[NLRS] ARRL Calls Upon the FCC ....

[W0WOI at aol.com]

.. for Timely, Visible Amateur Radio  Enforcement
 
In _comments_ (http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7521096114)  filed 
in response to the FCC's February 14 Report  on Process Reform (_GN Docket 
14-25_ (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14-199A2.pdf) 
), the ARRL has called for a more visible,  responsive Amateur Radio 
enforcement program. The League also said it was  concerned that FCC policies for 
adjudicating certain complaints of interference  to radio amateurs, especially 
those involving electric utilities, provide no  incentive for the utilities 
to resolve them. The ARRL was further critical of  the fact that FCC 
petitions for rule making and spectrum allocation proceedings  often take years to 
resolve. But the League confined the bulk of its comments to  perceived 
shortcomings in the Amateur Radio enforcement program.      
"[T]he visibility of the Commission's enforcement program for  the Amateur 
Service is wholly inadequate, resulting in a widespread, albeit  inaccurate, 
public perception that there is no active enforcement in our  service," the 
League's comments asserted. The ARRL said "deterrence based on  visibility 
is a critical component of a successful compliance campaign."  
The most successful -- and visible -- period of Amateur Radio  enforcement 
in recent years was between 1997 and 2008, the ARRL said. According  to the 
League, compliance during that period was a result of "the visibility in  
the Amateur Radio community of a single member of the Commission's Enforcement 
 Bureau staff at Amateur Radio events" and of keeping the Amateur Radio 
media  fully informed on what was being done to resolve a particular 
enforcement issue.   
FCC-imposed constraints in the past few years have had "a  devastating 
effect on the entire philosophy of the program and its success," the  League 
told the Commission. Among other factors, the ARRL pointed to the  "extensive 
approvals" required before the release of enforcement correspondence.  
Enforcement actions that are taken, the League continued, are not  released to the 
Amateur Radio media. "This deprives radio amateurs of the  knowledge that 
the Commission is indeed investigating and responding to a given  enforcement 
problem," the ARRL said. "The result is the perception that nothing  is 
being done in a given case, and frustration builds rapidly among the radio  
amateurs who have to endure the rule violator on an ongoing basis."  
"[L]imitations imposed on the visibility of enforcement  actions in recent 
years have significantly reduced the effectiveness of the  program," the 
ARRL stressed, and "directly resulted in notable and  unacceptable increases in 
rule violations, most especially malicious  interference." Further, the 
ARRL said, Enforcement Bureau personnel responsible  for Amateur Radio 
enforcement should be empowered with greater autonomy to  address problems as they 
arise.  
The League faulted the FCC's websites -- old and new -- for  being 
"woefully out of date" and not well maintained or presented. "The fact  that there 
are two separate listings of Amateur Radio enforcement actions on two  
separate FCC websites is, frankly, ridiculous in any case," the ARRL concluded.  
The ARRL also urged the FCC to make better use of the Amateur  Auxiliary -- 
the ARRL Official Observer Program -- in resolving enforcement  complaints. 
"It is unclear why none of the evidence gathered by OOs is usable  other 
than as a predictor for Commission District Office staff to use in  
investigating the matter themselves -- if and when their time permits," the  League 
said. "The program is authorized by legislation. It would increase the  
Commission's efficiency if the work of these volunteers were put to a better  
use."  
The ARRL pointed to cases where chronic rule violators who were  the 
subject of hundreds of hours of OO surveillance and off-the-air recordings  have 
"been allowed to continue those activities for periods of years without  more 
than a warning letter."  
The League said the Report "makes good recommendations"  in addressing 
years-long delays in resolving rule making petitions and  open-docket 
proceedings. As an example it cited the League's 2012 _Petition for Rulemaking_ 
(http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7022073018)  seeking a new Amateur 
Radio  allocation at 472-479 kHz. "To date, a year and a half after it was 
filed, this  Petition for Rule Making has not been afforded a file number, nor 
has  public comment been solicited on it," the ARRL said.  
In a _Public Notice_ 
(http://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-seeks-public-comment-report-process-reform)  the FCC said its Report "seeks to  further the goal 
of having the agency operate in the most effective, efficient  and 
transparent way possible." The League said it was not being critical of any  
individual FCC staffers or managers. "Rather, the remarks are directed at the  
Commission's policies and processes" and address issues that "result, in large  
part, from the unenviable necessity of allocating scarce (and in some cases  
inadequate) human resources available to the Commission."