[Hallicrafters] FEMA APPEARS TO BACKPEDAL IN BPL "CLARIFICATION" LETTER

[Sandy W5TVW]

Sounds like they were "taken to the woodshed" by another "agency" and are
backing off their stance!  Probably jobs were threatened!  Someone is
getting "bought" somewhere!  
73,
Sandy W5TVW
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Sugarberg" <bsugarberg at core.com>
To: <hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 1:03 PM
Subject: [Hallicrafters] FEMA APPEARS TO BACKPEDAL IN BPL "CLARIFICATION" LETTER


| =>FEMA APPEARS TO BACKPEDAL IN BPL "CLARIFICATION" LETTER
| 
| After expressing "grave concerns" to the FCC last fall about the
| interference potential of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems, the
| Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now appears to be backing away
| from that strong stance. Now a part of the Department of Homeland Security,
| FEMA filed comments December 4 in response to the FCC's April 2003 Notice of
| Inquiry in ET Docket 03-104. Many have cited those remarks in their own
| comments opposing BPL deployment. In a January 8 letter that's now part of
| the BPL Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in ET Docket 04-37, Michael D.
| Brown, the US Department of Homeland Security's under secretary for
| emergency preparedness and response, told FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell
| that FEMA wanted to "clarify the record" to ensure that its filing was not
| "misunderstood or misconstrued."
| 
| "We have become aware that certain distinct approaches to BPL may have the
| potential to cause interference to FEMA's high frequency radio
| communications system," Brown said in his January letter. "However, we
| continue to study the BPL proceeding and have not concluded that there is a
| material interference problem or that all of the distinct technological
| approaches to BPL pose a risk of interference."
| 
| The FEMA official said his agency expects that there may be ways to provide
| BPL's benefits "without compromising the emergency communications
| capabilities available to FEMA."
| 
| The January letter stands in stark contrast to FEMA's predictions last
| December that "the introduction of unwanted interference from the
| implementation of BPL technology into the high frequency radio spectrum will
| result in significant detriment to the operation of FEMA radio systems."
| Saying such interference could "directly impair the safety of life and
| property," the agency also had recommended the FCC beef up its Part 15 rules
| to ensure no increase in interference levels to existing FCC or
| NTIA-licensed communication systems.
| 
| "The purported benefits of BPL in terms of expanded services in certain
| communications sectors do not appear to outweigh the benefit to the overall
| public of HF radio capability as presently used by government, broadcasting
| and public safety users," FEMA asserted last December in comments filed on
| the agency's behalf by Chief Information Officer Barry C. West.
| 
| BPL also could render such "essential communications services" as the Radio
| Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), the Military Affiliate Radio System
| (MARS) and the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) useless, FEMA said. FEMA and ARRL are
| signatories to a Memorandum of Understanding that focuses on how Amateur
| Radio personnel may coordinate with the agency to support emergency
| communications functions. FEMA's December comments also referenced ARRL's
| "Interference to PLC systems from Amateur Radio Operation."
| 
| Brown's January letter conveys a much milder, conciliatory tone. "We know
| that the FCC shares our appreciation for the importance of reliable
| communications in the context of disaster recovery and are confident that
| the Office of Engineering and Technology's technical assessment, as well as
| the Commission's regulations implementing BPL, will be sensitive to this
| issue," he concluded. "FEMA stands ready to assist in any way the Commission
| might find helpful."
| 
| 
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| List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF **for assistance**
| dfischer at usol.com
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