Bill Text: IL SB1451 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Creates the Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act. Provides for legislative intent for the Act and definitions. Provides that an authority (a unit of local government with control over rights-of-way) may not prohibit, regulate, or charge for the collocation of small wireless facilities (the installation, mounting, maintaining, modifying, operating, or replacement of small wireless facilities on or adjacent to a wireless support structure or utility pole). Provides that small wireless facilities shall be classified as permitted uses and not subject to zoning review and approval under specified circumstances. Provides requirements for applications, fees, application review, and issuance of permits for collocation of small wireless facilities. Provides that an authority may not require applications for routine maintenance or replacement of wireless facilities with wireless facilities that are substantially similar, of the same size, or smaller. Requires authorities to allow the collocation of small wireless facilities on authority utility poles under specified circumstances. Prohibits authorities from regulating the design, engineering, construction, installation, or operation of any small wireless facility in specified circumstances. Provides that a circuit court has jurisdiction to resolve all disputes arising under the Act. Prohibits an authority from requiring a wireless provider to indemnify the authority or its officers or employees and from naming the authority on a wireless provider's insurance policy. Limits home rule powers. Amends the Counties Code making conforming changes.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-3)

Status: (Passed) 2018-04-12 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 100-0585 [SB1451 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SB1451-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Small
Wireless Facilities Deployment Act.
Section 5. Legislative intent. Small wireless facilities
are critical to delivering wireless access to advanced
technology, broadband, and 9-1-1 services to homes,
businesses, and schools in Illinois. Because of the integral
role that the delivery of wireless technology plays in the
economic vitality of the State of Illinois and in the lives of
its citizens, the General Assembly has determined that a law
addressing the deployment of wireless technology is of vital
interest to the State. To ensure that public and private
Illinois consumers continue to benefit from these services as
soon as possible and to ensure that providers of wireless
access have a fair and predictable process for the deployment
of small wireless facilities in a manner consistent with the
character of the area in which the small wireless facilities
are deployed, the General Assembly is enacting this Act, which
specifies how local authorities may regulate the collocation of
small wireless facilities.

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Section 7. Applicability. This Act does not apply to a
municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or more.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Antenna" means communications equipment that transmits or
receives electromagnetic radio frequency signals used in the
provision of wireless services.
"Applicable codes" means uniform building, fire,
electrical, plumbing, or mechanical codes adopted by a
recognized national code organization or local amendments to
those codes, including the National Electric Safety Code.
"Applicant" means any person who submits an application and
is a wireless provider.
"Application" means a request submitted by an applicant to
an authority for a permit to collocate small wireless
facilities as well as any applicable fee for the review of such
application.
"Authority" means a unit of local government that has
jurisdiction and control for use of public rights-of-way as
provided by the Illinois Highway Code for placements within
public rights-of-way or has zoning or land use control for
placements not within public rights-of-way.
"Authority utility pole" means a utility pole owned or
operated by an authority in public rights-of-way.
"Collocate" or "collocation" means to install, mount,
maintain, modify, operate, or replace wireless facilities on or

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adjacent to a wireless support structure or utility pole.
"Communications service" means cable service, as defined
in 47 U.S.C. 522(6), as amended; information service, as
defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(24), as amended; telecommunications
service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(53), as amended; mobile
service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(33), as amended; or
wireless service other than mobile service.
"Communications service provider" means a cable operator,
as defined in 47 U.S.C. 522(5), as amended; a provider of
information service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153(24), as
amended; a telecommunications carrier, as defined in 47 U.S.C.
153(51), as amended; or a wireless provider.
"FCC" means the Federal Communications Commission of the
United States.
"Fee" means a one-time charge.
"Law" means a federal or State statute, common law, code,
rule, regulation, order, or local ordinance or resolution.
"Micro wireless facility" means a small wireless facility
that is not larger in dimension than 24 inches in length, 15
inches in width, and 12 inches in height and that has an
exterior antenna, if any, no longer than 11 inches.
"Permit" means a written authorization required by an
authority to perform an action or initiate, continue, or
complete a project.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, limited
liability company, partnership, association, trust, or other

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entity or organization, including an authority.
"Rate" means a recurring charge.
"Right-of-way" means the area on, below, or above a public
roadway, highway, street, public sidewalk, alley, or utility
easement dedicated for compatible use. "Right-of-way" does not
include authority-owned aerial lines.
"Small wireless facility" means a wireless facility that
meets both of the following qualifications: (i) each antenna is
located inside an enclosure of no more than 6 cubic feet in
volume or, in the case of an antenna that has exposed elements,
the antenna and all of its exposed elements could fit within an
imaginary enclosure of no more than 6 cubic feet; and (ii) all
other wireless equipment associated with the facility is
cumulatively no more than 28 cubic feet in volume. The
following types of associated ancillary equipment are not
included in the calculation of equipment volume: electric
meter, concealment elements, telecommunications demarcation
box, ground-based enclosures, grounding equipment, power
transfer switch, cut-off switch, and vertical cable runs for
the connection of power and other services.
"Utility pole" means a pole or similar structure that is
used in whole or in part by a communications service provider
or for electric distribution, lighting, traffic control,
signage, or a similar function.
"Wireless facility" means equipment at a fixed location
that enables wireless communications between user equipment

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and a communications network, including: (i) equipment
associated with wireless communications; and (ii) radio
transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular
and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment,
regardless of technological configuration. "Wireless facility"
includes small wireless facilities. "Wireless facility" does
not include: (i) the structure or improvements on, under, or
within which the equipment is collocated; or (ii) wireline
backhaul facilities, coaxial or fiber optic cable that is
between wireless support structures or utility poles or
coaxial, or fiber optic cable that is otherwise not immediately
adjacent to or directly associated with an antenna.
"Wireless infrastructure provider" means any person,
including a person authorized to provide telecommunications
service in the State, that builds or installs wireless
communication transmission equipment, wireless facilities,
wireless support structures, or utility poles, but that is not
a wireless services provider.
"Wireless provider" means a wireless infrastructure
provider or a wireless services provider.
"Wireless services" means any services provided using
licensed or unlicensed spectrum, whether at a fixed location or
mobile, provided using wireless facilities.
"Wireless services provider" means a person who provides
wireless services.
"Wireless support structure" means a freestanding

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structure, such as a monopole; tower, either guyed or
self-supporting; billboard; or other existing or proposed
structure designed to support or capable of supporting wireless
facilities. "Wireless support structure" does not include a
utility pole.
Section 15. Regulation of small wireless facilities.
(a) This Section applies to activities of a wireless
provider within or outside rights-of-way.
(b) Except as provided in this Section, an authority may
not prohibit, regulate, or charge for the collocation of small
wireless facilities.
(c) Small wireless facilities shall be classified as
permitted uses and not subject to zoning review or approval if
they are collocated (i) in rights-of-way in any zone, or (ii)
outside rights-of-way in property not zoned primarily for
residential use.
(d) An authority may require an applicant to obtain one or
more permits to collocate a small wireless facility, provided
that the permits are of general applicability. An authority
shall receive applications for, process, and issue permits
subject to the following requirements:
(1) An authority may not directly or indirectly require
an applicant to perform services unrelated to the
collocation for which approval is sought, such as in-kind
contributions to the authority, including reserving fiber,

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conduit, or pole space for the authority on the wireless
provider's utility pole. An authority may reserve space on
authority utility poles for future public safety uses or
for the authority's electric utility uses, but a
reservation of space may not preclude the collocation of a
small wireless facility if the authority utility pole can
accommodate both uses.
(2) An applicant shall not be required to provide more
information to obtain a permit than the authority requires
of a communications service provider that is not a wireless
provider that requests to attach facilities to a structure;
however, a wireless provider may be required to provide the
following information when seeking a permit to collocate
small wireless facilities on an authority utility pole:
(A) site specific structural integrity and
make-ready analysis prepared by a structural engineer,
as that term is defined in Section 4 of the Structural
Engineering Practice Act of 1989;
(B) the location where each proposed small
wireless facility or utility pole would be installed
and photographs of the location and its immediate
surroundings depicting the poles or structures on
which each proposed small wireless facility would be
mounted or location where utility poles or structures
would be installed;
(C) specifications and drawings prepared by a

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structural engineer, as that term is defined in Section
4 of the Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989,
for each proposed small wireless facility covered by
the application as it is proposed to be installed;
(D) a proposed schedule for the installation and
completion of each small wireless facility covered by
the application, if approved; and
(E) certification that the collocation complies
with paragraph (6) to the best of the applicant's
knowledge.
(3) Subject to paragraph (6), an authority may not
require the placement of small wireless facilities on any
specific utility pole, or category of poles, or require
multiple antenna systems on a single utility pole; however,
with respect to an application for the collocation of a
small wireless facility associated with a new utility pole,
an authority may propose that the small wireless facility
be collocated on an existing utility pole or existing
wireless support structure within 50 feet of the proposed
collocation, which the applicant shall accept if it has the
right to use the alternate structure on reasonable terms
and conditions and the alternate location and structure
does not impose technical limits or additional material
costs as determined by the applicant.
(4) Subject to paragraph (6), an authority may not
limit the placement of pole-mounted small wireless

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facilities by minimum horizontal separation distances.
(5) An authority may limit the maximum height of a
small wireless facility to 10 feet above the utility pole
or wireless support structure on which the small wireless
facility is collocated. Subject to any exception process in
an authority's zoning ordinance, the authority may limit
the height of new or replacement utility poles or wireless
support structures on which small wireless facilities are
collocated to the higher of: (i) 10 feet in height above
the tallest existing utility pole, other than a utility
pole supporting only wireless facilities, that is in place
on the date the application is submitted to the authority,
that is located within 500 feet of the new or replacement
wireless support structure and that is in the same right of
way within the jurisdictional boundary of the authority; or
(ii) 45 feet above ground level.
(6) An authority may require that:
(A) the wireless provider's operation of the small
wireless facilities in the right-of-way does not
interfere with the frequencies used by the authority's
public safety communications;
(B) the wireless provider comply with requirements
that are imposed by a contract between an authority and
a private property owner that concern design or
construction standards applicable to utility poles and
ground-mounted equipment located in the right-of-way;

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(C) the wireless provider comply with applicable
spacing requirements in applicable codes and
ordinances concerning the location of ground-mounted
equipment located in the right-of-way if the
requirements include a waiver, zoning, or other
process that addresses wireless provider requests for
exception or variance and do not prohibit granting of
such exceptions or variances;
(D) the wireless provider comply with local code
provisions or regulations concerning undergrounding
requirements that prohibit the installation of new or
the modification of existing utility poles in a right
of way without prior approval if the requirements
include a waiver, zoning, or other process that
addresses requests to install such new utility poles or
modify such existing utility poles and do not prohibit
the replacement of utility poles;
(E) the wireless provider comply with generally
applicable standards adopted by an authority for
construction in the rights-of-way; and
(F) a wireless provider not collocate small
wireless facilities on authority utility poles that
are part of an electric distribution or transmission
system within the communication worker safety zone of
the pole or the electric supply zone of the pole;
however, the antenna and support equipment of the small

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wireless facility may be located in the communications
space on the pole and on the top of the pole, if not
otherwise unavailable, if the wireless provider
complies with applicable codes for work involving the
top of the pole; for purposes of this subparagraph (F),
the terms "communications space", "communication
worker safety zone", and "electric supply zone" have
the meanings given to those terms in the National
Electric Safety Code as published by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
(7) Within 30 days after receiving an application, an
authority must determine whether the application is
complete and notify the applicant. If an application is
incomplete, an authority must specifically identify the
missing information. An application shall be deemed
complete if the authority fails to provide notification to
the applicant within 30 days after when all documents,
information, and fees specifically enumerated in the
authority's permit application form are submitted by the
applicant to the authority. Processing deadlines are
tolled from the time the authority sends the notice of
incompleteness to the time the applicant provides the
missing information.
(8) An application shall be processed on a
nondiscriminatory basis and deemed approved if the
authority fails to approve or deny the application within

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90 days; however, if an applicant intends to proceed with
the permitted activity on a deemed approved basis, the
applicant must notify the authority in writing of its
intention to invoke the deemed approved remedy no sooner
than 75 days after the submission of a completed
application. The permit shall be deemed approved on the
latter of the 90th day after submission of the complete
application or the 10th day after the receipt of the deemed
approved notice by the authority. The receipt of the deemed
approved notice shall not preclude the authority's denial
of the permit request within the time limits as provided
under this Act.
(9) An authority shall approve an application unless
the application does not meet the applicable codes, local
code provisions or regulations that concern public safety,
written design standards that are generally applicable for
decorative utility poles or reasonable stealth and
concealment requirements, and the requirements of
paragraph (6). If an authority determines that applicable
codes, local code provisions or regulations, or the
requirements of paragraph (6) require that the utility pole
or wireless support structure be replaced before the
requested collocation, approval may be conditioned on the
replacement of the utility pole or wireless support
structure. The authority must document the basis for a
denial, including the specific code provisions or

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application conditions on which the denial was based, and
send the documentation to the applicant on or before the
day the authority denies an application. The applicant may
cure the deficiencies identified by the authority and
resubmit the application within 30 days after notice of
denial is sent to the applicant without paying an
additional application fee. The authority shall approve or
deny the revised application within 30 days after the
applicant resubmits the application or it is deemed
approved; however, the applicant must notify the authority
in writing of its intention to proceed with the permitted
activity on a deemed approved basis, which may be submitted
with the resubmitted application. Any subsequent review
shall be limited to the deficiencies cited in the denial.
(10) The time period for applications may be further
tolled by:
(A) the express agreement in writing by both the
applicant and the authority; or
(B) a local, State, or federal disaster
declaration or similar emergency that causes the
delay.
(11) An applicant seeking to collocate small wireless
facilities within the jurisdiction of a single authority
shall be allowed, at the applicant's discretion, to file a
consolidated application and receive a single permit for
the collocation of up to 25 small wireless facilities if

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the collocations each involve substantially the same type
of small wireless facility and substantially the same type
of structure. If an application includes multiple small
wireless facilities, the authority may remove small
wireless facility collocations from the application and
treat separately small wireless facility collocations for
which incomplete information has been provided or that do
not qualify for consolidated treatment or that are denied.
The authority may issue separate permits for each
collocation that is approved in a consolidated
application.
(12) Collocation for which a permit is granted shall be
completed within 180 days after issuance of the permit,
unless the authority and the wireless provider agree to
extend this period or a delay is caused by make-ready work
for an authority utility pole or by the lack of commercial
power or backhaul availability at the site. Otherwise, the
permit shall be void unless the authority grants an
extension in writing to the applicant.
(13) The duration of a permit shall be for a period of
not less than 10 years, and the permit shall be renewed for
equivalent durations unless the authority makes a finding
that the small wireless facilities or the new or modified
utility pole do not comply with the applicable codes or
local code provisions or regulations in paragraphs (6) and
(9).

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(14) An authority may not prohibit, either expressly or
de facto, the (i) filing, receiving, or processing
applications, or (ii) issuing of permits or other
approvals, if any, for the collocation of small wireless
facilities unless there has been a local, State, or federal
disaster declaration or similar emergency that causes the
delay.
(15) Applicants shall submit applications, supporting
information, and notices by personal delivery or as
otherwise required by the authority. An authority may
require that permits, supporting information, and notices
be submitted by personal delivery at the authority's
designated place of business, by regular mail postmarked on
the date due, or by any other commonly used means,
including electronic mail, as required by the authority.
(e) Application fees are subject to the following
requirements:
(1) An authority may charge an application fee only if
the fee is required for similar types of commercial
development within the authority's jurisdiction.
(2) An authority shall only charge fees for the actual,
direct, and reasonable costs incurred by the authority
relating to the granting or processing of an application.
The fees shall be reasonably related in time to the
incurring of such costs.
(3) A fee may not include: (i) travel expenses incurred

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by a third party in its review of an application; or (ii)
direct payment or reimbursement of fees charged on a
contingency basis or a result-based arrangement.
(4) Total application fees, where permitted, shall not
exceed the lesser of: (i) the amount charged by the
authority for a building permit for any similar commercial
construction, activity, or land use development; or (ii)
$350 for each small wireless facility addressed in the
application.
(f) An authority shall not require an application,
approval, or permit, or require any fees or other charges, from
a communications service provider authorized to occupy the
rights-of-way, for: (i) routine maintenance; (ii) the
replacement of wireless facilities with wireless facilities
that are substantially similar, the same size, or smaller; or
(iii) the installation, placement, maintenance, operation, or
replacement of micro wireless facilities that are suspended on
cables that are strung between existing utility poles in
compliance with applicable safety codes. However, an authority
may require a permit to work within rights-of-way for
activities that affect traffic patterns or require lane
closures.
(g) Nothing in this Act authorizes a person to collocate
small wireless facilities on: (1) private property or a
privately owned utility pole or wireless support structure
without the consent of the property owner; (2) property owned,

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leased, or controlled by a park district, forest preserve
district, or conservation district for public park,
recreation, or conservation purposes without the consent of the
affected district, excluding the placement of facilities on
rights-of-way located in an affected district that are under
the jurisdiction and control of a different unit of local
government as provided by the Illinois Highway Code; or (3)
property owned by a rail carrier registered under Section
18c-7201 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, Metra Commuter Rail or
any other public commuter rail service, or an electric utility
as defined in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act,
without the consent of the rail carrier, public commuter rail
service, or electric utility. The provisions of this Act do not
apply to an electric or gas public utility or such utility's
wireless facilities if the facilities are being used,
developed, and maintained consistent with the provisions of
subsection (i) of Section 16-108.5 of the Public Utilities Act.
For the purposes of this subsection, "public utility" has the
meaning given to that term in Section 3-105 of the Public
Utilities Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
relieve any person from any requirement (1) to obtain a
franchise or a state-issued authorization to offer cable
service or video service or (2) to obtain any required
permission to install, place, maintain, or operate
communications facilities, other than small wireless
facilities subject to this Act.

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(h) Agreements between authorities and wireless providers
that relate to the collocation of small wireless facilities in
the right-of-way, including the collocation of small wireless
facilities on authority utility poles, that are in effect
before the wireless provider accepts rates or fees under this
Act remain in effect for all small wireless facilities
collocated on the authority's utility poles pursuant to
applications submitted to the authority before the effective
date of this Act, subject to applicable termination provisions.
The wireless provider may accept the rates, fees, and terms
provided under this Act for the collocation of small wireless
facilities that are the subject of an application submitted
after the rates, fees, and terms become effective.
(i) An authority shall allow the collocation of small
wireless facilities on authority utility poles subject to the
following:
(1) An authority may not enter into an exclusive
arrangement with any person for the right to attach small
wireless facilities to authority utility poles.
(2) The rates and fees for collocations on authority
utility poles shall be nondiscriminatory regardless of the
services provided by the collocating person.
(3) An authority may charge an annual recurring rate to
collocate a small wireless facility on an authority utility
pole that equals (i) $200 per year or (ii) the actual,
direct, and reasonable costs related to the wireless

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provider's use of space on the authority utility pole. In
any controversy concerning the appropriateness of a
cost-based rate for an authority utility pole, the
authority shall have the burden of proving that the rate
does not exceed the actual, direct, and reasonable costs
for the applicant's proposed use of the pole. Nothing in
this paragraph (3) prohibits a wireless provider and an
authority from mutually agreeing to an annual recurring
rate of less than $200 to collocate a small wireless
facility on an authority utility pole.
(4) If an authority has an existing pole attachment
rate, fee, or other term that does not comply with the
requirements in this Section, the authority shall, no later
than 6 months after the effective date of this Act, reform
the rate, fee, or term in compliance with this Section.
(5) Authorities or other persons owning or controlling
authority utility poles shall offer rates, fees, and other
terms that comply with subparagraphs (A) through (D) of
this paragraph (5). Within 6 months after the effective
date of this Act or 3 months after receiving a request to
collocate its first small wireless facility on an authority
utility pole, whichever is later, a person owning or
controlling authority utility poles shall make available,
through ordinance or otherwise, the rates, fees, and terms
for the collocation of small wireless facilities on such
poles that comply with subparagraphs (A) through (D) of

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this paragraph (5).
(A) The rates, fees, and terms must be
nondiscriminatory, competitively neutral, and
commercially reasonable and must comply with this
subsection (i).
(B) For authority utility poles that support
aerial facilities used to provide communications
services or electric service, wireless providers shall
comply with the process for make-ready work under 47
U.S.C. 224 and its implementing regulations, and the
authority shall follow a substantially similar process
for make-ready work except to the extent that the
timing requirements are otherwise addressed in this
Act. The good-faith estimate of the person owning or
controlling the pole for any make-ready work necessary
to enable the pole to support the requested collocation
shall include pole replacement, if necessary.
(C) For authority utility poles that do not support
aerial facilities used to provide communications
services or electric service, the authority shall
provide a good-faith estimate for any make-ready work
necessary to enable the pole to support the requested
collocation, including pole replacement, if necessary,
within 90 days after receipt of a complete application.
Make-ready work, including any pole replacement, shall
be completed within 60 days of written acceptance of

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the good-faith estimate by the applicant.
Alternatively, if the authority determines that
applicable codes or public safety regulations require
the authority utility pole to be replaced to support
the requested collocation, the authority may require
the wireless provider to replace the authority utility
pole.
(D) The authority shall not require more
make-ready work than required to meet applicable codes
or industry standards. Fees for make-ready work,
including any pole replacement, shall not exceed
actual costs or the amount charged to communications
service providers for similar work and shall not
include any consultants' fees or expenses for
authority utility poles that do not support aerial
facilities used to provide communications services or
electric service.
(j) An authority shall authorize the collocation of small
wireless facilities on utility poles owned or controlled by the
authority that are not located within rights-of-way to the same
extent the authority permits access to utility poles for other
commercial projects or uses. The collocations shall be subject
to reasonable and nondiscriminatory rates, fees, and terms as
provided in an agreement between the authority and the wireless
provider.
(k) Nothing in this Section precludes an authority from

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adopting reasonable rules with respect to the removal of
abandoned small wireless facilities. A small wireless facility
that is not operated for a continuous period of 12 months shall
be considered abandoned and the owner of the facility must
remove the small wireless facility within 90 days after receipt
of written notice from the authority notifying the owner of the
abandonment. The notice shall be sent by certified or
registered mail, return receipt requested, by the authority to
the owner at the last known address of the owner.
(l) Nothing in this Section requires an authority to
install or maintain any specific utility pole or to continue to
install or maintain utility poles in any location if the
authority makes a non-discriminatory decision to eliminate
above-ground utility poles of a particular type generally, such
as electric utility poles, in all or a significant portion of
its geographic jurisdiction. For authority utility poles with
collocated small wireless facilities in place when an authority
makes a decision to eliminate above-ground utility poles of a
particular type generally, the authority shall either (i)
continue to maintain the authority utility pole or install and
maintain a reasonable alternative utility pole or wireless
support structure for the collocation of the small wireless
facility, or (ii) offer to sell the utility pole to the
wireless provider at a reasonable cost or allow the wireless
provider to install its own utility pole so it can maintain
service from that location.

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Section 20. Local authority. Subject to this Act and
applicable federal law, an authority may continue to exercise
zoning, land use, planning, and permitting authority within its
territorial boundaries, including with respect to wireless
support structures and utility poles; except that no authority
shall have or exercise any jurisdiction or authority over the
design, engineering, construction, installation, or operation
of any small wireless facility located in an interior structure
or upon the site of any campus, stadium, or athletic facility
not otherwise owned or controlled by the authority, other than
to comply with applicable codes and local code provisions
concerning public safety. Nothing in this Act authorizes the
State or any political subdivision, including an authority, to
require wireless facility deployment or to regulate wireless
services.
Section 25. Dispute resolution. A circuit court has
jurisdiction to resolve all disputes arising under this Act.
Pending resolution of a dispute concerning rates for
collocation of small wireless facilities on authority utility
poles, the authority shall allow the collocating person to
collocate on its poles at annual rates of no more than $200 per
year per utility pole, with rates to be determined upon final
resolution of the dispute.

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Section 30. Indemnification. A wireless provider shall
indemnify and hold an authority harmless against any and all
liability or loss from personal injury or property damage
resulting from or arising out of, in whole or in part, the use
or occupancy of the authority improvements or right-of-way
associated with such improvements by the wireless provider or
its employees, agents, or contractors arising out of the rights
and privileges granted under this Act. A wireless provider has
no obligation to indemnify or hold harmless against any
liabilities and losses as may be due to or caused by the sole
negligence of the authority or its employees or agents. A
wireless provider shall further waive any claims that they may
have against an authority with respect to consequential,
incidental, or special damages, however caused, based on the
theory of liability.
Section 35. Insurance.
(a) Except for a wireless provider with an existing
franchise to occupy and operate in the rights-of-way, during
the period in which the wireless provider's facilities are
located on the authority improvements or rights-of-way, the
authority may require the wireless provider to carry, at the
wireless provider's own cost and expense, the following
insurance: (i) property insurance for its property's
replacement cost against all risks; (ii) workers' compensation
insurance, as required by law; or (iii) commercial general

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liability insurance with respect to its activities on the
authority improvements or rights-of-way to afford minimum
protection limits consistent with its requirements of other
users of authority improvements or rights-of-way, including
coverage for bodily injury and property damage. An authority
may require a wireless provider to include the authority as an
additional insured on the commercial general liability policy
and provide certification and documentation of inclusion of the
authority in a commercial general liability policy as
reasonably required by the authority.
(b) A wireless provider may self-insure all or a portion of
the insurance coverage and limit requirements required by an
authority. A wireless provider that self-insures is not
required, to the extent of the self-insurance, to comply with
the requirement for the naming of additional insureds under
this Section. A wireless provider that elects to self-insure
shall provide to the authority evidence sufficient to
demonstrate its financial ability to self-insure the insurance
coverage and limits required by the authority.
Section 40. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate
small wireless facilities in a manner inconsistent with this
Act. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of
Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the
concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions
exercised by the State.

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Section 90. Repeal. This Act is repealed on June 1, 2020.
Section 100. The Counties Code is amended by changing
Section 5-12001.2 as follows:
(55 ILCS 5/5-12001.2)
Sec. 5-12001.2. Regulation of telecommunications
facilities; Lake County pilot project. In addition to any other
requirements under this Division concerning the regulation of
telecommunications facilities and except as provided by the
Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act, the following
applies to any new telecommunications facilities in Lake County
that are not AM telecommunications towers or facilities:
(a) For every new wireless telecommunications facility
requiring a new tower structure, a telecommunications
carrier shall provide the county with documentation
consisting of the proposed location, a site plan, and an
elevation that sufficiently describes a proposed wireless
facility location.
(b) The county shall have 7 days to review the facility
proposal and contact the telecommunications carrier in
writing via e-mail or other written means as specified by
the telecommunications carrier. This written communication
shall either approve the proposed location or request a
meeting to review other possible alternative locations. If

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requested, the meeting shall take place within 7 days after
the date of the written communication.
(c) At the meeting, the telecommunications carrier
shall provide the county documentation consisting of radio
frequency engineering criteria and a corresponding
telecommunications facility search ring map, together with
documentation of the carrier's efforts to site the proposed
facility within the telecommunications facility search
ring.
(d) Within 21 days after receipt of the carrier's
documentation, the county shall propose either an
alternative site within the telecommunications facility
search ring, or an alternative site outside of the
telecommunications search ring that meets the radio
frequency engineering criteria provided by the
telecommunications carrier and that will not materially
increase the construction budget beyond what was estimated
on the original carrier proposed site.
(e) If the county's proposed alternative site meets the
radio frequency engineering criteria provided by the
telecommunications carrier, and will not materially
increase the construction budget beyond what was estimated
on the original carrier proposed site, then the
telecommunications carrier shall agree to build the
facility at the alternative location, subject to the
negotiation of a lease with commercially reasonable terms

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and the obtainment of the customary building permits.
(f) If the telecommunications carrier can demonstrate
that: (i) the county's proposed alternative site does not
meet the radio frequency engineering criteria, (ii) the
county's proposed alternative site will materially
increase the construction budget beyond what was estimated
on the original carrier proposed site, (iii) the county has
failed to provide an alternative site, or (iv) after a
period of 90 days after receipt of the alternative site,
the telecommunications carrier has failed, after acting in
good faith and with due diligence, to obtain a lease or, at
a minimum, a letter of intent to lease the alternative site
at lease rates not materially greater than the lease rate
for the original proposed site; then the carrier can
proceed to permit and construct the site under the
provisions and standards of Section 5-12001.1 of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 98-197, eff. 8-9-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)