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S. B. No. 162 As IntroducedAs Introduced
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Gibbs, Gillmor, Grendell, Patton, Seitz, Stewart, Wagoner
A BILL
To amend sections 324.01, 324.03, 1332.24, 2317.02,
2917.21, 4901.01, 4901.02, 4901.11, 4901.12,
4901.15, 4901.22, 4903.01, 4903.20, 4903.22,
4903.23, 4905.01, 4905.02, 4905.03, 4905.04,
4905.09,
4905.12, 4905.14, 4905.16, 4905.18,
4905.20,
4905.21, 4905.26, 4905.30, 4905.40,
4905.402, 4905.41, 4905.42, 4905.45, 4905.46,
4905.47,
4905.51, 4905.52, 4905.58, 4905.59,
4905.61,
4905.63, 4905.71, 4905.73, 4905.84,
4905.99,
4907.01, 4907.14, 4907.30, 4909.01,
4909.02,
4909.03, 4909.17, 4911.01, 4921.01,
4923.01,
4927.01, 4927.02, 4929.02, 4931.02,
4931.03,
4931.04, 4931.11, 4931.99, 4933.14,
4933.18,
4933.19, 4939.01, 5515.01, 5733.57,
6101.17, and
6115.21,
to amend sections 4931.11
(4931.05) and
4931.35
(4931.06) for the purpose
of adopting
new section
numbers as shown in
parentheses, to
enact new
sections 4927.03 and
4927.04 and
sections 4927.05,
4927.06, 4927.07,
4927.08,
4927.09, 4927.10,
4927.11, 4927.12,
4927.13,
4927.14, 4927.15,
4927.16, 4927.17,
4927.18, and
4931.01, and to repeal sections
4905.041,
4905.23, 4905.231, 4905.24,
4905.241,
4905.242,
4905.243, 4905.244, 4905.25,
4905.381,
4905.49,
4905.491, 4905.50, 4927.03,
4927.04,
4931.06,
4931.07, 4931.12, 4931.13,
4931.14,
4931.15,
4931.16, 4931.17, 4931.18,
4931.19,
4931.21,
4931.22, 4931.25, 4931.26,
4931.27,
4931.28,
4931.29, 4931.30, and 4931.31
of the
Revised
Code to revise state regulation of
telephone
companies, remove telegraph companies
from
utility regulation, and revise law
concerning
confidential information of public
utilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 324.01, 324.03, 1332.24, 2317.02,
2917.21, 4901.01, 4901.02, 4901.11, 4901.12, 4901.15, 4901.22,
4903.01, 4903.20, 4903.22, 4903.23, 4905.01, 4905.02, 4905.03,
4905.04,
4905.09, 4905.12, 4905.14, 4905.16, 4905.18, 4905.20,
4905.21,
4905.26, 4905.30, 4905.40, 4905.402, 4905.41, 4905.42,
4905.45, 4905.46, 4905.47, 4905.51, 4905.52, 4905.58,
4905.59,
4905.61, 4905.63, 4905.71, 4905.73, 4905.84, 4905.99,
4907.01,
4907.14, 4907.30, 4909.01, 4909.02, 4909.03, 4909.17, 4911.01,
4921.01,
4923.01, 4927.01, 4927.02, 4929.02, 4931.02,
4931.03,
4931.04,
4931.11, 4931.99, 4933.14, 4933.18, 4933.19,
4939.01,
5515.01,
5733.57, 6101.17, and 6115.21 be amended, that sections
4931.11
(4931.05) and 4931.35 (4931.06) be amended for the
purpose
of
adopting new section numbers as shown in parentheses,
and that
new sections 4927.03 and 4927.04 and sections 4927.05,
4927.06,
4927.07, 4927.08, 4927.09, 4927.10, 4927.11, 4927.12,
4927.13,
4927.14, 4927.15, 4927.16, 4927.17, 4927.18, and 4931.01
of the
Revised
Code be enacted to read as
follows:
Sec. 324.01. As used in sections 324.01 to 324.12 of the
Revised Code:
(1) An electric company, gas company, heating company,
cooling company, telephone company, telegraph company, or
communications company supplying a utility service;
(2) Any municipal corporation, county, or other political
subdivision, instrumentality, or agency of the state supplying a
utility service;
(3) Any individual, firm, partnership, association, trust,
joint-stock company, joint venture, corporation, nonprofit
corporation, cooperative, receiver, assignee, trustee in
bankruptcy, estate, trustee, or organization of any kind which
owns or operates any office building, storeroom building,
shopping
center, apartment building, apartment hotel,
condominium, or other
multiple business or dwelling unit, and
which sells, furnishes, or
delivers a utility service to the
tenants or occupants thereof,
provided the charge for such
utility service is separately stated.
(B) Any individual, firm, partnership, association, trust,
joint-stock company, joint venture, corporation, municipal
corporation, county, or other political subdivision,
instrumentality, or agency of the state, nonprofit corporation,
cooperative, receiver, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, estate,
trustee, or organization of any kind:
(1) Is an electric company when supplying electricity for
light, heat, cooling, or power purposes to customers within a
county levying a utilities service tax;
(2) Is a gas company when supplying artificial gas or
natural
gas for light, heat, cooling, or power purposes to
customers
within a county levying a utilities service tax;
(3) Is a heating company when supplying water, steam, or
air
through pipes or tubing for heating purposes to customers
within a
county levying a utilities service tax;
(4) Is a cooling company when supplying water, steam, or
air
through pipes or tubing for cooling purposes to customers
within a
county levying a utilities service tax;
(5) Is a telephone company when transmitting telephonic
messages to, from, or within a county levying a utilities service
tax;
(6) Is a telegraph company when transmitting telegraphic
messages to, from, or within a county levying a utilities service
tax;
(7) Is a communications company when supplying the
services
described in section 4931.11 4931.05 of the Revised Code, other
than transmitting telephonic or telegraphic messages, to, from,
or
within a county levying a utilities service tax.
(C) "Utility service" means the supplying of water, steam,
or
air through pipes or tubing for heating or cooling purposes to
customers within the county, the supplying of electricity,
artificial gas, or natural gas to customers within the county,
and
the transmission of telephonic or telegraphic messages or the
supplying of any of the services described in section 4931.11
4931.05 of
the Revised Code when the transmission or supplying
originates
from and is charged to or is received by and charged to
a
customer within the county.
(D) "Charge for utility service" means the amount charged
to
the customer for a utility service without deduction for any
discount for early payment but after deducting the amount of any
federal excise tax on such utility service, and excluding the
amount paid for the purchase of appliances or other merchandise,
and the amount paid for the installation of pipes, meters, poles,
apparatus, instruments, switchboards, and other facilities by the
utility for the purpose of rendering utility service to the
customer if the charge therefor is separately stated by the
utility in its bill to the customer and is not included in the
basic rates charged to customers of the utility.
(E) "Customer" means any individual, firm, partnership,
association, trust, joint-stock company, joint venture,
corporation, nonprofit corporation, cooperative, receiver,
assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, estate, trustee, or organization
of any kind receiving utility service from a utility, but does
not
include the United States, the state, any political
subdivision of
the state, or any agency or instrumentality of any
of them.
(F) "Business" has the same meaning as in division (E) of
section 5701.08 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 324.03. The utilities service tax shall not apply to
the following:
(A) The first five dollars per month of any charge for
utility service for
each utility service rendered by a utility to
a customer;
(B) The supplying of a utility service to a customer for
resale; provided,
that this division shall not include the
supplying of a utility service to a
utility as defined in division
(A)(3) of section 324.01 of the Revised Code if
the utility
receiving the service when supplying the service to its customers
does not separately state the charge therefor;
(C) The supplying of a utility service through a
coin-operated device;
(D) Telephone service, telegraph service, and services
described in section
4931.11 4931.05 of the Revised Code, to or
from a point outside the state for which a
separate charge is
made;
(E) The supplying of a utility service not within the taxing
power of the
county under the constitution of the United States or
the constitution of this
state;
(F) The supplying of a utility service to a person engaged in
business, for
use or consumption in the production of tangible
personal property.
For the purpose of the proper administration of the utilities
service tax and
to prevent the evasion of the tax, it is presumed
that any supplying of
utility service is subject to the tax until
the contrary is shown.
Sec. 1332.24. (A)(1) In accordance with section 1332.25 of
the Revised Code, the director of commerce may issue to any
person, or renew, a video service authorization, which
authorization confers on the person the authority, subject to
sections 1332.21 to 1332.34 of the Revised Code, to provide video
service in its video service area; construct and operate a video
service network in, along, across, or on public rights-of-way for
the provision of video service; and, when necessary to provide
that service, exercise the power of a telegraph telephone company
under
section 4931.04 of the Revised Code. The term of a video
service
authorization or authorization renewal shall be ten
years.
(2) For the purposes of the "Cable Communications Policy Act
of 1984," Pub. L. No. 98-549, 98 Stat. 2779, 47 U.S.C. 521 et
seq., a video service authorization shall constitute a franchise
under that law, and the director shall be the sole franchising
authority under that law for video service authorizations in this
state.
(3) The director may impose upon and collect an annual
assessment on video service providers. All
money collected under
division (A)(3) of this section shall be
deposited to the credit
of the division of administration fund
created under section
121.08 of the Revised Code. The total amount assessed in a fiscal
year shall not exceed the lesser of four hundred fifty thousand
dollars or, as shall be determined annually by the director, the
department's actual, current fiscal year administrative costs in
carrying out its duties under sections 1332.21 to 1332.34 of the
Revised Code. The director shall allocate
that
total amount
proportionately among the video service providers to
be
assessed, using a formula based on subscriber counts as of the
thirty-first day of December of the preceding calendar year, which
counts shall be submitted to the director not later than the
thirty-first day of January of each year, via a notarized
statement
signed by an
authorized officer. Any information
submitted by a
video service
provider to the director for the
purpose of
determining
subscriber counts shall be considered
trade secret
information,
shall not be disclosed except by court
order, and
shall not
constitute a public record under section
149.43 of the
Revised
Code. On or about the
first
day of June
of each year, the
director
shall send to
each
video service
provider to be
assessed written
notice of
its
proportional
amount of the total
assessment. The
provider
shall
pay that
amount on a quarterly basis not later than
forty-five days after
the end of each calendar quarter. After the initial assessment,
the director annually shall reconcile the amount collected with
the total, current amount assessed pursuant to this section, and
either shall charge each assessed video service provider its
respective proportion of any insufficiency or proportionately
credit the provider's next assessment for any excess collected.
(B)(1) The director may investigate alleged violations of or
failures to comply with division (A) of section 1332.23, division
(A) of this section, division
(C) of section 1332.25, division
(C) or (D) of section 1332.26,
division (A), (B), or (C) of
section 1332.27, division (A) of
section 1332.28, division (A) or
(B) of section 1332.29, or
section 1332.30 or 1332.31 of the
Revised Code, or complaints
concerning any such violation or
failure. Except as provided in
this section, the director has no
authority to regulate video
service in this state, including, but
not limited to, the rates,
terms, or conditions of that service.
(2) In conducting an investigation under division (B)(1) of
this section, the director, by subpoena, may compel witnesses to
testify in relation to any matter over which the director has
jurisdiction and may require the production of any book, record,
or other document pertaining to that matter. If a person fails to
file any statement or report, obey any subpoena, give testimony,
produce any book, record, or other document as required by a
subpoena, or permit photocopying of any book, record, or other
document subpoenaed, the court of common pleas of any county in
this state, upon application made to it by the director, shall
compel obedience by attachment proceedings for contempt, as in the
case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued from
the court or a refusal to testify.
(C)(1) If the director finds that a person has violated or
failed to comply with division (A) of section 1332.23, division
(A) of this section, division
(C) of section 1332.25, division
(C) or (D) of section 1332.26,
division (A), (B), or (C) of
section 1332.27, division (A) of
section 1332.28, division (A) or
(B) of section 1332.29, or
section 1332.30 or 1332.31 of the
Revised Code, and the person has
failed to cure the violation or
failure after reasonable, written
notice and reasonable time to
cure, the director may do any of the
following:
(a) Apply to the court of common pleas of any county in this
state for an order enjoining the activity or requiring compliance.
Such an action shall be commenced not later than three years after
the date the alleged violation or failure occurred or was
reasonably discovered. Upon a showing by the director that the
person has engaged in a violation or failure to comply, the court
shall grant an injunction, restraining order, or other appropriate
relief.
(b) Enter into a written assurance of voluntary compliance
with the person;
(c) Pursuant to an adjudication under Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code, assess a civil penalty in an amount determined by
the director, including for any failure to comply with an
assurance of voluntary compliance under division (C)(1)(b) of this
section. The amount shall be not more than one thousand dollars
for each day of violation or noncompliance, not to exceed a total
of ten thousand dollars, counting all subscriber impacts as a
single violation or act of noncompliance. In determining whether a
civil penalty is appropriate under division (C)(1)(c) of this
section, the director shall consider all of the following factors:
(i) The seriousness of the noncompliance;
(ii) The good faith efforts of the person to comply;
(iii) The person's history of noncompliance;
(iv) The financial resources of the person;
(v) Any other matter that justice requires.
Civil penalties collected pursuant to division (C)(1)(c) of
this section shall be deposited to the credit of the video service
enforcement fund in the state treasury, which is hereby created,
to be used by the department of commerce in carrying out its
duties under this section.
(2) Pursuant to an adjudication under Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code, the director may revoke, in whole or in part, the
video service authorization of any person that has repeatedly and
knowingly violated or failed to comply with division (A) of
section 1332.23, division (A) of this section, division (C) of
section 1332.25, division (C) or
(D) of section 1332.26, division
(A), (B), or (C) of section
1332.27, division (A) of section
1332.28, division (A) or (B) of
section 1332.29, or section
1332.30 or 1332.31 of the Revised Code
and that has failed to
cure the violations or noncompliances after
reasonable written
notice and reasonable time to cure. Such person
acts knowingly,
regardless of the person's purpose, when the
person is aware that
the person's conduct will probably cause a
certain result or will
probably be of a certain nature. A person
has knowledge of
circumstances when the person is aware that such
circumstances
probably exist.
(3) The court shall conduct a de novo review in any appeal
from an adjudication under division (C)(1)(c) or (C)(2) of this
section.
(D) The public utilities commission has no authority over a
video service provider in its offering of video service or a cable
operator in its offering of cable or video service, or over any
person in its offering of video service pursuant to a competitive
video service agreement.
Sec. 2317.02. The following persons shall not testify in
certain respects:
(A)(1) An attorney, concerning a communication made to the
attorney by a client in that relation or the
attorney's advice to
a client, except
that the attorney may testify by express consent
of the client
or, if the client is deceased, by the express
consent of the
surviving spouse or the executor or administrator
of the estate
of the deceased client. However, if the
client
voluntarily
testifies or is deemed by section 2151.421 of
the
Revised Code to
have waived any testimonial privilege under
this
division, the
attorney may be compelled to testify on the
same
subject.
The testimonial privilege established under this division
does not apply concerning a communication between a client who has
since died and the deceased client's attorney if the communication
is relevant to a dispute between parties who claim through that
deceased client, regardless of whether the claims are by testate
or intestate succession or by inter vivos transaction, and the
dispute addresses the competency of the deceased client when the
deceased client executed a document that is the basis of the
dispute or whether the deceased client was a victim of fraud,
undue influence, or duress when the deceased client executed a
document that is the basis of the dispute.
(2) An attorney, concerning a communication made to the
attorney by a client in that relationship or the attorney's advice
to a client, except that if the client is an insurance company,
the attorney may be compelled to testify, subject to an in camera
inspection by a court, about communications made by the client to
the attorney or by the attorney to the client that are related to
the attorney's aiding or furthering an ongoing or future
commission of bad faith by the client, if the party seeking
disclosure of the communications has made a prima facie showing of
bad faith, fraud, or criminal misconduct by the client.
(B)(1) A physician or a dentist concerning a communication
made to the physician or dentist by a patient in that relation or
the
physician's or dentist's advice to a
patient, except as
otherwise provided in this division, division (B)(2), and
division
(B)(3) of this section, and except that, if the patient
is deemed
by section 2151.421 of the Revised Code to have waived
any
testimonial privilege under this division, the physician may
be
compelled to testify on the same subject.
The testimonial privilege established under this division
does not
apply, and a physician or dentist may testify or may be
compelled
to testify, in any of the following circumstances:
(a) In any civil action, in accordance with the discovery
provisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure in connection with a
civil action, or in connection with a claim under Chapter 4123.
of
the Revised Code, under any of the following circumstances:
(i) If the patient or the guardian or other legal
representative of the patient gives express consent;
(ii) If the patient is deceased, the spouse of the patient
or
the executor or administrator of the patient's estate
gives
express consent;
(iii) If a medical claim, dental claim, chiropractic
claim,
or optometric claim, as defined in section 2305.113 of the
Revised
Code, an action for wrongful death, any other type of
civil
action, or a claim under Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code
is
filed by the patient, the personal representative of the
estate of
the patient if deceased, or the patient's guardian
or other legal
representative.
(b) In any civil action concerning court-ordered treatment
or
services
received by a patient, if the court-ordered treatment
or
services were ordered
as part of a case plan journalized under
section 2151.412 of the Revised Code or the
court-ordered
treatment or services are necessary or relevant to dependency,
neglect, or abuse or temporary or permanent custody proceedings
under
Chapter 2151. of the Revised Code.
(c) In any criminal action concerning any test or the
results
of any test that determines the presence or concentration
of
alcohol,
a drug of abuse, a combination of them, a controlled
substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the
patient's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, urine, or
other bodily substance at any
time
relevant to the criminal
offense in question.
(d) In any criminal action against a physician
or dentist.
In
such an action, the testimonial privilege
established under
this
division does not prohibit the admission
into evidence, in
accordance with the
Rules of
Evidence, of a patient's
medical or
dental records or other communications between a
patient and the
physician or dentist that are related to the
action and obtained
by subpoena, search warrant, or other lawful
means. A court that
permits or compels a physician or dentist
to testify in such an
action or permits the introduction into
evidence of patient
records or other communications in such an
action shall require
that appropriate measures be taken to
ensure that the
confidentiality of any patient named or
otherwise identified in
the records is maintained. Measures to
ensure confidentiality
that
may be taken by the court include
sealing its records or
deleting
specific information from its
records.
(e)(i) If the communication was between a patient who has
since died and the deceased patient's physician or dentist, the
communication is relevant to a dispute between parties who claim
through that deceased patient, regardless of whether the claims
are by testate or intestate succession or by inter vivos
transaction, and the dispute addresses the competency of the
deceased patient when the deceased patient executed a document
that is the basis of the dispute or whether the deceased patient
was a victim of fraud, undue influence, or duress when the
deceased patient executed a document that is the basis of the
dispute.
(ii) If neither the spouse of a patient nor the executor or
administrator of that patient's estate gives consent under
division (B)(1)(a)(ii) of this section, testimony or the
disclosure of the patient's medical records by a physician,
dentist, or other health care provider under division (B)(1)(e)(i)
of this section is a permitted use or disclosure of protected
health information, as defined in 45 C.F.R. 160.103, and an
authorization or opportunity to be heard shall not be required.
(iii) Division (B)(1)(e)(i) of this section does not require
a mental health professional to disclose psychotherapy notes, as
defined in 45 C.F.R. 164.501.
(iv) An interested person who objects to testimony or
disclosure under division (B)(1)(e)(i) of this section may seek a
protective order pursuant to Civil Rule 26.
(v) A person to whom protected health information is
disclosed under division (B)(1)(e)(i) of this section shall not
use or disclose the protected health information for any purpose
other than the litigation or proceeding for which the information
was requested and shall return the protected health information to
the covered entity or destroy the protected health information,
including all copies made, at the conclusion of the litigation or
proceeding.
(2)(a) If any law enforcement officer submits a written
statement to a health
care provider that states that an official
criminal investigation has begun
regarding a specified person or
that a criminal action or proceeding has been
commenced against a
specified person, that requests the provider to supply to
the
officer copies of any records the provider possesses that pertain
to any
test or the results of any test administered to the
specified person to
determine the presence or concentration of
alcohol, a drug of abuse, a combination of them, a controlled
substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the
person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine at
any time
relevant to the
criminal offense in question, and that
conforms to section
2317.022 of the Revised Code, the provider,
except to the extent
specifically
prohibited by any law of this
state or of the United
States, shall supply to
the officer a copy
of any of the requested
records the provider possesses. If
the
health care provider does
not possess any of the requested
records, the
provider shall give
the officer a written statement
that indicates that the
provider
does not possess any of the
requested records.
(b) If a health care provider possesses any records of the
type described in
division (B)(2)(a) of this section regarding the
person in question at any
time relevant to the criminal offense in
question, in lieu of personally
testifying as to the results of
the test in question, the custodian of the
records may submit a
certified copy of the records, and, upon its submission,
the
certified copy is qualified as authentic evidence and may be
admitted as
evidence in accordance with the Rules of Evidence.
Division (A) of section
2317.422 of the Revised Code does not
apply to any certified copy of records
submitted in accordance
with this division. Nothing in this division shall be
construed
to
limit the right of any party to call as a witness the person
who
administered the test to which the records pertain, the person
under whose
supervision the test was administered, the custodian
of the records, the
person who made the records, or the person
under whose supervision the records
were made.
(3)(a) If the testimonial privilege described in division
(B)(1) of this section does not apply as provided in division
(B)(1)(a)(iii) of this section, a physician or dentist may be
compelled to testify or to submit to discovery under the Rules of
Civil Procedure only as to a communication made to the physician
or dentist by the patient in question in that relation, or the
physician's or
dentist's advice to the
patient in question, that
related causally or historically to
physical or mental injuries
that are relevant to issues in the
medical claim, dental claim,
chiropractic claim, or optometric
claim, action for wrongful
death, other civil action, or claim
under Chapter 4123. of the
Revised Code.
(b) If the testimonial privilege described in division
(B)(1)
of this section
does not apply to a physician or dentist as
provided in division
(B)(1)(c) of
this section, the physician or
dentist, in lieu of personally testifying as to
the results of the
test in question, may submit a certified copy of those
results,
and, upon its submission, the certified copy is qualified as
authentic
evidence and may be admitted as evidence in accordance
with the Rules of
Evidence. Division (A) of section 2317.422 of
the Revised Code does not apply
to any certified copy of results
submitted in accordance with this division.
Nothing in this
division shall be construed to limit the right of any party to
call as a witness the person who administered the test in
question, the person
under whose supervision the test was
administered, the custodian of the
results
of the test, the person
who compiled the results, or the person under whose
supervision
the results were compiled.
(4) The testimonial privilege
described in division (B)(1)
of
this section is not waived when a
communication is made by a
physician to a pharmacist or when there
is communication between a
patient and a pharmacist in furtherance
of the physician-patient
relation.
(5)(a) As used in divisions (B)(1) to (4) of this
section,
"communication" means acquiring, recording, or transmitting any
information, in any manner, concerning any facts, opinions, or
statements necessary to enable a physician or dentist to
diagnose,
treat, prescribe, or act for a patient. A
"communication" may
include, but is not limited to, any medical
or dental, office, or
hospital communication such as a record,
chart, letter,
memorandum, laboratory test and results, x-ray,
photograph,
financial statement, diagnosis, or prognosis.
(b) As used in division (B)(2) of this section,
"health care
provider"
means a hospital, ambulatory care facility, long-term
care facility, pharmacy, emergency facility, or health care
practitioner.
(c) As used in division (B)(5)(b) of this section:
(i)
"Ambulatory care facility" means a facility that
provides
medical, diagnostic, or surgical treatment to patients
who do not
require hospitalization, including a dialysis center,
ambulatory
surgical facility, cardiac catheterization facility,
diagnostic
imaging center, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy
center, home
health agency, inpatient hospice, birthing center,
radiation
therapy center, emergency facility, and an urgent care
center.
"Ambulatory health care facility" does not include the
private
office of a physician or dentist, whether the office is
for an
individual or group practice.
(ii)
"Emergency facility" means a hospital emergency
department or any other facility that provides emergency medical
services.
(iii)
"Health care practitioner" has the same meaning as in
section 4769.01 of the Revised Code.
(iv)
"Hospital" has the same meaning as in section 3727.01
of
the Revised Code.
(v)
"Long-term care facility" means a nursing home,
residential care facility, or home
for the aging,
as those terms
are defined in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code; an adult care
facility, as defined in section 3722.01
of the Revised Code; a
nursing facility or intermediate care facility for the mentally
retarded, as those terms are defined in section 5111.20 of the
Revised Code; a facility or portion of a facility certified as a
skilled nursing facility under Title XVIII of the
"Social
Security
Act," 49 Stat. 286 (1965), 42 U.S.C.A. 1395, as amended.
(vi)
"Pharmacy" has the same meaning as in section 4729.01
of
the Revised Code.
(d) As used in divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section,
"drug of abuse" has the same meaning as in section 4506.01 of the
Revised Code.
(6) Divisions (B)(1), (2), (3), (4),
and (5) of this section
apply
to doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathic medicine,
doctors
of podiatry, and dentists.
(7) Nothing in divisions (B)(1) to (6)
of this section
affects, or shall be construed as affecting, the immunity from
civil liability conferred by section 307.628 of the Revised Code
or the immunity from civil liability conferred by section 2305.33
of the
Revised Code
upon physicians who report an employee's use
of a
drug of abuse,
or a condition of an employee other than one
involving the use of
a drug of abuse, to the employer of the
employee in accordance
with division (B) of that section. As used
in division
(B)(7) of this section,
"employee,"
"employer," and
"physician" have the same meanings as
in section 2305.33 of the
Revised Code.
(C)(1) A cleric, when the cleric remains accountable to
the
authority
of that cleric's church, denomination, or sect,
concerning a
confession
made, or any information confidentially
communicated,
to the
cleric for
a
religious counseling purpose in
the
cleric's professional character. The cleric
may testify
by
express consent of the person making the communication, except
when the disclosure of the information is in violation of a sacred
trust and except that, if the person voluntarily testifies or is
deemed by division (A)(4)(c) of section 2151.421 of the Revised
Code to have waived any testimonial privilege under this division,
the cleric may be compelled to testify on the same subject except
when disclosure of the information is in violation of a sacred
trust.
(2) As used in division (C) of this section:
(a) "Cleric" means a member of the clergy, rabbi, priest,
Christian Science practitioner, or regularly ordained, accredited,
or licensed minister of an established and legally cognizable
church, denomination, or sect.
(b) "Sacred trust" means a confession or confidential
communication made to a cleric in the cleric's ecclesiastical
capacity in the course of discipline enjoined by the church to
which the cleric belongs, including, but not limited to, the
Catholic Church, if both of the following apply:
(i) The confession or confidential communication was made
directly to the cleric.
(ii) The confession or confidential communication was made in
the manner and context that places the cleric specifically and
strictly under a level of confidentiality that is considered
inviolate by canon law or church doctrine.
(D) Husband or wife, concerning any communication made by
one
to the other, or an act done by either in the presence of the
other, during coverture, unless the communication was made, or
act
done, in the known presence or hearing of a third person
competent
to be a witness; and such rule is the same if the
marital relation
has ceased to exist;
(E) A person who assigns a claim or interest, concerning
any
matter in respect to which the person would not, if a
party, be
permitted to testify;
(F) A person who, if a party, would be restricted
under
section 2317.03 of the Revised Code, when the
property or thing is
sold or transferred by an executor,
administrator, guardian,
trustee, heir, devisee, or legatee,
shall be restricted in the
same manner in any action or
proceeding concerning the property or
thing.
(G)(1) A school guidance counselor who holds a valid
educator
license from the state board of education as
provided for
in
section 3319.22 of the Revised Code, a person
licensed under
Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code
as a professional clinical
counselor, professional counselor,
social worker, independent
social worker, marriage and family therapist or independent
marriage and family therapist, or registered under Chapter 4757.
of the Revised
Code as a
social work assistant concerning a
confidential
communication received from a
client in that relation
or
the
person's advice to a client unless any of
the following
applies:
(a) The communication or advice indicates clear and
present
danger to the client or other persons. For the purposes
of this
division, cases in which there are indications of present
or past
child abuse or neglect of the client constitute a clear
and
present danger.
(b) The client gives express consent to the testimony.
(c) If the client is deceased, the surviving spouse or the
executor or administrator of the estate of the deceased client
gives express consent.
(d) The client voluntarily testifies, in which case the
school guidance counselor or person licensed or registered under
Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code may
be compelled to testify on
the same subject.
(e) The court in camera determines that the information
communicated by the client is not germane to the counselor-client,
marriage and family therapist-client,
or social worker-client
relationship.
(f) A court, in an action brought against a school, its
administration, or any of its personnel by the client, rules
after
an in-camera inspection that the testimony of the school
guidance
counselor is relevant to that action.
(g) The testimony is sought in a civil action and concerns
court-ordered treatment or services received by a patient as part
of a case
plan journalized under section 2151.412 of the Revised
Code or the court-ordered treatment or
services are necessary or
relevant to dependency, neglect, or abuse or
temporary or
permanent custody proceedings under
Chapter 2151.
of the
Revised
Code.
(2) Nothing in division (G)(1) of this section shall
relieve
a
school guidance counselor or a person licensed or registered
under Chapter
4757. of the Revised Code
from the requirement to
report information concerning
child abuse or neglect under section
2151.421 of the Revised Code.
(H) A mediator acting under a mediation order issued under
division (A) of section 3109.052 of the Revised Code or otherwise
issued in any proceeding for divorce, dissolution, legal
separation, annulment, or the allocation of parental rights and
responsibilities for the care of children, in any action or
proceeding, other than a criminal, delinquency, child abuse,
child
neglect, or dependent child action or proceeding, that is
brought
by or against either parent who takes part in mediation
in
accordance with the order and that pertains to the mediation
process, to any information discussed or presented in the
mediation process, to the allocation of parental rights and
responsibilities for the care of the parents' children, or to the
awarding of parenting time rights in relation to their children;
(I) A communications assistant, acting within the scope of
the communication assistant's authority, when providing
telecommunications relay service
pursuant to section 4931.35
4931.06 of
the Revised Code or Title II of
the
"Communications Act
of 1934,"
104 Stat. 366 (1990), 47 U.S.C.
225, concerning a
communication
made through a telecommunications
relay service.
Nothing in this
section shall limit the obligation of a
communications assistant
to divulge information or testify when
mandated by
federal law or
regulation or pursuant to subpoena in a
criminal proceeding.
Nothing in this section shall limit any immunity or
privilege
granted under federal law or regulation.
(J)(1) A chiropractor in a civil proceeding concerning a
communication made to the chiropractor by a patient in that
relation or the
chiropractor's advice to a patient, except as
otherwise provided in this
division. The testimonial privilege
established under this division does not
apply, and a chiropractor
may testify or may be compelled
to testify, in any civil action,
in accordance with the discovery
provisions of the Rules of Civil
Procedure in
connection with a
civil action, or in connection with
a claim under Chapter 4123.
of the Revised Code, under any of the
following
circumstances:
(a) If the patient or the guardian or other legal
representative of the patient gives express consent.
(b) If the patient is deceased, the spouse of the patient
or
the executor or administrator of the patient's estate
gives
express consent.
(c) If a medical claim, dental claim, chiropractic
claim, or
optometric claim, as defined in section 2305.113 of the
Revised
Code, an action for wrongful death, any other type
of
civil
action, or a claim under Chapter 4123. of the Revised
Code
is
filed by the patient, the personal representative of the
estate of
the patient if deceased, or the patient's guardian
or other legal
representative.
(2) If the testimonial privilege described in division
(J)(1)
of this section does not apply as provided in division
(J)(1)(c)
of this section, a chiropractor may be
compelled to
testify or to
submit to discovery under the Rules of
Civil
Procedure only as to
a communication made to the
chiropractor by
the patient in
question in that relation, or the
chiropractor's
advice to the
patient in question, that related causally or
historically to
physical or mental injuries that are relevant to
issues in the
medical claim, dental claim, chiropractic claim, or
optometric
claim, action for wrongful death, other civil action,
or claim
under Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code.
(3) The testimonial privilege established under this
division
does not
apply, and a chiropractor may testify or be
compelled to
testify, in any
criminal action or administrative
proceeding.
(4) As used in this division,
"communication" means
acquiring,
recording, or transmitting any information, in any
manner, concerning
any facts, opinions, or statements necessary to
enable a chiropractor to
diagnose, treat, or act for a
patient.
A
communication may
include, but is not limited to, any
chiropractic, office, or
hospital communication such as a record,
chart, letter,
memorandum, laboratory test and results, x-ray,
photograph,
financial statement, diagnosis, or prognosis.
(K)(1) Except as provided under division (K)(2) of this
section, a critical incident stress management team member
concerning a communication received from an individual who
receives crisis response services from the team member, or the
team member's advice to the individual, during a debriefing
session.
(2) The testimonial privilege established under division
(K)(1) of this section does not apply if any of the following are
true:
(a) The communication or advice indicates clear and present
danger to the individual who receives crisis response services or
to other persons. For purposes of this division, cases in which
there are indications of present or past child abuse or neglect of
the individual constitute a clear and present danger.
(b) The individual who received crisis response services
gives express consent to the testimony.
(c) If the individual who received crisis response services
is deceased, the surviving spouse or the executor or administrator
of the estate of the deceased individual gives express consent.
(d) The individual who received crisis response services
voluntarily testifies, in which case the team member may be
compelled to testify on the same subject.
(e) The court in camera determines that the information
communicated by the individual who received crisis response
services is not germane to the relationship between the individual
and the team member.
(f) The communication or advice pertains or is related to any
criminal act.
(3) As used in division (K) of this section:
(a) "Crisis response services" means consultation, risk
assessment, referral, and on-site crisis intervention services
provided by a critical incident stress management team to
individuals affected by crisis or disaster.
(b) "Critical incident stress management team member" or
"team member" means an individual specially trained to provide
crisis response services as a member of an organized community or
local crisis response team that holds membership in the Ohio
critical incident stress management network.
(c) "Debriefing session" means a session at which crisis
response services are rendered by a critical incident stress
management team member during or after a crisis or disaster.
(L)(1) Subject to division (L)(2) of this section and except
as provided in division (L)(3) of this section, an employee
assistance professional, concerning a communication made to the
employee assistance professional by a client in the employee
assistance professional's official capacity as an employee
assistance professional.
(2) Division (L)(1) of this section applies to an employee
assistance professional who meets either or both of the following
requirements:
(a) Is certified by the employee assistance certification
commission to engage in the employee assistance profession;
(b) Has education, training, and experience in all of the
following:
(i) Providing workplace-based services designed to address
employer and employee productivity issues;
(ii) Providing assistance to employees and employees'
dependents in identifying and finding the means to resolve
personal problems that affect the employees or the employees'
performance;
(iii) Identifying and resolving productivity problems
associated with an employee's concerns about any of the following
matters: health, marriage, family, finances, substance abuse or
other addiction, workplace, law, and emotional issues;
(iv) Selecting and evaluating available community resources;
(v) Making appropriate referrals;
(vi) Local and national employee assistance agreements;
(vii) Client confidentiality.
(3) Division (L)(1) of this section does not apply to any
of
the following:
(a) A criminal action or proceeding involving an offense
under sections 2903.01 to 2903.06 of the Revised Code if the
employee assistance professional's disclosure or testimony relates
directly to the facts or immediate circumstances of the offense;
(b) A communication made by a client to an employee
assistance professional that reveals the contemplation or
commission of a crime or serious, harmful act;
(c) A communication that is made by a client who is an
unemancipated minor or an adult adjudicated to be incompetent and
indicates that the client was the victim of a crime or abuse;
(d) A civil proceeding to determine an individual's mental
competency or a criminal action in which a plea of not guilty by
reason of insanity is entered;
(e) A civil or criminal malpractice action brought against
the employee assistance professional;
(f) When the employee assistance professional has the
express
consent of the client or, if the client is deceased or
disabled,
the client's legal representative;
(g) When the testimonial privilege otherwise provided by
division (L)(1) of this section is abrogated under law.
Sec. 2917.21. (A) No person shall knowingly make or cause
to
be made a telecommunication, or knowingly
permit a
telecommunication
to be made from a telecommunications device
under the
person's control, to
another, if the caller does any of
the following:
(1) Fails to identify the caller to the recipient of the
telecommunication and makes the telecommunication with purpose to
harass or abuse any person at the premises to
which the
telecommunication is made, whether or
not
actual communication
takes place
between the caller and a recipient;
(2) Describes, suggests, requests, or proposes that the
caller, the recipient of the
telecommunication, or any other
person
engage in sexual activity, and the recipient or another
person at the premises
to which the
telecommunication is made has
requested,
in a previous telecommunication or in the immediate
telecommunication, that the caller not make a
telecommunication to
the recipient or to the
premises to which the telecommunication is
made;
(3) During the telecommunication, violates
section 2903.21 of
the Revised Code;
(4) Knowingly states to the recipient of the
telecommunication that the
caller intends to cause damage to
or
destroy
public or
private property, and the recipient, any
member
of the recipient's family, or
any other person who resides at the
premises to which the
telecommunication is made owns, leases,
resides,
or works in, will
at the time of the destruction or
damaging be near or in, has the
responsibility of protecting, or
insures the property that will
be destroyed or damaged;
(5) Knowingly makes the telecommunication to the
recipient of
the telecommunication, to another person at the
premises to which
the telecommunication is made, or to
those premises, and the
recipient
or another person at those premises previously has told
the caller not to
make a
telecommunication to those premises or to
any
persons
at
those premises.
(B) No person shall make or cause to be made a
telecommunication, or
permit a
telecommunication to be
made from a
telecommunications device
under the person's control, with purpose
to abuse, threaten,
or harass another person.
(C)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of
telecommunications harassment.
(2) A violation of division (A)(1), (2), (3), or (5) or
(B)
of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree on a
first
offense and a
felony of the fifth degree on each subsequent
offense.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(3) of
this
section, a violation of division (A)(4) of this section is a
misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense and a felony of
the fifth
degree on each subsequent offense. If a violation of
division (A)(4)
of this section results
in economic harm of five
hundred dollars or more but less than five thousand
dollars,
telecommunications harassment is a felony of
the fifth degree. If
a violation
of division (A)(4) of this section results in economic
harm of five
thousand dollars or more but less than one hundred
thousand dollars,
telecommunications
harassment is a felony of the
fourth degree. If a violation of division
(A)(4) of this section
results in economic harm of one hundred
thousand dollars or more,
telecommunications
harassment is a felony of the third
degree.
(D) No cause of action may be asserted in any court of this
state against
any provider of a telecommunications service or
information service,
or against any officer, employee, or agent of
a
telecommunication service or information service, for any
injury, death, or loss to person or property that allegedly
arises
out of the provider's, officer's, employee's, or agent's
provision
of information, facilities, or assistance in
accordance with the
terms of a court order that is issued in
relation to the
investigation or prosecution of an alleged
violation of this
section or section 4931.31 of the
Revised Code. A provider of a
telecommunications service or information service, or an
officer,
employee, or agent of a telecommunications service or
information
service, is immune from any civil or criminal
liability for
injury, death, or loss to person or property that
allegedly arises
out of the provider's, officer's, employee's,
or agent's provision
of information, facilities, or assistance
in accordance with the
terms of a court order that is issued in
relation to the
investigation or prosecution of an alleged
violation of this
section or section 4931.31 of the
Revised Code.
(E) As used in this section:
(1) "Economic harm" means all direct,
incidental,
and
consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of
criminal
conduct. "Economic harm" includes, but is not limited to,
all of the
following:
(a) All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a
result of the
criminal conduct;
(b) The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation
paid to employees
for time those employees are prevented from
working as a result of the
criminal conduct;
(c) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a
business
is shut down as
a result of the criminal conduct;
(d) The loss of value to tangible or intangible property
that
was damaged as
a result of the criminal conduct.
(2) "Caller" means the person described in division
(A) of
this section who makes
or causes to be made a telecommunication or
who permits a
telecommunication to be made from a
telecommunications device
under that person's control.
(3) "Telecommunication" and "telecommunications device"
have
the same meanings as in section 2913.01 of the
Revised
Code.
(4) "Sexual activity" has the same meaning as in section
2907.01 of the Revised
Code.
(F) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from making
a
telecommunication to a debtor that is in
compliance with the "Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act," 91 Stat. 874 (1977), 15 U.S.C.
1692, as
amended, or the "Telephone Consumer Protection
Act," 105
Stat. 2395 (1991), 47 U.S.C. 227, as amended.
Sec. 4901.01. As used in sections 4901.01 to 4901.24,
inclusive, of the Revised Code:
(A) "Public utility" has the same meaning set forth as in
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Telegraph company," "telephone company,"
"electric
light company," "gas company," "natural gas company,"
"pipe-line
company," "water-works company," "sewage disposal
system
company," "heating or cooling company," "messenger
company,"
"street railway company," "suburban railroad company,"
"interurban
railroad company," and "motor-propelled vehicle" have
the meaning
set forth in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code.
(C) "Railroad" has the same meaning set forth as in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(D) "Motor transportation company" has the meaning set
forth
in sections 4905.03 and 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(E) "Trailer," "public highway," "fixed termini," "regular
route," and "irregular route" have the meaning set forth in
section 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(F) "Private motor carrier," "contract carrier by motor
vehicle," "motor vehicle," and "charter party trip" have the
meaning set forth in section 4923.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4901.02. (A) There is hereby created the public
utilities commission of Ohio, by which name the commission may
sue
and be sued. The commission shall consist of five public
utilities
commissioners appointed by the governor with the advice
and
consent of the senate. The governor shall designate one of
such
commissioners to be the chairman chairperson of the
commission.
The chairman chairperson of the commission shall
serve as chairman
chairperson at the
governor's pleasure. The commissioners shall be
selected from
the lists of qualified persons submitted to the
governor by the
public utilities commission nominating council
pursuant to
section 4901.021 of the bRevised Revised Code. Not
more than
three of said commissioners shall belong to or be
affiliated with
the same political party. The commission shall
possess the
powers and duties specified in, as well as all powers
necessary
and proper to carry out the purposes of Chapters 4901.,
4903.,
4905., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923., and 4927. of the
Revised Code.
(B) A majority of the public utilities commissioners
constitutes a quorum.
(C) The terms of office of public utilities commissioners
shall be for five years, commencing on the eleventh day of April
and ending on the tenth day of April, except that terms of the
first commissioners shall be for one, two, three, four, and five
years, respectively, as designated by the governor at the time of
appointment. Each commissioner shall hold office from the date
of
his appointment until the end of the term for which he the
commissioner was appointed. Any commissioner appointed to fill a
vacancy
occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which he
the
commissioner was appointed shall hold office for the remainder
of such
term. Any
commissioner shall continue in office subsequent
to the
expiration date of the term for which he the commissioner
was
appointed until his the commissioner's successor takes office,
or until a period of sixty days has
elapsed, whichever occurs
first. Each vacancy shall be filled by
appointment within sixty
days after the vacancy occurs.
(D) Public utilities commissioners shall have at least
three
years of experience in one or more of the following fields:
economics, law, finance, accounting, engineering, physical or
natural sciences, natural resources, or environmental studies.
At
least one commissioner shall be an attorney admitted to the
practice of law in any state or the District of Columbia.
(E) The chairman chairperson of the commission shall be the
head of
the commission and its chief executive officer. The
appointment
or removal of employees of the commission or any
division
thereof, and all contracts for special service, are
subject to
the approval of the chairman chairperson. The chairman
chairperson shall designate one
of the commissioners to act as
deputy chairman chairperson, who
shall possess
during the absence
or disability of the chairman chairperson,
all of the powers of
the chairman chairperson.
Sec. 4901.11. The public utilities commission may procure
all necessary
books,
maps, charts, stationery, instruments, office
furniture, apparatus, and
appliances, including telephone and
telegraph service, and may purchase from
the interstate commerce
commission blank forms for the use of railroads and
other
utilities in making their annual reports, necessary for the proper
administration of the affairs of said the public utilities
commission, which expenses shall be
audited and paid in the same
manner as other expenses.
Sec. 4901.12. Except as provided in section 149.43 of the
Revised Code and as
consistent with the purposes of Title XLIX of
the Revised Code, all
proceedings of the public utilities
commission and all
documents and records in its possession are
public records. In protecting trade secret and other confidential
information from public disclosure, the commission shall not
establish an expiration date for any such protection, but shall
require any party seeking public disclosure of any trade secret or
other confidential information to establish that it should no
longer be subject to such protection.
Sec. 4901.15. The public utilities commission shall,
whenever called upon by
any officer, board, or commission of this
state or any political subdivision
of this state, furnish any data
or information to such officer, board, or
commission and shall aid
or assist any such officer, board, or commission in
performing the
official duties of his or its office. All
officers, boards, or
commissions of this state or any political subdivision of this
state, shall
furnish to the commission, upon request, any data or
information which that will
assist the commission in the discharge
of the duties imposed upon it by
Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905.,
4907., 4909., 4921., 4923., and 4925. 4927. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4901.22. Each of the public utilities commissioners,
for the purposes
mentioned in Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905., 4907.,
4909., 4921.,
4923., and
4925. 4927. of the Revised Code, may
administer oaths, certify to official acts,
issue subpoenas, and
compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of
papers,
waybills, books, accounts, documents, and testimony.
Sec. 4903.01. As used in sections 4903.01 to 4903.25,
inclusive, of the Revised Code:
(A) "Public utility" has the same meaning set forth as in
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Telegraph company," "telephone company,"
"electric
light company," "gas company," "natural gas company,"
"pipe-line
company," "water-works company," "sewage disposal
system
company," "heating or cooling company," "messenger
company,"
"street railway company," "suburban railroad company,"
"interurban
railroad company," and "motor-propelled vehicle" have
the meaning
set forth in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code.
(C) "Railroad" has the same meaning set forth as in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(D) "Motor transportation company" has the meaning set
forth
in sections 4905.03 and 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(E) "Trailer," "public highway," "fixed termini," "regular
route," and "irregular route" have the meaning set forth in
section 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(F) "Private motor carrier," "contract carrier by motor
vehicle," "motor vehicle," and "charter party trip" have the
meaning set forth in section 4923.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4903.20. All actions and proceedings in the supreme
court under Chapters
4901., 4903., 4905., 4906., 4907., 4909.,
4921., and 4923., and 4927. of the Revised
Code,
and all actions
of proceedings to which the public utilities commission, power
siting board, or this state is a party, and in which any question
arises under
such those chapters, or under or concerning any order
or
decision of the commission
or the board, to reverse, vacate,
or
modify an order of the commission or the
board, shall be taken
up
and disposed of by the court out of their order on
the
docket.
Sec. 4903.22. Except when otherwise provided by law, all
processes in actions
and proceedings in a court arising under
Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905., 4906.,
4907., 4909., 4921., 4923.,
and 4925. 4927. of the Revised Code shall be
served, and the
practice and rules of evidence in such actions and proceedings
shall be the same, as in civil actions. A sheriff or other officer
empowered
to execute civil processes shall execute process issued
under such those chapters
and
receive compensation therefor as
prescribed by law for like services.
Sec. 4903.23. The public utilities commission or power
siting board may charge and collect a fee, which shall
not exceed
cost, for furnishing any copy of any paper, record, testimony,
or
writing made, taken, or filed under Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905.,
4906.,
4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923., and 4927. of the Revised
Code, except such transcript and
other papers as are required to
be filed in any court proceedings
authorized in such those
chapters, whether under seal and certified to
or otherwise; and
may charge and collect a fee
for certifying a document, which
shall not exceed that charged by the
secretary of state under
division (K) of section 111.16 of the Revised Code.
All such
fees, itemized, shall be paid into the state treasury on the
first
day of each month.
Upon application of any person and
payment of the proper fee,
the commission or board shall furnish
certified copies under the
seal of the commission or board of any
order made by it, which
order is prima-facie evidence in any
court of the facts stated in
such copies. The copies of
schedules, classifications, and tariffs
of rates, tolls, prices,
rentals, regulations, practices,
services, fares, and charges,
and copies of all contracts,
agreements, and arrangements between
public utilities and
railroads, or either, filed with the commission, and the
statistics, tables, and figures
contained in the annual or other
reports of such companies made
to the commission as required by
such the chapters,
shall be preserved as public records in the
custody of the
commission and shall be received as prima-facie
evidence of what
they purport to be, for the purpose of
investigations and
prosecutions by the commission and in all
judicial proceedings.
Copies of and extracts from any of such
schedules,
classifications, tariffs, contracts, agreements,
arrangements, or
reports, made public records, certified by the
commission under its seal, shall be received in evidence with
like
effect as the originals.
Sec. 4905.01. As used in this chapter:
(A)
"Railroad" has the same meaning set forth as in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(B)
"Motor transportation company" has the same meaning set
forth as
in sections 4905.03 and 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(C)
"Trailer," and
"public highway,"
"fixed termini,"
"regular
route," and
"irregular route" have the same meanings set
forth as in
section 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(D)
"Private motor carrier,"
"contract carrier by motor
vehicle," and
"motor vehicle," and
"charter party trip" have the
same
meanings set forth as in section 4923.02 of the Revised Code.
(E)
"Ohio coal research and development costs" means all
reasonable costs associated with a facility or project undertaken
by a public utility for which a recommendation to allow the
recovery of costs associated therewith has been made under
division (B)(7) of section 1551.33 of the Revised Code,
including,
but not limited to, capital costs, such as costs of
debt and
equity; construction and operation costs; termination
and
retirement costs; costs of feasibility and marketing studies
associated with the project; and the acquisition and delivery
costs of Ohio coal used in the project, less any expenditures of
grant moneys.
Sec. 4905.02. As used in this chapter, "public utility"
includes every
corporation, company, copartnership, person, or
association, their the lessees,
trustees, or receivers of the
foregoing, defined in
section 4905.03 of the Revised Code,
including all any public
utilities utility that operate their
utilities operates its
utility
not for profit,
except the
following:
(A) Electric An electric light companies company that operate
their utilities operates its utility not for profit;
(B) Public utilities A public utility, other than a telephone
companies company, that are is owned and
operated exclusively by
and solely for the
utilities' utility's customers, including any
consumer or group
of consumers purchasing,
delivering, storing, or
transporting, or seeking to purchase, deliver, store,
or
transport, natural gas exclusively by and solely for the
consumer's or
consumers' own intended use as the end user or end
users and not for
profit;
(C) Public utilities A public utility that are is owned or
operated by any municipal corporation;
(D) Railroads A railroad as defined in sections 4907.02 and
4907.03 of the Revised Code;
(E) Any provider, including a telephone company, to the
extent it provides any of the following:
(1) Advanced services as defined in 47 C.F.R. 51.5;
(2) Broadband service, however defined or classified by the
federal communications commission;
(3) Information services as defined in the "Balanced Budget
Act of 1997," 111 Stat. 258, 47 U.S.C. 153(20);
(4) Internet protocol-enabled services as defined in section
4927.01 of the
Revised Code;
(5) Any telecommunications service as defined in section
4927.01 of the Revised Code that is not commercially available on
the effective date of the amendment of this section by .... B. No.
.... of the 128th general assembly.
Sec. 4905.03. As used in this chapter:
(A) Any person, firm, copartnership, voluntary
association,
joint-stock association, company, or corporation,
wherever
organized or incorporated, is:
(1) A telegraph company, when engaged in the business of
transmitting telegraphic messages to, from, through, or in this
state;
(2) A telephone company, when engaged in the business of
transmitting telephonic messages to, from, through, or in this
state
and as such is a common carrier;
(3)(2) A motor transportation company, when engaged in the
business of carrying and transporting persons or property or the
business of providing or furnishing such transportation service,
for hire, in or by motor-propelled vehicles of any kind,
including
trailers, for the public in general, over any public
street, road,
or highway in this state, except as provided in
section 4921.02 of
the Revised Code;
(4)(3) An electric light company, when engaged in the
business
of supplying electricity for light, heat, or power
purposes to
consumers within this state, including supplying
electric
transmission service for electricity delivered to
consumers in
this
state, but excluding a regional transmission
organization
approved by the
federal energy regulatory commission;
(5)(4) A gas company, when engaged in the business of
supplying
artificial gas for lighting, power, or heating purposes
to
consumers within this state or when engaged in the business of
supplying artificial gas to gas companies or to natural gas
companies within this state, but a producer engaged in supplying
to one or more gas or natural gas companies, only such
artificial
gas as is manufactured by that producer as a
by-product of some
other process in which the producer is
primarily engaged within
this state is not thereby a gas company. All rates,
rentals,
tolls, schedules, charges of any kind, or
agreements between any
gas company and any other gas company or
any natural gas company
providing for the supplying of artificial
gas and for compensation
for the same are subject to the
jurisdiction of the public
utilities commission.
(6)(5) A natural gas company, when engaged in the business of
supplying natural gas for lighting, power, or heating purposes to
consumers within this state.
Notwithstanding the above, neither
the delivery nor sale
of Ohio-produced natural gas by
a producer
or gatherer under a public utilities commission-ordered exemption,
adopted before, as to producers, or after, as
to producers or
gatherers, January 1, 1996,
or the delivery or sale of
Ohio-produced natural gas by a producer or
gatherer of
Ohio-produced natural gas,
either to a lessor under an oil and gas
lease of the land on
which the producer's drilling unit is
located, or the grantor
incident to a right-of-way or easement to
the producer or
gatherer, shall cause the producer or gatherer to
be a natural
gas company for the purposes of this section.
All rates,
rentals, tolls, schedules, charges of any kind, or
agreements
between a natural gas company and other natural gas
companies or
gas companies providing for the supply of natural gas
and for
compensation for the same are subject to the jurisdiction
of the
public utilities commission. The commission, upon
application made to it, may relieve any producer or gatherer of
natural gas,
defined in this section as a gas company or a natural
gas
company, of compliance with the obligations imposed by this
chapter and
Chapters
4901., 4903., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923.
of the
Revised Code, so long as the producer or gatherer is
not
affiliated with or under the control of a gas company or a natural
gas
company
engaged in the transportation or distribution of
natural gas, or
so long as the producer or gatherer does not
engage
in the distribution of natural gas to consumers.
Nothing in division (A)(6)(5) of this section limits the
authority of
the commission to enforce sections 4905.90 to 4905.96
of the Revised Code.
(7)(6) A pipe-line company, when engaged in the business of
transporting natural gas, oil, or coal or its derivatives through
pipes or tubing, either wholly or partly within this state;
(8)(7) A water-works company, when engaged in the business of
supplying water through pipes or tubing, or in a similar manner,
to consumers within this state;
(9)(8) A heating or cooling company, when engaged in the
business of supplying water, steam, or air through pipes or
tubing
to consumers within this state for heating or cooling
purposes;
(10)(9) A messenger company, when engaged in the business of
supplying messengers for any purpose;
(11)(10) A street railway company, when engaged in the
business
of operating as a common carrier, a railway, wholly or
partly
within this state, with one or more tracks upon, along,
above, or
below any public road, street, alleyway, or ground,
within any
municipal corporation, operated by any motive power
other than
steam and not a part of an interurban railroad,
whether
the
railway is termed street, inclined-plane,
elevated,
or
underground
railway;
(12)(11) A suburban railroad company, when engaged in the
business of operating as a common carrier, whether wholly or
partially within this state, a part of a street railway
constructed or extended beyond the limits of a municipal
corporation, and not a part of an interurban railroad;
(13)(12) An interurban railroad company, when engaged in the
business of operating a railroad, wholly or partially within this
state, with one or more tracks from one municipal corporation or
point in this state to another municipal corporation or point in
this state, whether constructed upon the public highways or upon
private rights-of-way, outside of municipal corporations, using
electricity or other motive power than steam power for the
transportation of passengers, packages, express matter, United
States mail, baggage, and freight. Such an interurban railroad
company is included in the term
"railroad" as used in section
4907.02 of the Revised Code.
(14)(13) A sewage disposal system company, when engaged in
the
business of sewage disposal services through pipes or tubing,
and
treatment works, or in a similar manner, within this state.
(B)
"Motor-propelled vehicle" means any automobile,
automobile truck, motor bus, or any other self-propelled vehicle
not operated or driven upon fixed rails or tracks.
Sec. 4905.04. (A) The public utilities commission is hereby
vested
with the power
and jurisdiction to supervise and regulate
public utilities and railroads, to
require all public utilities to
furnish their products and render all services
exacted by the
commission or by law, and to promulgate and enforce all orders
relating to the protection, welfare, and safety of railroad
employees and the
traveling public, including the apportionment
between railroads and the state
and its political subdivisions of
the cost of constructing protective devices
at railroad grade
crossings.
(B) Subject to sections 4905.041 and 4905.042 of the Revised
Code, division (A) of this section includes such power and
jurisdiction as is reasonably necessary for the commission to
perform pursuant to federal law, including federal regulations,
the acts of a state commission as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153.
Sec. 4905.09. A substantial compliance by the public
utilities
commission
with
the requirements of Chapters 4901.,
4903., 4905., 4907., 4909.,
4921., 4923., and 4925. 4927. of the
Revised Code is sufficient to give
effect to
all
its rules, and
orders, acts, and regulations. Such Those rules, and
orders,
acts,
and regulations shall not be declared inoperative,
illegal,
or
void for an omission of a technical nature in respect to such
requirements.
Such And, those chapters do not affect, modify, or
repeal any law fixing the rate which that a
company operating a
railroad may demand and receive for the transportation of
passengers.
Sec. 4905.12. A railroad company or telegraph company which
that violates section
4905.10, 4907.13, or 4907.15 of the Revised
Code shall forfeit to the state
one
thousand dollars, and
twenty-five dollars for each day such the company fails to
comply
with a requirement of any such sections section. Such The
forfeiture does not release
such the company from the assessment
provided in section 4905.10 of the Revised
Code.
Sec. 4905.14. (A)(1) Every public utility shall file an
annual
report with the public utilities commission. The report
shall be
filed at the time and in the form prescribed by the
commission,
shall be duly verified, and shall cover the yearly
period fixed by
the commission. The commission shall prescribe
the
character of
the information to be embodied in the annual
report,
and shall
furnish to each public utility a blank form for
it.
Every public
utility also shall file a copy of the annual
report
with the
office of consumers' counsel; the copy shall be
filed at
the same
time that the original is filed with the
commission. If
any
annual
report filed with the commission is
defective or
erroneous,
the
commission may order that it be
amended within a
prescribed
time.
Any amendments made pursuant
to such an order
shall be
filed with
the commission and with the
office of
consumers'
counsel. Each
annual report filed with the
commission
shall be
preserved in the
office of the commission.
The
commission may, at
any time,
require specific answers to
questions upon which it
desires
information.
(2) In the case of a telephone company, including a wireless
service provider, the annual report
shall be
limited to
information necessary for the commission to
calculate
the
assessment provided for in section 4905.10 of the
Revised
Code.
The commission shall protect any confidential
information in
that report.
(B) On the first day of July and the first day of November
of
each year, each gas company and natural gas company shall file
with
the commission a report in
quintuplicate stating:
(1) The total demand, stated in terms of
cubic feet, that
the
company projects will be expected of the
company for the
following
twelve months;
(2) The pertinent details of supply contracts with
pipeline
companies and producers for the following twelve months
that they
have executed and the quantity of the gas that they
will possess
in storage and will be available for delivery as of
the first day
of July and the first day of November;
(3) Where it appears from a comparison of the information
reported in division (B)(1) of this section with that reported in
division (B)(2) of this section that the total demand
projected by
the company for the twelve months following the date
of the report
will exceed the ability of the company to furnish
it, the means
which the company intends to employ in order to
prevent any
interruption or curtailment of service.
(C) The public utilities commission may require any
telephone
company to file with its annual report, supplementary
reports of
each exchange
area owned or operated by it, in such
detail as the
commission may
prescribe. Upon request of fifteen
per cent of the
subscribers of
any telephone exchange, the public
utilities
commission shall
require the report for such exchange
area.
Sec. 4905.16. When and as required by the public utilities
commission, every
public utility shall file with it a copy of any
contract, agreement, or
arrangement, in writing, with any other
public utility relating in any way to
the construction,
maintenance, or use of its plant or property, or to any
service,
rate, or charge.
Unless otherwise ordered by the commission each telephone
company shall file
with the commission a copy of any contract,
agreement, note, bond, or other
arrangement entered into with any
telephone management, service or operating
company.
Sec. 4905.18. Every public utility shall carry a proper and
adequate
depreciation or deferred maintenance account, whenever
the public utilities
commission, after investigation, determines
that a depreciation account can be
reasonably required. The
commission shall ascertain, determine, and prescribe
what are
proper and adequate charges for depreciation of the several
classes
of
property for each public utility. The
public utility
commission shall require
every telephone company to carry a proper
and adequate depreciation or
deferred
maintenance account and
shall ascertain, determine, and prescribe what are
proper and
adequate charges in each exchange area of such company. The
charge
for depreciation shall be such as will provide the amount
required
over the
cost and expense of maintenance to keep the
property of
the public utility in a
state of efficiency
corresponding to the
progress of the art or industry. The
commission may prescribe such
changes in such charges for
depreciation as it
finds necessary.
Sec. 4905.20. No railroad as defined in section 4907.02 of
the Revised Code,
operating any railroad in this state, and no
public utility as defined in
section 4905.02 of the Revised Code
furnishing service or facilities within
this state, shall abandon
or be required to abandon or withdraw any main track
or depot of a
railroad, or main pipe line, gas line, telegraph line, telephone
toll line, electric light line, water line, sewer line, steam pipe
line, or
any
portion thereof, pumping station, generating plant,
power station, sewage
treatment plant, or service station of a
public utility, or the service
rendered thereby, which that has
once been laid, constructed, opened, and used for
public business,
nor shall any such facility be closed for traffic or service
thereon, therein, or thereover except as provided in section
4905.21 of the
Revised Code. Any railroad or public utility
violating this section shall
forfeit and pay into the state
treasury not less than one hundred dollars, nor
more than one
thousand dollars, and shall be subject to all other legal and
equitable remedies for the enforcement of this section and section
4905.21 of
the Revised Code.
Sec. 4905.21. Any railroad or any political subdivision
desiring to abandon, close, or have abandoned, withdrawn, or
closed for traffic or service all or any part of a main track or
depot, and any public utility or political subdivision desiring
to
abandon or close, or have abandoned, withdrawn, or closed for
traffic or service all or any part of any line, pumping station,
generating plant, power station, sewage treatment plant, or
service station, referred to in section 4905.20 of the Revised
Code, shall make application to the public utilities commission
in
writing. The commission shall thereupon cause reasonable
notice of
the application to be given, stating the time and place
fixed by
the commission for the hearing of the application.
Upon the hearing of the application, the commission shall
ascertain the facts and make its findings thereon, and if such
facts satisfy the commission that the proposed abandonment,
withdrawal, or closing for traffic or service is reasonable,
having due regard for the welfare of the public and the cost of
operating the service or facility, it may allow such abandonment,
withdrawal, or closing; otherwise it shall be denied, or if the
facts warrant, the application may be granted in a modified form.
If the application asks for the abandonment or withdrawal of any
main track, main pipe line, gas line, telegraph line, telephone
toll line, electric light line, water line, sewer line, steam
pipe
line, pumping station, generating plant, power station,
sewage
treatment plant, service station, or the service rendered
thereby,
in such manner as can result in the permanent
abandonment of
service between any two points on such railroad,
or of service and
facilities of any such public utility, no
application shall be
granted unless the railroad or public
utility has operated the
track, pipe line, gas line,
telegraph
line, telephone toll line,
electric light line, water line, sewer
line, steam pipe line,
pumping station, generating plant, power
station, sewage treatment
plant, or service station for at least
five years. Such The notice
shall be given by publication in a
newspaper of general
circulation throughout any county or
municipal corporation which
that has granted a franchise to the
railroad or public utility,
under which the track, pipe
line,
gas line, telegraph line,
telephone toll line, electric light
line, water line, sewer line,
steam pipe line, pumping station,
generating plant, power station,
sewage treatment plant, or
service station is operated or in which
the same is located, once
a week for two consecutive weeks before
the hearing of
the application. Notice of the hearing
shall be
given such county,
municipal corporation, or public utility in the
manner provided
for the service of orders of the commission in
section 4903.15 of
the Revised Code. This section and section
4905.20 of the
Revised Code do not apply to a gas company when it
is removing or
exchanging abandoned field lines.
This section applies to all service now rendered and
facilities furnished or hereafter built and operated, and an
order
of the commission authorizing the
abandonment or withdrawal of any
such service or facility shall
not affect rights and obligations
of a railroad or public utility
beyond the scope of the order,
anything in its franchise to
the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 4905.26. Upon complaint in writing against any public
utility by any person, firm, or corporation, or upon the
initiative or complaint of the public utilities commission, that
any rate, fare, charge, toll, rental, schedule, classification,
or
service, or any joint rate, fare, charge, toll, rental,
schedule,
classification, or service rendered, charged, demanded,
exacted,
or proposed to be rendered, charged, demanded, or
exacted, is in
any respect unjust, unreasonable, unjustly
discriminatory,
unjustly preferential, or in violation of law, or
that any
regulation, measurement, or practice affecting or
relating to any
service furnished by the public utility, or in
connection with
such service, is, or will be, in any respect
unreasonable, unjust,
insufficient, unjustly discriminatory, or
unjustly preferential,
or that any service is, or will be,
inadequate or cannot be
obtained, and, upon complaint of a public
utility as to any matter
affecting its own product or service, if
it appears that
reasonable grounds for complaint are stated, the
commission shall
fix a time for hearing and shall notify
complainants and the
public utility thereof. Such The notice shall be
served not less
than fifteen days before hearing and shall state the matters
complained of. The commission may adjourn such hearing from time
to time.
The parties to the complaint shall be entitled to be heard,
represented by counsel, and to have process to enforce the
attendance of witnesses.
Upon the filing of a complaint by one hundred subscribers
or
five per cent of the subscribers to any telephone exchange,
whichever number be smaller, or by the legislative authority of
any municipal corporation served by such telephone company that
any regulation, measurement, standard of service, or practice
affecting or relating to any service furnished by the
telephone
company, or in connection with such service is, or will be, in
any
respect unreasonable, unjust, discriminatory, or preferential,
or
that any service is, or will be, inadequate or cannot be
obtained,
the commission shall fix a time for
the hearing of such complaint.
The hearing provided for in the next preceding paragraph
shall be held in the county wherein resides the majority of the
signers of such complaint, or wherein is located such municipal
corporation. Notice of the date, time of day, and location of
the
hearing shall be served upon the telephone company complained
of,
upon each municipal corporation served by the telephone
company in
the county or counties affected, and shall be
published for not
less than two consecutive weeks in a
newspaper of general
circulation in the county or counties
affected.
Such hearing shall be held not less than fifteen nor more
than thirty days after the second publication of such
notice.
Sec. 4905.30. Every (A) A public utility shall print and
file
with the public utilities commission schedules showing all
rates,
joint rates, rentals, tolls, classifications, and charges
for
service of every kind furnished by it, and all rules and
regulations affecting them. Such The schedules shall be plainly
printed and kept open to public inspection. The commission may
prescribe the form of every such schedule, and may prescribe, by
order, changes in the form of such schedules. The commission may
establish and modify rules and regulations for keeping such
schedules open to public inspection. A copy of such the schedules,
or so much thereof as the commission deems necessary for the use
and information of the public, shall be printed in plain type and
kept on file or posted in such places and in such manner as the
commission orders.
(B) Division (A) of this section applies to a telephone
company only regarding rates, joint rates, tolls, classifications,
charges, rules, and regulations established pursuant to sections
4905.71, 4927.10, 4927.11, 4927.12, 4927.13, 4927.16, and
4931.47
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4905.40. (A) A public utility or a railroad may,
when
authorized by order of the public utilities commission,
issue
stocks, bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness,
payable
at periods of more than twelve months after their date of
issuance, when necessary:
(1) For the acquisition of property, the construction,
completion, extension, renewal, or improvement of its facilities,
or the improvement of its service; or
(2) For reorganization or readjustment of its indebtedness
and capitalization, for the discharge or lawful refunding of its
obligation, or for the reimbursement of moneys actually expended
for such purposes from income or from any other moneys in the
treasury of the public utility or railroad not secured or
obtained
from the issue of stocks, bonds, notes, or other
evidences of
indebtedness of such public utility or railroad. No
reimbursement
of moneys expended for such purposes from income or
other moneys
in the treasury shall be authorized unless the
applicant has kept
its accounts and vouchers of such expenditures
in such manner as
to enable the commission to ascertain the
amount and purposes of
such expenditures.
(B) Any public utility, subject to the jurisdiction of the
commission, may, when authorized by the commission, issue shares
of common capital stock to acquire or pay for shares of common
capital stock of a public utility of this or an adjoining state
whose property is so located as to permit the operation of the
properties of such utilities as an integrated system if the
applicant owns, or by this issue will acquire, not less than
sixty-five per cent of the issued and outstanding common capital
shares of the company whose shares are to be acquired, and if the
consideration to be capitalized by the acquiring company does not
exceed the par or stated value at which the shares so acquired
were issued.
(C) Any bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness
payable at periods of more than twelve months after their date
may
be issued as provided in sections 4905.40 to
4905.43 of the
Revised Code, regardless of the amount of the capital stock of
the
public utility or railroad, subject to the approval of the
commission of the excess of such bonds, notes, or other evidences
of indebtedness above the amount of the capital stock of such
public utility or railroad.
(D) The commission shall authorize on the best terms
obtainable such issues of stocks, bonds, and other evidences of
indebtedness as are necessary to enable any public utility to
comply with any contract made between such public utility and any
municipal corporation prior to June 30, 1911.
(E) The commission may authorize a public utility that is an
electric
light company
to issue equity securities, or debt
securities having a term of
more than twelve months from the date
of issuance, for the
purpose of yielding to the company the
capacity to acquire a
facility that produces fuel for the
generation of electricity.
(F) In any proceeding under division (A)(1) of this
section
initiated by a public utility, the commission shall
determine and
set forth in its order:
(1) Whether the purpose to which the issue or any proceeds
of
it shall be applied was or is reasonably required by the
utility
to meet its present and prospective obligations to
provide
utility
service;
(2) Whether the amount of the issue and the probable cost
of
such stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness
is
just and reasonable;
(3) What effect, if any, the issuance of such stocks,
bonds,
notes, or other evidences of indebtedness and the cost
thereof
will have upon the present and prospective revenue
requirements of
the utility.
(G) Sections 4905.40 to 4905.42 of the Revised Code do not
apply to stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness
issued for the purpose of financing oil or natural gas drilling,
producing, gathering, and associated activities and facilities by
a producer which supplies to no more than twenty purchasers only
such gas as is produced, gathered, or purchased by such producer
within this state.
(H) Each public utility seeking authorization from the
commission for the issuance of securities to finance the
installation, construction, extension, or improvement of an air
quality facility, as defined in section 3706.01 of the Revised
Code, shall consider the availability of financing therefor from
the Ohio air quality development authority and shall demonstrate
to the commission that the proposed financing will be obtained on
the best terms obtainable.
(I) This section does not apply to a telephone company.
Sec. 4905.402. (A) As used in this section:
(1)
"Control" means the possession of the power to direct
the
management and policies of a domestic telephone company or a
holding company of a domestic telephone company, or the management
and policies of a domestic electric utility or a holding company
of a domestic
electric utility, through the
ownership of voting
securities, by contract, or otherwise, but
does not include the
power that results from holding an official
position or the
possession of corporate office with the domestic
company or
utility or the holding company.
Control is presumed to
exist if
any person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls,
holds the
power to vote, or holds with the power to vote proxies
that
constitute, twenty per cent or more of the total
voting
power of
the domestic company or utility or the
holding company.
(2)
"Electric utility" has the same meaning as in section
4928.07
of the Revised Code.
(3)
"Holding company" excludes any securities broker
performing the usual and customary broker's function.
(4)
"Telephone company" means any company described in
division (A)(2)(1) of section 4905.03 of the Revised Code that is
a
public utility under section 4905.02 of the Revised Code and
provides basic local exchange service, as defined in section
4927.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) No person shall acquire control, directly or
indirectly,
of a domestic telephone company or a holding company
controlling a
domestic telephone company or of a domestic electric utility
or a
holding company controlling a domestic electric utility unless
that
person
obtains the prior approval of the public utilities
commission
under this section. To obtain approval the person
shall
file an
application with the commission demonstrating that
the
acquisition will promote public convenience and result in the
provision of adequate service for a reasonable rate, rental,
toll,
or charge. The application shall contain such information
as the
commission may require. If the commission considers a
hearing
necessary, it may fix a time and place for hearing. If,
after
review of the application and after any necessary hearing,
the
commission is satisfied that approval of the application will
promote public convenience and result in the provision of
adequate
service for a reasonable rate, rental, toll, or charge,
the
commission shall approve the application and make such order
as it
considers proper. If the commission fails to issue an
order
within
thirty days of the filing of the application, or
within
twenty
days of the conclusion of a hearing, if one is
held, the
application shall be deemed approved by operation of
law.
(C)(1) No person shall acquire control, directly or
indirectly, of a domestic telephone company or a holding company
controlling a domestic telephone company unless that person
obtains the prior approval of the public utilities commission
under this section. To obtain approval the person shall file an
application with the commission demonstrating that the acquisition
will not be contrary to the public interest. The application shall
contain such information as the commission may require. If the
commission considers a hearing necessary, it may, not more than
twenty days after the filing of the application, fix a time and
place for hearing. If, after review of the application and after
any necessary hearing, the commission is satisfied that approval
of the application will not be contrary to the public interest,
the commission shall approve the application and make such order
as it considers proper. If the commission fails to issue an order
disapproving the application within thirty days of the filing of
the application, or within twenty days of the conclusion of a
hearing, if one is held, or in any event within sixty days after
the filing of the application, the application shall be deemed
approved by operation of law.
(2) No domestic telephone company shall merge with another
domestic telephone company unless the merging companies obtain the
prior approval of the commission. An application seeking such
approval shall be filed, processed, and decided in the manner
provided for an application under division (C)(1) of this section.
The commission shall adopt such rules
as it finds
necessary to
carry out the provisions of this section.
(D) If it appears to the commission or to
any person that
may
be adversely affected that any person is
engaged in or about
to
engage in any acts or practices that would
violate division (B) or
(C) of this
section or any provision of a rule adopted under this
section, the attorney general, when directed to do
so by the
commission, or the person claiming to be adversely
affected may
bring an action in any court of common pleas that
has jurisdiction
and venue to enjoin such acts or practices and
enforce compliance
with this section. Upon a proper showing, the
court shall grant,
without bond, a restraining order or temporary
or permanent
injunction.
(E) The courts of this state have jurisdiction over every
person not a resident of or domiciled or authorized to do
business
in this state that files, or is prohibited from
acting
without
first filing, an application under division (B) or (C) of this
section,
and over all actions involving such person arising out
of
violations of any provision of this section or of a rule adopted
under this section. The secretary of state shall be
the
agent for
service of process for any such person in any
action,
suit, or
proceeding arising out of such violations of this
section.
Copies
of all such lawful process shall be served upon
the
secretary of
state and transmitted by certified mail, with
return
receipt
requested, by the secretary of state to such
person at the
person's last known address.
Sec. 4905.41. The proceedings for obtaining the authority
of
the public utilities commission for the issue of stocks,
bonds,
notes and other evidences of indebtedness, as provided in
section
4905.40 of the Revised Code, shall be as follows:
(A) In case the stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of
indebtedness are to be issued for money only, the public utility
or railroad shall file with the commission a statement, signed
and
verified by the president or vice president and the secretary
or
treasurer of such public utility or railroad, setting forth:
(1) The amount and character of the stocks, bonds, or
other
evidence of indebtedness;
(2) The purposes for which they are to be issued;
(3) The terms upon which they are to be issued;
(4) The total assets and liabilities and an income
statement
of the public utility or railroad in such detail as the
commission
requires;
(5) If the issue is desired for the purpose of the
reimbursement of money expended from income, as provided by
section 4905.40 of the Revised Code, the amount expended and when
and for what purposes it was expended;
(6) If the application is filed by a telephone company, a
statement that such company is not in violation of section
4905.23
of the Revised Code, and is not in violation of any order
of the
commission made under sections 4905.231 and 4905.381 of
the
Revised Code; or, if it is in violation thereof, that a
portion or
all of the proceeds will be used to correct such
violation and
that none of the proceeds will be used for
expansion into or
acquisition of any additional territory.
(7) Such other facts and information pertinent to the
inquiry
as the commission requires.
(B) If the stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of
indebtedness are to be issued partly or wholly for property,
services, or other consideration than money, the public utility
or
railroad shall file with the commission a statement, signed
and
verified by its president or vice president and its
secretary, or
treasurer setting forth:
(1) The amount and character of the stocks, bonds, or
other
evidence of indebtedness proposed to be issued;
(2) The purposes for which they are to be issued;
(3) The description and estimated value of the property or
services for which they are to be issued;
(4) The terms on which they are to be issued or exchanged;
(5) The amount of money to be received in addition to the
property, service, or other consideration;
(6) If the application is made by a telephone company,
that
the company is not in violation of section 4905.23 of the
Revised
Code and is not in violation of any order of the
commission made
under sections 4905.231 and 4905.381 of the
Revised Code.
(7) The total assets and liabilities and an income
statement
of the public utility or railroad in such detail as the
commission
requires;
(8)(7) Such other facts and information pertinent to the
inquiry as the commission requires.
This section and section 4905.40 of the Revised Code do not
apply to union depot companies organized and under contract prior
to June 30, 1911, until the same are completed.
This section does not apply to a telephone company.
Sec. 4905.42. To determine whether it should issue the
order
referred to in section 4905.40 of the Revised Code, the
public
utilities commission shall hold such hearings, make such
inquiries
or investigations, and examine such witnesses, books,
papers,
documents, and contracts as it deems proper.
An order issued under this section shall fix the amount,
character, and terms of any issue of stocks, bonds, notes, or
other evidence of indebtedness, and the purposes to which the
issue or any proceeds of it shall be applied, shall recite that
the money, property, consideration, or labor procured or to be
procured or paid for by such issue was or is reasonably required
for the purposes specified in the order, and shall recite the
value of any property, consideration, or service, as found by the
commission, for which in whole or in part such issue is proposed
to be made.
No public utility or railroad shall, without the consent of
the commission, apply any such issue or its proceeds to any
purpose not specified in the order. Such public utilities or
railroads may issue notes for proper corporate purposes, payable
at periods of not more than twelve months, without the consent of
the commission, but no such notes shall, in whole or in part,
directly or indirectly, be refunded by any issue of stocks or
bonds, or by any evidence of indebtedness, running for more than
twelve months, without the consent of the commission.
All stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness
issued by any public utility or railroad without the permission
of
the commission are void. No interstate railroad or public
utility
shall be required to apply to the commission for
authority to
issue stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of
indebtedness for
the acquisition of property, the construction,
completion,
extension, or improvement of its facilities, or the
improvement or
maintenance of its service outside this state, or
for authority
for the discharge or refunding of obligations
issued or incurred
for such purposes or the reimbursement of
moneys actually expended
for such purposes outside this state.
No pipe-line company--when engaged in the business of
transporting oil through pipes or tubing, either wholly or
partly--within this state, shall be required to apply to the
commission for authority to issue stocks, bonds, notes, or other
evidence of indebtedness for the purpose of acquiring or paying
for stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness of
any
other corporation organized under the laws of this state, any
other state, the District of Columbia, the United States, any
territory of the United States, any foreign country, or
otherwise.
No company that is both a pipe-line company engaged as such
in the business of transporting natural gas through pipes or
tubing in interstate commerce, wholly or partly within this
state,
and a natural gas company engaged as such in this state
solely in
the business of supplying natural gas to gas companies
or to
natural gas companies shall be required to apply to the
commission
for authority to issue stocks, bonds, notes, or other
evidence of
indebtedness.
This section does not apply to a telephone company.
Sec. 4905.45. Public utility or railroad corporations may,
incident to the
sale or pledge of bonds, notes, or other
securities owned by them, jointly or
severally indorse such
securities and guarantee due payment of them, in any
case in which
such indorsement and guarantee is authorized by the public
utilities commission or the interstate commerce commission.
This section does not apply to telephone companies.
Sec. 4905.46. (A) No public utility or railroad shall
declare any stock, bond, or scrip dividend or distribution, or
divide the proceeds of the sale of any stock, bond, or scrip
among
its stockholders, unless it is authorized to do so by the
public
utilities commission.
(B) No telephone company shall declare any cash, stock,
bond,
or scrip dividend or distribution, or divide the proceeds
of the
sale of any stock, bond, or scrip among its common or
voting
shareholders, while such telephone company is in violation
of any
order of the commission, or against which telephone
company there
exists a finding of inadequate service, except when
the public
utilities commission makes a finding after hearing and
notice, as
provided in section 4905.26 of the Revised Code, that
such
dividend or distribution will in no way postpone compliance
with
any order or affect the adequacy of service rendered or to
be
rendered by such telephone company. If a
telephone company, while
in violation of any order of the
commission, or against which
there exists a finding of inadequate
service, desires to declare a
cash dividend or distribution
without the consent of the
commission, it shall set aside in a
special reserve fund a sum of
money equivalent to the amount
necessary to pay the proposed
dividend or distribution, which,
while said company is in
violation of said order or against which
such finding exists, may
be expended only with the consent of the
commission This section
does not apply to telephone companies.
Sec. 4905.47. The public utilities commission shall not
authorize the
capitalization of any franchise or right to own,
operate, or enjoy any
franchise in excess of the amount, exclusive
of any tax or annual charge,
actually paid to any political
subdivision of the state or county as the
consideration for the
grant of such franchise or right, nor shall the capital
stock of a
public utility or railroad corporation formed by the merger or
consolidation of two or more corporations exceed the sum of the
capital stock
of the corporations consolidated or merged, at the
par value of such stock,
and
such sum or any additional sum
actually paid in cash. No contract for
consolidation or lease
shall be capitalized in the stock of any public utility
or
railroad corporation, and no such corporation shall issue any
bonds against
or as a lien upon any contract for consolidation or
merger. The aggregate
amount of the debt of such consolidated
companies by reason of such
consolidation shall not be increased.
This section does not apply to telephone companies.
Sec. 4905.51. Every public utility having any equipment
on,
over, or under any street or highway shall, subject to
section
4951.04 of the Revised Code, for a reasonable
compensation, permit
the use of such equipment by any other
public utility whenever the
public utilities commission
determines, as provided in section
4905.51 of the Revised Code,
that public convenience, welfare, and
necessity require such use
or joint use, and that such use or
joint use will not result in
irreparable injury to the owner or
other users of such equipment
or any substantial detriment to the
service to be rendered by
such owners or other users.
In case of failure to agree upon such use or joint use, or
upon the conditions or compensation for such use or joint use,
any
public utility may apply to the commission, and if after
investigation the commission ascertains that the public
convenience, welfare, and necessity require such use or joint use
and that it would not result in irreparable injury to the owner
or
other users of such property or equipment or in any
substantial
detriment to the service to be rendered by such owner
or other
users, the commission shall direct that such use or
joint use be
permitted and prescribe reasonable conditions and
compensation for
such joint use.
Such use or joint use so ordered shall be permitted and
such
conditions and compensation so prescribed shall be the
lawful
conditions and compensation to be observed, followed, and
paid,
subject to recourse to the courts by any interested party
as
provided in Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905., 4907., 4909., 4921.,
4923., and 4925. 4927. of the Revised Code. The commission may
revoke or revise any such order.
Sec. 4905.52. No officer, agent, or employee of a railroad
company shall
refuse to answer a question propounded to him the
officer, agent, or
employee by a public utilities commissioner in
the course of an
examination authorized by Chapters 4901., 4903.,
4905., 4907., 4909., 4921.,
4923., and 4925. 4927. of the Revised
Code. The property of the
railroad company of which such person is
an officer, agent, or employee, is
liable to be taken in execution
to satisfy the fines and
costs in case of a violation of this
section.
Sec. 4905.58. All prosecutions against a railroad or
telegraph
company, or an
officer, agent, or employee thereof,
under Chapters 4901., 4903.,
4905., 4907.,
4909., 4921., and
4923., and 4925. and other sections of
the Revised Code for
penalties involving imprisonment shall be by indictment.
Sec. 4905.59. If the public utilities commission, the
officer requested by it, or a village solicitor or city director
of law, when the cause of action arises in a municipal
corporation, fails to prosecute a civil action for forfeiture
against a railroad or telegraph company, or an officer, agent, or
employee thereof as provided by law, the prosecuting attorney of
the county in which a cause of action for forfeiture arises, upon
the request of any taxpayer of the county, shall bring such
action
if he the prosecuting attorney is furnished with evidence
which
that in his the prosecuting attorney's judgment will sustain
it.
If the action fails, the costs of the action
shall be adjudged
against the county.
If a cause of action for forfeiture arises within a
municipal
corporation, and the commission, the officer requested
by it, or
the prosecuting attorney, fails to prosecute such
action, the
village solicitor or city director of law of the
municipal
corporation, when required by resolution of the
legislative
authority, shall institute the action and prosecute
it to final
judgment. If the action fails, the cost of the
action shall be
adjudged against the municipal corporation. The
time for notice of
appeal and giving a bond does not apply to
cases within the
meaning of this section.
Sec. 4905.61. If any public utility or railroad does, or
causes to be done,
any act or thing prohibited by Chapters 4901.,
4903., 4905., 4907., 4909.,
4921., 4923., and 4925. 4927. of the
Revised Code, or declared to be
unlawful, or omits to do any act
or thing required by such the provisions of those chapters, or by
order of the public utilities commission, such the public utility
or railroad is
liable to the person, firm, or corporation injured
thereby in treble the
amount
of damages sustained in consequence
of such the violation, failure, or omission.
Any recovery under
this section does not affect a recovery by the state for
any
penalty provided for in such the chapters.
Sec. 4905.63. Companies A company formed to acquire property
or to transact business
which that would be subject to Chapters
4901., 4903., 4905., 4907., 4909., 4921.,
4923., and 4925. 4927.
of
the Revised Code, and companies a company owning or
possessing
franchises for any of the purposes contemplated in such those
chapters,
are
subject to such chapters those chapters' provisions,
although no property has been acquired, no business
has been
transacted, or no franchises have been exercised by them the
company.
Sec. 4905.71. (A) Every telephone, telegraph, or electric
light company, which that is a public utility as defined by
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code, shall permit, upon reasonable
terms
and conditions and the payment of reasonable charges, the
attachment of any wire, cable, facility, or apparatus to its
poles, pedestals, or placement of same in conduit duct space, by
any person or entity other than a public utility that is
authorized and has obtained, under law, any necessary public or
private authorization and permission to construct and maintain
the
attachment, so long as the attachment does not interfere,
obstruct, or delay the service and operation of the telephone,
telegraph, or electric light company, or create a hazard to
safety. Every such telephone, telegraph, or electric light company
shall file tariffs with the public utilities commission
containing
the charges, terms, and conditions established for
such use.
(B) The public utilities commission shall regulate the
justness and reasonableness of the charges, terms, and conditions
contained in any such tariff, and may, upon complaint of any
persons in which it appears that reasonable grounds for complaint
are stated, or upon its own initiative, investigate such charges,
terms, and conditions and conduct a hearing to establish just and
reasonable charges, terms, and conditions, and to resolve any
controversy which that may arise among the parties as to such
attachment.
Sec. 4905.73. (A) The public utilities commission, upon
complaint by any person or complaint or initiative of the
commission, has
jurisdiction under section 4905.26 of the Revised
Code
regarding any violation of division (B) of section 4905.72 of
the
Revised Code by a public utility.
(B) Upon complaint or initiative under division (A) of
this
section, if the commission finds, after notice and hearing
pursuant to
section 4905.26 of the Revised Code, that a public
utility
has violated section 4905.72 of the Revised
Code,
the
commission, by order, shall do all of the following:
(1) Rescind the aggrieved consumer's change in
service
provider;
(2) Require the public utility to absolve the
aggrieved
consumer of any liability for any charges assessed the
consumer,
or refund to the aggrieved consumer any charges
collected from the
consumer, by the public utility during the thirty-day
period
after
the violation or failure to comply occurred or, where appropriate,
during such other period after that occurrence as
determined
reasonable by the commission;
(3) Require the public utility to refund or pay to
the
aggrieved consumer any fees paid or costs incurred by the
consumer
resulting from the change of the consumer's
service provider or
providers, or from the resumption of the
consumer's service with
the service provider or providers from
which the consumer was
switched;
(4) Require the
public utility
to make the consumer whole
regarding any bonuses or
benefits, such as airline mileage or
product discounts, to which
the consumer is entitled, by restoring
bonuses or benefits the
consumer lost as a result of the violation
or failure to comply
and providing bonuses or benefits the
consumer would have earned
if not for the violation or failure to
comply, or by providing something of
equal value.
(C) In addition to the
remedies under division (B) of
this
section, if the commission finds, after notice and hearing
pursuant to section 4905.26 of the
Revised Code, that a
public
utility
has violated
section 4905.72 of the
Revised
Code,
the
commission, by order, may impose any of the following remedies
or
forfeitures:
(1) Require the public utility to comply or
undertake any
necessary corrective action;
(2) Require the public utility
to compensate the service
provider or providers from
which the aggrieved consumer was
switched in the amount of all
charges the consumer would have paid
that particular service
provider for the same or comparable
service had the violation or
failure to comply not occurred;
(3) Require the public utility
to compensate the service
provider or providers from
which the aggrieved consumer was
switched for any costs that the
particular service provider incurs
as a result of making the
consumer whole as provided in division
(B)(4) of this section or of
effecting the resumption of the
consumer's service;
(4) Assess upon the public utility forfeitures of not more
than
one thousand dollars for each day of each violation or
failure
to comply. However, if the commission finds that the
public utility has
engaged or is engaging in a pattern or practice
of committing
any such violations or failures to comply, the
commission may
assess upon the public utility forfeitures of not
more than five
thousand dollars for each day of each violation or
failure. Any
forfeiture collected pursuant to this division shall
be
deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the general
revenue fund.
(5) Require the public utility to file with the
commission a
security payable to the state in such amount and
upon such terms
as the commission determines necessary to ensure
compliance and
payment of any forfeitures assessed pursuant to
division (C)(4) of
this
section;
(6) Rescind the public utility's authority to
provide natural
gas service or public telecommunications service
within this
state.
(D) Proceedings of the
commission pursuant to division
(B) or
(C) of this section are
governed by Chapter 4903. of
the Revised
Code.
(E) The commission may
direct the attorney general to
commence an action under section
4905.57 or 4905.60 of the
Revised
Code to enforce an order of the
commission issued under division
(B) or
(C) of this section, including
orders assessing
forfeitures. Notwithstanding section 4905.57
of the Revised Code,
an action authorized
under this division may be brought in the
court of common pleas
of Franklin county or the court
of common
pleas of any county in which venue is proper under the
Rules of
Civil Procedure.
(F) The remedy available
under section 4905.61 of the
Revised
Code may be applied to any
violation of
section 4905.72 of the
Revised Code.
(G) The powers, remedies,
forfeitures, and penalties provided
by this section and section 4905.72
and division (D)(C) of
section
4905.99 of the Revised
Code are in addition to any
other power,
remedy, forfeiture, or penalty provided by
law.
Sec. 4905.84. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Telecommunications relay service" means intrastate
transmission services that provide the ability for an individual
who has a hearing or speech impairment to engage in a
communication by wire or radio with a hearing individual in a
manner that is functionally equivalent to the ability of an
individual who does not have a hearing or speech impairment to
communicate using voice communication services by wire or radio.
"Telecommunications relay service" includes services that enable
two-way communication between an individual who uses a
telecommunications device for the deaf or other nonvoice terminal
device and an individual who does not use such a device.
(2) "TRS provider" means an entity selected by the public
utilities commission as the provider of telecommunications relay
service for this state as part of the commission's intrastate
telecommunications relay service program certified pursuant to
federal law.
(B) For the sole purpose of funding telecommunications relay
service, the commission shall, not earlier than January 1, 2009,
impose on and collect from each
service provider that is required
under federal law to provide its
customers access to
telecommunications relay service an annual
assessment to pay for
costs incurred by the TRS provider for
providing such service in
Ohio. The commission shall determine the
appropriate service
providers to be assessed the
telecommunications relay service
costs, including telephone
companies as defined in division
(A)(2)(1) of
section 4905.03 of the
Revised Code, commercial
mobile
radio
service providers, and
providers of
advanced
services or
internet
protocol-enabled
services that are
competitive with
or
functionally equivalent to
basic local
exchange service as
defined in section 4927.01 of the
Revised
Code.
(C) The assessment shall be allocated proportionately among
the appropriate service providers using a competitively neutral
formula established by the commission based on the number of
retail intrastate customer access lines or their equivalent. The
commission shall annually reconcile the funds collected with the
actual costs of providing telecommunications relay service when it
issues the assessment and shall either proportionately charge the
service providers for any amounts not sufficient to cover the
actual costs or proportionately credit amounts collected in excess
of the actual costs. The total amount assessed from all service
providers shall not exceed the total telecommunications relay
service costs.
Each service provider that pays the assessment shall be
permitted to recover the cost of the assessment. The method of
recovery may include, but is not limited to, a customer billing
surcharge.
The commission shall deposit the money collected in the
telecommunications relay service fund, which is hereby created in
the
state treasury, and shall use the money in that fund solely
to
compensate the TRS provider.
(D) The commission shall take such measures as it considers
necessary to protect the confidentiality of information provided
to the commission pursuant to this section by service providers
required to pay the assessment.
(E) The commission may assess a forfeiture of not more than
one thousand dollars on any service provider failing to comply
with this section. Each day's continuance of such failure is a
separate offense. The forfeiture shall be recovered in accordance
with sections 4905.55 to 4905.60 of the Revised Code.
(F) The jurisdiction and authority granted to the commission
by this section is limited to the administration and enforcement
of this section. The commission may adopt such rules as it finds
necessary to carry out this section. The commission shall adopt
rules under section 111.15 of the Revised Code to establish the
assessment amounts and procedures.
Sec. 4905.99. (A) Whoever violates section 4905.52 of the
Revised Code
shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five
hundred dollars.
(B) Whoever violates section 4905.56 of the
Revised Code is
guilty of
a
felony of the fifth degree.
(C) Coincident with the operation of section
4905.78 of the
Revised
Code,
whoever violates that section is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the
fourth degree.
(D) Whoever violates section
4905.74 of the Revised Code is
guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
Sec. 4907.01. As used in sections 4907.01 to 4907.63,
inclusive, of the Revised Code:
(A) "Public utility" has the same meaning set forth as in
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Telegraph company," "telephone Telephone company,"
"electric
light company," "gas company," "natural gas company,"
"pipe-line
company," "water-works company," "sewage disposal
system
company," "heating or cooling company," "messenger
company,"
"street railway company," "suburban railroad company,"
and
"interurban railroad company," and "motor-propelled vehicle"
have
the meaning set forth same meanings as in section 4905.03 of
the Revised Code.
(C) "Railroad" has the same meaning set forth as in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(D) "Motor transportation company," "trailer," "public Public
highway," "fixed termini," "regular route," and "irregular route"
have has the same meaning set forth as in sections 4905.03 and
4921.02 of the
Revised Code.
(E) "Private motor carrier," "contract carrier by motor
vehicle," "motor vehicle," and "charter party trip" have the
meaning set forth in section 4923.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4907.14. Within thirty days after the election of the
directors of a
railroad or telegraph company doing business in
this state, the secretary of
such companies the railroad shall
forward to the public utilities commission a list of the
officers
and directors thereof, giving the place of residence and
post-office
address of each. If a change occurs in the
organization of the officers or
board of directors of a railroad
or telegraph company, the secretary shall
notify the commission of
such change and the residence and post-office address
of each of
the officers and directors.
Sec. 4907.30. No railroad company owning or operating a
railroad wholly or partly within this state shall, directly or
indirectly, issue or give a free ticket, free pass, or free
transportation for passengers, except to:
(A) Its employees and their families, its officers,
agents,
surgeons, physicians, and attorneys at law;
(B) Ministers of religion, traveling secretaries of
railroad
young men's or young women's christian
Christian associations,
inmates of hospitals and charitable
institutions, and persons
exclusively engaged in charitable work;
(C) Indigent, destitute, and homeless persons, and to such
persons when transported by charitable societies or hospitals,
and
the necessary agents employed in such transportation;
(D) Residents of the national homes or state homes for
disabled volunteer soldiers, and residents of veterans' homes,
including those about to enter and those returning home after
discharge, and boards of managers of such homes;
(E) Necessary caretakers of livestock, poultry, and fruit;
(F) Employees on sleeping cars, and or express cars;
(G) Line workers of telegraph and telephone companies;
(H) Railway mail service employees, post-office
inspectors,
custom inspectors, and immigration inspectors;
(I) News carriers on trains, baggage agents, witnesses
attending any legal investigation in which the railroad is
interested, persons injured in wrecks, and physicians and nurses
attending such persons.
As used in this section, "employee" includes furloughed,
pensioned, and superannuated employees, persons who have become
disabled or infirm in the service of any such common carrier, the
remains of a person killed in the employment of a carrier, and
ex-employees traveling for the purpose of entering the service of
any such common carrier, and "families" includes the families of
such persons and also the surviving spouses and dependent
children
of employees who died while in the service of any common
carrier.
Sec. 4909.01. As used in this chapter:
(A)
"Public utility" has the same meaning set forth as in
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B)
"Telegraph company,"
"telephone company,"
"electric
Electric
light company,"
"gas company,"
"natural gas company,"
"pipeline
company,"
"water-works company,"
"sewage disposal system
company,"
"heating or cooling company,"
"messenger company," and
"street railway
company,"
"suburban railroad company,"
"interurban
railroad
company," and
"motor-propelled vehicle" have
the same
meanings
set
forth as in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code.
(C)
"Railroad" has the same meaning set forth as in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(D)
"Motor transportation company" has the same meaning set
forth as
in sections 4905.03 and 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(E)
"Trailers,"
"public highway,"
"fixed termini,"
"regular
route," and
"irregular route" have the meanings set
forth in
section 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(F)
"Private motor carrier,"
"contract carrier by motor
vehicle,"
"motor vehicle," and
"charter party trip" have the
meanings set forth in section 4923.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4909.02. All regulations, practices, and service of
railroad companies
and telegraph companies prescribed by the
public utilities commission shall be
in force and be prima-facie
reasonable, unless suspended or found otherwise in
an action
brought for that purpose pursuant to Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905.,
4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923. of the Revised Code, or until
changed or
modified by the commission.
Sec. 4909.03. All rates, fares, charges, classifications,
and joint rates of
railroad companies and telegraph companies
fixed by the public utilities
commission shall be in force and be
prima-facie lawful for two years from the
day they take effect, or
until changed or modified by the commission or by an
order of a
competent court in an action under Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905.,
4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923., and 4925. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4909.17. No rate, joint rate, toll, classification,
charge, or rental,
no change in any rate, joint rate, toll,
classification, charge, or rental,
and no regulation or practice
affecting any rate, joint rate, toll,
classification, charge, or
rental of a public utility shall become effective
until the public
utilities commission, by order, determines it to be just and
reasonable, except as provided in this section and sections
4909.18 and
4909.19
of the Revised Code. Such sections do not
apply to any rate, joint rate,
toll,
classification, charge, or
rental, or any regulation or practice affecting
the
same, of
railroads, street and electric railways, motor transportation
companies, telegraph companies, and pipe line companies. Any
change of any
rate, joint rate, toll, classification, charge, or
rental, or any regulation
or
practice affecting the same, of
telegraph companies, may be made in the same
manner as such
changes may be made by railroad companies. All laws respecting
such changes by railroad companies apply to such changes by
telegraph
companies.
Sec. 4911.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Public utility" means every one as defined in
divisions
(A)(1), (2)(3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (14)(13) of
section 4905.03 of the Revised Code, including all public
utilities that operating operate their utilities not for profit,
except the following:
(1) Electric light companies that operate their utilities
not
for profit;
(2) Public utilities, other than telephone companies, that
are owned and operated exclusively by and solely for the
utilities' customers;
(3) Public utilities that are owned or operated by any
municipal corporation;
(4) Railroads as defined in sections 4907.02 and 4907.03
of
the Revised Code.
(B) "Residential consumer" means urban, suburban, and
rural
patrons of public utilities insofar as their needs for
utility
services are limited to their residence.
Sec. 4921.01. As used in sections 4921.01 to 4921.32,
inclusive, of the Revised Code:
(A) "Public utility" has the same meaning set forth as in
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Telegraph company," "telephone company,"
"electric
light company," "gas company," "natural gas company,"
"pipe-line
company," "water-works company," "sewage disposal
system
company," "heating or cooling company," "messenger
company,"
"street Street railway company," "suburban railroad company,"
"interurban railroad company," and "motor-propelled vehicle" have
the meaning set forth same meanings as in section 4905.03 of the
Revised Code.
(C) "Railroad" has the same meaning set forth as in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(D) "Motor transportation company" has the same meaning set
forth as
in sections 4905.03 and 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(E) "Private motor carrier," "contract carrier by motor
vehicle," "motor vehicle," and "charter party trip" have the
meaning set forth same meanings as in section 4923.02 of the
Revised Code.
Sec. 4923.01. As used in sections 4923.01 to 4923.17,
inclusive, of the Revised Code:
(A) "Public utility" has the same meaning set forth as in
section
4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Telegraph company," "telephone company,"
"electric
light company," "gas company," "natural gas company,"
"pipe-line
company," "water-works company," "sewage disposal
system
company," "heating or cooling company," "messenger
company,"
"street railway company," "suburban railroad company,"
"interurban
railroad company," and "motor-propelled Motor-propelled vehicle"
have has
the same meaning set forth as in section 4905.03 of the
Revised Code.
(C) "Railroad" has the meaning set forth in section
4907.02
of the Revised Code.
(D) "Motor transportation company" has the same meaning set
forth as
in sections 4905.03 and 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
(E)(D) "Trailer," "public highway," "fixed termini," and
"regular
route," and "irregular route" have the meaning set forth
same meanings as in
section 4921.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4927.01. (A) As used in this chapter:
(A)(1) "Advanced services," "broadband service," and
"information services" have the same meanings as in division (E)
of section 4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Basic local exchange service" means:
(1) End residential-end-user access to and usage of
telephone-company-provided services over a single line or
small-business-end-user
access
to and usage of
telephone-company-provided
services over the primary access line
of service, which in the case of residential and small-business
access and usage is not part of a bundle or package of services,
that
enable does both of the following:
(a) Enables a
customer, over the
primary line
serving the
customer's
premises,
to
originate or
receive voice
communications
within a
local
service
area, and
that consist as
that area exists on the effective date of
the
amendment of this
section by .... B. No. .... of the 128th
general
assembly;
(b) Consists of all of the following services:
(a)(i) Local dial tone service;
(b)(ii) For residential end users, flat-rate telephone
exchange
service;
(iii) Touch tone dialing service;
(c)(iv) Access to and usage of 9-1-1 services, where such
services
are available;
(d)(v) Access to operator services and directory assistance;
(e)(vi) Provision of a telephone directory in any reasonable
format for no additional charge and a listing in that
directory,
with reasonable accommodations made for private listings;
(f)(vii) Per call, caller identification blocking services;
(g)(viii) Access to telecommunications relay service; and
(h)(ix) Access to toll presubscription, interexchange or toll
providers or both, and networks of other telephone companies.
(2)(3) "Carrier access" means access to and usage of
telephone
company-provided
facilities that enable end user
customers
originating or receiving
voice grade, data, or image
communications, over a local exchange
telephone company network
operated within a local service area, to
access interexchange or
other networks and includes special access.
(B)
"Cable television service" means any transmission of
video or other programming service to subscribers and any
subscriber interaction required for the selection of that video
or
other programming service.
(C)(4) "Federal poverty level" means the income level
represented by the poverty guidelines as revised annually by the
United States department of health and human services in
accordance with section 673(2) of the "Omnibus Reconciliation Act
of 1981," 95 Stat. 511, 42 U.S.C. 9902, as amended, for a family
size equal to the size of the family of the person whose income is
being determined.
(5) "Incumbent local exchange carrier" means, with respect to
an area, the local exchange carrier that:
(a) On February 8, 1996, provided telephone exchange service
in such area; and
(b)(i) On February 8, 1996, was deemed to be a member of the
exchange carrier association pursuant to 47 C.F.R. 69.601(b); or
(ii) Is a person or entity that, on or after February 8,
1996, became a successor or assign of a member described in
division (A)(5)(b)(i) of this section.
(6) "Internet protocol-enabled services" means any services,
capabilities, functionalities, or applications that are provided
using
internet protocol or a successor protocol to enable an end
user to
send or receive data, video, or voice communications in
internet
protocol format or a successor format, regardless of how
any particular such service is classified by the federal
communications commission, and includes voice over internet
protocol service.
(7)
"Local service area" means the geographic area that may
encompass more than one exchange area and within
which a telephone
customer may complete a call to another
telephone customer without
being assessed long distance toll
charges at not more than the
basic local exchange service rate.
(D)
"Public telecommunications service" means the
transmission by a telephone company, by electromagnetic or other
means, of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, messages, or
data originating and terminating in this state regardless of
actual call routing, but does not include a system, including its
construction, maintenance, or operation, for the provision of
telecommunications service, or any portion of such service, by
any
entity for the sole and exclusive use of that entity, its
parent,
a subsidiary, or an affiliated entity, and not for
resale,
directly or indirectly; the provision of terminal
equipment used
to originate or terminate telecommunications
service; broadcast
transmission by radio, television, or
satellite broadcast stations
regulated by the federal government;
or cable television service.
(E)(8) "Small business" mean a nonresidential service
customer with three or fewer basic local exchange service access
lines.
(9) "Telecommunications" means the transmission, between or
among points specified by the user, of information of the user's
choosing, without change in the form or content of the information
as sent and received.
(10) "Telecommunications service" means the offering of
telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such
classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the
public, regardless of the facilities used.
(11)
"Telephone company" means any a company described in
division (A)(2)(1) of section 4905.03 of the Revised Code that is
a
public utility under section 4905.02 of the Revised Code and
that provides telecommunications service other than advanced,
broadband, information, or internet protocol-enabled services.
(12) "Telephone exchange service" means telecommunications
service that is within a telephone exchange, or within a connected
system of telephone exchanges within the same exchange area
operated to furnish to subscribers intercommunicating service of
the character ordinarily furnished by a single exchange, and that
is covered by the exchange service charge; or comparable service
provided through a system of switches, transmission equipment, or
other facilities, or combination thereof, by which a customer can
originate and terminate a telecommunications service.
(13) "Telephone toll service" means telephone service between
stations in different exchange areas for which there is made a
separate charge not included in contracts with customers for
exchange service.
(14) "Voice over internet protocol service" means a service
that uses a broadband connection from an end user's location and
enables real-time, two-way, voice communications that originate or
terminate from the user's location using internet protocol or a
successor protocol, including, but not limited to, any such
service that permits an end user to receive calls from and
terminate calls to the public switched network.
(15) "Wireless service" means federally licensed commercial
mobile service as defined in the "Telecommunications Act of 1996,"
110 Stat. 61, 151, 153, 47 U.S.C. 332(d) and further defined as
commercial mobile radio service in 47 C.F.R. 20.3. Under division
(A)(15) of this section, commercial mobile radio service is
specifically limited to
mobile telephone, mobile cellular
telephone, paging, personal
communications services, and
specialized mobile radio service
provided by a common carrier in
this state and excludes fixed
wireless service.
(16) "Wireless service provider" means a facilities-based
provider of wireless service to one or more end users in this
state.
(B) The
definitions of this section shall be applied
consistent with the
definitions in the "Balanced Budget Act of
1997," 111 Stat. 258,
47 U.S.C. 153, and with federal decisions
interpreting those
definitions.
Sec. 4927.02. (A) It is the policy of this state to:
(1) Ensure the availability of adequate basic local exchange
service to
citizens throughout the state;
(2) Provide incentives for competing telephone companies to
provide advanced, high-quality telecommunications service to
citizens throughout the state;
(3) Rely primarily on market forces, where they are present
and capable of supporting a healthy and sustainable, competitive
telecommunications market, to maintain just and reasonable rates,
rentals, tolls, and charges for
public
telecommunications service
levels for telecommunications services at reasonable rates;
(3)(4) Encourage innovation in the telecommunications
industry and the deployment of advanced telecommunications
services;
(4)(5) Create a regulatory climate that provides incentives
to create and maintain high technology jobs for Ohioans;
(6) Promote diversity and options in the supply of public
telecommunications
services and equipment throughout the state;
(5)(7) Recognize the continuing emergence of a competitive
telecommunications
environment through flexible regulatory
treatment of public telecommunications
services where appropriate;
(6)(8) Consider the regulatory treatment of competing and
functionally equivalent services in determining the scope of and,
to the extent practicable, provide for equivalent regulation of
all telephone companies and services that are subject to the
jurisdiction of the public utilities commission;
(7)(9) Not unduly favor or advantage any provider and not
unduly disadvantage providers of competing and functionally
equivalent services; and
(8)(10) Protect the affordability of telephone service for
low-income subscribers through the continuation of federal
lifeline assistance programs, with an appropriate cost recovery
mechanism for any additional assistance.
(B) The public utilities commission shall consider the policy
set forth in
this section in carrying out sections 4927.03 and
4927.04 of the Revised Code and in reducing or
eliminating the
regulation of telephone
companies under those sections as to any
public telecommunications
service this chapter.
Sec. 4927.03. (A) The public utilities commission has
jurisdiction over telecommunications service and telephone
companies in this state as described in sections 4927.01 to
4927.18 of the Revised Code. With respect to internet
protocol-enabled services, including voice over internet protocol
service, the commission has jurisdiction to act consistent with
section 4905.042 of the Revised Code, including performing the
acts of a
state commission, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153, under
federal law,
and including adjudication of disputes between
telephone companies
and providers of internet protocol-enabled
services, including
voice over internet protocol service, under
section 4927.18 of the
Revised Code.
(B) The commission has no authority over a telecommunications
service that is not commercially available on the effective date
of this section, unless the commission, upon a finding that the
exercise of that jurisdiction is necessary for the protection,
welfare, and safety of the public, adopts rules specifying the
necessary regulation.
(C) The commission has no authority over wireless service or
wireless service providers, except as provided under sections
4905.84, 4927.04, 4927.05, 4927.18,
4931.40 to 4931.70, and
4931.99 of the Revised Code and only to
the extent
authorized by
federal law, including federal
regulations. The
requirements of
sections 4905.10, 4905.14, and
4911.18 of the
Revised Code shall
apply to a wireless service
provider. The
commission has such
authority as is necessary to
enforce the
sections listed in this
division.
(D) For purposes of sections 4927.01 to 4927.18 of the
Revised
Code, sections 4903.02, 4903.03, 4903.24, 4903.25,
4905.04,
4905.05, 4905.06, 4905.13, 4905.15, 4905.16, 4905.17,
4905.22,
4905.26, 4905.27, 4905.28, 4905.29, 4905.31, 4905.32,
4905.33,
4905.34, 4905.37, 4905.38, 4905.39, 4905.48, 4905.54,
4905.55,
4905.56, and 4905.60 of the Revised Code do not apply to
a
telephone company or, as applicable, to an officer, employee,
or
agent of such company or provider, except to the extent
necessary
for the commission to carry out sections 4927.01 to
4927.18 of the
Revised Code.
(E) Except as specifically authorized in sections 4927.01 to
4927.18 of the Revised Code, the commission has no authority over
the quality of service provided by, and the service rates, terms,
and conditions of, a telephone company.
(F) The commission shall initially adopt the rules required
by this chapter not later than one hundred twenty days after the
effective date of this section. Subject to the authority granted
to the commission under this chapter, the commission may adopt
other rules as it finds necessary to carry out this chapter.
Sec. 4927.04. The public utilities commission has such power
and
jurisdiction as is reasonably necessary for it to perform
the
obligations authorized by or delegated to it under federal
law,
including federal regulations, which obligations include
performing the acts of a state commission as defined in the
"Balanced Budget Act of 1997," 111 Stat. 258, 47 U.S.C. 153 and
include, but are not limited to, carrying out any of the
following:
(A) Rights and obligations under the interconnection
provisions of Pub. L. No. 106-81, 113 Stat. 1287, 47 U.S.C. 251;
(B) Authority to mediate and arbitrate disputes under the
"Telecommunications Act of 1996," 110 Stat. 66, 47 U.S.C. 252;
(C) Administration of telephone numbers and number
portability;
(D) Certification for universal service funding;
(E) Administration of truth-in-billing;
(F) Administration of customer proprietary network
information;
(G) Outage reporting consistent with federal requirements.
Sec. 4927.05. (A)(1) No telephone company shall operate in
this state without first obtaining a certificate from the public
utilities commission, and no wireless service provider shall
operate in this state without first being registered with the
commission. A telephone company not holding such a certificate on
the effective date of this section, or
a wireless service
provider not so registered on that date, shall file, respectively,
a certification application or registration with the commission,
each
in the manner set forth in rules adopted by the commission.
The
application or registration shall include all of the
following:
(a) The company's or provider's name and address;
(b) The name of a contact person and that person's contact
information;
(c) A service description, including the general geographic
areas served, but not maps of service areas;
(d) Evidence of registration with the secretary of state;
(e) Evidence of notice to the public utilities tax division
of the department of taxation of the company's or provider's
intent to provide service;
(f) As to a certification application, evidence of
financial, technical, and managerial ability to provide adequate
service to the public consistent with law.
Division (A)(1) of this section does not apply to any
incumbent local exchange carrier.
(2) The commission may suspend or reject the certification
application of a
telephone company if it finds, within thirty
days after the
application's submission and based on the evidence
provided under
division (A)(1)(f) of this section, that the
applicant lacks
financial, technical, or managerial ability
sufficient to provide
adequate service to the public consistent
with law.
(B) The commission shall require a telephone company to
update its certification, and a wireless service provider to
update its registration, and provide any necessary notice to
customers, in the manner set forth in rules adopted by the
commission, if any of the filed information described in divisions
(A)(1)(a)
to (f) of this section changes.
Sec. 4927.06. (A) No telephone company shall commit any
unfair or deceptive act or practice in connection with the
offering or provision of any telecommunications service in this
state. A failure to comply with any of the following requirements
shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice by a
telephone company:
(1) Any communication by the company, including, but not
limited to, a solicitation, offer, or contract term or condition,
shall be truthful, clear, conspicuous, and accurate in disclosing
any material terms and conditions of service and any material
exclusions or limitations. This requirement does not apply where
it is not practicable to include that information.
(2) Any written service solicitation, marketing material,
offer, contract, or agreement, as well as any written response
from the company to a service-related inquiry or complaint that
the
company receives from a customer or others, shall disclose
the
company's name and contact information. This requirement does
not
apply where it is not practicable to include that
information.
(3) The company shall inform its customers, as applicable and
in any reasonable manner, of their rights and responsibilities
concerning inside wire, the repair and maintenance of
customer-owned equipment,
and the use of a network interface
device, and of any
charges that the company imposes for a
diagnostic visit,
consistent with rules adopted by the
commission.
(4) The company shall not commit any act, practice, or
omission that the
commission determines, by rulemaking under
section 4927.03 of the
Revised Code or adjudication under section
4927.18 of the Revised
Code, constitutes an unfair or deceptive
act or practice in
connection with the offering or provision of
telecommunications
service in this state.
(B) The commission shall provide notice to all telephone
companies specifying any act, practice, or omission that it
prescribes pursuant to division (A)(4) of this section. No
telephone company is liable for any act, practice, or omission
absent that notice and adequate time for implementation.
(C) This section does not apply to wireless service. A
consumer purchase of wireless service or a related product shall
constitute a consumer transaction for purposes of sections 1345.01
to 1345.13 of the Revised Code, notwithstanding any provision of
those sections to the contrary.
Sec. 4927.07. (A) A telephone company may withdraw any
telecommunications service if it gives at least thirty days' prior
notice to the public utilities commission and to its affected
customers.
(B) A telephone company may abandon entirely
telecommunications service in this state if it gives at least
thirty days' prior notice to the commission, to its wholesale and
retail customers, and to
any telephone company wholesale provider
of its services.
(C) Divisions (A) and (B) of this section do not apply to
basic local exchange service provided by an incumbent local
exchange carrier.
Sec. 4927.08. (A) A telephone
company providing basic local
exchange service shall conduct its
operations so as to ensure
that the service is available,
adequate, and reliable, consistent
with applicable industry
standards.
(B) The public utilities commission shall adopt rules
applicable to telephone company provision of basic local exchange
service that conform to the following requirements, and no other
rules regarding that service except as expressly authorized in
this chapter:
(1) Basic local exchange service shall be installed within
five business days of the receipt by a telephone company of a
completed application for that service.
(2) A basic local exchange service outage or
service-affecting problem shall be repaired within seventy-two
hours after it is reported to the telephone company.
(3) A telephone company may disconnect basic local exchange
service for nonpayment of any amount past due on a billed account
not earlier than fourteen days after the due
date of the
customer's bill, provided that the customer is given
notice of
the disconnection seven days before the disconnection.
(4) Reconnection of service previously disconnected for
nonpayment shall be completed not later than five business days
after the receipt of payment in full by the telephone company of
the amount owed.
(5) A telephone company may require a deposit, not to exceed
a reasonable estimate of three months' service charges, for the
installation of basic local exchange service for any person that
it determines, in its discretion, is not creditworthy.
(6) If residential basic local exchange service is
disconnected for nonpayment, a telephone company shall maintain
the customer's access to 9-1-1 service for a period of at
least
fourteen days following the disconnection.
(7) If a customer disconnected for nonpayment of past due
charges enters into a mutually agreed-upon payment arrangement, a
telephone company shall, upon request, reconnect that customer to
basic local exchange service, without requiring the payment of the
full amount due.
Sec. 4927.09. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, an incumbent local exchange carrier shall provide basic
local exchange service on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis
to all persons or entities in its service area requesting that
service.
(B)(1) An incumbent local exchange carrier is not obligated
to construct facilities and provide basic local exchange service,
or any other telecommunications service, to the occupants of
multitenant real estate, including, but not limited to,
apartments, condominiums, subdivisions, office buildings, or
office parks, if the owner, operator, or developer of the
multitenant real estate does any of the following to the benefit
of any other telecommunications service provider:
(a) Permits only one provider of telecommunications service
to install the company's facilities or equipment during the
construction or development phase of the multitenant real estate;
(b) Accepts or agrees to accept incentives or rewards that
are offered by a telecommunications service provider to the owner,
operator, developer, or occupants of the multitenant real estate
and are contingent on the provision of telecommunications service
by that provider to the occupants, to the exclusion of services
provided by other telecommunications service providers;
(c) Collects from the occupants of the multitenant real
estate any charges for the provision of telecommunications service
to the occupants, including charges collected through rents, fees,
or dues.
(2) A carrier not obligated to construct facilities and
provide basic local exchange service pursuant to division
(B)(1)
of this section shall notify the public utilities
commission of
that fact within one hundred twenty days of
receiving knowledge
thereof.
(3) The commission by rule may establish a process for
determining a necessary successor telephone company to provide
service to real estate described in division (B)(1) of this
section when the circumstances described in that division cease to
exist.
(4) An incumbent local exchange carrier that receives a
request from any person or entity to provide service under the
circumstances described in division (B)(1) of this section shall,
within fifteen days of such receipt, provide notice to the person
or entity specifying whether the carrier will provide the
requested service. If the carrier provides notice that it will not
serve the person or entity, the notice shall describe the person's
or entity's
right to file a complaint with the commission under
section
4927.18 of the Revised Code within thirty days after
receipt of
the notice. In resolving any such complaint, the
commission's
determination shall be limited to whether any
circumstance
described in divisions (B)(1)(a) to (c) of this
section exists.
Upon a finding by the commission that such a
circumstance exists,
the complaint shall be dismissed. Upon a
finding that such
circumstances do not exist, the person's or
entity's sole remedy
shall be provision by the carrier of the
requested service within
a reasonable time.
(C) An incumbent local exchange carrier may apply to the
commission for a waiver from compliance with division (A) of this
section. Within ninety days of the application's filing, the
commission either shall issue an order granting the waiver if,
upon investigation, it finds the waiver to be just, reasonable,
and not contrary to the public interest, or shall issue an order
denying the waiver based on a failure to meet those standards and
specifying the reasons for the denial.
Sec. 4927.10. (A)(1) Except as provided in division (A)(2)
of this section, and only once during the first twelve months
following the effective date of this section and upon not less
than thirty days' notice to the public utilities commission and to
affected
customers, an incumbent local exchange carrier may
increase its
rates for basic local exchange service by not more
than one dollar
twenty-five cents above the rates in effect on
the effective date
of this section.
(2) If the incumbent local exchange carrier increased those
rates within twelve months prior to the effective date of this
section, the increase allowed by division (A)(1) of this section
shall not be instituted until twelve months after the date of that
increase.
(B) In subsequent years and upon not less than thirty days'
notice to the commission and to affected
customers, an incumbent
local exchange carrier may increase its
rates for basic local
exchange service by not more than one dollar
twenty-five cents
above the basic local exchange service rates in
effect at the end
of the preceding twelve-month period. No banking
of permissible
rate increases is permitted.
(C) The rates, terms, and conditions for basic local exchange
service and for installation and reconnection fees for basic local
exchange service shall be tariffed in the manner prescribed by
rule adopted by the commission.
Sec. 4927.11. (A) An incumbent local exchange carrier that
is an
eligible telecommunications carrier under 47 C.F.R. 54.201
shall
implement lifeline service throughout the carrier's
traditional
service area for its eligible residential customers.
(1) Lifeline service shall consist of all of the following:
(a) Flat-rate, monthly, primary access line service with
touch-tone service, at a recurring discount to the monthly basic
local exchange service rate that provides for the maximum
contribution of federally available assistance;
(b) Not more than once at the same address in a twelve-month
period, a waiver of all nonrecurring service order charges for
establishing service;
(c) Free blocking of toll service, 900 service, and 976
service.
The carrier may offer to lifeline service customers any other
services and bundles or packages of service at the prevailing
prices, subject to the carrier's prevailing credit requirements.
(2) The carrier also shall offer special payment arrangements
to lifeline service customers that have past due bills for
regulated local service charges, with the initial payment not to
exceed twenty-five dollars before service is installed, and the
balance for regulated local service charges to be paid over six,
equal, monthly payments. Lifeline service customers with past due
bills for toll service charges shall have toll restricted service
until the past due toll service charges have been paid or until
the customer establishes service with another toll service
provider.
(3) All other aspects of the carrier's state-specific
lifeline service shall be consistent with federal requirements. No
carrier shall be required to perform any outreach, marketing, or
promotion of lifeline service over and above that which is
federally required.
(B) The rates, terms, and conditions for the carrier's
lifeline service shall be tariffed in the manner prescribed by
rule adopted by the commission.
(C)(1) Eligibility for lifeline service under division (A) of
this section shall be based on either of the following criteria:
(a) A person's verifiable participation in any federal or
state low-income assistance program that limits assistance based
on household income at or below one hundred fifty per cent of the
federal poverty level;
(b) Other verification that a person's household income is at
or below one hundred fifty per cent of the federal poverty level.
The commission shall work with the appropriate state agencies
that administer federal or state low-income assistance programs
and with carriers to negotiate and acquire information necessary
to verify a person's eligibility and the data necessary to
automatically enroll eligible persons for lifeline service.
(2) The carrier shall provide written notification if the
carrier determines that a person is not eligible for lifeline
service and shall provide the person an additional thirty days to
prove eligibility.
(3) The carrier shall provide written customer notification
if a customer's lifeline service is to be terminated due to
failure to submit acceptable documentation for continued
eligibility for that assistance and shall provide the customer an
additional sixty days to submit acceptable documentation of
continued eligibility or dispute the carrier's findings regarding
termination of the lifeline service.
(D) An incumbent local exchange carrier or eligible
telecommunications carrier may establish a surcharge, applied to
end users of the carrier's telecommunications service other
than
lifeline service customers, to recover any lifeline
service
discounts and any other lifeline service expenses that the
commission prescribes by rule and that are not recovered through
federal or state
funding. The commission has the authority to
review the surcharge,
which shall be established to prevent
overrecovery by the carrier.
Sec. 4927.12. The public utilities commission may adopt
rules requiring any telephone company that is a telephone toll
service provider to offer discounts for operator-assisted and
direct-dial services for persons with communication disabilities.
Sec. 4927.13. (A) The rates, terms, and conditions for
carrier access, N-1-1 services, including 9-1-1 service, pole
attachments and conduit occupancy, pay telephone access lines,
toll presubscription, and telecommunications relay service
provided in this state by a telephone company shall be approved
and tariffed in the manner prescribed
by rule adopted by the
public utilities commission and shall be
subject to the
applicable laws, including rules or regulations
adopted and
orders issued by the commission or the federal
communications
commission and, including, as to 9-1-1 service,
sections 4931.40
to 4931.70 and 4931.99 of the Revised Code.
(B) The commission may order changes in a telephone
company's rates for carrier access in this state subject to this
division. The commission shall not require a telephone company to
reduce its rates for carrier access that are in effect on
the
effective date of this section except on a revenue-neutral
basis,
and any resulting rate changes necessary to comply with division
(B) of this section shall be in addition to any rate adjustment
authorized under section 4927.10 of the Revised Code. The
commission has authority to address
carrier access
policy and to
create and administer mechanisms for
carrier access
reform,
including, but not limited to, high cost
support.
Sec. 4927.14. (A) The public utilities commission shall not
establish any requirements for the unbundling of network elements,
for the resale of telecommunications service, or for network
interconnection that exceed or are inconsistent with or prohibited
by federal law, including federal regulations.
(B) The commission shall not establish pricing for such
unbundled elements, resale, or interconnection that is
inconsistent with or prohibited by federal law, including federal
regulations, and shall comply with federal law, including federal
regulations, in establishing such pricing.
Sec. 4927.15. A telephone company shall provide at least
fifteen days' advance notice to its affected customers of any
material
change in the rates, terms, and conditions of a service
and any
change in the company's operations that are not
transparent to
customers and may impact service.
Sec. 4927.16. The public utilities commission may adopt
rules regarding the rates, terms, and conditions of intrastate
telecommunications service initiated from a telephone instrument
set aside for use by inmates or juvenile offenders by authorities
of a secured correctional facility.
Sec. 4927.17. The public utilities commission may
investigate or examine the books, records, or practices of any
telephone company, but only to the extent of the commission's
jurisdiction over the company under sections 4927.01 to 4927.18 of
the Revised Code. Subject to that limitation, the commission may
do any of the following:
(A) Through its commissioners or by inspectors or
employees
authorized by it, examine the books, records,
contracts,
documents, and papers of any such company
for any purpose
incidental to the commission's authority under
those sections;
(B) By subpoena duces tecum,
compel the production of such
books, records, contracts,
documents, and papers;
(C) Compel the attendance of
such witnesses as it requires
to give evidence in connection with
such an investigation.
Sec. 4927.18. (A) Any person may file with the public
utilities commission, or the commission may initiate, a complaint
against a telephone company other than a wireless service
provider, alleging that any rate, practice, or service of the
company is unjust, unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory, or in
violation of or noncompliance with any provision of sections
4927.01 to 4927.17 of the Revised Code or a rule or order adopted
or
issued under those sections. Any dispute between telephone
companies, between telephone companies and wireless service
providers, or between wireless service providers that is within
the commission's jurisdiction under sections 4927.01 to 4927.17 of
the Revised Code may be brought by a filing pursuant to this
division.
(B) If it appears that reasonable grounds for complaint are
stated by a complaint filed under division (A) of this section,
the commission shall fix a time for hearing and shall notify
complainants and the telephone company or wireless service
provider thereof. The parties to the complaint shall be entitled
to be heard, represented by counsel, and to have a process for the
attendance of witnesses.
(C) If the commission after hearing in a proceeding under
division (B) of this section makes a finding against the party
complained of, the commission may do either or both of the
following:
(1) Determine, but only to the extent authorized under
sections 4927.01 to 4927.17 of the Revised Code, the rate,
practice, or service thereafter to be adopted and observed,
including any appropriate remedy for a complaint;
(2) Assess a forfeiture of not more than ten thousand dollars
for each violation or failure. Each day's continuance of the
violation or failure is a separate offense, and all occurrences of
a violation or failure on each such day shall be deemed one
violation. All forfeitures authorized under this section are
cumulative, and a suit for and recovery of one does not bar the
recovery of any other. Collected forfeitures shall be deposited
into the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue fund.
Actions to recover such forfeitures shall be prosecuted in the
name of the state and shall be brought in the court of common
pleas of any county in which the party complained of is located.
The attorney
general shall commence such actions and prosecute
them when the commission directs.
(D) The commission also may suspend, rescind, or
conditionally rescind the certification of a telephone company
under section 4927.05 of the Revised Code under either of the
following circumstances:
(1) The commission determines, after notice and opportunity
for hearing, that the telephone company has failed to comply with
any provision of section 4905.10 or 4905.14 of the Revised Code.
(2) The commission determines in a proceeding under division
(B) of this section that the telephone company has willfully or
repeatedly failed to comply with any other applicable state or
federal law.
(E) The commission has no authority to order credits to any
customer of a telephone company, except in response to a complaint
determined in accordance with this section.
(F) Upon request of the commission, the attorney general may
commence and prosecute such action or proceeding in mandamus, by
injunction, or by other appropriate civil remedy in the name of
the state, as is directed by the commission, alleging any
violation or noncompliance specified in division (A) of this
section, and praying for such proper relief as the court may
prescribe.
Sec. 4929.02. (A) It is the policy of this state to,
throughout
this state:
(1) Promote the availability to consumers of adequate,
reliable, and
reasonably priced natural gas services and goods;
(2) Promote the availability of unbundled and comparable
natural gas
services and goods that provide wholesale and retail
consumers with the
supplier, price, terms, conditions, and quality
options they elect to meet
their respective needs;
(3) Promote diversity of natural gas supplies and suppliers,
by giving
consumers effective choices over the selection of those
supplies and
suppliers;
(4) Encourage innovation and market access for
cost-effective
supply- and
demand-side natural gas services and
goods;
(5) Encourage cost-effective and efficient access to
information regarding
the operation of the distribution systems of
natural gas companies in order to
promote effective customer
choice of natural gas services and goods;
(6) Recognize the continuing emergence of competitive
natural
gas markets
through the development and implementation of
flexible
regulatory treatment;
(7) Promote an expeditious transition to the provision of
natural gas
services and goods in a manner that achieves effective
competition and
transactions between willing buyers and willing
sellers to reduce or eliminate
the need for regulation of natural
gas services and goods under
Chapters 4905. and 4909. of the
Revised Code;
(8) Promote effective competition in the provision of
natural
gas services
and goods by avoiding subsidies flowing to or
from
regulated natural gas
services and goods;
(9) Ensure that the risks and rewards of a natural gas
company's offering
of nonjurisdictional and exempt services and
goods do not affect the rates,
prices, terms, or conditions of
nonexempt, regulated services and goods of a
natural gas company
and do not affect the financial capability of a natural
gas
company to comply with the policy of this state specified in this
section;
(10) Facilitate the state's competitiveness in the global
economy;
(11) Facilitate additional choices for the supply of natural
gas for residential consumers, including aggregation;
(12) Promote an alignment of natural gas company interests
with consumer interest in energy efficiency and energy
conservation.
(B) The public utilities commission and the office of the
consumers' counsel shall follow the policy
specified in this
section in exercising their respective authorities
relative to
sections 4929.03 to
4929.30 of the Revised Code.
(C) Nothing in Chapter 4929. of the Revised Code shall be
construed to
alter the public utilities commission's construction
or application of
division (A)(6)(5) of section 4905.03 of the
Revised Code.
Sec. 4931.01. As used in sections 4931.02 to 4931.05 of the
Revised Code, "telephone company" has the same meaning as in
section 4927.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4931.02. A telegraph telephone company may construct,
own, use, and maintain
telegraph telecommunications lines and
facilities, whether described in its original articles of
incorporation
or
not, and whether such lines or facilities are
wholly within or partly beyond the limits of
this state. It may
join with another company or association in conducting,
leasing,
owning, using, or maintaining such lines or facilities, on terms
agreed upon
between
the directors or managers of the respective
companies. Such companies may own
and hold any interest in such
lines or facilities, or become lessees thereof on such terms
as
they agree upon, but no such company and the owner of rights of
way shall
contract for the exclusive use of such rights of way for
telegraphic telecommunications purposes. A telephone company's
lines and facilities shall not unreasonably interfere with the
practical uses of the property on which they are located. A
telephone company shall repair defective lines and facilities,
which repairs shall be consistent with reasonable business
practices and applicable industry standards.
Sec. 4931.03. (A) A telegraph or telephone company may do
either of the following in the unincorporated area of the
township:
(1) Construct telegraph or telephone lines telecommunications
lines or facilities upon and along any of the public roads and
highways and across any waters within that area by the erection of
the necessary fixtures, including posts, piers, or abutments for
sustaining the cords or wires of those lines or facilities. Those
The lines and facilities shall be constructed so as not to
unreasonably
incommode the public in the use of the roads or
highways, or
endanger or injuriously interrupt the navigation of
the waters.
(2) Construct telegraph or telephone telecommunications lines
and the fixtures necessary for containing and protecting those
lines facilities in such a manner as to protect them beneath the
surface of any of the public roads and highways and beneath any
waters within that area. Those lines and facilities shall be
constructed so as not to incommode the public in the use of the
roads or highways, or endanger or injuriously interrupt the
navigation of the waters.
(B)(1) This section does not authorize the construction of a
bridge across any waters within the state.
(2) Construction under this section is subject to section
5571.16 of the Revised Code, as applicable, and any other
applicable law, including, but not limited to, any law requiring
approval of the legislative authority, the county engineer, or the
director of transportation.
Sec. 4931.04. A telegraph telephone company may enter upon
any land held by an
individual or a corporation, whether such land
was acquired by purchase,
appropriation, or by virtue of any
provision in its charter, for the purpose
of
making preliminary
examination and surveys, with a view to the location and
construction of telegraph telecommunications lines and facilities,
and may appropriate so much of such land in
accordance with
sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code, as
it
deems necessary for the construction and maintenance of its
telegraph
poles,
cables, conduits, piers, abutments, wires, and
other necessary fixtures,
stations those lines and facilities, and
the right of way in, through, over, across, and under such lands
and adjacent lands, sufficient to enable it to construct and
repair its the lines and facilities.
Sec. 4931.11 4931.05. Any company organized at any time to
transact a telegraph,
telephone, or communications business may
construct, reconstruct, own, use,
lease, operate, maintain, and
improve communications systems for the
transmission of voices,
sounds, writings, signs, signals, pictures, visions,
images, or
other forms of intelligence, as public utility services, by means
of
wire, cable, radio, radio relay, or other telecommunications
facilities, methods, or media. Any
such company has the powers and
is subject to the restrictions prescribed in
sections 4931.02 to
4931.22 4931.04 of the Revised Code, for telegraph or
telephone
companies.
Sec. 4931.35 4931.06. (A) As used in this section and in
sections
2317.02 and 2921.22 of the Revised Code:
(1) "Communications assistant" means a person who
transliterates conversation from text to voice and from voice to
text between the end users of a telecommunications relay service
provided pursuant to this section or Title II of the
"Communications Act of 1934," 104 Stat. 366 (1990), 47 U.S.C.
225.
(2) "Communicative impairment" means deafness or speech
impairment.
(3) "Deafness" means a hearing loss that prevents a person
from being able to understand speech over the telephone.
(4) "Speech impairment" means a speech impairment that
renders a person's speech unintelligible on the telephone.
(5) "Telecommunications relay service" means telephone
transmission services that provide the ability for an individual
who has a communicative impairment to engage in a communication
by
wire or radio with a hearing individual in a manner that is
functionally equivalent to the ability of an individual who does
not have a communicative impairment to communicate using voice
communication services by wire or radio. "Telecommunications
relay
service" includes services that enable two-way
communication
between an individual who uses a text telephone or
other nonvoice
terminal device and an individual who does not use
such a device.
(B) Any communication made by or to a person with a
communicative impairment with the assistance of a communications
assistant at a telecommunications relay service is confidential
and privileged and shall not be disclosed by the communications
assistant in any civil case or proceeding or in any legislative
or
administrative proceeding, unless the person making the
communication and the person to whom the communication is made
each waive the privilege of confidentiality or the obligation to
divulge the communication is mandated by federal law or
regulation
or pursuant to subpoena in a criminal proceeding.
(C) A communications assistant or a telecommunications
relay
service provider is not subject to criminal prosecution and
is not
liable in damages in any civil action on account of the
act of
transliterating or the content of any communication
transliterated, or any injury, death, or loss to person or
property allegedly arising from the act of transliterating or the
content of any communication transliterated, between the end
users
of a telecommunications relay service, except in cases of
willful
or wanton misconduct.
Sec. 4931.99. (A) Whoever violates division (D) of section
4931.49 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the
fourth degree.
(B) Whoever violates section 4931.25, 4931.26, 4931.27,
4931.30, or 4931.31 of the Revised Code is guilty of a
misdemeanor
of the third degree.
(C) Whoever violates section 4931.28 of the Revised Code
is
guilty of a felony of the fourth degree.
(D) Whoever violates section 4931.29 or division (B) of
section 4931.35 4931.06 of the Revised Code is guilty of a
misdemeanor in
the first degree.
(E)(C) Whoever violates division (E) or (F) of
section
4931.49 or division (B)(2) of section 4931.66
of the Revised Code
is guilty of a misdemeanor of
the fourth degree on a first offense
and a felony of the
fifth degree on each subsequent offense.
(F)(D) Whoever violates section 4931.75 of the Revised
Code
is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense and a
misdemeanor
of
the first degree on each subsequent offense.
Sec. 4933.14. (A) and except Except as otherwise provided in
division (B) of this section Sections, sections 4931.02
to 4931.22
4931.04 and 4933.13 to 4933.16 of the
Revised Code apply to a
company organized for supplying public and
private buildings,
manufacturing establishments, streets, alleys, lanes, lands,
squares, and
public places with electric light and power, and to
an automatic package
carrier. Every and except Except as otherwise
provided in
division (B) of this section, every such company has
the powers
and is subject to the restrictions prescribed
for a
telegraph telephone company by sections 4931.02 to 4931.22 4931.04
of the Revised
Code.
(B) Sections Section 4931.04, 4931.06, 4931.07, 4931.12, and
4931.13 of the Revised
Code apply applies to a company organized
for supplying electricity only if the
company transmits or
distributes electricity, and every such company has the
powers and
is subject to the restrictions prescribed for a telegraph
telephone company
by those sections except for the purpose of
erecting, operating, or
maintaining an electric generating
station.
Sec. 4933.18. (A) In a prosecution for a theft
offense, as
defined in
section 2913.01 of the Revised Code, that
involves
alleged tampering with a gas, electric, steam, or water meter,
conduit, or
attachment of a utility that has been disconnected by
the
utility, proof
that a meter, conduit, or attachment of a
utility has been
tampered with is prima-facie evidence that the
person who is
obligated to pay for the service rendered through
the meter,
conduit, or attachment and is in possession or control
of the
meter, conduit, or attachment at the time the tampering
occurred
has caused the tampering with intent to commit a theft
offense.
In a prosecution for a theft offense, as
defined in section
2913.01
of the Revised Code, that involves the
alleged
reconnection of a gas, electric, steam, or water meter,
conduit,
or attachment
of a utility that has been disconnected by the
utility, proof
that a meter, conduit, or attachment disconnected
by a
utility has been reconnected without the consent of the
utility
is
prima-facie evidence that the person in possession or
control of
the meter, conduit, or attachment at the time of the
reconnection
has reconnected the meter, conduit, or attachment
with intent to
commit a theft offense.
(B) As used in this section:
(1) "Utility" means any electric light
company, gas company,
natural gas company, pipe-line company,
water-works company, or
heating or cooling company, as defined by
division (A)(3), (4),
(5), (6), (7), or (8), or (9) of section 4905.03 of
the Revised
Code, its lessees, trustees, or receivers, or any
similar utility
owned or operated by a political subdivision.
(2) "Tamper" means to interfere
with, damage, or by-pass a
utility meter, conduit, or attachment
with the intent to impede
the correct registration of a meter or
the proper functions of a
conduit or attachment so as to reduce
the amount of utility
service that is registered on
the
meter.
Sec. 4933.19. Each electric
light company, gas company,
natural gas company, pipe-line
company, water-works company, or
heating or cooling company, as
defined by division (A)(3), (4),
(5), (6), (7), or (8), or (9) of section
4905.03 of the Revised
Code, or its lessees, trustees, or receivers,
and each similar
utility owned or operated by a political
subdivision shall notify
its customers, on an annual
basis, that tampering with or
bypassing a
meter constitutes a theft offense that could result in
the imposition of
criminal sanctions.
Sec. 4939.01. As used in sections 4939.01 to 4939.08 of the
Revised Code:
(A) "Cable operator," "cable service," and "franchise" have
the same meanings as in the "Cable Communications Policy Act of
1984," 98 Stat. 2779, 47 U.S.C.A. 522.
(B) "Occupy or use" means, with respect to a public way, to
place a tangible thing in a public way for any purpose, including,
but not limited to, constructing, repairing, positioning,
maintaining, or operating lines, poles, pipes, conduits, ducts,
equipment, or other structures, appurtenances, or facilities
necessary for the delivery of public utility services or any
services
provided by a cable operator.
(C) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, or
partnership and also includes any governmental entity.
(D) "Public utility" means any company described in section
4905.03 of the Revised Code except in divisions (A)(3)(2) and
(10)(9) of
that section, which company also is a public utility as
defined in
section 4905.02 of the Revised Code; and includes any
electric
supplier as defined in section 4933.81 of the Revised
Code.
(E) "Public way" means the surface of, and the space
within,
through, on, across, above, or below, any public street,
public
road, public highway, public freeway, public lane, public
path,
public alley, public court, public sidewalk, public
boulevard,
public parkway, public drive, and any other land
dedicated or
otherwise designated for a compatible public use,
which, on or
after the effective date of this section, is owned or
controlled
by a municipal corporation. "Public way" excludes a
private
easement.
(F) "Public way fee" means a fee levied to recover the costs
incurred by a municipal corporation and associated with the
occupancy or use of a public way.
Sec. 5515.01. The director of transportation may upon
formal
application being made to the director, grant a
permit to any
individual, firm, or corporation to use or occupy such portion
of
a road or highway on the state highway system as will not
incommode the traveling public. Such permits, when granted,
shall
be upon the following conditions:
(A) The director may issue a permit to any
individual, firm,
or corporation for any use of a road or highway
on the state
highway system that is consistent with applicable
federal law or
federal regulations.
(B) Such location shall be changed as prescribed by the
director when the director deems such change necessary for
the
convenience of the traveling public, or in connection with or
contemplation
of the construction, reconstruction, improvement,
relocating,
maintenance, or repair of such road or highway.
(C) The placing of objects or things shall be at a grade
and
in accordance with such plans, specifications, or both, as
shall
be first approved by the director.
(D) The road or highway in all respects shall be fully
restored to its former condition of usefulness and at the expense
of such individual, firm, or corporation.
(E) Such individual, firm, or corporation shall maintain
all
objects and things in a proper manner, promptly repair all
damages
resulting to such road or highway on account thereof, and
in event
of failure to so repair such road or highway to pay to
the state
all costs and expenses which that may be expended by the
director
in
repairing any damage.
(F) Such other conditions as may seem reasonable to the
director, but no condition shall be prescribed which that imposes
the
payment of a money consideration for the privilege granted.
Nothing in
this division prohibits the director from
requiring
payment of money consideration for a lease, easement,
license, or
other interest in a transportation facility under
control of the
department of transportation.
(G) Permits may be revoked by the director at any time for
a
noncompliance with the conditions imposed.
(H) As a condition precedent to the issuance of any permit
for telecommunications facilities or carbon
capture and storage
pipelines,
the director shall
require the
applicant
to provide
proof it is party to a lease,
easement, or
license for
the
construction, placement, or
operation of such
facility or pipeline
in or on a
transportation
facility.
Except as otherwise provided in this section and section
5501.311 of the Revised Code, Chapters 5501., 5503., 5511., 5513.,
5515.,
5516.,
5517., 5519., 5521., 5523., 5525., 5527., 5528.,
5529., 5531.,
5533., and 5535. of the Revised Code do not prohibit
telegraph,
telephone, and electric light and power companies from
constructing,
maintaining, and using telegraph,
telephone, or
electric light and
power lines along and upon such roads or
highways under sections
4931.19, section 4933.14, or other
sections of the
Revised Code, or to affect existing rights of any
such companies,
or to require such companies to obtain a permit
from the
director,
except with respect to the location of poles,
wires,
conduits, and
other equipment comprising lines on or
beneath the
surface of such
road or highways.
This section does not prohibit steam or electric railroad
companies from constructing tracks across such roads or highways,
nor authorize the director to grant permission to any company
owning, operating, controlling, or managing a steam railroad or
interurban railway in this state to build a new line of railroad,
or to change or alter the location of existing tracks across any
road or highway on the state highway system at grade. No such
company shall change the elevation of any of its tracks across
such road or highway except in accordance with plans and
specifications first approved by the director.
This section does not relieve any individual, firm, or
corporation from the obligation of satisfying any claim or demand
of an owner of lands abutting on such road or highway on the
state
highway system on account of placing in such road or
highway a
burden in addition to public travel.
Sec. 5733.57. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Small telephone company" means a telephone company,
existing as such as of January 1, 2003, with twenty-five thousand
or fewer access lines as shown on the company's annual report
filed under section 4905.14 of the Revised Code for the calendar
year immediately preceding the tax year, and is an "incumbent
local exchange carrier" under 47 U.S.C. 251(h).
(2) "Gross receipts tax amount" means the product obtained by
multiplying four and three-fourths per cent by the amount of a
small telephone company's taxable gross receipts, excluding the
deduction of twenty-five thousand dollars, that the tax
commissioner would have determined under section 5727.33 of the
Revised Code for that small telephone company for the annual
period ending on the thirtieth day of June of the calendar year
immediately preceding the tax year, as that section applied in the
measurement period from July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003.
(3) "Applicable percentage" means one hundred per cent for
tax year 2005; eighty per cent for tax year 2006; sixty per cent
for tax year 2007; forty per cent for tax year 2008; twenty per
cent for tax year 2009; and zero per cent for each subsequent tax
year thereafter.
(4) "Applicable amount" means the amount resulting from
subtracting the gross receipts tax amount from the tax imposed by
sections 5733.06, 5733.065, and 5733.066 of the Revised Code for
the tax year, without regard to any credits available to the small
telephone company.
(B)(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section,
beginning in tax year 2005, a small telephone company is hereby
allowed a nonrefundable credit against the tax imposed by sections
5733.06, 5733.065, and 5733.066 of the Revised Code, equal to the
product obtained by multiplying the applicable percentage by the
applicable amount. The credit shall be claimed in the order
required by section 5733.98 of the Revised Code.
(2) If the applicable amount for a tax year is less than
zero, a small telephone company shall not be allowed for that tax
year the credit provided under this section.
Sec. 6101.17. The board of directors of a conservancy
district, when it is
necessary for the purposes of this chapter,
shall have a dominant right
of eminent domain over the right of
eminent domain of railroad, telegraph, telephone, gas, water
power, and other
companies and corporations, and over townships,
counties, and municipal
corporations.
In the exercise of this right, due care shall be taken to do
no
unnecessary
damage to other public utilities, and, in case of
failure to agree upon the
mode and terms of interference, not to
interfere with their operation or
usefulness beyond the actual
necessities of the case, due regard being paid to
the other public
interests involved.
Sec. 6115.21. The board of directors of a sanitary district,
when it is necessary for the purposes of sections 6115.01 to
6115.79, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall have a dominant
right of eminent domain over the right of eminent domain of
railroad, telegraph, telephone, gas, water power, and other
companies and corporations, and over townships, counties, and
municipal corporations.
In the exercise of this right due care shall be taken to do
no
unnecessary damage to other public utilities, and, in case of
failure to agree upon the mode and terms of interference, not to
interfere with their operation or usefulness beyond the actual
necessities of the case, due regard being paid to the other
public
interests involved.
Section 2. That existing sections 324.01, 324.03, 1332.24,
2317.02, 2917.21, 4901.01, 4901.02, 4901.11, 4901.12, 4901.15,
4901.22, 4903.01, 4903.20, 4903.22, 4903.23, 4905.01, 4905.02,
4905.03,
4905.04, 4905.09, 4905.12, 4905.14, 4905.16, 4905.18,
4905.20,
4905.21, 4905.26, 4905.30, 4905.40, 4905.402, 4905.41,
4905.42, 4905.45, 4905.46, 4905.47, 4905.51, 4905.52,
4905.58,
4905.59, 4905.61, 4905.63, 4905.71, 4905.73, 4905.84,
4905.99,
4907.01, 4907.14, 4907.30, 4909.01, 4909.02, 4909.03,
4909.17,
4911.01,
4921.01, 4923.01, 4927.01, 4927.02, 4929.02,
4931.02,
4931.03,
4931.04, 4931.11, 4931.35, 4931.99, 4933.14, 4933.18,
4933.19,
4939.01, 5515.01, 5733.57, 6101.17, and 6115.21 and
sections
4905.041, 4905.23, 4905.231, 4905.24,
4905.241,
4905.242,
4905.243, 4905.244, 4905.25, 4905.381,
4905.49,
4905.491,
4905.50, 4927.03, 4927.04, 4931.06, 4931.07,
4931.12,
4931.13,
4931.14, 4931.15, 4931.16, 4931.17, 4931.18,
4931.19,
4931.21,
4931.22, 4931.25, 4931.26, 4931.27, 4931.28,
4931.29,
4931.30,
and 4931.31 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
Section 3. Coincident with the adoption of initial rules as
provided for in section 4927.03 of the Revised Code as enacted by
this act, the Public Utilities Commission shall rescind the
following rules and shall file the requisite notice of the
rescissions with the Legislative Service Commission and the
Secretary of State within five days: Chapters 4901:1-4, 4901:1-5,
and 4901:1-6 of the Ohio Administrative Code, except for Rule No.
4901:1-5-09 and related definitions in Rule No. 4901:1-5-01 and
except for Rule Nos. 4901:1-6-18 and 4901:1-6-24 and related
definitions in Rule No. 4901:1-6-01. Rescission of these rules
shall take effect as provided by law and, notwithstanding any
other provision of the Revised Code, is not subject to legislative
review or invalidation. The Public Utilities Commission shall not
enforce on or
after the effective date of this act against any
telephone company
as defined in section 4905.03 of the Revised
Code as amended by
this act any provision of any of the rules
specified in this
section, except for Rule No. 4901:1-5-09 and
related definitions
in Rule No. 4901:1-5-01 and Rule Nos.
4901:1-6-18 and 4901:1-6-24 and related definitions in Rule No.
4901:1-6-01.
Section 4. Any complaint filed pursuant to section 4905.26 of
the Revised Code and pending on the effective date of Sections 1
and 2 of this act shall be determined by the Public Utilities
Commission pursuant to the Revised Code as it existed immediately
preceding that effective date.
Section 5. Section 2917.21 of the Revised Code is presented
in
this act as a composite of the section as amended by both H.B.
565 and S.B. 215 of
the 122nd General Assembly. Section 4933.14 of
the Revised Code is presented in
this act as a composite of the
section as amended by both H.B. 283 and S.B. 3 of
the 123rd
General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the
principle
stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised
Code that
amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of
simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting
version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of
the section as presented in this act.
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