SEC. 2. REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUC-
TION, OR MODIFICATION OF CABLE EQUIP-
MENT. 
Section 624 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 544) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(j) REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUC-
TION, OR MODIFICATION OF FACILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF CERTAIN 
ENTITIES.—Except as provided in this subsection, 
nothing in this title shall limit or affect the author-
ity of a covered entity over— 
‘‘(A) decisions regarding the placement, 
construction, or modification of a covered 
equipment within the jurisdiction of such cov-
ered entity; or 
‘‘(B) safety standards for the placement, 
construction, or modification of such a covered 
equipment. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) ABILITY TO PROVIDE OR ENHANCE 
CABLE SERVICE.—With respect to the regula-
tion by a covered entity of the placement, con-
struction, or modification of a covered equip-
ment, the covered entity shall not prohibit or 
have the effect of prohibiting the ability of a 
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cable operator to provide, improve, or enhance 
the provision of service using a covered equip-
ment under a franchise granted by such covered 
entity, or within the jurisdiction of such covered 
entity, as so may be the case. 
‘‘(B) TIMING OF DECISIONS ON REQUESTS 
FOR AUTHORIZATIONS TO PLACE, CONSTRUCT, 
OR MODIFY FACILITY.— 
‘‘(i) TIMEFRAME.—A covered entity 
shall approve or deny a complete request 
for authorization to place, construct, or 
modify a covered equipment not later 
than— 
‘‘(I) if the request is for author-
ization to place, construct, or modify 
a covered equipment in or on eligible 
support infrastructure, 90 days after 
the date on which the covered entity 
receives the request; and 
‘‘(II) if the request is not for au-
thorization to place, construct, or 
modify a covered equipment in or on 
eligible support infrastructure, 150 
days after the date on which the cov-
ered entity receives the request. 
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‘‘(ii) 
APPLICABILITY.—Notwith-
standing any provision of this title, the ap-
plicable timeframe under clause (i) shall 
apply collectively to all proceedings re-
quired by a covered entity for the approval 
of the request. 
‘‘(iii) NO
TOLLING.—A timeframe 
under clause (i) may not be tolled by any 
moratorium, whether express or de facto, 
imposed by the covered entity on the con-
sideration of any request for authorization 
to place, construct, or modify a covered 
equipment. 
‘‘(iv) 
WRITTEN
DECISION
AND 
RECORD.—Any decision by a covered entity 
to deny a complete request for authoriza-
tion to place, construct, or modify covered 
equipment shall be— 
‘‘(I) in writing; 
‘‘(II) supported by substantial 
evidence 
contained 
in 
a 
written 
record; and 
‘‘(III) publicly released, and pro-
vided to the requesting party, on the 
same day such decision is made. 
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‘‘(v) DEEMED
GRANTED.—If a cov-
ered entity fails to grant or deny a com-
plete request by the applicable deadline 
under subparagraph (A)(i), the request 
shall be deemed granted and authorized on 
the date on which the covered entity re-
ceives written notice of the failure from the 
requesting party. 
‘‘(3) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; 
RECEIVED.— 
‘‘(A) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM-
PLETE.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes 
of this subsection, a request to a covered 
entity shall be considered complete if the 
requesting party— 
‘‘(I) has taken the first proce-
dural step within the control of the re-
questing party— 
‘‘(aa) that the covered entity 
requires as part of the process 
for reviewing such requests; or 
‘‘(bb) to submit the type of 
filing that is typically required to 
initiate a standard review for a 
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similar request in a jurisdiction 
that has not established specific 
procedures for the relevant re-
view and approval of such a re-
quest; and 
‘‘(II) has not received a written 
notice from the covered entity within 
30 days after the date on which the 
request is received by the covered en-
tity— 
‘‘(aa) stating that all the in-
formation (including any form or 
other document) required by the 
covered entity to be submitted for 
the request to be considered com-
plete has not been submitted; 
‘‘(bb) identifying informa-
tion required to be submitted 
that was not submitted; and 
‘‘(cc) that includes a citation 
to a specific provision of a pub-
licly available rule, regulation, or 
standard issued by the govern-
ment requiring that the informa-
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tion be submitted with such a re-
quest. 
‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—In this subpara-
graph, the term ‘the date on which the re-
quest is received by the covered entity’ 
means— 
‘‘(I) in the case of a request sub-
mitted electronically, the date on 
which the request is transmitted; 
‘‘(II) 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 covered entity or in-person sub-
mission; and 
‘‘(III) 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) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSID-
ERED
RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this 
subsection, a complete request shall be consid-
ered received— 
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‘‘(i) except as provided in clause (ii), 
on the date on which the requesting party 
submits to the covered entity all informa-
tion (including any form or other docu-
ment) required by the covered entity to be 
submitted for the request to be considered 
complete; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a request with re-
spect to which all such information is not 
submitted and that is considered complete 
under subparagraph (A)(i) because the re-
questing party has not received a written 
notice from the covered entity within the 
period described in such subparagraph, on 
the day after the last day of such period. 
‘‘(4) FEES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered entity may 
charge a fee that meets the requirements under 
subparagraph (B) to consider a request for au-
thorization to place, construct, or modify cov-
ered equipment. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A fee charged 
under subparagraph (A) shall be— 
‘‘(i) competitively neutral, technology 
neutral, and nondiscriminatory; 
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‘‘(ii) publicly disclosed in advance; 
‘‘(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 resulting from and 
affected by the placement, 
construction, or modification 
(including the installation or 
improvement) 
of 
covered 
equipment; or 
‘‘(BB) the modification 
(including the improvement) 
of eligible support infra-
structure, or repairs and re-
placement of equipment that 
facilitates 
the 
placement, 
construction, or modification 
(including the installation or 
improvement) of such facili-
ties or the modification (in-
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cluding the improvement) of 
such structures; and 
‘‘(II) using, for purposes of sub-
clause (I), only costs that are objec-
tively reasonable; and 
‘‘(III) described to a requesting 
party in a manner that distinguishes 
between nonrecurring fees and recur-
ring fees. 
‘‘(C) 
NO
RELATION
TO
FRANCHISE 
FEES.—A fee charged under this paragraph to 
consider a request for authorization to place, 
construct, or modify covered equipment may 
not be considered a franchise fee under section 
622. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) COVERED
EQUIPMENT.—The term 
‘covered equipment’ means equipment used in 
or attached to a cable system. 
‘‘(B) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘cov-
ered entity’ means: 
‘‘(i) A State. 
‘‘(ii) A local government. 
‘‘(iii) An instrumentality of a State or 
a local government. 
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‘‘(iv) A franchising authority. 
‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE
SUPPORT
INFRASTRUC-
TURE.—The term ‘eligible support infrastruc-
ture’ means infrastructure that supports or 
houses a facility for communication by wire (or 
is designed to and capable of supporting or 
housing such facility) at the time when a com-
plete request to a covered entity for authoriza-
tion to place, construct, or modify covered 
equipment in or on the infrastructure is re-
ceived by the covered entity.’’. 
SEC. 3. ACTION ON PENDING REQUESTS. 
(a) APPLICATION.—Paragraphs (2)(B) and (4) of 
section 624(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 544(j)), as added by section 2, shall apply to a— 
(1) request received by a covered entity (as 
such term is defined in section 624(j) of the Com-
munications Act of 1934)— 
(A) before the date of the enactment of 
this Act; and 
(B) has not been approved or denied by 
the covered entity on or before such date; and 
(2) a request received by a covered entity on or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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(b) DATE OF RECEIPT.—The date of receipt by a cov-
ered entity of a request described under subsection (a)(1) 
shall be deemed to be the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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