Phone companies, cable systems and on-line services are not the only ones
affected by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Land use boards need to take notice as
well. In rewriting the rules governing the telecommunications, Congress has included a
section on zoning for wireless communications facilities, such as cellular towers. The Act
was signed into law on February 8, 1996.
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (S.652)
Section 704
FACILITIES SITING;
RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSION STANDARDS.
(a) NATIONAL WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SITING POLICY- Section 332(c) (47 U.S.C.
332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
`(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY-
`(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY- Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall
limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof
over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal
wireless service facilities.
`(B) LIMITATIONS-
`(i) The regulation of the placement, construction, and modification of personal
wireless service facilities by any State or local government or instrumentality thereof--
`(I) shall not unreasonably discriminate among providers of functionally equivalent
services; and
`(II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal
wireless services.
`(ii) A State or local government or instrumentality thereof shall act on any request
for authorization to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities
within a reasonable period of time after the request is duly filed with such government or
instrumentality, taking into account the nature and scope of such request.
`(iii) Any decision by a State or local government or instrumentality thereof to deny a
request to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities shall be in
writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record.
`(iv) No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the
placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the
basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such
facilities comply with the Commission's regulations concerning such emissions.
`(v) Any person adversely affected by any final action or failure to act by a State or
local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with this
subparagraph may, within 30 days after such action or failure to act, commence an action
in any court of competent jurisdiction. The court shall hear and decide such action on an
expedited basis. Any person adversely affected by an act or failure to act by a State or
local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with clause (iv) may
petition the Commission for relief.
`(C) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this paragraph--
`(i) the term `personal wireless services' means commercial mobile services, unlicensed
wireless services, and common carrier wireless exchange access services;
`(ii) the term `personal wireless service facilities' means facilities for the
provision of personal wireless services; and
`(iii) the term `unlicensed wireless service' means the offering of telecommunications
services using duly authorized devices which do not require individual licenses, but does
not mean the provision of direct-to-home satellite services (as defined in section
303(v)).'.
(b) RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS- Within 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall complete action in ET Docket 93-62 to prescribe and make effective rules
regarding the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions.
(c) AVAILABILITY OF PROPERTY- Within 180 days of the enactment of this Act, the
President or his designee shall prescribe procedures by which Federal departments and
agencies may make available on a fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis, property,
rights-of-way, and easements under their control for the placement of new
telecommunications services that are dependent, in whole or in part, upon the utilization
of Federal spectrum rights for the transmission or reception of such services. These
procedures may establish a presumption that requests for the use of property,
rights-of-way, and easements by duly authorized providers should be granted absent
unavoidable direct conflict with the department or agency's mission, or the current or
planned use of the property, rights-of-way, and easements in question. Reasonable fees may
be charged to providers of such telecommunications services for use of property,
rights-of-way, and easements. The Commission shall provide technical support to States to
encourage them to make property, rights-of-way, and easements under their jurisdiction
available for such purposes.
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