[BC] to light or not to light

[Danny Ray Boyer]

Regarding painting and lighting of towers and other structures....

It is up to the Airspace Evaluation Division of your respective Federal Aviation Administration Regional Office to determine
the painting and lighting requirements of any proposed tower (or other structure) before the start of its construction.  
This not only includes towers, but also includes buildings, smokestacks and other tall structures.   

If a proposed tower supports the antenna for any non Federal Governmental transmitting facility, such as a AM or FM radio station
or even your local police department Part 90's transmitter, when the FCC grants the station authorization - they become a second
Federal Governmental entity that has jurisdiction in the matter.  

Included as a part of your FCC station authorization is the SAME painting and lighting requirements as was mandated by the 
Airspace Evaluation that was performed by the FAA for your tower.  As far as painting and lighting, your FCC 
license authorization will say the same thing as your approved 7460 form does from the FAA.     

Effectively after the FCC license grant, the FCC performs the enforcement of the painting and lighting requirements for the FAA.  
 
If a tower does not have a transmitting facility licensed to it (ie: receive only site), the FCC does not regulate such sites.

The FCC does not regulate receive only sites, except for certain licensed satellite receive sites. 

However, in the case of a tall tower that supports a receive only site, you still to make sure that you are compliant 
with the painting and lighting mandates by the FAA for the structure.   

Any local requirements that a local governmental planning department may "mandate" for a particular lighting or painting arrangement
other than specified by the FAA (and is printed on your FCC station authorization) holds absolutely no water.  If a local government 
entity wants to have suggestions or other input into painting and lighting requirements, they must make their comments known
to the FAA during the 7460 Comment Period.   

Just paint or light differently than what the FCC has printed on your license and wait for the FCC inspector to come by.  

In the meantime, you had better be putting any profits that you might be making into an interest bearing "trust account", 
so that you can pay the FCC NAL when it is issued by the FCC Field Inspector. 

In the above cases, the mandates by the Federal Government entities certainly supersede anything that local governmental entities
may desire.  

Danny Ray Boyer   




>As a small town Planning Commissioner I can attest to the fact that there 
>may be Local regulations attached to the building permit or planning 
>documentation released with the initial construction.  I know most folks 
>think the federal supercedes the local, but not in all cases.

>Wayne Woollard