HBA-MPM, CBW C.S.H.B. 1148 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1148
By: Cook
County Affairs
4/12/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

As the demand for wireless services and seamless coverage grows, wireless
providers are constructing new towers at increasing rates.  In urban areas,
numerous small cellular towers can be positioned on top of a building or
other structures.  However, in rural areas towers must be taller and spaced
farther apart to ensure adequate coverage.  In some cases, the towers in
rural areas may be taller than 400 feet.  However, residents who live in
unincorporated portions of a county such as rural areas may have little or
no notice when such a tower is constructed.  C.S.H.B. 1148 requires a
person who wishes to construct a wireless communication facility to inform
landowners of the impending construction.  The bill also sets forth filing
requirements for the construction of a facility and provisions for the
transfer of ownership and removal of the facility.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1148 amends the Business & Commerce Code to require a person
wishing to construct a wireless communication facility (facility) to file
with the county clerk or other county official before the 30th day before
the construction begins: 

_a statement proposing the construction and the date on or after which the
construction will begin; 

_the correct phone number and address of each entity involved in the
construction; 

_the legal description of the proposed site; and

_a phone number that is operational at all times for emergency purposes.

The bill requires the person to assign each proposed facility a unique
identification and to provide the county clerk or county official with the
unique identification. 

C.S.H.B. 1148 requires a person wishing to construct a facility taller than
100 feet and before the 30th day before construction begins to mail a
letter stating the legal description of the proposed site and at minimum
the name, phone number, and mailing address of the person proposing the
construction, as well as the facility's unique identification and a phone
number that is operational at all times to: 

_a public airport located within three miles of the proposed facility and
the Texas Department of Agriculture, who shall notify the boll weevil
eradication foundation; and 

_each landowner within two miles of the proposed location if the location
is not within a  metropolitan statistical area or a newspaper of general
circulation in the county of construction. 

C.S.H.B. 1148 requires a lessee of real property used for a facility to
give written notice to the county clerk or other county official of the
construction and the lessor of the real property if a transfer of ownership
occurs.   The bill provides that a contract between a property owner that
conveys property interest to a person to allow the person to construct a
facility must contain a provision relating to the removal of the facility
and any adjuncts to the facility that prescribes the circumstances under
which removal shall be accomplished. 

The bill specifies that the provisions of this bill are inapplicable to a
radio or television reception antenna, a satellite or microwave parabolic
antenna not used by a wireless communication service provider, a
receive-only antenna, an antenna owned and operated by a federally licensed
amateur radio station operator, a cable television company facility if the
company holds a valid and current franchise, a radio or television
broadcasting facility, a co-location antenna, or any other tower or antenna
lawfully in existence on the date the bill takes effect. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1148 differs from the original by modifying the Business &
Commerce Code rather than the Local Government Code.  The substitute
removes provisions from the original bill that authorize a commissioners
court of a county to regulate facilities, require a permit for
construction, expansion, or removal of a tower or other facility and impose
certain fees, and regulate the height, lighting, location, and removal of
towers and other facilities.  

C.S.H.B. 1148 requires a person wishing to construct a wireless
communication facility (facility) to mail a letter of notice of
construction to certain entities before the 30th day before construction of
the facility begins.  The substitute also sets forth provisions for
transfer of ownership of a facility, removal of the facility, and provides
that certain antennae and radio and television broadcasting facilities are
exempt from the provisions of the bill.  The substitute requires the person
to file relevant information with the county clerk or another county
official before the 30th day rather than the 180th day before construction
of a facility begins and removes the requirement that the person publish a
notice of a public hearing in a local newspaper before the 120th day before
construction begins. The substitute requires the person to mail notice of
construction to certain entities and individuals or publish this
information in a local newspaper before the 30th day before construction
begins, whereas the original required the person to publish a notice of
public hearing and hold the  hearing, and mail to each resident and
landowner within one mile of the construction site a letter specifying
information about the facility. 

The substitute removes provisions from the original that set forth
penalties for a person who violated any provision in the original bill and
provisions authorizing the county attorney to enjoin a violation or
threatened violation.