Why The FCC's maximum permissible exposure limits are not instantaneous ceilings; they are averages taken over a defined evaluation window, because the hazard of concern is tissue heating, which depends on total energy absorbed over time. The averaging periods are 6 minutes for controlled (occupational) exposure and 30 minutes for uncontrolled (general population) exposure. So a station that transmits intermittently, or with a low duty cycle mode, can exceed the limit briefly and still comply once the exposure is averaged across the full period.
Watch out The choice about averaging transmitter power over 24 hours is close in spirit but wrong on both counts: the rule averages exposure at a location, not transmitter output, and the windows are 6 and 30 minutes, not a day.
Time averaging = exposure spread over the window: 6 minutes controlled, 30 minutes uncontrolled.