Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 19 of chapter 25 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2000 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "five" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 10.

SECTION 2. Said section 19 of said chapter 25, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 11, the words "year 2002" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- years 2002 to 2007, inclusive.

SECTION 3. Said section 19 of said chapter 25, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 26, the word "March 1, 2001" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- January 1, 2006.

SECTION 4. Section 2 of chapter 166A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting before the first paragraph the following paragraph:-

There shall be established in the department of telecommunications and energy a division of community antennae television. Subject to the provisions of section 4 of chapter 25, the chairman of the department shall designate a director of said division who shall have the full scope of authority of all the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to, presiding at hearings pursuant to section 2A; the right to maintain or intervene in an action pursuant to section 12; the authority to hear appeals and issue enforcement orders pursuant to section 14; the authority to regulate rates pursuant to section 15; the authority to promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to section 16; its enforcement powers pursuant to section 17; and all other authority to carry out the duties and responsibilities of this chapter. Appeals of any decision, order, or ruling of the director may be brought within 14 days of the issuance of said decision to the full body of the commissioners of the department. When so requested by any party interested, the department shall rule upon any question of substantive law properly arising in the course of any proceeding before the division within 14 days. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, appeals taken from the orders of the department shall be governed by section 5 of chapter 25.

SECTION 5. Said section 2 of said chapter 166A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following paragraph:-

As of December 31, 2001, and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the general court concerning the appeals that came before the division for that particular calendar year. The report shall detail the nature of each appeal and its outcome. Each annual report shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives who shall forward the same to the joint committee on energy and the house and senate committees on ways and means. The report shall be made available to the public by the department.

SECTION 6. Section 4 shall take effect as of December 31, 2001.