CHAPTER 12-K DEPLOYMENT OF PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACILITIES
Section 12-K:11
12-K:11 Limitations on Applications. –
I. In order to ensure uniformity across New Hampshire with respect to the consideration of every collocation application and modification application, no authority may:
(a) Require an applicant to submit information about, or evaluate an applicant's business decisions with respect to, its designed service, customer demand for service, or quality of its service to or from a particular area or site.
(b) Evaluate a collocation application or modification application based on the availability of other potential locations for the placement of towers, mounts, or PWSFs.
(c) Decide which type of personal wireless services, infrastructure, or technology shall be used by the applicant.
(d) Require the removal of existing mounts, towers, or PWSFs, wherever located, as a condition to approval of a collocation application or modification application.
(e) Impose environmental testing, sampling, or monitoring requirements or other compliance measures for radio frequency emissions on PWSFs that are categorically excluded under the FCC's rules for radio frequency emissions pursuant to 47 C.F.R. section 1.1307(b)(1).
(f) Establish or enforce regulations or procedures for radio frequency signal strength or the adequacy of service quality.
(g) In conformance with 47 U.S.C. section 332(c)(7)(B)(iv), reject a collocation application or modification application, in whole or in part, based on perceived or alleged environmental effects of radio frequency emissions.
(h) Impose any restrictions with respect to objects in navigable airspace that are greater than or in conflict with the restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
(i) Prohibit the placement of emergency power systems that comply with federal and New Hampshire environmental requirements.
(j) Charge an application fee, consulting fee or other fee associated with the submission, review, processing, and approval of a collocation application or modification application that is not required for similar types of commercial development within the authority's jurisdiction. Fees imposed by an authority or by a third-party entity providing review or technical consultation to the authority must be based on actual, direct, and reasonable administrative costs incurred for the review, processing, and approval of a collocation application or modification application. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall an authority or any third-party entity include within its charges any travel expenses incurred in a third-party's review of a collocation application or modification application, and in no event shall an applicant be required to pay or reimburse an authority for consultant or other third-party fees based on a contingency or result-based arrangement.
(k) Impose surety requirements, including bonds, escrow deposits, letters of credit, or any other type of financial surety, to ensure that abandoned or unused facilities can be removed unless the authority imposes similar requirements on other permits for other types of commercial development or land uses. If surety requirements are imposed, they shall be competitively neutral, non-discriminatory, reasonable in amount, and commensurate with the historical record for local facilities and structures that are abandoned.
(l) Condition the approval of a collocation application or modification application on the applicant's agreement to provide space on or near any tower or mount for the authority or local governmental services at less than the market rate for space or to provide other services via the structure or facilities at less than the market rate for such services.
(m) Limit the duration of the approval of a collocation application or modification application.
(n) Discriminate on the basis of the ownership, including by the authority, of any property, structure, or tower when evaluating collocation applications or modification applications.
II. Notwithstanding the limitations in paragraph I, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to:
(a) Limit or preempt the scope of an authority's review of zoning, land use, or permit applications for the siting of new towers or for substantial modifications to existing towers, mounts, or PWSFs.
(b) Prevent a municipality from exercising its general zoning and building code enforcement powers pursuant to RSA 672 through RSA 677 and as set forth in this chapter.