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Radiation Safety Compliance

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) requires certain communication services and devices to routinely perform an environmental evaluation to assess compliance with RF radiation exposure limits. The FCC established new exposure limits that became effective on October 15, 1997. September 1, 2000 was the deadline for all antenna facilities to comply with the new limits.

OET Bulletin 65, "Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields," and Supplement A, Supplement B, and Supplement C assist in determining whether proposed or existing transmitting facilities, operations, or devices comply with the limits for human exposure to RF fields adopted by the FCC.

The Commission requirements are based on recommendations for limits of human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields from several non-government organizations, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). The Commission adopted NCRP's recommendation for Maximum Permissible Exposure limits for field strength and power density for the transmitters operating at frequencies of 300 kHz to 100 GHz. The Commission also adopted the specific absorption rate (SAR) limits for devices operating within close proximity to the body as specified within the ANSI/IEEE C95.1-1992 guidelines. The Commission's requirements are detailed in Parts 1 and 2 of the FCC's Rules and Regulations [47 C.F.R. 1.1307(b), 1.1310, 2.1091, 2.1093].

Like any other communications facility, wireless broadband facilities must comply with these FCC limits. The following services and devices are required to routinely perform an environmental evaluation. Some of these services may be excluded from the routine evaluation if they meet certain height and power thresholds.

• Experimental Radio Service - Part 5
• Radio Frequency Devices - Part 15
• Multipoint Distribution Service - Part 21, subpart K
• Paging and Radiotelephone Service - Part 22, subpart E
• Cellular Radiotelephone Service - Part 22, subpart H
• Personal Communications Services - Part 24
• Satellite Communications - Part 25
• General Wireless Communications Service - Part 26
• Wireless Communications Service - Part 27
• Radio Broadcast Services - Part 73
• Experimental, auxiliary, and special broadcast and other program distributional services - Part 74
• Stations in the Maritime Service - Part 80
• Private Land Mobile, Paging Operations - Part 90
• Private Land Mobile, "Covered" Specialized Mobile Radio - Part 90
• Amateur Radio Service - Part 97
• Local Multipoint Distribution Service - Part 101, subpart L

Mobile and portable devices used as follows:

• Cellular Radio Service
• Personal Communications Service
• Satellite Communications Branch
• General Wireless Communications Service
• Wireless Communications Service
• Maritime Service
• "Covered" Specialized Mobile Radio Service
• Unlicensed PCS and Millimeter Wave Devices

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