Prohibits wireless communication facilities on school property; provides that a school may not negotiate for or enter into a contract for the placement or operation of any wireless communication facility on school property and schools with wireless communication facilities already on school property are allotted 180 days to terminate any contracts and remove the towers off the property.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7173
SPONSOR: De La Rosa TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to
prohibiting the placement and operation of wireless communication facil-
ities on school property
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Prohibits the placement and operation of wireless communication facili-
ties upon school property because of the harmful negative impact on
living tissue caused by microwave radiation.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The legislation amends the education law by adding a new section 4094 to
prohibit wireless communication facilities on school property. A school
may not negotiate for or enter into a contract for the placement or
operation of any wireless communication facility on school property. A
school with a cell tower already would have 180 days to terminate any
contracts and remove the towers off its property.
JUSTIFICATION:
Experts on the negative Impact of radiation on humans are warning that
cell phone towers on, and near schools are a terrible danger to our
children, school staff and administrators. According to Dr. David
Carpenter, Md., Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment
at the University at Albany, "There is increasingly strong evidence that
prolonged exposure to radiofrequency radiation, such as that from radio
and cell towers, Increases the risk of leukemia, and that prolonged use
of a cell phone held against the head increases the risk of brain
cancer. It is foolish and dangerous to put a cell tower on a school
where children will be exposed constantly to radiofrequency radiation."
Dr. Carpenter is just one of many health experts cautioning us as to the
dangers of microwave radiation on living tissue. Yet 50 school districts
out of 700 in New York State have already moved to build and operate
cell towers on school buildings or on school property, thereby putting
everyone learning and working in these schools at danger of suffering
from a range of health problems linked to exposure to microwave radi-
ation, including cancer, childhood leukemia, memory loss and others.
School districts across New York are considering leasing school property
to cell phone companies hi an attempt to raise revenue. However, the
revenue potential is insignificant as a percentage of district budgets
(in best case scenario of full leasing ability, revenue would be less
then .003% of district budget). Considering the harmful impact on chil-
dren and school staff, school districts should not be in the business of
building cell towers to be built on schools and on school property.
Throughout Europe, children and school staff are being protected against
exposure to microwave radiation used to operate cell phones:
*France has banned the use of cell phone for 5th graders and under,
*Sweden researchers just concluded that cell phone radiation will cause
a 400% increase in brain cancers;
*Germany has placed strict limits on the distance between schools and
cell towers; and
*England has documented cancer clusters near cell towers and British
citizens are pushing to ban them near schools.
*Brain tumor specialist Dr, Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD works as both an
oncologist and a researcher at Orebro University Hospital in Sweden. He
is an expert on cell phones and brain tumors. 'The evidence for risks
from prolonged cell phone and cordless phone use is quite strong. For
people who have used these devices for 10 years or longer, and when they
are used mainly on one side of the head, the risk of malignant brain
tumor is doubled for adults and is even higher for persons with first
use before the age Of 20 years'
*An international working group of scientists, researchers and public
health policy professionals (The Bioinitialive Working Group) has
released its report on electromagnetic fields (EMF) and health. They
document serious scientific concerns about current limits regulating how
much EMF is allowable from power lines, cell phones, cell towers and
many other sources of EMF exposure in daily life.
*Cindy Sage of Sage Associates says, "Prolonged exposure to radiofre-
quency and microwave radiation from cell phones, cordless phones, cell
towers, WI-FI and other wireless technologies has been linked to inter-
ference with short-term memory and concentration, sleep disruption,
headache and dizziness, fatigue, immune disruption, skin rashes and
changes in cardiac function."
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2009-2010: referred to education
2011-2012: A.3572 died in education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
N/A
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
