WASHINGTON-The National Park Service finally has issued a director’s order to establish procedures dealing with locating wireless sites on federal park land. As written, the order is in line with rules dictated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and a presidential memorandum that was issued in August 1995.
With an effective date of Dec. 1, 1997, and a sunset date of Nov. 30, 2002, the order also will recognize the Park Service’s “responsibility for complying with the provisions of the National Park Service Organic Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and other statutes applicable to the operation of units of the National Park System.”
Once a wireless carrier submits an application and its corresponding fee, within 10 days the park superintendent will publish the application in the local newspapers contained within the proposed coverage area; the application also will be published in the Federal Register. There will be a 30-day response period.
The superintendent also will complete an initial evaluation within 60 days of receiving an application. Four scenarios exist: that the application will be approved, that it will be approved pending changes, that it will be denied (with written reasons provided) or that it must undergo additional evaluation to comply with environmental standards. All notices to the applicant will be in writing, with public comments included in the record.
Superintendents who receive “a high number” of wireless siting requests may have to perform a park assessment to determine how many sites a facility can accommodate without jeopardizing resources. If possible, collocation of antennas could be a solution. If such an assessment is deemed necessary, the superintendent may meet with the applicant to discuss the problems, to provide additional information on how the assessment will be performed, to estimate a time and to outline any additional costs for which the applicant may be liable.
Once a decision is final, the applicant will be apprised in writing by the superintendent, who also will prepare the rights-of-way paperwork for the appropriate signatures.
“We are encouraged,” commented Tim Ayers, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. “The 60-day deadline is important along with inclusion of a public record. Now we’ll have to see how the superintendents comply with the order.”
In a related matter, in a Dec. 17 letter to Dan Phythyon, chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Terry Carlstrom, a National Parks Service regional director, expressed his concerns regarding a proposed 260-foot cellular tower that could have an impact on Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. A cease-and-desist emergency order has been requested.
The tower, which would belong to U.S. Cellular, will be located 500 feet from the Harpers Ferry boundary and also would be close to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the C&O Canal National Historical Park, Carlstrom wrote. The lighting design of the tower coupled with its height also “will have a significant effect upon the quality of the human environment … Site clearance and ground-disturbing activity have already begun, and further substantial construction is imminent,” he added. “Unless an emergency order is issued, a high probability exists that irreparable harm will be done to nationally significant historic resources.”
According to Carlstrom, there is no paperwork on file regarding U.S. Cellular’s NEPA and NHPA compliance in any of the three states-West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland-that will be affected by the tower. He also mentioned that site approval paperwork was not shared with the Park Service by the local jurisdiction and that no collocation plans have been divulged.
However, John Myers, group engineering manager for U.S. Cellular’s northeast region, told RCR that “not so much as a shovel has touched” the land in question, because he just bought the property-which already had been cleared-the second week of December. Since that time, U.S. Cellular has surveyed the parcel, has staked it and has drilled for soil testing to some extent, all in accordance with preparing a site analysis for the local jurisdiction.
“Although we have a building permit, we will not build until this has been settled,” Myers said. “I believe people are jumping to conclusions.”
Environmental paperwork has been filed in West Virginia, Myers said, the upshot of which had two groups attesting that the tower would have “minimal impact” on the surrounding area.
The National Park Services request still is under consideration by the bureau.
