RF Safety Advocates Seek Panel Rehearing on Decision Upholding FCC OTARD Rules
Appellants asked a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rehear a February decision upholding the FCC's 2021 changes to over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) rules in a case brought by Children’s Health Defense. A lawyer…
for the RF safety advocates said then the group would consider seeking rehearing (see 2202110059). “This case has the type of exceptional importance contemplated by Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 35(a)(2) and (b)(1)(B),” said a Monday petition in docket 21-1075. The order “wreaks havoc with the licensing regime contemplated by the Communications Act and is antagonistic to Congress’ prescribed regulatory requirements and policy,” the petition said: “The amended rule cannot be reconciled with the licensing and provider/user regime intended by Congress. More important, the amended rule’s operation is ruining lives and driving people from their homes -- the most constitutionally-protected place on Earth.”