3. The US Dept. of the Interior has now challenged the FCC regarding the Adverse Impact of Cell <br />Tower Radiation on Wildlife, particularly birds and bees. I include information about this here: <br />Monday, March 24, 2014 <br />Dept. of Interior Attacks FCC regarding Adverse Impact of Cell Tower <br />Radiation on Wildlife <br />The Department of Interior charges that the FCC standards for cell phone radiation are <br />outmoded and no longer applicable as they do not adequately protect wildlife. <br />The Director of the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance of the United States Department <br />of the Interior sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the <br />Department of Commerce which addresses the Interior Department's concern that cell tower radiation <br />has had negative impacts on the health of migratory birds and other wildlife. <br />The Interior Department accused the Federal government of employing outdated radiation <br />standards set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a federal agency with no expertise <br />in health. The standards are no longer applicable because they control only for overheating and do <br />not protect organisms from the adverse effects of exposure to the low-intensity radiation produced by <br />cell phones and cell towers: <br />"the electromagnetic radiation standards used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) <br />continue to be based on thermal heating, a criterion now nearly 30 years out of date and inapplicable <br />today." <br />The Department criticized the Federal government's proposed procedures for placement and operation <br />of communication towers, and called for "independent, third-party peer-reviewed studies" in the U.S. to <br />examine the effects of cell tower radiation on "migratory birds and other trust species." <br />Following are excerpts from the letter, dated Feb 7, 2014: <br />"The Department believes that some of the proposed procedures are not consistent with Executive <br />Order 13186 Responsibilities of Federal Agencies to Protect Migratory Birds, which specifically <br />requires federal agencies to develop and, use principles, standards, and practices that will lessen the <br />amount of unintentional take reasonably attributed to agency actions. The Department, through the <br />Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), finds that the proposals lack provisions necessary to conserve <br />migratory bird resources, including eagles. The proposals also do not reflect current information <br />regarding the effects of communication towers to birds. Our comments are intended to further clarify <br />specific issues and address provisions in the proposals. <br />The Department recommends revisions to the proposed procedures to better reflect the impacts to <br />resources under our jurisdiction from communication towers. The placement and operation of <br />communication towers, including un-guyed, unlit, monopole or lattice-designed structures, impact <br />protected migratory birds in two significant ways. The first is by injury, crippling loss, and death from <br />collisions with towers and their supporting guy-wire infrastructure, where present. The second significant <br />issue associated with communication towers involves impacts from non-ionizing electromagnetic <br />radiation emitted by them (See Attachment)." <br />Enclosure A <br />"The second significant issue associated with communication towers involves impacts from nonionizing <br />electromagnetic radiation emitted by these structures. Radiation studies at cellular communication towers <br />were begun circa 2000 in Europe and continue today on wild nesting birds. Study results have <br />documented nest and site abandonment, plumage deterioration, locomotion problems, reduced <br />survivorship, and death (e.g., Balmori 2005, Balmori and Hallberg 2007, and Everaert and Bauwens <br />2007). Nesting migratory birds and their offspring have apparently been affected by the radiation from <br />cellular phone towers in the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency ranges- 915 MHz is the standard cellular <br />phone frequency used in the United States. However, the electromagnetic radiation standards used <br />