The 118th Congress passed several bills that will be increasing the public’s exposure to EMFs, which includes wireless radiation and 5G.
There were a total of 200 pieces of legislation that related to EMFs, wireless radiation, and 5G on board for passing during the 118th Congress. These bills, amendments and congressional resolutions would all result in an increase in the public’s exposure to wireless radiation if passed.
As of January 2025, 4 bills of the 200 have become law and another 20 are on deck to become law under the new 119th Congress.
You can read a summary of the 4 bills that have passed that will increase EMF exposure for the public below.
Explore Act (HR 6492)
This bill passed with no objections and will bring on the employment of new cell towers on recreational federal lands. This new law will result in an increase in EMF exposure for people as well as wildlife.
National parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, and rangelands will all see an increase in wireless antennas and radiation.
The bill contains within it the Connect Our Parks Act. This Act was introduced to green-light the deployment of wireless by handing over the decision-making regarding wireless facilities on federal lands to the telecommunications industry, bypassing the federal land managers.
Telecommunications industry professionals will now be in charge of approving new wireless facilities on parkland.
AWS-Bill 3
This bill allows for the sale of additional frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum. Frequencies within the spectrum are owned by the FCC, who auctions them off to commercial users.
The high millimeter waves known as 5G were the most recent part of the spectrum auctioned off, until this bill passed.
This bill authorizes the auction of 65 MHz of spectrum in what is known as the AWS bands. Congress had been unable to get the bill passed as a standalone bill, so it was inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2025. The NDAA keeps the military running, so is a great way to get more controversial legislation through.
This sale of the spectrum for commercial reasons results in an increase in wireless radiation exposure for the public.
S.1648
S.1648 is a bill that Congress passed that will allow for more satellite deployment. The massive number of satellites now in low orbit are referred to as megaconstellations.
To date, there is no government entity which has conducted any safety or environmental review of the deployment of low earth orbit satellites.
In 1986, the FCC chose to exclude satellites from any review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
As of 2025, there are commercial plans to increase the current number of low earth orbit satellites by tens of thousands.
These megaconstellations negatively affect life on earth in two ways. First, they increase the amount of EMF pollution by increasing the density of wireless radiation on the earth.
Secondly, they have a limited operational life. After a few years in orbit, they are “deorbited” by being dropped down into earth’s atmosphere where they burn up and create toxic metal debris. Aka, satellite trash.
These recent developments imply an increased electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure to humans and the environment.”
–Considerations on the EMF Exposure relation to the next generation non-terrestrial networks
5G Sale Act
S.2787 is the second spectrum bill that passed into law. The 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act, known as the 5G Sale Act, allows the FCC to release previously auctioned spectrum to expand 5G broadband. This bill was floating around Congress for a few years before finally getting passed and will result in an increase in 5G antennas.
FCC Captured Agency
The Federal Communications Commission is in charge of the regulation of the public’s exposure to wireless radiation. However, there are two issues with this that Environmental Watchdog Groups like the Environmental Health Trust have pointed out. The first being that the FCC is an agency that governs communciations, not health. Therefore, they have no mandate to make decisions regarding wireless radiation that pertain to the health of the public or the environment. Secondly, it has been widely documented that the FCC is run by the Telecommunications Industry. So, the wolf is guarding the hen house.
The Harvard University Ethics Department has an ebook titled “Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission Is Dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulates”. It details how those who should be regulated by the FCC are actually running the FCC. This could explain while the passing of bills into law that will drastically increase background radiation are not being addressed in terms of adverse health effects on the population.
Sources:
Washington Update: Recap of the 118th Congress (2023-2024)
Connect Our Parks Act
NDAA 2025
Burned-Up Satellites Are Polluting the Atmosphere
Harvard University Ethics Department