NJSBA Family Law Section

Hello Family Law Section members,

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, NJICLE will present a webinar that is of interest to every town, city and municipality in New Jersey:

Webinar- 5G Regulations Will Impact Every Town, City, and Municipality In New Jersey in January. Are you Ready? will be held from 12 to 1:40 p.m.

On September 26, 2018, the FCC adopted rules that will expedite the installation of 5G cells and limit a municipalities' ability to block their installation. The Order was published in the Federal Register on October 15, 2018, and will become effective on January 14, 2019.

What You Need To Know:
New Jersey is in the midst of a transition to the next generation of wireless services, known as 5G. 5G technology is different than 3G or 4G and requires more cells, placed closer to users on existing rights of way, rather than on large towers. The FCC recently adopted new rules that changed the way that applications for antenna placement are processed. The rules, designed to expedite the deployment of small cell antennas, require an expedited review of applications, impose limits on ability of a municipality to deny use of the public right-of-way(ROW) and other public property, and impose limits on the costs that get charged to carriers.

The Federal Communications Commission has declared that "[w]e believe that Section 253(c) is properly construed to suggest that Congress did not intend to permit states and localities to rely on their ownership of property within a ROW as a pretext to advance regulatory objectives that prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of covered services, and thus that such conduct is preempted."

Learn about the new regulations and how they will impact your municipal clients – without leaving your home or office - at this convenient new webinar.

FACULTY
Moderator/Speaker:
Gregory Meese, Esq.
Past Chair, NJSBA Land Use Section
Editor, Land Use Citator
Price, Meese, Shulman & D'Armino, P.C., Woodcliff Lake
Edward W. Purcell, Esq.
DiFrancesco Bateman, Warren

Highlights of the new rules, published in the Federal Register on October 15, 2018 and effective on January 14, 2019, include:
1. Adoption of the "Materially Inhibits" Standard for Determining Whether a Municipality can Prohibit the Use or Addition of the New Cells
Sections 253 and 332 of the Telecommunications Act provide "[A] state or local legal requirement will have the effect of prohibiting wireless telecommunications services if it materially inhibits . . . a provider's ability to engage in any of a variety of activities related to its provision of a covered service. This test is met not only when filling a coverage gap but also when densifying a wireless network, introducing new services or otherwise improving service capabilities." "Thus, an effective prohibition includes materially inhibiting additional services or improving existing services." The order "extend[s] to state and local governments' terms for access to public ROW . . . , as well as their terms for use of or attachment to government-owned property within such ROW, such as light poles, traffic lights, and similar property suitable for hosting Small Wireless Facilities."

2. A requirement that All Fees and Municipal Consultant Costs Be "Reasonable." It limits fees, including application and review fees, to those that are nondiscriminatory and represent a reasonable approximation of the municipality's reasonable costs.
Hear how all such fees violate TCA Sections 253 or 332(c)(7) unless (1) the fees are a reasonable approximation of the state or local government's costs, (2) only objectively reasonable costs are factored into those fees, and (3) the fees are no higher than the fees charged to similarly-situated competitors in similar situations. "Fees must not only be limited to a reasonable approximation of costs, but in order to be reflected in fees the costs themselves must also be reasonable. Accordingly, any unreasonably high costs, such as excessive charges by third party contractors or consultants, may not be passed on through fees even though they are an actual "cost" to the government. If a locality opts to incur unreasonable costs, Sections 253 and 332(c)(7) do not permit it to pass those costs on to providers."

3. New "Shot Clocks" and Clarification of Collocation. It establishes a new set of "shot clocks" for Small Cells: 60 days for the attachment of an existing structure and 90 days for the construction of new facilities.
Learn how the shot clock is not limited to zoning authorization, but applies to "all authorizations necessary for the deployment of personal wireless services infrastructure, including building permits and road opening permits. The FCC also clarified that "for purpose of Section 332 shot clocks, attachment of facilities to existing structures constitute collocation, regardless whether the structure or the location has previously been zoned for wireless facilities." Therefore, an application to place antennas on any existing structure must be reviewed in 60 days. It establishes that the failure to issue a decision within the time period is both a "failure to act" and a presumptive prohibition.

4. Aesthetic and Minimum Spacing Requirements.
Gain an understanding of the aesthetic requirements, as the new rules mandate aesthetic and minimum spacing requirements must be (1) reasonable, (2) no more burdensome than those applied to other types of infrastructure deployments, and (3) published in advance. They are reasonable if they are "reasonably directed to avoiding or remedying the intangible public harm of unsightly or out-of-character deployments" . . . and [they are no more] burdensome then those the state or locality applies to similar infrastructure deployments . . ."

CLE Credits:
NJ CLE information: This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 2.0 hours of total CLE credit.
NJ CLE: This program is presented as an alternative verifiable learning format, and has been approved for 2.0 credits (50 minute hour)
PA CLE: 1.5 substantive credits pending ($8 fee – separate check payable to NJICLE must be submitted at the end of the program)
NY CLE (nt): 2.0 credits

The tuition for this webinar is $125.

Click here to register for Webinar- 5G Regulations Will Impact Every Town, City, and Municipality In New Jersey in January. Are you Ready?
Click here to download a  form to register.
Click here for a form to register a group.
For questions or to register by phone, please contact an association representative at 732-214-8500.

All the best,
Barbara

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Barbara Straczynski
Director of New Media and Promotions
New Jersey State Bar Association
New Brunswick NJ
(732) 937-7524
[email protected]
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