Opinion ID: 778650
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background Considerations

Text: 11 Section 253 of Title 47 of the United States Code provides in relevant part: 12 (a) In general 13 No State or local statute or regulation, or other State or local legal requirement, may prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the ability of any entity to provide any interstate or intrastate telecommunications service. 14 (b) State regulatory authority 15 Nothing in this section shall affect the ability of a State to impose, on a competitively neutral basis and consistent with section 254 of this section, requirements 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. 16 (c) State and local government authority Nothing in this section affects the authority of a State or local government to manage the public rights of way or to require fair and reasonable compensation from telecommunications providers, on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis, for use of public rights of way on a nondiscriminatory basis, if the compensation required is publicly disclosed by such government. 17 (d) Preemption 18 If, after notice and an opportunity for public comment, the Commission determines that a State or local government has permitted or imposed any statute, regulation, or legal requirement that violates subsection (a) or (b) of this section, the Commission shall preempt the enforcement of such statute, regulation, or legal requirement to the extent necessary to correct such violation or inconsistency. 19 Subpart (a) expressly preempts any state or local law inconsistent with its prohibition. As indicated by their opening text, subparts (b) and (c) are structurally savings clauses, excepting the listed local and state functions from the preemptive effect of subpart (a). Cablevision of Boston Inc. v. Public Improvement Comm'n, 184 F.3d 88, 98 (1st Cir.1999). At the same time, the division between (b) and (c) defines the boundaries of each body's retained regulatory authority, with states permitted to regulate broadly with respect to public safety and other issues, and local governments limited to powers delegated by their states and management of their rights of way. In re TCI Cablevision, 12 F.C.C.R. 21396, ¶ 102-104, 109 (Sept. 19, 1997). In the case of a dispute over a local regulation of rights of way, once the party seeking preemption sustains its burden of showing that a local municipality has violated Section 253(a) by formally or effectively prohibiting entry into the payphone market, the burden of proving that the regulation comes within the safe harbor in Section 253(c) falls on the defendant municipality. In re Petition of the State of Minnesota, 14 F.C.C.R. 21697, n. 26 (1999). 20 This much is clear: Section 253 is quite inartfully drafted and has created a fair amount of confusion. For this reason, we briefly clear out some legal underbrush before getting to the main issue. 21 In applying Section 253, one question with which courts have struggled is whether there is a private right of action to challenge ordinances as preempted by the section directly in federal court. This issue is made confusing by the structure of the section and the language of Section 253(d). To begin with, it is not clear from the text and placement of subsection (d) whether Congress intended preemption by the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC) to be the sole means of enforcing Sections 253(a) and (b), or, if a private cause of action exists to enforce either of these subsections. See Cablevision of Boston, 184 F.3d at 98. In the former case, (d)'s omission of (c) could be read to mean that a private right of action addressed directly to a federal court, instead of FCC jurisdiction, is available solely to challenge local legislation purporting to regulate rights of way and thereby potentially implicating Section 253(c). 3 This was the conclusion reached by the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, which, based primarily on legislative history, found that it was the intent of Congress to allow municipalities to defend themselves against preemption suits locally rather than travel to Washington D.C. to be heard before the FCC. TCG Detroit v. City of Dearborn, 206 F.3d 618, 623 (6th Cir.2000); BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. v. Town of Palm Beach, 252 F.3d 1169, 1189-91 (11th Cir.2001); see also 141 Cong.Rec. S8305-02 (June 14, 1995) (final text of § 253(d) designed to leave rights-of-way issues to local federal courts and allow the FCC to preempt core issues only.) 22 While the opinion of the Eleventh Circuit in particular is well reasoned, we need not decide whether to adopt it at this time because resolution of this issue is not before us. In ruling on summary judgment, the District Court found that there is a private right of action implied in Section 253. 130 F.Supp.2d at 636. That ruling has not been challenged on appeal. Therefore, for the purpose of this case only, we assume that there is a private federal court remedy for local rights-of-way ordinances that are preempted by the TCA. The Supreme Court has held that whether a federal statute creates a private claim for relief is not a jurisdictional question. Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent, Michigan, 510 U.S. 355, 114 S.Ct. 855, 127 L.Ed.2d 183 (1994) (adjudicating the claims raised by a private plaintiff on certiorari while assuming a private right of action under the federal Anti-Head Tax Act). Consequently, we are not required to address the private right of action issue when it has not been raised by the parties. 23 A second question with which courts have struggled is the scope of preemption consistent with Section 253(c). Confusion again arises because of inconsistencies within the structure of the statute. Although Sections 253(b) and (c) are framed as savings clauses, Section 253(d) speaks of violation of (b) suggesting that it must impose some sort of substantive limitation independent of (a). This also raises the possibility that Section 253(c), which is similarly phrased, contains a parallel limitation. The legislative history of the TCA also gives some suggestion that Congress, in enacting Section 253(c), may have intended to create a separate enforceable requirement that municipal acts be competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory. See 141 Cong.Rec. H8460-01 (Aug. 4, 1995) (debate on current language which was adopted to allow localities to retain authority to set own fees so long as they were competitively neutral). 24 While there is a circuit split on this issue, 4 the facts of the present case are such that there is again no need to resolve it for the Third Circuit at this time. As discussed below, the operation of Section 253(a) is sufficient to preempt the Ordinance in this case and it does not fall within the Section 253(c) safe harbor. We therefore limit our ruling to preemption under Section 253(a).