I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7352 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes 
for telecommunications service facilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2020 
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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‘‘SEC. 253. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO ENTRY. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in 
this section, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the 
authority of a State or local government or instrumen-
tality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, con-
struction, and modification of telecommunications service 
facilities. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The regulation of the 
placement, construction, or modification of a tele-
communications service facility by any State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof— 
‘‘(A) shall not prohibit or have the effect 
of prohibiting the ability of any entity to pro-
vide any interstate or intrastate telecommuni-
cations service; and 
‘‘(B) shall not unreasonably discriminate 
among providers of functionally equivalent serv-
ices. 
‘‘(2) TIMEFRAME.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or local gov-
ernment or instrumentality thereof shall grant 
or deny a complete request for authorization to 
place, construct, or modify a telecommuni-
cations service facility not later than— 
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‘‘(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 complete 
request is received by the government or 
instrumentality; or 
‘‘(ii) for any other action relating to 
such facility, 150 days after the date on 
which the complete request is received by 
the government or instrumentality. 
‘‘(B) 
APPLICABILITY.—The 
applicable 
timeframe under subparagraph (A) shall apply 
collectively to all proceedings required by a 
State or local government or instrumentality 
thereof for the approval of the request. 
‘‘(C) NO
TOLLING.—A timeframe under 
subparagraph (A) may not be tolled by any 
moratorium, whether express or de facto, im-
posed by a State or local government or instru-
mentality thereof on the consideration of any 
request for authorization to place, construct, or 
modify a telecommunications service facility. 
‘‘(D) TEMPORARY WAIVER.—The Commis-
sion may temporarily waive the applicability of 
subparagraph (A) for not longer than a single 
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30-day period for any complete request upon a 
demonstration by a State or local government 
or instrumentality thereof that the waiver would 
be consistent with the public interest, conven-
ience, and necessity. 
‘‘(3) DEEMED GRANTED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—If a State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof has nei-
ther granted nor denied a complete request 
within the applicable timeframe under para-
graph (2), the request shall be deemed granted 
on the date on which the government or instru-
mentality receives a written notice of the failure 
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-
quest is deemed granted under such subpara-
graph. 
‘‘(4) WRITTEN DECISION AND RECORD.—Any 
decision by a State or local government or instru-
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mentality thereof to deny a request to place, con-
struct, or modify a telecommunications service facil-
ity shall be— 
‘‘(A) in writing; and 
‘‘(B) supported by substantial evidence 
contained in a written record. 
‘‘(5) FEES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, a State or local govern-
ment or instrumentality thereof may charge a 
fee that meets the requirements under subpara-
graph (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 
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; 
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‘‘(ii) publicly disclosed; 
‘‘(iii) calculated— 
‘‘(I) based on actual and direct 
costs, such as 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 installation 
or 
improvement 
of 
tele-
communications service fa-
cilities; or 
‘‘(BB) equipment that 
facilitates 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 
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‘‘(II) the use of facilities on 
which telecommunications service fa-
cilities are already located and those 
on which there are no telecommuni-
cations service facilities as of the date 
on which the complete request is re-
ceived by the government or instru-
mentality. 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided 
in subsection (b)(3), nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to prevent any State or local government or instru-
mentality thereof from imposing any additional limitation 
or requirement relating to consideration by the govern-
ment or instrumentality of a request for authorization to 
place, construct, or modify a telecommunications service 
facility. 
‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to any 
request to a State or local government or instrumentality 
thereof for authorization to place, construct, or modify any 
telecommunications service facility, including a request for 
authorization to place, construct, or modify a tele-
communications service facility in or on eligible support 
infrastructure. 
‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af-
fected by a final action or failure to act by a State 
or local government or instrumentality thereof that 
is inconsistent with this section may, not later than 
30 days after the action or failure to act, commence 
an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. 
‘‘(2) TIMING.—A court shall hear and decide an 
action described in paragraph (1) on an expedited 
basis. 
‘‘(f) 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. 
‘‘(g) 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 the public rights-of-way or to re-
quire fair and reasonable compensation from telecommuni-
cations providers, on a competitively neutral and non-
discriminatory basis, for use of public rights-of-way on a 
competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, if the 
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compensation required meets the requirements of sub-
section (b)(5). 
‘‘(h) PREEMPTION.—If, after notice and an oppor-
tunity for public comment, the Commission determines 
that a State or local government or instrumentality there-
of has permitted or imposed any statute, regulation, or 
legal requirement that violates or is inconsistent with sub-
section (b), (f), or (g), the Commission shall preempt the 
enforcement of such statute, regulation, or legal require-
ment to the extent necessary to correct such violation or 
inconsistency. 
‘‘(i) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 
Nothing in this section shall affect the application of sec-
tion 332(c)(3) to commercial mobile service providers. 
‘‘(j) 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-
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fectively prevents a competitor from meeting the re-
quirements of section 214(e)(1); and 
‘‘(2) to a provider of commercial mobile serv-
ices. 
‘‘(k) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE-
CEIVED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, a request to a State or local government or in-
strumentality thereof shall be considered— 
‘‘(A) complete if— 
‘‘(i) the requesting party makes the 
request by submitting to the government 
or instrumentality the form required to be 
used for making the request; 
‘‘(ii) the form submitted contains all 
of the information specified by the form as 
being required to be included in the form; 
and 
‘‘(iii) the requesting party has not re-
ceived a written notice from the govern-
ment or instrumentality within 10 business 
days after the date on which the request is 
received by the government or instrumen-
tality— 
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‘‘(I) stating that the form does 
not contain all of the information re-
quired to be included in the form; and 
‘‘(II) identifying the information 
required to be included in the form 
that was not included; and 
‘‘(B) received by the government or instru-
mentality— 
‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 
electronically, on the date on which the 
form required to be used for making the 
request is transmitted; 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub-
mitted in person, on the date on which the 
form required to be used for making the 
request is delivered to the individual or at 
the location specified in the form for in- 
person submission; and 
‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub-
mitted in any other manner, on the date 
determined under regulations promulgated 
by the Commission for the manner in 
which the request is submitted. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.—If a 
State or local government or instrumentality thereof 
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requires the use of multiple forms for making a re-
quest, such forms shall be treated as a single form 
for purposes of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 
The term ‘eligible support infrastructure’ means in-
frastructure that supports or houses a facility for 
communication by wire (or is designed to and capa-
ble of supporting or housing such a facility) at the 
time when a complete request to a State or local 
government or instrumentality thereof for authoriza-
tion to place, construct, or modify a telecommuni-
cations service facility in or on the infrastructure is 
received by the government or instrumentality. 
‘‘(2) TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SERVICE
FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘telecommunications service facility’ 
means a facility for the provision of any interstate 
or intrastate telecommunications service.’’. 
Æ 
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