HR 5252 RFS 
‘‘(1) REPORTING.—A cable operator with a 
franchise under this section to provide cable service 
in a franchise area shall make such periodic reports 
to the Commission and the franchising authority for 
such franchise area as the Commission may require 
to verify compliance with the fee obligations of sub-
sections (c)(1) and (e)(2). 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND RECORDS.— 
Upon request under paragraph (3) by a franchising 
authority for a franchise area, and upon request by 
the Commission, a cable operator with a national 
franchise for such franchise area shall make avail-
able its books and records to periodic audit by such 
franchising authority or the Commission, respec-
tively. 
‘‘(3) FRANCHISING AUTHORITY AUDIT PROCE-
DURE.—A franchising authority may, upon reason-
able written request, but no more than once in any 
12-month period, review the business records of such 
cable operator to the extent reasonably necessary to 
ensure payment of the fees required by subsections 
(c)(1) and (e)(2). Such review may include the meth-
odology used by such cable operator to assign por-
tions of the revenue from cable service that may be 
bundled or functionally integrated with other serv-
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ices, capabilities, or applications. Such review shall 
be conducted in accordance with procedures estab-
lished by the Commission. 
‘‘(4) COST RECOVERY.— 
‘‘(A) To the extent that the review under 
paragraph (3) identifies an underpayment of an 
amount meeting the minimum percentage speci-
fied in subparagraph (B) of the fee required 
under subsection (c)(1) or (e)(2) for the period 
of review, the cable operator shall reimburse the 
franchising authority the reasonable costs of 
any such review conducted by an independent 
third party, as determined by the Commission, 
with respect to such fee. The costs of any con-
tingency fee arrangement between the fran-
chising authority and the independent reviewer 
shall not be subject to reimbursement. 
‘‘(B) The Commission shall determine by 
rule the minimum percentage underpayment 
that requires cost reimbursement under sub-
paragraph (A). 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Any fee that is not reviewed 
by a franchising authority within 3 years after it is 
paid or remitted shall not be subject to later review 
by the franchising authority under this subsection 
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and shall be deemed accepted in full payment by the 
franchising authority. 
‘‘(6) FEE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— 
‘‘(A) COMPLAINT.—A franchising author-
ity or a cable operator may file a complaint at 
the Commission to resolve a dispute between 
such authority and operator with respect to the 
amount of any fee required under subsection 
(c)(1) or (e)(2) if— 
‘‘(i) the franchising authority or the 
cable operator provides the other entity 
written notice of such dispute; and 
‘‘(ii) the franchising authority and the 
cable operator have not resolved the dis-
pute within 90 calendar days after receipt 
of such notice. 
‘‘(B) MEETINGS.—Within 30 calendar 
days after receipt of notice of a dispute pro-
vided pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i), rep-
resentatives of the franchising authority and 
the cable operator, with authority to resolve the 
dispute, shall meet to attempt to resolve the 
dispute. 
‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—A complaint under 
subparagraph (A) shall be filed not later than 
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3 years after the end of the period to which the 
disputed amount relates, unless such time is ex-
tended by written agreement between the fran-
chising authority and cable operator. 
‘‘(D) 
RESOLUTION.—The 
Commission 
shall issue an order resolving any complaint 
filed under subparagraph (A) within 90 days of 
filing. 
‘‘(n) ACCESS TO PROGRAMMING FOR SHARED FA-
CILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A cable programming ven-
dor in which a cable operator has an attributable in-
terest shall not deny a cable operator with a national 
franchise under this section access to video program-
ming solely because such cable operator with a na-
tional franchise uses a headend for its cable system 
that is also used, under a shared ownership or leas-
ing agreement, as the headend for another cable sys-
tem. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—The term ‘cable program-
ming vendor’ means a person engaged in the produc-
tion, creation, or wholesale distribution for sale of 
video programming which is primarily intended for 
the direct receipt by cable operators for their re-
transmission to cable subscribers. 
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