City of Boston, Massachusetts
The City of Boston, Massachusetts has called on the Federal Communications Commission “to reexamine and refresh its now 24-year-old radiofrequency (RF) emissions standards.“
Boston, Massachusetts points out that because there are narrow sidewalks with little or no dwelling setbacks there are often wireless antennas sited within 20 feet or less of living space.
Excerpts From the FCC Submission
“Boston believes that the concerns of the public are real and that the Commission has done a disservice to itself, local government, consumers, and even the wireless industry in failing to understand and respond to the broadly shared mistrust of the safety of RF emissions.”
“The City, and many of its constituents, do not believe the cursory way in which the Commission simply reaffirmed its decades old standards in 2019 was based on a robust review of the record and an updating of the science. And until the Commission appreciates the educational component of its role as the nation’s RF monitor, local governments, like Boston, will continue to be stuck in the middle as residents oppose wireless deployments for fear of the emissions, while the FCC and Congress have preempted local government review of RF standards.”
“Additionally, research has revealed that there may be concerns with the possible health effects of low-level multiple source exposure arising from the huge diffusion of communication technologies such as mobile communications, wireless data transfer such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Bluetooth, and ZigBee and the wireless networks to which those devices connect. Therefore, Boston requests that the Commission also examine the potential impact on health of low-level multiple exposures.”
“The public does not believe that the FCC’s RF exposure standards are safe nor based on science. They cite that the standards were first established by the Commission more than twenty-four year ago. Standards that were established at a time when very few consumers had cell phones, let alone the mini wireless computers that the majority of consumers carry today. They were established in an era of 1 and 2 G deployment, not the 5G and beyond that the nation can expect in the years to come. Early tests and reports focused either on handset emissions in proximity to a user’s head or macro cell tower deployment. None of these tests contemplated the street-level deployment we see today as a result of SWFs in the public rights-of-way. And, despite the changes in the number and type of RF devices and the proximity to individuals, the FCC simply reaffirmed its decade old standards in its December 2019 Order.”
“A once every decade review of the standards does not, in Boston’s opinion, meet the Commissions obligations to evaluate the effects of our actions on the quality of the human environment, including human exposure to RF energy, mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The City, and many of its constituents, do not believe the cursory way in which the Commission simply reaffirmed its decades old standards in 2019 was based on a robust review of the record and an updating of the science. And until the Commission appreciates the educational component of its role as the nation’s RF monitor, local governments, like Boston, will continue to be stuck in the middle as residents oppose wireless deployments for fear of the emissions, while the FCC and Congress have preempted local government review of RF standards.”
Finally, the City is troubled that dockets 03-13717 and 13-8418 have been terminated and fears that the record built in those two proceedings will not be incorporated into the current proceeding. For that reason, Boston refiles as Exhibit A, comments that it filed with the City of Philadelphia in docket 13-84.
Download the City of Boston, Massachusetts Submission
In 2015 EHT presented at the Massachusetts Statehouse on cell phone and wireless radiation.
