[OH-KY-IN] FW: HR 5441 New Law for Amateurs

[Nathan R. Ciufo]

-----Original Message-----
From: ARRL Web site [mailto:memberlist at www.arrl.org] 
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:38 AM
To: nanina at fuse.net
Subject: HR 5441 New Law for Amateurs

>From the ARRL website:

NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 4, 2006 -- A section of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) 2007 Appropriations Act, HR 5441, formally includes
Amateur Radio operators as a part of the emergency communications
community. Congress approved the measure before adjourning for its
pre-election break. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law
today. 

Amateur Radio is included within the legislation's Subtitle D, Section
671, known as the "21st Century Emergency Communications Act." Radio
amateurs are among the entities with which a Regional Emergency
Communications Coordination Working Group (RECC Working Group) must
coordinate its activities. Included within the DHS's Office of
Emergency Communications -- which the measure also creates -- RECC
Working Groups attached to each regional DHS office will advise federal
and state homeland security officials. House Subcommittee on Homeland
Security Chairman Rep Harold Rogers (R-KY) sponsored HR 5441. The final
version of the legislation incorporates language from both House and
Senate bills and was hammered out in a conference committee. 

An earlier version of the 21st Century Emergency Communications Act, HR
5852, sponsored by Rep David G. Reichert (R-WA), included Amateur Radio
operators among the members of the RECC Working Groups. 

In addition to Amateur Radio operators, RECC Working Groups also will
coordinate with communications equipment manufacturers and vendors --
including broadband data service providers, local exchange carriers,
local broadcast media, wireless carriers, satellite communications
services, cable operators, hospitals, public utility services,
emergency evacuation transit services, ambulance services, and
representatives from other private sector entities and nongovernmental
organizations. 

According to the bill, the RECC Working Groups will assess the
survivability, sustainability and interoperability of local emergency
communication systems to meet the goals of the National Emergency
Communications Report. That report would recommend how the US could
"accelerate the deployment of interoperable emergency communications
nationwide." 

RECC Working Groups also will be tasked with ensuring a process to
coordinate the establishment of "effective multi-jurisdictional,
multi-agency emergency communications networks" that could be brought
into play following acts of terrorism, natural disasters and other
emergencies. 

At the state and local level, RECC Working Groups will include state
officials; local government officials; law enforcement; local fire
departments; 911 centers; state emergency managers, homeland security
directors or representatives of state administrative agencies; local
emergency managers or homeland security directors, and other emergency
response providers. 

At the federal level, RECC Working Group members will include
representatives of the DHS, the FCC and other federal departments and
agencies responsible for coordinating interoperable emergency
communication with or providing emergency support services to state,
local and tribal governments. 

In the wake of the bill's passage, the ARRL plans to follow up to
determine how it can interact with the DHS and its Office of Emergency
Communications.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Kentucky Section
Section Manager: John D. Meyers, NB4K
nb4k at arrl.org
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