I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1051 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes 

for telecommunications service facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 

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: 

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

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No State or local statute or reg3 ulation, or other State or local legal requirement, may pro4 hibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability of any 

5 entity to provide or enhance any interstate or intrastate 

6 telecommunications service. 

7 ‘‘(b) PLACEMENT, CONSTRUCTION, OR MODIFICA8 TION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACILITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON UNREASONABLE DIS10 CRIMINATION AMONG PROVIDERS OF FUNCTIONALLY

11 EQUIVALENT SERVICES.—The regulation of the 

12 placement, construction, or modification of a tele13 communications service facility by any State or local 

14 government or instrumentality thereof shall not un15 reasonably discriminate among providers of function16 ally equivalent services. 

17 ‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME TO GRANT OR DENY RE18 QUESTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or local gov20 ernment or instrumentality thereof shall grant 

21 or deny a complete request for authorization to 

22 place, construct, or modify a telecommuni23 cations service facility not later than— 

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

25 to place, construct, or modify such facility 

26 in or on eligible support infrastructure, 90 

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1 days after the date on which the complete 

2 request is received by the government or 

3 instrumentality; or 

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

5 such facility, 150 days after the date on 

6 which the complete request is received by 

7 the government or instrumentality. 

8 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—The applicable 

9 timeframe under subparagraph (A) shall apply 

10 collectively to all proceedings required by a 

11 State or local government or instrumentality 

12 thereof for the approval of the request. 

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

14 subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any 

15 moratorium, whether express or de facto, im16 posed by a State or local government or instru17 mentality thereof on the consideration of any 

18 request for authorization to place, construct, or 

19 modify a telecommunications service facility. 

20 ‘‘(D) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The Commis21 sion may temporarily waive the applicability of 

22 subparagraph (A) for not longer than a single 

23 30-day period for any complete request upon a 

24 demonstration by a State or local government 

25 or instrumentality thereof that the waiver would 

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1 be consistent with the public interest, conven2 ience, and necessity. 

3 ‘‘(3) DEEMED GRANTED.— 

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

5 government or instrumentality thereof has nei6 ther granted nor denied a complete request 

7 within the applicable timeframe under para8 graph (2), the request shall be deemed granted 

9 on the date on which the government or instru10 mentality receives a written notice of the failure 

11 from the requesting party. 

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

13 case of a request that is deemed granted under 

14 subparagraph (A), the placement, construction, 

15 or modification requested in such request shall 

16 be considered to be authorized, without any fur17 ther action by the government or instrumen18 tality, beginning on the date on which such re19 quest is deemed granted under such subpara20 graph. 

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

22 decision by a State or local government or instru23 mentality thereof to deny a request to place, con24 struct, or modify a telecommunications service facil25 ity shall be— 

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1 ‘‘(A) in writing; and 

2 ‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 

3 contained in a written record. 

4 ‘‘(5) FEES.— 

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

6 other provision of law, a State or local govern7 ment or instrumentality thereof may charge a 

8 fee that meets the requirements under subpara9 graph (B)— 

10 ‘‘(i) to consider a request for author11 ization to place, construct, or modify a 

12 telecommunications service facility; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) for use of a right-of-way or a fa14 cility in a right-of-way owned or managed 

15 by the government or instrumentality for 

16 the placement, construction, or modifica17 tion of a telecommunications service facil18 ity. 

19 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A fee charged 

20 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

21 ‘‘(i) competitively neutral, technology 

22 neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 

23 ‘‘(ii) publicly disclosed; 

24 ‘‘(iii) calculated— 

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1 ‘‘(I) based on actual and direct 

2 costs, such as costs for— 

3 ‘‘(aa) review and processing 

4 of requests; and 

5 ‘‘(bb) repairs and replace6 ment of— 

7 ‘‘(AA) components and 

8 materials resulting from and 

9 affected by the installation 

10 or improvement of tele11 communications service fa12 cilities; or 

13 ‘‘(BB) equipment that 

14 facilitates the installation or 

15 improvement of such facili16 ties; and 

17 ‘‘(II) using, for purposes of sub18 clause (I), only costs that are objec19 tively reasonable; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) described to a requesting party 

21 in a manner that distinguishes between— 

22 ‘‘(I) nonrecurring fees and recur23 ring fees; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the use of facilities on 

25 which telecommunications service faVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1051.IH H1051
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1 cilities are already located and those 

2 on which there are no telecommuni3 cations service facilities as of the date 

4 on which the complete request is re5 ceived by the government or instru6 mentality. 

7 ‘‘(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af9 fected by a final action or failure to act by a State 

10 or local government or instrumentality thereof that 

11 is inconsistent with this section may, not later than 

12 30 days after the action or failure to act, commence 

13 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

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

15 action described in paragraph (1) on an expedited 

16 basis. 

17 ‘‘(d) PRESERVATION OF STATE REGULATORY AU18 THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall affect the ability 

19 of a State to impose, on a competitively neutral and non20 discriminatory basis and consistent with section 254, re21 quirements necessary to preserve and advance universal 

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

23 continued quality of telecommunications services, and 

24 safeguard the rights of consumers. 

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1 ‘‘(e) PRESERVATION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN2 MENT AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this section affects the 

3 authority of a State or local government or instrumen4 tality thereof to manage the public rights-of-way or to re5 quire fair and reasonable compensation from telecommuni6 cations providers, on a competitively neutral and non7 discriminatory basis, for use of public rights-of-way on a 

8 competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, if the 

9 compensation required meets the requirements of sub10 section (b)(5). 

11 ‘‘(f) PREEMPTION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, after notice and an op13 portunity for public comment, the Commission deter14 mines that a State or local government or instru15 mentality thereof has permitted or imposed any stat16 ute, regulation, or legal requirement that violates or 

17 is inconsistent with this section, the Commission 

18 shall preempt the enforcement of such statute, regu19 lation, or legal requirement to the extent necessary 

20 to correct such violation or inconsistency. 

21 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—Not later than 60 days after re22 ceiving a petition for preemption of the enforcement 

23 of a statute, regulation, or legal requirement as de24 scribed in paragraph (1), the Commission shall 

25 grant or deny the petition. 

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1 ‘‘(g) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

2 Nothing in this section shall affect the application of sec3 tion 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile service providers. 

4 ‘‘(h) RURAL MARKETS.—It shall not be a violation 

5 of this section for a State to require a telecommunications 

6 carrier that seeks to provide telephone exchange service 

7 or exchange access in a service area served by a rural tele8 phone company to meet the requirements in section 

9 214(e)(1) for designation as an eligible telecommuni10 cations carrier for that area before being permitted to pro11 vide such service. This subsection shall not apply— 

12 ‘‘(1) to a service area served by a rural tele13 phone company that has obtained an exemption, sus14 pension, or modification of section 251(c)(4) that ef15 fectively prevents a competitor from meeting the re16 quirements of section 214(e)(1); and 

17 ‘‘(2) to a provider of commercial mobile serv18 ices. 

19 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE20 CEIVED.— 

21 ‘‘(1) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM22 PLETE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

24 this section, a request to a State or local gov25 ernment or instrumentality thereof shall be conVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1051.IH H1051
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1 sidered complete if the requesting party has not 

2 received a written notice from the government 

3 or instrumentality within 10 business days after 

4 the date on which the request is received by the 

5 government or instrumentality— 

6 ‘‘(i) stating that all the information 

7 (including any form or other document) re8 quired by the government or instrumen9 tality to be submitted for the request to be 

10 considered complete has not been sub11 mitted; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) identifying the information re13 quired to be submitted that was not sub14 mitted. 

15 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

16 term ‘received by the government or instrumen17 tality’ means— 

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

19 electronically, on the date on which the re20 quest is transmitted; 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub22 mitted in person, on the date on which the 

23 request is delivered to the individual or at 

24 the location specified by the government or 

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1 instrumentality for in-person submission; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub4 mitted in any other manner, on the date 

5 determined under regulations promulgated 

6 by the Commission for the manner in 

7 which the request is submitted. 

8 ‘‘(2) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSIDERED

9 RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this section, a com10 plete request shall be considered received on the date 

11 on which the requesting party submits to the govern12 ment or instrumentality all information (including 

13 any form or other document) required by the govern14 ment or instrumentality to be submitted for the re15 quest to be considered complete. 

16 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

18 The term ‘eligible support infrastructure’ means in19 frastructure that supports or houses a facility for 

20 communication by wire (or is designed to and capa21 ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 

22 time when a complete request to a State or local 

23 government or instrumentality thereof for authoriza24 tion to place, construct, or modify a telecommuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1051.IH H1051
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1 cations service facility in or on the infrastructure is 

2 received by the government or instrumentality. 

3 ‘‘(2) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FACIL4 ITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service facility’ 

5 means a facility for the provision of any interstate 

6 or intrastate telecommunications service.’’. 

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