CAN LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTAL BODIES ESTABLISH LIMITS FOR RF EXPOSURE?

In the United States, some local and state jurisdictions have also enacted rules and regulations pertaining to human exposure to RF energy.  However, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 contained provisions relating to federal jurisdiction to regulate human exposure to RF emissions from certain transmitting devices.  In particular, Section 704 of the Act states that, “No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Commission’s regulations concerning such emissions.”  Further information on FCC policy with respect to facilities siting is available from the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (see https://www.fcc.gov/general/tower-and-antenna-siting) and from “A Local Government Official’s Guide to Transmitting Antenna RF Emission Safety.”