NATOA Joins NLC, NACo & USCM to Oppose the FCC's Wireline NPRM, WC No. 25-253
For Immediate Release,
November 4, 2026
Mike Lynch, NATOA
617-327-8066
NATOA Joins NLC, NACo & USCM to Oppose the FCC's Wireline NPRM, WC No. 25-253 in Reply
Local Government Associations to FCC: Wireline Preemption Rules Lack Legal Authority, Expertise and Evidence
Washington, DC, November 4, 2026: The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National League of Cities (NLC), the National Association of Counties (NACo), and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), (“the Local Government Associations”) today filed Reply Comments in opposition to the proposed rules on wireline permitting timelines, fees, and compensation in the Federal Communications Commission’s (Commission) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) “Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments,” WC Docket No. 25-253, FCC 26-40, the Commission’s proposed rules regarding the processing of permits to access and use public rights-of-way and to limit fees and other compensation for that access.
The Local Government Associations wrote the Commission lacks both the authority and the expertise to adopt these rules, and that wireline industry proponents of the rules have not built the factual record the Administrative Procedure Act (AP) requires.
The Associations said “the Commission lacks the authority and expertise to promulgate the proposed rules regarding rights-of-way management, zoning decisions related to property outside the rights-of-way, infrastructure that does not provide telecommunications services, and fees and compensation related to telecommunications services, permitting, and land use regulation."
The USCM, NLC, NACo and NATOA filing notes the Communications Act doesn’t authorize the FCC to value local government land or property, rejecting an argument that Section 706 supports the rules, and highlighting that Section 253(c) removes rights-of-way management and compensation from the FCC's reach.
"Nothing in this section affects the authority of a State or local government" to manage the rights-of-way or require fair and reasonable compensation, said the Associations. The Local Government Associations note that the FCC's general statutory provisions "provide no power to act beyond the scope of what has been granted and certainly do not provide power to do that which has been withheld."
The Associations point to filings from local governments around the country that show why a national deadline cannot work:
- Ottumwa, Iowa: "Fiber optic boring crews have hit dozens of gas lines, water services, sewer laterals, and electric lines every year for the past few years. Their crews rarely self-report hits."
- Jefferson Parish, Louisiana: The parish's permitting processes "exist precisely to prevent such incidents, and the proposed rules would undermine those processes by prioritizing speed over safety."
- Vacaville, California; Lakeville and St. Louis Park, Minnesota: The three cities described multi-agency reviews, incomplete applications, and crowded, aging corridors that require coordinated review.
"The proposed rules do not account for the complexities local governments face; the Commission has no expertise in crafting an appropriate regulatory framework, and therefore should refrain from adopting one," the Associations wrote.
The Associations also note that federal land managers charge rent for communications uses:
- The Forest Service must collect fees based on fair market value under 36 C.F.R. § 251.57(a).
- The Bureau of Land Management has told Congress it is committed to "ensuring that rents accurately reflect fair market values for these uses of public lands."
"Local governments are no less entitled to charge rent to compensate the public for the commercial use of public property than the federal government. Any action by the Commission to limit rent payments is without authority and is arbitrary and capricious for several reasons, including the Commission's lack of expertise in valuing property."
The Associations examine the Fiber Broadband Association's Sept. 29, 2026 ex parte submission which claimed to provide "a fact-based view of wireline permitting practices." The Associations found that its factual basis "is dubious." One entry on "egregious" requirements was drawn from an anonymous member submission and left out the jurisdictions, states, providers, project size, and cost, so that "No part of this anonymized claim constitutes a 'fact,' and context is completely lacking."
The Associations also point to a contradiction in the Fiber Broadband Association's position on in-kind contributions: "Providers cannot have it both ways – direct costs only as compensation for access to valuable land, but fair market value for their property."
Observing that throughout the NOI and the NPRM proceedings to date as well as other filings, proponents of the proposed rules name only about 74 state and local governments as causing permitting problems. "Even if one were to assume and accept the extraordinary claim that every named community engaged in conduct that violated the Communications Act – which we do not – the actions of those seventy-four state and local government entities would not justify imposing nationwide rules on upwards of eighty thousand local government and special district entities." said the Associations.
They added that Congress already provides a path for disputes, through the courts and Section 253(d) petitions, which "has worked exceedingly well for 30 years." Wireline industry proponents for preemption, the Associations say, "want to jettison the congressionally mandated system in favor of Commission rulemaking based on shoddy, limited 'evidence.'"
The Associations conclude that the FCC cannot show the "rational connection" the APA requires between local governments' practices and the proposed rules.
The Associations remain committed to working with the Commission and providers, and urge the FCC to support collaborative, locally tailored processes, along with better work-site restoration and removal of obsolete equipment.
The Local Government Associations of USCM, NLC, NACo and NATOA demonstrated the importance of the local permitting process in their comments and reply to the Commission’s Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in 2025 and in a September Joint Comment filing in 25-253.