Random access channel access and validity procedures are disclosed. In one aspect, the medium access control (MAC) indications multiple random access occasions (ROs) to user equipments (UEs) for random access transmissions. In such aspect, random access failure would only be declared if listen before talk (LBT) procedures for the random access transmission fail on all of the ROs indicated by the MAC layer. Similarly, in additional aspects, a UE will not apply a backoff value for any LBT failures for random access attempts that occur within an LBT time window. In further aspects, a UE may determine the validity of ROs that overlap with a discovery reference signal measurement timing configuration (DMTC) window. In such aspects, the UE may not use overlapping ROs or may determine a portion of the DMTC window that is not used for base station transmissions and declare the overlapping ROs with the unused portion valid.