Categorical Exclusion

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Exclusion Text

(c)(1) Unless §1.1307(a)(4) is applicable, the provisions of §1.1307(a) requiring the preparation of EAs do not encompass the construction of wireless facilities, including deployments on new or replacement poles, if: (i) The facilities will be located in a right-of-way that is designated by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal government for communications towers, above-ground utility transmission or distribution lines, or any associated structures and equipment; (ii) The right-of-way is in active use for such designated purposes; and (iii) The facilities would not (A) Increase the height of the tower or non-tower structure by more than 10% or twenty feet, whichever is greater, over existing support structures that are located in the right-of-way within the vicinity of the proposed construction; (B) Involve the installation of more than four new equipment cabinets or more than one new equipment shelter; (C) Add an appurtenance to the body of the structure that would protrude from the edge of the structure more than twenty feet, or more than the width of the structure at the level of the appurtenance, whichever is greater (except that the deployment may exceed this size limit if necessary to shelter the antenna from inclement weather or to connect the antenna to the tower via cable); or (D) Involve excavation outside the current site, defined as the area that is within the boundaries of the leased or owned property surrounding the deployment or that is in proximity to the structure and within the boundaries of the utility easement on which the facility is to be deployed, whichever is more restrictive. (2) Such wireless facilities are subject to §1.1307(b) and require EAs if their construction would result in human exposure to radiofrequency radiation in excess of the applicable health and safety guidelines cited in §1.1307(b).