[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3745 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3745

  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for carriage and 
  display of public, educational, and government channels in a manner 
      consistent with commercial channels, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 7, 2009

 Ms. Baldwin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for carriage and 
  display of public, educational, and government channels in a manner 
      consistent with commercial channels, 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 Access Preservation Act'' 
or the ``CAP Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 611 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 531) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (h); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following new 
        subsections:
    ``(f) Equivalence.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of any franchise under which 
        channel capacity is designated under subsection (b), such 
        channel capacity shall be--
                    ``(A) at least equivalent in quality, 
                accessibility, functionality, and placement to--
                            ``(i) channel capacity used for required 
                        carriage of local commercial television 
                        stations, as defined in section 614(h)(1); or
                            ``(ii) if no such stations are required to 
                        be carried, the channel capacity used to carry 
                        the primary signal of the network-affiliated 
                        commercial television stations carried on the 
                        cable system; and
                    ``(B) provided to and viewable by every subscriber 
                of a cable system without additional service or 
                equipment charges.
            ``(2) Signal quality and content.--A cable operator shall--
                    ``(A) carry signals for public, educational, or 
                governmental use from the point of origin of such 
                signals to subscribers without material degradation and 
                without altering or removing content provided as part 
                of the public, educational, or governmental use; and
                    ``(B) provide facilities adequate to fulfill such 
                requirements.
            ``(3) Waiver.--The requirements of paragraph (1) may be 
        waived by a franchising authority if the franchise contains an 
        explicit provision that such requirements shall not apply and 
        such provision was adopted after a proceeding the conduct of 
        which afforded the public adequate notice and an opportunity to 
        participate.
            ``(4) Enforcement.--The requirements of this subsection may 
        be enforced by a franchising authority or by the Commission.
            ``(5) Additional requirements.--Nothing in this subsection 
        prevents a franchising authority from establishing additional 
        requirements with respect to the quality, accessibility, 
        functionality, placement, and provision of channel capacity 
        designated for public, educational, or governmental use.
    ``(g) Preservation of Public, Educational, and Governmental Use.--
            ``(1) Study.--Within 180 days after the date of enactment 
        of the Community Access Preservation Act, the Commission shall 
        submit to Congress a report containing--
                    ``(A) an analysis of the impact of the enactment of 
                State video service franchising laws since 2005 on 
                public, educational, and governmental use of cable 
                systems;
                    ``(B) an analysis of the impact of the conversion 
                from analog to digital transmission technologies on 
                public, educational, and governmental use of cable 
                systems; and
                    ``(C) recommendations for changes required to this 
                Act to preserve and advance localism and public, 
                educational, and governmental use of advanced 
                communications systems.
            ``(2) Support.--In States that adopted legislation 
        affecting cable system franchising requirements relating to 
        support for public, educational, or governmental use of a cable 
        system that became effective after May 31, 2005, a cable 
        operator shall, notwithstanding such legislation--
                    ``(A) pay to any political subdivision in which the 
                operator provides service the greater of--
                            ``(i) the historical support that the 
                        operator, or its predecessor, provided for 
                        public, educational, or governmental use of the 
                        cable system in such subdivision in accordance 
                        with this subsection; or
                            ``(ii) the amount of any cash payment that 
                        the operator is required to pay to such 
                        subdivision under such State legislation 
                        affecting cable system franchising 
                        requirements;
                    ``(B) carry signals for public, educational, or 
                governmental use from the point of origin of such 
                signals to subscribers and provide facilities adequate 
                to fulfill such requirements in accordance with 
                subsection (f)(2); and
                    ``(C) provide at least the number of channels for 
                public, educational, or governmental use that it was 
                providing as of May 31, 2005.
            ``(3) Calculation of historical support.--Historical 
        support includes the value of all support provided for public, 
        educational, or governmental use, including in-kind support and 
        free services. The cable operator shall pay support equal to 
        the greater of--
                    ``(A) the value of the support provided in the most 
                recent calendar year prior to the effective date of 
                such State legislation affecting cable system 
                franchising requirements; or
                    ``(B) the value of the annual average support 
                provided over the term of the franchise pursuant to 
                which it operated prior to such effective date, taking 
                into account the time value of money.
            ``(4) Payments.--The amounts owed to the political 
        subdivision under paragraph (2)(A) shall be paid annually, in 
        quarterly installments, with the first payment being due 30 
        days after the date of enactment of the Community Access 
        Preservation Act.
            ``(5) Uses; disputes.--
                    ``(A) Uses.--Support provided to any State or local 
                political subdivision under this subsection shall be 
                dedicated to public, educational, or governmental use 
                of channel capacity.
                    ``(B) Disputes.--If there is a dispute as to 
                amounts owed under this subsection, undisputed amounts 
                shall be paid, and the Commission shall determine on an 
                expedited basis what, if any, additional amounts are 
                owed.''.
    (b) Franchise Fee Definition.--Section 622(g)(2) of such Act (47 
U.S.C. 542(g)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``in the case of any 
        franchise in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
        title,'';
            (2) by striking subparagraph (C); and
            (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as 
        subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively.
    (c) Cable Service Definition.--Section 602(6) of such Act (47 
U.S.C. 522(6)) is amended by striking ``means'' and inserting ``means, 
regardless of the technology or transmission protocol used in the 
provision of service''.
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