Politics & Government

San Jose, 100 Cities, Cos. Sue FCC Over Broadband Power Grab

The legal challenge now in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit and supported by Rep. Eshoo's bill aims to regain local control.

PALO ALTO, CA -- With a broad boost from U.S. Reps. Anna G. Eshoo and Jackie Speier (D-Palo Alto, Hillsborough), a large coalition of Western cities and counties are waging a legal showdown with a shuttered federal government in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over control of 5G wireless installations.

Telecom companies have long applied with local governments for permits to install their equipment like cell towers. On Aug. 2, the Federal Communications Commission stepped in and took away that local regulatory control under the guise of streamlining the process.

The docket labeled "Accelerating Wireless and Wireline Broadband" dictates new regulations on the "deployment of next-generation wireless facilities." It took effect this week.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But local governments cry foul. The city of San Jose, for one, contends it knows its community and jurisdiction better than the feds and took the matter to court. The case in which lead plaintiff San Jose requested halting the new rules once resided in the 10th Circuit. The judge denied the local governments the motion to stay but allowed the case to move to the 9th Circuit.

From there, attorney Jerry Lederer hopes for a different outcome. His argument may in part show "irreparable" harm caused by applications backed up while the rules change.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We hope to put this rule on the back burner," Lederer told Patch.

In the meantime, the FCC's Washington, D.C., offices reflect a federal government in flux. Phone calls were unanswered and unreturned.

The pro-city petitioners ranging from Gig Harbor, Wash., to Yuma, Ariz., "respectively request that this Court hold unlawful, vacate, enjoin and set aside the declaratory ruling (by the FCC) and grant such other relief as it may deem appropriate."

Local governments are getting squeezed because they will be forced to approve application requests without adequate time to study the impacts on their neighborhoods and will have no say in the establishment of fees to the carriers. Moreover, they may also be coerced into providing valuable public property to a for profit enterprise at cost.

For a federal government that prides itself on downsizing its operations and has long said it advocates for local control, this regulatory shift by the FCC seeks to do the opposite.

Support in high places

Eshoo's bill, H.R. 530 -- called the Accelerating Wireless Broadband Development by Empowering Local Communities Act of 2019, essentially resets the clock on the FCC's new rules by erasing what the federal government has implemented in the under-the-wire maneuver.

"Having served in local government for a decade on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, I understand and respect the important role that state and local governments play in protecting the welfare of their residents," Eshoo said. "5G is essential for our country's communications network and economy, but it must be deployed responsibly and equitably."

The congresswoman accused the FCC of allowing the "industry," meaning the companies that stand to benefit by the change, write the rules without input from the local governments. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai worked in the industry before serving in the federal government. He is also under fire over repealing net neutrality in the United States, a mega issue expected to come to a head next month.

"The FCC forced Congress to act by failing to listen to reasonable input from communities across the country, cowering to industry interests and failing to put the public interests first," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

The Silicon Valley leader applauds Eshoo for her bill, which is co-sponsored by Speier, and hopes it will nullify the new regulations and allow the local jurisdictions to "negotiate fair, market-based broadband deployment agreements and close the digital divide that exists for 34 million low income and rural Americans."

Along with the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties are also proponents in the fight.

"Cities, towns and villages are eager to welcome new technologies like 5G, but must retain the authority to protect the diverse needs of residents and communities," League Executive Director Clarence Anthony said.

--Image via Kathryn Reed


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