Introduced Version
Senate Bill 556 History
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Committee Substitute (1)
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 556
(By Senators Williams, Beach, Cann, Cole, Green, Jenkins,
Kirkendoll, Snyder, Sypolt and Stollings)
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[Introduced March 18, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
Government Organization .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §31-15C-2, §31-15C-8, §31-15C-9 and
§31-15C-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all
relating to broadband deployment projects; clarifying that the
West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council's
public outreach and education efforts extend beyond unserved
areas; revising the council's guidelines on requests for
funding assistance; requiring projects for broadband service
involving the construction of a network to meet the revised
definition of "broadband" before being approved; revising the
criteria for funding assistance applications; providing that
projects to promote demand may be on a regional or statewide
basis; revising notice and posting requirements; and
redefining certain terms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §31-15C-2, §31-15C-8, §31-15C-9 and §31-15C-10 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15C. Broadband Deployment.
§31-15C-2. Definitions.
(a) For the purposes of this article,
(1) "Broadband" or "broadband service" means any service
providing advanced telecommunications capability with either a
minimum downstream data rate or of 6 Mbps and a minimum upstream
data rate of at least 200 kilobits per second 1.5 Mbps, that does
not require the end-user to dial up a connection that has the
capacity to always be on, and for which the transmission speeds are
based on regular available bandwidth rates, not sporadic or
burstable rates, with a minimum downstream-to-upstream data ratio
of 10:1 for services with a downstream data rate of up to five
megabits per second, and with a minimum upstream data rate of 500
kilobits per second for services with a downstream data rate of
five megabits per second or greater latency suitable for real-time
applications and services such as VoIP and video conferencing, and
with monthly usage capacity reasonably comparable to that of
residential terrestrial fixed broadband offerings in urban areas.
(2) "Broadband deployment project" means either: (A) A project
to provide broadband services to a type 2 and/or type 3 unserved
area, as defined in section six of this article; or (B) a statewide or regional project to undertake activities to promote demand for
broadband services and broadband applications.
(3) "Downstream data rate" means the transmission speed from
the service provider source to the end-user.
(4) "Upstream data rate" means the transmission speed from the
end-user to the service provider source.
(5) "Unserved area" means a community that has no access to
broadband service.
(b) The definition of the term "broadband," the designation of
areas that are "unserved", and the level of service required to
qualify for funding of state programs and projects, are based on
the Federal Communications Commission's current definition of
broadband, which is stated in terms of the number of Kilobits
(Kbps) per second, either upstream or downstream National
Telecommunications and Information Administration's speed tiers.
It is the intention of the Legislature that the definition of
broadband in this article and the level of service requirements for
state funding be promptly updated by future Legislatures to conform
with any revisions enacted by Congress or any rule or regulation
promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission or other
federal agencies involved with deploying and enhancing broadband
services.
§31-15C-8. Stimulation of demand through public outreach and
education.
In order to implement and carry out the intent of this
article, the council may take such actions as it deems necessary or
advisable in order to stimulate demand through public outreach and
education. in unserved areas. The council shall consider the
views, if offered, of affected members of the public, including
private industry.
§31-15C-9. Development of guidelines and application for funding
assistance; emergency rule-making authority.
(a) In order to implement and carry out the intent of this
article in type 2 and type 3 unserved areas, the council shall
promulgate emergency rules pursuant to the provisions of section
fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to
develop comprehensive, uniform guidelines for use by the council in
evaluating any request by a project sponsor for funding assistance
to plan, acquire, construct, improve or otherwise develop and
execute a broadband deployment project. in a type 2 or type 3
unserved area. The guidelines shall include the following factors:
(1) The cost-effectiveness of the project; (2) the economic
development benefits of the project; (3) the availability of
alternative sources of funding that could help finance the project,
including, but not limited to, private grants or federal funding
and the efforts undertaken to obtain such funding; (4) if the
project requires the construction of a network, the applicant's
ability to operate and maintain such network; (5) the degree to which the project advances statewide broadband access and other
state broadband planning goals; (6) if the project involves the
construction of a network, the proposed technologies, bandwidths,
upstream data rates and downstream data rates; (7) the estimated
date the project would commence and be completed; (8) how the
proposed project compares to alternative proposals for the same
unserved area with regard to the number of people served, the
amount of financial assistance sought, and the long-term viability
of the proposed project; and (9) any other consideration the
council deems pertinent in evaluating requests for funding
assistance.
(b) Under no circumstances may the council's guidelines allow
for the approval of any project for broadband service that does not
include a minimum downstream transmission rate of 600 kilobits per
second (Kbps) and a minimum downstream-to-upstream ratio of 8.5:1
for services with a downstream rate of up to five megabits per
second (Mbps). In those cases where a project's broadband
service's downstream rate is five Mbps or greater, the council's
guidelines must require a minimum upstream data rate of 588 Kbps
and allow information applications and market demands to dictate
acceptable downstream-to-upstream data ratios involving the
construction of a network that does not meet, at a minimum, the
current definition of broadband in section two of this article.
(c) The council shall create an application form that shall be used by all project sponsors requesting funding assistance from
the council to plan, acquire, construct, improve or otherwise
develop and execute broadband deployment projects. in type 2 or
type 3 unserved areas. The application form shall contain all
advise applicants of information required by all state agencies
that will be required to issue permits and certificates regarding
the project. The application form shall require the project
sponsor to set forth the proposed location of the project; if the
project involves the construction of a network, the type(s) of
unserved area(s) the project proposes to address,; the estimated
total cost of the project; the amount of funding assistance
required and the specific uses of the funding; other sources of
funding available or potentially available for the project;
information demonstrating the need for the project; that the
proposed funding of the project is the most economically feasible
and viable alternative to completing the project; and such other
information as the council considers necessary.
§31-15C-10. Requirements for project funding assistance; review
of project application by council; competitive
applications.
(a) Once the council has categorized unserved areas pursuant
to section six of this article, At a time and place determined by
the council, project sponsors may submit applications for funding
assistance. for projects in those unserved areas. Upon receiving its first completed application for a categorized unserved area,
the council shall post notice of such application with the
Secretary of State Projects involving the construction of a network
may be submitted for unserved areas categorized by the council
pursuant to section six of this article. Projects to promote
demand may be submitted on a statewide or regional basis. If more
than one completed application is received for the same project
area, the council shall post notice with the Secretary of State of
the first completed application received for that project area.
The notice shall be published in the State Register for sixty days
so as to allow for competing applications to be submitted to the
council. Within thirty days of the close of the aforementioned
sixty-day notice period, the council shall review all applications
timely received during the sixty-day period and either: (i)
Approve funding for one or more projects after determining that the
funding would constitute an appropriate investment of public funds;
or (ii) if the council determines that the application does not
contain all of the required information or otherwise is incomplete,
or that a proposed project is not eligible for funding assistance,
or that the proposed project is otherwise not an appropriate or
prudent investment of state funds, the council shall deny the
project funding request. Prior to approving or denying any funding
request, the council may seek the advice of any expert consultant
retained pursuant to section seven of this article, but the council is not bound by that advice. The council shall also consider the
views, if offered, of affected members of the public, including
private industry.
(b) To apply for or receive any funding assistance for a
broadband deployment project from the council pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section, the project sponsor seeking the
funding assistance shall submit a completed application to the
council on the form prepared for such purpose by the council
pursuant to section nine of this article.
(c) In reviewing each application, the council may use the
engineering, financial and technical expertise of outside
consultants in addition to the respective staffs of the government
agencies and private-sector entities represented on the council or
other government agencies.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of article fifteen-a,
chapter thirty-one or any other provision of this code, broadband
deployment project proposals submitted to the council for its
consideration pursuant to this article and the council's decisions
with regard to such projects shall not be subject to review by the
West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the West
Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council's public
outreach and education efforts extend beyond unserved areas. The
bill revises the council's guidelines on requests for funding assistance. The bill requires projects for broadband service
involving the construction of a network meet the revised definition
of "broadband" before being approved. The bill revises the criteria
for funding assistance applications. The bill provides that
projects to promote demand may be on a regional or statewide basis.
The bill revises notice and posting requirements. The bill
redefines certain terms.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.