II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1699 

To streamline siting processes for small cell deployment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2019 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To streamline siting processes for small cell deployment. 

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 ‘‘Streamlining The 

5 Rapid Evolution And Modernization of Leading-edge In6 frastructure Necessary to Enhance Small Cell Deployment 

7 Act’’ or the ‘‘STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment 

8 Act’’. 


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•S 1699 IS

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.—Except as pro16 vided in subparagraph (C), the regulation 

17 of the placement, construction, or modi18 fication of a personal wireless service facil19 ity by any State or local government or in20 strumentality thereof— 

21 ‘‘(I) shall not unreasonably dis22 criminate among providers of func23 tionally equivalent services; and 

24 ‘‘(II) shall not prohibit or have 

25 the effect of prohibiting the provision 

26 of personal wireless service. 


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•S 1699 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) TIMEFRAME.—A State or local 

2 government or instrumentality thereof 

3 shall act on any request for authorization 

4 to place, construct, or modify a personal 

5 wireless service facility within a reasonable 

6 period of time after the request is duly 

7 filed with the government or instrumen8 tality, taking into account the nature and 

9 scope of the request. 

10 ‘‘(iii) WRITTEN DECISION AND

11 RECORD.—Any decision by a State or local 

12 government or instrumentality thereof to 

13 deny a request to place, construct, or mod14 ify a personal wireless service facility shall 

15 be— 

16 ‘‘(I) in writing; and 

17 ‘‘(II) supported by substantial 

18 evidence contained in a written 

19 record. 

20 ‘‘(iv) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF

21 RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State 

22 or local government or instrumentality 

23 thereof may regulate the placement, con24 struction, or modification of personal wire25 less service facilities on the basis of the enVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:22 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1699.IS S1699

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1 vironmental effects of radio frequency 

2 emissions to the extent that the facilities 

3 comply with the Commission’s regulations 

4 concerning such emissions. 

5 ‘‘(v) JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE

6 REVIEW.— 

7 ‘‘(I) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any 

8 person adversely affected by any final 

9 action or failure to act by a State or 

10 local government or any instrumen11 tality thereof that is inconsistent with 

12 this subparagraph may, within 30 

13 days after the action or failure to act, 

14 commence an action in any court of 

15 competent jurisdiction, which shall 

16 hear and decide the action on an ex17 pedited basis. 

18 ‘‘(II) ADMINISTRATIVE RE19 VIEW.—Any person adversely affected 

20 by an act or failure to act by a State 

21 or local government or any instrumen22 tality thereof that is inconsistent with 

23 clause (iv) may petition the Commis24 sion for relief. 


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•S 1699 IS

1 ‘‘(C) PLACEMENT, CONSTRUCTION, AND

2 MODIFICATION OF SMALL PERSONAL WIRELESS

3 SERVICE FACILITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition to, 

5 and not in derogation of any of, the limita6 tions under subparagraph (B), the regula7 tion of the placement, construction, or 

8 modification of small personal wireless 

9 service facilities by any State or local gov10 ernment or instrumentality thereof— 

11 ‘‘(I) shall not unreasonably dis12 criminate among providers of the 

13 same service using comparable equip14 ment, including by providing exclusive 

15 or preferential use of facilities to a 

16 particular provider or class of pro17 viders of personal wireless service; and 

18 ‘‘(II) shall only permit a State or 

19 local government to approve or deny a 

20 permit or other permission to deploy a 

21 small personal wireless service facility, 

22 including access to a right-of-way or a 

23 facility in a right-of-way owned or 

24 managed by the State or local governVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:22 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1699.IS S1699

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1 ment, based on publicly available cri2 teria that are— 

3 ‘‘(aa) reasonable; 

4 ‘‘(bb) objective; and 

5 ‘‘(cc) non-discriminatory. 

6 ‘‘(ii) ENGINEERING STANDARDS; AES7 THETIC REQUIREMENTS.—A State or local 

8 government or instrumentality thereof may 

9 regulate the placement, construction, and 

10 modification of small personal wireless 

11 service facilities for reasons of objective 

12 and reasonable— 

13 ‘‘(I) structural engineering stand14 ards based on generally applicable 

15 codes; 

16 ‘‘(II) safety requirements; or 

17 ‘‘(III) aesthetic or concealment 

18 requirements. 

19 ‘‘(iii) TIMEFRAMES.— 

20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State or 

21 local government or instrumentality 

22 thereof shall act on a complete re23 quest for authorization to place, con24 struct, or modify a small personal 


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•S 1699 IS

1 wireless service facility not later 

2 than— 

3 ‘‘(aa)(AA) for collocation of 

4 a small personal wireless service 

5 facility, 60 days after the date on 

6 which the complete request is 

7 filed, except as provided in item 

8 (bb); or 

9 ‘‘(BB) for any other action 

10 relating to a small personal wire11 less service facility, 90 days after 

12 the date on which the complete 

13 request is filed, except as pro14 vided in item (cc); 

15 ‘‘(bb) for collocation of a 

16 small personal wireless service fa17 cility, if the State or the area 

18 under the jurisdiction of the local 

19 government has a population of 

20 fewer than 50,000 people— 

21 ‘‘(AA) 90 days after the 

22 date on which the complete 

23 request is filed, if during the 

24 30-day period ending on 

25 that date of filing, the appliVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:22 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1699.IS S1699

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•S 1699 IS

1 cable wireless service pro2 vider filed fewer than 50 re3 quests for collocation of a 

4 small personal wireless serv5 ice facility with the State or 

6 local government or instru7 mentality thereof; or 

8 ‘‘(BB) 120 days after 

9 the date on which the com10 plete request is filed, if dur11 ing the 30-day period ending 

12 on that date of filing, the 

13 applicable wireless service 

14 provider filed not fewer than 

15 50 requests for collocation of 

16 a small personal wireless 

17 service facility with the 

18 State or local government or 

19 instrumentality thereof; or 

20 ‘‘(cc) for any other action 

21 relating to a small personal wire22 less service facility, if the State 

23 or the area under the jurisdiction 

24 of the local government has a 


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•S 1699 IS

1 population of fewer than 50,000 

2 people— 

3 ‘‘(AA) 120 days after 

4 the date on which the com5 plete request is filed, if dur6 ing the 30-day period ending 

7 on that date of filing, the 

8 applicable wireless service 

9 provider filed fewer than 50 

10 requests for any other action 

11 relating to a small personal 

12 wireless service facility with 

13 the State or local govern14 ment or instrumentality 

15 thereof; or 

16 ‘‘(BB) 150 days after 

17 the date on which the com18 plete request is filed, if dur19 ing the 30-day period ending 

20 on that date of filing, the 

21 applicable wireless service 

22 provider filed not fewer than 

23 50 requests for any other 

24 action relating to a small 

25 personal wireless service faVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:22 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1699.IS S1699

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•S 1699 IS

1 cility with the State or local 

2 government or instrumen3 tality thereof. 

4 ‘‘(II) APPLICABILITY.—The ap5 plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 

6 shall apply collectively to all pro7 ceedings required by a State or local 

8 government or instrumentality thereof 

9 for the approval of the request. 

10 ‘‘(III) NO TOLLING.—A time11 frame under subclause (I) may not be 

12 tolled by any moratorium, whether ex13 press or de facto, imposed by a State 

14 or local government on the consider15 ation of any request for authorization 

16 to place, construct, or modify a small 

17 personal wireless service facility. 

18 ‘‘(IV) TEMPORARY WAIVER.— 

19 The Commission may temporarily 

20 waive the applicability of subclause (I) 

21 for not longer than a single 30-day 

22 period for any complete request upon 

23 a demonstration by a State or local 

24 government that the waiver would be 


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•S 1699 IS

1 consistent with the public interest, 

2 convenience, and necessity. 

3 ‘‘(iv) DEEMED GRANTED.—If a State 

4 or local government or instrumentality 

5 thereof has neither granted nor denied a 

6 request within the applicable timeframe 

7 under subclause (I) of clause (iii), includ8 ing any temporary waiver granted under 

9 subclause (IV) of that clause, the request 

10 shall be deemed granted on the date that 

11 is 31 days after the date on which the gov12 ernment instrumentality receives a written 

13 notice of the failure from the applicant. 

14 ‘‘(v) FEES.—Notwithstanding any 

15 other provision of law, a State or local gov16 ernment may charge a fee to consider an 

17 application for the placement, construction, 

18 or modification of a small personal wireless 

19 facility, or to use a right-of-way or a facil20 ity in a right-of-way owned or managed by 

21 the State or local government for the 

22 placement, construction, or modification of 

23 a small personal wireless facility, if the fee 

24 is— 


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•S 1699 IS

1 ‘‘(I) competitively neutral, tech2 nology neutral, and nondiscrim3 inatory; 

4 ‘‘(II) publicly disclosed; and 

5 ‘‘(III)(aa) except as provided in 

6 item (bb), based on actual and direct 

7 costs, such as costs for— 

8 ‘‘(AA) review and processing 

9 of applications; 

10 ‘‘(BB) maintenance; 

11 ‘‘(CC) emergency responses; 

12 ‘‘(DD) repairs and replace13 ment of components and mate14 rials resulting from and affected 

15 by the installation of small per16 sonal wireless facilities, improve17 ments, and equipment that facili18 tates the deployment and instal19 lation of such facilities; or 

20 ‘‘(EE) inspections; or 

21 ‘‘(bb) calculated in accordance 

22 with section 224, in the case of a fee 

23 charged for the placement, construc24 tion, or modification of a small per25 sonal wireless facility on a pole, in a 


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•S 1699 IS

1 right-of-way, or on any other facility 

2 that may be established under that 

3 section. 

4 ‘‘(vi) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

5 Nothing in this subparagraph shall be con6 strued to prevent any State or local gov7 ernment from imposing any additional lim8 itation or requirement relating to consider9 ation by the State or local government of 

10 an application for the placement, construc11 tion, or modification of a small personal 

12 wireless service facility. 

13 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

14 paragraph— 

15 ‘‘(i) the term ‘antenna’ means an ap16 paratus designed for the purpose of emit17 ting radiofrequency radiation, to be oper18 ated or operating from a fixed location for 

19 the transmission of writing, signs, signals, 

20 data, images, pictures, and sounds of all 

21 kinds; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘communications net23 work’ means a network used to provide a 

24 communications service; 


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•S 1699 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘communications serv2 ice’ means— 

3 ‘‘(I) cable service, as defined in 

4 section 602; 

5 ‘‘(II) information service; 

6 ‘‘(III) telecommunications serv7 ice; or 

8 ‘‘(IV) personal wireless service; 

9 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘complete request’ 

10 means a request for which the applicant 

11 has not received written notice from the 

12 State or local government within 10 busi13 ness days of submission— 

14 ‘‘(I) stating in writing that the 

15 request is incomplete; and 

16 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 

17 causing the request to be incomplete; 

18 ‘‘(v) the term ‘generally applicable 

19 code’ includes a uniform building, fire, 

20 electrical, plumbing, or mechanical code 

21 adopted by a national code organization, or 

22 a local amendment to such a code, to the 

23 extent not inconsistent with this Act; 


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•S 1699 IS

1 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘network interface de2 vice’ means a telecommunications demarca3 tion device and cross-connect point that— 

4 ‘‘(I) is adjacent or proximate 

5 to— 

6 ‘‘(aa) a small personal wire7 less service facility; or 

8 ‘‘(bb) a structure supporting 

9 a small personal wireless service 

10 facility; and 

11 ‘‘(II) demarcates the boundary 

12 with any wireline backhaul facility; 

13 ‘‘(vii) the term ‘personal wireless serv14 ice’ means— 

15 ‘‘(I) commercial mobile service; 

16 ‘‘(II) commercial mobile data 

17 service (as that term is defined in sec18 tion 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Re19 lief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 

20 U.S.C. 1401)); 

21 ‘‘(III) unlicensed wireless service; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(IV) common carrier wireless 

24 exchange access service; 


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•S 1699 IS

1 ‘‘(viii) the term ‘personal wireless 

2 service facility’ means a facility for the 

3 provision of personal wireless service; 

4 ‘‘(ix) the term ‘small personal wireless 

5 service facility’— 

6 ‘‘(I) means a personal wireless 

7 service facility in which each antenna 

8 is not more than 3 cubic feet in vol9 ume; and 

10 ‘‘(II) does not include a wireline 

11 backhaul facility; 

12 ‘‘(x) the term ‘unlicensed wireless 

13 service’— 

14 ‘‘(I) means the offering of tele15 communications service using a duly 

16 authorized device that does not re17 quire an individual license; and 

18 ‘‘(II) does not include the provi19 sion of direct-to-home satellite service, 

20 as defined in section 303(v); and 

21 ‘‘(xi) the term ‘wireline backhaul facil22 ity’ means an above-ground or under23 ground wireline facility used to transport 

24 communications service or other electronic 

25 communications from a small personal 


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•S 1699 IS

1 wireless service facility or its adjacent net2 work interface device to a communications 

3 network.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY OF BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT ON 

5 TRIBAL LAND AND ON OR NEAR TRUST LAND. 

6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

8 shall— 

9 (1) in consultation with the Secretary of Agri10 culture, the Director of the Bureau of Indian Af11 fairs, and the Federal Communications Commission, 

12 study the process for obtaining a grant of a right13 of-way to deploy broadband infrastructure on Tribal 

14 land or on or near trust land, as defined in section 

15 3765 of title 38, United States Code; 

16 (2) in conducting the study under paragraph 

17 (1), consider the unique challenges involved in 

18 broadband deployment on Tribal land and on or 

19 near trust land; and 

20 (3) submit to Congress a report on the study 

21 conducted under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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