I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 278 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes 
for telecommunications service facilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2025 
Mr. GRIFFITH 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 telecommunications 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 ‘‘Barriers and Regu-
latory Obstacles Avoids Deployment of Broadband Access 
and Needs Deregulatory Leadership Act’’ or the 
‘‘BROADBAND Leadership Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 
Section 253 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 253) is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or local gov-
ernment or instrumentality thereof shall grant 
or deny a request for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify a telecommunications serv-
ice facility not later than— 
‘‘(i) if the request is for authorization 
to place, construct, or modify such facility 
in or on eligible support infrastructure, 90 
days after the date on which the request is 
submitted by the requesting party to the 
government or instrumentality; or 
‘‘(ii) for any other action relating to 
such facility, 150 days after the date on 
which the request is submitted by the re-
questing party to the government or in-
strumentality. 
‘‘(B) 
APPLICABILITY.—The 
applicable 
timeframe under subparagraph (A) shall apply 
collectively to all proceedings, including permits 
and authorizations, required by a State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof for the 
approval of the request. 
‘‘(C) NO MORITORIA.—A timeframe under 
subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any 
moratorium, whether express or de facto, im-
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posed by a State or local government or instru-
mentality thereof on the submission, accept-
ance, or consideration of requests for authoriza-
tion to place, construct, or modify a tele-
communications service facility. 
‘‘(D) TOLLING
DUE
TO
INCOMPLETE-
NESS.— 
‘‘(i) 
INITIAL
REQUEST
INCOM-
PLETE.—If, not later than 30 days after 
the date on which a requesting party sub-
mits to a State or local government or in-
strumentality thereof a request for author-
ization to place, construct, or modify a 
telecommunications service facility, the 
government or instrumentality provides to 
the requesting party a written notice de-
scribed in clause (iii) with respect to the 
request, the timeframe described in sub-
paragraph (A) is tolled with respect to the 
request until the date on which the re-
questing party submits to the government 
or instrumentality a supplemental submis-
sion in response to the notice. 
‘‘(ii) SUPPLEMENTAL SUBMISSION IN-
COMPLETE.—If, not later than 10 days 
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after the date on which a requesting party 
submits to a State or local government or 
instrumentality thereof a supplemental 
submission in response to a written notice 
described in clause (iii), the government or 
instrumentality provides to the requesting 
party a written notice described in clause 
(iii) with respect to the supplemental sub-
mission, the timeframe under subpara-
graph (A) is further tolled until the date 
on which the requesting party submits to 
the government or instrumentality a subse-
quent supplemental submission in response 
to the notice. 
‘‘(iii) 
WRITTEN
NOTICE
DE-
SCRIBED.—The written notice described in 
this clause is, with respect to a request de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) or a supple-
mental submission described in clause (i) 
or (ii) submitted to a State or local govern-
ment or instrumentality thereof by a re-
questing party, a written notice from the 
government or instrumentality to the re-
questing party— 
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‘‘(I) stating that all of the infor-
mation (including any form or other 
document) required by the govern-
ment or instrumentality to be sub-
mitted for the request to be consid-
ered complete has not been submitted; 
‘‘(II) identifying the information 
described in subclause (I) that was 
not submitted; and 
‘‘(III) including a citation to a 
specific provision of a publicly avail-
able rule, regulation, or standard 
issued by the government or instru-
mentality requiring that such informa-
tion be submitted with such a request. 
‘‘(iv) LIMITATION
ON
SUBSEQUENT 
WRITTEN NOTICE.—If a written notice pro-
vided by a State or local government or in-
strumentality thereof to a requesting party 
under clause (ii) with respect to a supple-
mental submission identifies as not having 
been submitted any information that was 
not identified as not having been submitted 
in the prior written notice under this sub-
paragraph in response to which the supple-
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mental submission was submitted, the sub-
sequent written notice shall be treated as 
not having been provided to the requesting 
party. 
‘‘(E) TOLLING BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT.— 
The timeframe under subparagraph (A) may be 
tolled by mutual agreement between the State 
or local government or instrumentality thereof 
and the requesting party. 
‘‘(3) DEEMED GRANTED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—If a State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof has nei-
ther granted nor denied a request within the 
applicable timeframe under paragraph (2), the 
request shall be deemed granted on the date on 
which the government or instrumentality re-
ceives a written notice of the failure to grant or 
deny from the requesting party. 
‘‘(B) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—In the 
case of a request that is deemed granted under 
subparagraph (A), the placement, construction, 
or modification requested in such request shall 
be considered to be authorized, without any fur-
ther action by the government or instrumen-
tality, beginning on the date on which such re-
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quest is deemed granted under such subpara-
graph. 
‘‘(4) WRITTEN DECISION AND RECORD.—A de-
cision by a State or local government or instrumen-
tality thereof to deny a request to place, construct, 
or modify a telecommunications service facility shall 
be— 
‘‘(A) in writing; 
‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 
contained in a written record; and 
‘‘(C) publicly released, and provided to the 
requesting party, on the same day such decision 
is made. 
‘‘(5) FEES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—To the extent per-
mitted by law, a State or local government or 
instrumentality thereof may charge a fee that 
meets the requirements under subparagraph 
(B)— 
‘‘(i) to consider a request for author-
ization to place, construct, or modify a 
telecommunications service facility; or 
‘‘(ii) for use of a right-of-way or a fa-
cility in a right-of-way owned or managed 
by the government or instrumentality for 
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the placement, construction, or modifica-
tion of a telecommunications service facil-
ity. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A fee charged 
under subparagraph (A) shall be— 
‘‘(i) competitively neutral, technology 
neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 
‘‘(ii) established in advance and pub-
licly disclosed; 
‘‘(iii) calculated— 
‘‘(I) based on actual and direct 
costs for— 
‘‘(aa) review and processing 
of requests; and 
‘‘(bb) repairs and replace-
ment of— 
‘‘(AA) components and 
materials directly resulting 
from and affected by the 
placement, construction, or 
modification (including the 
installation or improvement) 
of telecommunications serv-
ice facilities; or 
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‘‘(BB) equipment that 
facilitates 
the 
placement, 
construction, or modification 
(including the installation or 
improvement) of such facili-
ties; and 
‘‘(II) using, for purposes of sub-
clause (I), only costs that are objec-
tively reasonable; and 
‘‘(iv) described to a requesting party 
in a manner that distinguishes between— 
‘‘(I) nonrecurring fees and recur-
ring fees; and 
‘‘(II) the use of facilities on 
which telecommunications service fa-
cilities or infrastructure for compat-
ible uses are already located and fa-
cilities on which there are no tele-
communications service facilities or 
infrastructure for compatible uses as 
of the date on which the request is 
submitted by the requesting party to 
the government or instrumentality. 
‘‘(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person adversely affected 
by a State or local statute, regulation, or other legal 
requirement, or by a final action or failure to act by 
a State or local government or instrumentality there-
of, that is inconsistent with this section may com-
mence an action in any court of competent jurisdic-
tion. 
‘‘(2) TIMING.— 
‘‘(A) EXPEDITED
BASIS.—A court shall 
hear and decide an action commenced under 
paragraph (1) on an expedited basis. 
‘‘(B) FINAL
ACTION
OR
FAILURE
TO 
ACT.—An action may only be commenced under 
paragraph (1) on the basis of a final action or 
failure to act by a State or local government or 
instrumentality thereof, if commenced not later 
than 30 days after such action or failure to act. 
‘‘(d) PRESERVATION OF STATE REGULATORY AU-
THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall affect the ability 
of a State to impose, on a competitively neutral and non-
discriminatory basis and consistent with section 254, re-
quirements necessary to preserve and advance universal 
service, protect the public safety and welfare, ensure the 
continued quality of telecommunications services, and 
safeguard the rights of consumers. 
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‘‘(e) PRESERVATION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN-
MENT AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this section affects the 
authority of a State or local government or instrumen-
tality thereof to manage, on a competitively neutral and 
nondiscriminatory basis, the public rights-of-way or to re-
quire, on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory 
basis, fair and reasonable compensation from tele-
communications providers for use of public rights-of-way, 
if the compensation required meets the requirements of 
subsection (b)(5). 
‘‘(f) PREEMPTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, after notice and an op-
portunity for public comment, the Commission deter-
mines that a State or local government or instru-
mentality thereof has permitted or imposed a stat-
ute, regulation, or legal requirement that violates or 
is inconsistent with this section, the Commission 
shall preempt the enforcement of such statute, regu-
lation, or legal requirement to the extent necessary 
to correct such violation or inconsistency. 
‘‘(2) TIMING.—Not later than 120 days after 
receiving a petition for preemption of the enforce-
ment of a statute, regulation, or legal requirement 
as described in paragraph (1), the Commission shall 
grant or deny the petition. 
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‘‘(g) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS; 
CABLE OPERATORS.—Nothing in this section shall affect 
the application of section 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile 
service providers or section 621 to cable operators. 
‘‘(h) RURAL MARKETS.—It shall not be a violation 
of this section for a State to require a telecommunications 
carrier that seeks to provide telephone exchange service 
or exchange access in a service area served by a rural tele-
phone company to meet the requirements in section 
214(e)(1) for designation as an eligible telecommuni-
cations carrier for that area before being permitted to pro-
vide such service. This subsection shall not apply— 
‘‘(1) to a service area served by a rural tele-
phone company that has obtained an exemption, sus-
pension, or modification of section 251(c)(4) that ef-
fectively prevents a competitor from meeting the re-
quirements of section 214(e)(1); and 
‘‘(2) to a provider of commercial mobile serv-
ices. 
‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED SUBMITTED.— 
For the purposes of this section, a request to a State or 
local government or instrumentality thereof shall be con-
sidered submitted on the date on which the requesting 
party takes the first procedural step within the control of 
the requesting party— 
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‘‘(1) to submit such request in accordance with 
the procedures established by the government or in-
strumentality for the review and approval of such a 
request; or 
‘‘(2) in the case of a government or instrumen-
tality that has not established specific procedures for 
the review and approval of such a request, to submit 
to the government or instrumentality the type of fil-
ing that is typically required to initiate a standard 
review for a similar facility or structure. 
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 
The term ‘eligible support infrastructure’ means in-
frastructure that supports or houses a telecommuni-
cations service facility (or that is designed for or ca-
pable of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 
time when a request to a State or local government 
or instrumentality thereof for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify a telecommunications service 
facility in or on the infrastructure is submitted by 
the requesting party to the government or instru-
mentality. 
‘‘(2) TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SERVICE
FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service facil-
ity’— 
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‘‘(A) means a facility that is designed or 
used to provide or facilitate the provision of any 
interstate 
or 
intrastate 
telecommunications 
service; and 
‘‘(B) includes a facility described in sub-
paragraph (A) that is used to provide other 
services.’’. 
Æ 
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