Mich. officials plan to conduct a $200,000 study with the U.S. Fi...

agreement between the state and the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau. The “avian collision study plan” involves 350-500 ft. towers Mich. is building as part of one of the first statewide 800 MHz public safety systems. The study will cover factors in risks that towers pose to birds, including lighting, tower height and guy wires. The voluntary memorandum of understanding (MOU) involves Mich.’s 800 MHz public safety licenses and ensures that when the state builds its Mich. Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) it will meet FCC rules on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The MPSCS includes 180 towers. In 2001, an FWS regional office wrote to the FCC and Motorola, asking that construction on 6 towers in Mich. cease because of their impact on migratory birds (CD May 6 p13). The Mich. National Wildlife Federation and others petitioned for a halt in construction, citing the Migratory Bird Treat Act and NEPA. The FCC said the study would help understand the effects of communications towers on birds protected by the ESA and migratory birds. The Commission last month opened an inquiry on the impact of towers on migratory birds, seeking information on a topic it said hadn’t been studied sufficiently to date to provide adequate data. The Wireless Bureau said the study would “systematically research the effect of lighting, height and guy wires on avian collisions at selected towers in the 350- 500-ft. height range in the MPSCS.” The range of types and heights of towers in the study will help provide a systematic measure of the effects of those factors. Environmentalists have said as many as 4-5 million birds are killed annually from tower collisions, but industry groups have said those figures are far too high. The study, funded by the state of Mich. and its Departments. of State Police and Information Technology, was developed along with scientist Paul Kerlinger of Curry & Kerlinger, who represented Mich., and Albert Manville of FWS, who chairs the Communication Tower Working Group. A pilot study to examine design aspects of the main study will be conducted this fall. The main study is to begin in the spring, according to documents released Mon. Besides determining the importance of factors such as tower height, the study will examine bird fatality rates at each tower under review. “Future tower construction and permitting should hopefully result in the reduction of fatalities,” a summary of the study plans said. “In addition, some towers may be retrofitted to reduce fatalities and a prioritization of towers that need retrofitting can also be determined.” The study will help earmark towers that pose problems. The MOU said that 90 days after the study was completed, the Mich. State Police and the FWS would review findings on tower lighting to “develop reasonable and prudent measures to address the lighting configuration for the MPSCS.” Those measures must meet FCC and FAA requirements for aviation safety, the MOU said. Also within 90 days, the agencies said they would examine non-lighting-related changes. If funding beyond the $200,000 committed by Mich. is available, the MOU said additional towers might be added and weather radar might be used to verify bird migration and numbers.