[W8MWA] FCC and Amateur Radio... To Fee, or NOT to Fee... that is the question... sorta...

[Spence Graham]

On Wednesday, the FCC released a *Notice of Proposed Rulemaking* (NPRM) in
MD Docket 20-270 which implements portions of the *Repack Airwaves Yielding
Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018* (or RAY BAUM’S
Act), which gives the FCC statutory authority to collect application fees.
As a part of the Act, the FCC is required to switch from a fee structure
mandated by Congress 20 years ago to a new cost-based system. This change
will result in some fees being reduced and in some cases, such as the
Amateur Radio Service, new fees are being added.

*Proposed new fees for Amateur Radio and reduction in GMRS fees*

Section 8 of the RAY BAUM’S Act does not provide any kind of statutory
exemption for filing fees in the Amateur Radio Service, which, historically
has had no filing fees. Citing the costs involved in the automated
processes, routine maintenance of the Commission’s Universal Licensing
System (ULS) and limited instances where staff needs to be involved in the
application process, the FCC is proposing an across-the-board fee of $50
for new and modified licenses in the personal radio services, which
includes Amateur Radio and the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). For
GMRS, this is a reduction of the current $70 fee. The FCC also proposes
these fees for license renewals and requests for vanity call signs, the
latter which had its filing fee eliminated several years ago. The FCC is
proposing to still not charge for administrative updates, such as mailing
address changes on amateur or GMRS applications. Amateur Radio will remain
exempt from annual regulatory fees under Section 9 of the RAY BAUM'S Act.

*Commenting on the changes*

Once the NPRM is published in the *Federal Register*, filing deadlines for
comments and reply comments will be established. Those dates will be
announced by the FCC in a separate *Public Notice.* Comments will be
accepted in the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System under proceeding
20-270.

A copy of the NPRM, which includes the proposed fee structures, can be
found here <https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-116A1.pdf>.

The RAY BAUM'S Act is part of Public Law 115-141 and can be found in this
PDF document
<https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ141/PLAW-115publ141.pdf> starting
on page 734 (Division P). The relevant part of the law starts on Page 736,
under Section 8.

*Written by: Michelle Bradley, KU3N ~ founder of REC Networks.*

Link to full article at REC Networks, which also discusses fee changes for
commercial broadcast radio can be found at https://recnet.com/node/3182

-- 
73,

Spence

*Spencer W. Graham, II*
*WT8WV*
*73 Crosby Road*
*Morgantown, WV 26508*

*2017-2019 VP of Monongalia Wireless Association http://www.w8mwa.org/
<http://www.w8mwa.org/> *
*ARRL Volunteer Examiner *
*W5YI Volunteer Examiner*
*Laurel ARC Volunteer Examiner*
*ARRL WV Section Affiliate Club Coordinator *

*Check Out My Ham Radio Blog Site...  http://kb8fir.wordpress.com
<http://kb8fir.wordpress.com>*

*(ex-KB8FIR and ex-KA8LJO)*
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