WASHINGTON-With less than a ringing endorsement from two commissioners, the Federal Communications Commission last week adopted hybrid radiofrequency exposure guidelines that may violate a new law regarding technical standards used by government agencies.
The new RF guidelines are stricter than existing ones, combining exposure limits recommended by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Management a decade ago and those crafted by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and adopted by the American National Standards Institute in 1992.
The two standards are quite similar for all but high frequencies, where NCRP applies tighter exposure restrictions. Most wireless services are governed by the 1982 IEEE-ANSI standard today. Personal communications services are bound by the 1992 IEEE-ANSI standard.
Despite overwhelming support for the 1992 IEEE-ANSI standard, the FCC approved a hybrid guideline after pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency and, to a lesser extent, other health and safety government bodies.
FCC Chairman Reed Hundt was the only commissioner to support a hybrid RF standard from the start. The other three members signed onto the hybrid approach after working a deal with the wireless telecommunications industry.
The wireless industry was adamantly opposed to a hybrid approach, but in June withdrew its opposition in exchange for the FCC incorporating language into the decision reassuring the public about the safety of wireless phones.
“Our companies can meet the criteria under either of the two standards or the hybrid,” said Tim Ayers, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.
But some in the telecommunications industry believe CTIA and Motorola Inc. sabotaged the momentum for the 1992 IEEE-ANSI standard by halting its aggressive lobbying campaign against a hybrid standard. That standard could complicate local antenna siting and fuel health-related lawsuits because of health uncertainty NCRP attaches to low power, long-term exposure to RF radiation.
“We will study the ruling carefully and we will take whatever action we deem necessary,” said Arthur Veranelli, deputy manager of corporate product safety at Raytheon Co.
Commissioners James Quello and Rachelle Chong all but apologized for breaking from IEEE-ANSI and approving the hybrid RF standard.
“[W]e would have felt comfortable continuing that precedent by adopting the most recent 1992 ANSI standard,” the two members said in a joint statement. “We find merit in the open, voluntary industry-driven ANSI standard-setting process. We support today’s decision, however, because we recognize the importance of adopting guidelines that command the broad support of federal agencies charged with protection of the public health.”
However, it is unclear what scientific data the EPA relied upon in opposing the 1992 IEEE-ANSI standard.
There is increasing speculation that the new RF hybrid standard will be challenged in court by a coalition of telecommunications sectors that believe the hybrid is ill conceived and is at odds with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995.
The law, enacted in March, requires that “all Federal agencies and departments shall use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies.”
The RF hybrid standard, while including elements developed by an industry consensus, is not considered by critics to be a consensus standard itself. The Pentagon is said to have tried to weigh in with opposition to the hybrid standard at the 11th hour. The satellite industry voiced opposition against the hybrid approach shortly before last Thursday’s decision.
