WIRELESS Leadership Act

Summary

The bill preserves state and local authority over where and how personal wireless service facilities are placed, constructed, or modified, but it also limits that authority by imposing nondiscrimination rules and objective engineering and aesthetic standards. It creates mandatory, nondiscretionary deadlines and procedures for local and state governments to approve or deny wireless siting requests, bans tolling by moratoria, and establishes an automatic "deemed granted" approval if authorities fail to act within the specified timeframes; written denials must be supported by substantial evidence and publicly documented. Requests covered by the separate federal process at 47 U.S.C. 1455(a) are excluded from these new deadlines and rules.

• Affirms state and local authority over siting of personal wireless facilities but narrows that authority with nondiscrimination and nonprohibition limits.
• Forbids local rules that discriminate among providers or give exclusive/preferential use to any provider.
• Allows objective, reasonable engineering, safety, and aesthetic standards so long as they do not prohibit installation or modification.
• Establishes mandatory, nondiscretionary timeframes and procedures for approving or denying wireless siting requests.
• Treats batched requests under the longest applicable timeframe and applies timeframes to all required approvals collectively.
• Prohibits tolling of approval deadlines by local moratoria.
• Creates an automatic "deemed granted" approval if authorities fail to act within the applicable timeframe after written notice from the applicant.
• Requires written denials to be publicly released, delivered to the applicant, and supported by substantial evidence in a written record.
• Excludes applications governed by the separate federal process at 47 U.S.C. 1455(a) from these new rules.