BILL NUMBER: AB 1874 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cohn
FEBRUARY 3, 2004
An act to add Section 14666.9 to the Government Code, and to amend
Section 671.5 Sections 671.5 and 673
of, and to add Section 679.1 to, the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1874, as amended, Cohn. Telecommunications: Information and
Advanced Communications Deployment Act of 2004.
Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation shall
have full possession and control of the state highways and associated
property. Existing law requires the department to approve or deny an
application from an applicant for an encroachment permit within 60
days of receiving a completed application that meets specified
requirements. Existing law provides that the department's failure to
notify an applicant within the required time period that a permit is
denied is deemed to constitute approval of the permit. Existing law
authorizes an applicant for an encroachment permit to appeal to the
director of the department for a final determination of the
department's denial of an application. Existing law requires the
director to make a final written determination within 60 days after
receipt of an applicant's appeal.
This bill would adopt the Information and Advanced Communications
Deployment Act of 2004. The act would make it the public policy of
the state to, among other things, promote the availability of a wide
range of communications services to residents of California
, and to improve the opportunities for economic
development and delivery of communications services , and
to ensure that the rules, regulations, and procedures for access to
public rights-of-way advance these policies . The bill
would require the department to approve or deny an application for an
encroachment permit from specified telephone or telegraph
corporations, and cable television corporations, within 45 days. The
bill would also entitle a communications provider to a permit,
renewable annually, for the operation, repair, maintenance, or minor
alteration of its facilities and service connections that do not
require excavation, located or installed in state highways. The bill
would authorize the department to revoke the permit under certain
conditions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to promote the accelerated
deployment of next-generation broadband networks in California,
irrespective of the technological platform used to deploy those
services in California, whether through wireless, Internet, cable,
satellite, or telecommunications networks.
(b) Information and advanced communications services are the
foundations for California's continued technological and economic
leadership. It has been estimated that the widespread deployment of
information and advanced communications services networks can
generate an increase of over $300 billion in incremental GSP and
nearly two million new jobs for the state of California over a
10-year period.
(c) Accelerated deployment of information and advanced
communication services infrastructure is a critical component of the
state's economic development and an improved quality of life for its
constituency.
(d) Rights-of-way and public lands access is one of the most
important considerations for companies considering major new
investments in information and advanced communications services
infrastructure. In order to encourage accelerated deployment of
information and advanced communications services in California, it is
important that rights-of-way access not be a barrier or impediment
to investment in broadband networks.
(e)
(d) In order to support the goal of accelerated deployment
of information and advanced communications services, state entities
should ensure prompt access to public lands by expediting and
streamlining rights-of-way access for the deployment of information
and advanced communications services infrastructure.
SEC. 2. Section 14666.9 is added to the Government Code, to read:
14666.9. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited as,
the Information and Advanced Communications Deployment Act of 2004.
(b) It is the public policy of the state to do all of the
following:
(1) Promote the availability of a wide range of communications
services to residents of this state at reasonable cost, including the
rapid accelerated deployment of information and advanced
communications services networks in the State of California.
(2) Encourage the introduction of new services, the entry of new
providers, the development of new technologies, and increase
investment in the communication infrastructure of this state.
(3) Improve the opportunities for economic development and the
delivery of communications services.
(4) Ensure that the rules, regulations and procedures for access
to public rights-of-way advance these policies.
(c) Nothing in this section alters the rights provided to
telegraph or telephone corporations pursuant to Section 7901 of the
Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 3. Section 671.5 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended
to read:
671.5. (a) The department shall either approve or deny an
application from an applicant for an encroachment permit within 60
days of receiving a completed application, as determined by the
department. An application for an encroachment permit is complete
when all other statutory requirements, including the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code), have been complied with. The
department's failure to notify the applicant within that 60-day
period that the permit is denied shall be deemed to constitute
approval of the permit. Thereafter, upon notifying the department,
the applicant may act in accordance with its permit application, as
if the permit had been approved.
(b) The department shall either approve or deny an application
from a telephone or telegraph corporation, as defined in Sections 234
and 236 of the Public Utilities Code, or a cable television
corporation, as defined in Section 215.5 of the Public Utilities
Code, who is an applicant for an encroachment permit, within 45 days
of receiving a completed application, as determined by the
department. An application for an encroachment permit is complete
when all other statutory requirements, including the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code), have been complied with. The
department's failure to notify the applicant within that 45-day
period that the permit is denied shall be deemed to constitute
approval of the permit. Thereafter, upon notifying the department,
the applicant may act in accordance with its permit application, as
if the permit had been approved.
(c) If the department denies an application for an encroachment
permit, it shall, at the time of notifying the applicant of the
denial, furnish to the applicant a detailed explanation of the reason
for the denial.
(d) The department shall adopt regulations prescribing procedures
for an applicant to appeal to the director for a final determination
of the department's denial of an application. The appeal shall be
made in writing to the director. There shall be a final written
determination by the director within 45 calendar days after receipt
of the applicant's written appeal. The adopted regulations shall
require the appellant to pay to the department a fee of not more than
50 percent of the estimated administrative cost to the department of
conducting the appeal.
(e) Nothing in this section precludes an applicant and the
department from mutually agreeing to an extension of any time limit
provided by this section.
SEC. 4. Section 673 of the Streets and Highways Code is
amended to read:
673. (a) Any permit issued to a permittee of the class specified
in Section 678 shall contain a provision that in the event the future
improvement of the highway necessitates the relocation or removal of
the encroachment the permittee will relocate or remove the same at
the permittee's sole expense. In that event, the department shall
serve on the permittee its written demand specifying the place of
relocation, or that the encroachment is to be removed from the
highway, and specifying a reasonable time within which the work of
relocation is to be commenced. The permittee shall commence the
relocation or removal within the time specified in that demand and
thereafter diligently prosecute until completion.
(b) All permits, other than including
those issued pursuant to Section 679.1 but excluding those
issued to permittees of the class specified in Section 678 or the
class specified in Section 680, are revocable on five days' notice
and the encroachment shall be removed or relocated as may be
specified by the department in the notice revoking the permit and
within the time specified by the department, which time shall not be
less than five days, unless the permit so provides.
(c) The department may waive the requirement of subdivision (a)
that the permittee bear the sole expense of relocating or removing an
encroachment, if the encroachment consists of a track or roadway
that serves as an exclusive public mass transit guideway owned,
operated, and maintained by a publicly owned mass transit authority.
SEC. 5. Section 679.1 is added to the Streets and Highways
Code, to read:
679.1. Any communications provider who receives, or has received,
an encroachment permit, is entitled to an annually renewable permit
for the operation, repair, maintenance, or minor alteration of its
facilities and service connections that do not require excavation,
located or installed in state highways. A communications provider
with an annually renewable permit shall give notice to the department
whenever it accesses its facilities that are located or installed in
state highways. The department may revoke the permit if the
permittee fails to comply with the provisions of this article, after
reasonable notice and an opportunity to cure is provided to the
permittee.