Winning the International Race for Economic Leadership and Expanding Service to Support Leadership Act or the WIRELESS Leadership Act
This bill limits the authority of, and imposes deadlines on, state and local governments regarding decisions about the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7362 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7362
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to streamline siting processes
for personal wireless service facilities, including small personal
wireless service facilities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 25, 2020
Mr. Latta 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 personal wireless service facilities, including small personal
wireless service facilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Winning the International Race for
Economic Leadership and Expanding Service to Support Leadership Act''
or the ``WIRELESS Leadership Act''.
SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY.
Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c))
is amended by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following:
``(7) Preservation of local zoning authority.--
``(A) General authority.--Except as provided in
this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall limit or
affect the authority of a State or local government or
instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the
placement, construction, and modification of personal
wireless service facilities.
``(B) Limitations.--
``(i) In general.--The regulation of the
placement, construction, or modification of a
personal wireless service facility by any State
or local government or instrumentality
thereof--
``(I) shall not unreasonably
discriminate among providers of the
same service using comparable
equipment, including by providing
exclusive or preferential use of
facilities to a particular provider or
class of providers of personal wireless
service; and
``(II) shall not prohibit or have
the effect of prohibiting the provision
of personal wireless service, including
by materially limiting or inhibiting
the ability of any provider or
potential provider of such service to
compete in a fair and balanced legal
and regulatory environment, including
by limiting the ability of any such
provider or potential provider to--
``(aa) fill gaps in
coverage of personal wireless
service;
``(bb) densify a personal
wireless service network;
``(cc) introduce new
personal wireless service; or
``(dd) otherwise improve
personal wireless service
capabilities.
``(ii) Engineering standards; aesthetic
requirements.--It is not a violation of clause
(i) for a State or local government or
instrumentality thereof to establish for small
personal wireless service facilities objective,
reasonable, and nondiscriminatory--
``(I) structural engineering
standards based on generally applicable
codes;
``(II) safety requirements; or
``(III) aesthetic or concealment
requirements.
``(iii) Timeframes.--
``(I) In general.--A State or local
government or instrumentality thereof
shall grant or deny a complete request
for authorization to place, construct,
or modify a personal wireless service
facility not later than--
``(aa) in the case of a
personal wireless service
facility that is not a small
personal wireless service
facility--
``(AA) if the
request is for
authorization to place,
construct, or modify
such facility on an
eligible support
structure, including in
an area that has not
previously been zoned
for personal wireless
service facilities
(other than small
personal wireless
service facilities), 90
days after the date on
which the complete
request is received by
the government or
instrumentality; or
``(BB) if the
request is 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; and
``(bb) in the case of a
small personal wireless service
facility--
``(AA) if the
request is for
authorization to place,
construct, or modify
such facility on an
eligible support
structure, including in
an area that has not
previously been zoned
for personal wireless
service facilities, 60
days after the date on
which the complete
request is received by
the government or
instrumentality; or
``(BB) if the
request is for any
other action relating
to such facility, 90
days after the date on
which the complete
request is received by
the government or
instrumentality.
``(II) Treatment of batched
requests.--In the case of complete
requests described in subclause (I)
that are submitted as part of a single
batch and received by the government or
instrumentality on the same day, the
applicable timeframe under such
subclause for each request in the batch
shall be the longest timeframe under
such subclause that would be applicable
to any request in the batch if such
requests were submitted separately.
``(III) Applicability.--The
applicable timeframe under subclause
(I) shall apply collectively to all
proceedings required by a State or
local government or instrumentality
thereof for the approval of the
request.
``(IV) No tolling.--A timeframe
under subclause (I) may not be tolled
by any moratorium, whether express or
de facto, imposed by a State or local
government or instrumentality thereof
on the consideration of any request for
authorization to place, construct, or
modify a personal wireless service
facility.
``(V) Temporary waiver.--The
Commission may temporarily waive the
applicability of subclause (I) for not
longer than a single 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, convenience,
and necessity.
``(iv) Deemed granted.--
``(I) In general.--If a State or
local government or instrumentality
thereof has neither granted nor denied
a complete request within the
applicable timeframe under subclause
(I) of clause (iii), including any
temporary waiver granted under
subclause (V) of such clause, the
request shall be deemed granted on the
date on which the government or
instrumentality receives a written
notice of the failure from the
requesting party.
``(II) Rule of construction.--In
the case of a request that is deemed
granted under subclause (I), the
placement, construction, or
modification requested in the request
shall be considered to be authorized,
without any further action by the
government or instrumentality,
beginning on the date on which the
request is deemed granted under such
subclause.
``(v) Written decision and record.--Any
decision by a State or local government or
instrumentality thereof to deny a request for
authorization to place, construct, or modify a
personal wireless service facility shall be--
``(I) in writing; and
``(II) supported by substantial
evidence contained in a written record.
``(vi) Environmental effects of radio
frequency emissions.--No State or local
government or instrumentality thereof may
regulate the placement, construction, or
modification of personal wireless service
facilities on the basis of the environmental
effects of radio frequency emissions to the
extent that such facilities comply with the
Commission's regulations concerning such
emissions.
``(vii) Fees.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, a State or local government
or instrumentality thereof may charge a fee to
consider a request for authorization to place,
construct, or modify a personal wireless
service facility, or a fee for use of a right-
of-way or a facility in a right-of-way owned or
managed by the government or instrumentality
for the placement, construction, or
modification of a personal wireless service
facility, if the fee is--
``(I) competitively neutral,
technology neutral, and
nondiscriminatory;
``(II) publicly disclosed;
``(III) calculated--
``(aa) based on actual and
direct costs, such as costs
for--
``(AA) review and
processing of requests;
and
``(BB) repairs and
replacement of
components and
materials resulting
from and affected by
the installation or
improvement of personal
wireless service
facilities, or repairs
and replacement of
equipment that
facilitates the
installation or
improvement of such
facilities; and
``(bb) using, for purposes
of item (aa), only costs that
are objectively reasonable; and
``(IV) described to a requesting
party in a manner that distinguishes
between--
``(aa) nonrecurring fees
and recurring fees; and
``(bb) the use of
facilities on which personal
wireless service facilities are
already located and those on
which there are no personal
wireless service facilities as
of the date on which the
complete request is received by
the government or
instrumentality.
``(C) Rule of construction.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B)(iv), nothing in this paragraph shall
be construed to prevent any State or local government
or instrumentality thereof from imposing any additional
limitation or requirement relating to consideration by
the government or instrumentality of a request for
authorization to place, construct, or modify a personal
wireless service facility.
``(D) Applicability.--This paragraph shall apply to
any request to a State or local government or
instrumentality thereof for authorization to place,
construct, or modify any personal wireless service
facility, including a request for authorization to
place, construct, or modify a personal wireless service
facility on an eligible support structure.
``(E) Judicial and administrative review.--
``(i) Judicial review.--Any person
adversely affected by any final action or
failure to act by a State or local government
or any instrumentality thereof that is
inconsistent with this paragraph may, within 30
days after the action or failure to act,
commence an action in any court of competent
jurisdiction, which shall hear and decide the
action on an expedited basis.
``(ii) Administrative review.--Any person
adversely affected by an act or failure to act
by a State or local government or any
instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent
with subparagraph (B)(vi) may petition the
Commission for relief.
``(F) When request considered complete; received.--
``(i) In general.--For purposes of this
paragraph, a request to a State or local
government or instrumentality thereof shall be
considered--
``(I) complete if--
``(aa) the requesting party
makes the request by submitting
to the government or
instrumentality the form
required to be used for making
the request;
``(bb) the form submitted
contains all of the information
specified by the form as being
required to be included in the
form; and
``(cc) the requesting party
has not received a written
notice from the government or
instrumentality within 10
business days after the date on
which the request is received
by the government or
instrumentality--
``(AA) stating that
the form does not
contain all of the
information required to
be included in the
form; and
``(BB) identifying
the information
required to be included
in the form that was
not included; and
``(II) received by the government
or instrumentality--
``(aa) 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;
``(bb) in the case of a
request submitted 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
``(cc) in the case of a
request submitted in any other
manner, on the date determined
under regulations promulgated
by the Commission for the
manner in which the request is
submitted.
``(ii) Treatment of multiple forms.--If a
State or local government or instrumentality
thereof requires the use of multiple forms for
making a request, such forms shall be treated
as a single form for purposes of clause (i).
``(G) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Antenna.--The term `antenna' means an
apparatus designed for the purpose of emitting
radiofrequency radiation, to be operated or
operating from a fixed location for the
transmission of writing, signs, signals, data,
images, pictures, and sounds of all kinds.
``(ii) Communications network.--The term
`communications network' means a network used
to provide a communications service.
``(iii) Communications service.--The term
`communications service' means--
``(I) cable service, as defined in
section 602;
``(II) information service;
``(III) telecommunications service;
and
``(IV) personal wireless service.
``(iv) Eligible support structure.--The
term `eligible support structure' means a
tower, base station, or other structure that
supports a personal wireless service facility
at the time when a complete request to a State
or local government or instrumentality thereof
for authorization to place, construct, or
modify a personal wireless service facility on
the structure is received by the government or
instrumentality.
``(v) Generally applicable code.--The term
`generally applicable code' means a uniform
building, fire, electrical, plumbing, or
mechanical code adopted by a national code
organization, or a local amendment to such a
code, to the extent not inconsistent with this
Act.
``(vi) Network interface device.--The term
`network interface device' means a
telecommunications demarcation device and
cross-connect point that--
``(I) is adjacent or proximate to--
``(aa) a small personal
wireless service facility; or
``(bb) a structure
supporting a small personal
wireless service facility; and
``(II) demarcates the boundary with
any wireline backhaul facility.
``(vii) Personal wireless service.--The
term `personal wireless service' means--
``(I) commercial mobile service;
``(II) commercial mobile data
service (as defined in section 6001 of
the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job
Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401));
``(III) unlicensed wireless
service; and
``(IV) common carrier wireless
exchange access service.
``(viii) Personal wireless service
facility.--The term `personal wireless service
facility' means a facility for the provision of
personal wireless service.
``(ix) Small personal wireless service
facility.--The term `small personal wireless
service facility'--
``(I) means a personal wireless
service facility in which each antenna
is not more than 3 cubic feet in
volume; and
``(II) does not include a wireline
backhaul facility.
``(x) Unlicensed wireless service.--The
term `unlicensed wireless service'--
``(I) means the offering of
telecommunications service using a duly
authorized device that does not require
an individual license; and
``(II) does not include the
provision of direct-to-home satellite
service, as defined in section 303(v).
``(xi) Wireline backhaul facility.--The
term `wireline backhaul facility' means an
above-ground or underground wireline facility
used to transport communications service or
other electronic communications from a small
personal wireless service facility or the
adjacent network interface device of such
facility to a communications network.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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