An Act To Lower the Costs of Broadband Service by Coordinating the Installation of Broadband Infrastructure
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §2503, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 141, Pt. A, §6, is amended to read:
2. Notice. The applicant may give public notice of the application by publishing its description of the proposed facility once in a newspaper circulated in the municipality or municipalities encompassing the limits of the proposed location. The applicant shall send a copy of any application filed with the Department of Transportation to the municipal clerk of each municipality in which the facilities are located, or to the clerk of the county commissioners in the case of facilities within an unorganized township, except that the applicant may, without publication of its application, place its facility described in its application on receipt of a permit from the licensing authority as may be otherwise provided. If a proposed facility is located underground and is in excess of 500 feet in length, the applicant shall, within 5 business days of submitting an application to the applicable licensing authority, provide the ConnectME Authority established in Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 33-F a notice that includes a description and the location of the proposed facility.
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §9204-A, sub-§6-A is enacted to read:
6-A. Notice of construction. The authority shall disseminate information about a proposed underground facility that it receives in accordance with section 2503, subsection 2 in a manner that is accessible to all parties that may be interested in installing a broadband conduit in the area of the proposed underground facility.
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 128th Legislature, Second Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.