Full Text of SB3464 96th General Assembly
SB3464ham003 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Rep. Robert Rita
Filed: 4/30/2010
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LRB096 16565 AMC 41002 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3464
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3464 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 5-12001.1 as follows: | 6 |
| (55 ILCS 5/5-12001.1) | 7 |
| Sec. 5-12001.1. Authority to regulate certain specified | 8 |
| facilities of a
telecommunications carrier and to regulate, | 9 |
| pursuant to subsections (a) through (g), AM broadcast towers | 10 |
| and facilities. | 11 |
| (a) Notwithstanding any other Section in this Division, the | 12 |
| county board or
board of county commissioners of any county | 13 |
| shall have the power to
regulate the location of the | 14 |
| facilities, as defined in subsection (c), of a
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| telecommunications carrier or AM broadcast station established | 16 |
| outside the corporate limits of cities,
villages, and |
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| incorporated towns that have municipal zoning ordinances in
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| effect. The power shall only be exercised to the extent and in | 3 |
| the manner set
forth in this Section. | 4 |
| (b) The provisions of this Section shall not abridge any | 5 |
| rights created by
or authority confirmed in the federal | 6 |
| Telecommunications Act of 1996, P.L.
104-104. | 7 |
| (c) As used in this Section, unless the context otherwise | 8 |
| requires: | 9 |
| (1) "county jurisdiction area" means those portions of | 10 |
| a county that lie
outside the corporate limits of cities, | 11 |
| villages, and incorporated towns that
have municipal | 12 |
| zoning ordinances in effect; | 13 |
| (2) "county board" means the county board or board of | 14 |
| county commissioners
of any county; | 15 |
| (3) "residential zoning district" means a zoning | 16 |
| district that is
designated under a county zoning ordinance | 17 |
| and is zoned predominantly for
residential uses; | 18 |
| (4) "non-residential zoning district" means the county | 19 |
| jurisdiction area
of a county, except for those portions | 20 |
| within a residential zoning district; | 21 |
| (5) "residentially zoned lot" means a zoning lot in a | 22 |
| residential zoning
district; | 23 |
| (6) "non-residentially zoned lot" means a zoning lot in | 24 |
| a non-residential
zoning district; | 25 |
| (7) "telecommunications carrier" means a | 26 |
| telecommunications carrier as
defined in the Public |
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| Utilities Act as of January 1, 1997; | 2 |
| (8) "facility" means that part of the signal | 3 |
| distribution system used or
operated by a | 4 |
| telecommunications carrier or AM broadcast station under a | 5 |
| license from the FCC
consisting of a combination of | 6 |
| improvements and equipment including (i) one or
more | 7 |
| antennas, (ii) a supporting structure and the hardware by | 8 |
| which antennas
are attached; (iii) equipment housing; and | 9 |
| (iv) ancillary equipment such as
signal transmission | 10 |
| cables and miscellaneous hardware; | 11 |
| (9) "FAA" means the Federal Aviation Administration of | 12 |
| the United States
Department of Transportation; | 13 |
| (10) "FCC" means the Federal Communications | 14 |
| Commission; | 15 |
| (11) "antenna" means an antenna device by which radio | 16 |
| signals are
transmitted, received, or both; | 17 |
| (12) "supporting structure" means a structure, whether | 18 |
| an antenna tower or
another type of structure, that | 19 |
| supports one or more antennas as part of a
facility; | 20 |
| (13) "qualifying structure" means a supporting | 21 |
| structure that is (i) an
existing structure, if the height | 22 |
| of the facility, including the structure, is
not more than | 23 |
| 15 feet higher than the structure just before the facility | 24 |
| is
installed, or (ii) a substantially similar, | 25 |
| substantially same-location
replacement of an existing | 26 |
| structure, if the height of the facility, including
the |
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| replacement structure, is not more than 15 feet higher than | 2 |
| the height of
the existing structure just before the | 3 |
| facility is installed; | 4 |
| (14) "equipment housing" means a combination of one or | 5 |
| more equipment
buildings or enclosures housing equipment | 6 |
| that operates in conjunction with
the antennas of a | 7 |
| facility, and the equipment itself; | 8 |
| (15) "height" of a facility means the total height of | 9 |
| the facility's
supporting structure and any antennas that | 10 |
| will extend above the top of the
supporting structure; | 11 |
| however, if the supporting structure's foundation extends
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| more than 3 feet above the uppermost ground level along the | 13 |
| perimeter of the
foundation, then each full foot in excess | 14 |
| of 3 feet shall be counted as an
additional foot of | 15 |
| facility height. The height of a facility's supporting
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| structure is to be measured from the highest point of the | 17 |
| supporting
structure's foundation; | 18 |
| (16) "facility lot" means the zoning lot on which a | 19 |
| facility is or will be
located; | 20 |
| (17) "principal residential building" has its common | 21 |
| meaning but shall not
include any building under the same | 22 |
| ownership as the land of the facility lot.
"Principal | 23 |
| residential building" shall not include any structure that | 24 |
| is not
designed for human habitation; | 25 |
| (18) "horizontal separation distance" means the | 26 |
| distance measured from the
center of the base of the |
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| facility's supporting structure to the point where
the | 2 |
| ground meets a vertical wall of a principal residential | 3 |
| building; | 4 |
| (19) "lot line set back distance" means the distance | 5 |
| measured from the
center of the base of the facility's | 6 |
| supporting structure to the nearest point
on the common lot | 7 |
| line between the facility lot and the nearest residentially
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| zoned lot. If there is no common lot line, the measurement | 9 |
| shall be made to
the nearest point on the lot line of the | 10 |
| nearest residentially zoned lot
without deducting the | 11 |
| width of any intervening right of way; and | 12 |
| (20) "AM broadcast station" means a facility and one or | 13 |
| more towers for the purpose of transmitting communication | 14 |
| in the 540 kHz to 1700 kHz band for public reception | 15 |
| authorized by the FCC.
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| (d) In choosing a location for a facility, a
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| telecommunications carrier or AM broadcast station shall | 18 |
| consider the following: | 19 |
| (1) A non-residentially zoned lot is the most desirable | 20 |
| location. | 21 |
| (2) A residentially zoned lot that is not used for | 22 |
| residential purposes is
the second most desirable | 23 |
| location. | 24 |
| (3) A residentially zoned lot that is 2 acres or more | 25 |
| in size and is used
for residential purposes is the third | 26 |
| most desirable location. |
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| (4) A residentially zoned lot that is less than 2 acres | 2 |
| in size and is
used for residential purposes is the least | 3 |
| desirable location. | 4 |
| The size of a lot shall be the lot's gross area in square | 5 |
| feet without
deduction of any unbuildable or unusable land, any | 6 |
| roadway, or any other
easement. | 7 |
| (e) In designing a facility, a telecommunications carrier | 8 |
| or AM broadcast station shall consider the
following | 9 |
| guidelines: | 10 |
| (1) No building or tower that is part of a facility | 11 |
| should encroach onto
any recorded easement prohibiting the | 12 |
| encroachment unless the grantees of the
easement have given | 13 |
| their approval. | 14 |
| (2) Lighting should be installed for security and | 15 |
| safety purposes only.
Except with respect to lighting | 16 |
| required by the FCC or FAA, all lighting should
be shielded | 17 |
| so that no glare extends substantially beyond the | 18 |
| boundaries of a
facility. | 19 |
| (3) No facility should encroach onto an existing septic | 20 |
| field. | 21 |
| (4) Any facility located in a special flood hazard area | 22 |
| or wetland should
meet the legal requirements for those | 23 |
| lands. | 24 |
| (5) Existing trees more than 3 inches in diameter | 25 |
| should be preserved if
reasonably feasible during | 26 |
| construction. If any tree more than 3 inches in
diameter is |
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| removed during construction a tree 3 inches or more in | 2 |
| diameter of
the same or a similar species shall be planted | 3 |
| as a replacement if reasonably
feasible. Tree diameter | 4 |
| shall be measured at a point 3 feet above ground
level. | 5 |
| (6) If any elevation of a facility faces an existing, | 6 |
| adjoining
residential use within a residential zoning | 7 |
| district, low maintenance
landscaping should be provided | 8 |
| on or near the facility lot to provide at least
partial | 9 |
| screening of the facility. The quantity and type of that | 10 |
| landscaping
should be in accordance with any county | 11 |
| landscaping regulations of general
applicability, except | 12 |
| that paragraph (5) of this subsection (e) shall control
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| over any tree-related regulations imposing a greater | 14 |
| burden. | 15 |
| (7) Fencing should be installed around a facility. The | 16 |
| height and
materials of the fencing should be in accordance | 17 |
| with any county fence
regulations of general | 18 |
| applicability. | 19 |
| (8) Any building that is part of a facility located | 20 |
| adjacent to a
residentially zoned lot should be designed | 21 |
| with exterior materials and colors
that are reasonably | 22 |
| compatible with the residential character of the area. | 23 |
| (f) The following provisions shall apply to all facilities | 24 |
| established in
any county jurisdiction area (i) after the | 25 |
| effective date of the amendatory Act of
1997 with respect to | 26 |
| telecommunications carriers and (ii) after the effective date |
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| of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly with | 2 |
| respect to AM broadcast stations: | 3 |
| (1) Except as provided in this Section, no yard or set | 4 |
| back
regulations shall apply to or be required for a | 5 |
| facility. | 6 |
| (2) A facility may be located on the same zoning lot as | 7 |
| one or more other
structures or uses without violating any | 8 |
| ordinance or regulation that prohibits
or limits multiple | 9 |
| structures, buildings, or uses on a zoning lot. | 10 |
| (3) No minimum lot area, width, or depth shall be | 11 |
| required for a facility,
and unless the facility is to be | 12 |
| manned on a regular, daily basis, no
off-street parking | 13 |
| spaces shall be required for a facility. If the facility is
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| to be manned on a regular, daily basis, one off-street | 15 |
| parking space shall be
provided for each employee regularly | 16 |
| at the facility. No loading facilities
are required. | 17 |
| (4) No portion of a facility's supporting structure or | 18 |
| equipment housing
shall be less than 15 feet from the front | 19 |
| lot line of the facility lot or less
than 10 feet from any | 20 |
| other lot line. | 21 |
| (5) No bulk regulations or lot coverage, building | 22 |
| coverage, or floor area
ratio limitations shall be applied | 23 |
| to a facility or to any existing use or
structure | 24 |
| coincident with the establishment of a facility. Except as | 25 |
| provided
in this Section, no height limits or restrictions | 26 |
| shall apply to a facility. |
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| (6) A county's review of a building permit application | 2 |
| for a facility
shall
be completed within 30 days. If a | 3 |
| decision of the county board is required to
permit the | 4 |
| establishment of a facility, the county's review of the | 5 |
| application
shall be simultaneous with the process leading | 6 |
| to the county board's decision. | 7 |
| (7) The improvements and equipment comprising the | 8 |
| facility may be wholly
or partly freestanding or wholly or | 9 |
| partly attached to, enclosed in, or
installed in or on a | 10 |
| structure or structures. | 11 |
| (8) Any public hearing authorized under this Section | 12 |
| shall be conducted in
a manner determined by the county | 13 |
| board. Notice of any such public hearing
shall be published | 14 |
| at least 15 days before the hearing in a newspaper of
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| general circulation published in the county. Notice of any | 16 |
| such public hearing shall also be sent by certified mail at | 17 |
| least 15 days prior to the hearing to the owners of record | 18 |
| of all residential property that is adjacent to the lot | 19 |
| upon which the facility is proposed to be sited. | 20 |
| (9) Any decision regarding a facility by the county | 21 |
| board or a county
agency
or official shall be supported by | 22 |
| written findings of fact. The circuit court
shall have | 23 |
| jurisdiction to review the reasonableness of any adverse | 24 |
| decision
and the plaintiff shall bear the burden of proof, | 25 |
| but there shall be no
presumption of the validity of the | 26 |
| decision. |
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| (10) Thirty days prior to the issuance of a building | 2 |
| permit for a facility necessitating the erection of a new | 3 |
| tower, the permit applicant shall provide written notice of | 4 |
| its intent to construct the facility to the State | 5 |
| Representative and the State Senator of the district in | 6 |
| which the subject facility is to be constructed and each | 7 |
| member of the county board representing the area within the | 8 |
| county in which the subject facility is to be constructed. | 9 |
| This notice shall include, but not be limited to, the | 10 |
| following information: (i) the name, address, and | 11 |
| telephone number of the company responsible for the | 12 |
| construction of the facility; (ii) the name, address, and | 13 |
| telephone number of the governmental entity authorized to | 14 |
| issue the building permit; and (iii) the location of the | 15 |
| proposed facility. The applicant shall demonstrate | 16 |
| compliance with the notice requirements set forth in this | 17 |
| item (10) by submitting certified mail receipts or | 18 |
| equivalent mail service receipts at the same time that the | 19 |
| applicant submits the permit application. | 20 |
| (g) The following provisions shall apply to all facilities | 21 |
| established (i) after
the effective date of this amendatory Act | 22 |
| of 1997 with respect to telecommunications carriers and (ii) | 23 |
| after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th | 24 |
| General Assembly with respect to AM broadcast stations in the | 25 |
| county jurisdiction
area of any county with a population of | 26 |
| less than 180,000: |
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| (1) A facility is permitted if its supporting structure | 2 |
| is a qualifying
structure or if both of the following | 3 |
| conditions are met: | 4 |
| (A) the height of the facility shall not exceed 200 | 5 |
| feet, except that
if a facility is located more than | 6 |
| one and one-half miles from the corporate
limits of any | 7 |
| municipality with a population of 25,000 or more the | 8 |
| height of
the facility shall not exceed 350 feet; and | 9 |
| (B) the horizontal separation distance to the | 10 |
| nearest principal
residential building shall not be | 11 |
| less than the height of the supporting
structure; | 12 |
| except that if the supporting structure exceeds 99 feet | 13 |
| in height,
the horizontal separation distance to the | 14 |
| nearest principal residential
building shall be at | 15 |
| least 100 feet or 80% of the height of the supporting
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| structure, whichever is greater. Compliance with this | 17 |
| paragraph shall only be
evaluated as of
the time that a | 18 |
| building permit application for the facility is | 19 |
| submitted. If
the supporting structure is not an | 20 |
| antenna tower this paragraph is satisfied. | 21 |
| (2) Unless a facility is permitted under paragraph (1) | 22 |
| of this subsection
(g), a facility can be established only | 23 |
| after the county board gives its
approval following | 24 |
| consideration of the provisions of paragraph (3) of this
| 25 |
| subsection (g). The county board may give its approval | 26 |
| after one public
hearing on the proposal, but only by the |
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| favorable vote of a majority of the
members present
at a | 2 |
| meeting held no later than 75 days after submission of a
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| complete application by the telecommunications carrier. If | 4 |
| the county board
fails to act on the application within 75 | 5 |
| days after its submission,
the application shall be deemed | 6 |
| to have been approved. No more than one public
hearing | 7 |
| shall be required. | 8 |
| (3) For purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection | 9 |
| (g), the following
siting considerations, but no other | 10 |
| matter, shall be considered by the county
board or any | 11 |
| other body conducting the public hearing: | 12 |
| (A) the criteria in subsection (d) of this Section; | 13 |
| (B) whether a substantial adverse effect on public | 14 |
| safety will result
from some aspect of the facility's | 15 |
| design or proposed construction, but only if
that | 16 |
| aspect of design or construction is modifiable by the | 17 |
| applicant; | 18 |
| (C) the benefits to be derived by the users of the | 19 |
| services to be
provided
or enhanced by the facility and | 20 |
| whether public safety and emergency response
| 21 |
| capabilities would benefit by the establishment of the | 22 |
| facility; | 23 |
| (D) the existing uses on adjacent and nearby | 24 |
| properties; and | 25 |
| (E) the extent to which the design of the proposed | 26 |
| facility reflects
compliance with subsection (e) of |
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| this Section. | 2 |
| (4) On judicial review of an adverse decision, the | 3 |
| issue shall be the
reasonableness of the county board's | 4 |
| decision in light of the evidence
presented on the siting | 5 |
| considerations and the well-reasoned recommendations
of | 6 |
| any other body that conducts the public hearing. | 7 |
| (h) The following provisions shall apply to all facilities | 8 |
| established
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 9 |
| 1997 in the county
jurisdiction area of any county with
a | 10 |
| population of 180,000 or more. A facility is
permitted in any | 11 |
| zoning district subject to the following: | 12 |
| (1) A facility shall not be located on a lot under | 13 |
| paragraph (4) of
subsection (d) unless a variation is | 14 |
| granted by the county board under
paragraph
(4) of this | 15 |
| subsection (h). | 16 |
| (2) Unless a height variation is granted by the county | 17 |
| board, the height
of a facility shall not exceed 75 feet if | 18 |
| the facility will
be located in a residential zoning | 19 |
| district or 200 feet if the facility will be
located in a | 20 |
| non-residential zoning district. However, the height of a
| 21 |
| facility may
exceed the height limit in this paragraph, and | 22 |
| no height variation shall be
required, if the supporting | 23 |
| structure is a qualifying structure. | 24 |
| (3) The improvements and equipment of the facility | 25 |
| shall be placed to
comply
with the requirements of this | 26 |
| paragraph at the time a building permit
application for the |
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| facility is submitted. If the supporting structure is an
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| antenna tower other than a qualifying structure then (i) if | 3 |
| the facility will
be located in a residential zoning | 4 |
| district the lot line set back distance to
the
nearest | 5 |
| residentially zoned lot shall be at least 50% of the height | 6 |
| of the
facility's supporting structure or (ii) if the | 7 |
| facility will be located in a
non-residential zoning | 8 |
| district the horizontal separation distance to the
nearest | 9 |
| principal residential building shall be at least equal to | 10 |
| the height of
the facility's supporting structure. | 11 |
| (4) The county board may grant variations for any of | 12 |
| the regulations,
conditions, and restrictions of this | 13 |
| subsection (h), after one public hearing
on the
proposed | 14 |
| variations held at a zoning or other appropriate committee | 15 |
| meeting with proper notice given as provided in this | 16 |
| Section, by a favorable vote of a majority of the members | 17 |
| present
at a meeting held no later than 75 days after | 18 |
| submission of an application by
the telecommunications | 19 |
| carrier. If the county board fails to act on the
| 20 |
| application within 75 days after submission, the | 21 |
| application shall be deemed to
have been approved. In its | 22 |
| consideration of an application for variations,
the county
| 23 |
| board, and any other body conducting the public hearing, | 24 |
| shall consider the
following, and no other matters: | 25 |
| (A) whether, but for the granting of a variation, | 26 |
| the service that the
telecommunications carrier seeks |
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| to enhance or provide with the proposed
facility will | 2 |
| be less available, impaired, or diminished in quality, | 3 |
| quantity,
or scope of
coverage; | 4 |
| (B) whether the conditions upon which the | 5 |
| application for variations is
based are unique in some | 6 |
| respect or, if not, whether the strict application of
| 7 |
| the regulations would result in a hardship on the | 8 |
| telecommunications carrier; | 9 |
| (C) whether a substantial adverse effect on public | 10 |
| safety will result
from
some aspect of the facility's | 11 |
| design or proposed construction, but only if that
| 12 |
| aspect of design or construction is modifiable by the | 13 |
| applicant; | 14 |
| (D) whether there are benefits to be derived by the | 15 |
| users of the
services to
be provided or enhanced by the | 16 |
| facility and whether public safety and emergency
| 17 |
| response capabilities would benefit by the | 18 |
| establishment of the facility; and | 19 |
| (E) the extent to which the design of the proposed | 20 |
| facility reflects
compliance with subsection (e) of | 21 |
| this Section. | 22 |
| No more than one public hearing shall be required. | 23 |
| (5) On judicial review of an adverse decision, the | 24 |
| issue shall be the
reasonableness of the county board's | 25 |
| decision in light of the evidence
presented and the | 26 |
| well-reasoned recommendations of any other body that
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| conducted the public hearing. | 2 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-815, eff. 8-13-08; 96-696, eff. 1-1-10.) | 3 |
| Section 10. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 4 |
| Sections 13-301 as follows: | 5 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-301) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-301) | 6 |
| (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2010) | 7 |
| Sec. 13-301. Consistent with the findings and policy | 8 |
| established in
paragraph (a) of Section 13-102 and paragraph | 9 |
| (a) of Section 13-103, and
in order to ensure the attainment of | 10 |
| such policies, the Commission shall: | 11 |
| (a) participate in all federal programs intended to | 12 |
| preserve or extend
universal telecommunications service, | 13 |
| unless such programs would place cost
burdens on Illinois | 14 |
| customers of telecommunications services in excess of
the | 15 |
| benefits they would receive through participation, provided, | 16 |
| however,
the Commission shall not approve or permit the | 17 |
| imposition of any surcharge
or other fee designed to subsidize | 18 |
| or provide a waiver for subscriber line
charges; and shall | 19 |
| report on such programs together with an assessment of
their | 20 |
| adequacy and the advisability of participating therein in its | 21 |
| annual
report to the General Assembly, or more often as | 22 |
| necessary; | 23 |
| (b) establish a program to monitor the level of | 24 |
| telecommunications
subscriber connection within each exchange |
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| in Illinois, and shall report
the results of such monitoring | 2 |
| and any actions it has taken or recommends
be taken to maintain | 3 |
| and increase such levels in its annual report to the
General | 4 |
| Assembly, or more often if necessary; | 5 |
| (c) order all telecommunications carriers offering or | 6 |
| providing local
exchange telecommunications service to propose | 7 |
| low-cost or budget service
tariffs and any other rate design or | 8 |
| pricing mechanisms designed to
facilitate customer access to | 9 |
| such telecommunications service, and shall
after notice and | 10 |
| hearing, implement any such proposals which it finds
likely to | 11 |
| achieve such purpose; | 12 |
| (d) investigate the necessity of and, if appropriate, | 13 |
| establish a universal service support fund
from which local | 14 |
| exchange telecommunications
carriers
who pursuant to the | 15 |
| Twenty-Seventh Interim Order of the Commission in Docket
No. | 16 |
| 83-0142 or the orders of the Commission in Docket No. 97-0621 | 17 |
| and Docket
No.
98-0679
received funding and whose economic | 18 |
| costs of providing
services for which universal service support | 19 |
| may be made available exceed
the
affordable rate established by | 20 |
| the Commission for such services may be
eligible to receive
| 21 |
| support, less any federal universal service support received | 22 |
| for the same or
similar costs
of providing the supported | 23 |
| services; provided, however, that if a universal
service | 24 |
| support
fund is established, the Commission shall require that | 25 |
| all costs of the fund be
recovered
from all local exchange and | 26 |
| interexchange telecommunications carriers
certificated in
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| Illinois on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory | 2 |
| basis. In
establishing any such
universal service support fund, | 3 |
| the Commission shall, in addition to the
determination of
costs | 4 |
| for supported services, consider and make findings pursuant to | 5 |
| paragraphs
(1), (2), and
(4) of item (e) of this Section. Proxy | 6 |
| cost, as determined by the
Commission, may be
used for this | 7 |
| purpose. In determining cost recovery for any universal service
| 8 |
| support fund, the Commission shall not permit recovery of such | 9 |
| costs from
another certificated carrier for any service | 10 |
| purchased and used solely as an
input to a service provided to | 11 |
| such certificated carrier's retail customers; and | 12 |
| (e) investigate the necessity of and, if appropriate, | 13 |
| establish a
universal
service support
fund in addition to any | 14 |
| fund that may be established pursuant to item (d)
of this
| 15 |
| Section; provided, however, that if a telecommunications | 16 |
| carrier receives
universal
service support pursuant to item (d) | 17 |
| of this Section, that
telecommunications carrier
shall not | 18 |
| receive universal service support pursuant to this item.
| 19 |
| Recipients of any
universal service support funding created by | 20 |
| this item shall be
"eligible"
telecommunications carriers, as | 21 |
| designated by the Commission in accordance with
47
U.S.C. | 22 |
| 214(e)(2). Eligible telecommunications carriers providing | 23 |
| local
exchange
telecommunications service
may be eligible to | 24 |
| receive support for such services, less any federal
universal | 25 |
| service support
received for the same or similar costs of | 26 |
| providing the supported services.
If a fund is established, the
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| Commission
shall require that the costs of such fund be | 2 |
| recovered from all
telecommunications
carriers, with the | 3 |
| exception of wireless carriers who are providers of two-way
| 4 |
| cellular
telecommunications service and who have not been | 5 |
| designated as eligible
telecommunications carriers, on a | 6 |
| competitively neutral and non-discriminatory
basis. In
any | 7 |
| order creating a fund pursuant to this item, the Commission, | 8 |
| after
notice and
hearing, shall: | 9 |
| (1) Define the group of services to be declared | 10 |
| "supported
telecommunications
services" that constitute | 11 |
| "universal service". This group of services shall,
at a
| 12 |
| minimum, include those services as defined by the Federal | 13 |
| Communications
Commission and as from time to time amended. | 14 |
| In addition, the Commission
shall consider the range of | 15 |
| services currently offered by telecommunications
carriers | 16 |
| offering local exchange telecommunications service, the | 17 |
| existing rate
structures for the supported | 18 |
| telecommunications services, and the
telecommunications | 19 |
| needs of Illinois consumers in determining the supported
| 20 |
| telecommunications services.
The Commission shall, from | 21 |
| time to time or upon request, review and, if
appropriate, | 22 |
| revise the group of Illinois supported telecommunications | 23 |
| services
and the terms of the fund to reflect changes or | 24 |
| enhancements in
telecommunications needs, technologies, | 25 |
| and available services. | 26 |
| (2) Identify all implicit subsidies contained in rates |
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| or charges of
incumbent local exchange
carriers, including | 2 |
| all subsidies in interexchange access charges, and
| 3 |
| determine how
such subsidies can be made explicit by
the | 4 |
| creation of the fund. | 5 |
| (3) Identify the incumbent local exchange carriers' | 6 |
| economic costs of
providing the
supported | 7 |
| telecommunications services. | 8 |
| (4) Establish an affordable price for the supported | 9 |
| telecommunications
services for
the respective incumbent | 10 |
| local exchange carrier. The affordable price shall
be no | 11 |
| less than
the rates in effect at the time the Commission | 12 |
| creates a fund
pursuant to this item. The Commission may | 13 |
| establish and utilize indices
or
models for updating the | 14 |
| affordable price for supported telecommunications
| 15 |
| services. | 16 |
| (5) Identify the telecommunications carriers from whom | 17 |
| the costs of the
fund
shall be recovered and the mechanism | 18 |
| to be used to determine and establish a
competitively | 19 |
| neutral and non-discriminatory funding basis. From time to | 20 |
| time,
or upon request, the Commission shall consider | 21 |
| whether, based upon changes in
technology or other factors, | 22 |
| additional telecommunications providers should
contribute | 23 |
| to the fund. The Commission shall establish the basis upon | 24 |
| which
telecommunications carriers contributing to the fund | 25 |
| shall recover
contributions
on a competitively neutral and | 26 |
| non-discriminatory basis.
In determining cost recovery for |
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| any universal support fund, the Commission
shall not permit | 2 |
| recovery of such costs from another certificated carrier | 3 |
| for
any service purchased and used solely as an input to a | 4 |
| service provided to such
certificated carriers' retail | 5 |
| customers. | 6 |
| (6) Approve a plan for the administration and operation | 7 |
| of the fund by a
neutral third party consistent with the | 8 |
| requirements of this item. | 9 |
| No fund shall be created pursuant to this item until | 10 |
| existing
implicit
subsidies,
including, but not limited to, | 11 |
| those subsidies contained in interexchange
access
charges, | 12 |
| have been identified and eliminated through revisions to rates | 13 |
| or
charges.
Prior to May 1, 2000, such revisions to rates or | 14 |
| charges to eliminate implicit
subsidies shall occur | 15 |
| contemporaneously with any funding established pursuant
to | 16 |
| this item. However, if the Commission does not establish a | 17 |
| universal
service support fund by May 1, 2000, the Commission | 18 |
| shall not be prevented from
entering an order or taking other | 19 |
| actions to reduce or eliminate existing
subsidies as well as | 20 |
| considering the effect of such reduction or elimination on
| 21 |
| local exchange carriers ; and . | 22 |
| (f) provide for a universal and emergency services support | 23 |
| program under which all payphone service providers operating | 24 |
| under certificates of service authority issued by the | 25 |
| Commission shall receive financial support for all local | 26 |
| exchange services identified in this subsection (f) that are |
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| used in the provisioning of payphone services, other than for | 2 |
| payphones located at inmate institutions or airports, provided | 3 |
| that such payphone service provider submits itself to the | 4 |
| universal and emergency services support program | 5 |
| (participating provider). The General Assembly finds that the | 6 |
| continued provision of payphones is fundamental to the public | 7 |
| policy goals of providing universal access and emergency links | 8 |
| to the communications network in the public interest of | 9 |
| providing for the health, welfare, prosperity, and security of | 10 |
| Illinois citizens. Developments in the telecommunications | 11 |
| industry make it necessary to take steps to ensure the | 12 |
| continued availability of payphones as part of the overall | 13 |
| communications network. Therefore, no later than December 1, | 14 |
| 2010, the Commission, after notice and hearing, shall have in | 15 |
| effect a universal and emergency services support program that | 16 |
| shall provide that all payphone lines of a participating | 17 |
| provider, other than those payphones located at inmate | 18 |
| institutions or airports, shall receive universal and | 19 |
| emergency services support in an amount equal to the charges | 20 |
| for the telephone line, the subscriber line charge, all usage | 21 |
| of up to 15 miles, and the features (collectively "local | 22 |
| charges") for each payphone each month, to be paid directly by | 23 |
| the fund for the universal and emergency services support | 24 |
| program to the local exchange carrier providing the telephone | 25 |
| subscriber line to the payphone. The participating provider | 26 |
| shall remain responsible for the remainder of any other |
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| charges. The Commission shall require that all costs of the | 2 |
| fund for the universal and emergency services support program | 3 |
| be recovered from the same entities as those required for the | 4 |
| recovery of costs under subsection (d) of this Section on a | 5 |
| competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis. The funding | 6 |
| for the universal and emergency services support program for | 7 |
| this subsection may be through a separate fund or through | 8 |
| another fund established pursuant to this Article, as the | 9 |
| Commission deems to be the most efficient and effective, | 10 |
| provided that any inclusion in another fund established | 11 |
| pursuant to this Article is neither detrimental to, nor | 12 |
| diminishes the benefits of that fund to, the other | 13 |
| participants. | 14 |
| Any telecommunications carrier providing local exchange
| 15 |
| telecommunications service which offers to its local exchange | 16 |
| customers a
choice of two or more local exchange | 17 |
| telecommunications service offerings
shall provide, to any | 18 |
| such customer requesting it, once a year without
charge, a | 19 |
| report describing which local exchange telecommunications | 20 |
| service
offering would result in the lowest bill for such | 21 |
| customer's local exchange
service, based on such customer's | 22 |
| calling pattern and usage for the
previous 6 months. At least | 23 |
| once a year, each such carrier shall provide a
notice to each | 24 |
| of its local exchange telecommunications service customers
| 25 |
| describing the availability of this report and the specific | 26 |
| procedures by
which customers may receive it. Such report shall |
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| only be available to
current and future customers who have | 2 |
| received at least 6 months of
continuous local exchange service | 3 |
| from such carrier. | 4 |
| (Source: P.A. 91-636, eff. 8-20-99 .)
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| (220 ILCS 5/9-216 rep.)
| 6 |
| Section 15. The Public Utilities Act is amended by | 7 |
| repealing Section 9-216.
| 8 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 9 |
| becoming law.".
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