WASHINGTON-Vermont lawmakers have introduced legislation to repeal a key provision of the 1996 telecom act designed to foster antenna siting for mobile-phone operators, setting the stage for a follow-up bill authorizing federal funding of wireless health research.
“As a Vermonter, I do not want to wake up ten years from now and see my state turned into a pincushion of antennas and towers,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) “This is a straightforward issue about local control. Our bills give state and local governments the power to require colocation and less intrusive technologies.
Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.) is a cosponsor of the two bills: The Local Control of Cellular Towers Act and The Local Control of Broadcast Towers Act. Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced companion bills in the House yesterday.
“The Telecommunications Act of 1996 stripped American citizens of very basic rights over their communities,” said Sanders.
The three lawmakers plan shortly to offer legislation directing the U.S. government to conduct more research on human radiation exposure to mobile phones and communications transmitters. Under current law, local zoning boards cannot block siting applications on health grounds if mobile-phone carriers comply with Federal Communications Commission guidelines on radiation safety. The Vermont legislation allows communities to use heath concerns as a basis for denying antenna siting.
Antenna siting and health research legislation offered in the past by Vermont representatives, which has been opposed by the mobile-phone industry, has gone nowhere.
