[South Florida DX Association] ARLB004 ARRL Board outlines ambitious legislative agenda

[Bill Marx]

 ZCZC AG04
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 4  ARLB004
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  February 3, 2005
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB004
> ARLB004 ARRL Board outlines ambitious legislative agenda
> 
> Frigid New England temperatures and a major snowstorm failed to
> chill enthusiasm as the ARRL Board of Directors met January 21-22 in
> Windsor, Connecticut, to tackle a lengthy agenda. ARRL President Jim
> Haynie, W5JBP, chaired the gathering. Among the highlights of the
> session was the Board's unanimous adoption of positions on six
> initiatives for the 109th Congress. The list included a call for
> ''consistent application'' of the FCC's limited federal preemption
> policy--PRB-1--to Amateur Radio antenna systems. The League wants
> PRB-1 to apply to ''all types of land use regulations,'' public and
> private. That would include deed covenants, conditions and
> restrictions (CC&Rs).
> 
> ''The American Radio Relay League seeks congressional instruction to
> the FCC to extend its limited preemption policy governing
> residential Amateur Radio antennas, so that private land-use
> authorities cannot preclude, but must reasonably accommodate,
> Amateur Radio communications in subdivisions and communities,'' the
> Board resolved. After the FCC declined to include CCRs under the
> PRB-1 umbrella, the League since 2002 has initiated bills in
> Congress to accomplish the same end.
> 
> In addition, the Board expressed support for measures to improve
> federal management of telecommunications, including beefing up the
> FCC's ability to regulate transmitter, receiver and antenna issues
> and resolve electromagnetic interference. The Board also wants
> public service allocations, including Amateur Radio's, exempted from
> auction or commercial reallocation, and compensatory spectrum
> whenever the federal government reallocates existing public service
> spectrum to another service. The resolution reflected the essence of
> the ''Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2004,'' HR 713. An
> identical bill will be introduced into the 109th Congress.
> 
> Calling amateur frequencies ''the technological equivalent of a
> national park,'' the Board further resolved to support measures that
> ''preserve and protect'' primary Amateur Radio access to existing
> amateur spectrum ''as a natural resource for the enjoyment of all
> properly licensed individuals, and protect against interference from
> unlicensed transmitters such as Part 15 devices'' operating on
> amateur frequencies.
> 
> Finally, the Board expressed support for requiring the FCC to
> develop effective, mandatory standards for radio frequency
> susceptibility of consumer electronic devices. And it expressed
> general opposition to expansion of current prohibitions against the
> reception of radio signals beyond those already on the books.
> 
> In a related vein, the Board affirmed support for the ARRL
> Grassroots Legislative Action Plan and called for its immediate
> implementation. Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, says
> the Grassroots Legislative Action Plan will function mainly by
> direct contacts with lawmakers in their members' home districts and
> by motivating legislative support through letter writing by members.
> 
> Additional details on the January Board meeting are on the ARRL Web
> site, www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/01/27/1/. The minutes of the
> Board meeting are on the ARRL Web site,
> www.arrl.org/announce/board-0501/.
> NNNN
> /EX
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