[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1853 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1853

To promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to 
   provide broadband capability and services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2007

  Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Kerry, Mr. McCain, Mrs. 
   McCaskill, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Stevens, and Mr. Inouye) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to 
   provide broadband capability and services, 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 ``Community Broadband Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
              CAPABILITY AND SERVICES.

    No State or local government statute, regulation, or other State or 
local government legal requirement may prohibit, or have the effect of 
prohibiting, any public provider from providing advanced 
telecommunications capability, or services using advanced 
telecommunications capability, to any person or any public or private 
entity.

SEC. 3. SAFEGUARDS.

    (a) Administration.--To the extent any public provider regulates 
competing providers of advanced telecommunications capability or 
services, such public provider shall apply its ordinances and rules and 
policies, including those relating to the use of public rights-of-way, 
permitting, performance bonding, and reporting, without discrimination 
in favor of itself or any other provider of advanced telecommunications 
capability or service that such provider owns or with which such 
provider is affiliated.
    (b) Application of General Laws.--Nothing in this Act exempts a 
public provider that offers advanced telecommunications capability or 
services to the public from any Federal communications law or 
regulation that applies to all providers of advanced telecommunications 
capability or services to the public.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ENCOURAGED.

    Each public provider that intends to provide advanced 
telecommunications capability or services to the public is encouraged 
to consider the potential benefits of a public-private partnership 
prior to providing such capability or services.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC INPUT.

    (a) Notice and Opportunity To Be Heard.--Before a public provider 
may provide advanced telecommunications capability or services to the 
public, either directly or through a public-private partnership, such 
public provider shall--
            (1) publish notice of its intention to do so;
            (2) generally describe the capability or services to be 
        provided and the proposed coverage area for such capability or 
        services;
            (3) identify any special capabilities or services to be 
        provided in low-income areas or other demographically or 
        geographically defined areas; and
            (4) provide local citizens and private-sector entities with 
        an opportunity to be heard on the costs and benefits of the 
        project and potential alternatives to the project.
    (b) Application to Existing Projects and Pending Proposals.--
Subsection (a) shall not apply to--
            (1) any contract or other arrangement under which a public 
        provider is providing advanced telecommunications capability or 
        services to the public as of the date of enactment of this Act; 
        and
            (2) any public provider proposal to provide advanced 
        telecommunications capability or services to the public that, 
        as of the date of enactment of this Act--
                    (A) is in the request-for-proposals process;
                    (B) is in the process of being built; or
                    (C) has been approved by referendum.

SEC. 6. EXEMPTIONS.

    The requirements of sections 3 and 5 shall not apply--
            (1) when a public provider provides advanced 
        telecommunications capabilities or services other than to the 
        public or to such classes of users as to be effectively 
        available to the public; or
            (2) during an emergency declared by the President, the 
        Governor of the State in which the public provider is located, 
        or any other elected local official authorized by law to 
        declare a state of emergency in the jurisdiction in which the 
        public provider is located.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Advanced telecommunications capability.--The term 
        ``advanced telecommunications capability'' has the meaning 
        given that term by section 706(c)(1) of the Telecommunications 
        Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 157 note).
            (2) Public provider.--The term ``public provider'' means a 
        State or political subdivision thereof, any agency, authority, 
        or instrumentality of a State or political subdivision thereof, 
        or an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the Indian 
        Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
        450b(e)), or any entity that is owned, controlled, or otherwise 
        affiliated with a State, political subdivision thereof, agency, 
        authority, or instrumentality, or Indian tribe.
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