10/04/2012
On October 2, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in WT Docket No. 12-121 that seeks to change the Amateur Radio licensing rules, especially as they concern former licensees. Acting upon an April 2011 Petition for Rulemaking filed by the Anchorage VEC to give permanent credit to radio amateurs for examination elements they have successfully passed, the FCC proposes to revise Section 97.505 to require that Volunteer Examiners (VEs) give examination credit to an applicant who can demonstrate that he or she formerly held a particular class of license. In addition, the Commission seeks to shorten the grace period during which an expired amateur license may be renewed and to reduce the number of VEs needed to administer an amateur license examination. In response to a Petition for Rulemaking filed by the ARRL in March 2011, the FCC looks to amend the Amateur Service rules to allow amateur stations to transmit additional emission types in order to permit Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) in the Amateur Service. But in doing so, it denied the League’s request for a blanket waiver pending the resolution of the rulemaking proceeding.
Comments on these proposed rules changes will be accepted until 60 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register (this can take up to six weeks after release of the NPRM). Reply comments will be accepted until 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Licensing Issues
Examination Credit
To be issued a new or upgraded amateur operator license, a person must pass an examination or otherwise receive credit for the examination element(s) required to qualify for the relevant license class.
Applications for new or upgraded licenses must be filed through a volunteer-examiner coordinator (VEC), which obtains the applicant information from VEs, who in turn administer examination sessions and issue a certificate of successful completion of an examination (CSCE) to an examinee who scores a passing grade on an examination element. A person also receives credit for an examination element if he or she presents either a CSCE for that element that was issued within the previous 365 days or an unexpired (or expired but within the grace period for renewal) amateur operator license for a license of a class that required passage of that element.
In its Petition, the Anchorage VEC asserted that it was unfair that after the grace period for renewal of an Amateur Radio license ends, a former licensee “loses all credit for any elements passed, and must start all over if they want to continue their Amateur Radio activities. Does the passage of time somehow invalidate a person’s knowledge? We think not. We believe that any applicant who can demonstrate that they have passed certain elements at some previous date or who have held a license grant for a particular class of license, again on or before various applicable dates, should not have to be re-examined on those elements before a new license can be granted. It seems unfair to allow some applicants to claim element credit for items previously passed and not others.”
The FCC stated in the NPRM that it recognized that the rules treat a former licensee differently than a licensee who passed the same examination(s) but who continuously renewed his or her license: “We also agree with Anchorage VEC that the fact that an individual allowed his or her license to expire more than two years ago does not necessarily mean that the person no longer possess [sic] adequate knowledge of the subject. That a license was continuously renewed does not establish that the licensee remained active in the Amateur Service, for amateur licensees are not required to operate their stations in order to remain licensed.”
In 1997, the FCC addressed a similar proposal. At that time, commenters generally opposed allowing examination credit for expired licenses, and the FCC declined to take action. “The Commission noted [in 1997] the opposition to the proposal to allow examination credit for expired licenses, and concluded that requiring licensees to either renew their licenses or retest before they may reenter the Amateur Service does not impose a hardship,” it stated in the NPRM. “While we continue to believe that requiring licensees to either file a timely renewal application or retake the necessary examination before they can be relicensed does not impose an unreasonable burden, we are skeptical that it is actually necessary to require former licensees to retest.”
With this in mind, the FCC is proposing to revise Section 97.505 to require that VEs give examination credit to an applicant who can demonstrate that he or she formerly held a particular class of license: “We believe [amending Section 97.505] will encourage former amateur operators to become involved again in the technical self-training and public service communications opportunities provided by the Amateur Service. It also could reduce costs (in time as well as money) incurred by former licensees seeking to reenter the Amateur Service. We ask commenters to address these costs and benefits.”
With one narrow exception -- expired Technician Class operator licenses granted before March 21, 1987 -- element credit is not given for an Amateur Operator license that has expired and is beyond the grace period for renewal. The grace period for renewal of an Amateur Operator license is two years, which is also the period of time after which the call sign associated with an expired Amateur Operator license becomes available for reassignment through the vanity call sign system. “We seek comment on whether we should retain this rule,” the FCC stated. “While we are not reconsidering the Commission’s conclusion that those former licensees should receive credit for the written examination required for a General Class license, we question whether the rule still has any practical effect. That is, are there any remaining holders of expired pre-1987 Technician Class licenses who intend to seek General or Amateur Extra Class licenses, or can we streamline the rule by deleting this provision as obsolete? Similarly, we seek comment on whether Section 97.505, as proposed to be amended in this proceeding, should make provision for expired Conditional Class licenses, which were phased out by renewing them as General Class licenses beginning in 1976.”
The FCC is also seeking to eliminate the element credit distinction between a person who passed an examination and kept his or her license current, and a person who passed the same examination but let his or her license expire. “Arguably, we should also eliminate the element credit distinction between a person who passed an examination and applied for a license within a year and a person who passed the same examination but did not apply for a license in that time, on the grounds that the passage of a year does not substantial [sic] affect the latter examinee’s knowledge,” the FCC maintained. “We note, however, that a CSCE also provides temporary authority for an upgrading licensee to exercise the rights and privileges of the higher operator class until disposition of the upgrade application or 365 days, whichever comes first. We are concerned that it may be anomalous or confusing to create a difference between the period during which a CSCE provides temporary operating authority and the period during which a CSCE provides element credit.”
Reduction of Two Year Grace Period
Section 97.21(b) provides that a person whose amateur station license grant has expired may still apply for renewal of the license during a two year grace period. According to the FCC, this allows individuals who forget to renew, or experience unforeseen difficulties in renewing their license, a period of time during which they may renew. The FCC noted that a principal reason for providing this grace period “is to allow amateur licensees to restore their operating privileges without sitting for reexamination.”
Given that the FCC is proposing to amend the rules to give former licensees examination credit for the element or elements they passed to obtain their expired licenses, it stated that that a two year grace period may no longer be necessary and proposed to reduce the grace period for renewal to six months (180 days), “which we believe is a sufficient period of time for individuals who forget to renew or experience unforeseen difficulties when renewing their licenses. Licensees who do not renew during the grace period would be able to obtain a new license under the rule changes proposed above and could then request their former call sign through the vanity call sign system if the call sign had not already been assigned to another licensee under the vanity call sign system.”
The FCC also wondered whether instead of amending the rules to allow element credit for expired licenses, it “should simply extend the renewal grace period for a substantial length of time (such as a 10 year grace period). Extending the grace period would provide former licensees with the same relief -- permitting them to reenter the Amateur Service without retesting -- with fewer administrative burdens on former licensees, VEs and VECs; however, extending the grace period could affect the vanity call sign system (see below).”
Reduction in Waiting Period for Vanity Call Signs
When the vanity call sign system was implemented, the FCC concluded that call signs should not be available for reassignment for two years following the death of a licensee, or expiration or termination of the license for that call sign; close relatives of a deceased licensee are exempt from this rule, following the licensee’s death. The FCC stated in the NPRM that it set the waiting period at two years “in part because it corresponds with the renewal grace period. Because we propose above to shorten the grace period to six months, we also propose to reduce the time before a call sign becomes available for reassignment to six months.”
The FCC also noted that correspondence with the grace period was not the only reason identified by the Commission for a two year waiting period: “Other reasons were ‘to avoid confusion in over-the-air station identification, to maintain accuracy in the licensee data base, and to accommodate QSL bureaus’ and to ‘preclude trafficking in licenses,’ where a licensee, in exchange for some type of consideration, vacates a desirable call sign so that another licensee could immediately apply for it before its assignability becomes known generally.” In addition, the FCC pointed out that the two year waiting period “provides ample time for a close relative of a deceased licensee to obtain the same class of license as the deceased held, in order to be eligible to hold the deceased’s former call sign. While the vanity waiting period should not be shorter than the renewal grace period due to the possibility of conflicting license grants, there is no practical reason why the waiting period could not be longer than the grace period.”
Administration of Amateur Radio License Exams
