Where new structures will be built, a space rights agreement template may have been provided to prospective property owners for review in the due diligence process prior to site selection (see Module 12 Property Owner Communications). Conversely, some wireless facility developers may prefer that copies of site rights agreements are not floating around with multiple as yet unqualified property owners.
Title Insurance Commitment or Report
Several forms of title reports exist. The simplest is an ownership and encumbrance (O&E) report. The O&E report only confirms ownership of a property and liens against the property owner. The simple O&E might be requested for temporary sites or might be utilized in the process prior to site selection for gathering due diligence information. A title commitment requires more extensive work than an O&E. My references to title reports don’t include O&E reports, just title commitments.
Environmental Work
For collocations under MLAs, the wireless carrier as a new user on an existing structure can take advantage of the environmental work already completed prior to the construction of the structure. In this case, a signed nationwide programmatic agreement (NPA) letter, also known as a programmatic agreement letter (PAL), may be secured from the structure owner1 to confirm if the new wireless antenna and associated equipment facility will impact the existing structure in compliance with Section 106 and Subpart B of 36 CFR Part 800.2 The environmental work focuses on the extent to which the new equipment at the facility will increase the structure’s height, the structure’s width, the underlying space-rights footprint, and the associated equipment at the facility.3 Since the NPA became effective on March 16, 2001, Section 106 reviews have been conducted. Before that, they did not exist. There are towers, known as twilight towers, built during a four-year period after the date of NPA that was not assimilated through the Section 106 process. More about federal regulatory environmental compliance was discussed at the end of Module 9 Zone-ability and is discussed in Module 30 Community Due Diligence.
The environmental consultant (EC) uses due diligence information previously gathered to initiate and conduct further due diligence efforts. The EC will require access to the property owner to complete an environmental compliance interview. The client may delay some of the environmental work until later in the project development cycle to be sure that the site agreement is signed and permits are all approved before commissioning the work. The EC’s work product includes a phase 1 environmental report, a NEPA checklist, a SHPO inquiry and response, and any phase 2 environmental due diligence report compliance that may be necessary or advisable.
Technical Site Visit
A technical site visit is scheduled for pertinent members of the project team to confirm the site location with the property owner and kick off the project. This site visit occurs shortly after site selection and distribution of the SCIP at a time that can be arranged with the property owner, the construction manager, the surveyor, RF engineers, the A&E firm, and the site acquisition agent and also, possibly, with field technicians, the environmental consultant, operations personnel, and the client real estate point of contact.
Post–Site Visit
After the site visit, work with the A&E firm, surveyor, and construction manager to complete the survey and other drawings to be used in the site agreement and applications for local land-use permits. In addition to a boundary survey, new build projects including a new antenna structure may require an FAA 1A (or 2C) letter confirming the surveyed latitude, longitude, and ground elevation of the proposed structure. The 1A or 2C letter is submitted with form 7460-1 to request an FAA determination for approval of the proposed structure.1 Air traffic navigation was discussed in Module 6 Search Area Design. For more on the FAA 1A and 2C letters see Module 19 Site Design—Standard Drawings and Reports.
