Cell Towers/Monopoles - RF Emission Survey of FCPS facilities

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Background

As of January 2005, seven FCPS facilities have cell phone base station antennas. They consist of six schools and one administrative center. They are:

Centreville High School
Chantilly High School
Langley High School (2 towers)
South Lakes High School (2 towers)
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Westgate Elementary School

Lorton Administrative Center

On October 7, 2004, the Fairfax County School Board asked the assistant superintendent for the Department of Facilities and Transportation Services, to provide information regarding the Radio Frequency Emissions from the school sites that have cell base station antennas. This survey was tasked to the Office of Safety and Security.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) each regulate wireless devices. FCC ensures that all wireless devices sold in the United States follow safety guidelines that limit radio frequency (RF) energy. FDA monitors the health effects of wireless devices. Each agency has the authority to take action if a wireless device produces hazardous levels of RF energy.

FDA derives its authority to regulate wireless devices from the radiation control provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (originally enacted as the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968). [http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/comp/eprc.html].

FCC derives its authority to regulate wireless devices from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as well as Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations. [http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html].

Can local and state government bodies establish limits for RF exposure?

Although some local and state governments have enacted rules and regulations about human exposure to RF energy in the past, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the federal government to control human exposure to RF emissions. In particular, Title 47 of the United States Code, Section 332, (7)(B)(iv) 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 federal authority and FCC policy is available in a fact sheet from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at www.fcc.gov/wtb.

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