Published: May 1996 Communications Quarterly Magazine NOTE: THIS IS THE UNEDITED VERSION THAT WAS ORIGINALLY SENT TO THE PUBLISHER. THE FINAL PRODUCT MAY VARY. FCC TO INSTITUTE RULE CHANGES FOR TOWER OWNERS By - Joe Fedele This January the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM 95-5) that would streamline the process of approving tower sites for use as transmitting locations and to provide for better enforcement of its rules concerning the painting and lighting of such structures. The FCC has always held each licensee responsible for tower filings regardless of how many there are at a particular site. Presently, licensees that lease tower space for the purpose of voice or data transmissions are required to file for antenna structure clearance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prior to activation of such transmissions. Furthermore, some changes to existing towers, such as increases in overall height, must be filed for by all licensees at the site regardless of whether or not they institute the changes. The new rules would shift the burden of filing the tower registration from the holders of antenna licenses to the owners of the tower structure. By doing so the Commission expects to maintain a more pro-active approach to tower maintenance and safety issues. This overall strategy is outlined in a plan designed to reduce the overall number of filings made by individual licensees and permitees. It is hoped that this new system will also speed up the process by which tower sites are catalogued and registered. Tower owners would be primarily responsible for registering the antenna structure with the FCC. Their responsibilities would also include the painting and lighting of the antenna structure in accordance with the Commission's Rules, notifying the Commission of any changes in overall tower height, coordinates, or ownership. Owners must even inform the Commission if the structure is removed from service or dismantled. Under existing rules anyone filing for a new application is required to identify the coordinates and height of the tower structure and obtaining a finding from the FAA as to whether or not the structure is a potential hazard to air safety or navigation. The FAA may then recommend that the tower would require lighting, painting or even be shortened. The FCC then specifies these recommendations in the licensees instrument of station authorization. The FCC estimates that there are nearly half a million antenna structures in the United States. Of that, over 70,000 structures were subject to FAA clearance prior to construction. Estimates show that there are an average of 12 individual licensees authorized on each tower. Consequently there are a comparable number of tower filings per site. Implementation of these rules would reduce the number by a factor of twelve. This would making the streamlining effect immediate from the first day of inception. The FCC states that "the proposal would not impose a greater net filing burden on the public, but would instead decrease the number of entities affected by these requirements." This proposal even includes a process that would allow the FCC to build a "uniform procedure for registering antenna structures and provide for the creation of a common database listing structure information." This database would provide the Commission with an up to date and complete listing of sites to be used "during investigations related to air safety or radio frequency interference." The Commission would then be capable of identifying each antenna structure owner for the purpose of enforcing "the new Congressionally mandated provisions related to owners." It will also allow for a speedier processing of requests involving a change in coordinates, structure height, or change in painting and/or lighting. Finally, this database would simplify the antenna clearance process for both industry and the Commission. On the matter of air safety, the FCC cites that "each licensee on a multi-use antenna structure is separately and jointly responsible for the installation and maintenance of the structure" and, that, "oftentimes the antenna structure owner is not a Commission licensee and therefore, has no vested interest in compliance. This poses a hazard to air commerce in cases where all Commission licensees vacate an antenna structure and the tower owner fails to paint, light, or dismantle the structure". The FCC also proposes to incorporate two Advisory Circulars published by the FAA into this ruling. These advisories, Obstruction Markings and lightings (AC 70/7460-1H) and Specifications for Obstruction Lighting Equipment (AC 150/5345-43D) provide guidelines for tower safety markings. The addition of this to existing rules would force tower owners to maintain their structures in accordance within FAA standards at all times. The imposition of these new rules would allow the FCC to levy fines against tower owners. It reads, "antenna structure owners who fail to comply with the requirements set forth in Part 17 may be subject to administrative sanctions. Currently, licensees are individually responsible for antenna structure maintenance, even in cases where they neither own nor have a legal right to maintain the structure. While still recognizing the ultimate shared responsibility of licensees, permittees, and owners, we are proposing rules to hold the owner primarily responsible, in the first instance, for the installation and maintenance of painting and/or lighting for each antenna structure." "This means that the Commission would look first toward antenna structure owners to ensure that their structures are painted and lighted in accordance with Part 17. In cases where reliance on the structure owner proves ineffective, the Commission would turn toward the tenant licensees and permittees to ensure that the structure is properly painted and lighted. For instance, if the structure owner cannot be reached, the Commission would have the option to require tenant licensees and permittees to maintain the structure. By focusing on the single entity which has control over all aspects of the antenna structure, the Commission hopes to speed resolution of problems associated with lighting outages and vacant antenna structures." The changes proposed in the NPRM would apply to all structures requiring FAA authorization under Part 17 of FCC rules regardless of the type of service. This includes Amateur Radio Services (Part 97), Aviation Services (Part 87), Cable TV Relay Services (Part 78), Domestic Public Fixed Radio Services (Part 21), Private Land Mobile Public Services (Part 22), Private Operational-Fixed Microwave Services (Part 94), Mobile Radio Services (Part 90), Radio and TV broadcasting (Part 73 & 74), and Satellite Communications (Part 25). Additionally, some Cellular phone systems and Personal Communications Systems (PCS) would also be included in this rule change. The Commission has proposed that these new rules be effective on January 1, 1996. As of that date all applications for the construction of new antenna structures would be required to file a revised FCC Form 854. All existing structures whose individual licensees request a modification of their current facilities which require an alteration in the overall height of the tower are also required to file the same. The Commission is still in the exploratory stage in deciding just how to implement these changes and there are several routes to this end. The first possibility might be by geographically dividing the country by either states, groups of states, latitude and longitude, or "natural boundaries". Another possibility is to proceed by antenna structure height. This means of grouping the taller towers first has its advantages in that the larger structures would have a greater proportion of licensees that could be accounted for all at one time. The third possibility is through the renewal process. This would spread full implementation over a ten year period of time. Ten years was chosen because that is the longest license term currently on record for any one license authorization. Cellular systems and PCS might be treated a bit differently than conventional single point transmissions because they do not normally require specifying the locations of all structures prior to license authorization. Aside from safety and regulatory issues the FCC expects to realize substantial savings for both the Commission and individual licensees if this proposal is enacted. Based on 1993 figures, the Commission estimates savings in excess of $500,000 annually due to the decreased number of hours spent on processing applications. They also estimate that licensees will save over $320,000 annually in fees to consulting engineers that would no longer be necessary under the new rules.