Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

June 13, 1996

The Honorable Richard Hurt
2000 Forest Ridge Drive
Bedford, Texas 76021

Dear Mayor Hurt:

It has come to my attention that the City Council of the City of Bedford passed Resolution No. 96-27 on May 28, 1996, establishing a moratorium on the issuance of building permits for the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service towers and facilities until August 1, 1996, or until such time as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has promulgated standards pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, whichever comes first. The resolution states that "the City Attorney has made written and oral inquiries of the FCC and based on those inquiries has determined that such standards have not been promulgated at this time." Furthermore, the city "is concerned about any possible health risks associated with the placement, construction, and modification of such facilities until such time as the FCC adopts and publishes its approved standards." Therefore, the City believes that in order to "preserve the health, safety and welfare of its citizens," a moratorium must "be declared on the issuance of building permits for a reasonable period of time until August 1, 1996, or until such time as the FCC has promulgated standards pursuant to the Act whichever comes first, unless extended for a reasonable period of time."

The Commission appreciates the concerns of the City of Bedford to preserve the health, safety and welfare of its citizens. It appears, however, that the moratorium is inconsistent with Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 332 (c)(7)(B)(iv) since the moratorium is based solely on the environmental effects of radio frequency (rf) emissions and to the extent that it would ban facilities that comply with the Commission's existing regulations concerning such emissions. Specifically, the Act expressly provides:

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.

47 U.S.C. 332(c)(7)(B)(iv).


The Honorable Richard Hurt
June 14, 1996

Page 2

The Act, in Section 704(b), also requires the Commission to complete its pending rulemaking proceeding to review the standards it uses for evaluating the environmental effects of rf emissions, which are under consideration in ET Docket 93-62, see 58 Fed. Reg. 19393 (Apr. 14, 1993), within 180 days of enactment of the 1996 Act. Pub. L. No. 104-104, 704(b), 110 Stat. 56, 152 (1996). Even though the Act directs the Commission to complete action in the pending docket by August 1, 1996, the pendency of this proceeding does not affect the rules which currently govern the environmental effects of rf emissions. The Commission already has intact methods and guidelines for evaluating the environmental effects of rf emissions from FCC-regulated transmitters and facilities. See 47 C.F.R. Part 1, Subpart I, and 47 C.F.R. Part 24, Subpart E. The existing rules governing personal communications services, for example, are based on a standard which protects against rf hazards adopted in 1992 by the American National Standards Institute. See Second Report & Order, GEN Docket No. 90-314, 8 FCC Rcd 7700, 7780 191-92 (1993); 47 C.F.R. 24.52.

While the reference to the pending docket in the Act may have created confusion as to the current status of the Commission's existing rf emissions standards, such standards continue to be in effect until modified by the Commission.

I appreciate the opportunity to address this matter. Hopefully, this letter will make clear the effect of this aspect of the law regarding local regulation of towers and facilities used to provide personal wireless services.

Sincerely,

Michele C. Farquhar
Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau



cc: John Boyle, City Attorney