TOWER SITING AGREEMENT MAY BE MONTHS AWAY
FCC work on a National Programmatic Agreement (NPA)that would streamline permitting new and replacement wireless phone towers is moving more slowly than expected, with a final agreement unlikely for several more months. The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed comments at the FCC Tues. that set off alarm bells among wireless carriers who have been closely monitoring the negotiations.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The letter stakes out a tough stance on several key issues and also reminded the FCC that approval by the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), one of the 3 signatories to an agreement with the FCC, could take more time than originally expected. The letter notes that group will have to vet an agreement with members before it can sign on.
Only 3 parties must sign the NPA -- the FCC, NCSHPO and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Of the 3, NCSHPO, a non-govt. group, isn’t allowed to distribute the NPA until it’s agreed to by all sides. National Trust warned the Commission that a NCSHPO sign off on a programmatic agreement (PA) isn’t a foregone conclusion.
“The NCSHPO staff and leadership will distribute the revised PA to the entire membership for review, and the members will convene a conference call to discuss whether the SHPOs are ’satisfied’ with the PA because of this requirement for review by the full membership, NCSHPO cannot be assumed to have already concurred in the draft PA or any revisions thereto. We urge the commissioners to contact NCSHPO directly to seek clarification of NCSHPO’s internal procedure for soliciting its members’ views on the revised PA.”
The distinction wasn’t well understood by many who are following the discussions, said a wireless industry source. “This suggests that an agreement is much further off than people believe,” the source said: “The FCC could be left in a situation where they've adopted something and then NCSHPO says it is unacceptable.”
But an NCSHPO official told us Thurs. she doesn’t expect the group’s membership to recommend any sweeping changes once the agreement is presented. Elizabeth Szufnar, NCSHPO dir.- communications & state services, said Exec. Dir. Nancy Schamu was out of the office and hadn’t read the National Trust letter. “This was first discussed in March at our membership meeting,” Szufnar said. “Like with all membership organizations the president can’t sign anything without having the membership on board. At this point we don’t expect there will be any problems.”
Szufnar said NCSHPO needs 30 days to vet the agreement, but may use less time: “We have been in conversation with the FCC. Since the beginning we have been keeping our membership informed.” She noted that state historic preservation officers also want to get the agreement wrapped up as quickly as possible.
The National Trust letter followed a meeting this week between officials with the group and a staffer to FCC Comr. Copps. The letter voiced several complaints about the agreement that sources said laid out a tough stance. Among them, the trust insisted that only facilities larger than 100,000 sq. ft. should be eligible under industrial/commercial exclusion rules. The group also took an aggressive stance on tower height controls.