reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AL Code § 37-16-2 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 16 - Broadband Using Electric Easements Accessibility Act.|Section 37-16-2 - Legislative Findings.

Section 37-16-2Legislative findings. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) More advanced communication capabilities, broadband facilities, and services are needed in many rural and underserved areas of the state. (2) Electric providers in those rural and underserved areas are capable of providing infrastructure for such advanced communications capabilities and providing, directly or indirectly, broadband facilities or services. (3) The investment in and development of advanced communications capabilities for providing broadband facilities and services are necessary to better serve the public in those rural and underserved areas. (4) The continued lack of advanced communication capabilities, broadband facilities, and services in rural and underserved areas deprives citizens residing in these areas from access to opportunities such that the state needs to take action to correct and eliminate these discrepancies. (5) It is the public policy of this state to encourage and facilitate the development and investment in advanced communications capabilities and broadband facilities and services in those rural and underserved areas in the state, as this development is vital and necessary to induce, create, and promote industrial and economic development in those rural and underserved areas of the state and to create job opportunities, enhance health care, and enhance educational advancement in those areas. (6) It is the public policy of the state to promote the authorization of advanced communications capabilities to be installed by electric providers within existing easements and other rights-of-way. (7) It is the intent of this chapter to authorize electric providers to engage in arrangements, contracts, and other collaborative activities with public or private persons to facilitate the investment in or development of advanced communications capabilities and broadband services and broadband systems in this state. (8) The limited grant of authorization to electric providers in this chapter is reasonably related to the proposed legislative objective of providing advanced communications capabilities, broadband facilities, and services in rural, underserved, and unserved areas. (b) Except as provided in subsection (a), nothing contained in this chapter is intended to exempt, except, or exclude providers that engage in the provision of broadband facilities or services through advanced communications capabilities from complying with any provisions of federal law which may at any time apply to the electric providers or their broadband facilities or services. (Act 2019-326, §1.)
AL Code § 37-16-5 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 16 - Broadband Using Electric Easements Accessibility Act.|Section 37-16-5 - Effect of Chapter on Service Territories for Electric Suppliers.

Section 37-16-5Effect of chapter on service territories for electric suppliers. In no event does this chapter authorize any electric provider to provide retail electric service outside of its electric service territory as determined under the applicable provisions of Chapter 14. Nothing in this chapter is intended to amend, repeal, enlarge, or otherwise affect Chapter 14. (Act 2019-326, §1.)
AL Code § 37-16-6 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 16 - Broadband Using Electric Easements Accessibility Act.|Section 37-16-6 - Costs Charged for Construction, Installation, Maintenance, etc., of Broadband System.

Section 37-16-6Costs charged for construction, installation, maintenance, etc., of broadband system. An electric provider may charge a broadband affiliate or an unaffiliated person, including a broadband operator or broadband service provider, for the costs of the construction, installation, replacement, operation, use, and maintenance of the broadband system or of those parts of its electric delivery system that are used or may be reserved for use by the broadband affiliate or unaffiliated broadband operator or broadband service provider for the provision of broadband services. No electric provider shall be required to construct, install, replace, operate, or maintain a broadband system or to provide broadband services. An electric provider, broadband affiliate, or unaffiliated broadband operator or broadband services provider may charge for broadband services or any other uses of the broadband system, whether wholesale or retail, at rates determined by the provider thereof.  (Act 2019-326, §1.)
AL Code § 37-16-8 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 16 - Broadband Using Electric Easements Accessibility Act.|Section 37-16-8 - Construction of Chapter.

Section 37-16-8Construction of chapter. (a) Nothing in this chapter shall interfere with the commission's authority to regulate public utilities under this title. Nothing in this chapter shall provide a basis for creating or granting jurisdiction to the commission over any electric providers or any broadband affiliate that are otherwise exempt or are otherwise not subject to the jurisdiction of the commission. (b) Nothing in this chapter shall affect, abrogate, or eliminate in any way any obligation of an electric provider or any broadband affiliate or broadband operator to comply with any applicable safety and permitting requirements of any railroad company or any state governmental body or agency with respect to property that is held or controlled by such railroad company or state governmental body or agency, as the case may be, and in, on, over, or across which an easement is located.  (c) Any broadband system that encumbers the right-of-way of the Department of Transportation shall require a permit from the department regardless of whether the broadband system is within a currently permitted electric easement or an electric delivery system. Nothing in this chapter shall provide an exemption from an existing applicable regulation regarding access to county rights-of-way or be construed to abrogate, limit, expand, or otherwise affect the authority of a municipality to regulate the use of municipal streets and rights-of-way.  (d) Except as provided in this section, nothing in this chapter is intended to expand or contract an electric provider's rights and obligations with regard to applicable laws in connection with pole attachments to its electric delivery system, or the terms of any pole attachment agreement in effect with its electric delivery system. (Act 2019-326, §1.)
AL Code § 37-16-9 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 16 - Broadband Using Electric Easements Accessibility Act.|Section 37-16-9 - Allocation and Accounting of Marginal Costs Related to Nonutility Support Services; Investments In, Loans To, Leases With Broadband Affiliates.

Section 37-16-9Allocation and accounting of marginal costs related to nonutility support services; investments in, loans to, leases with broadband affiliates.  (a) An electric provider providing broadband services shall fully allocate and properly account for all marginal costs, including the internal imputation of such costs when the electric provider does not provide broadband services through an affiliate, related to the provision of nonutility support services, including any transactions provided for in subsection (b), and shall not use its electric services sales revenues for the subsidization of such nonutility support services. No transaction treated in accordance with subsection (b) shall be considered a cross-subsidy. Nothing in this subsection shall apply to an electric provider that is a Tennessee Valley distributor or an electric provider that is a utility as defined under paragraph a. of subdivision (7) of Section 37-4-1. (b) Nothing in this section shall prevent an electric provider from making investments in broadband affiliates otherwise permitted by applicable law, making loans to broadband affiliates otherwise permitted by applicable law which have a repayment obligation from the affiliate, entering into capital or operating leases with the broadband affiliate, or entering into guarantees or other security arrangements for the benefit of a broadband affiliate, all on such terms and subject to such conditions as the board approves in the case of member cooperatives which are electric providers or as determined to be prudent or appropriate under applicable law in the case of other electric providers. An electric provider that is not a Tennessee Valley distributor or a utility as defined under paragraph a. of subdivision (7) of Section 37-4-1 shall separately allocate and account for all transactions described in this subsection as set forth in subsection (a). (Act 2019-326, §1.)
AL Code § 37-16-10 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 16 - Broadband Using Electric Easements Accessibility Act.|Section 37-16-10 - Limitation of Source of Funds.

Section 37-16-10Limitation of source of funds. In no event shall funds be appropriated from the Education Trust Fund under this chapter. (Act 2019-326, §1.)
AL Code § 37-17-2 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-2 - Rights of Authorities Regarding Small Wireless Facilities and Associated Poles.

Section 37-17-2Rights of authorities regarding small wireless facilities and associated poles. (a) An authority may not deny a wireless provider the right, as a permitted use subject to Section 37-17-3 and the authority's requirements not in conflict with this chapter or a then-existing final order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to do either of the following: (1) Collocate, mount, or install small wireless facilities on or adjacent to existing, new, or replacement poles in the right-of-way. (2) Install, modify, or replace its own poles, or, with the permission of the owner, a third party's poles, associated with a small wireless facility, along, across, upon, and under the right-of-way controlled by the authority. (b) For purposes of this section, any new or modified pole may not exceed the greater of either of the following: (1) Ten feet in height above the tallest existing pole in place as of July 1, 2021, located within 500 feet of the new pole in the same right-of-way controlled by the authority. (2) Fifty feet above ground level. (c) The small wireless facilities and associated poles shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the authority's requirements not in conflict with this chapter or a then-existing final order of the FCC and as not to obstruct or hinder the usual travel and public safety on the right-of-way and adjacent roads and bridges or obstruct the legal use of the right-of-way by utilities. (d) A wireless provider may collocate a small wireless facility and install, maintain, modify, operate, and replace a pole that exceeds these height limits along, across, upon, and under the right-of-way, subject to applicable zoning regulations or other applicable requirements of the authority. (Act 2021-5, §2.)
AL Code § 37-17-4 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-4 - Collocation of Small Wireless Facilities; Performance of Make-Ready Work; Costs.

Section 37-17-4Collocation of small wireless facilities; performance of make-ready work; costs. (a) Subject to Sections 37-17-2, 37-17-3, and 37-17-5, an authority shall allow the collocation of small wireless facilities on existing poles, other than any poles owned by an electric provider, owned or controlled by an authority and the mounting or installation of small wireless facilities on replacement poles, other than any poles owned by an electric provider, owned or controlled by an authority on nondiscriminatory terms and conditions that comply with this chapter. (b) For structures owned or controlled by an authority, an authority may provide a wireless provider the option of either having the wireless provider perform any necessary make-ready work through the use of qualified contractors or having the authority perform any necessary make-ready work at the sole cost of the wireless provider. If the authority performs the make-ready work, the authority shall provide a good faith estimate of the make-ready work, including any pole replacement costs. Make-ready work shall be completed within 60 days after a written acceptance of the good faith estimate by the applicant. (c) On completion of the make-ready work performed by an authority at the request of a wireless provider, the wireless provider, within 60 days of invoicing, shall reimburse the authority for the authority's actual and documented cost of the make-ready work, including labor and materials. The cost invoiced to the wireless provider may not exceed the good faith estimate by more than 10 percent. (Act 2021-5, §4.)
AL Code § 37-17-5 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-5 - Permit Application Fees; Access Rates.

Section 37-17-5Permit application fees; access rates. (a) Application fees for permits for small wireless facilities shall be nondiscriminatory and may not exceed the following: (1) A five hundred dollar ($500) non-recurring fee for a single up-front application for collocation that includes up to five small wireless facilities, with an additional one hundred dollars ($100) for each small wireless facility beyond five in a consolidated application. (2) A two hundred fifty dollar ($250) non-recurring fee for the modification or replacement of an existing pole together with the mounting or installation of an associated small wireless facility in the right-of-way. (3) A one thousand dollar ($1,000) non-recurring fee for the installation of a new pole together with the mounting or installation of an associated small wireless facility in the right-of-way. (b) If an authority elects to charge for access to the right-of-way or collocation on poles owned or controlled by the authority in the right-of-way for small wireless facilities, the rates shall be nondiscriminatory and may not exceed one hundred dollars ($100) per small wireless facility per year for access to and use of the right-of-way and one hundred seventy dollars ($170) per year per small wireless facility collocated, mounted, or installed on or adjacent to poles owned or controlled by an authority. (Act 2021-5, §5.)
AL Code § 37-17-6 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-6 - Chapter Inapplicable to Certain Entities.

Section 37-17-6Chapter inapplicable to certain entities. (a) This chapter does not apply to any poles or structures owned by an electric provider, whether used for lighting, distribution, transmission, or otherwise. This chapter also does not apply to the equipment, easements, or business activities of any of the following: (1) A utility, as defined under Section 37-4-1. (2) Any board or public corporation incorporated or organized for the acquisition or operation of an electric distribution system under Chapter 50 of Title 11, including, but not limited to, Sections 11-50-490 through 11-50-506, and any city or town that shall have established and is operating a system for the distribution of electric power and energy pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 50 of Title 11. (3) An electric cooperative incorporated or organized under Chapter 6. (4) An electric membership corporation incorporated or organized under Chapter 7. (5) The parents, affiliates, or subsidiaries of any of the entities described in this section, provided they are not acting as a wireless provider. (b) Nothing in this chapter shall affect or alter, or be construed to affect or alter, the terms of any pole attachment agreement entered into between or among a wireless provider and an electric provider. (c) When a wireless provider collocates, installs, or mounts a small wireless facility pursuant to a pole attachment agreement with an electric provider, an authority may only restrict the wireless provider's access to the right-of-way as described in Section 37-17-2. In such a situation, the authority shall comply with the application process set forth in Section 37-17-3, and any fees and rates paid to the authority by the wireless provider are subject to the limits set forth in Section 37-17-5. (Act 2021-5, §6.)
AL Code § 37-17-7 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-7 - Liability of Authorities.

Section 37-17-7Liability of authorities. (a) An authority exercising its authority established by this chapter may not be subject to suit or otherwise be responsible for the alleged negligence, wantonness, willfulness, recklessness, or any other claims for alleged wrongful acts or omissions of wireless providers or their officers, agents, contractors, subcontractors, employees, or other representatives relative to the design, location, placement, construction, maintenance, and operation of small wireless facilities in an authority's right-of-way or on an authority's infrastructure. (b) Wireless providers shall indemnify authorities and their elected and appointed officials, employees, and authorized agents, or their insurers, and hold them harmless from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, suits, or proceedings in equity or law asserted by third parties for damages, losses, liabilities, or costs of any kind, including, without limitation, reasonable attorney's fees, as and when incurred that arise from a material breach by a wireless provider or any of its officers, employees, volunteers, or authorized agents of any obligations set forth in this chapter; or for any claims for the alleged negligence, wantonness, willfulness, recklessness, or claims of any other alleged wrongful acts or omissions of wireless providers or their officers, agents, contractors, subcontractors, employees, or other representatives relative to the design, location, placement, construction, maintenance, and operation of small wireless facilities in an authority's rights-of-way or on an authority's infrastructure. A wireless provider has no obligation to indemnify or hold harmless against any liabilities and losses due to or caused by the sole negligence or willful misconduct of an authority or its employees or agents. (Act 2021-5, §7.)
AL Code § 37-17-8 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-8 - Insurance Requirements.

Section 37-17-8Insurance requirements. (a) Except as authorized under subsection (b), during the period in which the small wireless facilities of a wireless provider are located on or attached to the authority's assets, including its poles, or rights-of-way, the authority may require a wireless provider to do both of the following: (1) Carry, at the wireless provider's sole cost and expense, the following types of third-party insurance: a. Property insurance for the replacement cost of all small wireless facilities. b. Workers' compensation insurance, as required by law. c. Commercial general liability insurance of at least two million dollars ($2,000,000) per occurrence, with respect to the wireless providers activities in, on, or around the authority improvements or rights-of-way, including coverage for bodily injury and property damage. d. Environmental insurance. (2) Include the authority and its officers, officials, agents, contractors, and employees as an additional insured on the commercial general liability policy and provide certification and documentation of inclusion of the authority in a commercial general liability policy as reasonably required by the authority. (b) In lieu of the requirements of subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a), during the period in which the small wireless facilities of a wireless provider are located on or attached to the authority's assets, including its poles, or rights-of-way, the authority may allow the wireless provider to provide a certificate of self-insurance, acceptable to the authority, that demonstrates that the wireless provider has adequate resources to self-insure in the amounts set forth in subdivision (a)(1). (Act 2021-5, §8.)
AL Code § 37-17-9 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 37 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation.|Chapter 17 - Small Wireless Facilities|Section 37-17-9 - Removal, Relocation, Change, etc., of Small Wireless Facilities; Written Order; Failure to Comply.

Section 37-17-9Removal, relocation, change, etc., of small wireless facilities; written order; failure to comply. (a) An authority may order a wireless provider to remove, relocate, change, or otherwise alter the wireless provider's small wireless facility or pole for any of the following reasons, so long as all other occupiers of the same right-of-way remove, relocate, change, or otherwise alter their facilities under the same conditions as the wireless provider: (1) To perform construction, repair, maintenance, or installation of an authority improvement in or upon the right-of-way or the operations of the authority in or upon the right-of-way. (2) When the small wireless facility or pole is interfering with or adversely affecting the proper operation of an authority pole, traffic signal, or other equipment in the right-of-way. (3) To comply with traffic and public safety codes. (b) Within 90 days of the issuance of a written order from an authority, a wireless provider, at its own expense, shall temporarily or permanently protect, support, disconnect, remove, relocate, change, or otherwise alter the position of a small wireless facility or pole within the right-of-way. (c) When an authority orders a wireless provider to remove, relocate, change, or alter the position of a small wireless facility or pole within the right-of-way, the authority shall use its best efforts to give the wireless provider a reasonably equivalent alternative location. (d) If a wireless provider has not complied with an order under subsection (a) within 90 days of the issuance of a written order, the authority, without further notice to the wireless provider and at sole cost and expense to the wireless provider, may relocate any small wireless facility or pole as ordered by the authority. (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an authority may remove a small wireless facility or pole if the authority determines that the removal is necessary to address an imminent risk to public safety. If circumstances permit, the authority shall provide notice to the wireless provider and an opportunity for the wireless provider to move its own small wireless facility or pole to address the risk. An authority that removes a facility or pole under this subsection shall promptly notify the wireless provider of the removal. (Act 2021-5, §9.)