Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Those #$^&@ Birds Again!- Birds Get Top Priority At FCC

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 16:33:37 -0400

Those #$^&@ Birds Again!
Birds Get Top Priority At FCC
BY MARK ROCKWELL
MAY 1, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The FCC has birds on its mind these days. More specifically, rules
to keep birds from running into wireless towers.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell told reporters here today that determining the
correlation between bird fatalities and towers is a priority, and he kicked off a new
'Environmental and Historic Preservation Action Plan,' which includes consideration
of possible new rules regarding radio frequency exposure.

The RF exposure rules aren't looking at the biological standards for RF exposure
but are related to types of exposure found in workplaces, according to an FCC
staff official. The official said the commission isn't looking to get involved in
setting biological standards for RF exposure in humans-an issue that has received
much attention in courts and various studies.

Commanding most of today's attention were the FCC's efforts to address the
migratory bird issue. 'I'm not saying there's a problem with the towers. I'm saying
there's a problem' with the interaction between birds and the towers, Powell said.

The issue of dead migratory birds at wireless communications towers has been
brewing since the Friends of the Earth last year petitioned the FCC to do
retroactive environmental reviews of thousands of towers in the Southeastern
United States. The FOE has continued to push the FCC to investigate the issue as
well as to stop granting construction permission for planned towers until the issue
is resolved.

Today, Powell said the commission would work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to find out why birds may be attracted to the towers and will issue a formal
inquiry into the matter in the coming months. In addition, the FCC has hired a
biologist to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The FCC also has hired an historic preservationist and is developing a
memorandum of understanding with tribal governments concerning building towers
on historic lands.

All this, according to Powell, is being done to compensate for long overdue
environmental rules that address the increasing number of wireless towers and to
work collaboratively with the pertinent government agencies, including the National
Telecommunications & Information Administration.

Industry groups continue working on the migratory bird issue, which has the
potential of costing wireless companies billions. CTIA, PCIA and the National
Association of Broadcasters--groups that are typically at odds on a lot of wireless
issues-- have filed comments at the District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C.
supporting the FCC. In February, Friends of the Earth filed a challenge to how the
commission is handling the issue, saying the FCC was in violation of National
Environmental Protection Act, The Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered
Species Act.

PCIA, CTIA and NAB all said the FCC wasn't in violation because those laws don't
impose  'mandatory' actions by the commission.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=3&pubdate=05/01/03

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