Cable Transparency Act

Subjects: Science, Technology, Communications


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3353 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3353

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provisions relating to 
     franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the 
  elimination or modification of requirements in franchises, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2023

Mr. Weber of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provisions relating to 
     franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the 
  elimination or modification of requirements in franchises, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cable Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. CABLE FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION.

    (a) Elimination or Modification of Requirement in Franchise.--
Section 625 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is 
amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT IN FRANCHISE.

    ``(a) In General.--During the period in which a franchise is in 
effect, the cable operator may obtain the elimination or modification 
of any requirement in the franchise by submitting to the franchising 
authority a request for the elimination or modification of such 
requirement.
    ``(b) Elimination or Modification of Requirement in Franchise.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--The franchising authority shall 
        eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a complete 
        request submitted under subsection (a) not later than 120 days 
        after receiving such request if the cable operator demonstrates 
        in the request--
                    ``(A) good cause for the elimination or 
                modification of the requirement, including the need to 
                eliminate or modify the requirement--
                            ``(i) to conform to an applicable Federal 
                        or State law;
                            ``(ii) to address changes in technology; or
                            ``(iii) in the case of a requirement 
                        applicable to the cable operator, due to 
                        commercial impracticability; and
                    ``(B) that the mix, quality, and level of cable 
                services required by the franchise at the time the 
                franchise was granted will be maintained 
                notwithstanding the elimination or modification of the 
                requirement;
            ``(2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `commercial 
        impracticability' means that it is commercially impracticable 
        for the operator to comply with the requirement as a result of 
        a change in conditions which is beyond the control of the 
        operator and the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assumption 
        on which the requirement was based.
    ``(c) Deemed Elimination or Modification.--Except in the case of a 
request for the elimination or modification of a requirement for 
services relating to public, educational, or governmental access, if 
the franchising authority fails to approve or deny the complete request 
submitted under subsection (a) by the date described under subsection 
(b), the requirement shall be deemed eliminated or modified in 
accordance with the request on the day after such date.
    ``(d) Appeal.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any cable operator whose request for 
        elimination or modification of a requirement in a franchise 
        under subsection (a) has been denied by a final decision of a 
        franchising authority may seek judicial review of the decision 
        pursuant to the provisions of section 635.
            ``(2) Grant of request.--In the case of any proposed 
        elimination or modification of a requirement in a franchise 
        under subsection (a), the court shall grant such elimination or 
        modification only if the cable operator demonstrates to the 
        court that the standards in subsection (b) have been met.
    ``(e) When Request Considered Complete.--
            ``(1) In general.--For the purposes of this section, a 
        request to a franchising authority shall be considered complete 
        if the cable operator--
                    ``(A) has taken the first procedural step within 
                the control of the cable operator that the franchising 
                authority requires as part of the process established 
                by the franchising authority for reviewing any requests 
                related to franchises; and
                    ``(B) has not received a written notice from the 
                franchising authority within 30 days after the date on 
                which the request is received by the franchising 
                authority--
                            ``(i) stating that all the information 
                        (including any form or other document) required 
                        by the franchising authority to be submitted 
                        for the request to be considered complete has 
                        not been submitted;
                            ``(ii) identifying the information required 
                        to be submitted that was not submitted; and
                            ``(iii) identifying the publicly available 
                        rules, regulations, or standards issued by the 
                        franchising authority requiring that the 
                        information be submitted with such a request.
            ``(2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `the date 
        on which the request is received by the franchising authority' 
        means--
                    ``(A) in the case of a request submitted 
                electronically, the date on which the request is 
                transmitted;
                    ``(B) in the case of a request submitted in person, 
                the date on which the request is delivered to the 
                individual or at the location specified by the 
                franchising authority for in-person submission; and
                    ``(C) in the case of a request submitted in any 
                other manner, the date determined under regulations 
                promulgated by the Commission for the manner in which 
                the request is submitted.''.
    (b) In General.--Section 626 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 546) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION.

    ``(a) Franchise Term.--A franchise shall continue in effect 
(without any requirement for renewal) until the date on which the 
franchise is revoked or terminated in accordance with subsection (b).
    ``(b) Limits.--
            ``(1) Prohibition against revocation; termination.--Except 
        as provided in paragraph (2), a franchise may not be--
                    ``(A) revoked by a franchising authority;
                    ``(B) terminated by a cable operator; or
                    ``(C) revoked or terminated by operation of law, 
                including by a term in a franchise that revokes or 
                terminates such franchise on a specific date, after a 
                period of time, or upon the occurrence of an event.
            ``(2) When termination or revocation of franchise 
        permitted.--
                    ``(A) Termination by cable operator.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A cable operator may 
                        terminate a franchise by submitting to the 
                        franchising authority a written request for the 
                        franchising authority to revoke such franchise.
                            ``(ii) Time of revocation.--If the cable 
                        operator submits a complete request under 
                        clause (i), the franchising authority shall 
                        revoke the franchise on the date that is 90 
                        days after the franchising authority receives 
                        such request.
                            ``(iii) Deemed to be revoked.--If a 
                        franchising authority does not approve a 
                        request by the date required under clause (ii), 
                        the franchise is deemed revoked on the day 
                        after such date.
                    ``(B) Termination by franchising authority.--A 
                franchising authority may revoke a franchise if the 
                franchising authority--
                            ``(i) finds that the cable operator has 
                        knowingly and willfully failed to substantially 
                        meet a material requirement imposed by the 
                        franchise;
                            ``(ii) provides the cable operator a 
                        reasonable opportunity to cure such failure, 
                        after which the cable operator fails to cure 
                        such failure; and
                            ``(iii) does not waive the material 
                        requirement or acquiesce with the failure to 
                        substantially meet such requirement.
    ``(c) Review of Revocation of Franchise by Franchising Authority.--
            ``(1) Administrative or judicial review.--With respect to a 
        determination by a franchising authority to revoke a franchise 
        under subsection (b)(2)(B), a cable operator may--
                    ``(A) petition the Commission for review of such 
                determination; or
                    ``(B) seek judicial review of such determination 
                pursuant to the provisions of 635.
            ``(2) Commission review.--With respect to a petition for 
        the review of a determination brought under paragraph (1)(A), 
        the Commission shall--
                    ``(A) review the determination de novo; and
                    ``(B) invalidate the determination if, based on the 
                evidence presented during the review, the Commission 
                determines that the franchising authority has not 
                demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that 
                the franchising authority revoked the franchise in 
                accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B).
            ``(3) Stay of determination to revoke franchise.--A 
        revocation of a franchise under subsection (b)(2)(B) may be 
        stayed--
                    ``(A) in the case the cable operator petitions the 
                Commission for review of the determination on which 
                such revocation is based, by the Commission; and
                    ``(B) in the case the cable operator seeks judicial 
                review of the determination on which such revocation is 
                based, by the court in which the cable operator seeks 
                judicial review of the determination.''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 601--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semicolon at 
                the end and inserting ``; and'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (5); and
                    (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph 
                (5);
            (2) in section 602(9)--
                    (A) by striking ``initial''; and
                    (B) by striking ``, or renewal thereof (including a 
                renewal of an authorization which has been granted 
                subject to section 626),'';
            (3) in section 611(b), by striking ``and may require as 
        part of a cable operator's proposal for a franchise renewal, 
        subject to section 626'';
            (4) in section 612(b)(3)--
                    (A) by striking ``or as part of a proposal for 
                renewal, subject to section 626,''; and
                    (B) by striking ``, or proposal for renewal 
                thereof,'';
            (5) in section 621(b)(3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``or 
                franchise renewal''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (D)--
                            (i) by striking ``initial''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``, a franchise 
                        renewal,'';
            (6) in section 624--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``(including 
                requests for renewal proposals, subject to section 
                626)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``or renewal 
                thereof'';
            (7) in section 635A(a), by striking ``renewal,''.
    (d) Effective Date; Application.--
            (1) Effective date.--This section, and the amendments made 
        by this section, shall take effect 6 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Application.--This section, and the amendments made by 
        this section, shall apply to a franchise granted--
                    (A) on or after the effective date established by 
                paragraph (1); or
                    (B) before such date, if--
                            (i) such franchise (including, any renewal 
                        thereof before the date of the enactment of 
                        this Act) is in effect on such date; or
                            (ii) such franchise is expired and the 
                        cable operator has continued to perform under 
                        the provisions of such franchise as if such 
                        franchise were not expired.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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