FCC Issues Public Notice On Amateur Radio Emcomm Drills

[KC9NCF]

The FCC has issued a public notice stating certain, clear, rules that must be followed in order for "Government Agencies" who wish for their employees to "transmit messages on behalf of their employer". Early on in the notice, it states that Amateur Radio is NOT an emergency radio service but then recognizes the role we DO play in times of emergencies.

Then the heart of the notice goes on to tell "Government Agencies" what needs to be done to "request a waiver" for their employees to participate in amateur emcomm drills. Now, the requirements are not difficult to meet for the waiver...but alas, the notice explains that Part 97 rules must be adhered to while the waiver is being filed. This makes me wonder: Are "Government Agencies" really going to want to take the time to fill out these waiver requests and do all of the record keeping / supervision that goes with it?

Will there be any protections for "government employees" when / if the "employer" decides to listen to such employee and decides they have heard something they don't like? I'm not just talking about during the drills or in real emergency situations, but just the everyday ragchew as well? Let's say Fireman Joe is at home on his scheduled day off....he has a few ragchews or checks into a few nets and the employer decides they don't like the topics that were covered or the employer decides they didn't like the purpose of the net their employee checked into or some other picky detail, etc. Has the employee just put their job in danger because the employer can now have more of a reason to want to monitor their paid amateur radio staff?

Also, one other thing that crossed my mind tonight is this: Now that this precedence has been set, how many other entities will come knocking on Mr. Cross's door asking for a "rules waiver" because the FCC did it for someone else? Has the FCC and Bill Cross just done something dangerous that will create major problems?

Discuss!

 

[RadioDaze]

The waiver is on behalf of the hams, not the employing entity. The employer has no right to transmit - there's nothing for them to waive. "...the filing of a waiver request does not excuse compliance with the rules while that request is pending." It's the hams that have to comply with the rules.

"...employees may not transmit amateur communications on their employer’s behalf unless the waiver request has been granted."

If they do, that's their own violation as a ham, not their employer's. Why would the employer even care about monitoring them?

"...more of a reason to want to monitor their paid amateur radio staff." They aren't paid amateur radio staff, they're paid staff who happen to be amateurs.

This is gonna be another one of those threads, isn't it?

 

[N4DES]

This isn't directed just at government agencies, but to all private and public organizations with "paid" employees that are licensed hams.

RadioDaze has it correct, it is up to the individual ham to get the waiver as the licensee is the individual and not the organization. If it was a Part 90 license/waiver request then the situation would be different.

I for one have never transmitted on the ham bands for my employer, I let others do that for when they come into the County EOC. I am just the trustee for the call sign that they are operating under.

 

[DaveIN]

I've not operated in MARS, but isn't this about the same situation. I never saw anyone get in trouble that was involved with the military and amateur radio that had regular net traffic overseas. The only trouble I could see is if you discuss sensitive information in casual rag chew.

 

[kb9sxk]

I have a ham license. I am not paid to use ham radio. I make no profit in using ham radio. I use ham radio on a weather net. I am acting in the spirit of the law. I think this is aimed at dispatcher who are told to use ham radio, or non hams who think they can use our freqs in an emergency.

I dont see any new changes here

 

[MTS2000des]

I have a ham license. I am not paid to use ham radio. I make no profit in using ham radio. I use ham radio on a weather net. I am acting in the spirit of the law. I think this is aimed at dispatcher who are told to use ham radio, or non hams who think they can use our freqs in an emergency.

I dont see any new changes here

Exactly, it has always been unlawful for anyone to get paid to make transmissions in the amateur radio service (e.g. a dispatcher) or use ham radio for business purposes. The rules haven't changed and don't need to be. The waiver however, is not clearly defined. Sounds like they left too much open here, IMO, no need for any waiver. The use of ham radio for business purposes is not something we should stray into.

Volunteers, using ham radio to support emergency communications drills or the like should not need any such waivers. The issue really is a non-issue,
but some in the ham community are making it one, which IMO, coming from this 25 year ham, is not a good thing. We should not be on the FCC's radar for anything, right now there has never been a push for more spectrum grabs than ever. The new "administration" has been very public about meeting the public demand for broadband. There is only so much spectrum. Amateur radio is prime real estate (especially above 50MHz) for spectrum grabs, not to mention BPL on HF is not good for us.

We should be doing our part to show unity and value as a non-commercial community based radio service that are ready to help serve our communities when needed, not be in the FCC's face all the time with non-issues. We must be careful what we ask for, because we just might get it. FCC attention of any kind is not a good thing. We should strive to stay well within the rules and completely off their radar.

 

[kb9sxk]

I am paid to be an emergency manager. If i use ham radio in the line of duty, I still think I am in side the law. I do not get a bonus for radio use, I did not have to have a ticket to get my job. My communications will not financially benefit anyone.

 

[MTS2000des]

I work in a hospital, I am a ham (was way before I got into the business!) and also use ham radio for personal enjoyment. Problem I see is the language of this waiver requirement doesn't differentiate between being on the clock or off the clock, so the wording is very unclear. This could be interpreted to say any employee of any organization that has a ham radio station (as part of an employee recreation organization) is prohibited from using said station, regardless of him/her being paid or not paid. One could argue that merely being an employee means one has a vested (and in turn pecuniary) interest so this could eventually lead to the end of all ham radio at the workplace at all.

Mr. Cross is with the WTB, not the amateur radio enforcement division- and his statements about the amateur radio service not being an "emergency radio service" are a little disturbing. I wonder if he has read part 97 himself, RACES shares our spectrum and is indeed an Emergency Radio Service, so as defined in 97.3. So once again the FCC contradicts itself. Ultimately it is going to take someone getting a NAL and going before an ALJ, making a case, to get some real clarification as if we needed it to begin with.

I personally think this whole issue came about by too many hams with too much time on their hands contacting the FCC. It shouldn't have gone down this way. Now the spotlight is on us. The rules are pretty clear to all of us, you cannot get paid to make transmissions on ham radio, you cannot use ham radio to run a business, and any entity cannot use it for daily operations of their government or not-for-profit. But now we have the WTB (who have the REAL threats to our service, the commercial entities in their corner) in our business. Nice work to those who made a stink about nothing. This is only going to hinder, not help, the amateur radio service in the long run.

 

[n5ims]

One example of this wavier being required is the hams that work for the national weather service or local TV stations that use their ham radios to communicate with the skywarn folks. These communications would be in violation if they hadn't gotten the necessary waivers. Now if a non-employee ham were there handling the same communications and passing the info to the NWS or TV employees, no waiver would be necessary.

 

[N4DES]

I am paid to be an emergency manager. If i use ham radio in the line of duty, I still think I am in side the law. I do not get a bonus for radio use, I did not have to have a ticket to get my job. My communications will not financially benefit anyone.

It is pretty simple, if you use amateur radio while in the course of your "occupation" you are in violation of the rules. It is not a matter of you getting a bonus or special pay.

To be on the safe side it would be in your best interest to get a unpaid volunteer to do the communications for you when you are in disaster status as an emergency manager.

 

[MTS2000des]

It is pretty simple, if you use amateur radio while in the course of your "occupation" you are in violation of the rules. It is not a matter of you getting a bonus or special pay.

To be on the safe side it would be in your best interest to get a unpaid volunteer to do the communications for you when you are in disaster status as an emergency manager.

problem is Mark sometimes that is not an option, relying on outside volunteers (who may also be affected by such mass incidents) to respond is not practical. What if our phone system is down? How do we call those volunteers in? When the roads are blocked due to trees down or floods (as was the case here 4 weeks ago in our county) volunteers outside the facility are of no value if we cannot communicate with them. There is no room for self-dispatching and the "well we'll just all show up at the firehouse and see what happens."

Now this means I cannot operate our station to take or give weather reports, or request those volunteers, because I happen to work at my facility. I would never use it to coordinate hospital business, we have Astro 25 for that- but now this shuts the door to using those volunteers outside the system. Many of us just happen to be hams, so I guess this means we need to take down the repeater, and de-commission the station, because we cannot use it. Nevermind the crucial key fact that we never, nor will ever, get compensated for making transmissions- it's over. Nada mas.

Mark I understand you are responsible for managing several amateur repeaters in PBC for use by RACES/ARES. You don't think this situation may impact you guys' operations? The way it seems is that you cannot so much as key the mike, on the clock or not. So why bother having the ham gear at all and just stick to your 800MHz system if you cannot utilize it? Looks to me this is what some people may want does it not?

 

[kb9sxk]

I am going with this:

"The FCC‟s Report and Order, FCC 06-149, 21 FCC Rcd.11643, released October 10, 2006, clarifies the rules for employees by stating that “Section 97.113 does not prohibit amateur radio operators who are emergency personnel engaged in disaster relief from using the amateur service bands while on paid duty status. These individuals are not receiving compensation for transmitting amateur service communications; rather, they are receiving compensation for services related to their disaster relief duties and in their capacities as emergency personnel.”

It looks like the ARRL instigated this issue.

 

[MTS2000des]

I am going with this:

"The FCC‟s Report and Order, FCC 06-149, 21 FCC Rcd.11643, released October 10, 2006, clarifies the rules for employees by stating that “Section 97.113 does not prohibit amateur radio operators who are emergency personnel engaged in disaster relief from using the amateur service bands while on paid duty status. These individuals are not receiving compensation for transmitting amateur service communications; rather, they are receiving compensation for services related to their disaster relief duties and in their capacities as emergency personnel.”

It looks like the ARRL instigated this issue.

Yes, they sure did. And now the pandora's box is open. I've often said, contacting the FCC should be a last resort in all cases regarding amateur radio service operations. We have traditionally been a self-regulating service, unique in many respects, and one of them is the ability to stay within the rules and have minimal involvement from the FCC.

The problem is the ARRL, and many hams themselves, approach the FCC with the lack of understanding for the process itself. The FCC is not comprised of amateur radio operators, they don't share the same passion and interests we do. Calling such attention to such issues hinders, not helps, our cause. The ARRL has done other bonehead moves IMO such as suing the FCC over BPL.

I always use the example of "call the cops too much on the neighbor and you yourself may be taken to jail". It's so true, we need to work things out ourselves. But it looks like it's beyond this point now...

 

[RadioDaze]

"These individuals are not receiving compensation for transmitting amateur service communications; rather, they are receiving compensation for services related to their disaster relief duties and in their capacities as emergency personnel.”

Right - they would be paid the same whether they were hams or not. It' not like their employer said "lets go hire some hams so we can expand out radio coverage."

 

[rdale]

The FCC has issued a public notice stating certain, clear, rules that must be followed in order for "Government Agencies" who wish for their employees to "transmit messages on behalf of their employer"

Do you have a better link? The info you posted says that the prohibition is only for drills, but many of the replies here talk about weather spotters / disasters / etc.

If it's just an issue for drills, I think in the big picture that's not really going to be a big deal.

If it's not, please provide info.

 

[rdale]

Now this means I cannot operate our station to take or give weather reports, or request those volunteers, because I happen to work at my facility. I would never use it to coordinate hospital business, we have Astro 25 for that- but now this shuts the door to using those volunteers outside the system. Many of us just happen to be hams, so I guess this means we need to take down the repeater, and de-commission the station, because we cannot use it. Nevermind the crucial key fact that we never, nor will ever, get compensated for making transmissions- it's over. Nada mas.

Hmm... lots of people now have info that I can't find at the FCC site. Nothing in the above directive says that. Where did you get your source for this?

 

[N4DES]

problem is Mark sometimes that is not an option, relying on outside volunteers (who may also be affected by such mass incidents) to respond is not practical. What if our phone system is down? How do we call those volunteers in? When the roads are blocked due to trees down or floods (as was the case here 4 weeks ago in our county) volunteers outside the facility are of no value if we cannot communicate with them. There is no room for self-dispatching and the "well we'll just all show up at the firehouse and see what happens."

Now this means I cannot operate our station to take or give weather reports, or request those volunteers, because I happen to work at my facility. I would never use it to coordinate hospital business, we have Astro 25 for that- but now this shuts the door to using those volunteers outside the system. Many of us just happen to be hams, so I guess this means we need to take down the repeater, and de-commission the station, because we cannot use it. Nevermind the crucial key fact that we never, nor will ever, get compensated for making transmissions- it's over. Nada mas.

Mark I understand you are responsible for managing several amateur repeaters in PBC for use by RACES/ARES. You don't think this situation may impact you guys' operations? The way it seems is that you cannot so much as key the mike, on the clock or not. So why bother having the ham gear at all and just stick to your 800MHz system if you cannot utilize it? Looks to me this is what some people may want does it not?

Well of course you can come with with every secenario in the book to make a point, but this is now the time to re-review and possibly change your plans based on the FCC's current posting. I don't think you need to take the repeater down because I'm sure that 98% of the time it is utilized for normal chatter, so that thinking would be taking it to the extreme.

As far as my operation, I am the trustee of the repeaters and it doesn't affect my operation or me as long as I don't pick up the microphone, which I don't ever recall doing because I have so much other stuff going on during an activation. We have individuals who are tasked with managing the volunteers who are both licensed and unlicensed and our reverse 911 system is utilized to advise registered volunteers of the current status of need.

 

[N4DES]

Do you have a better link? The info you posted says that the prohibition is only for drills, but many of the replies here talk about weather spotters / disasters / etc.

If it's just an issue for drills, I think in the big picture that's not really going to be a big deal.

If it's not, please provide info.

Why do you need a link? The pdf that the OP has in the 1st post is sufficient.

 

[rdale]

Why do you need a link? The pdf that the OP has in the 1st post is sufficient.

That only talks about drills. That's not what everyone here seems to think, so I'm curious what info there is that says this is for real emergencies too.

 

[KC9NCF]

Rdale and group at RR,

The 97.113 prohibition is and always has been very clear that no one may make transmissions on the amateur frequencies "on behalf of an employer" while on or off the clock. Prior to this directive / public notice being issued, I had a very long conversation with Laura Smith.

The history of this whole new look at 97.113 had to do with the FCC Enforcement office and Bill Cross of the WTB at the FCC being on the receiving end of "information" (Laura's word) that businesses, hospitals, police depts, fire depts, etc. were actually using amateur radio and it's associated volunteer services as their primary "back-up" plan instead of relying on Part 90 radio services which are quite available and should be the first resort of radio communications BEFORE ever getting the amateur service involved since our aim is only to be there when "all else" has truly gone down the drain and there isn't anything else left.

A hospital employee with the callsign W0WLS was unfortunately reported earlier this year for participating in an emergency drill using amateur radio as one of many resources. This operator was a hospital employee and even though he was "off the clock" and not receiving any benefits, pay, gifts, etc...the WTB and Enforcement office decided that a friendly e-mail would do. Laura told me personally during our conversation that off or on the clock amateur comms for drills are not permitted if you are an "employee" of the agency conducting such drill. However, she also said that "in a TRUE emergency the rules go right out the window and we can deal with rules violations later".

The Emcommers got concerned about those who are city / state / federal / hospital employees and all the time, effort, and relationship building that has happened over the years and that these people could accidentally get involved in rules violations. Laura told me this: "If a municipal employee wants to perform amateur radio volunteer work, that is just fine, but the best way to do it is to go volunteer across town somewhere for a department or hospital in which the operator is NOT an employee".

In the mess of all of this, Bill Cross, (Laura's boss), gave the order for the public release and decided the appropriateness of the public notice to be proper and that the waivers are needed for the named people that are the subject of the public release posted here. You saw me mention that Bill Cross is Laura's boss. Laura Smith is the highest paid person at the FCC but, she is not the top dog there. She takes orders from many higher ranking people whom she personally told me are "politically appointed individuals". Laura referred to herself as the "Policeman that Bill Cross alerts when enforcement needs to be done" and said "When you talk to me, think of me as a police officer whose only duty is to enforce the law".

There's the short version of the story Laura gave me.