I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2422 
To amend the CALM Act to include video streaming services, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2023 
Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mr. DAVID SCOTT of 
Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the CALM Act to include video streaming services, 
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 ‘‘Commercial Advertise-
ment Loudness Mitigation Modernization Act of 2023’’ or 
the ‘‘CALM Modernization Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF THE CALM ACT AND RULE-
MAKING 
ON 
LOUD 
COMMERCIALS 
ON 
STREAMING VIDEO. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—The CALM Act (Public Law 
111–311; 124 Stat. 3294) is amended— 
(1) in section 2 (47 U.S.C. 621)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Federal Communications 
Commission’’ each place the term appears and 
inserting ‘‘Commission’’; 
(B) by striking subsection (c) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.—There is a 
rebuttable presumption that any television broadcast 
station, cable operator, or other multichannel video 
programming distributor that installs, uses, and 
maintains in a commercially reasonable manner the 
equipment and associated software in compliance 
with the regulations issued by the Commission in ac-
cordance with subsection (a) is in compliance with 
those regulations. 
‘‘(2) FACTORS TO DETERMINE REBUTTAL.—In 
determining whether the presumption of compliance 
under paragraph (1) has been rebutted with respect 
to a television broadcast station, cable operator, or 
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other multichannel video programming distributor, 
the Commission shall consider the following: 
‘‘(A) The number of complaints regarding 
loud commercials the Commission has received 
with respect to that station, operator, or other 
distributor. 
‘‘(B) Substantive patterns or trends from 
complaints on loud commercials the Commis-
sion has received. 
‘‘(C) Data and conclusions in any report 
issued by a Federal agency (including the Gov-
ernment Accountability Office) regarding the 
effectiveness of this Act in moderating the loud-
ness of commercials in comparison with accom-
panying video programming. 
‘‘(D) Any other factor established by the 
Commission by regulation.’’; and 
(C) in subsection (d)— 
(i) by redesignating paragraph (1) as 
paragraph (3) and moving it to appear 
after paragraph (2); 
(ii) in paragraph (3), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end and 
inserting a period; 
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(iii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 
paragraph (1); 
(iv) in paragraph (1), as so redesig-
nated— 
(I) by striking ‘‘multi-channel’’ 
and inserting ‘‘multichannel’’; and 
(II) by striking the period at the 
end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(v) by inserting after paragraph (1), 
as so redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(2) the term ‘Commission’ means the Federal 
Communications Commission; and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 
3. 
RULEMAKING 
ON 
LOUD 
COMMERCIALS 
ON 
STREAMING VIDEO. 
‘‘(a) RULEMAKING REQUIRED FOR LOUD STREAM-
ING VIDEO COMMERCIALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this section, the Commis-
sion shall prescribe pursuant to the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) a regulation 
that prohibits video streaming services from trans-
mitting the audio of commercial advertisements 
louder than the video content the advertisements ac-
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company in a manner that is similar in effect to the 
regulation prescribed under section 2. 
‘‘(2) REBUTTABLE
PRESUMPTION.—In pre-
scribing the regulation under paragraph (1), the 
Commission may include a rebuttable presumption 
provision that is similar to the rebuttable presump-
tion under section 2(c) if it is practicable and war-
ranted for effective enforcement of this section. 
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (4), the regulation required under para-
graph (1) shall take effect 180 days after the date 
on which the regulation is published in the Federal 
Register. 
‘‘(4) EXTENSION
OF
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The 
Commission may extend the effective date described 
in paragraph (3) for 1 year for any video streaming 
service that demonstrates that complying with the 
regulation would result in significant financial hard-
ship. 
‘‘(5) UPDATES.—The Commission shall update 
the regulation prescribed under paragraph (1) as 
necessary. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 
means the Federal Communications Commission. 
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‘‘(2) VIDEO PROGRAMMING.—The term ‘video 
programming’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 713(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 613(h)). 
‘‘(3) VIDEO
STREAMING
SERVICE.—The term 
‘video streaming service’— 
‘‘(A) means an entity that makes available 
directly to the end user through a distribution 
method that uses internet protocol— 
‘‘(i) video programming; or 
‘‘(ii) video content the entity makes 
available for users to view; and 
‘‘(B) does not include— 
‘‘(i) a television broadcast station, 
cable operator, or other multichannel video 
programming distributor (as those terms 
are defined in section 2(d)), only with re-
spect to commercial advertisements and 
video programming subject to section 2; or 
‘‘(ii) an entity that serves video pro-
gramming or video content that is served 
without video commercial advertisements. 
‘‘SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications 
Commission shall implement and enforce this Act as if this 
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Act were a part of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 
‘‘(b) VIOLATIONS.—A violation of this Act, or a regu-
lation promulgated under this Act, shall be considered to 
be a violation of the Communications Act of 1934, or a 
regulation promulgated under that Act, respectively. 
‘‘(c) NO CITATION REQUIRED.—Paragraph (5) of 
section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 503(b)) shall not apply to a determination of for-
feiture liability under that subsection against a person who 
commits a violation described in subsection (b) of this sec-
tion.’’. 
(b) GAO REPORT ON CALM ACT ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate and the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 
a report on section 2 of the CALM Act (47 U.S.C. 
621), as amended by subsection (a), that— 
(A) analyzes the effectiveness of that sec-
tion in moderating the loudness of commercials 
in comparison to accompanying video program-
ming; 
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(B) evaluates the ability of the Federal 
Communications Commission to effectively mod-
erate the loudness of commercials in compari-
son to accompanying video programming under 
subsection (c) of that section; and 
(C) as appropriate, recommends policy so-
lutions that would enable better moderation of 
the loudness of commercials in comparison to 
accompanying video programming. 
(2) VIDEO
PROGRAMMING
DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘‘video programming’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 713(h) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613(h)). 
Æ 
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