Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/03/2001 08:08 AM House CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
STANDING COMMITTEE
April 3, 2001
8:08 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Kevin Meyer, Co-Chair
Representative Carl Morgan, Co-Chair
Representative Andrew Halcro
Representative Drew Scalzi
Representative Lisa Murkowski
Representative Gretchen Guess
Representative Beth Kerttula
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 78(CRA)
"An Act relating to municipal regulation of radio antennas."
- MOVED CSSB 78(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: SB 78
SHORT TITLE:MUNICIPAL REGULATION OF RADIO ANTENNAS
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) TAYLOR BY REQUEST
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
02/08/01 0309 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
02/08/01 0309 (S) CRA
02/20/01 0439 (S) COSPONSOR(S): AUSTERMAN
03/07/01 (S) CRA AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP 203
03/07/01 (S) Heard & Held
03/07/01 (S) MINUTE(CRA)
03/14/01 (S) CRA AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP 203
03/14/01 (S) Moved CS(CRA) Out of
Committee
MINUTE(CRA)
03/15/01 0673 (S) CRA RPT CS 3DP SAME TITLE
03/15/01 0673 (S) DP: TORGERSON, PHILLIPS,
AUSTERMAN
03/15/01 0673 (S) FN1: ZERO(CED)
03/19/01 (S) RLS AT 10:45 AM FAHRENKAMP
203
03/19/01 (S) MINUTE(RLS)
03/20/01 0734 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 3/20/01
03/20/01 0736 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
03/20/01 0736 (S) CRA CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
03/20/01 0736 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
UNAN CONSENT
03/20/01 0736 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB
78(CRA)
03/20/01 0736 (S) PASSED Y20 N-
03/20/01 0740 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
03/20/01 0740 (S) VERSION: CSSB 78(CRA)
03/22/01 0677 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
03/22/01 0677 (H) CRA
04/03/01 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
DARRELL THOMAS, Staff
to Senator Taylor
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 30
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Deferred to Mr. Squires.
DAN SQUIRES, amateur radio operator
5993 North Street
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the need for SB 78.
LARRY KENT PETTY, Section Manager
American Radio Relay League
21440 Falling Water Circle
Eagle River, Alaska 99577
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the need for SB 78.
JIM WILEY, Chairman
Alaska Volunteer Examiner Group
8023 E 11th Court
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
GARY PARKER, amateur radio operator
(No address provided.)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 78.
SENATOR ROBIN TAYLOR
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 30
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of SB 78.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 01-16, SIDE A
Number 0001
CO-CHAIR KEVIN MEYER called the House Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:08 a.m. All
members were present at the call to order.
SB 78-MUNICIPAL REGULATION OF RADIO ANTENNAS
CO-CHAIR MEYER announced that the only order of business before
the committee would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 78(CRA), "An Act
relating to municipal regulation of radio antennas."
Number 0060
DARRELL THOMAS, Staff to Senator Taylor, Alaska State
Legislature, informed the committee that Dan Squires helped put
this legislation together and thus he deferred to Mr. Squires.
Number 0161
DAN SQUIRES, amateur radio operator, informed the committee that
this bill is a combination of federal administrative law and
case law. In 1985 the federal government said that amateur
radio, because of its public service aspect, should be exempt.
Therefore, the federal government created a limited preemption
for amateur radio. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
said that local governments could regulate [so long as] they
accommodated amateur radio. Mr. Squires noted the confusion
local governments have had with this federal provision, which
becomes to a problem every five years or so when the local
governments rewrite their zoning and planning laws. Therefore,
the request is for the legislature to place this federal
preemption in state statute so that it is closer to the people
and municipalities. In other states once this federal
preemption has been put in place, many of the problems amateur
radio operators have with municipalities are eliminated. He
informed the committee that there are ten other states that have
adopted the federal preemption.
Number 0384
MR. SQUIRES remarked that part of Alaska's heritage involves
amateur radio. For example, in the 1964 earthquake amateur
radio was the only communication out of the state. Furthermore,
amateur radio operators helped keep Governor Egan informed of
what was happening in Northern Alaska. Mr. Squires also
remarked on the fragility of the telecommunications
infrastructure. For instance, during the Oklahoma City bombing
cellular phones and all communications became useless. He also
mentioned that in Juneau all cellular phone use is lost if one
particular line is lost. Mr. Squires reiterated the public
service aspect of amateur radios, which saves lives. In
conclusion, Mr. Squires informed the committee that this
legislation is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League.
Number 0580
REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA thanked Mr. Squires for his work. She
pointed out that this is basically the City & Borough of
Juneau's practice.
MR. SQUIRES said that this law is more conservative than any of
the current ordinances in Alaska. This legislation serves as a
guide for the ordinance and says that [a municipality] can't go
under it.
Number 0661
LARRY KENT PETTY, Section Manager, American Radio Relay League,
informed the committee that this bill was requested because
there are technical requirements that have to met in order for
effective amateur radio communication to occur. Specific
heights [of radio antennas] are necessary for amateur radios to
communicate on the frequencies that are used for statewide
emergency communications, which are practiced on a daily basis.
REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI referred to subsection (b) that in part
says, "A municipality may not restrict the number of support
structures for an amateur radio antenna." She asked if
subsection (b) meant that there may be the need for more support
structures in areas with seismic issues.
MR. PETTY answered, "I don't believe that's necessarily the
case." He related his belief that the bill addresses the fact
that a number of amateur radio operators have a number of towers
and support structures to support their various communication
antennas. With regard to seismic issues, Mr. Petty said that
this bill doesn't attempt to state that amateur radio operators
aren't required to meet uniform building codes or safety
requirements.
Number 0913
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO asked if an amateur radio operator seeking
to erect an antenna has to go through an application process or
a conditional use permit process with the zoning board.
MR. PETTY replied that such would be based on municipal
requirements; [the antenna] would have to be built in accordance
with local requirements. Mr. Petty noted that the antenna
heights are being limited to what is stated in the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO inquired as to whether amateur radio
operators wishing to erect antennas on their property are having
problems in the Municipality of Anchorage.
MR. PETTY replied no and explained that over the last 20 years
the [amateur radio community] has had to put forth quite an
effort to deal with ordinance changes that were being proposed.
Typically, when an ordinance is changed all antennas are grouped
into a large mass, including amateur antennas. Therefore, the
amateur radio community has to put forth quite an effort to
point out the FCC preemption.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO asked if Mr. Petty and the amateur radio
community were involved with the local discussion regarding cell
sites and the antennas erected by wireless companies.
Number 1084
JIM WILEY, Chairman, Alaska Volunteer Examiner Group, testified
via teleconference. He explained that this group examines
individuals who want to get a license and they determine whether
the individual can do so. Mr. Wiley informed the committee that
amateur radio operators will occasionally erect multiple towers
on their property, simply because of the variety of frequencies
and modes that amateur radio operators are allowed to use. With
regard to commercial antenna structures, rarely do amateur
antenna supports support commercial structures. Occasionally,
the opposite occurs as an amateur radio antenna may find its way
onto a commercial structure. Mr. Wiley said, "As a general
rule, commercial antennas such as cell phones and that sort of
thing are not mounted on amateur structures." He pointed out
that the Anchorage ordinance specifically states that one of the
things that allows amateur antennas to be exempt from other
regulations in the City of Anchorage is that there will be no
commercial antennas mounted on amateur structures, unless the
amateur structure goes through the same permitting process
required for an equivalent size commercial structure.
MR. WILEY echoed earlier testimony that amateur radio operators
spend a considerable amount of time and money in training to
provide emergency communications. Therefore, the purpose of
this bill is to ensure access to an effective antenna.
Number 1330
GARY PARKER, amateur radio operator, noted his support of this.
He informed the committee that he is a former Washington
resident. The community in Washington that he lived in was
putting in a new cell tower, which was located near a high
school. Being located near the high school created much
emotion. In the end the city passed an ordinance that said no
antenna structure could be over 30 feet tall, without
differentiating between whether the antenna was for commercial
or amateur radio. That created problems because the amateur
radio operators provided a lot of emergency communications for
the local fire department as well as for the city. Such a law
as the one proposed here avoids the multiple hours that would be
spent in trying to get the local ordinance changed to exempt the
amateur radio antennas per the federal statutes.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO asked if the Alaska Municipal League (AML)
has taken a position on this.
Number 1445
SENATOR ROBIN TAYLOR, Alaska State Legislature, testified as the
sponsor of SB 78. Although AML hasn't taken a position on this,
he was not aware of any opposition to this.
REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA informed the committee that she checked
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and this
bill is more restrictive than the FAA regulations. Therefore,
she felt that the federal law was preemptive.
Number 1520
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO moved to report CSSB 78(CRA) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
ZERO fiscal note. There being no objection, CSSB 78(CRA) was
reported from the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing
Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 8:29 a.m.
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