USDA’s ReConnect program is set to disperse $600 million in
loans and grants later this year to generate private sector investment in
providing broadband services to rural communities. USDA is currently evaluating
loan and grant applications with awardees expected to be announced next month.
To awardees who erect towers in rural communities know their
obligations under the law, USDA will provide recipients with educational
materials developed by NAAA that detail not just tower marking regulations,
but industry best practices as well.
The materials explain the 2016 and 2018 FAA Reauthorizations
require towers between 50 and 200 feet AGL located in rural areas with an above
ground base of less than 10 feet in diameter must be either marked or logged
into a database. While the FAA is still developing this database, these towers
can still be voluntarily logged in the FAA’s Daily
Digital Obstacle File.
Previously, NAAA met with
USDA to discuss tower marking regulations and emphasized the 2018 Farm Bill
conference report language that requires the marking of rural towers or
database logging of rural towers to ensure safety for low-altitude ag aircraft.
The language NAAA was successful in having included in the
2018 Farm Bill states:
As the USDA develops financing,
policy and other aspects related to rural broadband development, the Managers
request USDA take into account Sec. 2110 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and
Security Act of 2016. This will ensure communication towers providing broadband
services in rural areas that meet the specifications described in Section 2110
are properly marked and entered into a FAA database to protect the safety of
aerial applicators, aerial firefighters, public health applicators, medevac
units, law enforcement and other low-flying aircraft.
NAAA want to ensure rural communities have access to high
speed internet while also protecting low-level aviators from the threat of
towers, a threat that continues to grow each year. In 2000 there were 60,000
towers for wireless communication in the U.S. Today there are 150,000, and by
2025 another 50,000 towers are expected. The meeting with USDA was useful in
ensuring these towers used for rural broadband don’t come at the expense of
putting ag aviators at risk.
