On November 10, 2026, BBILAN convened a National Webinar that marked a meaningful step forward for communities concerned with solid waste pollution from plastic monopine cell towers.
First, we celebrated a concrete achievement. The Tahoe ordinance, effective from August 24, 2026 establishes a federal public policy within the jurisdiction of TRPA within the Lake Tahoe Region strongly discouraging plastic screening of cell towers, and requiring mitigation and maintenance where monopine plastic is used. It offers a credible model other jurisdictions can look to when issuing new cell tower permits.
Second, we heard from City of South Lake Tahoe (CSLT) Council member David Jinkens, who underscored the unresolved challenge of existing monopines in South Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Tahoe Basin, and their potential environmental impacts due to continual plastic shedding.
Third, we introduced a proposal for a 90-day Tahoe community preliminary collaborative fact finding process using Kokoro Complementary Intelligence (KCI). This is not a settled program, but an open invitation to explore a balanced path between the polarized alternatives of, on the one hand ignoring existing cell tower structures supposedly masked by plastic monopine facades, and on the other, pursuing adversarial enforcement. We invited communities in Tahoe and across the country to contact BBILAN attorneys for a 15 minute free consultation.
This webinar is dedicated to the special contributions and sacrifices of Monica Eisenstecken and the late David Benedict, and the dedicated efforts of our Tahoe team.
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