I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7362 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes 
for personal wireless service facilities, including small personal wireless 
service facilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2020 
Mr. LATTA 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 personal wireless service facilities, 
including small personal wireless service facilities, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Winning the Inter-
national Race for Economic Leadership and Expanding 
Service to Support Leadership Act’’ or the ‘‘WIRELESS 
Leadership Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY. 
Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(7) PRESERVATION
OF
LOCAL
ZONING
AU-
THORITY.— 
‘‘(A) GENERAL
AUTHORITY.—Except as 
provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act 
shall limit or affect the authority of a State or 
local government or instrumentality thereof over 
decisions regarding the placement, construction, 
and modification of personal wireless service fa-
cilities. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of 
the placement, construction, or modifica-
tion of a personal wireless service facility 
by any State or local government or instru-
mentality thereof— 
‘‘(I) shall not unreasonably dis-
criminate among providers of the 
same service using comparable equip-
ment, including by providing exclusive 
or preferential use of facilities to a 
particular provider or class of pro-
viders of personal wireless service; and 
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‘‘(II) shall not prohibit or have 
the effect of prohibiting the provision 
of personal wireless service, including 
by materially limiting or inhibiting the 
ability of any provider or potential 
provider of such service to compete in 
a fair and balanced legal and regu-
latory environment, including by lim-
iting the ability of any such provider 
or potential provider to— 
‘‘(aa) fill gaps in coverage of 
personal wireless service; 
‘‘(bb) densify a personal 
wireless service network; 
‘‘(cc) introduce new personal 
wireless service; or 
‘‘(dd) otherwise improve per-
sonal wireless service capabilities. 
‘‘(ii) ENGINEERING STANDARDS; AES-
THETIC REQUIREMENTS.—It is not a viola-
tion of clause (i) for a State or local gov-
ernment or instrumentality thereof to es-
tablish for small personal wireless service 
facilities objective, reasonable, and non-
discriminatory— 
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‘‘(I) structural engineering stand-
ards based on generally applicable 
codes; 
‘‘(II) safety requirements; or 
‘‘(III) aesthetic or concealment 
requirements. 
‘‘(iii) TIMEFRAMES.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—A State or 
local government or instrumentality 
thereof shall grant or deny a complete 
request for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify a personal wire-
less service facility not later than— 
‘‘(aa) in the case of a per-
sonal wireless service facility that 
is not a small personal wireless 
service facility— 
‘‘(AA) if the request is 
for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify such fa-
cility on an eligible support 
structure, including in an 
area that has not previously 
been 
zoned 
for 
personal 
wireless 
service 
facilities 
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(other than small personal 
wireless service facilities), 90 
days after the date on which 
the complete request is re-
ceived by the government or 
instrumentality; or 
‘‘(BB) if the request is 
for any other action relating 
to such facility, 150 days 
after the date on which the 
complete request is received 
by the government or instru-
mentality; and 
‘‘(bb) in the case of a small 
personal wireless service facil-
ity— 
‘‘(AA) if the request is 
for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify such fa-
cility on an eligible support 
structure, including in an 
area that has not previously 
been 
zoned 
for 
personal 
wireless service facilities, 60 
days after the date on which 
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the complete request is re-
ceived by the government or 
instrumentality; or 
‘‘(BB) if the request is 
for any other action relating 
to such facility, 90 days 
after the date on which the 
complete request is received 
by the government or instru-
mentality. 
‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BATCHED 
REQUESTS.—In the case of complete 
requests described in subclause (I) 
that are submitted as part of a single 
batch and received by the government 
or instrumentality on the same day, 
the applicable timeframe under such 
subclause for each request in the 
batch shall be the longest timeframe 
under such subclause that would be 
applicable to any request in the batch 
if such requests were submitted sepa-
rately. 
‘‘(III) APPLICABILITY.—The ap-
plicable timeframe under subclause (I) 
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shall apply collectively to all pro-
ceedings required by a State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof 
for the approval of the request. 
‘‘(IV) NO
TOLLING.—A time-
frame under subclause (I) may not be 
tolled by any moratorium, whether ex-
press or de facto, imposed by a State 
or local government or instrumentality 
thereof on the consideration of any re-
quest for authorization to place, con-
struct, or modify a personal wireless 
service facility. 
‘‘(V) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The 
Commission may temporarily waive 
the applicability of subclause (I) for 
not longer than a single 30-day period 
for any complete request upon a dem-
onstration by a State or local govern-
ment or instrumentality thereof that 
the waiver would be consistent with 
the public interest, convenience, and 
necessity. 
‘‘(iv) DEEMED GRANTED.— 
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‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a State or 
local government or instrumentality 
thereof has neither granted nor denied 
a complete request within the applica-
ble timeframe under subclause (I) of 
clause (iii), including any temporary 
waiver granted under subclause (V) of 
such clause, the request shall be 
deemed granted on the date on which 
the government or instrumentality re-
ceives a written notice of the failure 
from the requesting party. 
‘‘(II) 
RULE
OF
CONSTRUC-
TION.—In the case of a request that 
is deemed granted under subclause 
(I), the placement, construction, or 
modification requested in the request 
shall be considered to be authorized, 
without any further action by the gov-
ernment or instrumentality, beginning 
on the date on which the request is 
deemed granted under such subclause. 
‘‘(v) 
WRITTEN
DECISION
AND 
RECORD.—Any decision by a State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof to 
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deny a request for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify a personal wireless 
service facility shall be— 
‘‘(I) in writing; and 
‘‘(II) supported by substantial 
evidence 
contained 
in 
a 
written 
record. 
‘‘(vi) ENVIRONMENTAL
EFFECTS
OF 
RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State 
or local government or instrumentality 
thereof may regulate the placement, con-
struction, or modification of personal wire-
less service facilities on the basis of the en-
vironmental effects of radio frequency 
emissions to the extent that such facilities 
comply with the Commission’s regulations 
concerning such emissions. 
‘‘(vii) FEES.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, a State or local gov-
ernment or instrumentality thereof may 
charge a fee to consider a request for au-
thorization to place, construct, or modify a 
personal wireless service facility, or a fee 
for use of a right-of-way or a facility in a 
right-of-way owned or managed by the gov-
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ernment or instrumentality for the place-
ment, construction, or modification of a 
personal wireless service facility, if the fee 
is— 
‘‘(I) competitively neutral, tech-
nology 
neutral, 
and 
nondiscrim-
inatory; 
‘‘(II) publicly disclosed; 
‘‘(III) calculated— 
‘‘(aa) based on actual and 
direct costs, such as costs for— 
‘‘(AA) review and proc-
essing of requests; and 
‘‘(BB) repairs and re-
placement 
of 
components 
and materials resulting from 
and affected by the installa-
tion or improvement of per-
sonal wireless service facili-
ties, or repairs and replace-
ment of equipment that fa-
cilitates the installation or 
improvement of such facili-
ties; and 
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‘‘(bb) using, for purposes of 
item (aa), only costs that are ob-
jectively reasonable; and 
‘‘(IV) described to a requesting 
party in a manner that distinguishes 
between— 
‘‘(aa) nonrecurring fees and 
recurring fees; and 
‘‘(bb) the use of facilities on 
which personal wireless service 
facilities are already located and 
those on which there are no per-
sonal wireless service facilities as 
of the date on which the complete 
request is received by the govern-
ment or instrumentality. 
‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as 
provided in subparagraph (B)(iv), nothing in 
this paragraph shall be construed to prevent 
any State or local government or instrumen-
tality thereof from imposing any additional limi-
tation or requirement relating to consideration 
by the government or instrumentality of a re-
quest for authorization to place, construct, or 
modify a personal wireless service facility. 
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consistent with subparagraph (B)(vi) may 
petition the Commission for relief. 
‘‘(F) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM-
PLETE; RECEIVED.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, a request to a State or 
local government or instrumentality thereof 
shall be considered— 
‘‘(I) complete if— 
‘‘(aa) the requesting party 
makes the request by submitting 
to the government or instrumen-
tality the form required to be 
used for making the request; 
‘‘(bb) the form submitted 
contains all of the information 
specified by the form as being re-
quired to be included in the form; 
and 
‘‘(cc) the requesting party 
has not received a written notice 
from the government or instru-
mentality within 10 business 
days after the date on which the 
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request is received by the govern-
ment or instrumentality— 
‘‘(AA) stating that the 
form does not contain all of 
the information required to 
be included in the form; and 
‘‘(BB) identifying the 
information required to be 
included in the form that 
was not included; and 
‘‘(II) received by the government 
or instrumentality— 
‘‘(aa) in the case of a re-
quest submitted electronically, on 
the date on which the form re-
quired to be used for making the 
request is transmitted; 
‘‘(bb) in the case of a re-
quest submitted in person, on the 
date on which the form required 
to be used for making the re-
quest is delivered to the indi-
vidual or at the location specified 
in the form for in-person submis-
sion; and 
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‘‘(cc) in the case of a re-
quest submitted in any other 
manner, on the date determined 
under regulations promulgated by 
the Commission for the manner 
in which the request is sub-
mitted. 
‘‘(ii) 
TREATMENT
OF
MULTIPLE 
FORMS.—If a State or local government or 
instrumentality thereof requires the use of 
multiple forms for making a request, such 
forms shall be treated as a single form for 
purposes of clause (i). 
‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ 
means an apparatus designed for the pur-
pose of emitting radiofrequency radiation, 
to be operated or operating from a fixed 
location for the transmission of writing, 
signs, signals, data, images, pictures, and 
sounds of all kinds. 
‘‘(ii) COMMUNICATIONS
NETWORK.— 
The term ‘communications network’ means 
a network used to provide a communica-
tions service. 
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‘‘(iii) COMMUNICATIONS
SERVICE.— 
The 
term 
‘communications 
service’ 
means— 
‘‘(I) cable service, as defined in 
section 602; 
‘‘(II) information service; 
‘‘(III) telecommunications serv-
ice; and 
‘‘(IV) personal wireless service. 
‘‘(iv) 
ELIGIBLE
SUPPORT
STRUC-
TURE.—The term ‘eligible support struc-
ture’ means a tower, base station, or other 
structure that supports a personal wireless 
service facility at the time when a complete 
request to a State or local government or 
instrumentality thereof for authorization to 
place, construct, or modify a personal wire-
less service facility on the structure is re-
ceived by the government or instrumen-
tality. 
‘‘(v) 
GENERALLY
APPLICABLE 
CODE.—The term ‘generally applicable 
code’ means a uniform building, fire, elec-
trical, plumbing, or mechanical code adopt-
ed by a national code organization, or a 
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local amendment to such a code, to the ex-
tent not inconsistent with this Act. 
‘‘(vi) 
NETWORK
INTERFACE
DE-
VICE.—The term ‘network interface device’ 
means a telecommunications demarcation 
device and cross-connect point that— 
‘‘(I) is adjacent or proximate 
to— 
‘‘(aa) a small personal wire-
less service facility; or 
‘‘(bb) a structure supporting 
a small personal wireless service 
facility; and 
‘‘(II) demarcates the boundary 
with any wireline backhaul facility. 
‘‘(vii) PERSONAL
WIRELESS
SERV-
ICE.—The term ‘personal wireless service’ 
means— 
‘‘(I) commercial mobile service; 
‘‘(II) commercial mobile data 
service (as defined in section 6001 of 
the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 
Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 
1401)); 
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‘‘(III) unlicensed wireless service; 
and 
‘‘(IV) common carrier wireless 
exchange access service. 
‘‘(viii) PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE 
FACILITY.—The term ‘personal wireless 
service facility’ means a facility for the 
provision of personal wireless service. 
‘‘(ix) SMALL
PERSONAL
WIRELESS 
SERVICE FACILITY.—The term ‘small per-
sonal wireless service facility’— 
‘‘(I) means a personal wireless 
service facility in which each antenna 
is not more than 3 cubic feet in vol-
ume; and 
‘‘(II) does not include a wireline 
backhaul facility. 
‘‘(x) UNLICENSED
WIRELESS
SERV-
ICE.—The term ‘unlicensed wireless serv-
ice’— 
‘‘(I) means the offering of tele-
communications service using a duly 
authorized device that does not re-
quire an individual license; and 
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‘‘(II) does not include the provi-
sion of direct-to-home satellite service, 
as defined in section 303(v). 
‘‘(xi) WIRELINE
BACKHAUL
FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘wireline backhaul facility’ 
means an above-ground or underground 
wireline facility used to transport commu-
nications service or other electronic com-
munications from a small personal wireless 
service facility or the adjacent network 
interface device of such facility to a com-
munications network.’’. 
Æ 
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