Subject: Correction!! Another industry end-run??? (Tamm)(Doherty)..
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 125601 -0600 (CST)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: emfguru
--------------------------------------------------
..........From EMF-L........
......Many thanks for this correction from Jim Doherty....
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com
...................People are more important than profits.................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:45:40 -0800
From: Jim Doherty
To: "'Roy L. Beavers'"
Subject: RE: Another industry end-run??? (Tamm)..
The legilsative bill number in the below e-mail has a typo: the pending
telecommunications right-of-way legislation in the State of Washington
is Senate Bill 6676, which can be accessed through the state legislature
web page at:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/bills.htm
First go to "Senate Bill Information"
Then access the specific bill by number (6676). In addition to the
text, there are summaries and amendments available at the site.
Jim Doherty
Legal Consultant
Municipal Research & Services Center
Seattle
**************************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Roy L. Beavers [mailto:rbeavers@llion.org]
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 10:32 PM
To: emfguru
Subject: Another industry end-run??? (Tamm)..
........Has Dr. Henry Lai testified on this bill??? Why not???
You can be sure that the industry's lobbyists are swarming all
over this piece of legislation..... The people are not at the
table.....!!! As usual......
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the
darkness.....
NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com
...................People are more important than
profits.................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:21:37 -0800
From: Allan Tamm
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: State legislation about wireless services in public right of
way
Roy,
The Washington State Legislature is considering a bill, Senate Bill
6776,
that limits how local governments can regulate telecommunications
service
providers in public rights of way. It contains language specifically
addressing personal wireless services. The bill has already passed in
the
Senate without much opposition (35 voted yes, 10 no) and had its first
reading in the House last week, so it seems likely to pass.
There are several things troublesome about this bill. The bill mandates
that
local governments have just 30 days to process applications for use
permits
for telecommunications facilities to be located in public rights of way.
Realistically, that's only about enough time to apply a rubber stamp on
an
application.
Then there is a paragraph that creates an exclusion on site-leases for
permits that involve structures for personal wire services less than 50
feet
in height, or less than 15 feet above the height of an existing
structure
(to which it has been added). This appears to be about the placement of
transmitters on telephone utility poles for personal wireless services.
There is also a clause that bars local governments from regulating a
particular kind of telecommunications service "based upon the content or
kind of signals that are carried or are capable of being carried over
the
facilities, except where otherwise authorized in state or federal law;"
...
It seems from all this that the telecommunications industry would like
everyone to believe that wireless services in the public right of way
are
just as safe and routine as wireline services. They would like to be
able to
place such facilities with a minimal amount of involvement by local
government and the community, and at the same time avoid some of the
usual
costs for facility sites.
It's not clear to me what potential there is for the siting of cellphone
towers in public rights of way. (Are there public rights of way with
room
for 150 foot towers?) But under this legislation I think it would be
very
difficult for local governments in the State of Washington to enforce
local
cellphone tower ordinances or in any way manage the levels of EMR in
public
rights of way.
Do other states besides the State of Washington already have legislation
like this or is this something completely new?
I've attached a file with text of the bill as it currently reads.
Anyone interested in tracking this bill can go to the Washington State
Legislature's home page at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/default.htm .
>From there, click on the Bill Info link, then click Senate Bill
Information,
then click the link for bills numbered 6675-6699. There will be links
for
quite a few 6676 files, and you'll see the date each was last revised on
the
left.
Concerned residents of the State of Washington should contact their
state
representatives and the governor's office. You can also contact the
Washington Council for Safe Wireless Technology by e-mail at
davidficht@w-link.net for more information. (Note: I am not affiliated
with
the organization myself).
Thanks,
Allan Tamm
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com