NATOA Members Call to Action
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on April 7, 2011 that seeks to obtain detailed information regarding local governments’ rights of way management and compensation practices and policies. The FCC maintains that the NOI is intended to assist the agency in its understanding of these practices and how they may be related to facilitating or obstructing broadband deployment around the country. Accordingly, the FCC wants to compile a detailed record of broadband deployment issues so that it might have a factual basis upon which to determine the nature and extent of any problems.The responses to the NOI will have far-reaching implications for localities around the country. The questions posed by the FCC directly challenge local governments’ land use authority and, depending on the responses and how they are interpreted, could significantly affect local governments’ ability to manage and collect compensation for the private use of the public rights of way. Regulatory action by the FCC that severely limits or otherwise changes the way localities are permitted to collect compensation for use of the rights of way will reduce local government revenue that is currently used to enhance public interest objectives, such as ensuring the public safety, maintaining the roadways, and making other infrastructure investments, to name a few.
NATOA and other national associations representing the interests of local governments, including the National League of Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties and the Government Finance Officers Association will be filing comments with the FCC on the broad scope of the FCC’s jurisdiction in this matter. The associations will also address various rights of way and compensation policies of interest to local governments.
However, in order to truly impact the agency’s decision-making, it is imperative that localities of all sizes submit comments to the FCC. In order to assist communities in this effort, the national associations have put together a template for localities to use in filing comments. NATOA is also putting together several other templates that address other issue-specific aspects of the NOI.
Initial comments are due to the FCC by July 18, 2011; reply comments are due by August 30, 2011.
For additional information, contact Steve Traylor at 703-519-8035, ext. 204 or straylor@natoa.org.
- National Association Template
- Effect of Tower Siting Order Template
- Filing Instructions