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Chapter 1: Introduction I On October 28, 1994, Federal Focus,Inc.,a tax-exempt,nonprofit educational organiation,held a Symposium on Wireless Transmission Base Station Facilities.The setting for the Symposium was the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.To satisfy the public's increasing demand for reliable mobile and portable wireless communications,cellular telephone system operators must erect more and more base stations around the country.However,some recent base station construction proposals have triggered opposition from residents of surrounding areas. Issues that opponents have raised include: ■ feared health hazards from base stations'radio transmissions; • potential interference to radio and television reception and to other nearby electronic devices;and • possible negative effects on the resale values of homes due to aesthetic and other concerns. The Federal Focus Symposium explored these and other issues that arise when a cellular telephone system operator seeks to construct a new base station facility.Among the Symposium participants were government officials and private-sector professionals,including communications engineers,experts on radio energy's effects on living tissue,experts on radio signals'effects on medical and consumer electronics,and profes- sionals in the field of land-use regulation.The participants shared their past experiences dealing with these issues and discussed likely future trends in the public-policy discourse,given the public's growing demand for wireless telecommunications services and cellular systems'concomitant need for more base stations. Some of the issues that arise in this context are very complex.Nonetheless,this monograph will strive to explore those issues in plain language,providing the scientific,public-policy,and legal information necessary to make informed decisions about proposed base stations.We will also attempt to clarify those issues which are not relevant in the base station context,such as feared adverse health effects of so-called ELF(Extremely Low Frequency)radiation,the electromagnetic fields that emanate from high tension power lines. •