/ 05.17.2011 12:00AM
FCC Tower Proposal is For the Birds
WASHINGTON: The debate
over whether towers kill migratory birds has been a contentious issue at the commission
for at least eight years and has taken another twist. The FCC has drafted rules
and procedures designed to ensure that environmental effects of proposed towers--including
their impact on migratory birds--are considered before a tower is built or substantially
changed; and it has been taking comments on those proposed rules.
After conservation groups opposed the FCC’s tower siting approval process three
years ago, a federal appeals court said the commission had to offer the public “a
meaningful opportunity” to ask for an environmental assessment study for proposed
towers.
The new draft procedures parallel an understanding reached in 2010 by communication
providers, including the National Association of Broadcasters, the Wireless Association,
tower companies and conservation groups. Under the draft, the public would be able
to comment on environmental effects of a proposed tower. The FCC staff would consider
those comments and determine whether an environmental assessment is required.
If needed, the environmental assessment would have to be completed before tower
registration; those now are filed concurrently. The commission initially would require
an EA for requests to register towers of more than 450 feet. However, the FCC said
it may modify this requirement after further study. Towers between 351 and 450 feet
would be reviewed for a possible EA requirement on a case-by-case basis. These requirements
will apply not only to new towers but also to construction that makes a “substantial
increase in size” of a structure. That includes not only height but also tower width
or the area excavated around the tower base. Substantial changes in tower lighting
also would trigger these requirements.
Comments to WT Dockets 08-61 and 03-187 were due May 5. Here are some of the comments
that had been filed as of April:
American Bird Conservancy,
Defenders of Wildlife &
National Audubon Society:
“Millions of migratory and other bird species are killed at communications towers
and related structures every year. … [S]tudies corroborate that there are population
level impacts on many bird species and harm to endangered species caused by communications
towers and related structures such as television and radio stations. Tower height,
tower lighting, tower support structures (i.e. guy wires), location and lighting
of related structures are all key factors in these bird kills. Each of these variables
must be evaluated in terms of direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. …
“Alternatives for constructing and managing communication towers can save birds
without compromising the commission’s wireless communications mission or aviation
safety. Reasonable alternatives to be studied include … requiring changes in lighting
schemes to less impactful alternatives (e.g., turning off steady burning lights
or at a minimum synchronizing blinking lights) whenever permitted by the Federal
Aviation Administration; promoting collocation of antennas and shorter towers without
guy wires; requiring heightened scrutiny for proposed towers in environmentally
sensitive areas; providing guidance on lighting of associated structures; putting
FCC personnel in charge of identifying and evaluating environmental effects of proposed
towers instead of allowing tower registration applicants to do it; and adopting
an interim approach to registering towers while the commission conducts its environmental
analysis and proposes and finalizes revised rules for the ASR program. …
“In 2005, the FWS [Fish & Wildlife Service] estimated that 4 million to 5 million
birds are killed at communications towers each year. …
“Lighting, height, support system and location of communication towers are key factors
in bird kills at towers. The impacts — especially for neotropical songbirds — increase
with overcast conditions or inclement weather. … Birds lose natural navigating cues
and orient with the tower lights, circling the towers and eventually dying of exhaustion
or collision with towers or support systems. …
“As a FWS official noted: ‘Light appears to be a key attractant for night-migrating
songbirds, especially when nighttime visibility is poor, cloud ceilings are low,
fog is heavy, or various other forms of precipitation are associated with either
passing or stationary cold fronts.’ …
“The role of aviation safety lighting is a critical factor to be studied. Aviation
safety lighting for towers over 200 feet is controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration
through its advisory circulars, which describe lighting styles and specify permissible
styles based principally on tower height, and FAA policy guidance. … Towers with
solid red lights (L-81Os) combined with flashing red lights (incandescent L-864s)
cause most avian mortality, including nearly all mass mortality events.”
NTCH
Wireless Company
Submitted by law firm Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth:
“To date, much of the evidence presented to the commission has been anecdotal or
undocumented. Those environmental and wildlife organizations who seek more rigorous
review of tower construction (the “bird community”) have suggested that literally
millions of migratory and other birds are being killed each year due to communications
towers. … The suggestion that wild animals are being killed in large numbers is
therefore something that, if true, would be of serious concern. In our experience,
however, there is no factual support for this proposition, and the result is quite
the opposite. …
“NTCH’s personnel report that they never see any dead birds around the towers. Literally,
none. Surely if millions of birds were colliding with the towers and dying there
would be some evidence of carcasses at the base of the towers. … On the contrary,
what we do regularly find are the carcasses of rodents which have been caught by
the birds and eaten and their remains dropped at the foot of the towers. Many species
of birds use the towers as roosting sites, so we frequently find towers with one
or more large nests in them.
“To be sure, we have heard of (but never personally seen) bird deaths associated
with much taller towers than NTCH normally constructs or uses--guyed towers over
500 feet tall. While we are not sure ornithilogically why birds would strike those
towers rather than shorter ones, there does appear to be at least some evidence
of bird deaths there. It is also not clear why birds would fly into towers of that
height but not buildings of similar height.
“In any case, what is clear is that if there is a problem at all--and that remains
an open question in our minds--the problem is limited to very tall structures. Towers
of 300 feet or less categorically do not have an adverse impact on birds, and therefore
no remedial measures or pre-screening of such towers for bird impact is called for.
“It may also be that bird problems are limited to particular regions of the country
or particular flyways that migratory birds use. If the facts bear that out, the
remedy should be targeted only at those particular areas where the problem exists.
Tower construction in parts of the country with little birdlife, no demonstrated
problems or no migratory bird paths should not be impaired or delayed by measures
that only apply in other regions.”
Marcia Pradines
Acting Chief
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Division of Migratory Bird Management:
“The service appreciates the opportunity to continue working with the FCC, a relationship
that was spurred by a large single-night kill of up to 10,000 Lapland Longspurs
and other birds at four adjacent communication towers and a nearby, lighted outbuilding
near Syracuse, Kan., in February 1998. …
“The service now protects and manages 1,007 migratory birds. Each time a protected
bird strikes a communication tower and is killed or injured, the collision represents
an unpermitted “take” under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. … While yet to be validated
in wild breeding birds in North America, radiation from cellular communication towers
in Europe is being documented as a problem for nesting birds, resulting in reduced
recruitment, poor chick survivorship and mortality around cellular communication
towers where nesting is occurring (
Balmori
2005, Balmori and Hallberg 2007, and Everaert and Bauwens 2007). …
“The impacts of communication towers on migratory birds have been reported in the
U.S. scientific literature for more than half a century. Aronoff (1949) first reported
several hundred migratory birds that were retrieved from a Baltimore, Md., radio
tower in 1948. Later, Mayfield (1967) attempted to estimate nationwide bird-tower-collision
mortality. During the 1970s, the service’s Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife
raised upward the previous mortality estimates of Mayfield (1967) where Banks (1979)
then estimated average annual mortality at 1.25 million birds/yr. This represented
the best and most scientifically valid estimate of tower mortality at the time.
“To update Banks’ FWS mortality figure, Evans (1998) and the service (Manville 2001a,
2001b, 2005) adjusted the Banks estimate to account for increasing numbers of towers
since 1979, resulting in the service’s current estimate of 4 to 5 million birds
killed/yr. at all U.S. towers. …
“We specifically recommend the following:
“Avoid use of any L-810 steady-burning red lights on new towers being constructed,
towers whose broadcast licenses expire and must be re-issued, towers being replaced
and where L-810 side lights burn out (replace with strobe or blinking lights). Pending
FAA’s update to their current (2007) lighting circular--which we are advised will
occur in the near future--all L-810 lights should be extinguished and all L-810
lights should be removed as part of any retrofit.
“Use minimum intensity, maximum ‘off’-phased red strobe (or strobe-like), white
strobe or red blinking incandescent lights with no L-810 sidelights. Use of red
or white color and use of strobe vs. blinking lights were not statistically different
in several previously conducted studies (
Gauthreaux
and Belser 2006, Gehring et al. 2009).
“Where new towers are to be constructed, or where repair or upgrade of towers will
result in increased tower height, where practical attempt to keep towers under 200
ft. AGL in height, be of monopole or lattice design, and contain no guy wires and
lights. This represents the service’s recommended ‘gold standard’ and the environmentally
preferred alternative for tower placement.”
Donald G. Everist, P.E.
Cohen, Dippell and Everist, P.C.
Professional Consulting Engineering Services:
“The undersigned is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the District of Columbia
and has been in continuous employment with this firm or its predecessors for over
40 years. During these 40 years, he has been physically at numerous broadcast sites,
often for weeks at a time. These site visits have been throughout the continental
United States in various seasons and under different weather conditions. During
this period, no birds were observed hitting towers or their guy wires. These towers
ranged from several hundred feet in height to 2,000 feet. …
“In the 1960s, all AM, FM and TV transmitter sites were manned with personnel during
times the station was in operation. This practice continued for many years and there
is no recollection of reports of bird strikes.
“While the above observations are not a scientific study, it does support a conclusion
that if this does occur, it is not a widespread event.”
--
Leslie Stimson, Radio World