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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  05-  144 
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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Approving  in  part,  dissenting  in  Part 
 RE:  Biennial  Regulatory  Review  –  Amendment  of  Parts  1,  22,  24,  27,  and  90  to  Streamline  and 
 Harmonize  Various  Rules  Affecting  Wireless  Radio  Services. 


 I  support  the  vast  majority  of  today’s  Order  and  NPRM.  But  I  must  dissent  from  one  important  part  of  this  item.  Today  the  FCC  alters  the  sliding-  scale  relationship  between  tower  height  and 
 permissible  power.  This  change  increases  the  permissible  height  of  full-  power  communications  towers  in  suburban  areas  of  our  Country  for  the  800  MHz  and  900  MHz  bands.  We  should  have  analyzed  the 
 environmental  impact  of  this  change  before  taking  final  action. 
 Towers  in  many  of  our  communities  are  already  enormous.  But  because  of  this  FCC  Order  we  may  well  see  more  full-  power  1,000  foot  towers  in  suburban  areas.  A  1,000  foot  tower  is  twice  as  high  as 
 the  Washington  Monument.  While  we  all  would  like  to  find  ways  to  improve  wireless  quality,  we  should  study  the  impact  on  our  communities  before  making  a  change  that  could  dot  the  suburban  landscape  with 
 more  potentially  intrusive  structures.  We  therefore  should  have  studied  how  many  more  high  towers  are  likely  to  be  constructed  because  of  our  actions  and  how  these  towers  will  affect  the  environment,  aviation 
 safety,  and  other  issues  important  to  communities  around  the  Nation.  We  did  not  do  so. 
 The  assertion  that  we  can  review  these  issues  when  individual  towers  are  erected  does  not  allay  my  concern.  The  FCC  itself  does  not  usually  investigate  when  towers  are  built,  and  our  history  on  these 
 matters  suggests  that  ad  hoc  reviews  will  inadequately  protect  our  communities.  The  assertion  that  high  towers  already  exist  in  many  communities  also  does  not  solve  this  problem.  That  is  because  this  change 
 potentially  will  allow  companies  to  build  more  of  these  towers  without  the  FCC  even  asking  what  the  impact  of  these  towers  will  be.  Because  I  believe  that  we  should  at  a  minimum  examine  whether  our 
 action  will  negatively  impact  the  environment,  safety,  and  other  community  concerns,  I  must  dissent  to  this  part  of  the  Order. 
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