Legislation Attempts to Shift Broadband Relocation Costs to Communities

Legislation recently introduced in the House attempts to shift broadband relocation costs to communities and we urge you to reach out to your legislator to defeat it. HB 5016 would require cities and villages to reimburse an entity holding a license under the Michigan Telecommunications Act, or a franchise under the Uniform Video Services Local Franchise Act, for relocation costs if both of the following apply:

  1. The city, village, township, or county, or the state transportation department, did either of the following: Requested the entity to temporarily or permanently relocate its facilities, or requested the entity to temporarily or permanently relocate its facilities to protect those facilities due to construction or other activity by the city, village, township, or county, or the state transportation department.
  2. The entity invests money in broadband infrastructure in this state.
If a city or village requests an entity to relocate facilities, the community would also be required to waive any permit fees or inspection fees.
If a city or village requests an entity to conduct any survey or study related to relocating facilities, the community must reimburse the entity for those survey or study costs.
A reimbursement of relocation costs by the government agency to an eligible entity shall be made as follows:
  • 100% reimbursement for relocation costs, if the entity’s facilities were placed in the public right-of-way less than five years before the date of the request to relocate
    those facilities.
  • 75% reimbursement for relocation costs, if the entity’s facilities were placed in the public right-of-way five years or more but fewer than nine years before the date of the request to relocate those facilities.
  • 50% reimbursement for relocation costs,if the entity’s facilities were placed in the
    public right-of-way nine years or more but less than 12 years before the date of the
    request to relocate those facilities.
  • 25% reimbursement for relocation costs, if the entity’s facilities were placed in the public right-of-way 12 years or more but less than 15 years before the date of the
    request to relocate those facilities.

The METRO Act requires telecommunication providers to pay the Metro Authority an annual maintenance fee for access to and use of municipal public rights-of-way. The Act also provides that they receive an annual property tax credit equal to the funds/costs paid in annual maintenance fees. The receipt of this tax credit results in the telecom provider paying little or no annual costs for access to and use of municipal public rights-of-way. The METRO Act provides that the tax credit shall be the sole method of recovery for the costs required under the act.

Additionally, Section 4.10 of the METRO Act permit agreements requires “…If a Municipality requests Permittee to relocate, protect, support, disconnect or remove its Facilities because of street or utility work, or other public projects, Permittee shall relocate, protect, support, disconnect, or remove its Facilities, at its sole cost and expense…”

The League believes the transfer of these cost to our communities makes them unfairly shoulder the costs and is in direct conflict with the METRO Act. We urge you to reach out to your legislator and let them know that municipalities should not be responsible for these costs and to vote no on this legislation. This bill could be voted on the first week of December when the Legislature returns from Thanksgiving break. They need to hear from you if we are going to be successful in defeating this bill.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation, infrastructure, and energy issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

Oakland County Bar Association to Host Fracking Panel and Discussion

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has issued new instructions pertaining to oil/gas drilling in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb Counties.

The Energy, Sustainability and Environmental Law and Municipal Law Committees of the Oakland County Bar Association are hosting a panel discussion for attorneys and municipal employees focusing on hydraulic fracking in Michigan on February 26, 2015 at the Management Education Center in Troy starting at 1:00 pm. Please see the following flyer for details. Hydraulic Fracking

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation, infrastructure, and energy issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

EPA extends Comment Period for Proposed “Waters of the U.S.” Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced they are extending the deadline for comments regarding their proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule until October 20th. The proposed rule would change the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act, which determines jurisdiction of water bodies under the CWA, impacting permitting and other CWA requirements.

Under the proposed rule, all tributaries and adjacent waters would  be considered jurisdictional, as well as “other waters” that would have to meet a “significant nexus” threshold in order to fall into that category as well.  There are other changes that you can find by going to the National League of Cities resource page here and scrolling down to the Clean Water Act portion.

Communities can submit comments for this rule, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 online by clicking here or by emailing ow-docket@epa.gov and including EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 in the subject line of the message.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.