Notwithstanding any other provision in this part to the contrary, the deployment of small wireless facilities in state ROW is subject to this section, as follows:

(1) In those instances in which an applicant seeks to deploy a small wireless facility or new PSS within a state ROW under the control of the department of transportation or to colocate on state-owned PSSs that are subject to oversight by the department of transportation, an application must be made to the department of transportation;
lawyer at desk

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 13-24-410

  • Applicant: means any person who submits an application pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Application: means a request submitted by an applicant to an authority:
    (A) For a permit to deploy or colocate small wireless facilities in the ROW. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Authority: means :
    (i) Within a municipal boundary, the municipality, regardless of whether such municipality is a metropolitan government. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Fee: means a one-time, nonrecurring charge. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • new PSS: means a PSS that does not exist at the time the application is submitted, including, but not limited to, a PSS that will replace an existing pole. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • PSS: means a pole or other structure used for wireline communications, electric distribution, lighting, traffic control, signage, or a similar function, including poles installed solely for the colocation of a small wireless facility. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Rate: means a recurring charge. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • ROW: means the space, in, upon, above, along, across, and over all public streets, highways, avenues, roads, alleys, sidewalks, tunnels, viaducts, bridges, skywalks under the control of the authority, and any unrestricted public utility easement established, dedicated, platted, improved, or devoted for utility purposes and accepted as such public utility easement by the authority, but excluding lands other than streets that are owned by the authority. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • Small wireless facility: includes a micro wireless facility. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Wireless facility: includes small wireless facilities. See Tennessee Code 13-24-402
(2)

(A) The department of transportation may charge an applicant an application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) for each application to deploy small wireless facilities in a state ROW up to a maximum of five (5) small wireless facilities. The department may charge an additional fee in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each additional small wireless facility included in a single application. Beginning on January 1, 2020, and at each five-year interval thereafter, the application fees established in this subdivision (2)(A) shall increase by the amount of ten percent (10%);
(B) The department of transportation shall not require a permit or charge an application fee for routine maintenance or replacement of a small wireless facility in a state ROW unless the maintenance or replacement requires the installation of a new PSS or the replacement of a PSS or the maintenance or replacement activity will require disturbance of the highway pavement or shoulders;
(C) The department of transportation may impose inspection costs in the same manner such costs are imposed with respect to other entities that deploy infrastructure in a state ROW; and
(D) The department of transportation may require the applicant to provide a surety bond in the same manner as a surety bond is required with respect to other entities that deploy infrastructure in a state ROW;
(3) The application shall conform to the department of transportation’s generally applicable rules or policies applicable to those entities that the department of transportation permits to deploy infrastructure in a state ROW;
(4) The department of transportation shall endeavor, when feasible in its discretion, to comply with the timetable for review of applications by local authorities set out in § 13-24-409, but the department of transportation shall have discretion to extend the time for review and shall provide notice to the applicant of additional time needed. No application to the department of transportation shall be deemed approved until the application is affirmatively acted upon;
(5) Until the department of transportation promulgates rules for the deployment of small wireless facilities as set forth in subdivision (8), the department of transportation shall accept applications to deploy small wireless facilities in a state ROW and shall consider each application on a case-by-case basis and shall, in its complete discretion, grant or deny such applications;
(6) Nothing in this part precludes the department of transportation from exercising any regulatory power or conducting any action necessary to comply with 23 USC § 131 and § 54-21-116 relating to the regulation of billboards or to satisfy any requirements of federal funding established by state and federal law;
(7) To ensure that this part does not impose new costs significant enough to outweigh the benefits of small wireless facilities, the department of transportation shall not be required to reimburse the costs of relocation of small wireless facilities from a state ROW, notwithstanding any decision the department of transportation may make to exercise its discretionary authority under § 54-5-804 to reimburse other owners of utility facilities for relocation costs arising from a highway construction project;
(8) The department of transportation shall promulgate rules or establish agency policies applicable to deployment of small wireless facilities within state ROW and the colocation of small wireless facilities on state-owned PSS in state ROW, including, but not limited to, the establishment of an annual rate for the colocation of a small wireless facility on state-owned PSS in a state ROW. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5; and
(9) Nothing in this part restricts the department of transportation from the management of a state ROW or a state-owned PSS in a state ROW as otherwise established by law.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Part 4 Contents