Over the objections of local governments in Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon signed SB 650 into law on Thursday. At the same time, Governor Nixon signed into law three additional telecom bills: SB 649, SB 651, and SB 653.
SBs 649 and 653 regulate how the public rights-of-way are managed and also how utility poles are accessed. SB 650 places hard limits on the wireless approval process in Missouri ostensibly to encourage investment in wireless/broadband services. SB 651 provides legal immunity for telecommunications providers during emergencies and requires disclosure of user location information to public safety officers.
The four bills singed into law yesterday contained various provisions of former telecommunications bills enacted in 2013 in violation of the state Constitution, and enjoined from enforcement by the Cole County Circuit Court.
Interestingly for those of us outside of Missouri, SB 649 includes “every cable television service provider” as a “public utility” under that state’s law.
Taken together, the bulk of the Senate Bills take away substantial planning powers that were formerly and traditionally in the hands of local governments to protect community aesthetics. The likely result will be the industrialization of wireless facilities in zones previously protected from that type of industrialization.
I have grouped together all four laws into a single PDF file (about 1 MB in size) which you can immediately download from here by filling out the following request form. Once you submit the form, the PDF will be automatically emailed to you.
