[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 92 (Monday, June 3, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3167-S3168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. Schatz):
  S. 1699. A bill to streamline siting processes for small cell 
deployment; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1699

       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 ``Streamlining The Rapid 
     Evolution And Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure 
     Necessary to Enhance Small Cell Deployment Act'' or the 
     ``STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment 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.--Except as provided in subparagraph (C), 
     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 functionally equivalent services; and
       ``(II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting 
     the provision of personal wireless service.

       ``(ii) Timeframe.--A State or local government or 
     instrumentality thereof shall act on any request for 
     authorization to place, construct, or modify a personal 
     wireless service facility within a reasonable period of time 
     after the request is duly filed with the government or 
     instrumentality, taking into account the nature and scope of 
     the request.
       ``(iii) Written decision and record.--Any decision by a 
     State or local government or instrumentality thereof to deny 
     a request 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.

       ``(iv) 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 the facilities comply with the 
     Commission's regulations concerning such emissions.
       ``(v) 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 subparagraph 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 clause (iv) may petition the Commission for 
     relief.

       ``(C) Placement, construction, and modification of small 
     personal wireless service facilities.--
       ``(i) In general.--In addition to, and not in derogation of 
     any of, the limitations under subparagraph (B), the 
     regulation of the placement, construction, or modification of 
     small personal wireless service facilities 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 only permit a State or local government to 
     approve or deny a permit or other permission to deploy a 
     small personal wireless service facility, including access to 
     a right-of-way or a facility in a right-of-way owned or 
     managed by the State or local government, based on publicly 
     available criteria that are--

       ``(aa) reasonable;
       ``(bb) objective; and
       ``(cc) non-discriminatory.

[[Page S3168]]

       ``(ii) Engineering standards; aesthetic requirements.--A 
     State or local government or instrumentality thereof may 
     regulate the placement, construction, and modification of 
     small personal wireless service facilities for reasons of 
     objective and reasonable--

       ``(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 act on a complete request for 
     authorization to place, construct, or modify a small personal 
     wireless service facility not later than--

       ``(aa)(AA) for collocation of a small personal wireless 
     service facility, 60 days after the date on which the 
     complete request is filed, except as provided in item (bb); 
     or
       ``(BB) for any other action relating to a small personal 
     wireless service facility, 90 days after the date on which 
     the complete request is filed, except as provided in item 
     (cc);
       ``(bb) for collocation of a small personal wireless service 
     facility, if the State or the area under the jurisdiction of 
     the local government has a population of fewer than 50,000 
     people--
       ``(AA) 90 days after the date on which the complete request 
     is filed, if during the 30-day period ending on that date of 
     filing, the applicable wireless service provider filed fewer 
     than 50 requests for collocation of a small personal wireless 
     service facility with the State or local government or 
     instrumentality thereof; or
       ``(BB) 120 days after the date on which the complete 
     request is filed, if during the 30-day period ending on that 
     date of filing, the applicable wireless service provider 
     filed not fewer than 50 requests for collocation of a small 
     personal wireless service facility with the State or local 
     government or instrumentality thereof; or
       ``(cc) for any other action relating to a small personal 
     wireless service facility, if the State or the area under the 
     jurisdiction of the local government has a population of 
     fewer than 50,000 people--
       ``(AA) 120 days after the date on which the complete 
     request is filed, if during the 30-day period ending on that 
     date of filing, the applicable wireless service provider 
     filed fewer than 50 requests for any other action relating to 
     a small personal wireless service facility with the State or 
     local government or instrumentality thereof; or
       ``(BB) 150 days after the date on which the complete 
     request is filed, if during the 30-day period ending on that 
     date of filing, the applicable wireless service provider 
     filed not fewer than 50 requests for any other action 
     relating to a small personal wireless service facility with 
     the State or local government or instrumentality thereof.

       ``(II) 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.
       ``(III) 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 on the consideration 
     of any request for authorization to place, construct, or 
     modify a small personal wireless service facility.
       ``(IV) 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 that the waiver 
     would be consistent with the public interest, convenience, 
     and necessity.

       ``(iv) Deemed granted.--If a State or local government or 
     instrumentality thereof has neither granted nor denied a 
     request within the applicable timeframe under subclause (I) 
     of clause (iii), including any temporary waiver granted under 
     subclause (IV) of that clause, the request shall be deemed 
     granted on the date that is 31 days after the date on which 
     the government instrumentality receives a written notice of 
     the failure from the applicant.
       ``(v) Fees.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 
     State or local government may charge a fee to consider an 
     application for the placement, construction, or modification 
     of a small personal wireless facility, or to use a right-of-
     way or a facility in a right-of-way owned or managed by the 
     State or local government for the placement, construction, or 
     modification of a small personal wireless facility, if the 
     fee is--

       ``(I) competitively neutral, technology neutral, and 
     nondiscriminatory;
       ``(II) publicly disclosed; and
       ``(III)(aa) except as provided in item (bb), based on 
     actual and direct costs, such as costs for--

       ``(AA) review and processing of applications;
       ``(BB) maintenance;
       ``(CC) emergency responses;
       ``(DD) repairs and replacement of components and materials 
     resulting from and affected by the installation of small 
     personal wireless facilities, improvements, and equipment 
     that facilitates the deployment and installation of such 
     facilities; or
       ``(EE) inspections; or

       ``(bb) calculated in accordance with section 224, in the 
     case of a fee charged for the placement, construction, or 
     modification of a small personal wireless facility on a pole, 
     in a right-of-way, or on any other facility that may be 
     established under that section.

       ``(vi) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subparagraph 
     shall be construed to prevent any State or local government 
     from imposing any additional limitation or requirement 
     relating to consideration by the State or local government of 
     an application for the placement, construction, or 
     modification of a small personal wireless service facility.
       ``(D) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph--
       ``(i) 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) the term `communications network' means a network 
     used to provide a communications service;
       ``(iii) the term `communications service' means--

       ``(I) cable service, as defined in section 602;
       ``(II) information service;
       ``(III) telecommunications service; or
       ``(IV) personal wireless service;

       ``(iv) the term `complete request' means a request for 
     which the applicant has not received written notice from the 
     State or local government within 10 business days of 
     submission--

       ``(I) stating in writing that the request is incomplete; 
     and
       ``(II) identifying the information causing the request to 
     be incomplete;

       ``(v) the term `generally applicable code' includes 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) 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) the term `personal wireless service' means--

       ``(I) commercial mobile service;
       ``(II) commercial mobile data service (as that term is 
     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) the term `personal wireless service facility' 
     means a facility for the provision of personal wireless 
     service;
       ``(ix) 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) 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); and

       ``(xi) 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 its adjacent network interface device to a 
     communications network.''.

     SEC. 3. GAO STUDY OF BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT ON TRIBAL LAND AND 
                   ON OR NEAR TRUST LAND.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
       (1) in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the 
     Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Federal 
     Communications Commission, study the process for obtaining a 
     grant of a right-of-way to deploy broadband infrastructure on 
     Tribal land or on or near trust land, as defined in section 
     3765 of title 38, United States Code;
       (2) in conducting the study under paragraph (1), consider 
     the unique challenges involved in broadband deployment on 
     Tribal land and on or near trust land; and
       (3) submit to Congress a report on the study conducted 
     under paragraph (1).

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