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The FCC has released a sweeping new rulemaking – WT Docket No. 25-276 – proposing to federalize decisions about where cell towers and small cells can be placed, significantly limiting local authority over siting, safety, aesthetics, and community input. At the same time, Congress is considering H.R. 2289, a bill that would similarly strip local control and exempt most wireless facilities from environmental and historic preservation reviews. This deregulatory effort comes despite growing scientific evidence of cell tower and cell phone safety health risk.
On this page, you can find more information on what the proposed rules mean, how the federal rule-making process works, and how everyone, from elected officials to the public, can provide input into these proceedings.
FCC WT Docket No. 25-276
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing new rules to speedup the approval of cell towers and wireless equipment in neighborhoods across the country. In the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Docket No. 25-276, entitled Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireless Deployments, the FCC is proposing sweeping new rules that could override local authority and undermine community control over where and how cell towers, small cells, and wireless antennas are built.
If passed, new FCC rules would:
- Fast-track Cell Towers: Automatically approving cell towers near homes and schools even with strong community opposition due to strict timelines.
- Strip Local Control: Limiting the power of city, state, and county governments to have thoughtful and responsible ordinances, zoning, fees, and permitting rules.
- Bypass Public Input: Excluding the voices of those most affected – the people living beside the cell towers.
How Can You Get Involved?
Once the FCC proposal is published in the Federal Register, the public and elected officials have 30 days to file comments to the FCC and then 15 days more to reply to comments. Comments are due December 31, 2025. Reply Comments are due January 15, 2026.
We urge everyone to submit individual comments to the FCC. Thousands of comments need to be on the record.
Take Action:
Congressional Bill H.R. 2289
A new bill introduced in the U.S. Congress, H.R. 2289, would dramatically reduce the ability of cities and counties to properly oversee wireless telecommunications while granting sweeping advantages to industry. The bill rewrites federal law to override and basically steamroll local authority by limiting fees, tightening shotclocks, and removing reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act for modifying cell towers and wireless sites.
How Can You Get Involved?
Policymakers must stop H.R. 2289 and reject bills that further weaken local authority. The public must demand transparency and accountability before Congress rewrites national wireless policy. Residents should contact their elected officials and speak out locally on the need for environmental, health, and safety protections.
Take Action:
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