[SFDXA] RF Exposure rules became effective May 3, 203

[Bill]

Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on May 3
04/12/2021image.png

The FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a lengthy 
2019/*Report and Order* 
<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-126A1.pdf>/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.

“In the RF/Report and Order/, the Commission anticipated that few 
parties would have to conductreevaluations under the new rules and that 
such evaluations will be relatively straightforward,” the FCC said in an 
April 2/Public Notice/. “Itnevertheless 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 longeravoid 
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 withFCClimits on 
human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. The FCC also modified the 
processfor determining whether a particular device or deployment is 
exempt from a more thorough analysis by replacing aservice-specific list 
of transmitters, facilities, and operations for which evaluation is 
required with newstreamlined formula-based criteria. The/R&O/also 
addressedhow to perform evaluations where the exemption does not apply, 
and how tomitigate 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.

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 for free download 
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/RFsafetyCommittee/RF+Exposure+and+You.pdf>*from 
ARRL. ARRL also has an*RF Safety page 
<http://www.arrl.org/rf-exposure>*on its website.

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.


http://www.arrl.org/news/updated-radio-frequency-exposure-rules-become-effective-on-may-3

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