The FCC should expeditiously address tower siting applications su...

in the Sec. 106 historic preservation review process, asking the Commission to resolve issues industry experiences with the tribal construction notification system. The FCC needn’t launch a proceeding, but rather should “ensure that the [review] process is working as the FCC intended,” CTIA Senior Vp- Gen. Counsel Michael Altschul told us. Specifically, CTIA said, the FCC should: (1) “Immediately adopt procedures to bring finality to the tribal notification phase of the Section 106 process so that the notification procedures do not create additional delay.” CTIA backs a USET recommendation that required tribal contacts should be considered completed if “two attempts by the applicant and one attempt by the FCC to contact the relevant tribe or tribes were unsuccessful in securing a response from them.” (2) Participate in joint outreach efforts among tribes and the wireless and broadcast industries to “improve understanding and communication among the stakeholders regarding TCNS, the Agreements, and the Section 106 process.” (3) “Adopt proactive approaches to reduce and then eliminate the backlog of contested environmental cases.” (4) Set “definitive timelines for resolving the backlog of existing contested environmental cases and publish these time lines so that the participants and the public could chart the progress of each case.” (5) Adopt timelines for resolving environmental cases contested in the future. “The [CTIA’s] proactive approach may place additional resource demands on the [Wireless Bureau’s] NEPA Adjudication Team and the [Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau] at a time when both Bureaus have recently experienced departures of personnel with environmental and historic preservation expertise,” CTIA said: “While the FCC is in the best position to assess its own resource needs, it appears that additional personnel with relevant expertise may need to be allocated to the relevant bureaus.”