INDUSTRY GROUPS SAY FCC BIRD-KILL RULES SHOULD STICK TO COURT'S ORDER

摘要

The CTIA, NAB, PCIA and National Association of Tower Erectors joined to oppose a request by conservation groups for expedited FCC action to stiffen rules on placement of communications towers. The business groups said the changes sought by the American Bird Conservancy, the National Audubon Society and Defenders of Wildlife "far exceed" what the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit required of the commission in a February 2008 remand. The appeals court divided over ordering the FCC to explain why it failed to fully review the environmental impact of 6,000 Gulf Coast communications towers before granting licenses for them. The court also said the FCC didn't apply the proper National Environmental Policy Act standards and didn't give meaningful notice of tower applications. nnIn April, the conservation groups asked the FCC to take steps that they said could save millions of birds that now die from crashing into communications towers. "The FCC should focus first on carrying out the mandates enunciated by the Court in the Remand Order," the industry group said in comments filed at the commission. The group submitted proposed antenna-structure registration rules, which would require local notice of tower projects. "In particular, the FCC should adopt the local notice procedures set forth herein" and guarantee that applications are "processed in a rapid and predictable manner." The agency also should start an environmental assessment for the Gulf Coast, the groups said. Any decisions that the commission makes should be "based on good science, including peer-reviewed studies, rather than on anecdotal 'evidence,'" the associations said. There are no "peer-reviewed" national studies on how many birds are killed each year flying into towers, they said.