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Larkspur joins fight against 5G wireless
USA Created: 11 Apr 2019
The battle for control over hardware that transmits wireless internet is heating up in city halls throughout Marin — this week in Larkspur — where city officials joined the fight amid concerns that 5G could soon be rolled out without the city’s oversight.

The City Council on Wednesday approved regulations that define Larkspur’s application process for companies hoping to install wireless-transmitting hardware in the city. The rules, approved unanimously on a first reading, allow city officials to ask companies to submit designs and explain why they choose certain sites over others.

More than a dozen Marin residents implored the council to keep 5G out of Larkspur. Some said they’ve experienced negative health effects that they associate with wireless frequencies, and said they were concerned stronger waves could exacerbate those conditions. The symptoms reported included anxiety, depression, insomnia and trouble focusing, among others.

“We’re not handcuffed. We don’t have to lie down,” Ruth Wiseman of Kentfield told the City Council on Wednesday.

Federal regulations, first adopted decades ago and fortified this year, limit the ability for local governments to restrict wireless infrastructure. Those laws, according to the Federal Communications Commission, are aimed at maintaining a free market for the communications industry.

With the fifth-generation wireless technology, or 5G, on the way, communities like Larkspur are concerned. The new technology operates on higher radio frequencies than older iterations of wireless. Those frequencies transmit data faster, but they don’t travel as far. As a result, more transmitters will be needed and they’ll need to be placed closer to the people using them — on telephone poles and light posts in the public right of way.

Without local policies in place that set guidelines for companies hoping to set up the new hardware, municipalities have little ability to dictate where the infrastructure is installed and how it looks.

Larkspur officials said they wanted to act before telecommunications companies start flooding in.

“We want to give the city maximum flexibility with respect to how we can adapt to this, and also provide the maximum protection we can against those things we don’t know about yet,” said Councilman Dan Hillmer.

But for some, like Wiseman, the city’s attempt at control doesn’t go far enough. The new technology, she said, is concerning for another reason.

“It has not been proven safe,” she told the City Council. “The increased radiation exposure inherent in 5G technology is cause for serious concern.”

Bonnie McMurray of San Anselmo said she hasn’t slept well since 2012. She attributes that to the proliferation of wireless technology.

“Even when I go to the Apple store, I have a really hard time maintaining my focus,” she said.

But federal law prohibits local governments from restricting wireless-transmitting hardware on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions. The Federal Communications Commission has determined what it calls safe levels of emissions, and says that technology that complies with its standards can’t be prohibited.

The 5G rollout has spurred international competition among countries eager to get it up and running. The new system is expected to boost internet speeds and is billed as a revolutionary technology that will be necessary to make possible future innovations, such as driverless cars.

As the race for 5G slogs on, federal officials say that fewer regulations allow companies to deploy the technology more rapidly and with fewer expenses.

Despite the potential benefits, a group of Marin residents that has formed a “5G-free Marin Task Force” is urging local jurisdictions to take a stand against the technology on the basis of health concerns — despite the potential legal ramifications for those municipalities.

“You’ll never regret the strictness,” McMurray said. “But you will regret if we all, you know, go down with the bees.”
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Source: Marin Independent Journal, Matthew Pera, 04 Apr 2019

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