Laserfiche WebLink
Even as the EPA investigation was underway, the :FCC recognized that it <br /> had its own legal obligation under NEPA to determine whether the facilities it <br /> approves are major federal actions triggering an environmental review. The <br /> Commission issued its first regulations addressing 1117 radiation in 1985.18 The <br /> Commission's obligation to assess the environmental impacts of the actions it <br /> authorized did not depend on whether federal guidelines or standards otherwise <br /> existed for general public exposure to R.F radiation.19 In the Commission's words, <br /> "an agency *cannot refuse to give serious consideration to environmental factors <br /> merely because it thinks that another agency should assume the responsibility for <br /> promoting the policies of NEPA.'"2° <br /> The Commission based its 1985 action on privately promulgated health and <br /> safety guidelines for RF radiation established by the American National Standards <br /> Institute (ANSI) in 1982,21 which were based on short-term, acute thermal effects <br /> 18 1985 Order, supra note 6. <br /> 19 Id. at 546 (118). <br /> 201d., quoting Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. S.E.C., 432 F.Supp. <br /> 1190, 1207-1208 (D.D.C. 1977), rer'd on other grounds, 606 F.2d 1031 (D.C. Cir. <br /> 1979). <br /> 21 Id. at 551 (1124). ANSI is an organization comprised mainly of industries that set <br /> voluntary national standards for numerous industrial applications and processes. <br /> The industry subcommittee for radiofrequency radiation is the Institute of <br /> Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The subcommittee title is C-95.1 for <br /> the microwave bands. The standards they recommend are titled ANSI/IEEE C.95.1 <br /> with the last revision year then added. The FCC uses ANSI/IEEE <br /> recommendations for "controlled" environments comparable to professional <br />