IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 230
To express the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal 
Communications Commission should reconsider and revise rules governing 
broadband over power line systems based on a comprehensive evaluation 
of the interference potential of those systems to public safety services 
and other licensed radio services. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2005
Mr. ROSS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
To express the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Federal Communications Commission should recon-
sider and revise rules governing broadband over power 
line systems based on a comprehensive evaluation of the 
interference potential of those systems to public safety 
services and other licensed radio services.
Whereas comprehensive studies and actual measurements to 
date undertaken by the National Telecommunications In-
formation 
Administration 
have 
determined 
that 
broadband over power line creates a ‘‘high risk’’ of radio 
wave interference, and that harmful interference to public 
safety mobile radio receivers can be expected at distances 
of 75 meters from the power line where broadband over
•HRES 230 IH 
power line is in operation, and at distances of up to 460 
meters from fixed stations, such as VHF police or fire 
dispatch communications facilities; 
Whereas that same National Telecommunications Informa-
tion Administration study determined that broadband 
over power line interference to aeronautical and airline 
travel communications could be expected at distances up 
to 40 kilometers from the center of the broadband over 
power line system, and that interference to outer marker 
beacons for airline instrument landing systems could be 
expected at great distances as well; 
Whereas the VHF low band (30–50 megahertz) is used by 
many public safety agencies, including emergency medical 
services, fire, and law enforcement as well as public safe-
ty support services; 
Whereas in 13 States that band is used for State police oper-
ations, of which 9 States (California, Connecticut, Flor-
ida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Vir-
ginia, and Wyoming) utilize that band as their primary 
radio band; 
Whereas a result of that use the Association of Public Safety 
Officials, Inc., and the National Public Safety Tele-
communications Council, urged that action in the 
broadband over power line docket at FCC be withheld for 
at least 12 months, pending a conclusive determination of 
the radio waves interference potential of broadband over 
power line to public safety and radio systems below 80 
megahertz; 
Whereas comments filed in the FCC proceeding by the Mis-
souri State Highway Patrol, which uses a statewide radio
•HRES 230 IH 
system with over 1400 users in the VHF low band, stat-
ed that the overall effect of broadband over power line 
implementation will be a potentially significant increase 
in interference to the mission of critical public safety 
communications; and 
Whereas the FCC has struggled for years to resolve wide-
spread instances of harmful interference to the 800 
megahertz communications of our heroic first responders, 
and should not have proceeded with introduction of a 
technology which appears to have substantial potential to 
cause destructive interference to police, fire, emergency 
medical services, and other public safety radio systems, 
operating below 80 megahertz, VHF low band without 
first conducting a comprehensive evaluation thereof: Now, 
therefore, be it
Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the FCC should reconsider and review the 
rules adopted pursuant to its October 28, 2004, ac-
tion in the broadband over power line proceeding, 
which could disrupt public safety radio systems; 
(2) the FCC should conduct a full and complete 
radio wave interference analysis involving field stud-
ies and broadband over power line test demonstra-
tion systems, to determine the actual, measured ef-
fect of broadband over power line on public safety 
systems, and a comprehensive interference analysis,