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The following legislative positions were developed to guide the efforts of ARRL volunteers and staff during the 110th Congress of the United States (2007-2008).
The ability of the Amateur Radio Service to maintain and expand its benefits to the public rests on two key elements of public policy: adequate access to the radio spectrum and the ability to install and operate effective Amateur Radio stations.
Frequencies allocated to the Amateur Radio Service are the technological equivalent of a “national park,” where all may enjoy a natural resource for the purpose of experimentation, education and voluntary emergency communications, provided they demonstrate, through testing, that they are responsible users. Like allocations to other radiocommunication services, the allocations to the Amateur Radio Service offer protection against interference from other services as well as from unlicensed emitters.
The ARRL supports measures that preserve and protect access to existing Amateur Radio Service and Amateur Satellite Service frequencies as a natural resource for the enjoyment of all properly licensed individuals, and protect against interference from unlicensed emitters.
An Amateur Radio station is only as effective as its antenna. Increasingly pervasive private land use regulations (covenants, conditions and restrictions) limit radio amateurs’ housing choices to such an extent that in many parts of the country it is not possible to install an effective Amateur Radio antenna in a residential area. The ARRL supports the right of federally licensed radio amateurs to be able to install reasonable antennas on their own homes.
To implement these two key elements of public policy in the 110th Congress and to serve the public interest, the ARRL has adopted the following legislative objectives.Objective #1: The ARRL seeks legislation to extend the requirement for “reasonable accommodation” of Amateur Radio station antennas (a requirement that now applies to state and local regulations) to all forms of land use regulation.
This could be achieved by amending Section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to add the phrase, “...or that preclude or otherwise do not reasonably accommodate communications by stations federally licensed in the Amateur Radio Service.”
BACKGROUND: In 1985 the FCC established a limited preemption policy that fairly balanced the federal interest in protecting and enhancing Amateur Radio emergency and public service communications and the state/local interest in exercising jurisdiction over land use policy. This limited preemption policy is set out in §97.15(b) of the Commission’s Rules:
Except as otherwise provided herein, a station antenna structure may be erected at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate amateur service communications. [State and local regulation of a station antenna structure must not preclude amateur service communications. Rather, it must reasonably accommodate such communications and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the state or local authority’s legitimate purpose. See PRB-1, 101 FCC 2d 952 (1985) for details.]
This policy has worked well for more than 20 years and has withstood judicial review. It has encouraged reasonable accommodation of Amateur Radio antenna systems in residential areas by municipal land use authorities and in numerous cases has avoided unnecessary litigation. However, the FCC has declined to extend the policy to private land use regulations in the absence of a Congressional mandate.
The federal interest in protecting and enhancing Amateur Radio emergency and public service communications and in promoting the Amateur Radio Service generally as a benefit to the public is the same in areas that are subject to covenants, conditions and restrictions as in areas subject only to state and municipal land use regulation.
Accordingly, the ARRL seeks from Congress an instruction to the FCC to apply its longstanding preemption policy to all types of land use regulations, consistently and without discrimination.
Objective #2: The ARRL seeks legislation requiring the FCC to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of broadband over power line (BPL) systems to public safety radio services and other licensed radiocommunication services. Further, the ARRL seeks Congressional instruction to the FCC, based on this evaluation, to adopt improved rules to prevent the deployment of BPL systems having a potential to cause destructive interference to radiocommunication systems.
BACKGROUND: In its haste to pursue the laudable goal of encouraging competition in the delivery of broadband services to consumers, in 2003 the FCC seized upon the concept of delivering broadband via existing power lines without fully understanding the negative consequences of BPL technology. In 2004 the FCC rushed through the adoption of rules governing BPL without providing adequate protection against interference to licensed radiocommunication services, including public safety and Amateur Radio. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce conducted a BPL study and released its Phase 1 report in 2004, but the promised Phase 2 report has never been released and is now two years overdue.
If one bypasses the misleading executive summary and examines the actual content of the NTIA Phase 1 report, one finds that the report documents that interference from a BPL system to nearby radiocommunication systems using the same radio frequencies is a near certainty if the BPL system operates at the maximum level allowed by the FCC rules.
Despite repeated efforts by the ARRL to persuade the FCC to conduct its rulemaking on a sound technical basis, the Commission in 2006 made matters even worse by adding a rule that limits – for the very first time – the obligation of unlicensed, unintentional emitters to avoid interfering with licensed radiocommunication services.
The FCC could write its rules to permit BPL deployment without endangering public safety and other services that rely on the unique properties of the radio spectrum to do their jobs. Unfortunately, it has consciously chosen not to do so. Congressional intervention appears to be necessary to force the FCC to do what it should have done in the first place.
Objective #3: The ARRL opposes legislation that would diminish the rights of federal licensees in favor of unlicensed emitters, especially unintentional emitters.
BACKGROUND: As noted under Objective #2, the FCC has taken an unprecedented step in creating a “safe harbor” in which unlicensed, unintentional emitters are permitted to interfere with licensed radiocommunication services and are not required to correct the interference. By doing so, the FCC has diminished the rights of its licensees and has devalued the radio spectrum. The FCC’s authority to enact such a permissive regulation is questionable at best. Therefore, the ARRL must be vigilant against any legislative efforts to legitimize this action after the fact.
Objective #4: The ARRL seeks recognition of the unique resources, capabilities, and expertise of the Amateur Radio Service in any legislation addressing communications issues related to emergencies, disasters, or homeland security.
BACKGROUND: The Amateur Radio Service is the only widely deployed communications system that requires no infrastructure in order to communicate across great distances. Radio amateurs possess the skills and the equipment to bridge the communication gaps that inevitably develop when normal communications networks are destroyed, disrupted or overloaded.
Public Law 109-295, Sec. 671(b), Title XVIII, Sec. 1805(c) includes amateur radio operators among the communications providers with which Regional Emergency Communications Coordination (RECC) Working Groups are to coordinate in the course of their duties. As additional legislation is introduced and considered to address the need for robust, sustainable and interoperable voice and data communications networks to be available during and after natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other manmade disasters, Congress should recognize the capabilities of the Amateur Radio Service and should mandate that representatives of Amateur Radio emergency response organizations be included in planning and coordination groups at all levels of government.
Objective #5: The ARRL supports the complementary legislative objectives of other radiocommunication services, particularly the public safety and scientific services that require spectrum access and protection from interference for noncommercial purposes that benefit the public.
BACKGROUND: The Amateur Radio Service is among the radiocommunication services that use the radio spectrum in ways that benefit the public and that do not provide a revenue stream. Public policy must continue to support and encourage such uses. Spectrum policy must not subordinate these services to commercial services simply because the commercial users can afford to pay for spectrum access.
On June 15, 2007 Congressman Bartlett of Maryland introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives HR 2743, the “Military Affiliate Radio System Emergency Communication Act of 2007.” The purpose of HR 2743 is to permit volunteers in the MARS and SHARES (National Communication System Shared Resources High Frequency Radio Program) programs to continue to use Amateur Radio equipment that meets FCC Part 97 technical standards, instead of the technical standards that apply to federal government equipment.
Many ARRL members are MARS members and/or participants in SHARES. At its July 2007 meeting the ARRL Board of Directors voted to support HR 2743.
Up-to-date information on this legislation may be found by visiting thomas.loc.gov and searching by Bill Number for HR 2743.
