Public Act 90-0185 of the 90th General Assembly

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Public Act 90-0185

SB700 Enrolled                                LRB9001002JSgcB

    AN ACT relating to competition in the  telecommunications
industry amending named Acts.

    Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 5.  The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act  is
amended by changing Section 1-5 as follows:

    (5 ILCS 100/1-5) (from Ch. 127, par. 1001-5)
    Sec. 1-5.  Applicability.
    (a)  This  Act applies to every agency as defined in this
Act. Beginning January 1, 1978, in case of  conflict  between
the provisions of this Act and the Act creating or conferring
power  on an agency, this Act shall control.  If, however, an
agency has existing procedures on July 1, 1977,  specifically
for  contested  cases or licensing, those existing provisions
control, except  that  this  exception  respecting  contested
cases  and  licensing  does  not apply if the Act creating or
conferring power on the agency adopts  by  express  reference
the  provisions  of  this  Act.   Where  the  Act creating or
conferring power  on  an  agency  establishes  administrative
procedures  not  covered  by this Act, those procedures shall
remain in effect.
    (b)  The provisions of this  Act  do  not  apply  to  (i)
preliminary  hearings,  investigations, or practices where no
final determinations affecting State funding are made by  the
State  Board  of  Education, (ii) legal opinions issued under
Section 2-3.7 of the School Code, (iii) as to State  colleges
and    universities,   their   disciplinary   and   grievance
proceedings, academic  irregularity  and  capricious  grading
proceedings, and admission standards and procedures, and (iv)
the   class   specifications  for  positions  and  individual
position  descriptions  prepared  and  maintained  under  the
Personnel Code.  Those class specifications  shall,  however,
be made reasonably available to the public for inspection and
copying.  The provisions of this Act do not apply to hearings
under Section 20 of  the  Uniform  Disposition  of  Unclaimed
Property Act.
    (c)  Section  5-35 of this Act relating to procedures for
rulemaking does not apply to the following:
         (1)  Rules adopted by the  Pollution  Control  Board
    that, in accordance with Section 7.2 of the Environmental
    Protection  Act,  are  identical  in substance to federal
    regulations   or   amendments   to   those    regulations
    implementing  the  following:  Sections 3001, 3002, 3003,
    3004, 3005, and 9003 of the  Solid  Waste  Disposal  Act;
    Section  105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
    Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980; Sections 307(b),
    307(c), 307(d), 402(b)(8), and 402(b)(9) of  the  Federal
    Water   Pollution  Control  Act;  and  Sections  1412(b),
    1414(c), 1417(a), 1421, and 1445(a) of the Safe  Drinking
    Water Act.
         (2)  Rules  adopted  by  the Pollution Control Board
    that establish or amend standards  for  the  emission  of
    hydrocarbons  and  carbon  monoxide from gasoline powered
    motor  vehicles  subject  to  inspection  under   Section
    13A-105 of the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law and rules
    adopted  under  Section  13B-20  of the Vehicle Emissions
    Inspection Law of 1995.
         (3)  Procedural  rules  adopted  by  the   Pollution
    Control  Board  governing  requests  for exceptions under
    Section 14.2 of the Environmental Protection Act.
         (4)  The Pollution Control Board's  grant,  pursuant
    to an adjudicatory determination, of an adjusted standard
    for persons who can justify an adjustment consistent with
    subsection   (a)  of  Section  27  of  the  Environmental
    Protection Act.
         (5)  Rules adopted by the  Pollution  Control  Board
    that  are  identical  in  substance  to  the  regulations
    adopted  by  the  Office  of the State Fire Marshal under
    clause (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of Section
    2 of the Gasoline Storage Act.
    (d)  Pay  rates  established  under  Section  8a  of  the
Personnel Code shall be amended or repealed pursuant  to  the
process  set  forth  in  Section 5-50 within 30 days after it
becomes necessary to do so due  to  a  conflict  between  the
rates  and  the  terms  of  a collective bargaining agreement
covering the compensation of  an  employee  subject  to  that
Code.
    (e)  Section  10-45  of  this  Act shall not apply to any
hearing, proceeding, or investigation conducted under Section
13-515 of the Public Utilities Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-823; 88-533.)

    Section 10.  The  Public  Utilities  Act  is  amended  by
changing  Sections  10-111,  13-102,  13-103, 13-203, 13-405,
13-502,  13-504,  13-505,  13-509    and  13-803  and  adding
Sections 13-505.7, 13-506, 13-512,  13-513,  13-514,  13-515,
and 13-516 as follows:

    (220 ILCS 5/10-111) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 10-111)
    Sec. 10-111. In any hearing, proceeding, investigation or
rulemaking  conducted  by  the  Commission,  the  Commission,
commissioner  or hearing examiner presiding, shall, after the
close of  evidentiary  hearings,  prepare  a  recommended  or
tentative decision, finding or order including a statement of
findings  and  conclusions and the reasons or basis therefor,
on all  the  material  issues  of  fact,  law  or  discretion
presented  on  the  record.  Such  recommended  or  tentative
decision, finding or order shall be served on all parties who
shall  be  entitled  to  a  reasonable opportunity to respond
thereto, either in briefs or comments otherwise to  be  filed
or separately. The recommended or tentative decision, finding
or  order and any responses thereto, shall be included in the
record for decision.  This Section shall  not  apply  to  any
hearing, proceeding, or investigation conducted under Section
13-515.
(Source: P.A. 84-617.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-102) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-102)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.     13-102.      Findings.     With    respect    to
telecommunications services, as herein defined,  the  General
Assembly finds that:
    (a)  universally    available   and   widely   affordable
telecommunications services  are  essential  to  the  health,
welfare and prosperity of all Illinois citizens;
    (b)  recent  federal  regulatory  and judicial rulings in
the   1980s   have   caused   a    restructuring    of    the
telecommunications  industry  and have opened some aspects of
the industry  to  competitive  entry,  thereby  necessitating
revision  of State telecommunications regulatory policies and
practices;
    (c)  revisions in telecommunications regulatory  policies
and  practices in Illinois beginning in the mid-1980s brought
the  benefits   of   competition   to   consumers   in   many
telecommunications   markets,   but  not  in  local  exchange
telecommunications service markets;
    (d)  the   federal   Telecommunications   Act   of   1996
established  the  goal  of  opening  all   telecommunications
service  markets to competition and accords to the states the
responsibility to establish and enforce policies necessary to
attain that goal;
    (e)  it is in the immediate interest of the People of the
State of Illinois for the State to exercise its rights within
the new framework of  federal  telecommunications  policy  to
ensure  that  the  economic  benefits  of  competition in all
telecommunications   service   markets   are   realized    as
effectively as possible;
    (f) (c)  the      competitive     offering     of     all
telecommunications services  will  increase  may  create  the
potential  for  increased  innovation  and  efficiency in the
provision of telecommunications  services  and  may  lead  to
reduced   prices   for  consumers,  increased  investment  in
communications infrastructure, the creation of new jobs,  and
the attraction of new businesses to Illinois; and
    (g) (d)  protection   of  the  public  interest  requires
changes in the  continued  regulation  of  telecommunications
carriers  and  services  to  ensure,  to the maximum feasible
extent, the reasonable and timely  development  of  effective
competition in all telecommunications service markets for the
foreseeable future.
(Source: P.A. 84-1063.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-103) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-103)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.  13-103.  Policy.  Consistent with its findings, the
General Assembly declares that it is the policy of the  State
of Illinois that:
    (a)  telecommunications  services  should be available to
all Illinois citizens at  just,  reasonable,  and  affordable
rates and that such services should be provided as widely and
economically  as  possible  in  sufficient  variety, quality,
quantity and reliability to satisfy the public interest;
    (b)  when consistent with the protection of consumers  of
telecommunications  services  and  the  furtherance  of other
public interest goals, competition in all  telecommunications
service  markets should be pursued permitted to function as a
substitute for certain aspects of regulation  in  determining
the variety, quality and price of telecommunications services
and that the economic burdens of regulation should be reduced
to  the  extent  possible  consistent with the furtherance of
market competition and protection of the public interest;
    (c)  all necessary and appropriate modifications to State
regulation of telecommunications carriers and services should
be  implemented  without  unnecessary   disruption   to   the
telecommunications  infrastructure  system or to consumers of
telecommunications services and  that  it  is  necessary  and
appropriate  to  establish  rules  to  encourage and ensure a
reasonable period of time to permit preparation  for  orderly
transitions  in  the development provision of markets for all
telecommunications services;
    (d)  the consumers  of  telecommunications  services  and
facilities  provided  by  persons  or  companies  subject  to
regulation  pursuant  to  this  Act  and  Article  should  be
required  to pay only reasonable and non-discriminatory rates
or charges and that in no case should rates  or  charges  for
non-competitive   telecommunications   services  include  any
portion   of    the    cost    of    providing    competitive
telecommunications services, as defined in Section 13-209, or
the cost of any nonregulated activities;
    (e)  the  regulatory  policies and procedures provided in
this Article are established in recognition of  the  changing
nature  of  the  telecommunications  industry  and  therefore
should  be subject to systematic legislative review to ensure
that  the  public  benefits  intended  to  result  from  such
policies and procedures are fully realized; and
    (f)  development of and prudent  investment  in  advanced
telecommunications services and networks that foster economic
development  of  the  State  should be encouraged through the
implementation  and  enforcement  of  policies  that  promote
effective and sustained competition in all telecommunications
service markets.
(Source: P.A. 87-856.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-203) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-203)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.      13-203.       Telecommunications       service.
"Telecommunications  service" means the provision or offering
for rent, sale or lease,  or  in  exchange  for  other  value
received,  of  the  transmittal  of  information, by means of
electromagnetic,  including  light,  transmission   with   or
without  benefit of any closed transmission medium, including
all instrumentalities, facilities,  apparatus,  and  services
(including  the  collection,  storage, forwarding, switching,
and delivery  of  such  information)  used  to  provide  such
transmission  and  also  includes  access and interconnection
arrangements and services.
    "Telecommunications service" does not include, however:
         (a)  the rent, sale, or lease, or exchange for other
    value received, of customer premises equipment except for
    customer  premises  equipment  owned  or  provided  by  a
    telecommunications carrier and  used  for  answering  911
    calls,   and   except  for  customer  premises  equipment
    provided under Section 13-703;
         (b)  telephone   or   telecommunications   answering
    services,  paging  services,  and  physical  pickup   and
    delivery  incidental  to  the  provision  of  information
    transmitted  through  electromagnetic,  including  light,
    transmission;
         (c)  community  antenna  television service which is
    operated to perform for hire the service of receiving and
    distributing video and audio  program  signals  by  wire,
    cable  or  other  means  to  members  of  the  public who
    subscribe to  such  service,  to  the  extent  that  such
    service  is  utilized solely for the one-way distribution
    of  such  entertainment  services  with  no   more   than
    incidental   subscriber   interaction  required  for  the
    selection of such entertainment service.
    The Commission may, by rulemaking,  exclude  (1)  private
line service which is not directly or indirectly used for the
origination  or  termination  of  switched telecommunications
service,  (2)  cellular   radio   service,   (3)   high-speed
point-to-point data transmission at or above 9.6 kilobits, or
(4)  the provision of telecommunications service by a company
or person otherwise  subject  to  Section  13-202  (c)  to  a
telecommunications   carrier,  which  is  incidental  to  the
provision of service subject  to  Section  13-202  (c),  from
active  regulatory  oversight  to  the extent it finds, after
notice, hearing and comment that such exclusion is consistent
with the public interest and the  purposes  and  policies  of
this  Article. To the extent that the Commission has excluded
cellular radio service from active regulatory  oversight  for
any provider of cellular radio service in this State pursuant
to  this  Section,  the  Commission  shall  exclude all other
providers of cellular radio service in the State from  active
regulatory   oversight   without   an  additional  rulemaking
proceeding where there are 2 or more certified  providers  of
cellular radio service in a geographic area.
(Source: P.A. 87-856.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-405) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-405)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec. 13-405.  Local exchange service authority; approval.
The Commission shall approve an application for a Certificate
of  Exchange  Service  Authority  only  upon a showing by the
applicant, and a finding by the Commission, after notice  and
hearing, that:
         (a)  the  applicant  possesses sufficient technical,
    financial, and  managerial  resources  and  abilities  to
    provide local exchange telecommunications service.; and
         (b)  that   the   exercise   of   the  Certificate's
    authority by the applicant  would  not  adversely  affect
    prices, network design, or the financial viability of the
    principal  provider  of local exchange telecommunications
    service.
    The Commission shall not approve or issue  a  Certificate
of    Exchange   Service   Authority   to   more   than   one
telecommunications carrier for any exchange prior to  January
1,  1989;  provided,  however, that a Certificate of Exchange
Service Authority may be issued before such time, subject  to
appropriate Commission approval, pursuant to this Section, to
any telecommunications carrier providing predominantly direct
nonswitched access service between a customer or user and any
telecommunications carrier providing inter-MSA, inter-LATA or
inter-state   telecommunications  service,  or  between  such
telecommunications carriers, for  the  purpose  of  providing
such direct access service.
(Source: P.A. 84-1063.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-502) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-502)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec. 13-502.  Classification of services.
    (a)  All  telecommunications services offered or provided
under  tariff  by  telecommunications   carriers   shall   be
classified   as  either  competitive  or  noncompetitive.   A
telecommunications  carrier  may  offer  or  provide   either
competitive or noncompetitive telecommunications services, or
both,  subject  to  proper certification and other applicable
provisions of  this  Article.   Any  tariff  filed  with  the
Commission  as  required  by  Section  13-501  shall indicate
whether the service to be offered or provided is  competitive
or noncompetitive.
    (b)  A  service  shall  be classified as competitive only
if, and only to the extent that, for some identifiable  class
or  group of customers in an exchange, group of exchanges, or
some other clearly defined geographical area,  such  service,
or  its  functional  equivalent,  or a substitute service, is
reasonably available from more than one provider, whether  or
not any such provider is a telecommunications carrier subject
to regulation under this Act. All telecommunications services
not properly classified as competitive shall be classified as
noncompetitive.  The  Commission  shall  have  the  power  to
investigate   the   propriety  of  any  classification  of  a
telecommunications  service  on  its  own  motion  and  shall
investigate upon complaint.  In any hearing or investigation,
the burden of proof as to the proper  classification  of  any
service   shall  rest  upon  the  telecommunications  carrier
providing  the  service.   After  notice  and  hearing,   the
Commission  shall  order  the  proper  classification  of any
service in whole or in part.  The Commission shall  make  its
determination  and  issue  its  final order no later than 180
days  from  the  date  such  hearing  or   investigation   is
initiated.  If  the  Commission  enters  into  a hearing upon
complaint and if the  Commission  fails  to  issue  an  order
within  that  period,  the  complaint shall be deemed granted
unless   the   Commission,   the   complainant,    and    the
telecommunications  carrier  providing  the  service agree to
extend the time period.
    (c)  No  tariff  classifying  a  new   telecommunications
service   as   competitive   or  reclassifying  a  previously
noncompetitive  telecommunications  service  as  competitive,
which is filed by a  telecommunications  carrier  which  also
offers or provides noncompetitive telecommunications service,
shall  be  effective unless and until such telecommunications
carrier  offering  or  providing,  or  seeking  to  offer  or
provide, such proposed competitive service prepares and files
a study of the long-run service incremental  cost  underlying
such  service  and  demonstrates  that the tariffed rates and
charges for the service and any relevant  group  of  services
that  includes the proposed competitive service and for which
resources are used in common solely by that group of services
are not less than the long-run service  incremental  cost  of
providing  the  service  and each relevant group of services.
Such study  shall  be  given  proprietary  treatment  by  the
Commission  at  the  request  of  such  carrier  if any other
provider  of  the   competitive   service,   its   functional
equivalent,  or a substitute service in the geographical area
described by the proposed tariff has not filed,  or  has  not
been required to file, such a study.
    (d)  In the event any telecommunications service has been
classified and filed as competitive by the telecommunications
carrier,  and has been offered or provided on such basis, and
the Commission subsequently  determines  after  investigation
that  such  classification improperly included services which
were in fact noncompetitive, the Commission  shall  have  the
power  to  determine  and  order refunds to customers for any
overcharges  which  may  have  resulted  from  the   improper
classification,  or  to order such other remedies provided to
it under this Act, or to seek an appropriate remedy or relief
in a court of competent jurisdiction.
    (e)  Any telecommunications carrier which seeks to file a
tariff  classifying  a  new  telecommunications  service   as
competitive  or  reclassifying  a  previously  noncompetitive
telecommunications  service  as  competitive  may, instead of
filing such  new  tariff  and  offering  and  providing  such
service  as  competitive  subject  to  refund,   apply to the
Commission, prior to offering or providing  such  service  as
competitive, for an order finding that the proposed tariff is
proper  and  consistent  with  law.   Any  telecommunications
carrier  applying  for  Commission  approval pursuant to this
paragraph (e) shall provide timely and  effective  notice  of
its  application  and proposed tariff to potentially affected
providers and customers in a manner to be determined  by  the
Commission.
    Upon such application and notice, the Commission may make
its  findings without hearing within 21 days of the filing of
the application and may allow such tariff to  take  immediate
effect  thereafter  if  there  is  no  request for hearing by
potentially affected providers or customers.  The  Commission
shall,   however,   enter  into  hearings  to  determine  the
propriety and legality of  the  proposed  tariffs  upon  such
request  or  if  the  Commission, in its discretion, believes
such hearings are necessary.
    If  the  Commission  enters  into   hearings   upon   the
application,  it shall issue a final order within 180 days of
such application, and, if the Commission fails  to  issue  an
order  within  such  period,  the application shall be deemed
granted, unless, however, the Commission, the  applicant  and
all  parties to the hearing agree to extend such time period.
The Commission shall have the power to issue an interim order
allowing the proposed tariff to take effect  during  the  180
day period subject to refund and such other conditions as the
Commission  may  provide.   If  no  hearing  or investigation
regarding the propriety of a competitive classification of  a
telecommunications service is initiated within 180 days after
a  telecommunications  carrier  files  a  tariff listing such
telecommunications service  as  competitive,  no  refunds  to
customers  for  any  overcharges  which  may  result  from an
improper classification shall be ordered for the period  from
the  time  the  telecommunications  carrier filed such tariff
listing  the  service  as  competitive  up  to  the  time  an
investigation of the service classification is  initiated  by
the  Commission's  own  motion  or the filing of a complaint.
Where a hearing or an investigation regarding  the  propriety
of a telecommunications service classification as competitive
is  initiated  after  180 days from the filing of the tariff,
the period subject  to  refund  for  improper  classification
shall  begin  on  the  date  such investigation or hearing is
initiated  by  the  filing  of  a  Commission  motion  or   a
complaint.
(Source: P.A. 87-856.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-504) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-504)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.  13-504.   Application  of  ratemaking provisions of
Article IX.
    (a)  Except  where  the  context  clearly  renders   such
provisions inapplicable, the ratemaking provisions of Article
IX  of  this  Act  relating to public utilities are fully and
equally  applicable  to  the  rates,  charges,  tariffs   and
classifications  for the offer or provision of noncompetitive
telecommunications   services.   However,   the    ratemaking
provisions  do  not  apply to any proposed change in rates or
charges, any proposed change in any classification or  tariff
resulting   in   a   change  in  rates  or  charges,  or  the
establishment of  new  services  and  rates  therefor  for  a
noncompetitive   local  exchange  telecommunications  service
offered or provided by a  local  exchange  telecommunications
carrier  with  no  more  than 35,000 subscriber access lines.
Proposed  changes  in  rates,  charges,  classifications,  or
tariffs meeting these criteria shall be  permitted  upon  the
filing  of  the  proposed  tariff  and  30 days notice to the
Commission  and  all  potentially  affected  customers.   The
proposed changes shall not  be  subject  to  suspension.  The
Commission  shall  investigate whether any proposed change is
just and reasonable only if a telecommunications carrier that
is  a  customer  of  the  local  exchange  telecommunications
carrier or  10%  of  the  potentially  affected  access  line
subscribers  of the local exchange telecommunications carrier
shall  file   a   petition   or   complaint   requesting   an
investigation    of   the   proposed   changes.    When   the
telecommunications carrier or 10% of the potentially affected
access    line    subscribers    of    a    local    exchange
telecommunications carrier file a complaint,  the  Commission
shall,  after  notice and hearing, have the power and duty to
establish the rates, charges, classifications, or tariffs  it
finds to be just and reasonable.
    (b)  Subsection   (c)  of  Section  13-502  and  Sections
13-505.1, 13-505.4, 13-505.6, and 13-507 of this  Article  do
not apply to rates or charges or proposed changes in rates or
charges  for applicable competitive or interexchange services
when   offered   or   provided   by    a    local    exchange
telecommunications   carrier   with   no   more  than  35,000
subscriber  access  lines.   In  addition,  Sections  13-514,
13-515,  and  13-516  do  not  apply  to   telecommunications
carriers  with  no  more than 35,000 subscriber access lines.
The Commission may require telecommunications  carriers  with
no  more  than  35,000  subscriber  access  lines  to furnish
information  that  the  Commission  deems  necessary  for   a
determination  that  rates  and  charges  for any competitive
telecommunications service are just and reasonable.
    (c)  For a local exchange telecommunications carrier with
no more  than  35,000  access  lines,  the  Commission  shall
consider   and  adjust,  as  appropriate,  a  local  exchange
telecommunications  carrier's  depreciation  rates  only   in
ratemaking proceedings.
    (d)  Article  VI  and Sections 7-101 and 7-102 of Article
VII of  this  Act  pertaining  to  public  utilities,  public
utility  rates  and  services, and the regulation thereof are
not applicable to local exchange  telecommunication  carriers
with no more than 35,000 subscriber access lines.
(Source: P.A. 89-139, eff. 1-1-96.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-505) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-505)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.   13-505.   Rate   changes;   competitive  services.
Proposed changes in rates or charges, or  any  classification
or  tariff  provision  affecting  rates  or  charges, for any
competitive  telecommunications  service,  shall  be  treated
pursuant to this Section as follows:
    (a)  Any  proposed  increase  or  decrease  in  rates  or
charges, or proposed change in any classification  or  tariff
resulting  in  an increase or a decrease in rates or charges,
for  a  competitive  telecommunications  service   shall   be
permitted  upon  the  filing  of  the  proposed rate, charge,
classification, or tariff.;
    (b)  any  proposed  increase  in  rates  or  charges,  or
proposed change in any classification or tariff resulting  in
an   increase   in   rates  or  charges,  for  a  competitive
telecommunications service shall be permitted by  the  filing
of  the  proposed rate, charge, classification, or tariff and
shall become effective  14  days  after  its  filing.   Prior
notice  of an increase shall also be given to all potentially
affected customers by mail, publication  in  a  newspaper  of
general circulation, or equivalent means of notice; and.
    (b)(c)  If  a  hearing  is held pursuant to Section 9-250
regarding the reasonableness of an increase in the  rates  or
charges  of  a  competitive  local exchange service, then the
telecommunications carrier providing the service  shall  have
the   burden   of   proof   to  establish  the  justness  and
reasonableness of the proposed rate or charge.
(Source: P.A. 87-856.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-505.7 new)
    Sec. 13-505.7.  Bundling.   Nothing  in  this  Act  shall
prohibit  the  bundling  of  any telecommunications services,
provided that for a telecommunications carrier that  provides
both  noncompetitive and competitive services the price for a
bundle of telecommunications services shall not be less  than
the    aggregate    of    the   unbundled   prices   of   the
telecommunications services offered in the bundle.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-506 new)
    Sec. 13-506.  Tariffs for competitive  telecommunications
services.   (a) Telecommunications carriers may file proposed
tariffs for any competitive telecommunications service  which
includes  and  specifically describes a range, band, formula,
or standard within which or by which a  change  in  rates  or
charges  for  such  telecommunications  service could be made
without prior notice or prior Commission  approval,  provided
that  any  and all rates or charges within the band or range,
or determinable by the operation of the formula or  standard,
are  consistent  with the public interest and the purpose and
policies of this Article and Act, and are likely to remain so
for the forseeable future.  To the extent any  proposed  band
or   range   encompasses  rates  or  charges  which  are  not
consistent with the public  interest  and  the  purposes  and
policies  of  this Article and Act or otherwise fully proper,
or any proposed  formula  or  standard  determines  rates  or
charges  which  are  not  consistent  with  the  purposes and
policies of this Article and Act or otherwise  fully  proper,
the  Commission after notice and hearing shall have the power
to modify the level, scope, or limits of such band or  range,
and  to  modify  or  limit  the  operation of such formula or
standard, as necessary,  to  ensure  that  rates  or  charges
resulting  therefrom  are  consistent  with  the purposes and
policies of this Article and Act and fully proper, and likely
to remain so in the forseeable future.
    (b)  The  Commission  may  require  a  telecommunications
carrier to file a variable tariff as described  in  paragraph
(a)  for  any  or all competitive telecommunications services
which are  offered  or  provided  by  such  carrier,  if  the
Commission   finds,   after  notice  and  hearing,  that  the
determination of rates or  charges  for  such  service  by  a
tariff  would improve the Commission's ability to effectively
regulate such rates or charges and that such  improvement  is
required by the public interest.  Any such tariff required by
the   Commission  shall  be  approved  only  if  it  is  also
consistent with the  provisions  of  paragraph  (a)  of  this
Section.
    (c)  When  the  Commission approves a variable tariff, as
proposed  or  modified  pursuant   to   this   Section,   the
telecommunications  carrier shall place such tariff in effect
thereafter and such tariff shall determine rates  or  charges
according to the provisions thereof.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-509) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-509)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.  13-509.   Agreements  for provisions of competitive
telecommunications  services  differing   from   tariffs.   A
telecommunications  carrier offering or providing competitive
telecommunications service may negotiate  with  customers  or
prospective      customers     to     provide     competitive
telecommunications service for the provision by  it  of  such
service,  and in so doing, may offer or agree to provide such
service on such terms and for such rates  or  charges  as  it
deems  are  reasonable,  without regard to any tariffs it may
have filed with the Commission with respect to such services.
Within 10 business days after concluding executing  any  such
agreement,  the  telecommunications  carrier  shall  file any
contract or memorandum of understanding for the provision  of
telecommunications  service, which shall include the rates or
other charges, practices, rules or regulations applicable  to
the  agreed  provision of such service.  Cost support for the
agreement shall  be  filed  within  30  calendar  days  after
executing  any  such agreement.  Where the agreement contains
the same rates, charges, practices,  rules,  and  regulations
found in a single contract or memorandum already filed by the
telecommunications  carrier  with  the Commission, instead of
filing the contract  or  memorandum,  the  telecommunications
carrier  may  elect  to  file  a  letter  identifying the new
agreement  and  specifically  referencing  the  contract   or
memorandum already on file with the Commission which contains
the  same  provisions.   A  single letter may be used to file
more than one new agreement.  Upon  filing  its  contract  or
memorandum,  or  letter, the telecommunications carrier shall
thereafter provide service according to  the  terms  thereof,
unless  the  Commission finds, after notice and hearing, that
the continued provision of service pursuant to such  contract
or  memorandum  would  substantially and adversely affect the
financial integrity  of  the  telecommunications  carrier  or
would   cause  the  cross-subsidization  of  any  competitive
service by  any  noncompetitive  service  violate  any  other
provision of this Act.
    Any   contract  or  memorandum  entered  into  and  filed
pursuant to the  provisions  of  this  Section  may,  in  the
Commission's discretion, be accorded proprietary treatment.
(Source: P.A. 84-1063.)

    (220 ILCS 5/13-512 new)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.  13-512.  Rules;  review.  The Commission shall have
general rulemaking  authority  to  make  rules  necessary  to
enforce this Article.  However, not later than 270 days after
the  effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, and every
2 years thereafter, the Commission  shall  review  all  rules
issued  under  this  Article  that apply to the operations or
activities of any telecommunications carrier.  The Commission
shall, after notice and hearing, repeal or modify any rule it
determines to be no longer in  the  public  interest  as  the
result   of   the   reasonable  availability  of  competitive
telecommunications services.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-513 new)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec.  13-513.  Waiver  of  rules.   A  telecommunications
carrier may petition for waiver of the application of a  rule
issued  pursuant  to  this  Act.   The  burden  of  proof  in
establishing  the  right  to  a  waiver  shall  be  upon  the
petitioner.   The petition shall include a demonstration that
the waiver would not harm consumers and would not impede  the
development  or operation of a competitive market.  Upon such
demonstration, the Commission may waive the application of  a
rule,  but  not  the  application of a provision of this Act.
The Commission may conduct an investigation of  the  petition
on its own motion or at the request of a potentially affected
person.   If  no investigation is conducted, the waiver shall
be deemed granted 30 days after the petition is filed.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-514 new)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec. 13-514.  Prohibited  Actions  of  Telecommunications
Carriers.   A  telecommunications carrier shall not knowingly
impede   the    development    of    competition    in    any
telecommunications  service market.  The following prohibited
actions are considered per se impediments to the  development
of competition; however, the Commission is not limited in any
manner to these enumerated impediments and may consider other
actions which impede competition to be prohibited:
    (1)  unreasonably  refusing  or delaying interconnections
or    providing    inferior    connections     to     another
telecommunications carrier;
    (2)  unreasonably   impairing   the  speed,  quality,  or
efficiency of services  used  by  another  telecommunications
carrier;
    (3)  unreasonably  denying  a request of another provider
for information regarding the technical design and  features,
geographic  coverage, information necessary for the design of
equipment,  and traffic capabilities of  the  local  exchange
network   except  for  proprietary  information  unless  such
information  is  subject  to  a  proprietary   agreement   or
protective order;
    (4)  unreasonably  delaying  access in connecting another
telecommunications carrier  to  the  local  exchange  network
whose product or service requires novel or specialized access
requirements;
    (5)  unreasonably  refusing  or  delaying  access  by any
person to another telecommunications carrier;
    (6)  unreasonably acting or failing to act  in  a  manner
that  has  a  substantial  adverse  effect  on the ability of
another telecommunications carrier to provide service to  its
customers;
    (7)  unreasonably  failing to offer services to customers
in a local exchange, where a  telecommunications  carrier  is
certificated  to  provide  service  and  has  entered into an
interconnection agreement for the provision of local exchange
telecommunications services, with  the  intent  to  delay  or
impede   the   ability   of   the  incumbent  local  exchange
telecommunications    carrier    to    provide     inter-LATA
telecommunications services; and
    (8)  violating  the  terms  of  or  unreasonably delaying
implementation of an interconnection agreement  entered  into
pursuant to Section 252 of the federal Telecommunications Act
of  1996  in a manner that unreasonably delays or impedes the
availability of telecommunications services to consumers.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-515 new)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec. 13-515.  Enforcement.
    (a)  The  Commission  shall  enforce  the  provisions  of
Section 13-514 of this Act.  Unless the  Commission  and  the
parties  otherwise  mutually  agree, the Commission shall use
the procedures set forth in this Section for  the  review  of
complaints relating to violations of Section 13-514.
    (b)  This  Section  shall  not  apply  to interconnection
agreements with  a  Bell  operating  company  as  defined  in
Section  3  of  the  federal  Telecommunications  Act of 1996
unless and until the date such company or  its  affiliate  is
authorized  to  provide  inter-LATA  services  under  Section
271(d) of that Act.
    (c)  No  complaint  may be filed under this Section until
the complainant has first  notified  the  respondent  of  the
alleged  violation  and  offered  the  respondent 48 hours to
correct  the  situation.   Provision  of   notice   and   the
opportunity  to  correct  the  situation creates a rebuttable
presumption of knowledge under Section 13-514.
    (d)  A telecommunications carrier may  file  a  complaint
with the Commission alleging a violation of Section 13-514 in
accordance with this subsection:
         (1)  The  complaint  shall  be  filed with the Chief
    Clerk of the Commission and shall be served in hand  upon
    the  respondent,  the executive director, and the general
    counsel of the Commission at the time of the filing.
         (2)  A complaint filed under this  subsection  shall
    include  a  statement that the requirements of subsection
    (c) have been fulfilled and that the respondent  did  not
    correct the situation as requested.
         (3)  Reasonable  discovery  specific to the issue of
    the complaint may commence upon filing of the  complaint.
    Requests  for  discovery  must  be  served  in  hand  and
    responses  to  discovery  must be provided in hand to the
    requester within 14 days after a request for discovery is
    made.
         (4)  An answer and any other responsive pleading  to
    the  complaint  shall  be  filed  with the Commission and
    served in hand at the same time upon the complainant, the
    executive  director,  and  the  general  counsel  of  the
    Commission within 7 days after  the  date  on  which  the
    complaint is filed.
         (5)  A  determination  as  to reasonable grounds for
    the complaint and, if appropriate, a directive for  legal
    notice of a hearing shall be made within 3 days after the
    date on which the answer is filed.
         (6)  A  pre-hearing  conference shall be held within
    14 days after the date on which the complaint is filed.
         (7)  The hearing shall commence within  30  days  of
    the  date  on  which the complaint is filed.  The hearing
    may  be  conducted  by  a  hearing  examiner  or  by   an
    arbitrator.   Parties  and  the Commission staff shall be
    entitled to present evidence and legal argument  in  oral
    or  written  form  as  deemed  appropriate by the hearing
    examiner  or  arbitrator.   The   hearing   examiner   or
    arbitrator  shall issue a written decision within 60 days
    after the date on which  the  complaint  is  filed.   The
    decision shall include reasons for the disposition of the
    complaint and, if a violation of Section 13-514 is found,
    directions   and   a   deadline  for  correction  of  the
    violation.  The  decision  of  the  hearing  examiner  or
    arbitrator  shall  be  considered  a  final  order of the
    Commission after 10 days unless the Commission enters its
    own final order within 10 days of  the  decision  of  the
    hearing examiner or arbitrator.
    (e)  If  the  alleged violation has a substantial adverse
effect on the ability of the complainant to  provide  service
to  customers, the complainant may include in its complaint a
request for an order for emergency relief.   The  Commission,
acting through its designated hearing examiner or arbitrator,
shall  act  upon such a request within 2 business days of the
filing of the complaint.  An order for emergency  relief  may
be  granted,  without an evidentiary hearing, upon a verified
factual showing that the party  seeking  relief  will  likely
succeed on the merits, that the party will suffer irreparable
harm in its ability to serve customers if emergency relief is
not  granted,  and  that the order is in the public interest.
An order for emergency relief shall include  a  finding  that
the  requirements  of this subsection have been fulfilled and
shall specify the directives that must be  fulfilled  by  the
respondent  and  deadlines for meeting those directives.  The
decision of the hearing examiner or arbitrator  to  grant  or
deny  emergency  relief  shall  be considered an order of the
Commission unless the Commission enters its own order  within
2  calendar  days  of the decision of the hearing examiner or
arbitrator.  The order for emergency relief may  require  the
responding  party  to  act  or  refrain  from acting so as to
protect the provision of  competitive  service  offerings  to
customers.   Any action required by an emergency relief order
must be technically feasible and economically reasonable  and
the  respondent  must be given a reasonable period of time to
comply with the order.
    (f)  The  Commission  is  authorized  to  obtain  outside
resources including, but  not  limited  to,  arbitrators  and
consultants  for  the  purposes of the hearings authorized by
this Section.  Any arbitrator or consultant obtained  by  the
Commission shall be approved by both parties to the hearing.
    (g)  The  Commission  shall  assess  the  parties for the
Commission's  costs  of  investigation  and  conduct  of  the
proceedings, dividing the costs according to  the  resolution
of the complaint brought under this Section.  All assessments
shall  be  paid  into  the Public Utility Fund within 60 days
after  receiving  notice  of   the   assessments   from   the
Commission.   Interest  at  the  statutory  rate shall accrue
after the expiration of the 60 day period.  The Commission is
authorized to apply to a court of competent jurisdiction  for
an order requiring payment.
    (h)  If  the  Commission  determines  that  there  is  an
imminent threat to competition or to the public interest, the
Commission  may,  notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, seek temporary,  preliminary,  or  permanent  injunctive
relief from a court of competent jurisdiction either prior to
or after the hearing.
    (i)  A  party  shall  not  bring  or  defend a proceeding
brought under this Section or assert or controvert  an  issue
in a proceeding brought under this Section, unless there is a
non-frivolous  basis for doing so.  By presenting a pleading,
written motion, or other paper in complaint or defense of the
actions or inaction of a party under this Section, a party is
certifying to the Commission that to the best of that party's
knowledge, information, and belief, formed after a reasonable
inquiry of the subject matter of the  complaint  or  defense,
that  the  complaint  or  defense is well grounded in law and
fact, and under the circumstances:
         (1)  it is not being presented to harass  the  other
    party,  cause  unnecessary  delay  in  the  provision  of
    competitive  telecommunications services to consumers, or
    create needless increases in the cost of litigation; and
         (2)  the allegations and other  factual  contentions
    have   evidentiary   support   or,   if  specifically  so
    identified, are likely to have evidentiary support  after
    reasonable   opportunity  for  further  investigation  or
    discovery as defined herein.
    (j)  If, after notice and  a  reasonable  opportunity  to
respond,  the  Commission  determines that subsection (i) has
been  violated,  the  Commission  shall  impose   appropriate
sanctions  upon  the  party  or  parties  that  have violated
subsection (i) or are responsible  for  the  violation.   The
sanctions  shall  be not more than $7,500, plus the amount of
expenses  accrued  by  the  Commission  for  conducting   the
hearing.   Payment of sanctions imposed under this subsection
shall be made to the Common School Fund  within  30  days  of
imposition of such sanctions.
    (k)  An  appeal  of  a  Commission Order made pursuant to
this Section shall not effectuate a stay of the Order  unless
a court of competent jurisdiction specifically finds that the
party  seeking  the  stay  will likely succeed on the merits,
that the party will suffer irreparable harm without the stay,
and that the stay is in the public interest.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-516 new)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec. 13-516. Penalties  for  violation  of  a  Commission
order  relating  to  prohibited actions of telecommunications
carriers.
    (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the
Commission  may  impose  penalties  of  up  to  $30,000   per
violation  of  a final order or emergency relief order issued
pursuant to Section 13-515  of  this  Act.   Each  day  of  a
continuing  offense  shall be treated as a separate violation
for purposes of levying any penalty under this Section.   The
period  for  which the fine shall be levied shall commence on
the day the Commission order  requires  compliance  with  the
order  and  shall  continue  until the party is in compliance
with the Commission order.
    (b)  The Commission may  waive  penalties  imposed  under
subsection  (a)  if  it  makes  a  written  finding as to its
reasons for waiving the fine.  Reasons  for  waiving  a  fine
shall   include,   but   not  be  limited  to,  technological
infeasibility and acts of God.
    (c)  The Commission shall establish  by  rule  procedures
for the imposition of penalties under subsection (a) that, at
a  minimum,  provide  for notice, hearing and a written order
relating to the imposition of penalties.
    (d)  The Commission is authorized to apply to a court  of
competent  jurisdiction  for  an  order  requiring payment of
penalties imposed under subsection (a).
    (e)  Payment of penalties imposed  under  subsection  (a)
shall  be  made  to  the Common School Fund within 30 days of
issuance of the Commission order imposing the penalties.

    (220 ILCS 5/13-803) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-803)
    (This Section is scheduled to be repealed July 1, 1999.)
    Sec. 13-803.  Repealer. The provisions  of  this  Article
XIII are repealed effective July 1, 2001 1999.
(Source: P.A. 86-1475; 87-821; 87-856.)

    Section  15.  The  Illinois  Antitrust  Act is amended by
changing Section 5 as follows:

    (740 ILCS 10/5) (from Ch. 38, par. 60-5)
    Sec. 5. No provisions of this Act shall be  construed  to
make illegal:
    (1)  the  activities  of  any  labor  organization  or of
individual members thereof which are directed solely to labor
objectives which are legitimate under the laws of either  the
State of Illinois or the United States;
    (2)  the  activities of any agricultural or horticultural
cooperative    organization,    whether    incorporated    or
unincorporated, or of individual members thereof,  which  are
directed   solely   to   objectives   of   such   cooperative
organizations  which  are legitimate under the laws of either
the State of Illinois or the United States;
    (3)  the   activities   of   any   public   utility    or
telecommunications  carrier,  as  defined in Section Sections
3-105 and 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act  to  the  extent
that  such  activities are subject to the jurisdiction of the
Illinois  Commerce  Commission,  or  to  the  activities   of
telephone  mutual  concerns  referred to in Section 13-202 of
the Public Utilities Act to the extent such activities relate
to the providing and  maintenance  of  telephone  service  to
owners and customers;
    (4)  The  activities  of a telecommunications carrier, as
defined in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act, to the
extent  those  activities  relate   to   the   provision   of
noncompetitive  telecommunications  services under the Public
Utilities Act and are subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the
Illinois   Commerce   Commission  or  to  the  activities  of
telephone mutual concerns referred to in  Section  13-202  of
the  Public  Utilities  Act  to  the  extent those activities
relate to the provision and maintenance of telephone  service
to owners and customers;
    (5)  (4)  the  activities (including, but not limited to,
the making of or participating in joint underwriting or joint
reinsurance arrangement) of  any  insurer,  insurance  agent,
insurance  broker,  independent  insurance adjuster or rating
organization to the extent that such activities  are  subject
to  regulation  by  the  Director  of Insurance of this State
under, or are permitted or are authorized by,  the  Insurance
Code or any other law of this State;
    (6)  (5)  the  religious and charitable activities of any
not-for-profit corporation, trust or organization established
exclusively for religious or charitable purposes, or for both
purposes;
    (7) (6)  the activities of any not-for-profit corporation
organized  to  provide  telephone  service  on  a  mutual  or
co-operative  basis  or  electrification  on  a  co-operative
basis, to the extent such activities relate to the  marketing
and distribution of telephone or electrical service to owners
and customers;
    (8)  (7)  the activities engaged in by securities dealers
who are (i) licensed by the State of Illinois or (ii) members
of the National Association of Securities  Dealers  or  (iii)
members  of  any National Securities Exchange registered with
the Securities and Exchange Commission under  the  Securities
Exchange  Act  of  1934,  as  amended, in the course of their
business  of  offering,  selling,  buying  and  selling,   or
otherwise  trading  in  or underwriting securities, as agent,
broker,  or  principal,  and  activities  of   any   National
Securities    Exchange    so    registered,   including   the
establishment of commission rates and schedules of charges;
    (9) (8)  the activities of any board of trade  designated
as a "contract market" by the Secretary of Agriculture of the
United States pursuant to Section 5 of the Commodity Exchange
Act, as amended;
    (10)  (9)  the  activities  of  any  motor  carrier, rail
carrier, or common carrier by pipeline,  as  defined  in  the
Common   Carrier   by   Pipeline   The   Illinois  Commercial
Transportation Law of the Public Utilities Act  The  Illinois
Vehicle  Code, as amended, to the extent that such activities
are permitted or authorized by the  Act  or  are  subject  to
regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission;
    (11)  (10)  the  activities of any state or national bank
to  the  extent  that  such  activities  are   regulated   or
supervised  by  officers  of  the state or federal government
under the banking laws of this State or the United States;
    (12) (11)  the activities of any state or federal savings
and loan association to the extent that such  activities  are
regulated  or  supervised by officers of the state or federal
government under the savings and loan laws of this  State  or
the United States;
    (13) (12)  the activities of any bona fide not-for-profit
association, society or board, of attorneys, practitioners of
medicine,  architects,  engineers,  land  surveyors  or  real
estate  brokers  licensed  and  regulated by an agency of the
State of Illinois, in  recommending  schedules  of  suggested
fees,  rates  or  commissions for use solely as guidelines in
determining charges for professional and technical services;
    (14) (13)  Conduct involving  trade  or  commerce  (other
than  import  trade  or import commerce) with foreign nations
unless:
    (a)  such  conduct  has  a   direct,   substantial,   and
reasonably foreseeable effect:
    (i)  on  trade or commerce which is not trade or commerce
with foreign nations, or on import trade or  import  commerce
with foreign nations; or
    (ii)  on  export  trade  or  export commerce with foreign
nations of a person engaged in such trade or commerce in  the
United States; and
    (b)  such   effect  gives  rise  to  a  claim  under  the
provisions of this Act, other than this subsection (14) (13).
    (c)  If this Act applies to conduct referred to  in  this
subsection  (14)  (13)  only  because  of  the  provisions of
paragraph (a)(ii), then this Act shall apply to such  conduct
only for injury to export business in the United States which
affects this State; or
    (15)  (14)  the  activities of a unit of local government
or school district  and  the  activities  of  the  employees,
agents  and  officers of a unit of local government or school
district.
(Source: P.A. 85-553.)

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.

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