[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9564-S9565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD:
  S. 2025. A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize 
the States to regulate interference with radio frequencies; to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.


              cb radio frequency interference legislation

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
which creates a commonsense solution to a growing problem in U.S. 
cities and towns--the Federal preemption of State and municipal 
regulation of citizens band [CB] radio frequency interference with 
residential home electronic or telephone equipment. This problem can be 
extremely distressing for residents who cannot have a telephone 
conversation or watch television without being interrupted by a 
neighbor's citizen band radio [CB] conversation. Under the current law, 
those residents have little recourse.
  Interference of CB radio signals with household electronic equipment 
such as telephones, radios, and televisions has been regulated by the 
Federal Communications Commission [FCC] for nearly 30 years. Up until 
recently, the FCC has enforced rules outlining what equipment may or 
may not be used for CB radio transmissions, what content may or may not 
be transmitted, how long transmissions may be broadcast, what channels 
may be used, as well as many other technical details. FCC also 
investigated complaints that a personal radio enthusiast's 
transmissions interfered with a neighbor's use of home electronic and 
telephone equipment. FCC receives nearly 45,000 such complaints 
annually.
  Mr. President, for the past 3 years I have worked with constituents 
who have been bothered by persistent interference of nearby CB radio 
transmissions. In each case, the constituents have sought my help in 
securing an FCC investigation of the complaint. In each case, Mr. 
President, the FCC indicated that due to a lack of resources, the 
Commission no longer investigates radio frequency interference 
complaints. Instead of investigation and enforcement, the FCC is able 
to provide only a packet of self-help information for the consumer to 
limit the interference on their own.
  Municipal residents, after being denied investigative or enforcement 
assistance from the FCC, frequently contact their city or town 
government and ask them to police the interference. However, the 
Communications Act of 1934 provides exclusive authority to the Federal 
Government for the regulation of radio, preempting municipal ordinances 
or State laws regulating radio frequency interference. This has created 
an interesting dilemma for municipal governments. They can neither pass 
their own ordinances to control CB radio interference, nor can they 
rely on the agency with exclusive jurisdiction over interference to 
enforce the very Federal law which preempts them.
  In Beloit, WI, as in many Wisconsin communities, this dilemma has 
been extremely frustrating for local residents who have been powerless 
to prevent the transmissions of a neighboring CB enthusiast from 
interfering with their home electronic equipment. One Beloit resident, 
after having adopted every form of filtering technology for her 
telephone and other electronic equipment, still experienced persistent 
interference. Her answering machine picks up calls for which there is 
no audible ring, and at times records ghost messages. Often, she cannot 
get a dial tone when she or her family members wish to place an 
outgoing call. During telephone conversations, the content of the 
nearby CB transmission can frequently be heard and on occasion, her 
phone conversations are inexplicably cur off. Her neighbors have 
experienced similar problems and have complained to the Beloit City 
Council.
  Last month, the Beloit City Council, exasperated by FCC inaction on 
this matter, passed an ordinance allowing the city to enforce FCC 
regulations on this type of inference. While the council knew that, if 
challenged under current law, their ordinance would likely not be 
upheld by the courts, they felt they had little choice if they wished 
to address their constituents concerns.
  Mr. President, it is not fair that municipalities and their residents 
should be hamstrung by an outdated Federal preemption of laws the 
Federal Government no longer has the resources to enforce.
  The legislation I am introducing today will help the city of Beloit, 
and many other municipalities like it, to regulate CB radio 
transmissions and to enforce those regulations. My bill provides a 
limited exception to the Federal preemption of State or local laws on 
radio frequency interference. It simply allows State and local 
governments

[[Page S9565]]

to regulate CB radio interference when that interference results from a 
violation of FCC rules. Thus, States and municipalities can use their 
enforcement resources to investigate and enforce Federal law thereby 
protecting the rights of their residents. Even the FCC recognizes that 
States and localities need to be able to protect their citizens.
  Mr. President, this bill simply allows common sense to prevail. If 
Federal regulators cannot enforce the rules over which they have 
exclusive jurisdiction, States and localities should be given the 
authority to investigate and enforce those regulations for them. I hope 
my colleagues will support this important legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2025

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO REGULATE RADIO FREQUENCY 
                   INTERFERENCE.

       Section 302 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
     302) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       (e) Where radio frequency interference to home electronic 
     equipment is caused by a CB Radio Station through the use of 
     a transmitter or amplifier that is not authorized for use by 
     a CB Radio Station pursuant to Commission rules, the state, 
     county, municipal, or other local government shall not be 
     preempted from exercising its police powers to resolve the 
     interference by prohibiting the use of such unauthorized 
     equipment or by imposing fines or other monetary sanctions. 
     For purposes of this subsection, home electronic equipment 
     includes, but is not limited to, television receivers, radio 
     receivers, stereo components or systems, video cassette 
     recorders, audio recorders, loud speakers, telephone 
     equipment, and other electronic devices normally used in the 
     home. Any action taken by the state, county, municipal, or 
     local government shall not preclude concurrent action by the 
     Commission. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 
     diminish the Commission's exclusive jurisdiction over radio 
     frequency interference in any matter outside the scope of 
     this subsection.
                                 ______