I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1061 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising 

authority, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 

Mrs. LESKO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve 

cable franchising authority, 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 ‘‘Connecting And Build5 ing Lines for Expedited Expansion Act’’ or the ‘‘CABLE 

6 Expansion Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUC2 TION, OR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN FACILI3 TIES. 

4 Section 624 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

5 U.S.C. 544) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(j) REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUC8 TION, OR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) NO AFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF FRAN10 CHISING AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), and notwithstanding any other provision 

12 of this section, nothing in this title shall limit or af13 fect the authority of a franchising authority over de14 cisions regarding the placement, construction, and 

15 modification of a covered facility within the jurisdic16 tion of such franchising authority. 

17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ABILITY TO PROVIDE OR ENHANCE

19 CABLE SERVICE.—The regulation of the place20 ment, construction, or modification of a covered 

21 facility by a franchising authority shall not pro22 hibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability 

23 of a cable operator to provide cable service, or 

24 enhance cable service provided, under a fran25 chise granted by such franchising authority. 

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1 ‘‘(B) TIMING OF DECISIONS ON REQUESTS

2 FOR AUTHORIZATIONS TO PLACE, CONSTRUCT, 

3 OR MODIFY FACILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(i) REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION

5 TO PLACE, CONSTRUCT, OR MODIFY FACIL6 ITY.— 

7 ‘‘(I) TIMEFRAME.—A franchising 

8 authority shall approve or deny a 

9 complete request for authorization to 

10 place, construct, or modify a covered 

11 facility not later than— 

12 ‘‘(aa) if the request is for 

13 authorization to place, construct, 

14 or modify a covered facility in or 

15 on an eligible support infrastruc16 ture, 90 days after the date on 

17 which the franchising authority 

18 receives the request; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) if the request is not 

20 for authorization to place, con21 struct modify a covered facility in 

22 or on an eligible support infra23 structure, 150 days after the 

24 date on which franchising author25 ity receives the request. 

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1 ‘‘(II) APPLICABILITY.—Notwith2 standing any provision of this title, 

3 the applicable timeframe under sub4 paragraph (A) shall apply collectively 

5 to all proceedings required by a fran6 chising authority for the approval of 

7 the request. 

8 ‘‘(III) NO TOLLING.—A time9 frame under subparagraph (A) may 

10 not be tolled by any moratorium, 

11 whether express or de facto, imposed 

12 by a franchising authority on the con13 sideration of any request for author14 ization to place, construct, or modify 

15 a facility for the provision of cable 

16 service. 

17 ‘‘(IV) WRITTEN DECISION AND

18 RECORD.—Any decision by a fran19 chising authority to deny a complete 

20 request for authorization to place, 

21 construct, or modify a covered facility 

22 shall be— 

23 ‘‘(aa) in writing; 

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1 ‘‘(bb) supported by substan2 tial evidence contained in a writ3 ten record; and 

4 ‘‘(cc) publicly released, con5 temporaneously with the decision. 

6 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM7 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

8 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

9 COMPLETE.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur11 poses of this subparagraph (B), a re12 quest to a franchising authority shall 

13 be considered complete if the request14 ing party has not received a written 

15 notice from the franchising authority 

16 within 10 business days after the date 

17 on which the request is received by 

18 the franchising authority— 

19 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in20 formation (including any form or 

21 other document) required by the 

22 franchising authority to be sub23 mitted for the request to be con24 sidered complete has not been 

25 submitted; and 

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1 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor2 mation required to be submitted 

3 that was not submitted. 

4 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

5 clause, the term ‘received by the fran6 chising authority’ means— 

7 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re8 quest submitted electronically, on 

9 the date on which the request is 

10 transmitted; 

11 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re12 quest submitted in person, on the 

13 date on which the request is de14 livered to the individual or at the 

15 location specified by the fran16 chising authority for in-person 

17 submission; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re19 quest submitted in any other 

20 manner, on the date determined 

21 under regulations promulgated by 

22 the Commission for the manner 

23 in which the request is sub24 mitted. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON2 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

3 subparagraph (B), a complete request shall 

4 be considered received on the date on 

5 which the requesting party submits to the 

6 franchising authority all information (in7 cluding any form or other document) re8 quired by the franchising authority to be 

9 submitted for the request to be considered 

10 complete. 

11 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUC13 TURE.—The term ‘eligible support infra14 structure’ means infrastructure that sup15 ports or houses a facility for communica16 tion by wire (or is designed to and capable 

17 of supporting or housing such facility) at 

18 the time when a complete request to a 

19 franchising authority for authorization to 

20 place, construct, or modify a covered facil21 ity in or on the infrastructure is received 

22 by the franchising authority. 

23 ‘‘(ii) COVERED FACILITY.—The term 

24 ‘covered facility’ means a facility— 

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1 ‘‘(I) for the provision of cable 

2 service; and 

3 ‘‘(II) that serves subscribers 

4 using an easement or public right-of5 way.’’. 

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