H.R. 3957 (104^th): FCC Modernization Act of 1996

HR 3957 IH

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to streamline its management, to eliminate unnecessarily burdensome regulatory provisions, and for other purposes.

August 2, 1996

Mr. FIELDS of Texas (for himself and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to streamline its management, to eliminate unnecessarily burdensome regulatory provisions, 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; REFERENCES.

(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the ‘FCC Modernization Act of 1996’.

(b) REFERENCES- Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

SEC. 2. PURPOSES; PLAN FOR AGENCY MODERNIZATION.

(a) PURPOSES- The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to require the Federal Communications Commission to streamline its management and prepare an agency plan for accomplishing its mission with reduced resources;

(2) to reduce regulatory burdens and agency functions as competition renders those burdens and functions unnecessary; and

(3) to repeal outdated and unnecessary provisions of the Communications Act of 1934.

(b) PLAN FOR AGENCY MODERNIZATION-

(1) PLAN REQUIRED- Within 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall prepare a plan--

(A) to adjust the allocation of agency personnel to reflect the open-entry and pro-competitive policies adopted by the United States;

(B) to propose the automation or privatization of routine agency functions, including the use of advisory committees for coordinating frequency assignments and automating frequency assignment databases;

(C) to propose the termination of agency functions that are no longer necessary to the protection of the public interest;

(D) to reduce the levels of agency’s expenses for management and overhead; and

(E) to prepare the agency for rapid response to changes in technologies and markets.

(2) CONTENTS REQUIRED- The plan required by this subsection shall include--

(A) detailed projections of agency financial and personnel requirements over the 5 succeeding fiscal years;

(B) the savings expected from automating and privatizing routine agency functions and from terminating unnecessary agency functions, and deadlines by which such automation, privatization, and termination will be attained;

(C) the appropriate level of funding for agency management and overhead expenses; and

(D) any additional authority or statutory changes required to achieve the plan or carry out the purposes of this section.

(3) SUBMISSION OF PLAN- The Commission shall submit a copy of the plan required by this subsection to the President and to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO DELEGATE.

Section 5 (47 U.S.C. 155) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

‘(f) DELEGATION TO ADVISORY COORDINATING COMMITTEES-

‘(1) IN GENERAL- When necessary to the prompt and orderly conduct of its business, the Commission may, by published rule or order, delegate its authority to grant licenses and permits (and modifications and renewals thereof) for stations in the private mobile services to advisory coordinating committees qualified pursuant to section 332(b). Any order, decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to any such delegation, unless reviewed as provided in paragraph (2), shall have the same force and effect, and shall be made, evidenced, and enforced in the same manner, as orders, decisions, reports, or other actions of the Commission.

‘(2) REVIEW OF ACTIONS- Any order, decision, report, or action described in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be subject to review in the same manner as is provided by paragraphs (4) through (7) of subsection (c) with respect to an order, decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to paragraph (1) of such subsection.’.

SEC. 4. CONTRACT FILINGS.

(a) AMENDMENT- Section 211 (47 U.S.C. 211) is amended to read as follows:

‘SEC. 211. AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE CONTRACTS TO BE FILED.

‘The Commission may, by rule, require the filing by any carrier subject to this Act of any contract, agreement, or arrangement.’.

(b) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE TO PERMIT RULEMAKING- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall be effective 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. INTERLOCKING DIRECTORATES.

Section 212 (47 U.S.C. 212), relating to interlocking directorates, is repealed.

SEC. 6. VALUATION OF CARRIER PROPERTY.

Section 213 (47 U.S.C. 213), relating to valuation of carrier property, is amended--

(1) by striking subsections (a) through (e);

(2) in subsection (f), by striking ‘such carrier’ and inserting ‘any carrier subject to this Act’; and

(3) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (a) and (b), respectively.

SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF COMMISSION AUTHORITY OVER NEW LINES; CONTROL OF ABANDONMENT TO PROTECT UNIVERSAL SERVICE.

(a) AMENDMENTS- Section 214 (47 U.S.C. 214) is amended--

(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

‘(a) CARRIER AUTHORITY TO DISCONTINUE, REDUCE, OR IMPAIR SERVICE- No carrier shall discontinue, reduce, or impair service to a community, or part of a community, unless and until there shall first have been obtained from the Commission a certificate that the public convenience and necessity will not be adversely affected thereby; except that the Commission may, upon appropriate request being made, authorize temporary or emergency discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service, or partial discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service, without regard to the provisions of this section. As used in this section the term ‘line’ means any channel of communication established by the use of appropriate equipment, other than a channel of communication established by the interconnection of two or more existing channels.’;

(2) in subsection (b)--

(A) by inserting ‘NOTICE- ’ after the subsection designation; and

(B) by striking ‘in which such line is proposed to be constructed, extended, acquired, or operated, or’;

(3) in subsection (c)--

(A) by inserting ‘ISSUANCE AND EFFECT OF CERTIFICATE- ’ after the subsection designation;

(B) by striking ‘or extension thereof’;

(C) by striking ‘construction, extension, acquisition, operation, or’; and

(D) by striking ‘Any construction, extension, acquisition, operation, discontinuance’ and inserting ‘Any discontinuance’; and

(4) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘MANDATORY EXTENSIONS OF SERVICE- ’ after the subsection designation.

(b) EXPEDITIOUS CONSIDERATION OF WAIVER REQUESTS IN CONNECTION WITH ACQUISITIONS- A common carrier’s application for a waiver of part 36, 61, or 69 of the Commission’s rules (47 C.F.R. parts 36, 61, and 69) in connection with an acquisition of the lines of another common carrier shall be deemed approved 6 months after the date on which the application is filed with the Commission unless the Commission, prior to the expiration of such 6-month period, finds that the application is not in the public interest.

(c) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE FOR INTERNATIONAL EXTENSIONS- The amendments made by subsection (a) of this section are effective upon enactment, except that such amendments shall not apply with respect to the construction, extension, or acquisition of any line for foreign communication until such date as the Commission prescribes by rule consistent with the public interest.

SEC. 8. TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT.

Section 215 (47 U.S.C. 215), relating to transactions relating to services and equipment, is repealed.

SEC. 9. INQUIRIES INTO MANAGEMENT.

Section 218 (47 U.S.C. 218), relating to inquiries into management, is amended--

(1) by amending the section designation and heading of such section to read as follows:

‘SEC. 218. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION.’;

(2) by striking the first sentence; and

(3) by striking ‘such carriers’ and inserting ‘carriers subject to this Act’.

SEC. 10. ANNUAL AND OTHER REPORTS.

Section 219 (47 U.S.C. 219) is amended to read as follows:

‘SEC. 219. FILING OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND ANNUAL REPORTS.

‘Each telecommunications carrier shall file with the Commission--

‘(1) a copy of any annual or other periodic report to shareholders;

‘(2) a copy of any prospectus, registration statement, proxy statement, or other document distributed in connection with an offering of securities or the solicitation of shareholder votes; and

‘(3) a copy of such other supplementary and periodic information, documents, and reports as may be required by the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.’.

SEC. 11. PIONEER PREFERENCES.

(a) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY- Paragraph (13) of section 309(j) (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) is amended to read as follows:

‘(13) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO GRANT PIONEER PREFERENCES- The authority of the Commission to provide preferential treatment in licensing procedures (by precluding the filing of mutually exclusive applications) to persons who make significant contributions to the development of a new service or to the development of new technologies that substantially enhance an existing service shall expire on the date of enactment of the FCC Modernization Act of 1996.’.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS- Section 309(j)(6) is amended--

(1) by inserting ‘and’ after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (F);

(2) by striking subparagraph (G);

(3) by striking ‘section 8’ in subparagraph (H) and inserting ‘sections 8 and 9’; and

(4) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as subparagraph (G).

SEC. 12. USE OF NAVAL STATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL MESSAGES.

Section 327 (47 U.S.C. 327), relating to use of naval stations for commercial messages, is repealed.

SEC. 13. VERY HIGH FREQUENCY STATIONS AND AM RADIO STATIONS.

Section 331 (47 U.S.C. 331), relating to very high frequency stations and AM radio stations, is repealed.

SEC. 14. PROCEEDS OF FACILITIES SITING FEES.

Section 704(c) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 332(c), note) is amended by inserting before the last sentence the following new sentence: ‘All proceeds from the fees charged by Federal departments and agencies for use of property, rights-of-way, and easements shall be deposited in the Treasury in accordance with chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code. As used in this subsection, the term ‘agency’ has the meaning provided in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code, and includes, notwithstanding any other provision of law, any independent establishment in the Executive branch.’.

SEC. 15. TRAVEL RESTRICTION.

For the 2 years following the date of enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission shall not be permitted to travel more than 50 miles from the District of Columbia while on official business.

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