Bill Amendment: IL SB2785 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: SMALL WIRELESS FACILITIES

Status: 2016-07-31 - Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b) / Referred to Assignments [SB2785 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SB2785-Senate_Amendment_001.html

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Sen. Terry Link

Filed: 4/1/2016

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2785
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2785 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Small
Wireless Facilities Deployment Act.
Section 5. Legislative intent. Small wireless facilities
are critical to delivering wireless access to advanced
technology, broadband, and 9-1-1 services to homes, businesses
and schools in Illinois. Because of the integral role that the
delivery of wireless technology plays in economic vitality of
the State of Illinois and in the lives of its citizens, the
General Assembly has determined that a law addressing the
deployment of wireless technology is of vital interest to the
State. To ensure that public and private Illinois consumers
continue to benefit from these services as soon as possible and
to ensure that providers of wireless access have a fair and

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predictable process for the deployment of small wireless
facilities, the General Assembly is enacting this Act, which
specifies how local authorities may regulate the collocation of
small wireless facilities and small wireless facility
networks.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Antenna" means communications equipment that transmits or
receives electromagnetic radio signals used in the provision of
wireless service.
"Applicant" means a wireless provider or a communications
facilities provider that submits an application.
"Application" means a request submitted by an applicant to
an authority for the collocation of small wireless facilities
or small wireless facility networks under Section 15.
"Authority" means a city, village, incorporated town,
township, county, unit of local government, or special district
that has jurisdiction and control for use of the public
rights-of-way as provided by the Illinois Highway Code for
placements within the public rights-of-way or has zoning or
land use control for placements not within the public
rights-of-way.
"Authority utility pole" means a utility pole or similar
structure that is used in whole or in part for communications
service, electric service, lighting, traffic control, signage,
or a similar function owned or a controlled by an authority.

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"Authority structure" means an existing tower, building,
water tower, or other structure owned or controlled by an
authority, but not an authority utility pole.
"Cable operator" has the same meaning as in 47 U.S.C.
522(5), as amended.
"Collocate" means to install, mount, maintain, modify,
operate, or replace wireless facilities on an existing private
or public tower, building, or water tower; an existing private
or authority utility pole; or another existing structure.
"Collocation" has a corresponding meaning.
"Communications service" means cable service, as defined
in 47 U.S.C. 522(6), as amended; or information service, as
defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(24), as amended; telecommunications
service as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(53), as amended; mobile
service as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(33), as amended; or
wireless service other than mobile service.
"Communications facilities provider" means a person or
entity that installs or constructs facilities or structures
used to provide communications services.
"Communications service provider" means a cable operator;
a provider of information service; a telecommunications
carrier, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(51), as amended; or a
wireless provider.
"Small wireless facilities" means wireless facilities that
meet both of the following qualifications: (i) each antenna is
located inside an enclosure of no more than 6 cubic feet in

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volume or, in the case of an antenna that has exposed elements,
the antenna and all of its exposed elements could fit within an
imaginary enclosure of no more than 6 cubic feet; and (ii) all
other wireless equipment associated with the structure is
cumulatively no more than 28 cubic feet in volume. The
following types of associated ancillary equipment are not
included in the calculation of equipment volume: electric
meter, concealment, telecommunications demarcation box,
ground-based enclosures, grounding equipment, power transfer
switch, cut-off switch, and vertical cable runs for the
connection of power and other services.
"Small wireless facility network" means a collection of
interrelated small wireless facilities designed to deliver
wireless communications service.
"Utility pole" means a pole or similar structure that is
used in whole or in part for communications service, electric
service, lighting, traffic control, signage, or a similar
function.
"Wireless facilities" means equipment at a fixed location
that enables wireless communications between user equipment
and a communications network, including, but not limited to:
(i) equipment associated with wireless communications services
such as private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well
as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services
such as microwave backhaul; and (ii) radio transceivers,
antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup

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power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of
technological configuration.
"Wireless service" means a fixed or mobile wireless service
provided using wireless facilities.
"Wireless provider" means a provider of wireless service.
Section 15. Siting of small wireless facilities and small
wireless facility networks.
(a) Except as provided in this Section, an authority may
not prohibit, regulate, or charge for the collocation of small
wireless facilities or small wireless facility networks.
(b) Small wireless facilities and small wireless facility
networks shall be classified as permitted uses, and not subject
to the standards of a special or conditional use, in:
(1) all public rights-of-way and authority property;
and
(2) other property not zoned exclusively for
single-family residential use.
(c) Small wireless facilities and small wireless facility
networks may be classified as special or conditional uses where
those facilities are not located within the public
rights-of-way or within authority property and are located on
property zoned exclusively for single-family residential use.
(d) An authority may require building permits, permits to
work within the public rights-of-way, and other permits for the
collocation of small wireless facilities and small wireless

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facility networks, provided such permits are of general
applicability. Authorities shall receive applications for,
process, and issue permits and approvals subject to the
following requirements:
(1) An authority shall not assess any recurring or
nonrecurring fees or charges for the collocation of small
wireless facilities or small wireless facility networks
within the public rights-of-way to an applicant that is
paying the authority:
(A) a tax authorized by the Simplified Municipal
Telecommunications Tax Act at a rate exceeding 5%; or
(B) an infrastructure maintenance fee authorized
by Section 5 of the Telecommunications Infrastructure
Maintenance Fee Act if the authority was listed in
Section 5-25 of the Simplified Municipal
Telecommunications Tax Act.
This paragraph (1) does not prohibit an authority from
charging a recurring fee for the collocation of small
wireless facilities or small wireless facility networks on
authority utility poles located within the public
rights-of-way in accordance with subsection (e).
(2) If paragraph (1) of this subsection (d) does not
apply, applicants shall not be required to pay a higher
application processing fee than communications service
providers that are not wireless providers. Total
processing fees for any individual permit or approval,

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including any fees charged by third parties, shall not
exceed $500.
(3) Applicants shall not be required to perform any
services, including restoration work not directly related
to the collocation, to obtain approval for applications.
(4) An applicant shall not be required to provide more
information to obtain a permit than communications service
providers that are not wireless providers.
(5) Each application for a permit or approval shall be
processed on a nondiscriminatory basis and deemed approved
if the authority fails to approve or deny the application
within 60 days after submittal of a complete application.
This period may be tolled to accommodate timely requests
for information required to complete the application or may
be extended by mutual agreement between the authority and
the applicant. A permit application may address multiple
small wireless facilities or a small wireless facilities
network.
(6) An authority may deny an application only if it
does not meet the applicable authority's construction in
the public rights-of-way, building, or electrical codes or
standards, provided such codes and standards are of general
applicability. The authority must document the basis for
the denial, including the specific code provisions or
standards on which the denial was based, and send the
documentation to the applicant on or before the day the

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authority denies an application. The applicant may cure the
deficiencies identified by the authority and resubmit the
application within 30 days of the denial without paying an
additional processing fee. The authority shall approve or
deny the revised application within 30 days.
(7) An authority may not limit the duration of a permit
or approval related to one or more small wireless
facilities or a small wireless facilities network.
(8) An authority may not institute a moratorium on (A)
filing, receiving, or processing applications or (B)
issuing permits or approvals for the collocation of small
wireless facilities and small wireless facility networks.
(9) An authority may not impose discriminatory
licensing standards for persons collating small wireless
facilities and small wireless facility networks. An
authority shall receive applications for, process, and
issue licenses for persons collating small wireless
facilities and small wireless facility networks
applications in a manner substantially comparable to the
licensing of other contractors within the jurisdiction of
the authority.
(e) A wireless provider or licensed contractor may
collocate small wireless facilities and small wireless
facility networks on authority utility poles located within the
public rights-of-way, subject to reasonable rates, terms, and
conditions as provided in one or more agreements between the

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wireless provider and the authority. The authority must process
authority utility pole collocation requests, issue permits,
and allow the installation and operation of small wireless
facilities and small wireless facility networks on authority
utility poles pending negotiation of the agreement. Authority
utility pole collocation requests shall be processed in the
same manner as permit applications under subsection (d). The
reasonable annual recurring rate to collocate a small wireless
facility on an authority utility pole shall not exceed the rate
produced by applying the formula adopted by the Federal
Communications Commission for telecommunications pole
attachments under paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of 47 CFR
1.1409.
(f) An authority shall authorize the collocation of small
wireless facilities and small wireless facility networks on
authority structures not located within the public
rights-of-way to the same extent an authority permits access to
authority structures for other commercial projects or uses and
may authorize such collocations if the authority has not
previously permitted such access. Such collocations shall be
subject to reasonable rates, terms, and conditions as provided
in one or more agreements between the wireless provider and the
authority. An authority may not charge on an annual recurring
basis more for such collocations than the lesser of (1) the
amount charged for similar commercial projects or uses to
occupy or use the same amount of space on similarly situated

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property; (2) the projected cost to the authority resulting
from the collocation; or (3) $500 annually.
Section 20. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate
small wireless facilities and small wireless facility networks
in a manner inconsistent with the regulation by the State of
small wireless facilities and small wireless facility networks
under this Act. This Section is a limitation under subsection
(i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on
the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and
functions exercised by the State.".