A House bill that could apply blocking sanctions on a host of Chinese companies included on various government denied party lists would “create enormous problems” for U.S. companies doing business in China, said William Reinsch, a former Commerce Department official and current Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

California Assemblymember Jim Patterson (R) will try again next session on a vetoed bill that would have expanded eligibility for federal broadband grants administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, a Patterson spokesperson told us Wednesday. Wireless industry groups lamented Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Sunday veto of AB-1065, though they applauded the Democrat for signing AB-965, a bill meant to streamline the broadband permitting process.

The Commerce Department didn't properly support its de jure specificity finding regarding a Chinese tax program that makes a resident enterprise's income derived from investment gains in another resident enterprise tax-exempt, the Court of International Trade ruled in an Oct. 11 opinion. Judge Jane Restani said the program, established under Article 26(2) of China's Enterprise Income Tax Law, is not tied to a specific enterprise or industry and thus fails the specificity analysis.

The Court of International Trade in an Oct. 11 opinion partially sustained and partially remanded the Commerce Department's eighth review of the countervailing duty order on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells from China. Judge Jane Restani granted the U.S. request for a remand regarding China's Export Buyer's Credit Program and the datasets used to set a benchmark for ocean freight. The court also sent back Commerce's use of a 2010 Thai Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis report in setting the land value benchmark and its de jure specificity finding regarding benefits received from a program that makes income from investment gains derived by a resident enterprise via direct investment in another resident enterprise tax exempt. Restani upheld Commerce's 2017 benefit finding regarding land leases, which was left to coexist in the present review period.

Each cause of action in plaintiff Debra Brown’s complaint, in which she seeks to nullify the wireless communications easement on her residential property in Goshen, Indiana, and to exclude Frontier and six other defendants from the parcel of real estate that’s “burdened” by the easement (see 2309150006), is barred because Frontier “has a prescriptive easement in the property in dispute,” said Frontier’s answer Monday (docket 3:23-cv-00842) in U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana in South Bend. Brown’s complaint asserts she’s entitled to possession of the real estate, “free and clear of any actual possession or use” by any of the defendants, except for a 25-foot-wide parcel of land that Frontier may have acquired under deeds of easement granted by Brown’s mother, Charlotte Lantz. The facilities include above-ground and underground fiber cables, plus one or more phone lines, said Brown’s complaint. Frontier contends it’s not liable for damages to Brown and shouldn’t be enjoined to remove certain underground fiber cables from the property in dispute, said Frontier’s cross-claim against Verizon, also filed Monday. Frontier installed underground fiber cables on the property in dispute “in reliance of Verizon’s representation that it possessed an easement in the property in dispute,” said the cross-claim. To the extent the court finds Verizon doesn’t own an easement in the property in dispute, Frontier “is entitled to complete indemnity from Verizon for any damages, liabilities, obligations, or costs incurred by Frontier pursuant to Frontier’s reliance on Verizon’s alleged misrepresentations,” said the cross-claim. Verizon didn’t comment Tuesday, and hasn’t answered Brown’s complaint.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel for Southern Illinois in East St. Louis granted AT&T’s second motion for summary judgment in its bid to overcome the denials of Monroe County, Illinois, for construction of a 155-foot monopole tower on a leased, fenced-in portion of land that also contains an independently run self-storage facility, said Rosenstengel’s signed order Friday (docket 3:20-cv-01327). AT&T’s summary judgment motion alleged the Monroe County board of commissioners failed to comply with the timing requirements under the Illinois Counties Code and the Monroe County Code of Ordinances, and the judge agreed, said her order. “The record is clear” that the county failed to comply with the 75-day mandate in both the Illinois Counties Code and its own zoning ordinance, it said. As for what that means for the resolution of the dispute, AT&T reasoned that if a county acts on an application outside the 75-day window, “it acts outside its conferred power,” said the order. AT&T’s argument is that any decision rendered outside of that power is void, and the court “is persuaded by this logic and applies the same,” it said. The county acted outside of its authority after the 75-day window lapsed, it said. Neither the county nor AT&T “has the ability to waive an express provision limiting the power conferred by statute and the legislature,” it said. Her order set an Oct. 13 deadline for the filing of a joint status report "indicating any other issues necessary" for the court to resolve.

The Commerce Department's continued use of adverse facts against Risen Energy for its alleged use of China's Export Buyer's Credit Program (EBCP) and its benchmark calculations for land use and ocean freight were lawful and supported by substantial evidence on remand, DOJ said in a Sept. 29 response at the Court of International Trade (Risen Energy v. U.S., CIT # 20-03912).

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. cleared a deal for Denmark-based energy company Orsted A/S to purchase land in Massachusetts from Eversource Energy, a U.S.-based electric services company, Squire Patton said in a September client alert. The CFIUS clearance was announced by the parties earlier this month, making the $625 million deal official. The land will be used for “wind development.”

Ocean City, New Jersey, denies U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Camden, has subject matter jurisdiction over Verizon’s claims because its action wasn’t commenced in a timely manner, said the city’s answer Friday (docket 1:23-cv-04370). Verizon alleges the city violated Section 704 of the Communications Act by effectively prohibiting Verizon’s provision of personal wireless services and because it denied the application without substantial evidence contained in the written record, it said (see 2308140028).

The aviation industry raised concerns about an NAB-supported FCC proposal to allow increased power for digital FM, in comments posted in docket 22-405 for Thursday’s deadline. Interference from FM digital broadcasting at the upper end of the 88-108 MHz band” could disrupt the operations of navigation and landing systems and “present a significant safety hazard," said the Air Line Pilots Association, International in comments echoed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the Aerospace Industries Association and others. GAMA is in talks with NAB about the matter, filings said. Though comments in the docket show wide support for the FCC proposals from broadcasters, NPR, Cumulus and REC Networks also raised concerns about interference and notifications.