Scott-
It certainly CAN be. I don't seem to recall saying it was illegal, just inappropriate and ineffective.
A Part90 handheld is typically a 2-watt radio operating on a co-ordinated frequency allocation plan.
Most part 90 VHF hand held radios you will find are 5 watts. Most part 90 UHF radios you will find are 4 or 5 watts.
CERT does not have any dedicated/allocated part 90 frequencies. Some cities/counties might allow CERT teams to use frequencies they have licensed, but that is not standardized in any sense of the term.
An FRS is limited to 500mW and every schoolkid--yes, kids have lots of them--may be clowning around on them.
Yet, they'll still work fine if all that is needed is short distance communications. If that is what the CERT team uses, then that is what he needs.
If it works for you, great. But for $30, you can buy the cheapest legal Part90 radios (BaoFeng UV-82C) and for a bit more than twice that, you can buy an old commercial grade like a Motorola.
Again, don't purchase anything until you know what the CERT team uses. Also, don't purchase any Motorola gear, or any radio for that matter, until you fully comprehend what goes into programming them. Find out what others on the CERT team use, and consider purchasing the same. That way you can get local help programming and operating your radio.
Why screw around with what the kids in grade school are playing with, when there's a whole radio service reserved for public safety use, with no kids, coordinated channel plans, and legal repeaters as well?
Ah, NO. Nothing at all wrong with FRS if that is what the CERT team uses. There is NO nationwide coordinated channel plans for CERT, and there isn't any guarantee that the CERT team, or the local agencies, have any repeaters that are available for use. Consider that the local agency might be using a trunked system, and you can't just program up any radio to work on a trunked system, and you certainly don't want to do it without written permission.
I've got a couple of FRS radios in my bag, mainly so I can say "Here, use this" to anyone and not worry about them disrupting comms or knowing anything else.
That is a useful way to use FRS, and a good idea.
But I shoot for a higher standard when it comes to planned operations and systems. With Part90, I'm tied into county-wide mutual aid, high power repeaters, and professional partners.
That might work in your area, but not all CERT teams have access to the city/county radio systems. We shouldn't be suggesting anything until the OP talks to the people who run the CERT team. Also, unless you have a license, or are operating under the agency license, it would be considered transmitting without a license if one was to do this. If you have authorization, then good for you, but don't assume everyone does.
With FRS? Yeah, I can work around a hundred yards, in the clear, and try to compete with hundreds of other users. Some of them with nothing better to do than play AM radio stations over the air to jam their friends.
OK, we all get it. You don't like FRS. No need to keep repeating yourself.
Key words: Allocated. Appropriate. Better.
And you don't have to spend $400 to buy one anymore.
Not necessarily allocated. Might be in your area, doesn't mean that all CERT teams do.
Not necessarily appropriate. If the CERT team doesn't have access to such systems, purchasing that gear isn't necessarily a good idea. It's usually better than the amateur grade stuff, but not always.
Better? See above. I wouldn't consider any of the Chinese $40 radios "better".
Let the poor guy at least join the CERT team and decide if he needs to purchase a radio first.