SB 649 is a shameless gift to the telecom industry

SB 649 will put cell towers on every block in every neighborhood and countryside in California. SB 649 will eliminate public input and local government oversight.

SB 649 will deregulate the telecom industry by allowing over the counter permits to install or modify cell towers.

Cell antennas will hang in clusters on utility or light poles. Equipment cabinets the size of refrigerators will sit on sidewalks.

SB 649 will increase harmful wireless radiation. “Effects include increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans.” https://www.emfscientist.org/

Peer reviewed published studies found radiation harms nature, trees, birds, and bees.
SB 649 abandons the public to trust radiation safety to the telecom industry.

Over 120 California cities oppose SB 649, including Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

Contact your State Assembly member and Senator to vote NO on SB 649.
More info here

Why the fear-mongering and the spreading of nano-truth?

By nano-truth, I mean one nanogram of truth in a pile of sensationalistic, exaggerated agenda-pushing crap.
I'm still waiting to hear from the hundreds of thousands of people who would develop brain cancer because Sonic tried to do something nice for the community and install free Wi-Fi. Why do I say this? Because Comcast (another mega-corporation) simply walked in, blanketed downtown with password protected Wi-Fi, and not one peep was heard from the people who claimed it would irradiate their brains.

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Posted in reply to the post by Sasu:

SB 649 will put cell towers on every block in every neighborhood and countryside in California. SB 649 will eliminate public input and local government oversight.

SB 649 will deregulate the telecom industry by allowing over the counter permits to install or modify cell towers.

Cell antennas will hang in clusters on utility or light poles. Equipment cabinets the size of refrigerators will sit on sidewalks....

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Please oppose SB 469. Use the letter send by the League of California Cities below:
IMPORTANT UPDATE! Letters now need to sent by 5pm July 6, addressed to:

Assembly Member Miguel Santiago
Chair of the Communications and Conveyance Committee
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0053
RE: SB 649 Wireless and Small Cell Telecommunications Facilities (as amended on 6/20/2017)
Despite the wireless industry’s claim that the equipment would be “small” in an attempt to justify this special permitting and price arrangement solely for the industry, the bill would allow for antennas as large as six cubic feet, equipment boxes totaling 35 cubic feet (larger than previous bill version of 21 cubic feet), with no size or quantity limitations for the following equipment: electric meters, pedestals, concealment elements, demarcation boxes, grounding equipment, power transfer switches, and cutoff switches. Proposed SM 649 would also:

• Tie the hands of local government by prohibiting discretionary review of “small cell” wireless antennas and related equipment, regardless of whether they will be collocated on existing structures or located on new "poles, structures, or non-pole structures," including those within the public right-of-way;
• Shut out the public from the permitting process and pre-empt adopted local land use plans by mandating that “small cells” be allowed in all zones as a use by-right;
• Provide a de facto exemption to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the installation of such facilities and precludes consideration by the public of the aesthetic, nuisance impacts, and other environmental impacts of these facilities; and
• Cap lease agreements for use of public property at $250 (it was $850 under the prior version of the bill) annually per attachment rates for each “small cell.” In contrast, some cities have been able to negotiate leases for “small cells” upwards of $3,000, while others have negotiated “free” access to public property in exchange for a host of tangible public benefits, such as free Wi-Fi in public places, or network build-out to underserved parts of their cities.

Another concern, unfortunately pre-empted by current FCC regulations, are the serious adverse health impacts of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) which have been extensively documented in many peer-reviewed scientific studies. Refer to Overpowered, What Science Tells US About the Dangers of Cell Phones and WiFi-Age Devices by Martin Blank, PhD. Nonetheless local jurisdictions need to regulate the location of wireless technology to the maximum extent possible to ensure public health and safety.

On Sunday Oct. 15, 2017 Senate Bill 649 has been vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown! SB 649 would have created a state mandated system of cell towers every couple hundred feet apart in California. 300 cities, 47 counties and over 100 community, planning, health, environment and justice organizations opposed SB 649.

EMF Safety Network and Ecological Options Network opposed SB 649 since the bill was introduced in March because cell towers emit harmful radiation and the bill would have allowed unlimited refrigerator-size cell equipment on utility poles, streetlights, sidewalks, in parks, on schools and public buildings with no safety oversight.

Sandi Maurer, Director of EMF Safety Network said, "We mailed Governor Brown a couple thousand postcards depicting SB 649 as a slobbering warty monster wielding a zapping cell tower and asked him to veto SB 649. We are thrilled and relieved Governor Brown vetoed the bill.”

Mary Beth Brangan co-director of EON said, “Now we need to prepare ourselves for the next state and federal telecom push, where they will try again with bills to overtake local authority and disregard public health."

To read Governor Brown’s veto statement and more info go here: https://emfsafetynetwork.org/sb-649-vetoed/

Thank you to everyone who helped achieve this victory and to all the cities, counties and organizations opposed. This is a win not only for California but for the rest of the United States!

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Sandi Maurer
EMF Safety Network