This Bill Would Undo Every State and Local Law on Wireless
Dear DailyClout,
This message is a request for you to call and urge our representatives in Washington to Vote NO on HR 3557.
This Bill, sponsored by the wireless industry, will take away your local control and abilities:
– It is a dangerous pre-emption of local government’s authority to manage public rights-of-way and land use.
– it strips local government of property rights and monetary compensation in favor of cable, wireless and telecom providers.
– it waives NEPA(environmental protection)
– it waives NHPA (historical preservation)
– it does not oblige telecom providers to provide broadband to “unserved” and “underserved”
This Bill if passed will undo every state and local law on wireless, and will wipe out every zoning ordinance…..thus it will effectively remove all local authority to protect their citizens.
Transmitting data wirelessly is not a realistic nor safe means to close the digital divide. Wire-less (wireless) is inferior to wire-line (wired) in reliability, security, and speed. There is great concern over environmental and biological harms embedded in wireless transmission. Practically speaking for our purposes In Hillsdale, with its trees and mountains, wired connections via fiber optic are secure safe and by far the best way to serve all and remove any digital divide.
HR 3557, is an unprecedented and dangerous pre-emption of your local authority to govern wisely, as granted to you by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. In that Act, Congress rejected the national approach put forth the system based on cooperative federalism. Thus local authorities are free to regulate the operations of Wireless Telecommunications Facilities (WTFs) in their zoning bylaws.
Please urge our House Representatives to vote no on HR3557.
Tomorrow, Wednesday the 16th at 4 PM will be a Town Hall on HR3557 and 4141 with lawyers. PLEASE register here if interested in learning about the concerns we all are facing.
Please note I copied Cecelia Doucette of MA for Safe Technology, Nina Anderson of Scientific Alliance for Education, and Courtney Gilardi, of Pittsfield MA, who is one of 17 families harmed by a cell tower that went ‘live’ in 2020. All of these women are capable of educating on the benefits of implementing bylaws that provide setbacks, monitor, and implement protections from WTFs.
Thank you again,
Kathryn Levin