CSAA Signals
Vol. 9, No. 7 —July 29, 2003
440 Maple Avenue East, Suite 201, Vienna, VA 22180
703-242-4670; Fax 703-242-4675
FCC Announces 60-Day Amnesty for Unregistered Antenna Structures
 Indicates that it  Will Soon Take Enforcement Actions Against Violators
Source: Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, 

The FCC has announced that it is auditing its database of antenna structures, and has discovered hundreds which have not been registered, as required by the FCC’s Rules.  

As a result, the FCC has announced a 60-day amnesty period for the violators to come into compliance.  Those failing to comply during the amnesty period, and any future violators, will be referred to the Enforcement Bureau for assessment of fines and/or other sanctions.  

The FCC has indicated that future audits will not have the benefit of an amnesty period.  Accordingly, we urge you to verify that all of your towers which required clearance from the FAA, even if obstruction marking and lighting was not imposed, are registered with the FCC.  Any tower which is not registered with the FCC should be registered immediately.  

In this regard, CSAA's counsel has inquired with the FCC’s staff as to whether the 60-day amnesty will be applied to any unregistered antenna structure that is required to be registered, or if instead, amnesty only applies to the listed 442 towers. However, since it is expected that the fines will only be worse over time, we encourage anyone with an unregistered tower to bring it into compliance during the amnesty period.  We also suggest that members ensure that their antenna structures comply with related rules, such as the requirements to post the tower registration number, paint and light the tower, etc.  Compliance with these requirements are also likely to come under scrutiny as a result of the tower audit.

It is vital to ensure the compliance of any tower; and to ensure that all future tower construction/modification is the subject of any required clearance and registration.  

If you have a tower that is not in compliance, please contact your counsel or CSAA's counsel, Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, as soon as possible.

Please direct any questions regarding this issue to Hal Mordofsky, (202) 828-5520; John Prendergast, (202) 828-5540 or Richard Rubino, (202) 828-5519 at Blooston, et. al.

To read the complete Blooston memorandum, as well as for a list of the 442 listed towers, click here.

For the complete FCC announcement, click here.