There has been a lot of talk over the last year at the state and national level about lowering the regulatory and paperwork barriers for ISPs building rural networks funded by BEAD grants. I don’t know any rural ISP that doesn’t think this is a good idea. Any efforts that can simplify processes like permitting, pole attachments, and environmental studies would be a big benefit for a rural construction effort.

There is another situation that probably warrants easier and simpler paperwork. Many communities have disaster and emergency plans that describe ways to ensure public safety and that government functions after a natural disaster. I think these plans should include ways to make it easier to restore electric utilities and communications networks after a disaster.

This topic came to mind as I am watching the stakeholders in Western North Carolina work to identify issues that hindered recovery and repair efforts after the region was devastated by Hurricane Helene. The damage from Helene was the worst imaginable for the communications networks. Power went down across the region. A lot of cell towers were knocked out of service. Over 1,700 miles of fiber were destroyed, including the backbone fiber paths that brought broadband to and from the area. Some roads were washed away by flooding, while many other roads were blocked by downed trees and landslides. Huge numbers of utility poles were knocked down or badly damaged.

As you might imagine, the local government’s ability to conduct anything resembling business as usual disappeared with the storm. Government communications were out like everybody else, and the local government properly turned its attention to public safety and getting people out of harm’s way.

Normal processes that would work after a less extreme disaster were not sufficient after this major disaster. For example, nobody at the local level was prepared to deal with the huge numbers of repair crews that poured into the area a few days after the storm. One issue that slowed down the out-of-town repair crews was the paperwork and contracts that had to be executed before a crew could begin to work. Local governments needed to identify incoming crews so they could eventually be compensated. Somebody had to verify that incoming linemen were certified to work in the power space. Incoming crews needed to provide proof that they carried the needed level of insurance. Even after an emergency, the local government wanted to make sure that crews understood any local ordinances and rules related to rights-of-way, safety, and other related issues.

Another issue that quickly arose was the paperwork and processes normally required for permitting and for rights-of-way. Permits are normally required for construction activities like digging up any portion of a roadway or erecting new utility poles. As every ISP knows, permitting means dealing with multiple government entities. The federal government controls Interstate highways, and in this region, the roads through national parks, forests, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The State controls access to state highways and roads through State parks. The county controls access to county roads, and cities control access to city streets that are not under one of the other jurisdictions. This region is also full of privately owned roads in rural areas. There were also the usual complications associated with working to cross bridges and railroad tracks.

There were also a lot of other questions that are being raised. For example, does it make sense to replace a washed-away cabinet or hut in a flood plain without elevating it or locating it outside of the flood plain? What’s the right way to rebuild infrastructure where the old infrastructure was completely washed away by a flood?

Local governments, utilities, ISPs, first responders, and many other stakeholders in the region are working this year to understand what could have been done better. For example, a lot of the required paperwork for incoming crews could have been done online in the cloud. But that would have required some agency outside of the region to process the paperwork. It would mean incoming crews from around the country would have needed to know where to find such paperwork. Some of the normal requirements for paperwork could have been relaxed, and that probably means creating an ordinance that gives city and county officials the ability to declare a communications emergency that would ease rules for permitting and construction. Perhaps the biggest challenge of all is making any needed changes across multiple layers of government.

I’m impressed with the work being done in this region to look at improving our response to the next disaster. The discussions are going to continue throughout this year. The issues being discussed are things that local governments across the country should be thinking about – before they are struck by disaster.