Federal Register, Volume 75, Number 98, May 21, 2010, Pages 28463-28750 Page: 28,535
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Federal Register/Vol. 75, No. 98/Friday, May 21, 2010/Proposed Rules
firms had annual receipts of under $10
million and 15 firms had annual
receipts of $10 million to
$24,999,999.155 Consequently, the
Commission estimates that the majority
of All Other Telecommunications firms
are small entities that might be affected
by its action.
105. Non-Licensee Tower Owners. The
Commission's rules require that any
entity proposing to construct an antenna
structure over 200 feet or within the
glide slope of an airport must register
the antenna structure with the
Commission on FCC Form 854.156 Thus,
non-licensee tower owners may be
subject to any new or additional
requirements adopted in this
proceeding. As of April 14, 2010, there
were 103,444 registration records in a
'Constructed' status and 13,291
registration records in a 'Granted, Not
Constructed' status in the Antenna
Structure Registration (ASR) database.
This includes both towers registered to
licensees and towers registered to non-
licensee tower owners. The Commission
does not keep information from which
the Commission can easily determine
how many of these towers are registered
to non-licensees or how many non-
licensees have registered towers.157 In
addition, the Commission does not keep
data on businesses with annual revenue
over $25 million. Moreover, the SBA
has not developed a size standard for
small businesses in the category "Tower
Owners." Therefore, the Commission is
unable to estimate the number of non-
licensee tower owners that are small
entities. However, because these
regulations impact tower owners, the
Commission is choosing a category
related to our jurisdiction because of the
nexus between our regulatory function
and telecommunications with respect to
towers. The Commission will assume
that nearly all non-licensee tower
companies are small businesses under
the SBA's definition for "All Other
Telecommunications." 158
4. Description of Projected Reporting,
Recordkeeping and Other Compliance
Requirements
106. This NPRM proposes to amend
17.4(g) by requiring that the Antenna
Structure Registration Number be
Firm Size Including Legal Form of Organization),"
Table 4, NAICS code 517910 (issued Nov. 2005).
1of d. An additional 14 firms had annual receipts
of $25 million or more.
156 47 CFR 17.4(a), 17.7(a).
157 The Commission notes, however, that
approximately 13,000 towers are registered to 10
cellular carriers with 1,000 or more employees.
c8 13 CFR 121.201, North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) code 517919. Underthis category, a business is small if it has 1,500 or
fewer employees.displayed so that it is conspicuously
visible and legible from every point of
ingress/egress to the publicly accessible
area nearest the base of the antenna
structure, instead of only near the base
of the structure as before. If 17.4(g) is
amended, the owner of the structure
would have to display the Antenna
Structure Registration Number so that it
is conspicuously visible and legible
from potentially multiple locations near
the base of the antenna structure instead
of only at one location.
107. The NPRM proposes to amend
17.48 by requiring antenna structure
owners to provide continuously active
notice to the FAA of lighting outages to
allow the FAA to timely maintain
Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) or issue
new NOTAMs, as necessary.
Specifically, if the lights cannot be
repaired within 15 days, the owner shall
notify the FAA to extend the outage date
and report a return to service date. The
owner will repeat this process every 15
days until the lights are repaired. If the
amendment to 17.48 is adopted, the
owner of the structure would have to
provide continuously active notice to
the FAA of lighting outages, instead of
the one time notice currently required.
108. Although 17.49 of the rules
requires antenna structure owners to
maintain a record of observed or
otherwise known extinguishments or
improper functioning of structure lights,
it does not currently specify how long
the record should be kept or what is to
be done with it. The Notice proposes
that the record be kept for two years and
that it be provided to the Commission
upon request. If adopted, antenna
structure owners would be required to
keep their records for two years and
provide them to the Commission upon
request.
5. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant
Economic Impact on Small Entities, and
Significant Alternatives Considered
109. The Commission proposes to
amend 17.4(a) and 17.21, 17.22
(redesignated as 17.21(c)), and 17.23
and delete 17.17(a) of the
Commission's rules regarding antenna
structure registration and painting and
lighting specifications. The Commission
also proposes conforming edits to
1.61(a)(5) and 17.1(b). These
proposed changes are intended both to
promote aircraft navigation safety and
also to reduce regulatory burdens on
small entities by clarifying the
relationship between the Commission's
rules and procedures and those of the
FAA and ensuring continued
consistency in those rules and
procedures. The Commission askscommenters to suggest alternatives that
may further reduce the impact on small
entities while achieving the above
intended goals. The Commission
specifically seeks comment on whether
to further reduce regulatory burdens on
small entities by amending 17.17(b)
(redesignated as 17.24) to provide that
a revised FAA Circular does not impose
new obligations on already-approved
antenna structures. The Commission
seeks comment on whether such
deregulatory action would unduly limit
the Commission's flexibility and
whether it would afford appropriate
deference to the FAA's expertise and
how possible alternatives could further
lessen the burden on small businesses
while achieving these goals.
110. In order to clarify the obligations
of antenna structure owners and
conform the Commission's regulations
to Commission and FAA practice, the
Commission proposes adding new
sections to 17.4 specifying that any
change in height of one foot or greater,
any change in coordinates of one second
or greater, or any change in marking and
lighting specifications requires prior
approval from the FAA and the
Commission. These proposed changes
are intended both to promote aircraft
navigation safety and to ease regulatory
burdens by streamlining regulations and
reducing confusion. The Commission
also proposes to consider whether to
specify accuracy standards or survey
methods in order to ensure consistency
of data. The Commission seeks to hear
about alternative rules that would
achieve the same goals while reducing
burdens to small business.
111. The Commission proposes to
delete 17.7 and 17.14 of the
Commission's rules, which are
restatements of FAA rules, and to
substitute cross-references to relevant
FAA rules in 17.4 of the Commission's
rules. This change could ease burdens
on regulated entities, including small
businesses, by reducing the risk of
confusion in the event the FAA were to
change its criteria. The Commission
seeks any alternatives to these proposed
changes that would further reduce
burdens on small business while
achieving these goals.
112. The Commission proposes to
amend its rules governing inspection
and maintenance of lighting by: (1)
Amending 17.47 to eliminate or
reduce requirements to perform
inspections of lighting and light
monitoring systems; (2) amending
17.48(a) to require antenna structure
owners to provide continuously active
notice to the FAA of lighting outages;
and (3) deleting vague references to
timely repair timeframes in 17.48(b)and 17.56(a). The Commission seeks to
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United States. Office of the Federal Register. Federal Register, Volume 75, Number 98, May 21, 2010, Pages 28463-28750, periodical, May 21, 2010; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc52679/m1/81/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.