Effective 28 Aug 2014

67.5094. Prohibited acts by authority. — In order to ensure uniformity across the state of Missouri with respect to the consideration of every application, an authority shall not:

(1) 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;

(2) Evaluate an application based on the availability of other potential locations for the placement of wireless support structures or wireless facilities, including without limitation the option to collocate instead of construct a new wireless support structure or for substantial modifications of a support structure, or vice versa; provided, however, that solely with respect to an application for a new wireless support structure, an authority may require an applicant to state in such applicant's application that it conducted an analysis of available collocation opportunities on existing wireless towers within the same search ring defined by the applicant, solely for the purpose of confirming that an applicant undertook such an analysis; for collocation to any certified historic structure as defined in section 253.545, in addition to all other applicable time requirements, there shall be a thirty-day time period before approval of an application. During such time period, an authority shall hold one or more public hearings on collocation to a certified historic structure;

(3) Dictate the type of wireless facilities, infrastructure or technology to be used by the applicant, including, but not limited to, requiring an applicant to construct a distributed antenna system in lieu of constructing a new wireless support structure;

(4) Require the removal of existing wireless support structures or wireless facilities, wherever located, as a condition for approval of an application;

(5) With respect to radio frequency emissions, impose environmental testing, sampling, or monitoring requirements or other compliance measures on wireless facilities that are categorically excluded under the Federal Communication Commission's rules for radio frequency emissions under 47 CFR 1.1307 (b)(1) or other applicable federal law, as the same may be amended or supplemented;

(6) Establish or enforce regulations or procedures for RF signal strength or the adequacy of service quality;

(7) Establish or enforce regulations or procedures for environmental safety for any wireless communications facility that is inconsistent with or in excess of those required by OET Bulletin 65, entitled Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, Edition 97-01, released August, 1997, and Supplement A: Additional Information for Radio and Television Broadcast Stations;

(8) In conformance with 47 U.S.C. Section 332(c)(7)(b)(4), reject an application, in whole or in part, based on perceived or alleged environmental effects of radio frequency emissions;

(9) 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;

(10) Prohibit the placement of emergency power systems that comply with federal and state environmental requirements;

(11) Charge an application fee, consulting fee, or other fee associated with the submission, review, processing, and approval of an application that is not required for similar types of commercial development within the authority's jurisdiction. Fees imposed by an authority for or directly 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 an application. Except when mutually agreeable to the applicant and the authority, total charges and fees shall not exceed five hundred dollars for a collocation application or one thousand five hundred dollars for an application for a new wireless support structure or for a substantial modification of a wireless support structure. 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 an application and in no event shall an applicant be required to pay or reimburse an authority for consultation or other third-party fees based on a contingency or result-based arrangement;

(12) 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;

(13) Condition the approval of an application on the applicant's agreement to provide space on or near the wireless support structure for 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;

(14) Limit the duration of the approval of an application;

(15) Discriminate or create a preference on the basis of the ownership, including ownership by the authority, of any property, structure, or tower when promulgating rules or procedures for siting wireless facilities or for evaluating applications;

(16) Impose any requirements or obligations regarding the presentation or appearance of facilities, including, but not limited to, those relating to the kind or type of materials used and those relating to arranging, screening, or landscaping of facilities if such regulations or obligations are unreasonable;

(17) Impose any requirements that an applicant purchase, subscribe to, use, or employ facilities, networks, or services owned, provided, or operated by an authority, in whole or in part, or by any entity in which an authority has a competitive, economic, financial, governance, or other interest;

(18) Condition the approval of an application on, or otherwise require, the applicant's agreement to indemnify or insure the authority in connection with the authority's exercise of its police power-based regulations; or

(19) Condition or require the approval of an application based on the applicant's agreement to permit any wireless facilities provided or operated, in whole or in part, by an authority or by any entity in which an authority has a competitive, economic, financial, governance, or other interest, to be placed at or collocated with the applicant's wireless support structure.

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(L. 2013 H.B. 331, A.L. 2014 S.B. 650)