INSIDE COMPLIANCE

More than five years ago, a federal court ordered the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to justify its decades old limits on radiofrequency radiation from cell phones and other wireless devices. Five years later, nothing has been done. In Environmental Health Trust v. FCC, the D.C. Circuit held that the FCC’s decision to keep the 1996 limits unchanged was, in part, arbitrary and capricious. Rather than respond, the FCC let the remand sit until Children’s Health Defense, Environmental Health Trust, and three individual petitioners sought a writ of mandamus in May 2026; only then did the FCC ask for public comment. To prevent rendering its 2021 ruling meaningless by further delay, the D.C. Circuit must hold the FCC accountable by imposing a firm compliance deadline. Otherwise, the FCC’s inaction risks setting a precedent that federal agencies may ignore court orders or delay compliance without consequence, undermining judicial authority and eliminating meaningful accountability.