[W3GV] FCC Reduces Proposed Amateur Radio Application Fee to $35

[Buddy Brannan]

I know some people are upset about this. Of course, I’d rather not pay something than give the government money, but on the other hand, ham radio is worth at least $3.50/year to me, so I’m just not that bothered about it. 

Vy 73,


Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Email: buddy at brannan.name
Mobile: (814) 431-0962



> On Dec 31, 2020, at 3:54 PM, jjlis165 at gmail.com wrote:
> 
> From arrl.org
> 
> FCC Reduces Proposed Amateur Radio Application Fee to $35
> 
> 12/30/2020 
> 
> The FCC has agreed with ARRL and other commenters that its proposed $50 fee
> for certain amateur radio applications was "too high to account for the
> minimal staff involvement in these applications." In a Report and Order (
> <https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-184A1.pdf> R&O), released on
> December 29, the FCC scaled back to $35 the fee for a new license
> application, a special temporary authority (STA) request, a rule waiver
> request, a license renewal application, and a vanity call sign application.
> All fees are per application. There will be no fee for administrative
> updates, such as a change of mailing or email address.
> 
> This fall, ARRL filed comments in firm opposition to the FCC proposal to
> impose a $50 fee on amateur radio license and application fees and
> <http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-urges-members-to-join-in-strongly-opposing-fc
> c-s-application-fees-proposal> urged its members to follow suit.
> 
> As the FCC noted in its R&O, although some commenters supported the proposed
> $50 fee as reasonable and fair, "ARRL and many individual commenters argued
> that there was no cost-based justification for application fees in the
> Amateur Radio Service." The fee proposal was contained in a Notice of
> Proposed Rulemaking (
> <https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-116A1.pdf> NPRM) in MD
> Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the "Repack
> Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act" of 2018 -
> the so-called "
> <https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ141/PLAW-115publ141.pdf> Ray Baum's
> Act."
> 
> "After reviewing the record, including the extensive comments filed by
> amateur radio licensees and based on our revised analysis of the cost of
> processing mostly automated processes discussed in our methodology section,
> we adopt a $35 application fee, a lower application fee than the Commission
> proposed in the NPRM for personal licenses, in recognition of the fact that
> the application process is mostly automated," the FCC said in the R&O. "We
> adopt the proposal from the NPRM to assess no additional application fee for
> minor modifications or administrative updates, which also are highly
> automated." 
> 
> The FCC said it received more than 197,000 personal license applications in
> 2019, which includes not only ham radio license applications but commercial
> radio operator licenses and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) licenses. 
> 
> The FCC turned away the arguments of some commenters that the FCC should
> exempt amateur radio licensees. The FCC stated that it has no authority to
> create an exemption "where none presently exists." 
> 
> The FCC also disagreed with those who argued that amateur radio licensees
> should be exempt from fees because of their public service contribution
> during emergencies and disasters. 
> 
> "[W]e we are very much aware of these laudable and important services
> amateur radio licensees provide to the American public," the FCC said, but
> noted that specific exemptions provided under Section 8 of the so-called
> "Ray Baum's Act" requiring the FCC to assess the fees do not apply to
> amateur radio personal licenses. "Emergency communications, for example, are
> voluntary and are not required by our rules," the FCC noted. "As we have
> noted previously, '[w]hile the value of the amateur service to the public as
> a voluntary noncommercial communications service, particularly with respect
> to providing emergency communications, is one of the underlying principles
> of the amateur service, the amateur service is not an emergency radio
> service.'"
> 
> The Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee
> structure to a cost-based system of assessment. The FCC proposed application
> fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC's Universal Licensing
> System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service, which had been excluded
> previously. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual
> regulatory fees, but not from application fees.
> 
> "While the Ray Baum's Act amended Section 9 and retained the regulatory fee
> exemption for amateur radio station licensees, Congress did not include a
> comparable exemption among the amendments it made to Section 8 of the Act,"
> the FCC R&O explained.
> 
> The effective date of the fee schedule has not been established, but it will
> be announced at least 30 days in advance. The FCC has directed the Office of
> Managing Director, in consultation with relevant offices and bureaus, to
> draft a notice for publication in the Federal Register announcing when rule
> change(s) will become effective, "once the relevant databases, guides, and
> internal procedures have been updated." 
> 
> 
> 
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