A1100 1R

An Act concerning the removal of abandoned lines by certain entities and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statues.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

“Abandoned” means any ¹telecommunications or cable¹ line that has not been in operation for a period of at least ¹[twelve] 24¹ consecutive months ¹, not including: any line that is overlashed; or any line that is connected to a residential or commercial building or structure, which line is located in an area in which the owner of the line acts as a provider of telecommunications or cable television service, and for which line a written request for removal has not been submitted pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹.

“Board” means the Board of Public Utilities or any successor agency.

¹“Cable television service” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-3).

“Copper telephone line” means any copper telephone line that has been retired by an incumbent local exchange telecommunications company and is no longer in operation.

[“Department” means the Department of Community Affairs.]¹

“Entity” means a person, municipality, utility, or corporation having ownership of a line ¹or copper telephone line¹ in this State, including ownership acquired by sale or corporate merger.

“Line” means an above-ground cable or wire attached to a pole, building, or other structure, used ¹or useful¹ for the provision of any telecommunications ¹service¹ or ¹[utility] cable television¹ service, and shall include any equipment or facility associated with that line attached to that pole, building, or other structure.

“Telecommunications service” means the ¹[electronic transmission, conveyance, or routing of voice, data, audio, video, or any other information or signals to a point, or between or among points] same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-3)¹.

“Utility” means any “public utility” as defined in R.S.48:2-13, or “local utility” as defined in section 3.1 of P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-4).

2. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, and in accordance with federal law, ¹if applicable,¹ an entity owning a line that is abandoned ¹[or permanently out of service]¹ shall remove that line from all points of attachment.

b. ¹Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, when an entity that owns one or more lines in the State ceases to do business in the State, the entity shall remove the lines from all points of attachment, except not including any line for which the ownership is transferred to another entity and the line is not otherwise deemed to be abandoned.

c. (1)¹ Following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and in accordance with federal law, ¹if applicable,¹ an entity that installs ¹[, or otherwise maintains,]¹ a ¹new¹ line ¹[over which] , which line is attached to a building or structure and owned by¹ the entity ¹[has ownership] ,¹ shall mark ¹[both ends of] the end of¹ the line ¹attached to the building or structure¹ with the initials of the entity’s name, abbreviation of the entity’s name, corporate symbol, or other distinguishing mark or code by which ownership may be readily and definitely ascertained.

¹(2) When an entity owns or maintains a line that is attached to a building or structure, which line was installed before the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and the entity discovers that the line does not contain the markings specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the entity shall mark the end of the line attached to the building or structure with the initials of the entity’s name, abbreviation of the entity’s name, corporate symbol, or other distinguishing mark or code by which ownership may be readily and definitely ascertained. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require an entity to affirmatively search for any unmarked lines.¹

3. a. ¹[Twelve] Beginning 12¹ months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), in accordance with federal law¹, if applicable,¹ and ¹to the extent permitted under¹ any applicable pole attachment agreement, the owner of a pole, building, or other structure to which a suspected abandoned line is attached ¹[,]¹ may send a written request ¹, in accordance with subsection c. of this section,¹ to the entity owning that line to request removal if the line is found to be abandoned by the entity. ¹Within five business days after receiving the written request, the entity shall transmit a copy of the written request to the board.¹

b. ¹[A pole attachment agreement or any other applicable agreement established or renewed after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) may include, in accordance with federal law, a provision requiring an entity to submit a security deposit, in an amount determined by the board or department, to the owner of a pole, building, or other structure to which the entity attaches a line, which shall be refunded to the entity once the line is removed.] Beginning 12 months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), any person, municipality, utility, or corporation in the State may submit a written request, in accordance with subsection c. of this section, to the board for the removal of any suspected abandoned line, provided that the line is found to be abandoned by the entity owning the line. Within five business days after receiving the written request, the board shall transmit a written copy of the request to the entity that owns the line.

c. (1) Within 10 months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board shall prescribe the form and manner in which the owner of a pole, building, or structure may submit a written request, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, for the removal of a suspected abandoned line. At a minimum, the board shall allow these requests to be submitted through the official Internet website of the entity.

(2) Within 10 months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board shall prescribe the form and manner in which a person, municipality, utility, or corporation may submit a written request, pursuant to subsection b. of this section, for the removal of a suspected abandoned line. At a minimum, the board shall allow these requests to be submitted through the official Internet website of the board.

(3) Within 11 months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the official Internet website of the board and each entity owning one or more lines in the State shall provide instructions, in a clear and conspicuous manner, concerning the submission of the written requests to remove suspected abandoned lines.

d. Within 30 calendar days after the date on which an entity received a written request submitted pursuant to subsection a. or b. of this section, the entity shall submit a written report to the board, which report shall include:

(1) an assessment of whether the line is abandoned;

(2) a determination of whether the line contains the markings required under subsection c. of section 2 of the P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);

(3) a description of all actions undertaken by the entity with respect to the line, including any actions to remove or mark the line; and

(4) any other information that may be required by the board.¹

¹[4. The board and the department shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to implement the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) for entities under their respective jurisdictions, as applicable. The board and department may be assisted, as appropriate, by other participating agencies, departments, boards, and authorities, including the Office of Information Technology, in the promulgation of necessary rules and regulations.]¹

¹4. a. If an entity fails to comply with any requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the entity may be subject to a fine, as set forth in this section, which fine shall be enforced by the board.

b. Before an entity may be subject to a fine under this section, the board shall provide the entity with written notice of the alleged violation. Within 30 calendar days of receiving the notice, the entity shall be permitted to cure the alleged violation or demonstrate that the entity has not violated the requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

c. If within 30 calendar days of receiving the notice, the entity fails to cure the alleged violation or fails to demonstrate that the entity has not violated the requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board may impose a fine of $100 for each day in which the violation exists, beginning on the 31st calendar day after the submission of the written notice. In determining whether to impose a fine, the board may consider the following factors:

(1) the nature, circumstances, and magnitude of the violations;

(2) the entity’s history of prior violations during the prior three-year period;

(3) any good faith efforts by the entity to cure the violation within a reasonable time period following notice; and

(4) any other considerations that the board may deem appropriate.¹

¹5. a Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, and in accordance with federal law, if applicable, an entity owning one or more copper telephone lines in this State shall remove each copper telephone line from all points of attachment, as provided in subsection b. of this section.

b. Within 12 months after the effective date of the P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), an entity owning one or more copper telephone lines in the State shall submit a written plan to the board for the removal of each copper telephone line. In addition to any other requirements that the board may deem necessary, the entity shall remove all copper telephone lines owned by the entity within 10 years following the submission of the report, except that no less than 10 percent of the copper telephone lines shall be removed during each year of this period.

c. If an entity fails to comply with any requirements of this section, the board may subject the entity to a fine, in such amounts as the board deems appropriate.¹

¹[5.]6.¹ This act shall take effect immediately, but shall remain inoperative for 90 days from the date of enactment.