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A free electronic newsletter covering news and other topics for those interested in RF safety issues.
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Notes About this FCC News Page This page covers both the latest and some historically important news relating to the FCC and RF radiation safety. Follow the links to read the entire document and for related information. RF Safety Solutions LLC offers comments and related information on some of these FCC notices. NAL Issued for Smoking RF Suit January 6, 2005. The FCC issued an NAL to Cumulus Licensing LLC (“Cumulus”), a licensee of three FM stations in Colorado, for an incidence of very apparent RF overexposure to a tower climber that allegedly occurred on June 5, 2003, while the tower climber performed maintenance on a Cumulus-owned tower near Grand Junction, Colorado. The tower climber alleged that while he was working on the tower, Cumulus re-energized its antennas back to full power without notification to the climber. The climber had initially determined that the RF field levels on the tower were far above safe levels and had the station engineer turn the antennas off. The climber proceeded back up the tower, using his RF personal monitor to determine that the RF field levels were insignificant. The climber removed the hood of his RF protective garment to make it easier to work and for unknown reasons, turned off his RF monitor. Within 40 minutes of resuming work, the tower climber stated that he felt a burning sensation on his lower legs. About three to four minutes later, the tower climber stated that he saw smoke coming from the bottom of his suit. It was later determined that two of the three FM stations had been turned back on. Assuming, as the Cumulus engineer states, that both KBKL(FM) and KMXY(FM) came back on at the same time, the tower climber could have been exposed to RFR levels of 184 mW/cm². which is 18,400 percent of the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limits for Occupational/Controlled exposure. Read the Cumulus NAL. Read RF Safety Solutions’ comments on tower climbing safety and the use of RF protective equipment. FCC Proposed Fines Hit New High of $25,000 January 5, 2005. The FCC issued NALs to two broadcasters for exceeding the MPE limits for both General Population/Uncontrolled exposure and Occupational/Controlled exposure on a rooftop broadcast site in Tampa, Florida. Entravision station WVEA-LP was cited for numerous RF safety violations related to its temporary installation of a low-power system on the roof of a building. The FCC NAL cites that “the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation” warranted an increase from the baseline $10,000 fine to a proposed fine of $25,000. Infinity Broadcasting, licensee of station WQYK-FM, which operates from the same rooftop site, was issued an NAL with a proposed fine of $20,000 for contributing more than 5 percent of the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limits in the areas cited are being noncompliant. This is the second time that the FCC has used the 5 percent rule to issue an NAL to a broadcaster that by itself was not violating the FCC’s rules. Read the Entravision NAL. Read the Infinity NAL. FCC Issues Fines to Mt. Wilson Broadcasters December 10, 2004. The FCC issued $10,000 fines to four broadcasters operating from the big antenna farm on Mt. Wilson outside of Los Angeles. The four broadcasters were cited in October 2003 for contributing significantly more than the allowed 5 percent of the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limits for General Population/Uncontrolled exposure in an area of noncompliance. A total of 21 emitters contribute energy to the area cited by the FCC. In tests conducted by FCC personnel, it was determined that one station, KBIG-FM, contributed slightly more than half of the energy in this area (82 percent out of 160.5 percent) while the other three stations contributed (according to the FCC) between 10.5 and 12 percent of the MPE limits. All but KBIG-FM denied the FCC’s findings, though each licensee used substantially different arguments in their defense. Despite some very convincing arguments concerning the FCC’s measurement methodology, the FCC denied these claims and issued the fines. . Read Comments on Spatial Averaging filed with the FCC. Read Comments on Measurement Uncertainty filed with the FCC. This is a landmark case for the FCC, as it is the first time that they have used the “5 percent rule” to cite and fine multiple contributors. Note that all stations were held equally liable, despite the fact that KBIG-FM was obviously the main reason that there was an area of noncompliance. Read the FCC Forfeiture Order. FCC Proposes Fining Four Licensees a Total of $40,000 for Jointly Violating RF Radiation Limits October 22, 2003. "Washington, D.C. – Today, for the first time, the FCC proposed forfeitures against four licensees for violating the radio frequency radiation maximum permissible exposure limits at a multi-user site where the power density level produced by each individual licensee was within acceptable limits, but the cumulative effect exceeded the limits established by the FCC. The transmitters at issue are located on Mt. Wilson, in Los Angeles, California. The Commission proposed a forfeiture of $10,000 for each station, for a total of $40,000." This is the introductory paragraph from the press release that is creating quite a stir within the broadcast industry. It will be interesting to see how the licensees respond as the FCC’s case is not perfect. RF Safety Solutions will be offering some commentary on this subject in the near future. For more information read the FCC Press Release and/or the Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture. Tower Climber Injured A tower climber was recently injured when full power was restored to a broadcast antenna that he was working near. Early reports indicate that the power level was sufficiently intense to cause the RF protective suit that he was wearing to smoke and holes were burnt in the suit. The worker continues to suffer from unidentified physical problems as a result of exposure to these very high RF field levels. The FCC is investigating. FCC Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking June 26, 2003. A long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has been issued by the FCC that covers many areas. One of the most important parts of the Notice deals with the confusion over what constitutes an Occupational/Controlled exposure. The existing regulations and OET-65 point out the need for workers to be "fully aware" and have the ability to "exercise control". This new document expands upon what the Commission means by these terms. Many companies will find that the FCC’s definitions of these terms are considerably more stringent than they would like. See FCC Notice for complete information, including RF Safety Solutions' comments. FCC Issues Fine for RF Safety Violations December 2, 2002. The FCC announced that it has issued an NAL for RF safety violations to WTOB (AM) in Winston-Salem, NC. The NAL cites that there were numerous broken fence boards around the towers and that the field levels exceeded the FCC’s MPE limits by 15 percent! The station was fined $8,800. Read the NAL. FCC Issues Second RFR Safety NAL November 22, 2002. The FCC announced today that it has issued an NAL for RF safety issues. This announcement comes only four days after the first-ever such fine (see below). The FCC found Americom, licensee of KWNZ-FM, Carson City, Nevada, liable for a $10,000 forfeiture for failure to comply with the RF radiation Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limits in willful and repeated violation of Section 1.1310 of the Rules. Read the NAL. FCC insiders report that several more NALs for RF safety violations can be expected soon. FCC Issues First NAL for RFR Safety Violations November 18, 2002. The FCC issued an NAL proposing that A-O, licensee of FM radio station KTMN in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, be held liable for a $28,000 forfeiture for violations of the RFR exposure limits applicable to transmitters on towers and for other rule violations. News Release. This broadcaster was fined for multiple violations. Out of the total fine, $10,000 is related to RF radiation safety issues.Read the entire press release. First FCC RFR Fine. Large Fines Anticipated for RFR Violations
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