I 
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 elimi-
nation or modification of requirements in franchises, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 provi-
sions 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 Representa-
tives 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 REQUIRE-
MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica-
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‘‘(iii) in the case of a requirement ap-
plicable to the cable operator, due to com-
mercial 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 main-
tained notwithstanding the elimination or modi-
fication of the requirement; 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘commercial impracticability’ means that it is com-
mercially impracticable for the operator to comply 
with the requirement as a result of a change in con-
ditions which is beyond the control of the operator 
and the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assump-
tion 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 pub-
lic, 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.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any cable operator whose 
request for elimination or modification of a require-
ment 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 require-
ment 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 
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the date on which the request is received by the 
franchising authority— 
‘‘(i) stating that all the information 
(including any form or other document) re-
quired by the franchising authority to be 
submitted for the request to be considered 
complete has not been submitted; 
‘‘(ii) identifying the information re-
quired to be submitted that was not sub-
mitted; 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 deliv-
ered to the individual or at the location speci-
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fied 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 Communica-
tions 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; TER-
MINATION.—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 re-
vokes or terminates such franchise on a specific 
date, after a period of time, or upon the occur-
rence of an event. 
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‘‘(2) WHEN TERMINATION OR REVOCATION OF 
FRANCHISE PERMITTED.— 
‘‘(A) TERMINATION
BY
CABLE
OPER-
ATOR.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A cable operator 
may terminate a franchise by submitting 
to the franchising authority a written re-
quest for the franchising authority to re-
voke 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 AU-
THORITY.—A franchising authority may revoke 
a franchise if the franchising authority— 
‘‘(i) finds that the cable operator has 
knowingly and willfully failed to substan-
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tially meet a material requirement imposed 
by the franchise; 
‘‘(ii) provides the cable operator a rea-
sonable opportunity to cure such failure, 
after which the cable operator fails to cure 
such failure; and 
‘‘(iii) does not waive the material re-
quirement 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 au-
thority 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 deter-
mination 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 
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Commission determines that the franchising au-
thority has not demonstrated by a preponder-
ance of the evidence that the franchising au-
thority revoked the franchise in accordance with 
subsection (b)(2)(B). 
‘‘(3) STAY
OF
DETERMINATION
TO
REVOKE 
FRANCHISE.—A revocation of a franchise under sub-
section (b)(2)(B) may be stayed— 
‘‘(A) in the case the cable operator peti-
tions the Commission for review of the deter-
mination 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 semi-
colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (5); and 
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(C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 
paragraph (5); 
(2) in section 602(9)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in-
cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 
been granted subject to section 626),’’; 
(3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re-
quire 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 re-
newal,’’; 
(6) in section 624— 
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(A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in-
cluding 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 estab-
lished by paragraph (1); or 
(B) before such date, if— 
(i) such franchise (including, any re-
newal thereof before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act) is in effect on such date; 
or 
(ii) such franchise is expired and the 
cable operator has continued to perform 
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under the provisions of such franchise as if 
such franchise were not expired. 
Æ 
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