17566 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 69 / Thursday, April 10, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

Source of flooding and location

#Depth in

feet above

ground.

*Elevation

in feet

(NGVD)

Looney Creek:

Confluence with Levisa Fork ... * 1,002

Approximately 0.6 mile upstream of Route 656 bridge * 1,146

PawPaw Creek:

At confluence with Knox Creek * 928

Approximately 200 feet upstream of confluence of

Rockhouse Fork .................. * 1,071

Race Fork:

Confluence with Knox Creek .. * 951

Approximately 0.6 mile upstream of driveway bridge to

Race Fork Coal Corporation * 1,019

Right Fork to Garden Creek:

Confluence with Garden Creek * 1,399

Approximately 1,500 feet upstream of Mine Access

Road .................................... * 1,552

Right Fork to Knox Creek:

Confluence with Knox Creek .. * 1,078

Approximately 1.09 miles upstream of State Route 643 .. * 1,230

Rockhouse Fork:

Confluence with PawPaw

Creek ................................... * 1,069

Approximately 270 feet upstream of State Route 643

bridge ................................... * 1,072

Russell Prater Creek and War

Creek:

Approximately 0.66 mile downstream of State Route 606

bridge (Dickenson/Buchanan

County line) ......................... * 1,417

Approximately 1.49 mile upstream of confluence with

Russell Prater Creek ........... * 1,542

Rocklick Creek:

Confluence with Levisa Fork ... * 904

Approximately 2,500 feet upstream of State Route 691

bridge ................................... * 1,001

Slate Creek:

Approximately 0.64 mile upstream of Route 1002 .......... * 1,112

Approximately 1,550 feet upstream of State Route 640

bridge ................................... * 1,538

Maps available for inspection

at the Buchanan County

Courthouse, Main Street,

Grundy, Virginia.

———

Grundy (Town), Buchanan

County (FEMA Docket No. 7199)

Levisa Fork:

Approximately 1.9 feet downstream of confluence of

Slate Creek .......................... * 1,028

Approximately 0.61 mile downstream of State Route 617 .. * 1,075

Watkins Branch:

Confluence with Levisa Fork ... * 1,071

Approximately 1,890 feet upstream of State Route 661

bridge ................................... * 1,182

Slate Creek:

Source of flooding and location

#Depth in

feet above

ground.

*Elevation

in feet

(NGVD)

Confluence with Levisa Fork ... * 1,053

Approximately 0.64 mile upstream of Route 1002 bridge * 1,112

Maps available for inspection

at Grundy Town Hall, 127

Main Street, Grundy, Virginia.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.

83.100, ‘‘Flood Insurance’’)

Dated: April 2, 1997.

Richard W. Krimm,

Executive Associate Director, Mitigation

Directorate.

[FR Doc. 97–9210 Filed 4–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6718–04–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 0 and 97

[WT Docket No. 95–57; FCC 97–99]

Amateur Service Rules

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This action amends the

amateur service rules to improve

eligibility standards for a club station

license, recognizes the role of volunteer

examiner (VE) teams and session

managers, establishes a special event

call sign system, and authorizes a selfassigned indicator in the station

identification announcement. The

Commission declined to allow

examination credit for licenses formerly

held. The amendments are necessary in

order to serve the amateur service

licensees more effectively. The effect of

this action is to improve license

processing, increase operational

flexibility, and minimize regulation.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 12, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maurice J. DePont, Federal

Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C. 20554, (202) 418–

0690.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Report

and Order adopted March 20, 1997, and

released April 1, 1997. The complete

text of this Commission action,

including the amended rules, is

available for inspection and copying

during normal business hours in the

FCC Reference Center (Room 230), 1919

M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The

complete text of this Report and Order

may also be ordered from the

Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Services,

Inc., 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140,

Washington, D.C. 20037, telephone

(202) 857–3800.

Summary of Report and Order

1. The amended rules respond to

petitions filed by the American Radio

Relay League, Inc., and the National

Conference of Volunteer-Examiner

Coordinators. The amended rules also

reflect action on proposals made by the

Commission on its own motion.

2. The amended rules increase the

eligibility requirement for an amateur

service club station license to four

persons in order to improve the

effectiveness of the amateur service

licensing process.

3. The amended rules permit a VE

team to select a VE session manager to

organize activities at an examination

session and to conduct liaison functions

with the coordinating VEC.

4. In order to provide greater

operational flexibility for amateur radio

operators, the amended rules allow the

station identification to include a selfassigned indicator before, after, or both

before and after, the assigned call sign.

5. Finally, the amended rules

authorize the licensee of an amateur

station operating in conjunction with a

self-determined special event to

substitute for its assigned call sign a

self-selected call sign from the block of

one-by-one call signs.

6. In view of the opposition expressed

in the comments, the Commission

declined to give examination credit for

licenses formerly held.

7. The amended rules are set forth

below.

8. Pursuant to Section 605(b) of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) the

Commission certifies that the amended

rules will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities because the

amateur stations that are the subject of

this proceeding are not authorized to

transmit communications for a

pecuniary interest.

9. Authority for this action is

contained in Sections 4(i) and 303(r) of

the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i) and 303(r).

10. A copy of the RFA certification

will be provided to the Chief Counsel

for Advocacy of the Small Business

Administration.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 0

Organization and functions

(Government agencies).
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 69 / Thursday, April 10, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 17567

47 CFR Part 97

Radio, Volunteers.

Federal Communications Commission

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

Rule Changes

Parts 0 and 97 of Title 47 of the Code

of Federal Regulations are amended as

follows:

PART 0—COMMISSION

ORGANIZATION

1. The authority citation for Part 0

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 155, 225, unless

otherwise noted.

2. Section 0.131 is amended by

adding new paragraph (p) to read as

follows:

§ 0.131 Functions of the Bureau.

* * * * *

(p) Certifies, in the name of the

Commission, volunteer entities to

coordinate, maintain and disseminate a

common data base of amateur station

special event call signs, and issues

Public Notices detailing the procedures

of amateur service call sign systems.

PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

1. The authority citation for Part 97

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303. Interpret or

apply 48 Stat. 1064–1068, 1081–1105, as

amended; 47 U.S.C. 151–155, 301–609,

unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 97.3(a)(11)(iii) is added to

read as follows:

§ 97.3 Definitions.

(a) * * *

(11) * * *

(iii) Special event call sign system.

The call sign is selected by the station

licensee from a list of call signs shown

on a common data base coordinated,

maintained and disseminated by the

amateur station special event call sign

data base coordinators. The call sign

must have the single letter prefix K, N

or W, followed by a single numeral 0

through 9, followed by a single letter A

through W or Y or Z (for example K1A).

The special event call sign is substituted

for the call sign shown on the station

license grant while the station is

transmitting. The FCC will issue public

announcements detailing the

procedures of the special event call sign

system.

* * * * *

3. Section 97.5(b)(2) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 97.5 Station license required.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(2) A club station license. A club

station license is granted only to the

person who is the license trustee

designated by an officer of the club. The

trustee must be a person who has been

granted an Amateur Extra, Advanced,

General, Technician Plus, or Technician

operator license. The club must be

composed of at least four persons and

must have a name, a document of

organization, management, and a

primary purpose devoted to amateur

service activities consistent with this

part. The club station license document

is printed on FCC Form 660.

* * * * *

4. Section 97.119 is amended by

revising paragraph (c), redesignating

paragraphs (d) through (f) as paragraphs

(e) through (g), and adding new

paragraph (d) to read as follows:

§ 97.119 Station identification.

* * * * *

(c) One or more indicators may be

included with the call sign. Each

indicator must be separated from the

call sign by the slant mark (/) or by any

suitable word that denotes the slant

mark. If an indicator is self-assigned, it

must be included before, after, or both

before and after, the call sign. No selfassigned indicator may conflict with

any other indicator specified by the FCC

Rules or with any prefix assigned to

another country.

(d) When transmitting in conjunction

with an event of special significance, a

station may substitute for its assigned

call sign a special event call sign as

shown for that station for that period of

time on the common data base

coordinated, maintained and

disseminated by the special event call

sign data base coordinators.

Additionally, the station must transmit

its assigned call sign at least once per

hour during such transmissions.

* * * * *

5. Section 97.509 (a) and (i) are

revised to read as follows:

§ 97.509 Administering VE requirements.

(a) Each examination element for an

amateur operator license must be

administered by a team of at least 3 VEs

at an examination session coordinated

by a VEC. Before the session, the

administering VEs or the VE session

manager must ensure that public

announcement is made stating the

location and time of the session. The

number of examinees at the session may

be limited.

* * * * *

(i) When the examinee is credited for

all examination elements required for

the operator license sought, 3 VEs must

certify on the examinee’s application

document that the applicant is qualified

for the license and that they have

complied with these administering VE

requirements. The certifying VEs are

jointly and individually accountable for

the proper administration of each

examination element reported on the

examinee’s application FCC Form 610.

The certifying VEs may delegate to other

qualified VEs their authority, but not

their accountability, to administer

individual elements of an examination.

* * * * *

6. New Section 97.513 is added to

read as follows:

§ 97.513 VE session manager

requirements.

(a) A VE session manager may be

selected by the VE team for each

examination session. The VE session

manager must be accredited as a VE by

the same VEC that coordinates the

examination session. The VE session

manager may serve concurrently as an

administering VE.

(b) The VE session manager may carry

on liaison between the VE team and the

coordinating VEC.

(c) The VE session manager may

organize activities at an examination

session.

7. Section 97.519(b) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 97.519 Coordinating examination

sessions.

* * * * *

(b) At the completion of each

examination session, the coordinating

VEC must collect the FCC Form 610

documents and test results from the

administering VEs. Within 10 days of

collecting the FCC Form 610

documents, the coordinating VEC must:

(1) Screen each FCC Form 610

document; (2) Resolve all discrepancies

appearing on the FCC Form 610

documents and verify that the VEs’

certifications are properly completed;

and

(3) For qualified examinees, forward

electronically the data contained on the

FCC Form 610 documents, or forward

the FCC Form 610 documents to: FCC,

1270 Fairfield Road, Gettysburg, PA

17325–7245. When the data is

forwarded electronically, the

coordinating VEC must retain the FCC

Form 610 documents for at least 15

months and make them available to the

FCC upon request.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–9159 Filed 4–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P