Can someone comment on whether this new ruling is going to pass or not:
New FAA Marking Requirements May Impact Rural Towers Under 200 Feet A recently passed law, the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (Act), will affect certain towers that are between fifty (50) and two hundred (200) feet in height by requiring that many of these towers in rural areas be marked and lit. The law, passed to protect agricultural aviators (crop dusters), will make rural towers previously not subject to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements more visible with painted markings and other visibility attachments. The Act also requires these towers to be documented in an FAA database. The FAA must issue regulations by July 15, 2017. As compliance with these rules may prove costly to wireless carriers, particularly where they are unnecessary, we are working with the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) to create an exemption for communication towers. Your feedback on specific towers in your service areas is requested. Summary of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act The term "covered tower" is defined in Section 2110(d) of the Act as a structure that: is self-standing or supported by guy wires; is 10 feet or less in diameter; is between 50 - 200 feet AGL; has accessory facilities on which equipment is mounted; and is located outside an incorporated city or town, or on undeveloped or agricultural land. The term does not include a structure that is: adjacent to a house, barn, electric utility station, or other building; within the curtilage of a farmstead; a utility transmission pole; a wind turbine with a rotor blade radius over 6 feet; or a street lighted maintained by a Federal, State, local or tribal entity. The Act requires that all covered towers constructed on or after the date on which the regulations take effect must be marked in a manner consistent with guidance under the FAA Advisory Circular issued on December 4, 2015 (AC 70/7460-1L) or other guidance as determined by the Administrator. Existing covered towers, constructed before the regulations take effect, will have an additional year to comply with the new regulations. AC 70/7460-IL recommends that towers under 200 feet be painted with alternate bands of aviation orange and white paint. The band width should be equivalent to 1/7 of the tower height and the paint must be reapplied if it begins to fade. The Advisory Circular also recommends that high-visibility sleeves and aviation orange spherical market balls be installed on any outer guy wires. The new law also creates an FAA database of all towers covered under this provision. The database will contain location and height information of each Covered Tower. The FAA administrator will ensure that any proprietary information in the database is protected from disclosure in accordance with the law. Exemption Proposal and Input Request As mentioned above, we are working with CCA to create an exemption or carve out for communication towers. Based on meetings with Senate Commerce Committee staff, CCA is working to include in the exemption any tower possessing clear, visual cues such as bases, attachments, antennas, or any equipment critical to service. Other suggestions for exemption include temporary towers or CoWs, towers that comply with local zoning ordinances and/or National Historic Preservation Act, towers with an antenna array over five feet (5') in diameter, guy wired towers, and towers with antennas that have reflective material. With regard to the FAA database, an alternative proposal is to make a database of communication towers available to aviators for reference and not require those tower owners to mark their towers. Regards, David Williamson Owner Custom Computers Winchester Wireless 2979 Valley Avenue Winchester, VA 22601-2631 www.customcomputersva.com <http://www.customcomputersva.com/> www.winchesterwireless.com <http://www.winchesterwireless.com/> da...@customcomputersva.com <mailto:da...@customcomputersva.com> 540-722-9688 ext. 223 Office 877-765-3700 Fax
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