Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-5 – Use of the right of way for small wireless facilities and utility poles
Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-5
- Application: means a request submitted by an applicant to the State or county for a permit to collocate small wireless facilities or to approve the replacement or modification of a utility pole. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Collocate: means to install, mount, maintain, modify, operate, or replace small wireless facilities on or immediately adjacent to a wireless support structure or utility pole. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Communications service: means cable service, as defined in § 440G-3 or title 47 United States Code § 522(6), as amended; information service, as defined in title 47 United States Code § 153(24), as amended; telecommunications service, as defined in § 269-1 or title 47 United States Code § 153(53), as amended; mobile service, as defined in title 47 United States Code § 153(33), as amended; or wireless service other than mobile service. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Communications service provider: means a cable operator, as defined in § 440G-3 or title 47 United States Code § 522(5); a provider of information service, as defined in title 47 United States Code § 153(24); a telecommunications carrier, as defined in § 269-1 or title 47 United States Code § 153(51); or a wireless provider. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
- Decorative pole: means a state or county pole that is specially designed and placed for aesthetic purposes and on which no appurtenances or attachments, other than a wireless facility attachment, specially designed informational and directional signage, or temporary holiday or special event attachments, have been placed or are permitted to be placed according to nondiscriminatory state or county rules or codes. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Feasible design and collocation standards: means reasonable, objective, and nondiscriminatory specifications concerning the physical structure, construction, location, and appearance of small wireless facilities; provided that those specifications facilitate the installation of the small wireless facilities and may be waived by the State or county. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Historic district: means a group of buildings, properties, or sites that are either listed in the National Register of Historic Places or as determined by the state historic preservation program in accordance with chapter 6E. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Right of way: means the area on, below, or above a public roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, alley, utility easement, or similar property. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Small wireless facilities: means a wireless facility or other facility providing communications service that meets one or both of the following qualifications:
(1) Each communications service provider's antenna can fit within an enclosure of no more than six cubic feet in volume; or
(2) All other equipment associated with the communications service facility, whether ground- or pole-mounted, that is cumulatively no more than twenty-eight cubic feet in volume; provided that the following types of associated ancillary equipment shall not be included in the calculation of equipment volume: electric meter, concealment elements, telecommunications demarcation box, grounding equipment, power transfer switch, cut-off switch, and vertical cable runs for the connection of power and other services. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Technically feasible: means that by virtue of engineering or spectrum usage, the proposed placement for a small wireless facility, or its design or site location can be implemented without a reduction in the functionality of the wireless facility. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Utility pole: means a pole or similar structure that is or may be used in whole or in part by or for wireline communications, electric distribution, lighting, traffic control, signage, or a similar function, or for the collocation of small wireless facilities. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Wireless facility: includes small wireless facilities but shall not include:
(1) Wireline backhaul facilities; and
(2) Coaxial or fiber-optic cable between utility poles or communications facilities that are otherwise not immediately adjacent to and directly associated with a particular antenna. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Wireless provider: means an individual, corporation, company, association, trust, or other entity or organization who:
(1) Provides services, including wireless broadband services, whether at a fixed location or mobile, to the public using wireless facilities; or
(2) Builds or installs wireless communication transmission equipment or wireless facilities, including an individual authorized to provide telecommunications service in the State. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
- Wireline backhaul: means the transport of communications data or other electronic information by wire from wireless facilities to a communications network. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 206N-2
The State or county shall have the authority to condition the approval of an application upon compliance with pre-established nondiscriminatory feasible design and collocation standards on small wireless facilities to be installed on property solely owned by the State or county. As part of a feasible design and collocation standard, the State or county may require the communications service provider to pay the State or county for the electricity that is used by the small wireless facilities and to place an appropriately sized fuse on the small cell to control the amount of electricity used by the communications service provider. To the extent the State or county establishes feasible design and collocation standards, they shall be made available in published guidelines and apply ninety calendar days after their publication. Nothing in this section requires the State or county to establish feasible design and collocation standards.
Modified or replaced utility poles associated with a small wireless facility that meet the requirements of this section are permitted uses subject to the permitting process in § 206N-6.
No additional discretionary permit shall be required to maintain, operate, modify, or replace small wireless facilities and associated utility poles along, across, upon, and under the right of way. The grant of a permit for a small wireless facility does not authorize the installation, placement, maintenance, or operation of any communications facility, including a wireline backhaul facility, other than a small wireless facility, in the right of way, and shall not otherwise be a general authorization to occupy and use the right of way.
New small wireless facilities in the right of way shall not extend more than ten feet above an existing utility pole in place as of July 1, 2018. Subject to this section and § 206N-6, a communications service provider or wireless provider may modify, replace, and maintain a utility pole or small wireless facility that exceeds these height limits along, across, upon, and under the right of way, subject to applicable zoning regulations.