FCC Okays Employee Participation in Emergency Drills

Moving with unaccustomed speed, the FCC adopted a Report and Order on July 14, allowing hams who are employed by both government agencies and non-government agencies such as hospitals, to participate in emergency and disaster drills on behalf of their employers. The ruling was based on a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, WP-10-72, issued this past March, in response to petitions arising from a strict interpretation by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau of the prohibition on amateurs communicating on behalf of their employers. The decision came just more than a month after the reply comment deadline.

The ruling added a new paragraph to Section 97.113(a)(3) of the FCC rules, which reads as follows:

(i) A station licensee or control station operator may participate on behalf of an employer in an
emergency preparedness or disaster readiness test or drill, limited to the duration and scope of such test or
drill, and operational testing immediately prior to such test or drill.  Tests or drills that are not
government-sponsored are limited to a total time of one hour per week; except that no more than twice in
any calendar year, they may be conducted for a period not to exceed 72 hours.

There is no specific effective date given in the Report and Order, so it will presumably become effective upon publication in the Federal Register. The complete text of the report and order may be accessed online at  http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-124A1.doc .
 

From the WorldRadio Online Newsroom (July 15, 2010)