AN
ACT Relating to revising definitions for personal wireless service facilities;
and amending RCW 43.21C.0384, 80.36.375, 19.27A.027, and 70.92.170.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
*Sec.
1.
RCW 43.21C.0384 and 1996 c 323 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Decisions pertaining to applications to site personal wireless service
facilities are not subject to the requirements of RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c), if
those facilities meet the following requirements:
(a)(i)
The facility to be sited is a microcell and is to be attached to an existing
structure that is not a residence or school and does not contain a residence or
a school; or (ii) the facility includes personal wireless service antennas,
other than a microcell, and is to be attached to an existing structure (that
may be an existing tower) that is not a residence or school and does not
contain a residence or a school, and the existing structure to which it is to
be attached is located in a commercial, industrial, manufacturing, forest, or
agricultural zone; or (iii) the siting project involves constructing a personal
wireless service tower less than sixty feet in height that is located in a
commercial, industrial, manufacturing, forest, or agricultural zone; and
(b)
The project is not in a designated environmentally sensitive area; and
(c)
The project does not consist of a series of actions: (i) Some of which are not
categorically exempt; or (ii) that together may have a probable significant
adverse environmental impact.
(2)
The department of ecology shall adopt rules to create a categorical exemption
for microcells and other personal wireless service facilities that meet the
conditions set forth in subsection (1) of this section.
(3)
For the purposes of this section:
(a)
"Personal wireless services" means commercial mobile services,
unlicensed wireless services, and common carrier wireless exchange access
services, as defined by federal laws and regulations.
(b)
"Personal wireless service ((facilities" means facilities for the
provision of personal wireless services)) facility" means a
wireless communication facility, including a microcell, that is a facility for
the transmission and/or reception of radio frequency signals, and which may
include antennas, equipment shelter or cabinet, transmission cables, a support
structure to achieve the necessary elevation, and reception and transmission
devices and antennas.
(c)
"Microcell" means a wireless communication facility consisting of an
antenna that is either: (i) Four feet in height and with an area of not more
than five hundred eighty square inches; or (ii) if a tubular antenna, no more
than four inches in diameter and no more than six feet in length.
*Sec. 1 was vetoed. See message at end of chapter.
Sec.
2. RCW
80.36.375 and 1996 c 323 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
If a personal wireless service provider applies to site several microcells and/or
minor facilities in a single geographical area:
(a)
If one or more of the microcells and/or minor facilities are not exempt
from the requirements of RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c), local governmental entities are
encouraged: (i) To allow the applicant, at the applicant's discretion, to file
a single set of documents required by chapter 43.21C RCW that will apply to all
the microcells and/or minor facilities to be sited; and (ii) to render
decisions under chapter 43.21C RCW regarding all the microcells and/or minor
facilities in a single administrative proceeding; and
(b)
Local governmental entities are encouraged: (i) To allow the applicant, at the
applicant's discretion, to file a single set of documents for land use permits
that will apply to all the microcells and/or minor facilities to be
sited; and (ii) to render decisions regarding land use permits for all the
microcells and/or minor facilities in a single administrative
proceeding.
(2)
For the purposes of this section:
(a)
"Personal wireless services" means commercial mobile services,
unlicensed wireless services, and common carrier wireless exchange access
services, as defined by federal laws and regulations.
(b)
"Microcell" means a wireless communication facility consisting of an
antenna that is either: (i) Four feet in height and with an area of not more
than five hundred eighty square inches; or (ii) if a tubular antenna, no more
than four inches in diameter and no more than six feet in length.
(c) "Minor facility" means a wireless communication
facility consisting of up to three antennas, each of which is either: (i) Four
feet in height and with an area of not more than five hundred eighty square
inches; or (ii) if a tubular antenna, no more than four inches in diameter and
no more than six feet in length; and the associated equipment cabinet that is
six feet or less in height and no more than forty-eight square feet in floor
area.
*Sec.
3.
RCW 19.27A.027 and 1996 c 323 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The state building code council shall exempt equipment shelters of personal
wireless service facilities from building envelope insulation requirements.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, "personal wireless service ((facilities"
means facilities for the provision of personal wireless services)) facility"
means a wireless communication facility, including a microcell, that is a
facility for the transmission and/or reception of radio frequency signals, and
which may include antennas, equipment shelter or cabinet, transmission cables,
a support structure to achieve the necessary elevation, and reception and
transmission devices and antennas.
*Sec. 3 was vetoed. See message at end of chapter.
*Sec.
4.
RCW 70.92.170 and 1996 c 323 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The state building code council shall amend its rules under chapter 70.92 RCW,
to the extent practicable while still maintaining the certification of those
regulations under the federal Americans with disabilities act, to exempt
personal wireless services equipment shelters, or the room or enclosure housing
equipment for personal wireless service facilities, that meet the following
conditions: (a) The shelter is not staffed; and (b) to conduct maintenance
activities, employees who visit the shelter must be able to climb.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, "personal wireless service ((facilities"
means facilities for the provision of personal wireless services)) facility"
means a wireless communication facility, including a microcell, that is a
facility for the transmission and/or reception of radio frequency signals, and
which may include antennas, equipment shelter or cabinet, transmission cables,
a support structure to achieve the necessary elevation, and reception and
transmission devices and antennas.
*Sec. 4 was vetoed. See message at end of chapter.
Note: Governor's
explanation of partial veto is as follows:
"I
am returning herewith, without my approval as to sections 1, 3, and 4,
Substitute House Bill No. 2044 entitled:
"AN ACT Relating to revising definitions for
personal wireless service facilities;"
SHB
2044 concerns the siting of personal wireless service facilities. Under
current law, the siting of certain personal wireless service facilities is
exempt from the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process under the State
Environmental Protection Act (SEPA). Sections 1, 3, and 4 of this bill change
the definition of "personal wireless service facility" in a way that
arguably, though unintentionally, expands the definition to include radio
transmission towers, the siting of which would then also be exempt, under
certain conditions, from SEPA-EIS review. This is an unintended consequence
that should not be risked. The current law, with its current definition, is
preferable to the uncertainty created by the new definition in this bill.
I
am approving the remainder of the bill, section 2, which was the primary focus
of the participants in the legislative process this session. It encourages
local governments to permit single applications and single administrative
proceedings for the SEPA review of microcells with two or three antennas.
For
these reasons, I have vetoed sections 1, 3, and 4 of Substitute House Bill No.
2044.
With
the exception of sections 1, 3, and 4, Substitute House Bill No. 2044 is
approved."
