§ 13-24-409 — Uniform application procedures for local authorities

(a) A local authority may require an applicant to seek permission by application to colocate a small wireless facility or install a new or modified PSS associated with a small wireless facility and obtain one (1) or more work permits, as long as the work permits are of general applicability and do not apply exclusively to wireless facilities. (b) If a local authority requires an applicant to seek permission pursuant to subsection (a), the authority must comply with the following: (1) A local authority shall allow an applicant to include up to twenty (20) small wireless facilities within a single application; (2) A local authority shall, within thirty (30) days of receiving an application, determine whether an application is complete and notify the applicant. If an application is incomplete, a local authority must specifically identify the missing information in writing when the applicant is notified; (3) (A) Within thirty (30) days of receiving an application, a local authority may notify an applicant of the need for a conference with the applicant to assist the local authority in understanding or evaluating the applicant's design with regard to one (1) or more small wireless facilities contained in its application; (B) For an application containing multiple small wireless facilities, the local authority shall specify the specific small wireless facilities for which conference is needed, and the sixty-day period for reviewing the application must be extended to seventy-five (75) days as provided in subdivision (b)(7); (C) The local authority is responsible for scheduling the conference and shall permit the applicant to attend telephonically. The seventy-five-day period is not tolled while the conference is scheduled unless the applicant agrees to an additional extension of the review period; (D) Issues that may be addressed by the conference include, but are not limited to: (i) Safety considerations not adequately addressed by the application or regarding which the local authority proposes additional safety-related alterations to the design; (ii) Potential of conflict with another applicant's application for the same or a nearby location; (iii) Impact of planned construction or other public works projects at or near the location identified by the application; and (iv) Alternative design options that may enable colocation on an existing PSS instead of deployment of a new PSS or opportunities and potential benefits of alternative design that would incorporate other features or elements of benefit to the local authority. However, the existence of alternatives does not constitute a basis for denial of an application that otherwise satisfies all generally applicable standards for construction in the ROW and the requirements established by this part; (4) A local authority shall process all applications on a nondiscriminatory basis; (5) Except when extension of the review period is allowed by this section, a local authority shall approve or deny all small wireless facilities within an application within sixty (60) days of receipt of the application. For those applications seeking permission to deploy or colocate multiple small wireless facilities, the local authority shall deny permission only as to those small wireless facilities for which the application does not demonstrate compliance with all generally applicable ROW standards imposed on entities entitled to place infrastructure in the ROW and the requirements established by this part. A local authority shall not deny permission solely on the basis that the small wireless facility was contained in the same application as other small wireless facilities that are not approved; (6) Any application or any portion of an application that is not approved or denied within sixty (60) days is deemed approved, unless the sixty-day period has been extended consistent with this section. If the period has been extended, then the date on which approval will be deemed to occur is also extended to the same date of the applicable extension; (7) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision (b)(7), a local authority shall not extend the sixty-day period to provide for additional or supplemental review by additional departments or designees. The sixty (60) day review period may be tolled or extended only as follows: (A) The sixty-day period is tolled if a local authority sends notice to the applicant that the application is incomplete within thirty (30) days after the initial application is filed, but this tolling ceases once additional or supplemental information is provided to the local authority. If supplemental information is not received within thirty (30) days of the date on which notice of incompleteness is sent by the authority, then the application may be denied and a new application required; (B) The local authority and the applicant may mutually agree to toll the sixty-day period; (C) The sixty-day review period is extended to seventy-five (75) days upon timely notice by the authority of the need for a conference as provided in subdivision (b)(3), but the seventy-five-day period must not be further extended for applications under subdivision (b)(7)(D) or (b)(7)(E); (D) If an applicant submits applications to the same local authority seeking permission to deploy or colocate more than thirty (30), but fewer than fifty (50), small wireless facilities within any thirty-day period, then the local authority may upon notice to the applicant extend the sixty-day period for reviewing the applications to seventy-five (75) days, but the seventy-five-day period shall not be further extended for a conference as provided in subdivision (b)(7)(C); (E) If an applicant submits applications to the same local authority seeking permission to deploy or colocate fifty (50) or more small wireless facilities within any thirty-day period, then the local authority may, upon notice to the applicant, extend the period for reviewing the applications to ninety (90) days, but the ninety-day period must not be further extended for a conference as provided in subdivision (b)(7)(C); (F) If an applicant submits applications to the same local authority seeking permission to deploy or colocate more than one hundred twenty (120) small wireless facilities within any sixty-day period, then the local authority may issue notice to the applicant that the authority requires the applicant to select from the following two (2) options for high-volume applicants: (i) Pay a surcharge to maintain the same review time period that would be otherwise applicable. The surcharge is in addition to the ordinary application fee provided in § 13-24-407 . The surcharge is one hundred dollars ($100) for each small wireless facility that the applicant elects to have reviewed using the otherwise applicable review period, and the applicant shall submit its list identifying the specific small wireless facilities it elects to have reviewed in the ordinarily applicable period with its surcharge payment within five (5) days of receiving the local authority's notice that applications have been received, triggering the election of either a surcharge or extension of the review time period described in (b)(7)(C), (b)(7)(D), or (b)(7)(E); or (ii) If no identifying list is provided or if payment of a surcharge is not made within the applicable time period, or, for those small wireless facilities not timely identified and for which no surcharge is timely paid, the ordinarily applicable review period shall be extended to one hundred-twenty (120) days; (G) If an applicant submits an application in which the proposed design will affect in any manner a regulatory sign, as defined by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or any sign subject to a requirement for breakaway supports, then the local authority may reject the application. If an application is rejected on that basis, however, the local authority shall permit the applicant to seek reconsideration of its design. If the applicant requests reconsideration, then the local authority shall provide the opportunity for the applicant to schedule a conference to discuss the local authority's specific concerns within thirty (30) days of the reconsideration request. The applicant must submit a revised design or otherwise respond to the local authority's concerns within thirty (30) days of the conference, and upon receipt of the revised design or response, the local authority shall approve or deny the application within sixty (60) days, and the local authority has complete discretion to approve or deny the application in a nondiscriminatory manner; (8) If a local authority denies an application, it shall provide written explanation of this denial at the same time the local authority issues the denial. (c) A local authority shall not deny an application unless the applicant has failed to satisfy this part or has failed to submit a design that complies with the generally applicable requirements that the local authority imposes on a nondiscriminatory basis upon entities deploying or constructing infrastructure in a ROW. (d) Contemporaneous with an approval of an application in which the design includes replacement or construction of a new or replacement PSS, a local authority may notify the applicant of the further requirement that the applicant shall provide a professional engineer's certification that the installation of the new or replacement PSS has been completed consistent with the approved design as well as all generally applicable safety and engineering standards. (e) After denial of an application, if an applicant provides a revised application that cures deficiencies identified by the local authority within thirty (30) days of the denial, then no additional application fee shall be required. A local authority shall approve or deny the revised application within thirty (30) days from the time the revised application is submitted to the authority. Any subsequent review of an application by a local government must be limited to the deficiencies cited in the denial or deficiencies that relate to changes in the revised application and that were not contained in the original application. (f) A local authority shall not, either expressly or de facto, discontinue its application process or prohibit deployment under the terms of this part prior to adoption of any application process. (g) A local authority shall not require applicants to provide any information not listed in this subsection (g). A local authority may require the following information to be provided in an application: (1) A preliminary site plan with a diagram or engineering drawing depicting the design for installation of the small wireless facility with sufficient detail for the local authority to determine that the design of the installation and any new PSS or any modification of a PSS is consistent with all generally applicable safety and design requirements, including the requirements of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices; (2) The location of the site, including the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates of the specific location of the site; (3) Identification of any third party upon whose PSS the applicant intends to colocate and certification by the applicant that it has obtained approval from the third party; (4) The applicant's identifying information and the identifying information of the owner of the small wireless facility and certification by the applicant or the owner that such person agrees to pay applicable fees and rates, repair damage, and comply with all nondiscriminatory and generally applicable ROW requirements for deployment of any associated infrastructure that is not a small wireless facility and the contact information for the party that will respond in the event of an emergency related to the small wireless facility; (5) The applicant's certification of compliance with surety bond, insurance, or indemnification requirements; rules requiring maintenance of infrastructure deployed in ROW; rule requiring relocation or timely removal of infrastructure in ROW no longer utilized; and any rules requiring relocation or repair procedures for infrastructure in ROW under emergency conditions, if any, that the local authority imposes on a general and nondiscriminatory basis upon entities that are entitled to deploy infrastructure in the ROW; and (6) The applicant's certification that the proposed site plan and design plans meet or exceed all applicable engineering, materials, electrical, and safety standards, including all standards related to the structural integrity and weight-bearing capacity of the PSS and small wireless facility. Those standards relevant to engineering must be certified by a licensed professional engineer. (h) An applicant must complete deployment of the applicant's small wireless facilities within nine (9) months of approval of applications for the small wireless facilities unless the local authority and the applicant agree to extend the period, or a delay is caused by a lack of commercial power or communications transport facilities to the site. If an applicant fails to complete deployment within the time required pursuant to this subsection (h), then the local authority may require that the applicant complete a new application and pay an application fee. (i) If a local authority receives multiple applications seeking to deploy or colocate small wireless facilities at the same location in an incompatible manner, then the local authority may deny the later filed application. (j) A local authority may require the applicant to designate a safety contact for any colocation design that includes attachment of any facility or structure to a bridge or overpass. After the applicant's construction is complete, the applicant shall provide to the safety contact a licensed professional engineer's certification that the construction is consistent with the applicant's approved design, that the bridge or overpass maintains the same structural integrity as before the construction and installation process, and that during the construction and installation process neither the applicant nor its contractors have discovered evidence of damage to or deterioration of the bridge or overpass that compromises its structural integrity. If such evidence is discovered during construction, then the applicant shall provide notice of the evidence to the safety contact. (k) The approval of the installation, placement, maintenance, or operation of a small wireless facility pursuant to this part does not authorize the provision of any communications service or the installation, placement, maintenance or operation of any communications facility, including a wireline backhaul facility, other than a small wireless facility, in a right of way.

Legislative History

Added by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 819,s 1, eff. 4/24/2018.