Industry, Conservation Groups in MOU on Key Tower Issues

Conservation and industry groups filed an agreement at the FCC Wednesday calling for the development of interim standards for the Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) program. The agreement came after six months of negotiations and offers recommendations on the types of towers for which an ASR is required, based on the height of a proposed tower or the specifications of a replacement tower, the groups said in a news release. The memorandum of understanding also asks the FCC to adopt a preferred lighting scheme for changes to existing towers.

CTIA, PCIA, NAB and the National Association of Tower Erectors signed the MOU, as did the American Bird Conservancy, the Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society. It’s the first major agreement among industry and conservation groups, who often have been in sharp conflict over protecting birds from collisions with towers. The deal resolves most of the larger operational issues being discussed by both sides, though there are still disagreements “on the state of the science” on towers and bird deaths, an industry official said.

"The conversation groups and the infrastructure coalition decided to focus on one of the most important nuts-and-bolts-issues involved in the rulemakings: That is, what would be the interim standards that would be used for processing ASRs,” said an industry attorney involved in the negotiations. “The MOU is the culmination of that single-minded process. It involved a lot of different considerations and factors and it was, we thought, a very important way for those groups to contribute to the FCC a suggestion as to how the ASR categories could be created.”

"We urge the FCC to adopt the interim standards in the MOU as it addresses the delicate balance between the migratory birds issue with the wireless industry’s ability to deploy and expand ubiquitous, innovative wireless broadband and voice services for all Americans,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “We look forward to proceeding with these mutually beneficial proposals so we can thoughtfully construct and place wireless towers throughout the country."

"These joint recommendations with the communications industry represent a huge science-based step forward that will help protect vulnerable migrating birds while also supporting a dependable and reliable wireless communication system,” said Mike Daulton, senior director for government relations at the National Audubon Society. Robert Irvin, senior vice president at Defenders of Wildlife, said: “The recommendations will conserve migratory birds while furthering growth in communications technology. By adopting these standards, the FCC will demonstrate that progress in technology can go hand in hand with the protection of our treasured wildlife."

In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the FCC to explain why it failed to fully review the environmental impact of 6,000 Gulf Coast communications towers before granting licenses for them. The court also said the commission didn’t apply the proper National Environmental Policy Act standards and didn’t give meaningful notice of tower applications (CD Feb 20/08 p2). A year ago, the conservation groups that signed the MOU called for FCC action addressing the remand (CD April 15/08 p6).