WASHINGTON-The National Park Service has violated the law in allowing the construction of an 80-foot cell phone tower in close proximity to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
According to PEER, the tower was built in 2001 following approval of Michael Snyder of the NPS regional office in Denver. PEER claims Snyder’s approval of the tower build ignored the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1965, and the NPS’ 1916 Organic ACT, which calls for the agency to conserve park scenery.
PEER pointed out a comment from a report from the House Commerce Committee dated July 1995 relating to the 1996 Telecom Act: “The committee recognizes, for example, that use of the Washington Monument, Yellowstone National Park or a pristine wildlife sanctuary, while perhaps prime sites for an antenna and other facilities, are not appropriate and use of them would be contrary to environmental, conservation and public safety laws.”
In addition, PEER said NPS failed to file a written notice in the Federal Register that it was considering approving the tower, as required by law.
Earlier this year Judy Wolf, review and compliance program manager of the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, wrote to the NPS at Yellowstone urging the agency to “reduce or eliminate this adverse effect” caused by the tower in the Old Faithful Historic District. Wolf pointed out that the tower does not comply with the preferred alternative site that was submitted by the group in 1999, and would have had no adverse effect on the area.
As an aside, the Federal Communication Commission is expected to soon reach an agreement with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The programmatic agreement is being drafted in an effort to streamline the historic-preservation review process for wireless facilities. The FCC said recently that the draft programmatic agreement would over-rule ACHP’s proposed rules to implement the National Historic Preservation Act. The wireless industry last month dropped out of the negotiations.
