The FCC has adopted a Nationwide Programmatic Agreement designed to provide tower builders with certainty over tower siting and ease the burdens of the approval process.
The FCC expects two other relevant parties, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Offices, to enter into the agreement by the end of the month.
Key elements include:
- Describing standards for identifying historic properties that may be affected by an undertaking and assessing effects on those properties;
- Prescribing procedures, including enforceable deadlines for State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPO) and commission review;
- Providing forms designed to standardize filings to SHPOs;
- Outlining procedures for communicating with federally recognized Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to ensure protection of historic properties;
- Establishing categories of undertakings that are excluded from the section review process, including enhancements to existing towers, replacement and temporary towers, certain towers constructed on industrial and commercial properties or in utility corridor rights-of-way, and construction in areas designated by a SHPO.
For more information, visit www.fcc.gov.
