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"PhoneGate Alert" Press Conference in Paris Thursday, June 28, 2018 with Dr. Marc Arazi, Dr. Annie Sasco, & Dr. Devra Davis
Scientists Call for The Recall of Millions of Mobile Phones
Press Conference, Paris, Thursday, June 28, 2018
Dr. Marc Arazi, Dr. Annie Sasco, & Dr. Devra Davis
Protect the Health of Users
"PhoneGate Alert" requests
the urgent recall millions of mobile phones
that pose a risk to consumers.
Children's health is most at risk
due to overexposure to cell phone radiation.
The new consumer protection group "PhoneGate Alert", founded and chaired since March 2018, by Dr. Marc Arazi, joined by the scientific committee members of Dr. Annie Sasco, former IARC-WHO Head of Unit, and Dr. Devra Davis, President of Environmental Health Trust (USA), calls for the immediate withdrawal of millions of mobile phones in France, in Europe and internationally.
PRESS CONFERENCE
PARIS
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2018
Alert PhoneGate is an independent association governed by the 1901 law empowered to receive donations.
Visit Environmental Health Trust's Page on PhoneGate For Information
Ramazzini Study on Radiofrequency Cell Phone Radiation: The World’s Largest Animal Study on Cell Tower Radiation Confirms Cancer Link
World’s Largest Animal Study on Cell Tower Radiation Confirms Cancer Link
Scientists call on the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer to re-evaluate the carcinogenicity of cell phone radiation after the Ramazzini Institute and US government studies report finding the same unusual cancers.
Listen to to the March 22, 2018 press conference below.
(Washington, DC) – Researchers with the renowned Ramazzini Institute (RI) in Italy announce that a large-scale lifetime study of lab animals exposed to environmental levels of cell tower radiation developed cancer. A $25 million study of much higher levels of cell phone radiofrequency (RF) radiation, from the US National Toxicology Program (NTP), has also reported finding the same unusual cancer called Schwannoma of the heart in male rats treated at the highest dose. In addition, the RI study of cell tower radiation also found increases in malignant brain (glial) tumors in female rats and precancerous conditions including Schwann cells hyperplasia in both male and female rats.
"Taken together, the findings “confirm that RF radiation exposure has biological effects” in rats, some of them “relevant to carcinogenesis,” says Jon Samet, a professor of preventive medicine and dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, who did not participate in either study." - Scientific American
“Our findings of cancerous tumors in rats exposed to environmental levels of RF are consistent with and reinforce the results of the US NTP studies on cell phone radiation, as both reported increases in the same types of tumors of the brain and heart in Sprague-Dawley rats. Together, these studies provide sufficient evidence to call for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to re-evaluate and re-classify their conclusions regarding the carcinogenic potential of RFR in humans,” said Fiorella Belpoggi PhD, study author and RI Director of Research.
The Ramazzini study exposed 2448 Sprague-Dawley rats from prenatal life until their natural death to “environmental” cell tower radiation for 19 hours per day (1.8 GHz GSM radiofrequency radiation (RFR) of 5, 25 and 50 V/m). RI exposures mimicked base station emissions like those from cell tower antennas, and exposure levels were far less than those used in the NTP studies of cell phone radiation.
“All of the exposures used in the Ramazzini study were below the US FCC limits. These are permissible exposures according the FCC. In other words, a person can legally be exposed to this level of radiation. Yet cancers occurred in these animals at these legally permitted levels. The Ramazzini findings are consistent with the NTP study demonstrating these effects are a reproducible finding,” explained Ronald Melnick PhD, formerly the Senior NIH toxicologist who led the design of the NTP study on cell phone radiation now a Senior Science Advisor to Environmental Health Trust (EHT). “Governments need to strengthen regulations to protect the public from these harmful non-thermal exposures.”
“This important article from one of the most acclaimed institutions of its kind in the world provides a major new addition to the technical literature indicating strong reasons for concern about electromagnetic radiation from base stations or cell towers,” stated Editor in Chief of Environmental Research Jose Domingo PhD, Professor of Toxicology, School of Medicine at Reus University, Catalonia, Spain.
“The US NTP results combined now with the Ramazzini study, reinforce human studies from our team and others providing clear evidence that RF radiation causes acoustic neuromaa (vestibular schwannoma) and gliomas, and should be classified carcinogenic to humans,” stated Lennart Hardell MD, PhD, physician-epidemiologist with the Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden, who has published extensively on environmental causes of cancer including Agent Orange, pesticides and cell phone radiofrequency radiation.
“The evidence indicating wireless is carcinogenic has increased and can no longer be ignored,” stated University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health Professor Emeritus Anthony B. Miller MD, Member of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Canada and the UK, and Senior Medical Advisor to EHT who is also a long-term advisor to the World Health Organization.
“This study raises concerns that simply living close to a cell tower will pose threats to human health. Governments need to take measures to reduce exposures from cell tower emissions. Cell towers should not be near schools, hospitals or people's homes. Public health agencies need to educate the public on how to reduce exposure from all sources of wireless radiofrequency radiation—be it from cell towers or cell phones or Wi-Fi in schools,” stated David O. Carpenter MD, former Dean of the School of Public Health at the University at Albany. “This is particularly urgent because of current plans to place small 5G cell towers about every 300 meters in every street across the country. These 5G ‘small cell’ antennas will result in continuous exposure to everyone living nearby and everyone walking down the street. The increased exposures will increase risk of cancer and other diseases such as electro-hypersensitivity.”
Ramazzini Institute investigators have completed nearly 500 cancer bioassays on more than 200 compounds, and their study design is unique in that animals are allowed to live until their natural deaths in order to allow detection of late-developing tumors. Eighty percent of all human cancers are late-developing, occurring in humans after 60 years of age. This longer observation period has allowed the RI to detect such later-occurring tumors for a number of chemicals, and their published research includes studies of benzene, xylenes, mancozeb, formaldehyde and vinyl chloride.
The Ramazzini research results come in the wake of similar findings from the US National Toxicology Program (NTP) large-scale experimental studies on cell phone radiation. Both studies found statistically significant increases in the development of the same type of very rare and highly malignant tumor in the heart of male rats—schwannomas.
“This publication is a serious cause for concern,” stated Annie J. Sasco MD, DrPH, SM, MPH, retired Director of Research at the INSERM (French NIH) and former Unit Chief at the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organization, France, who commented that, “some of the results are not statistically significant due to the relatively small number of animals involved. Yet, that does not mean they should be ignored. Larger studies could turn out statistically significant results and in any event statistical significance is just one aspect of evaluation of the relation between exposure and disease. Biological significance and concordance of results between humans and animals clearly reinforces the strength of the evidence of carcinogenicity. The facts that both experimental studies found the same types of rare tumors, which also have pertinence to the human clinical picture, is striking,”
“Such findings of effects at very low levels are not unexpected,” stated Devra Davis PhD, MPH, president of EHT, pointing to a Jacobs University replication animal study published in 2015 that also found very low levels of RFR promoted tumor growth. “This study confirms an ever growing literature and provides a wake-up call to governments to enact protective policy to limit exposures to the public and to the private sector to make safe radiation-free technology available.”
In January 2017 at an international conference co-sponsored by Environmental Health Trust and the Israel Institute for Advanced Study at Hebrew University, Fiorella Belpoggi PhD, Director of Research at the Ramazzini Institute, presented the study design and the findings that RFR-exposed animals had significantly lower litter weights. Belpoggi’s presentation and slides are available online. The Ramazzini findings of lower litter weights are consistent with the NTP study, which also found lower litter weights in prenatally exposed animals. At that time, the Italian journal Corriere published an article about the presentation of the Ramazzini study and quoted Belpoggi’s recommendation of “maximum precaution for children and pregnant women.”
Noting that “current standards were not set to protect children, pregnant women, and the growing numbers of infants and toddlers for whom devices have become playthings,” Davis, who is also Visiting Professor of Medicine of Hebrew University Medical Center and Guest Editor in Chief of the journal Environmental Research, added, “Current two-decade old FCC limits were set when the average call was six minutes and costly cell phones were used by very few. These important, new, game-changing studies show that animals develop the same types of unusual cancers that are being seen in those few human epidemiological studies that have been done. In light of these results, Environmental Health Trust joins with public health experts from the states of California, Connecticut and Maryland, as well as those in France, Israel and Belgium to call on government and the private sector to carry out major ongoing public health educational campaigns to promote safer phone and personal device technology, to require and expedite fundamental changes in hardware and software to reduce exposures to RFR/microwave radiation throughout indoor and outdoor environments, and to institute major monitoring, training and research programs to identify solutions, future problems and prevention of related hazards and risks.”
“More than a dozen countries recommend reducing radiofrequency radiation exposure to children, and countries such as China, Italy, India and Russia have far more stringent cell tower radiation regulations in place when compared to the United States FCC. However, this study provides scientific evidence that governments can use to take even further action,” stated Theodora Scarato, Executive Director of EHT.
Environmental Research publishes original reports describing studies of the adverse effects of environmental agents on humans and animals. The principal aim of the journal is to assess the impact of chemicals and microbiological pollutants on human health. Both in vivo and in vitro studies, focused on defining the etiology of environmentally induced illness and to increase understanding of the mechanisms by which environmental agents cause disease, are especially welcome. Investigations on the effects of global warming/climate change on the environment and public health, as well as those focused on the effects of anthropogenic activities on climate change are also of particular interest.
About Environmental Health Trust
EHT is a scientific virtual think tank conducting cutting-edge research on environmental health risks with some of the world's top researchers. EHT educates individuals, health professionals and communities about policy changes needed to reduce those risks. EHT maintains a regularly updated database of worldwide precautionary policies: more than a dozen countries recommend reducing wireless exposure to children.
Lead author of the new study will discuss how the research was designed to test cell tower base station radiation association with cancer. Dr. Belpoggi is the Director of the Ramazzini Institute Research Department and Director of the Cesare Maltoni Research Center, Bologna, Italy. Dr. Belpoggi has been invited as an expert participant to meetings on the evaluation and safety of chemicals at the European Parliament, at the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs and at the European Food Safety Agency and as a temporary advisor to the World Health Organization/European Centre for Environment and Health .Ramazzini Institute investigators have completed nearly 500 cancer bioassays on more than 200 compounds. Full Bio
Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD
Dr. Hardell is a clinical and medical research doctor at the Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific articles specializing in epidemiological research studying cancer risks related to exposure to environmental toxins such as Agent Orange, the herbicide glyphosate, and cell phone radiofrequency radiation. As one of the world's leading experts on this topic, he served as an expert on the World Health Organization International Agency for the Research on Cancer EMF (Electromagnetic Fields) Working Group for the classification of radiofrequency fields in 2011. Bio here.
Ron Melnick, PhD
Dr. Melnick is a toxicologist, served 28 years a a scientist with the National Institutes of Health focused on assessing human health risks of environmental chemicals. He lead the design of the $28 Million National Toxicology Program(NTP) Studies on Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation. Dr. Melnick can discuss comparisons between the Ramazzini Institute research and the recently released NTP data on cell phone exposure on rats and mice.
David O. Carpenter, MD
Dr. Carpenter is a public health physician and graduate of Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment, a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization, and former Dean of the School of Public Health at the University at Albany. He has been involved in this topic since the 1980s when he served as the Executive Secretary of the New York State Powerlines Project. He is Co-editor of the Bioinitiative Report and has testified on EMF issues to both houses of Congress and also to the President’s Cancer Panel. He has two books and numerous publications on EMF, and over 400 peer-reviewed publications on various aspects of human health and environmental exposures. Bio here
Devra Davis, MPH, PhD
Dr. Davis is an epidemiologist, former member of the National Toxicology Program Scientific Review Board is currently Visiting Professor of Medicine at The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel, and Ondokuz Mayis University Medical School, Turkey. She was Founding Director, Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. President of Environmental Health Trust, she is also an award-winning scientist and author on environmental health issues. She can address the emerging studies on cell phone radiation worldwide. Full Bio
Watch Dr. Melnick present on the NTP study last year in this video.
Small Cells, Mini Cell Towers, Wireless Facilities and Health: Letters From Scientists on the Health Risk of 5G
Small Cells, Cell Towers, Wireless Facilities and Health
Letters From Experts on The Impact of Wireless Antennas on Public Health
Many people ask “What scientific research has been done on the radiation from small cell wireless facilities? What is the current scientific opinion of the scientists who are studying the issue?”
The video below is testimony by a 36 year old man who developed cancer in his neck after twenty years of cell phone use. He is testifying to halt small cell deployment in California.
The answer is that the scientists studying the health effects of 5G and wireless radiation are deeply concerned and are calling for a halt to the rollout of 5G and a halt to increasing radiofrequency radiation exposures to the public.
Please see on this page a short list of letters from expert scientists, doctors and public health experts sent to government officials regarding the issue of streamlining small cells in neighborhoods. In these letters scientists share the research supporting their opinion that wireless exposure to the public should be minimized and the deployment of small cell antennas into neighborhoods should be halted.
Watch a Best Best & Krieger LLP webinar covering CA SB 649, and "what localities should be doing now to protect their interests — at the local, regional, state and federal levels."
Webinar walks us through much of the legal infrastructure pertaining to cell siting both at the state and federal levels. Although this webinar focuses particularly on California and SB 649, there is much that can be applied to other states.
California SB 649 would strip the local control of communities to determine wireless facility placement in their rights of way. The State of California Department of Finance has made the recommendation to oppose SB 649 stating, "this bill goes too far by usurping city and county zoning authority for infrastructure development, and it potentially imposes reimbursable, state-mandated costs on cities and counties."
The AARP, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Working Group oppose this Bill. Over 200 cities, and the League of California Cities are opposed to SB 649. 45 out of 58 California Counties are in opposition to this bill.
This page maintains an updated list of news reports, videos and factsheets related to SB 649. Please scroll down to see the wealth of material generated by this ill advised bill that would streamline 5G cell antennas into neighborhoods and increase exposure to wireless frequencies.
On this page EHT is maintaining documentation on letters of opposition sent to the State, videos of news reports and videos of testimony given to the State lawmakers. Please check in regularly.
If you want to join others in California working to stop this bill please contact Californians For Safer Tech.
Forces cities and counties to lease out their public property for wireless equipment;
Eliminates negotiated leases, and places a $250 cap on what they call an attachment rate instead;
Eliminates public input, full local discretion, and ability to reduce equipment blight by using encroachment and building permits instead of discretionary permits;
Eliminates ability to remove equipment that is blighting neighborhoods.
"Big Telecom and its allies in the White House have quietly carried out a campaign to secure rapid and cheap access to those poles, at taxpayer expense. Here in California, state legislators recently advanced a bill introduced by Senator Ben Hueso that would allow wireless service providers to install their equipment on public street poles at below-market rates — and to do so nearly wherever and whenever they choose — all in the name of “streamlining” local permit approvals."
The State of California Department of Finance has made the recommendation to oppose SB 649.
The analysis report defines that SB 649 is likely to create a million dollar unfunded mandate, fails to cure basic wireless digital divide issues; and is fails to address important issues of community aesthetics. Read the CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE BILL ANALYSIS OF SB 649.
The Environmental Working Group is in strong opposition to SB 649.
Sacramento Bee op-ed, Why wireless industry is a triple rip-off for Californians, League of California Cities Executive Director Carolyn Coleman, California State Association of Counties Executive Director Matt Cate and Rural County Representatives of California Executive Director Greg Norton, June 27, 2017
CBS covered this issue in national news in June 2018. See below.
5G requires millions of mini cell towers to be built nationwide. From coast to coast, states are moving forward with Bills to preempt local authority and allow companies to place wireless antennae in neighborhoods in front of homes with zero to minimal community input. In some states, fierce community opposition has lead to blocking these streamlining Bills. In other states, these Bills have passed. Please see this running list of states and their Bills with useful links to news stories and videos about the new legislation.
A Rapidly Changing Landscape
It appears the following states have already passed 5G bills: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia These are in process: Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois (currently on the Governor's desk), Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington. More to come. If you have updates please send text linked and ready to go and we will verify and add it in.
Note: This page has not been fully updated since late Fall 2017. For a current review of state legislation, please go to the National Conference of State Legislatures page "MOBILE 5G AND SMALL CELL LEGISLATION"
Please contact us with information we are missing and/or new states to include.
EHT will try to regularly update this list. If you see information that needs to be added or corrected please contact us at [email protected]
States with Bills to Support Local Control and Halt Preemption
The bill proposes to require the council to establish a statewide plan for siting small cells and DAS in the public rights of way. In addition, it would require that any process established include the participation of the municipality where this equipment will be sited. Technology is changing drastically, and there is a need for the added capacity antenna systems provide. There is currently no statutory framework in place that keeps up with changing technology, and wireless companies are able to install antenna systems without the meaningful input from towns where these antenna systems are located. This bill proposes a moratorium on all jurisdictional matters relating to small cells and DAS until the plan and process are approved by the legislature.
Verizon wireless and Industry trade groups were opposed to this bill.
Sen. Slossberg Announces Passage of Senate Bill 536 “Slossberg’s bill would establish a state-wide plan and process for siting these small cell canister antennas, similar to the process that currently exists for cell phone towers. Critical to this process would be participation by the municipality where an antenna may be placed, along with members of the community. This process would give community members and elected officials a voice in the siting of these small canister antennas.”
New York Senate Bill 6687 2017 Bill Directs the public service commission to prohibit the attachment of wireless equipment or any other like attachments to existing utility poles in certain circumstances.
“The Town of Oyster Bay finds that wireless telecommunications facilities may pose significant concerns to its residents, and the character and environment of its neighborhoods..The process will establish a fair and efficient process for review and approval of applications; assure an integrated, comprehensive review of environmental impacts; and protect the rights of the Town and its residents, to the maximum extent allowed under the law.”
“...no person shall be permitted to site, place, build, construct, modify or prepare any site for the placement or use of wireless telecommunications facilities without having first obtained a building-permit from the Department of Planning and Development and any and all other approvals as required herein or under other applicable law. A new wireless facility must, in addition to a building permit, obtain a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.”
New York citizens and organizations also worked to halt the 5G rollout that was proposed via a Budget Bill. See the website Telecompowergrab.com to learn more.
Maryland
In Maryland there are Bills moving forward that both remove local control and attempt to provide more local control.
2018: Maryland residents worked hard to oppose a state streamlining bill and formed a statewide coalition. Citizens started the Maryland Coalition to Halt Cell Towers at Schools which was featured in a Washington DC Metro WJLA Investigative News Report on April 6, 2018. After questions were posed to the legislators that put the bill forward, the Maryland State bills were then halted.
Maryland has received major news coverage as citizens move to raise health risks related to cell towers, wireless and cell phones to their elected officials at every level of government
Several Districts, communities and elected officials have organized to halt preemption. Montgomery County is redoing zong and Cities in Prince George’s County have joined to prepare and plan a way to maintain local control. A 2016 Bill to streamline small cells resulted in community outrage.
2017 Update: Montgomery County and Prince George's County have drafted new zoning that would remove public notoce and public hearings for cell antennas in neighborhoods in front yards on rights of ways.
This video is testimony given in a Prince George's County Greenbelt City Council meeting before the draft zoning was introduced but shows that the local towns want to stop small cells from being placed on their front yards.
In Montgomery County citizens have worked to oppose zoning that was drafted to remove public notice and public hearings from companies placing antennas in their frontyards on street lights and utility poles.
Note: This page has not been fully updated since late Fall 2017. For a current review of state legislation, please go to the National Conference of State Legislatures page "MOBILE 5G AND SMALL CELL LEGISLATION"
Michigan
May 2018: Legislation is being fast racked to remove local control. In response citizens, scientists and legislators are speaking up on the health risks.
Michigan Senator Testifies On Health Risks Of 5G Small Cells And The Internet Of Things.
Michigan Senator Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton of Michigan USA testifies on 5G Small Cells and the Internet of things urging lawmakers to vote no on 5G small cell streamlining bills. In this testimony the Senator shared information from the Bioinitiative Report, microwave sickness, the health risks of 5G, the concerns about millimeter waves, concerns about Wi-Fi in schools, the problems with FCC limits and much more.
Watch testimony from Michigan citizens on 5 G here.
City by City, small cells (antennas in neighborhoods) are being proposed and cities are mounting a strong opposition. See a video of public testimony here.
“Lancaster Pennsylvania passed a cell tower ordinance in September. It prohibits wireless transmission equipment on any property deemed historically significant, gives the city control over “time place and manner” of construction and repair work and requires equipment to “blend with the existing surroundings ... to the greatest extent possible.”
“About 60 Pennsylvania cities and towns — among them Philadelphia and many of its suburbs — opposed the utility designation in comments to the commission, saying the status granted those firms overly broad powers with little regulatory oversight.”
Senate Bill 213 bars cities and counties from denying permits to companies building cell towers less than 50 feet high on public right-of-ways, as well as installing antennas on utility poles and traffic lights. Several cities including West Lafayette, Crawfordsville and Lafayette are among those in Indiana which have begun legislating to head off the effects of a bill giving sweeping new rights to cell phone companies. Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton,speaking on WBAA’s “Ask The Mayor,” calls the bill “atrocious.”
City fights law on cell structure locations, Saturday, April 29, 2017, Indiana Journal Gazette "Fort Wayne joined cities and councils throughout Indiana in pushing back against a law that would limit municipalities' ability to regulate the location of cellular equipment in the public right of way."
Texas
Senate Bill 1004: Takes away the ability of cities to control how public rights-of-way are used. • Mandates the use of street signs, traffic structures, and street lights for antennas for cell phone companies. • Subsidizes the cell phone industry with below market rental rates and capped application fees
"It’s an issue of private companies using taxpayer property for their own gain,” Bennet Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League, told The Dallas Morning News. “This bill is completely off the charts in terms of fairness.”
Opposition to Small Cell Streamlining Bill resulted in several changes
The measure was passed as a stand-alone bill (HF 739) on the House floor on May 20. The following day, it was included in the omnibus jobs bill, SF 1456, which will now go to Gov. Dayton for approval. View the final omnibus jobs bill (pdf) The League of Minnesota Cities had issues with the permitting process, the space between the cells and whether municipalities had the ability to reject permits. The organization ended up making 34 changes to the bill before it became neutral to its passage.
SB 1451, known as the Small Cell Facilities Deployment Act, would limit municipal authority to regulate, site or charge permit fees for small wireless facilities.
2017 -- S 0342: Small Cell Siting Act: Following the House’s passage of the bill, the legislation was referred to the R.I. Senate, where Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, D-Middletown, has sponsored companion bill S0342.
No State Bills at this time. The article below describes how “ South Dakota's senior U.S. senator is the chair of the powerful Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, with oversight of the national telecommunications laws and regulations. In March, Thune introduced the Mobile NOW Act, a bill to open up spectrum to telecommunications companies and smooth the path for 5G technology, and moved it through his committee to the Senate floor.”
HB 2365: HB 2365 was signed by Gov. Doug Ducey on March 31 allowing wireless carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint to install, operate and maintain small-cell equipment in city and town rights-of-way, according to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey wrote a letter published saying that his signature on House Bill 2365 makes his state the first to “streamline” the deployment of 5G wireless communication.
The telecommunications industry won passage of legislation, SB 1282 (McDougle), in 2017 that speeds deployment of wireless infrastructure in Virginia including small cells and micro-wireless facilities, imposing limits on local zoning authority.
News Update March 13, 2018: All the bills passed the General Assembly -- some in a close vote. The bills go to Governor Ralph Northam for his consideration. Virginia Municipal League eNews, March 9, 2018, Ask for Veto of Wireless Bills
UPDATE: New bills pushed forward in the 2018 session of the Virginia General Assembly would further erode local control, and concern structures up to 50 feet above ground level and co-locations on structures that are not small cell facilities. The primary 2018 bills are HB 1258 (Kilgore) and SB 405 (McDougle).
Del. Kilgore and Sen. McDougle also introduced related bills, HB 1427 and SB 823 , that would cap fees that may be charged to wireless companies for usage of public owned rights-of-way.
A 2018 session bill, HB 1131 (Gooditis), to repeal articles of the Code of Virginia that were set by the SB 1282 wireless infrastructure bill in 2017, was recommended to be stricken from the docket by a House subcommittee.
Scenic Virginia, Your Help Needed: Call Your Representatives to Oppose HB 1258 and SB 405 Virginia Association of Counties, Capitol Contact Alert, Feb. 2, 2018: House Panel Guts Local Control Over Zoning "...allows wireless companies to place cell towers up to 50 feet tall within rights-of-way without local control. Additionally, for towers of greater height, the bill hamstrings localities' ability to obtain information and address citizen concerns through the public hearing process."
Excerpt from a 2018 City of Newport News resolution: "...the wireless equipment installations can have significant impacts on the health, safety, welfare and aesthetics of localities but those companies have little, if any, interest in taking into account those concerns that potentially conflict with their profit margins." A Cell Tower Next Door? New Bill Would Take Away Local Control, Martinsville Bulletin, Jan. 31, 2018
CS/SB 596 (Hutson) and HB 687 (La Rosa) preempt local government control of city-owned rights-of-way for installation of wireless antennas and equipment. Among their various other provisions, the bills bar local governments from prohibiting or regulating the installation of wireless facilities on or next to existing cellular phone towers and utility poles within municipally owned rights of-way.
CS/CS/HB 687: Utilities Signed into law by governor.
HB17-1193: Small Cell Facilities Permitting And Installation Clarifies that expedited permitting process established for broadband facilities applies to small cell facilities and small cell networks. Clarifes that rights-of-way access afforded to telecommunications providers for construction, maintenance, and operation of telecommunications and broadband facilities extends to broadband providers, small cell facilities, and small cell networks. Provides that telecommunications provider has right to locate or collocate small cell facilities and small cell networks on local government entity’s light poles, light standards, traf c signals, or utility poles in rights- of-way owned by local government, subject applicable law. Effective: July 1, 2017.
The Missouri Municipal League was opposed to the 2017 HB 656 - Small Cell Deployment Act that would add small wireless facilities to the "Uniform Wireless Communication Infrastructure Deployment Act “passed into law in 2013 and grant wireless companies the right to use the public right of way to deploy wireless antennas. These bills limit a municipality’s ability to control the placement of antennas and “adjacent” equipment.
HB 331 proposes to prohibit municipalities from evaluating a cell site applicant’s business decisions with respect to the design of its service, customer demand for service, or quality of its service in a certain area. A municipality would also not be allowed to evaluate a cell tower application based on the availability of other potential locations for wireless site placement. Additionally, the type of wireless infrastructure, such as DAS, could not be dictated by the local authority.
The Municipal League and the Missouri Association of Counties opposed the passing of this bill.
LB 389, the Small Wireless Facilities Act, would cap application and permit fees at $250 and eliminate other lease, fee or tax payments, However, local governments would keep control over permitting.
As part of 2013 Act 20, the “Budget Bill”, this law preempts local regulation of cell phone towers. Although the new law allows local regulation under a number of circumstances, it also limits local regulation in some critical areas such as height limits, setbacks, and location of towers.
AB 348, regulating the location of mobile cell tower sites. The bill initially created a loophole for small cell towers to be erected without setbacks.
Fierce Opposition to Wi-Fi Poles Along Commuter Rail.
MBTA signed a contract that would allow InMotion Wireless to place wireless radiation-emitting monopoles along the commuter rail route. Citizens and municipal leaders across the Commonwealth have voiced strong opposition to the MBTA Plan in news reports:
Massachusetts has seven bills dealing with wireless radiation.
Massachusetts 2017 Bills on Wireless and Health
Massachusetts, United States of America 2017 Legislative Update on Bills on Wireless and Health
In 2017, Massachusetts introduced seven bills to address wireless radiation and public health:
S.1268 Resolve creating a special commission to examine the health impacts of electromagnetic fields (Senator Karen E. Spilka).
S.1864 An Act relative to utilities, smart meters, and ratepayers’ rights (gives people the no-fee choice of keeping their non-radiation-emitting water, gas and electrical meters instead of "smart" utility meters; Senator Michael O. Moore).
S.107 An Act relative to disclosure of radiofrequency notifications (requires warning labels on radiation-emitting products; Senator Julian Cyr).
S.108 An Act relative to the safe use of hand-held devices by children (requires specific language on packaging as modeled by an ordinance unanimously passed in Berkeley, California; Senator Julian Cyr).
H.2030 An Act relative to best management practices for wireless in schools and public institutions of higher education (asks the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to set wi-fi standards for all schools; Representative Carolyn Dykema).
S.2079 An Act reducing non-ionizing radiation exposure in schools. (Senator Donald F. Humason, Jr.)
S.2080 An Act increasing medical awareness and insurance coverage of non-ionizing radiation injury and reliance upon credible independent medical research. (Senator Donald F. Humason, Jr.)
After examining the evidence of harm, in 2018 the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure introduced an eighth bill:
S.2431: Resolve relative to disclosure of radio frequency notifications
2015 Massachusetts State House Briefing organized by the Environmental Health Trust on the latest scientific evidence of human health impacts from exposure to wireless radiation, including cell phones, wireless routers, baby monitors, smart meters and other devices. The briefing includes remarks by Environmental Health Trust founder Dr. Devra Lee Davis, and Mr. Frank Clegg of Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST).
In 2016 the following recommendations on Minimizing Exposure to RF were drafted.
BEST PRACTICES IN THE USE OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
Members of the Worcester School’s Standing Committee on Teaching, Learning and Student Supports consulted with the Massachusetts Department of Epidemiology about developing wireless precautionary guidelines that include:
Use wired communication devices instead of wireless devices
Limit children’s use of cell phones except for emergencies
Keep cell phones and other sources at a distance
If using wireless devices like computers, laptops, tablets, and printers, place the wireless router away from where children and adults usually spend time.
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