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The Community Access Presei-vation (CAP) Act Section-bv-Section See. .1, Short Title Section 1 sets forth the short title of the bill as the 'Community Access Preservation Act or CAP Act. Sec. 2, Amendments Section 7 amends Section 611 of the Con7nlunlcations Act of 1 9 34 (47 U.S.C. 53 I)to create new subsections: - Equiyaleiice Public. educational, and go`--ernniental (PEG)access channels are those cable television channels that are set aside for use by the general public,by local schools,colleges. and universities, and by elements of local government. PEG access channels are not mandated by federal law. But the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 amended the Communications Act to explicitly allow cable franchising authorities to require cable operators to set aside channel capacity for PEG use and to provide adequate facilities or financial support for those channels. This section clarifies long-standing federal standards for cable operator carriage of capacity and channels for PEG use. The PEG capacity would have to be: - ■ At least equivalent in quality, accessibility, functionality, and placement to channel capacity used for local cominercial television stations. In case there are no local commercial stations, the equivalence standard would be the primary signal of the network-affiliate carried on the cable system. ■ Provided to and viewable by every subscriber of a cable system without additional service or equipment charges. ' Carried without material degradation or loss of content front the point of origin to cable systc m subscribers. Consistent with existing federal laws and regulations, which perinit local franchising authorities to expressly waive certain federal requirements for can-iage of PEG channels, this section provides that a franchising authority could expressly waive these requirements in a franchise agreement after conducting a.public proceeding to determine if such a waiver is appropriate and supported by the community. The equivalence standard could be enforced by either the franchising authority or the Federal Communications Conunission (FCC). Preseril ation oLPtiblic, Eclucatlotia1, acid Goyernmenuil Use The Conlnlunications Act of 1934 stipulates that cable franchise requirements, including PEG requirements, would generally be established based on an individualized assessment of local needs, so that cable systems would be responsive to the needs of local conullunities. .However, several states have adopted statewide video franchising standards without regard to existing or future individualized local needs and interests.