Wireless infrastrucrui-e-based carriers must obtain spectrum licenses or utilize unlicensed spectrum- The FCC is the <br />agency regulating us~ o-` r_I _ ornag~ tic (radio) spectrum. <br />All providers or wirer s_, seen e are suoje :t to a host of regulatory requirements both at the federal and state levels. <br />Pro,/iders are subject to FCC, rules incll_icling some or all of the follo~n/ing <br />License bulldout requirements and urneframes <br />• Technical standards, such as power limits <br />• E-911 deployment <br />• Roaming <br />• Hearing aid compatibiliry requirements for mol_)ile handsets <br />• Protection against radio frequency ("RP") exposure <br />• Interconnection and intercarrier compensation obligations and rights <br />• Numbering resources administration <br />• Universal service obligations <br />Federal Siting Rules Overview <br />Recognizing the importance and rapid growth of wireless technology, Congress and the FCC established minimum <br />national standards for processing applications for new cell sites and for the collocation, replacement and removal of <br />wireless equipment on existing cell sites. The U S. statute and interpreting FCC order govern both the time to process <br />applications and the type of review to which applications are subject <br />Section 332(c)(7)(B)(ii) of the Communications Act requires States and local governments to act on cell site applications <br />/,iithin a "reasonable period of time." In 2009, the FCC interpreted this statute and ordered that a presumptively <br />°'reasonable period of time" to approve an application is 150 days for a new site and 90 days to collocate on an <br />existing site' State and local governments and applicants can agree to extend these periods of time. Expedited <br />approvals in the highly competitive wireless telecommunications industry can benefit local jurisdictions, as carriers and <br />nfi-astri icture builders are more likely to spend capital first in those places with the shortest approval periods. <br />In February 2012, Congress passed Section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ("Section <br />6409°), which, among other things, requires state and local governments to approve any application for the collocation, <br />removal or replacement of transmission equipment on an existing tower or base station that does not "substantially <br />change" the physical dimensions of a tower or base station.- <br />On January 25, 2013, the FCC's Vhreless Bureau, rnrhich has authority to implement and enforce Section 6409, issued a <br />Notice clarifying certain aspects of Section 6409.' In I~articulai; the Bureau clarified that a "substantial increase" in size <br />occurs if. <br />• The mounting of the I~roposecl antenna (_,n the tower increases the existing height of the structure by more than <br />10%, or h y the height of one additional antenna array rwith separation frorn the nearest existing antenna not to <br />exceed t~nienty feet, rwhichever is greater, except that the mounting of the proposed antenna may exceed the size <br />units if necessary to avoid interference with existing antennas; or <br />• The mounting of a proposed antenna that extends horizontally fi-om the edge of the tower by more than 20 feet, <br />unless the width of the tower structure at the point of attachment is greater than 20 feet, in ~which case the new <br />antenna can extend as far as the width of d ie tower structure, or <br />