Children's Health Defense Petitions FCC to ‘Quit Stalling’ on Court Order to Address Harmful Effects of Wireless Radiation

CHD Petitions FCC to ‘Quit Stalling’ on Court Order to Address Harmful Effects of Wireless Radiation
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., childrenshealthdefense.org, 5 April 2023

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) on Tuesday petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “quit stalling” and comply with a court-ordered mandate to explain how the agency determined its current guidelines adequately protect humans and the environment against harmful effects of exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued the mandate on Aug. 13, 2021, when it ruled the FCC failed to consider the non-cancer evidence of adverse health effects related to wireless technology when the agency determined its 1996 health and safety guidelines regarding wireless-based technologies adequately protected public health.

The ruling stemmed from CHD’s historic win in a case challenging the FCC’s decision not to review the 1996 guidelines.

The FCC has taken no action to comply with the court’s ruling, prompting CHD to threaten further legal action.

Scott McCollough, lead attorney for CHD’s historic case and author of the petition, said CHD submitted a petition — rather than a request — because a petition “is something to which they must respond,” according to administrative law.

CHD’s petition said:

“The Commission cannot just sit on this matter any longer…Any continued non-action will violate the judgment and mandate and expose the Commission to further judicial review and, ultimately, a mandamus order requiring action.”

In its 2021 decision, the court said the agency must also address the environmental impacts of RF radiation and the “impact of RF radiation on children, the health implications of long-term exposure to RF radiation, the ubiquity of wireless devices and other technological developments that have occurred since the Commission last updated its guidelines.”

McCollough, a telecommunication and administrative law attorney, told The Defender:

“The FCC needs to receive all the evidence and science regarding the biological effects of RF radiation and deal with it in good faith.

“The agency must recognize that its current guidelines need to be changed to reflect reality.”

‘FCC cannot responsibly ignore this science any longer’

Continue reading:
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/chd-fcc-court-order-wireless-radiation-guidelines/