Oppose HB2289's Elimination of Local Input on Wireless Facility Deployment

I urge you to oppose HB2289, the Proportional Reviews for Broadband Deployment Act, which would strip away critical environmental and historic preservation reviews for wireless facility deployment while further eroding local authority over infrastructure decisions in our communities. This bill amends Section 6409(a)(3) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to categorically exempt eligible facilities requests from both National Environmental Policy Act reviews and Section 106 reviews under the National Historic Preservation Act. By declaring that wireless facility modifications are neither major federal actions nor undertakings requiring historic preservation assessment, HB2289 eliminates the primary mechanisms through which local communities can raise concerns about environmental impacts and threats to historic resources through federal channels. The existing Section 6409(a) framework already limits state and local authority over eligible facilities requests. HB2289 compounds this problem by removing the federal review processes that sometimes provided opportunities for local input. Once enacted, federal agencies including the FCC, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management must immediately cease requiring environmental and historic preservation compliance for these facilities. Communities will lose their ability to identify site-specific concerns before deployment occurs. The bill creates permanent categorical exemptions without any proportionality analysis or consideration of site-specific circumstances. A wireless facility modification that technically qualifies as an eligible request would proceed without review regardless of its proximity to sensitive environmental areas, historic districts, or cultural resources important to local residents. This one-size-fits-all approach ignores the reality that communities understand their own landscapes, historic character, and environmental vulnerabilities better than distant federal agencies or telecommunications corporations. Local governments should retain meaningful input over infrastructure that affects community character, property values, and environmental quality. I ask you to oppose HB2289 and support policies that balance broadband deployment goals with local decision-making authority and environmental stewardship.