Pendleton County Commission calls for fewer restrictions inside National Radio Quiet Zone

FRANKLIN, W.Va. (WBOY) — The Pendleton County Commission (PCC) adopted a resolution on Tuesday that calls for fewer restrictions on wireless communication systems inside the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), so long as it’s left to meet these restrictions with no funding.

The PCC said in its resolution that the restrictions imposed by the NRQZ diminish the use of communications systems used by law enforcement and emergency crews. It believes the regulations of the NRQZ are outdated and have “not kept pace with the modern wireless communications tools used by first responders and our citizens.”

On top of that, the PCC said the NRQZ places a financial burden on local emergency crews, calling it “an ever-growing unfunded federal mandate” on its emergency services and 911 operations, and that it’s had to build “a larger number of tower sites than would be needed” if the restrictions of the NRQZ didn’t exist.

As part of the resolution, the PCC has voiced its opposition to the NRQZ and its restrictions saying that no federal aid has been offered to help Pendleton County meet them. As part of that financial shortfall, the PCC has requested funding from the United States Congress and the Biden Administration.

The resolution was met with a statement from the Green Bank Observatory Tuesday afternoon, which said the observatory has compromised with Pendleton County and other local municipalities in the past to try to overcome the NRQZ’s restrictions.

NRAO/GBO, the NSA (Sugar Grove) and the U.S. NSF have had a long history of working with Pendleton County to find solutions to their emergency communications. The National Radio Quiet Zone does indeed impose some restrictions, but we have been more than willing to work with County officials. Any assertion that the NSF/NSA/NRAO are unyielding and ‘unwilling to compromise’ is false. We are sympathetic to the need for emergency communications and have organized several meetings over the past 3 years to address the issue with Pendleton County and other regional stakeholders.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Green Bank Observatory

The observatory said it has granted exemptions for emergency communications in Pocahontas County as well as Bath County, Va., and that it has spearheaded the funding for a $2 million engineering study that it said will provide a solution to the emergency communications issue and provide coverage to 95 percent of Pendleton County without violating NRQZ restrictions.

To add to that, the observatory said it has worked with AT&T “at our own expense” to provide cellular coverage at Long Ridge, just east of Franklin, while staying within NRQZ regulations, and that the adjustments needed to achieve this are “minimal.” It also said some power levels for cell towers proposed by the PCC exceed safe harbor regulations put in place by the Federal Communications Commission and have nothing to do with the NRQZ.

12 News has requested interviews with officials from both Pendleton County and the Green Bank Observatory and will provide more coverage in the near future.

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