The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) has announced that the FCC, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (the Parties) have executed a Second Amendment to the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas (Collocation NPA). The amendment facilitates the collocation of wireless facilities on existing towers by eliminating review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for certain collocations that involve a limited expansion beyond the boundaries of a tower site. The Collocation NPA, executed in 2001 and amended in 2016, excludes collocations that involve a substantial increase in the size of the tower, which includes, among other factors, any excavation outside the current tower site. In contrast, the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement Regarding the Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act Review Process (NPA), which was executed subsequently in 2004, includes an exclusion from Section 106 review for the replacement of a tower that involves excavation by no more than 30 feet in any direction outside the boundaries of an existing tower site. For consistency, the Parties agreed to amend the Collocation NPA to exclude a collocation that would not expand the boundaries of the current tower site by more than 30 feet in any direction or involve excavation outside these expanded boundaries, provided that the collocation complies with the other criteria for exclusion. This amendment will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
