Stop Congress From Taking Your Rights For The Telecom Companies
Introduced in May of 2023, H.R. 3557 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3557/text?format=txt) and its numerous ilk should concern EVERYONE. There is no one who is immune to the detrimental oxidative stress and voltage-gated ion channel effects of radiofrequency/microwave radiation exposure. Effects can occur in ways that make them easily attributable or in more subtle ways, which are nonetheless damaging over time. The question is not if you will be injured, but rather how you personally will manifest that injury and on what timeframe and whether you will correctly attribute the cause. Exposure to radiofrequency/microwave radiation is a game of Russian roulette.
Oxidative stress and inappropriate activation of voltage-gated ion channels are effects that are fundamental within human, animal, and plant biology so every human and all other living creatures will be adversely affected in some way. Genetic variants in voltage-gated ion channels and ability to compensate for oxidative stressors will determine how each person will be impacted. At right is a list of diseases known to be caused by oxidative stress and these conditions are becoming more common. Voltage-gated ion channels have equally important effects, including nervous system effects (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) and cardiac effects, and neuropathic pain. No one is likely to escape unscathed, but many fail to make the connection between their RF exposure and their declining health. (https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/20-1025-Kleiber-Amicus-Brief.pdf)
H.R. 3557 benefits the wireless industry tremendously at the expense of human health and the environment. It preempts local control further even than the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It seeks to negate all avenues for regulating the wireless industry that have been used to protect human health and the environment since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, including zoning, NEPA, NHPA, moratoria, etc.
The telecom industry would be able to get expedited judicial review and they would have access to a process through the FCC for getting the Commission to overrule local decisions. Local rights with regard to regulating cable companies are also greatly curtailed. Many municipalities count on funds from cable franchises as a part of their revenue, this bill appears to endanger that. It is an enormous grab from the public to benefit cable companies. It appears Indian tribes will have their NHPA rights relative to telecom projects tied to a shot clock and will be deemed to have approved after a certain (short) time period if no action is taken.
Please start taking action now, but please also sign up for the Environmental Health Trust newsletter (https://secure.everyaction.com/TMmKivg7d0iKADkk8dMoDQ2) so that you receive their soon-to-be-released even more comprehensive action alert detailing the numerous bills already introduced in Congress to give our rights away to the telecom industry.
Here are a few quotes from H.R. 3557 to give you the flavor:
"(vi) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS.—No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the operation, placement, construction, or modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities or structures comply with the Commission's regulations concerning such emissions."
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"(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of the placement, construction, or modification of a personal wireless service facility by any State or local government or instrumentality thereof— ______
"(I) IN GENERAL.—If a State or local government or instrumentality thereof fails to take final action to grant or deny a request within the applicable timeframe under subclause (I) of clause (iii), the request shall be deemed granted on the date on which the government or instrumentality receives a written notice of the failure from the requesting party."
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""JUDICIAL OR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— ______
"(IV) NO MORITORIA.—A timeframe under subclause (I) may not be tolled by any moratorium, whether express or de facto, imposed by a State or local government or instrumentality thereof on the submission, acceptance, or consideration of any request for authorization to place, construct, or modify a personal wireless service facility."
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No serial objections ______
There are several sections that pay lip service to maintaining local control, but don't actually maintain local control because the limitations placed by the act are so severe that the rights that are left over are essentially nothing. ______
In general, all applications for wireless facilities will be deemed granted if not denied for a valid reason within a fairly short timeframe. However, the legislation appears to preempt almost all potential reasons so, in essence, communities have the choice of "approving" requests or allowing the time limits to automatically approve requests, but to my eye there is no allowable path for stopping or denying an application. Thus, telecom companies have many avenues for forcing approval of wireless facilities, including judicial appeal and an FCC process, but communities have no avenue for appeal and no avenue for legally stopping or forcing the removal of an installation when it harms its citizens, as was tried in Pittsfield https://ehtrust.org/pittsfield-ma-board-of-health-unanimously-votes-to-issue-cease-and-desist-for-verizon-cell-tower/.
If you haven't spoken up yet, it is time to speak up NOW because the situation is going to get even worse if this law or the others like it are passed. It is time for Congress to end the preemption of YOUR rights and OUR rights for the benefit of this very dangerous industry. Numerous health problems that have blossomed in recent years are all known to be caused by wireless: depression, anxiety, irritability, poor sleep, poor cognition, neurological problems, cardiac arrhythmia and heart disease etc.
If you do not want to face the situation so many have already faced where wireless radiation is making you sick and you have no real option for stopping the assault and no real refuge available (due to the ubiquity of wireless radiation), take a moment to call your Congressional delegation in opposition to H.R. 3557 and all other bills that would preempt your rights to benefit the wireless industry and ask that your Congressperson author or support legislation to repeal Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Please ask friends, relatives, and neighbors to contact their Congresspeople too.
If you have already been injured, make no mistake - it can get worse. Call your Congressional delegation in opposition to H.R. 3557 and similar bills that would preempt your rights to benefit the wireless industry and ask that they author or support legislation to repeal Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Please ask friends, relatives, and neighbors to contact their Congresspeople too.
If you care about human health or environmental health, it is imperative that you read the information below and pass it on to everyone you know and then contact your Congressional delegation strongly in opposition (repeatedly, but politely), providing new authoritative articles each time (which you can mail to local offices or D.C. or email links with a brief synopsis of what the article shows, why it is important, and what you want done - oppose H.R. 3557 and all other bills that would preempt your rights to benefit the wireless industry and repeal Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
People take time to take in new information and each lawmaker needs to be educated systematically and persistently. Each resident in the U.S. has two senators and one representative they should work to educate. You can find yours using the following link https://www.congress.gov/contact-us. Please also contact the President and Vice President in the same systematic fashion since we need them to know enough to veto H.R. 3557 and support repeal of Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. They can be contacted using the following link https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/. Also, contact the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) at 1-202-395-5750 or https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ probably using help with a federal agency attention CEQ or Screeningtool-Support@omb.eop.gov. CEQ is responsible for our environment under the National Environmental Policy Act and needs to be educated.
Elections are coming up this fall. Candidates are often more interested in listening to concerns and information they are given. Make sure they know that this is a voting issue for you. Good Letters to the Editor that motivate others can also help get their attention, as can yard signs.
Write letters to the editor (example below), get yard signs or banners or bumper stickers (it is important that this issue have visibility in the real world too). Contact organizations and local governments that should be concerned and ask that they also contact Congress in opposition (see the petition by Mayors in opposition). Organizations can also help with grassroots awareness raising.
When You Call Your Congressperson
When you call your Congressperson politely, but clearly voice your opposition to HR 3557 and all other bills that would preempt your rights to benefit the wireless industry and ask that they support repealing Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to give local governments more latitude to protect public health.
Point out that Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals felt the evidence that the FCC had failed to consider in their attempt to essentially rubber stamp the existing RF limits was important enough that they ruled against the FCC in the case of Environmental Health Trust, et al vs. Federal Communications Commission, finding the "[Federal Communications] Commission's order arbitrary and capricious in its failure to respond to record evidence that exposure to RF [radiofrequency] radiation at levels below the Commission's current limits may cause negative health effects unrelated to cancer."
That was two years ago and the FCC has done nothing. People had already been injured by FCC negligence and more are being injured as the FCC stalls. It is time for Congress to repeal Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, since even the FCC admits they lack the expertise to set RF safety limits - "Since the Commission is not a health and safety agency, we defer to other organizations and agencies with respect to interpreting the biological research necessary to determine what levels are safe." https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-review-rf-exposure-policies
Congress made a huge mistake when they preempted local control and gave the FCC authority to set RF (wireless) radiation limits. That mistake is harming and even killing people. RF radiation is a toxin just like mercury, lead, asbestos, PFAS, etc. Congress should not be preempting the right of local and state leaders to protect their residents from a toxin. Knowledgeable independent scientists in FDA and EPA should be tasked with establishing biologically-based population protective RF radiation exposure limits, just as they do for other environmental pollutants. Congress should not be preempting local regulatory authority. States and municipalities should once again have the right to protect their residents.
A few resources to share:
Information about the Environmental Health Trust Lawsuit against the FCC https://ehtrust.org/in-historic-decision-federal-court-finds-fcc-failed-to-explain-why-it-ignored-scientific-evidence-showing-harm-from-wireless-radiation/
The FCC has Failed To Protect The Environment Says Former FCC Attorney https://ehtrust.org/former-fcc-attorney-how-the-fcc-fails-to-follow-environmental-laws-and-fails-the-public/?emci=2da1beaf-2ede-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&emdi=3b8fee8d-7adf-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&ceid=8734327
U.S Conference of Mayors - 2023 Resolution Opposing H.R. 3557, the American Broadband Act of 2023 https://legacy.usmayors.org/resolutions/91st_Conference/proposed-review-list-full-print-committee-individual.asp?resid=a0F4N00000Sh7CsUAJ
What to Know About Cellphone Radiation — ProPublica Jan 4, 2023
Ericsson Partnered With Girl Scouts to Push 5G Technology - ProPublica Dec 9, 2022 https://www.propublica.org/article/ericsson-girl-scouts-5g-cellphones-wireless-safety
Inside the Government Fiasco That Nearly Closed the U.S. Air...
ProPublica May 26, 2022 A nationwide rollout of new wireless technology was set for January, but the aviation industry was warning it would cause mass calamity: 5G ... https://www.propublica.org/article/fcc-faa-5g-planes-trump-biden
How the FCC Shields Wireless Providers From Safety Concerns ProPublica
Nov 10, 2022 https://www.propublica.org/article/fcc-5g-wireless-safety-cellphones-risk
Inadequate Regulation of Electronic Product Radiation by FDA Causes
Electrosensitivity a.k.a Radiofrequency/Microwave Sickness
http://www.electricalpollution.com/documents/PressReleaseFDANegligence12Feb2020.pdf
Appeals Court Tells FCC to Address Non-Thermal Health Impacts of Radiation from Wireless Technology on Children, the Public, and the Environment
http://www.electricalpollution.com/documents/PressRelease_Victory_25Aug2021.pdf
Wireless - an energy hog that is killing our trees! http://www.electricalpollution.com/WirelessKillsTrees.html
Insect Apocalypse: What is the cause, are you contributing and what can you do? http://www.electricalpollution.com/documents/PressRelease_DianaKordasInsectStudy.pdf
Presentation by Catherine Kleiber on Radiofrequency Sickness - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3174&v=faSSMkA6jUo&feature=emb_logo
Steps for reducing RF exposure - www.ElectricalPollution.com on the Solutions Page
Scientific Papers
Microwave Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) Produce Widespread Neuropsychiatric Effects Including Depression (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891061815000599)
Oxidative Mechanisms of Biological Activity of Low-intensity Radiofrequency Radiation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26151230)
Low intensity electromagnetic fields act via voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) activation to cause very early onset Alzheimer's disease: 18 distinct types of evidence (https://www.eurekaselect.com/article/120618)
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Sample Letter to the Editor:
Dear Editor,
Watertown is seeing the installation of additional cell antennas which will markedly increase exposure to radiofrequency/microwave radiation. Unfortunately, the FCC limits for exposure to this wireless radiation are inadequate. When the FCC recently attempted to renew the same limits, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decided against them in the case of Environmental Health Trust, et al vs. Federal Communications Commission, stating in their decision the "we find the [Federal Communications] Commission's order arbitrary and capricious in its failure to respond to record evidence that exposure to RF [radiofrequency] radiation at levels below the Commission's current limits may cause negative health effects unrelated to cancer."
Numerous individuals have already been injured - quotes from over 100 contained in the FCC docket can be found in the Exhibits supporting the Kleiber Amicus Brief (https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/20-1025-Kleiber-Amicus-Brief.pdf).
Retired FCC lawyer Erica Rosenberg, author of "Environmental Procedures at the FCC: A Case Study in Corporate Capture" says that the FCC failed to protect the public and the environment and has violated NEPA in setting the RF exposure limits and allowing cell tower and antenna installation without required environmental review (see https://www.EHTrust.org).
The D.C. Appeals Court has ordered the FCC to "address the impacts of RF radiation on children, the health implications of long-term exposure to RF radiation…" and "address the impacts of RF radiation on the environment."
So far, nearly two years later, the FCC has taken no action. Thus, ALL wireless technology today is complying with outdated radiofrequency radiation emission limits. The only option individuals have to ensure their safety is to minimize their exposure by minimizing their own use of wireless technology. Unfortunately, while this provides an important level of exposure reduction, in no way does it reduce risk from second-hand exposures from adjacent individuals and base station antennas. This risk is substantial, ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's disease and beyond.
Please call your Senators and Representative and ask that they oppose H.R. 3557 and repeal Section 704 of the 1996 Telecommunication Act so that local communities can once again protect their residents' health against radiofrequency radiation emissions.
Common symptoms that can be caused by RF/MW exposure include poor sleep, headaches, poor memory, impaired cognition, muscle weakness, elevated blood sugar, cardiac arrhythmias, facial flushing and more.
Steps for minimizing radiofrequency exposure can be found at http://www.ElectricalPollution.com.
Sincerely,
Catherine Kleiber
This information can be found at http://www.electricalpollution.com/StopTelcosFromTakingYourRights.html
... (II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision, improvement, or enhancement of personal wireless service."
"(i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person adversely affected by any final action or failure to act by a State or local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with this paragraph may, within 30 days after the action or failure to act, commence an action in any court of competent jurisdiction, which shall hear and decide the action on an expedited basis.
"(ii) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—
"(I) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely affected by any final action or failure to act by a State or local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with this paragraph may petition the Commission to review such action or failure to act.
"(II) TIMING.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a petition under subclause (I), the Commission shall grant or deny such petition."
"LIMITATION ON SUBSEQUENT WRITTEN NOTICE.—If a written notice provided by a State or local government or instrumentality thereof to a requesting party under item (bb) with respect to a supplemental submission identifies as not having been submitted any information that was not identified as not having been submitted in the prior written notice under this subclause in response to which the supplemental submission was submitted, the subsequent written notice shall be treated as not having been provided to the requesting party."
An example is below:
""(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY.—
"(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, construction, or modification of personal wireless service facilities.
"(B) LIMITATIONS.—
"(i) IN GENERAL.—The regulation of the placement, construction, or modification of a personal wireless service facility by any State or local government or instrumentality thereof—
"(I) shall not discriminate among personal wireless service facilities or providers of communications service, including by providing exclusive or preferential use of facilities to a particular provider or class of providers of personal wireless service; and
"(II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision, improvement, or enhancement of personal wireless service."
https://www.propublica.org/article/what-to-know-about-cellphone-radiation