This press release is also on Sen. Leahy's home
page. Questions about the Vermont Amicus Brief should be directed to
Senator Leahy's Press Secretary, David Carle at: (202)224-3693.
Leahy Asks Supreme Court To Hear Towers Case On Behalf Of Vermont
Citizens and the Vermont Delegation
As counsel of record, Sen. Patrick Leahy filed an amicus
("friend of the court") brief late Monday urging the U.S.
Supreme Court to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of
federal law which preempts local control over the location of
telecommunications towers.
Leahy wrote the brief and filed it on behalf of the Vermont
Congressional Delegation, four Vermont State Senators and four Vermont
Representatives, 68 Vermont communities, and the Vermont League of
Cities and Towns. This bipartisan coalition of elected officials,
citizens groups and towns wants the usual state and local zoning rules
to apply to the siting of towers instead of federal rules that may
override local decision making.
One of the groups that would be helped by a victory in the Supreme
Court is the lead petitioner, Citizens for the Appropriate Placement of
Telecommunications Facilities. Formed in 1995, Citizens for the
Appropriate Placement of Telecommunications Facilities has been fighting
a telecommunications tower in Charlotte that they say is the source of
numerous interference problems and health concerns. Shortly after the
199-foot cellular and radio tower was completed on Pease Mountain 12
years ago, Charlotte residents complained that they were hearing the
signal through their telephones and other electronic appliances.
Leahy's brief, supported by Sen. Jim Jeffords and Rep. Bernie
Sanders, several state lawmakers and 68 Vermont communities, argues that
federal limitations on state and local zoning authorities violate the
Tenth Amendment, which preserves certain state powers. In this case, the
authority of the Federal Communications Commission to prevent local
authorities from making zoning decisions on health, safety and local
land use issue is inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution. Three years
ago, Leahy introduced legislation to restore local authority in tower
siting decisions by repealing a 1996 law that gave sole jurisdiction to
the Federal Communications Commission. The bills to repeal federal
preemption have been pending since then in both the Senate and the
House. Sanders has introduced the counterpart to the Leahy bill in the
House.
On Oct. 2, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to accept a related case
brought by Charlotte residents arguing for more local control over the
location and use of cellular and broadcast towers. This new brief raises
a direct constitutional challenge to federal authority and is thus very
different from the brief filed in the Charlotte appeal, which sought to
have the court compel the owner of the Charlotte tower to live up to the
deal it made with the town when it sought permission to build the tower.
Leahy made the following comment: "This case has important
implications for communities that want to make siting decisions about
telecommunications towers that may affect the value of homes and the
quality of life for those living near the towers. Local officials should
have input into the location and uses of these towers. There is a
compelling case for local control over zoning matters, and we in
Congress will continue to work toward a legislative solution if this
appeal to the Supreme Court does not resolve this problem."
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