1 HB251
2 208949-1
3 By Representative Scott
4 RFD: Urban and Rural Development
5 First Read: 02-FEB-21
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1 208949-1:n:01/20/2021:CMH/bm LSA2020-2565
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8 SYNOPSIS: This bill would establish a procedure by
9 which wireless providers would be authorized to
10 collocate, mount, or install small wireless
11 facilities on existing poles, or install new poles
12 on the right-of-way of the state or any agency,
13 county, or municipality thereof.
14 This bill would exempt small wireless
15 facilities from certain zoning review and approval
16 procedures.
17 This bill would establish a procedure for
18 the permitting of the development of small wireless
19 facilities and poles in the rights-of-way of the
20 state.
21 This bill would establish rates and fees for
22 all permits for small wireless facilities.
23
24 A BILL
25 TO BE ENTITLED
26 AN ACT
27
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1 Relating to wireless telecommunications; to
2 establish a procedure to authorize wireless providers to
3 collocate, mount, or install small wireless facilities on
4 existing poles, or install new poles on the right-of-way of
5 the state or any agency, county, or municipality thereof; to
6 exempt small wireless facilities from certain zoning review
7 and approval procedures; to establish a procedure for the
8 permitting of the development of small wireless facilities and
9 poles in the rights-of-way of the state; and to establish
10 rates and fees for all permits for small wireless facilities.
11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
12 Section 1. When used in this act, the following
13 words shall have the following meanings:
14 (1) ANTENNA. An apparatus designed for the purpose
15 of emitting radio frequency, to be operated or operating from
16 a fixed location pursuant to Federal Communications Commission
17 authorization, for the provision of wireless service. For
18 purposes of this subdivision, the term does not include an
19 unintentional radiator, mobile station, or device authorized
20 under 47 C.F.R. Part 15.
21 (2) ANTENNA EQUIPMENT. Equipment, switches, wiring,
22 cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabinets associated with
23 an antenna, located at the same fixed locations as the
24 antenna, and, when collocated on a structure, mounted or
25 installed at the same time as the antenna.
26 (3) ANTENNA FACILITY. An antenna and associated
27 antenna equipment.
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1 (4) APPLICATION. A request by a wireless provider to
2 collocate, mount, or install small wireless facilities on or
3 adjacent to an existing, new, or replacement pole; or to
4 install, modify, or replace a pole associated with a small
5 wireless facility.
6 (5) AUTHORITY. The state or any agency, county,
7 municipality, district, or instrumentality thereof. The term
8 does not include state courts having jurisdiction over an
9 authority.
10 (6) COLLOCATE or COLLOCATION. Either of the
11 following:
12 a. Mounting or installing an antenna facility on a
13 pre-existing structure.
14 b. Modifying a structure for the purpose of mounting
15 or installing an antenna facility on that structure.
16 (7) COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY. The set of equipment
17 and network components, including wires, cables, and
18 associated facilities, used by a communications service
19 provider.
20 (8) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE. Any of the following:
21 Cable service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 522; information
22 service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153; telecommunications
23 service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153; and wireless service.
24 (9) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER. A provider of
25 communications services.
26 (10) ELECTRIC PROVIDER. An entity listed in
27 subsection (a) of Section 6.
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1 (11) MICRO WIRELESS FACILITY. A small wireless
2 facility that meets both of the following qualifications:
3 a. It is not larger in dimension than 24 inches in
4 length, 15 inches in width, and 12 inches in height.
5 b. Any exterior antenna is no longer than 11 inches.
6 (12) NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE. The
7 telecommunications demarcation device and cross-connect point
8 adjacent to the wireless facility or the structure supporting
9 the wireless facility and demarcating the boundary with any
10 wireline backhaul facility.
11 (13) POLE. A pole in the right-of-way that is or may
12 be used in whole or in part by or for wireline communications,
13 lighting, traffic control, signage, or a similar function, or
14 for the collocation of small wireless facilities. The term
15 does not include a building; billboard; monopole; tower,
16 either guyed or self-supporting; or an electric distribution
17 or transmission structure. Poles owned by an electric provider
18 are excluded from this act under Section 6.
19 (14) SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY. A facility that meets
20 each of the following conditions:
21 a. The facilities are any of the following:
22 1. Mounted on structures 50 feet or less in height,
23 including the antennas.
24 2. Mounted on structures no more than 10 percent
25 taller than other adjacent structures.
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1 3. Do not extend existing structures on which they
2 are located to a height of more than 50 feet or by more than
3 10 percent, whichever is greater.
4 b. Each antenna associated with the deployment,
5 excluding associated antenna equipment, is no more than three
6 cubic feet in volume.
7 c. All other wireless equipment associated with the
8 structure, including wireless equipment associated with the
9 antenna and any pre-existing associated equipment on the
10 structure, is no more than 28 cubic feet in volume.
11 d. The facilities do not require antenna structure
12 registration under 47 C.F.R. Part 17.
13 e. The facilities are not located on tribal lands,
14 as defined under 36 C.F.R. 800.16.
15 f. The facilities do not result in human exposure to
16 radio frequency in excess of the applicable safety standards
17 specified in 47 C.F.R. 1.1307(b).
18 (15) STRUCTURE. A pole; tower, as defined in 47
19 C.F.R. 1.6100(b); base station, as defined in 47 C.F.R.
20 1.6100(b); or other building, whether or not it has an
21 existing antenna facility, that is used or to be used for the
22 provision of wireless service.
23 (16) WIRELESS FACILITY. Equipment at a fixed
24 location that enables wireless communications between user
25 equipment and a communications network, including both of the
26 following: Equipment associated with wireless communications;
27 and radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial, metallic, or
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1 fiber-optic cable located on, in, or under a pole or wireless
2 support structure, or otherwise adjacent to such structures,
3 regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment,
4 regardless of technological configuration. The term includes
5 small wireless facilities. The term does not include any of
6 the following: The structure or improvements on, under, or
7 within which the equipment is collocated; wireline backhaul
8 facilities; or coaxial, metallic or fiber-optic cable that is
9 between structures or that is otherwise not adjacent to a
10 particular antenna or the structure supporting the antenna.
11 (17) WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER. Any person,
12 including a person authorized to provide telecommunications
13 service in the state, that builds or installs facilities for
14 the provision of wireless service, but that is not either a
15 wireless service provider or an electric provider.
16 (18) WIRELESS PROVIDER. A wireless infrastructure
17 provider or a wireless service provider.
18 (19) WIRELESS SERVICE. Any services using licensed
19 or unlicensed radio spectrum, including the use of Wi-Fi,
20 whether at a fixed location or mobile, provided to the public.
21 The term does not include services provided by an electric
22 provider using wireless devices, facilities, or equipment in
23 support of services of the electric provider.
24 (20) WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER. A person who
25 provides wireless service.
26 (21) WIRELINE BACKHAUL FACILITY. An above-ground or
27 underground wireline facility used to transport communications
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1 data or other electronic communications from a wireless
2 facility network interface device to a communications network.
3 Section 2. (a) An authority may not deny a wireless
4 provider the right, as a permitted use subject to Section 3
5 and the authority's requirements not in conflict with this act
6 or a then-existing final order of the Federal Communications
7 Commission (FCC), to do either of the following:
8 (1) Collocate, mount, or install small wireless
9 facilities on or adjacent to existing, new, or replacement
10 poles in the right-of-way.
11 (2) Install, modify, or replace its own poles, or,
12 with the permission of the owner, a third party's poles,
13 associated with a small wireless facility, along, across,
14 upon, and under the right-of-way controlled by the authority.
15 (b) For purposes of this section, any new or
16 modified pole may not exceed the greater of either of the
17 following:
18 (1) Ten feet in height above the tallest existing
19 pole in place as of July 1, 2020, located within 500 feet of
20 the new pole in the same right-of-way controlled by the
21 authority.
22 (2) Fifty feet above ground level.
23 (c) The small wireless facilities and associated
24 poles shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the
25 authority's requirements not in conflict with this act or a
26 then-existing final order of the FCC and as not to obstruct or
27 hinder the usual travel and public safety on the right-of-way
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1 and adjacent roads and bridges or obstruct the legal use of
2 the right-of-way by utilities.
3 (d) A wireless provider may collocate a small
4 wireless facility and install, maintain, modify, operate, and
5 replace a pole that exceeds these height limits along, across,
6 upon, and under the right-of-way, subject to applicable zoning
7 regulations or other applicable requirements of the authority.
8 Section 3. (a) Subject to the limitations
9 established in this act, small wireless facilities and
10 associated poles are not subject to zoning review or approval
11 if they are located in the right-of-way under the control of
12 an authority and otherwise comply with this act and a
13 then-existing final order of the Federal Communications
14 Commission.
15 (b) Within 10 days of receiving an application, an
16 authority shall determine and notify the applicant in writing
17 whether the application is complete. If the authority
18 determines the application is incomplete, the authority shall
19 specifically identify the missing information and specify the
20 requirement creating the obligation to submit the missing
21 documents or information in the written notice. If the written
22 notice of incompleteness is provided within 10 days of
23 receiving the application, the processing deadlines in
24 subsection (c) shall restart at zero on the date the applicant
25 submits all the documents and information identified by the
26 authority to render the application complete.
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1 (c) Applications shall be processed on a
2 nondiscriminatory basis. Applications not requiring a written
3 notice of incompleteness shall be approved or denied within
4 the following: 60 days of receipt of an application involving
5 collocation of a small wireless facility using an existing
6 structure; and 90 days of receipt of an application involving
7 deployment of a small wireless facility using a new or
8 replacement pole. For those applications requiring a
9 resubmittal following the delivery of a written notice of
10 incompleteness, the time limitations for approval or denial
11 established in this subsection shall begin on the first date
12 after receipt of all the documents and information identified
13 by the authority. The processing deadline may be tolled by
14 agreement of the applicant and the authority. If an authority
15 fails to act on an application within the review period
16 provided for in this subsection, the applicant may provide the
17 authority, by certified mail, a formal notice stating that
18 unless the authority approves or denies the application within
19 20 days from receipt of the notice, the application and any
20 associated permits will be deemed granted by operation of law
21 on the twenty-first day from receipt of the notice.
22 (d) An authority shall approve an application if it
23 complies with the authority's requirements for deploying small
24 wireless facilities and associated poles in the right-of-way
25 that are written, generally applicable, and adopted in
26 advance.
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1 (e) An applicant seeking to collocate, mount, or
2 install small wireless facilities or to install, modify, or
3 replace an associated pole within the jurisdiction of a single
4 authority may file a consolidated application for small
5 wireless facilities and associated poles, provided that the
6 consolidated application shall be for a geographic area no
7 more than two miles in diameter. The approval of the
8 consolidated application shall apply to the collocation,
9 mounting, or installation of the multiple small wireless
10 facilities or associated poles. The denial of one or more
11 single small wireless facilities or associated poles that are
12 part of a consolidated application may not constitute a reason
13 for denying the remaining small wireless facilities or
14 associated poles included in the consolidated application. A
15 consolidated application that includes a request to install,
16 modify, or replace a pole shall be processed in accordance
17 with the procedures and shall be subject to the 90-day review
18 period established in this act.
19 (f) An authority may not require an application or
20 any other approval or charge fees or rates for any of the
21 following that are in compliance with any applicable codes:
22 (1) Routine maintenance conducted on small wireless
23 facilities by the holder of an approved application for the
24 small wireless facilities, provided the right-of-way is
25 restored to the pre-maintenance condition.
26 (2) The replacement of small wireless facilities
27 that are operated by the holder of an approved application for
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1 the small wireless facilities, are substantially similar or
2 the same size or smaller, and still qualify as a small
3 wireless facility.
4 (3) The deployment, installation, placement,
5 maintenance, operation, or replacement of micro wireless
6 facilities that are suspended on cables that are strung
7 between existing poles by an entity with a franchise agreement
8 or other valid authorization which allows the entity to deploy
9 communications facilities in the rights-of-way.
10 (g) Notwithstanding subsection (f), the deployment
11 of a micro wireless facility that requires the installation,
12 placement, or replacement of any ground-mounted facilities in
13 the right-of-way shall be subject to any applicable authority
14 permitting processes.
15 (h) Notwithstanding subsection (f), an authority may
16 require a permit for work that requires excavation or the
17 closure of sidewalks or vehicular lanes or that otherwise
18 hinders the usual travel or public safety on the right-of-way
19 or adjacent roads and bridges or obstructs the legal use of
20 the right-of-way by utilities. The permit shall be issued to
21 the applicant on a non-discriminatory basis upon terms and
22 conditions applied to any other person's activities in the
23 right-of-way that require excavation or the closure of
24 sidewalks or vehicular lanes.
25 (i) In the event of any action under subsection (f),
26 the roads, bridges, and rights-of-way, to the extent
27 practicable in the reasonable judgment of the authority, shall
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1 be restored to the condition prior to the action conducted by
2 the entity.
3 (j)(1) As part of the application process, an
4 authority may require a small wireless facility to be fully
5 operational within 360 days after the date the last or final
6 permit is issued, subject to the availability of wireline
7 backhaul, electric power, or other matters beyond the control
8 of the applicant.