I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3675 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for greater transparency and efficiency in the procedures followed by the Federal Communications Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2013 

Mr. WALDEN (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

greater transparency and efficiency in the procedures 

followed by the Federal Communications Commission. 

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 ‘‘Federal Communica5 tions Commission Process Reform Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FCC PROCESS REFORM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Communications Act 

8 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

9 after section 12 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 13. TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY. 

2 ‘‘(a) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR NOTICES OF PRO4 POSED RULEMAKING.—The Commission may not 

5 issue a notice of proposed rulemaking unless the 

6 Commission provides for a period of not less than 30 

7 days for the submission of comments and an addi8 tional period of not less than 30 days for the sub9 mission of reply comments on such notice and the 

10 Commission includes in such notice the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Either— 

12 ‘‘(i) an identification of— 

13 ‘‘(I) a notice of inquiry, a prior 

14 notice of proposed rulemaking, or a 

15 notice on a petition for rulemaking 

16 issued by the Commission during the 

17 3-year period preceding the issuance 

18 of the notice of proposed rulemaking 

19 concerned and of which such notice is 

20 a logical outgrowth; or 

21 ‘‘(II) an order of a court review22 ing action by the Commission or oth23 erwise directing the Commission to 

24 act that was issued by the court dur25 ing the 3-year period preceding the 

26 issuance of the notice of proposed 


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1 rulemaking concerned and in response 

2 to which such notice is being issued; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(ii) a finding (together with a brief 

5 statement of reasons therefor)— 

6 ‘‘(I) that the proposed rule or the 

7 proposed amendment of an existing 

8 rule will not impose additional bur9 dens on industry or consumers; or 

10 ‘‘(II) for good cause, that a no11 tice of inquiry is impracticable, unnec12 essary, or contrary to the public inter13 est. 

14 ‘‘(B) The specific language of the proposed 

15 rule or the proposed amendment of an existing 

16 rule. 

17 ‘‘(C) In the case of a proposal to create a 

18 program activity, proposed performance meas19 ures for evaluating the effectiveness of the pro20 gram activity. 

21 ‘‘(D) In the case of a proposal to substan22 tially change a program activity— 

23 ‘‘(i) proposed performance measures 

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1 gram activity as proposed to be changed; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(ii) a proposed finding that existing 

4 performance measures will effectively 

5 evaluate the program activity as proposed 

6 to be changed. 

7 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR RULES.—Except as 

8 provided in the 3rd sentence of section 553(b) of 

9 title 5, United States Code, the Commission may not 

10 adopt or amend a rule unless— 

11 ‘‘(A) the specific language of the adopted 

12 rule or the amendment of an existing rule is a 

13 logical outgrowth of the specific language of a 

14 proposed rule or a proposed amendment of an 

15 existing rule included in a notice of proposed 

16 rulemaking, as described in subparagraph (B) 

17 of paragraph (1); 

18 ‘‘(B) such notice of proposed rulemaking— 

19 ‘‘(i) was issued in compliance with 

20 such paragraph and during the 3-year pe21 riod preceding the adoption of the rule or 

22 the amendment of an existing rule; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) is identified in the order making 

24 the adoption or amendment; 


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1 ‘‘(C) in the case of the adoption of a rule 

2 or the amendment of an existing rule that may 

3 have an economically significant impact, the 

4 order contains— 

5 ‘‘(i) an identification and analysis of 

6 the specific market failure, actual con7 sumer harm, burden of existing regulation, 

8 or failure of public institutions that war9 rants the adoption or amendment; 

10 ‘‘(ii) a reasoned determination that 

11 the benefits of the adopted rule or the 

12 amendment of an existing rule justify its 

13 costs (recognizing that some benefits and 

14 costs are difficult to quantify), taking into 

15 account alternative forms of regulation and 

16 the need to tailor regulation to impose the 

17 least burden on society, consistent with ob18 taining regulatory objectives; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) a reasoned determination that 

20 market forces are unlikely to resolve within 

21 a reasonable period of time the specific 

22 market failure, actual consumer harm, bur23 den of existing regulation, or failure of 

24 public institutions identified under clause 

25 (i); 


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1 ‘‘(D) in the case of the adoption of a rule 

2 or the amendment of an existing rule that cre3 ates a program activity, the order contains per4 formance measures for evaluating the effective5 ness of the program activity; and 

6 ‘‘(E) in the case of the adoption of a rule 

7 or the amendment of an existing rule that sub8 stantially changes a program activity, the order 

9 contains— 

10 ‘‘(i) performance measures for evalu11 ating the effectiveness of the program ac12 tivity as changed; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) a finding that existing perform14 ance measures will effectively evaluate the 

15 program activity as changed. 

16 ‘‘(3) DATA FOR PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

17 The Commission shall develop a performance meas18 ure or proposed performance measure required by 

19 this subsection to rely, where possible, on data al20 ready collected by the Commission. 

21 ‘‘(4) COST-BENEFIT DETERMINATION NOT SUB22 JECT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determination under 

23 paragraph (2)(C)(ii) shall not be subject to judicial 

24 review. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ADEQUATE DELIBERATION BY COMMIS2 SIONERS.—The Commission shall by rule establish proce3 dures for— 

4 ‘‘(1) informing all Commissioners of a reason5 able number of options available to the Commission 

6 for resolving a petition, complaint, application, rule7 making, or other proceeding; 

8 ‘‘(2) ensuring that all Commissioners have ade9 quate time, prior to being required to decide a peti10 tion, complaint, application, rulemaking, or other 

11 proceeding (including at a meeting held pursuant to 

12 section 5(d)), to review the proposed Commission de13 cision document, including the specific language of 

14 any proposed rule or any proposed amendment of an 

15 existing rule; and 

16 ‘‘(3) publishing the text of agenda items to be 

17 voted on at an open meeting in advance of such 

18 meeting so that the public has the opportunity to 

19 read the text before a vote is taken. 

20 ‘‘(c) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

22 552b of title 5, United States Code, a bipartisan 

23 majority of Commissioners may hold a meeting that 

24 is closed to the public to discuss official business 

25 if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a vote or any other agency action is 

2 not taken at such meeting; 

3 ‘‘(B) each person present at such meeting 

4 is a Commissioner, an employee of the Commis5 sion, a member of a joint board or conference 

6 established under section 410, or a person on 

7 the staff of such a joint board or conference or 

8 of a member of such a joint board or con9 ference; and 

10 ‘‘(C) an attorney from the Office of Gen11 eral Counsel of the Commission is present at 

12 such meeting. 

13 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO14 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 2 business 

15 days after the conclusion of a meeting held under 

16 paragraph (1), the Commission shall publish a dis17 closure of such meeting, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) a list of the persons who attended 

19 such meeting; and 

20 ‘‘(B) a summary of the matters discussed 

21 at such meeting, except for such matters as the 

22 Commission determines may be withheld under 

23 section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. 

24 ‘‘(3) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE25 QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 


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1 subsection shall limit the applicability of section 

2 552b of title 5, United States Code, with respect to 

3 a meeting of Commissioners other than that de4 scribed in paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(d) INITIATION OF ITEMS BY BIPARTISAN MAJOR6 ITY.—The Commission shall by rule establish procedures 

7 for allowing a bipartisan majority of Commissioners to— 

8 ‘‘(1) direct Commission staff to draft an order, 

9 decision, report, or action for review by the Commis10 sion; and 

11 ‘‘(2) place an order, decision, report, or action 

12 on the agenda of an open meeting. 

13 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC REVIEW OF CERTAIN REPORTS AND EX

14 PARTE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), the Commission may not rely, in any 

17 order, decision, report, or action, on— 

18 ‘‘(A) a statistical report or report to Con19 gress, unless the Commission has published and 

20 made such report available for comment for not 

21 less than a 30-day period prior to the adoption 

22 of such order, decision, report, or action; or 

23 ‘‘(B) an ex parte communication or any fil24 ing with the Commission, unless the public has 

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1 tunity to respond to such communication or fil2 ing, in accordance with procedures to be estab3 lished by the Commission by rule. 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 

5 apply when the Commission for good cause finds 

6 (and incorporates the finding and a brief statement 

7 of reasons therefor in the order, decision, report, or 

8 action) that publication or availability of a report 

9 under subparagraph (A) of such paragraph or notice 

10 of and opportunity to respond to an ex parte com11 munication under subparagraph (B) of such para12 graph are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 

13 the public interest. 

14 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION OF STATUS OF CERTAIN PRO15 CEEDINGS AND ITEMS.—The Commission shall by rule es16 tablish procedures for publishing the status of all open 

17 rulemaking proceedings and all proposed orders, decisions, 

18 reports, or actions on circulation for review by the Com19 missioners, including which Commissioners have not cast 

20 a vote on an order, decision, report, or action that has 

21 been on circulation for more than 60 days. 

22 ‘‘(g) DEADLINES FOR ACTION.—The Commission 

23 shall by rule establish deadlines for any Commission order, 

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1 ings seeking Commission action, including filings seeking 

2 action through authority delegated under section 5(c)(1). 

3 ‘‘(h) PROMPT RELEASE OF CERTAIN REPORTS AND

4 DECISION DOCUMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) STATISTICAL REPORTS AND REPORTS TO

6 CONGRESS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) RELEASE SCHEDULE.—Not later 

8 than January 15th of each year, the Commis9 sion shall identify, catalog, and publish an an10 ticipated release schedule for all statistical re11 ports and reports to Congress that are regularly 

12 or intermittently released by the Commission 

13 and will be released during such year. 

14 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION DEADLINES.—The 

15 Commission shall publish each report identified 

16 in a schedule published under subparagraph (A) 

17 not later than the date indicated in such sched18 ule for the anticipated release of such report. 

19 ‘‘(2) DECISION DOCUMENTS.—The Commission 

20 shall publish each order, decision, report, or action 

21 not later than 30 days after the date of the adoption 

22 of such order, decision, report, or action. 

23 ‘‘(3) EFFECT IF DEADLINES NOT MET.— 

24 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—If the 

25 Commission fails to publish an order, decision, 


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1 report, or action by a deadline described in 

2 paragraph (1)(B) or (2), the Commission shall, 

3 not later than 7 days after such deadline and 

4 every 14 days thereafter until the publication of 

5 the order, decision, report, or action, notify by 

6 letter the chairpersons and ranking members of 

7 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

8 House of Representatives and the Committee 

9 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

10 the Senate. Such letter shall identify such 

11 order, decision, report, or action, specify the 

12 deadline, describe the reason for the delay, and 

13 indicate when the Commission anticipates that 

14 such order, decision, report, or action will be 

15 published. The Commission shall publish such 

16 letter. 

17 ‘‘(B) NO IMPACT ON EFFECTIVENESS.— 

18 The failure of the Commission to publish an 

19 order, decision, report, or action by a deadline 

20 described in paragraph (1)(B) or (2) shall not 

21 render such order, decision, report, or action in22 effective when published. 

23 ‘‘(i) BIANNUAL SCORECARD REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the 6-month period be25 ginning on January 1st of each year and the 6- 


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1 month period beginning on July 1st of each year, 

2 the Commission shall prepare a report on the per3 formance of the Commission in conducting its pro4 ceedings and meeting the deadlines established 

5 under subsections (g), (h)(1)(B), and (h)(2). 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required by 

7 paragraph (1) shall contain detailed statistics on 

8 such performance, including, with respect to each 

9 Bureau of the Commission— 

10 ‘‘(A) in the case of performance in meeting 

11 the deadlines established under subsection (g), 

12 with respect to each category established under 

13 such subsection— 

14 ‘‘(i) the number of petitions, applica15 tions, complaints, and other filings seeking 

16 Commission action that were pending on 

17 the last day of the period covered by such 

18 report; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the number of filings described 

20 in clause (i) that were not resolved by the 

21 deadlines established under such sub22 section and the average length of time 

23 such filings have been pending; and 

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1 sion action that were resolved during such 

2 period, the average time between initiation 

3 and resolution and the percentage resolved 

4 by the deadlines established under such 

5 subsection; 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of proceedings before an 

7 administrative law judge— 

8 ‘‘(i) the number of such proceedings 

9 completed during such period; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the number of such proceedings 

11 pending on the last day of such period; and 

12 ‘‘(C) the number of independent studies or 

13 analyses published by the Commission during 

14 such period. 

15 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION AND SUBMISSION.—The 

16 Commission shall publish and submit to the Com17 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

18 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate each re20 port required by paragraph (1) not later than the 

21 date that is 30 days after the last day of the period 

22 covered by such report. 

23 ‘‘(j) TRANSACTION REVIEW STANDARDS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con25 dition its approval of a transfer of lines, a transfer 


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1 of licenses, or any other transaction under section 

2 214, 309, or 310 or any other provision of this Act 

3 only if— 

4 ‘‘(A) the imposed condition is a remedy to 

5 a harm that would likely arise as a direct result 

6 of the specific transfer or specific transaction 

7 that this Act empowers the Commission to re8 view; 

9 ‘‘(B) the Commission could impose a simi10 lar requirement under the authority of a spe11 cific provision of law other than a provision em12 powering the Commission to review a transfer 

13 of lines, a transfer of licenses, or other trans14 action; and 

15 ‘‘(C) the likely harm described in subpara16 graph (A) is presented by the specific transfer 

17 of lines, transfer of licenses, or other trans18 action, such that the harm is not presented by 

19 persons not involved in the transfer or other 

20 transaction. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—In reviewing a transfer of 

22 lines, a transfer of licenses, or any other transaction 

23 under section 214, 309, or 310 or any other provi24 sion of this Act, the Commission may not consider 

25 a voluntary commitment of a party to such transfer 


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1 or transaction unless the Commission could adopt 

2 that voluntary commitment as a condition under 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(k) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION ON COMMIS5 SION’S WEBSITE.—The Commission shall provide direct 

6 access from the homepage of its website to— 

7 ‘‘(1) detailed information regarding— 

8 ‘‘(A) the budget of the Commission for the 

9 current fiscal year; 

10 ‘‘(B) the appropriations for the Commis11 sion for such fiscal year; and 

12 ‘‘(C) the total number of full-time equiva13 lent employees of the Commission; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the performance plan most recently made 

15 available by the Commission under section 1115(b) 

16 of title 31, United States Code. 

17 ‘‘(l) FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any docu19 ment adopted by the Commission that the Commis20 sion is required, under any provision of law, to pub21 lish in the Federal Register, the Commission shall, 

22 not later than the date described in paragraph (2), 

23 complete all Commission actions necessary for such 

24 document to be so published. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 

2 this paragraph is the earlier of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the day that is 45 days after the date 

4 of the release of the document; or 

5 ‘‘(B) the day by which such actions must 

6 be completed to comply with any deadline under 

7 any other provision of law. 

8 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON DEADLINES FOR PUBLICA9 TION IN OTHER FORM.—In the case of a deadline 

10 that does not specify that the form of publication is 

11 publication in the Federal Register, the Commission 

12 may comply with such deadline by publishing the 

13 document in another form. Such other form of publi14 cation does not relieve the Commission of any Fed15 eral Register publication requirement applicable to 

16 such document, including the requirement of para17 graph (1). 

18 ‘‘(m) CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATABASE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating and proc20 essing consumer complaints, the Commission shall 

21 present information about such complaints in a pub22 licly available, searchable database on its website 

23 that— 

24 ‘‘(A) facilitates easy use by consumers; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, is sortable 

2 and accessible by— 

3 ‘‘(i) the date of the filing of the com4 plaint; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the topic of the complaint; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the party complained of; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) other elements that the Commis8 sion considers in the public interest. 

9 ‘‘(2) DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS.—In the case 

10 of multiple complaints arising from the same alleged 

11 misconduct, the Commission shall be required to in12 clude only information concerning one such com13 plaint in the database described in paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(n) FORM OF PUBLICATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In complying with a re16 quirement of this section to publish a document, the 

17 Commission shall publish such document on its 

18 website, in addition to publishing such document in 

19 any other form that the Commission is required to 

20 use or is permitted to and chooses to use. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall by 

22 rule establish procedures for redacting documents 

23 required to be published by this section so that the 

24 published versions of such documents do not con25 tain— 


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1 ‘‘(A) information the publication of which 

2 would be detrimental to national security, 

3 homeland security, law enforcement, or public 

4 safety; or 

5 ‘‘(B) information that is proprietary or 

6 confidential. 

7 ‘‘(o) TRANSPARENCY RELATING TO PERFORMANCE

8 IN MEETING FOIA REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 

9 shall take additional steps to inform the public about its 

10 performance and efficiency in meeting the disclosure and 

11 other requirements of section 552 of title 5, United States 

12 Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Informa13 tion Act), including by doing the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) Publishing on the Commission’s website 

15 the Commission’s logs for tracking, responding to, 

16 and managing requests submitted under such sec17 tion, including the Commission’s fee estimates, fee 

18 categories, and fee request determinations. 

19 ‘‘(2) Releasing to the public all decisions made 

20 by the Commission (including decisions made by the 

21 Commission’s Bureaus and Offices) granting or de22 nying requests filed under such section, including 

23 any such decisions pertaining to the estimate and 

24 application of fees assessed under such section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Publishing on the Commission’s website 

2 electronic copies of documents released under such 

3 section. 

4 ‘‘(4) Presenting information about the Commis5 sion’s handling of requests under such section in the 

6 Commission’s annual budget estimates submitted to 

7 Congress and the Commission’s annual performance 

8 and financial reports. Such information shall include 

9 the number of requests under such section the Com10 mission received in the most recent fiscal year, the 

11 number of such requests granted and denied, a com12 parison of the Commission’s processing of such re13 quests over at least the previous 3 fiscal years, and 

14 a comparison of the Commission’s results with the 

15 most recent average for the United States Govern16 ment as published on www.foia.gov. 

17 ‘‘(p) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) AMENDMENT.—The term ‘amendment’ in19 cludes, when used with respect to an existing rule, 

20 the deletion of such rule. 

21 ‘‘(2) BIPARTISAN MAJORITY.—The term ‘bipar22 tisan majority’ means, when used with respect to a 

23 group of Commissioners, that such group— 

24 ‘‘(A) is a group of 3 or more Commis25 sioners; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes, for each political party of 

2 which any Commissioner is a member, at least 

3 1 Commissioner who is a member of such polit4 ical party, and, if any Commissioner has no po5 litical party affiliation, at least 1 unaffiliated 

6 Commissioner. 

7 ‘‘(3) ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 

8 The term ‘economically significant impact’ means an 

9 effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more an10 nually or a material adverse effect on the economy, 

11 a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 

12 jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or 

13 State, local, or tribal governments or communities. 

14 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE MEASURE.—The term ‘per15 formance measure’ means an objective and quantifi16 able outcome measure or output measure (as such 

17 terms are defined in section 1115 of title 31, United 

18 States Code). 

19 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM ACTIVITY.—The term ‘program 

20 activity’ has the meaning given such term in section 

21 1115 of title 31, United States Code, except that 

22 such term also includes any annual collection or dis23 tribution or related series of collections or distribu24 tions by the Commission of an amount that is great25 er than or equal to $100,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(6) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘agency 

2 action’, ‘ex parte communication’, and ‘rule’ have 

3 the meanings given such terms in section 551 of title 

4 5, United States Code.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND IMPLEMENTING RULES.— 

6 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of 

8 section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, 

9 as added by subsection (a), shall apply begin10 ning on the date that is 6 months after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (B) PRIOR NOTICES OF PROPOSED RULE13 MAKING.—If the Federal Communications Com14 mission identifies under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) of 

15 subsection (a) of such section 13 a notice of 

16 proposed rulemaking issued prior to the date of 

17 the enactment of this Act— 

18 (i) such notice shall be deemed to 

19 have complied with paragraph (1) of such 

20 subsection; and 

21 (ii) if such notice did not contain the 

22 specific language of a proposed rule or a 

23 proposed amendment of an existing rule, 

24 paragraph (2)(A) of such subsection shall 

25 be satisfied if the adopted rule or the 


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1 amendment of an existing rule is a logical 

2 outgrowth of such notice. 

3 (C) SCHEDULES AND REPORTS.—Notwith4 standing subparagraph (A), subsections (h)(1) 

5 and (i) of such section shall apply with respect 

6 to 2014 and any year thereafter. 

7 (2) RULES.—The Federal Communications 

8 Commission shall promulgate the rules necessary to 

9 carry out such section not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (3) PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTING RULES.—Not12 withstanding paragraph (1)(A), in promulgating 

13 rules to carry out such section, the Federal Commu14 nications Commission shall comply with the require15 ments of subsections (a) and (h)(2) of such section. 

16 SEC. 3. CATEGORIZATION OF TCPA INQUIRIES AND COM17 PLAINTS IN QUARTERLY REPORT. 

18 In compiling its quarterly report with respect to in19 formal consumer inquiries and complaints, the Federal 

20 Communications Commission may not categorize an in21 quiry or complaint with respect to section 227 of the Com22 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) as being a 

23 wireline inquiry or complaint or a wireless inquiry or com24 plaint unless the party whose conduct is the subject of 


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1 the inquiry or complaint is a wireline carrier or a wireless 

2 carrier, respectively. 

3 SEC. 4. PROVISION OF EMERGENCY WEATHER INFORMA4 TION. 

5 Nothing in subsection (a) of section 13 of the Com6 munications Act of 1934, as added by section 2 of this 

7 Act, shall be construed to impede the Federal Communica8 tions Commission from acting in times of emergency to 

9 ensure the availability of efficient and effective commu10 nications systems to alert the public to imminent dan11 gerous weather conditions. 

12 SEC. 5. COMMUNICATIONS OF FIRST RESPONDERS. 

13 Nothing in subsection (a) of section 13 of the Com14 munications Act of 1934, as added by section 2 of this 

15 Act, shall be construed to impede the Federal Communica16 tions Commission from acting in times of emergency to 

17 ensure the availability of efficient and effective commu18 nications systems for State and local first responders. 

19 SEC. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

20 Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by this 

21 Act shall relieve the Federal Communications Commission 

22 from any obligations under title 5, United States Code, 

23 except where otherwise expressly provided. 

Æ 


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