What's happening
This bill creates a uniform statewide process that exempts certain wireless facility upgrades from local zoning, aiming to streamline broadband expansion.
Why it matters
Reduces local government discretion. By exempting certain wireless facility upgrades (that do not "substantially change" existing structures) from local zoning and environmental review, the bill limits the authority of municipalities to delay, deny, or condition wireless infrastructure improvements, making it easier and faster for providers to upgrade networks.
Defines clear technical thresholds. The legislation provides detailed definitions of what constitutes an "eligible facilities request" and a "substantial change," giving both local officials and industry precise criteria. This clarity helps avoid legal disputes and inconsistent permitting decisions across different municipalities.
Creates enforceable deadlines and automatic approval. Municipal building inspectors must act on eligible facility applications within 60 days, or the application is automatically approved by law ("deemed granted"). This incentivizes timely local action and prevents bureaucratic delays, which is especially significant for rapid broadband deployment.
Restricts legal challenges and increases predictability. If a municipality acts inconsistently with the new requirements or fails to act, aggrieved parties can quickly seek judicial relief, and courts must expedite these cases. This mechanism puts pressure on municipalities to comply and provides recourse for applicants, increasing certainty for wireless providers and potentially accelerating broadband expansion.
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Who cares
Wireless carriers and tower operators
Qualifying modifications to existing towers and base stations would bypass discretionary zoning permits and receive deemed approval if municipal review deadlines expire, effective upon written notice from the applicant.
City, town and village governments
The bill would override inconsistent local rules and require action on base station applications within 90 days and tower applications within 150 days.
Municipal building inspectors
Inspectors would handle eligible modification requests within 60 days, subject to limited tolling, and could require only customary building-permit documentation and information reasonably related to eligibility.
Environmental and land-use advocates
Eligible modifications would be exempt from state environmental quality review and would not require an environmental assessment form.
Headline styles
Standardize Wireless Permit Rules
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Recommit, enacting clause stricken
- Referred to local government
Full text
6 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
603
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by Sen. STEC -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to enacting the "wireless broadband eligible facility permitting act" providing for uniform municipal regulation of certain wireless facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and declares that it is the policy of this state to ensure the safe and efficient integration of certain wireless facility modifications necessary for the provision of broadband and other advanced wireless services across the entirety of the state. It is the intent of this act to facilitate the ongoing demand for access to broadband and other advanced wireless services by exempting certain modifications of existing wireless facilities from the need for municipal zoning, land use or other discretionary siting permits, to eliminate the burdens and resources dedicated by municipal zoning and land use agencies to review certain eligible modifications of such wireless facilities, and create a statewide uniform process for municipal permitting of such eligible facility modifications. The legislature acknowledges and confirms the authority of local governments to otherwise exercise zoning, land use and permitting authority within their territorial boundaries with regard to the placement and construction of wireless facilities in accordance with other laws, rules and requirements that may apply to the siting of wireless facilities.
§ 2. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "wireless broadband eligible facility permitting act".
§ 3. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new article 13-F to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01396-02-5
ARTICLE 13-F
WIRELESS FACILITIES Section 305. Definitions.
306. General municipal authority over siting of wireless facili-
ties.
307. Eligible facilities requests.
308. Application to supreme court by aggrieved persons.
309. Preemption.
§ 305. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context indicates otherwise.
1. "Applicant" shall mean any person who files an application for wireless infrastructure pursuant to a municipal zoning law adopted pursuant to this article or an eligible facilities request with the municipal building inspector.
2. "Application" shall mean a zoning application filed with a municipality for approvals to construct, operate and maintain a wireless facility, an eligible facilities request or an application pursuant to the state uniform fire prevention and building code.
3. "Base station" shall mean a structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables Federal Communications Commission licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network. Such term shall not encompass a tower or any equipment associated with a tower.
(a) Such term shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) equipment associated with wireless communications services such as private, broadcast and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul;
(2) radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration (including distributed antenna systems and small-cell networks); and
(3) any structure other than a tower that, at the time the relevant permit application is filed with the municipal building inspector, supports or houses equipment described in subparagraph one or two of this paragraph that has been reviewed and approved under the applicable zoning or siting process, or under another state or local regulatory review process, even if the structure was not built for the sole or primary purpose of providing such support.
(b) Such term shall not include any structure that, at the time the relevant permit application is filed with the municipal building inspector, does not support or house equipment described in subparagraph one or two of paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
4. "Collocation" shall mean the mounting or installation of transmission equipment on an eligible support structure for the purpose of transmitting and/or receiving radio frequency signals for communications purposes.
5. "Eligible facilities request" shall mean any request for modification of an existing tower or base station that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of such tower or base station, involving:
(a) the collocation of new transmission equipment;
(b) the removal of transmission equipment; or
(c) the replacement of transmission equipment.
6. "Eligible support structure" shall mean any tower or base station, provided that it is existing at the time a permit application is filed with a municipal building inspector.
7. "Existing" shall mean that a constructed tower or base station has been reviewed and approved under the applicable zoning or siting process, or under another state or local regulatory review process, provided that a tower that has not been reviewed and approved but was lawfully constructed prior to the current applicable zoning or siting process, shall be deemed to be existing.
8. "Modification" shall mean the improvement, upgrade or expansion of an existing wireless facility, base station or wireless support structure that is not a repair, maintenance or in kind replacement of existing transmission equipment.
9. "Municipality" shall mean a city, town or village, including any agent, board, authority, commission, agency, department or other instrumentality thereof.
10. "Municipal building inspector" shall mean the official charged with issuing building permits or enforcing the state uniform fire prevention and building code within a municipality. In the event a municipality does not have a municipal official charged with issuing building permits or enforcing the state uniform fire prevention and building code, such term shall be deemed to refer to the entity charged with enforcing the building code pursuant to subdivision two of section three hundred eighty-one of the executive law.
11. "Municipal zoning law" shall mean any local law, ordinance, rule, regulation, policy or guideline which regulates or governs the location or use of structures or land adopted by a municipality pursuant to this chapter, the general city law, the town law, the village law and/or any other applicable authority.
12. "Site" shall mean, for towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, the current boundaries of the leased or owned property surrounding the tower and any access or utility easements related to the site, and, for other eligible support structures, further restricted to that area in proximity to the structure and to other transmission equipment deployed on the ground.
13. "Substantial change" shall mean a modification substantially changes the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure if it meets any of the following criteria:
(a) For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it increases the height of the tower by more than ten percent or by the height of one additional antenna array with separation from the nearest existing antenna not to exceed twenty feet, whichever is greater; and for other eligible support structures, it increases the height of the structure by more than ten percent or more than ten feet, whichever is greater. For the purpose of this paragraph, changes in height shall be measured from the original support structure in cases where deployments are or will be separated horizontally, such as on buildings' rooftops; and in other circumstances, changes in height shall be measured from the dimensions of the tower or base station, inclusive of originally approved appurtenances and any modifications that were approved prior to the enactment of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-96);
(b) For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it involves adding an appurtenance to the body of the tower that would protrude from the edge of the tower more than twenty feet, or more than the width of the tower structure at the level of the appurtenance, whichever is greater; and for other eligible support structures, it involves adding an appurtenance to the body of the structure that would protrude from the edge of the structure by more than six feet;
(c) For any eligible support structure, it involves installation of more than the standard number of new equipment cabinets for the technology involved, but not to exceed four cabinets; or, for towers in the public rights-of-way and base stations, it involves installation of any new equipment cabinets on the ground if there are no pre-existing ground cabinets associated with the structure, or else involves installation of ground cabinets that are more than ten percent larger in height or overall volume than any other ground cabinets associated with the structure;
(d) It entails any excavation or deployment outside the current site;
(e) It would defeat the concealment elements of the eligible support structure; or
(f) It does not comply with conditions associated with the siting approval of the construction or modification of the eligible support structure or base station equipment; provided, however, that this limitation shall not apply to any modification that is non-compliant only in a manner that would not exceed the thresholds identified in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subdivision.
14. "Transmission equipment" shall mean equipment that facilitates transmission for any Federal Communications Commission licensed or authorized wireless communications services including, but not limited to, radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, and regular and backup power supply. Such term shall include equipment associated with wireless communications services including, but not limited to, private, broadcast and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul.
15. "Tower" shall mean any structure built for the sole or primary purpose of supporting any Federal Communications Commission licensed or authorized antennas and their associated facilities, including structures that are constructed for wireless communications services including, but not limited to, private, broadcast and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul, and the associated site.
16. "Wireless facility" shall mean the wireless services equipment including transmission equipment, base station, tower and accessory equipment, utilities and other site development components.
17. "Wireless services" shall mean the use of any wireless technology, including without limitation, commercial mobile services, commercial mobile radio services, unlicensed wireless services, common carrier wireless exchange access services, cellular radiotelephone, specialized mobile radio systems, personal communications services, advanced wireless services, two-way personal wireless services, and any such other wireless technologies that may from time to time be utilized, in order to transmit and/or receive radio waves.
§ 306. General municipal authority over siting of wireless facilities. 1. A municipality may enact municipal zoning laws regulating the siting and installation of base stations and towers provided that such municipal zoning laws comply with federal laws, including the provisions of 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7), the Federal Communications Commission cell tower shot clock order, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 and the provisions of this article.
2. Every municipality shall act on an application for a wireless facility in accordance with the regulations and orders of the Federal Communications Commission as follows for:
(a) a base station within ninety days of the application being filed with the municipality;
(b) a tower within one hundred fifty days of the application being filed with the municipality; or
(c) an eligible facilities request within sixty days of the application being filed with the municipality, as set forth in section three hundred seven of this article.
§ 307. Eligible facilities requests. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a municipality shall not require zoning, land use or other discretionary permits for any eligible facilities request.
2. All eligible facilities requests shall be submitted to the municipal building inspector for review with any application or applications for permits that may be required by the state uniform fire prevention and building code, and shall not otherwise be subject to any municipal zoning law which may otherwise apply to wireless facilities.
3. All eligible facilities requests shall be exempt from environmental quality review pursuant to article eight of the environmental conservation law on the basis that administrative review of an eligible facilities request is an official act of a ministerial nature involving no exercise of discretion, and the issuance of any associated administrative approval by the municipal building inspector predicated solely on compliance or noncompliance with this section. No environmental assessment form shall be required for review of an eligible facilities review.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to enacting the "wireless broadband eligible facility permitting act" providing for uniform municipal regulation of certain wireless facilities
Purpose
This legislation will put in place a uniform state siting process for the placement, collocation, modification and maintenance of wireless facilities. It is intended to ease the burden on local governments by reducing their administrative costs, and to incentivize wireless carri- ers to co-locate their equipment at existing wireless facility sites, rather than to construct new sites.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 sets forth the bill's legislative intent. 2 titles the bill the Wireless Broadband Eligible Facility Permitting Act.
§ 3 adds a new General Municipal Law Article 13-E, which relates to the placement, collocation, modification or maintenance of wireless facili- ties.
GML § 300 defines key terms.
GML § 301 sets forth language regarding municipal authority to regulate the siting and installation of base stations and towers that ensures that local governments exercising this authority do so in a manner that conforms with federal law.
GML § 302 sets forth a process for local government consideration of eligible facilities requests.
GML § 303 provides for judicial review of actions that do not conform with the provisions of GML § 302. § 4 provides that this article super- sedes any inconsistent state or local laws relating to the placement, collocation, modification or maintenance of wireless facilities.
§ 5 is the effective date.
Justification
This legislation is intended to promote the investment in and upgrades to the state's wireless telephone and data networks by simplifying approvals for minor modifications to existing wireless facilities by exempting them from local zoning, land use or other discretionary siting permits and codifying the process to obtain such approvals. By conform- ing state law and local processes with federal law, the bill is intended to provide an incentive for wireless carriers to maximize co-location at existing wireless facility sites (rather than constructing new sites).
The legislation will also benefit local governments by providing them with clear guidance and direction through this process, which is largely governed by federal law and regulation. Robust and reliable telecommuni- cations networks are essential to the state's economy and to its econom- ic growth. Having a statewide, uniform process for eligible wireless facility upgrades will encourage the wireless industry's continued capi- tal deployment in the state. Wireless industry investment in network upgrades will ensure that the state's residents, businesses, and tour- ists will have access to the most modern networks that are needed to succeed in the 21' century.
Legislative history
2023/2024: S26 referred to Local Government; A30 referred to Local Government
2022/2021: S5330 referred to Local Government; A896 referred to Local Government
2020/2019: S1949 referred to Local Governments; A1459 referred to Local Governments
2018/2017: S2042 referred to Infrastructure and Capital Investments; A7489 referred to Local Governments
2016: S6090 referred to Infrastructure and Capital Investments; A10620 referred to Local Governments
Fiscal implications
No cost to the state. The legislation should result in some cost savings for local governments.
Effective date
This act shall take effect 30 days after it becomes law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.