[SFDXA] ARLB011 Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on May 3

[Kai]

Bill,
The ARRL RF Safety Committee is burning the midnight oil with the FCC to make it 
as painless as possible for US hams. We are also collaborating with Ofcom (UK) 
to leverage their tools and expertise.

You're right, this will be fun! Don't Panic!
73,
Kai, KE4PT
ARRL RFSC

On 4/13/2021 14:29, Bill wrote:
> /This will be fun.../
>
>
>
> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB011
> ARLB011 Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on
> May 3
>
> ZCZC AG11
> QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 11 ARLB011
>> From ARRL Headquarters 
> Newington CT April 13, 2021
> To all radio amateurs
> SB QST ARL ARLB011
>
> ARLB011 Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on
> May 3
>
> The FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a lengthy 2019
> Report and Order governing RF exposure standards go into effect on
> May 3, 2021. The new rules do not change existing RF exposure (RFE)
> limits but do require that stations in all services, including
> amateur radio, be evaluated against existing limits, unless they are
> exempted. For stations already in place, that evaluation must be
> completed by May 3, 2023. After May 3 of this year, any new station,
> or any existing station modified in a way that's likely to change
> its RFE profile - such as different antenna or placement or greater
> power - will need to conduct an evaluation by the date of activation
> or change.
>
> The Report and Order can be found online in PDF format at,
> https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-126A1.pdf .
>
> "In the RF Report and Order, the Commission anticipated that few
> parties would have to conduct reevaluations under the new rules and
> that such evaluations will be relatively straightforward," the FCC
> said in an April 2 Public Notice. "It nevertheless adopted a 2-year
> period for parties to verify and ensure compliance under the new
> rules."
>
> The Amateur Service is no longer categorically excluded from certain
> aspects of the rules, as amended, and licensees can no longer avoid
> performing an exposure assessment simply because they are
> transmitting below a given power level.
>
> "For most amateurs, the major difference is the removal of the
> categorical exclusion for amateur radio, which means that ham
> station owners must determine if they either qualify for an
> exemption or must perform a routine environmental evaluation," said
> Greg Lapin, N9GL, chair of the ARRL RF Safety Committee and a member
> of the FCC Technological Advisory Council (TAC).
>
> "Ham stations previously excluded from performing environmental
> evaluations will have until May 3, 2023, to perform these. After May
> 3, 2021, any new stations or those modified in a way that affects RF
> exposure must comply before being put into service," Lapin said.
>
> The December 2019 RF Report and Order changes the methods that many
> radio services use to determine and achieve compliance with FCC
> limits on human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. The FCC also
> modified the process for determining whether a particular device or
> deployment is exempt from a more thorough analysis by replacing a
> service-specific list of transmitters, facilities, and operations
> for which evaluation is required with new streamlined formula-based
> criteria. The R&O also addressed how to perform evaluations where
> the exemption does not apply, and how to mitigate exposure.
>
> Amateur radio licensees will have to determine whether any existing
> facilities previously excluded under the old rules now qualify for
> an exemption under the new rules. Most will, but some may not.
>
> "For amateurs, the major difference is the removal of the
> categorical exclusion," Lapin said, "which means that every ham will
> be required to perform some sort of calculation, either to determine
> if they qualify for an exemption or must perform a full-fledged
> exposure assessment. For hams who previously performed exposure
> assessments on their stations, there is nothing more to do."
>
> The ARRL Laboratory staff is available to help amateurs to make
> these determinations and, if needed, perform the necessary
> calculations to ensure their stations comply. ARRL Laboratory
> Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, who helped prepare ARRL's RF Exposure and
> You book, explained it this way. "The FCC did not change any of the
> underlying rules applicable to amateur station evaluations," he
> said. "The sections of the book on how to perform routine station
> evaluations are still valid and usable, especially the many charts
> of common antennas at different heights." Hare said ARRL Lab staff
> also would be available to help amateurs understand the rules and
> evaluate their stations."
>
> RF Exposure and You is available in PDF format for free download
> from ARRL at,
> http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/RFsafetyCommittee/28RFSafety.pdf
> .
> ARRL also has an RF Safety page on its website at,
> http://www.arrl.org/rf-exposure .
>
> The ARRL RF Safety Committee is working with the FCC to update the
> FCC's aids for following human exposure rules - OET Bulletin 65 and
> OET Bulletin 65 Supplement B for Radio Amateurs. In addition, ARRL
> is developing tools that all hams can use to perform exposure
> assessments.
> NNNN
> /EX
>
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