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Under the FCC's Order, no environmental review under NEPA is required if <br /> proposed wireless services fall below the FCC's RF standards. And the wireless <br /> service provider determines on its own whether it has met the standards. A <br /> wireless service provider's determination that its facilities are exempt excuses <br /> completion of an environmental assessment under NEPA. 47 C.F.R. § 1.1312(a). <br /> As a result of the provider's determination that it is exempt, the FCC receives no <br /> information from the company about the environmental effects of RF radiation <br /> from those facilities and the devices they support. The public does not get any <br /> information either. <br /> ILL FCC Misunderstands Its Obligations under the TCA <br /> A. Congress Gave the FCC the Responsibility to Protect the Public from <br /> RF Hazards <br /> As wireless communication expanded, Congress fundamentally changed the <br /> legal framework governing telecommunications. The Telecommunications Act of <br /> 1996 was the first major revision to federal telecommunications law since 1934. In <br /> deregulating the radio, television, cable and telephone industries, the Act touched <br /> off an explosion of wireless communication services. One way the Act facilitated <br /> rapid deployment of new technologies was by concentrating regulatory authority <br /> over the environmental effects of RF radiation in the FCC. <br /> Congress prohibited state and local regulation of wireless facilities based on <br /> environmental (J'Ibcts of raliofrequencv emiy,jons so long as the facilities <br /> 19 <br />