—The term ‘personal wireless service’ 

20 means— 

21 ‘‘(I) commercial mobile service; 

22 ‘‘(II) commercial mobile data 

23 service (as defined in section 6001 of 

24 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 


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

2 1401)); 

3 ‘‘(III) unlicensed wireless service; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(IV) common carrier wireless 

6 exchange access service. 

7 ‘‘(viii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE

8 FACILITY.—The term ‘personal wireless 

9 service facility’ means a facility for the 

10 provision of personal wireless service. 

11 ‘‘(ix) SMALL PERSONAL WIRELESS

12 SERVICE FACILITY.—The term ‘small per13 sonal wireless service facility’— 

14 ‘‘(I) means a personal wireless 

15 service facility in which each antenna 

16 is not more than 3 cubic feet in vol17 ume; and 

18 ‘‘(II) does not include a wireline 

19 backhaul facility. 

20 ‘‘(x) UNLICENSED WIRELESS SERV21 ICE.—The term ‘unlicensed wireless serv22 ice’— 

23 ‘‘(I) means the offering of tele24 communications service using a duly 


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1 authorized device that does not re2 quire an individual license; and 

3 ‘‘(II) does not include the provi4 sion of direct-to-home satellite serv5 ices, as defined in section 303(v). 

6 ‘‘(xi) WIRELINE BACKHAUL FACIL7 ITY.—The term ‘wireline backhaul facility’ 

8 means an above-ground or underground 

9 wireline facility used to transport commu10 nications service or other electronic com11 munications from a small personal wireless 

12 service facility or the adjacent network 

13 interface device of such facility to a com14 munications network.’’. 

Æ 


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