Proposed New FCC Rules-Amateurs During Disasters

Amateur operators need to guard their frequencies from commercial use or we will lose them to commercial interests with vastly more lobbying money than we have. But the following proposed rule changes could be a good thing.

Under current rules Amateur Operators who happen to work for a commercial operation like a hospital or a city or a fire department can not legally use their amateur operating skills or equipment in any operation that furthers the interest of that organization -- even in a communications emergency. For instance, an Amateur operator who is an administrator for a hospital could not legally pass emergency traffic for the hospital on the amateur bands during a disaster, when any other Amateur could. This rule deserves a new look.

Moderator

From the ARRL Letter for March 25, 2010

FCC News: FCC Issues Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Government Disaster Drills and Amateur Radio

On March 24, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposing to amend the Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules "with respect to Amateur Radio operations during government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster readiness drills and tests." While current rules provide for Amateur Radio use during emergencies, the rules prohibit communications where the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. In October 2009, the FCC released a Public Notice clarifying the Commission's rules relating to the use of Amateur Radio by licensed amateurs participating in drills and exercises on behalf of their employers. To date, the FCC has granted several dozen waivers under this new policy.

The FCC notes that while there are some exceptions to this prohibition, "there is none that would permit amateur station control operators who are employees of public safety agencies and other entities, such as hospitals, to participate in drills and tests in preparation for such emergency situations and transmit messages on behalf of their employers during such drills and tests." Based on that, the Commission proposes to amend the rules to provide that, under certain limited conditions, Amateur Radio operators may transmit messages during emergency and disaster preparedness drills, regardless of whether the operators are employees of entities participating in the drill. Read more here.