FCC Should Use Local, State Tower Siting Efficiency Measures More, Free State Foundation Says
The FCC should rely more on the efficiency measures it adopted in 2014 for state and local governmental decision-making on tower-siting applications, Gregory Vogt said Monday in a blog post for the Free State Foundation. The Montgomery County v. FCC…
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decision (see 1512180045) in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the FCC's 60-day "deemed granted" remedy was constitutional and a "reasonable interpretation of ambiguous provisions" contained in Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, the blog post said. Adoption of time limits for reaching decisions in proceedings and "deemed granted" solutions are an important part of achieving more efficient government processes, Vogt said. The "deemed granted" remedy for tower siting applications is laudable, and this type of mechanism would work especially well in proceedings where the original policy issues have already been substantially resolved, such as routine license applications and waiver petitions, he said. "Either Congress, or the FCC itself, should expand upon the FCC's laudable step, now upheld in court, in speeding state and local government antenna siting decisions to encompass speeding up a number of the FCC's own processes," the post said. "This will permit the Commission at all levels to come closer to acting with the speed of business for the ultimate benefit of consumers."