Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 24, 1996 / Proposed Rules 18227

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 80 and 87

[CC Docket No. 96–82, FCC 96–145]

Operation of Certain Domestic Ship

and Aircraft Radio Stations Without

Individual Licenses

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the 1996

Telecommunications Act, this NPRM

proposes to amend the Commission’s

rules regarding ship and aircraft radio

stations, to remove the individual radio

licensing requirement and to authorize

by rule the operation of radio equipment

on recreational vessels and aircraft. The

Federal Communications Commission

(‘‘Commission’’) tentatively concludes

that individual licenses are unnecessary

for either the safety or operational

requirements of these vessels and

aircraft. It also tentatively concludes

that individual licensing is unnecessary

to meet its regulatory and spectrum

management responsibilities with

regard to these services, and that

eliminating the individual licensing

requirement will remove an

unnecessary regulatory burden on the

public. This proposed rule is being

considered with the adoption of interim

rules published concurrently in the

Federal Register.

DATES: Comments are due on or before

May 10, 1996. Reply comments are due

on or before May 20, 1996. Informal

comments may be filed on or before

May 20, 1996.

ADDRESSES: You must send comments

and reply comments to the Office of the

Secretary, Federal Communications

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20554.

You may also file informal comments by

electronic mail. You should address

informal comments to

smagnott@fcc.gov. You must put the

docket number of this proceeding on the

subject line (‘‘WT Docket No. 96–82’’).

You must also include your full name

and Postal Service mailing address in

the text of the message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Magnotti, Private Wireless

Division, Wireless Telecommunications

Bureau, (202) 418–0871, or at

smagnott@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

synopsis of the Commission’s Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking in WT Docket No.

96–82, adopted April 1, 1996, and

released April 12, 1996.

The complete text of the Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking 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., and also may be

purchased from the Commission’s copy

contractor, International Transcription

Services, at (202) 857–3800, 1919 M

Street, N.W., Room 246, Washington,

D.C. 20554.

Synopsis of Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking

This Notice of Proposed Rule Making

(NPRM) proposes to revise the

Commission’s rules pursuant to Section

307(e) of the Communications Act of

1934 (the ‘‘Communications Act’’), as

amended by Section 403(i) of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996. With

this NPRM, the Commission proposes to

revise its rules for the Maritime Services

and the Aviation Services to reflect our

conclusion that this individual licensing

requirement should be removed.

Section 403(i) of the 1996

Telecommunications Act amended

Section 307(e)(1) of the

Communications Act as follows:

[I]f the Commission determines that such

authorization serves the public interest,

convenience, and necessity, the Commission

may by rule authorize the operation of radio

stations without individual licenses in . . . (C)

the aviation radio service for aircraft stations

operated on domestic flights when such

aircraft are not otherwise required to carry a

radio station; and (D) the maritime radio

service for ship stations navigated on

domestic voyages when such ships are not

otherwise required to carry a radio station.

Pursuant to this statutory authority, the

Commission tentatively concludes that

it serves the public interest,

convenience, and necessity to authorize,

by rule, recreational vessel and aircraft

radio stations. Accordingly, the

Commission proposes to amend its rules

to remove the individual radio licensing

requirement for these vessels and

aircraft. Under this proposal, the

Commission would eliminate the

requirement that members of the public

have an individual license to operate a

marine VHF radio, any type of

emergency position indicating radio

beacon (EPIRB), and/or radar on board

a recreational vessel. Similarly, the

Commission would eliminate the

requirement that members of the public

have an individual license to operate a

VHF aircraft radio and/or any type of

emergency locator transmitter (ELT) on

board a recreational aircraft.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Reason for action. The purpose of this

NPRM is to determine, pursuant to the

Telecommunications Act of 1996,

whether it is in the public interest,

convenience, and necessity to amend

the rules to remove the individual radio

licensing requirement for vessels and

aircraft that operate domestically and

are not subject to the radio carriage

requirements of any statute or treaty.

Objectives. The objective of this

NPRM is to request public comment on

the proposals made herein.

Legal basis. The authority for this

action is the Administrative Procedure

Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553; and Sections 4(i),

4(j), 301, 303(r), and 307(e) of the

Communications Act of 1934 as

amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 145, 301, 303(r)

and 307(e).

Reporting, recordkeeping and other

compliance requirements. Compliance

requirements would be reduced if the

proposal in this NPRM is adopted.

Federal rules which overlap,

duplicate or conflict with these rules.

None.

Description, potential impact and

number of small entities involved. Most

applicants for individual recreational

licenses are individuals. However, to

the extent any are small entities, the

proposed rule would eliminate the

burden of filing for individual

recreational vessel or aircraft licenses.

Significant Alternatives. None.

Ordering Clauses

Accordingly, it is ordered that this

Notice of Proposed Rule Making is

hereby adopted.

It is further ordered that the Secretary

shall mail a copy of this document to

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small

Business Administration, the

Administrator, Federal Aviation

Administration, and the Commander,

United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 80

Radio, Vessels.

47 CFR Part 87

Radio.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–10162 Filed 4–23–96; 8:45 am]

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