Regulation & Advocacy

From EMA ARRL Section News, September 30, 2020:

For almost a year now, the Massachusetts Department of Motor Vehicles has been unable to process new “Ham Operator” special plate applications. According to one Western Massachusetts amateur who spoke to a DMV employee, “[…] the person I talked to informed me that this issue has been referred to the software company/vendor. No estimate has been placed on a resolution. She refused to tell me how many applications are being held up. I asked if there was anyone I could refer this to, she declined and said there was no one to escalate it to.”

At the request of Western MA Section Manager Ray Lajoie, KB1LRL, MA State Government Liaison Hank McCarl, W4RIG, contacted MA State Senator Bruce Tarr’s office to inquire. A legislative spokesperson from that office informed Hank that all special series and vanity license plates that have specific letter-number requests are currently impacted. However, plates for which numbers are sequentially assigned; e.g., 0001 through 9999, are being processed.

How many other amateurs in Massachusetts have been affected by this snafu at the DMV? Please write and let us know at <k1tw@arrl.org>

From ARRL Web:

09/03/2020 – Comments are being accepted on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which proposes application fees for radio amateurs. Formal deadlines for comments and reply comments will be determined once the NPRM appears in the Federal Register. Comments may be filed now, however, by using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), posting to MD Docket No. 20-270. The docket is already open for accepting comments, even though deadlines have not yet been set.

From the ARRL Website, 08/28/2020:

Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed this week. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.

The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.”

The Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. In its NPRM, the FCC proposed application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service that had been excluded by an earlier statute. The new statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees. [Full story]

George’s Old Timers Net folks put together a one-page version of MGL 90:13 suitable to print out and put in your glovebox with a copy of your ham radio license.  –Thanks, Terry Stader, KA8SCP

From Framingham Wicked Local, Posted Jan 9, 2020 at 6:37 PM Updated Jan 10, 2020 at 7:30 AM by Jeannette Hinkle:

Filippov is an amateur ham radio operator who lives at 273 Prospect St., which is where he wants to build the tower. The city issued him a building permit, and Filippov started to pour the foundation.

Then his neighbors found out.

Since then, those neighbors have been mounting a vigorous campaign to halt the project, which they argue would be a dangerous eyesore that scars the neighborhood and hurts families’ nest eggs. On top of all that, the tower as proposed is illegal, they said.

Eastern Massachusetts Section Manager Tom Walsh, K1TW, writes on the ARRL Members Only mailing list on November 21, 2019 at 7:09 PM:

The outpouring of concern statewide from the Amateur Radio Community regarding the impact of the Distracted Driving Law has gotten the attention of our Legislators on Beacon Hill in Boston.  Ray, KB1LRL, and Tom, K1TW,  wish to thank all the ARRL members in both Western and Eastern Massachusetts who communicated our concerns so effectively as a community to the Senators and Representatives and staff across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This afternoon Tom Walsh, K1TW, Eastern Massachusetts Section Manager was contacted by the General Counsel of the Joint Committee on Transportation.  After discussing these concerns, Ray and Tom were asked to convey the following guidance to our members in both Eastern and Western Massachusetts sections.  This guidance is intended to assure everyone that the new law “permits use of a “federally licensed 2–way radio” provided that “1 hand remains on the steering wheel at all times.”.  Clearly this is good news.

We are pleased to receive this opinion in writing which states “that a person may operate a motor vehicle while using a federally licensed 2–way radio or mobile telephone, except as provided in sections 8M, 12A and 13B, as long as 1 hand remains on the steering wheel at all times”.

This statement above appears in the first sentence of Section 13, of the Massachusetts General Laws as referenced in the final bill.

Below is the full text as received today from the General Counsel of the Joint Committee on Transportation.  It is the best clarification we have in writing at this point that the law will not apply to a 2-way mobile radio operation.

Ray Lajoie, KB1LRL,
ARRL Section Manager Western Massachusetts

Tom Walsh, K1TW
ARRL Section Manager Eastern Massachusetts

—

COMMUNICATION RECEIVED FROM:

General Counsel of the Joint Committee on Transportation.

Thank you very much for the chance to speak earlier concerning H4203, the distracted driving legislation that is now before the Governor. It is the Committee’s view that the legislation does not alter, amend or limit existing language in section 13 of chapter 90 of the General Laws that expressly permits use of a “federally licensed 2–way radio” provided that “1 hand remains on the steering wheel at all times.” I have reproduced GL 90:13 below and highlighted the relevant provision.

Section 13: Safety precautions for proper operation and parking of vehicles and buses Section 13. No person, when operating a motor vehicle, shall permit to be on or in the vehicle or on or about his person anything which may interfere with or impede the proper operation of the vehicle or any equipment by which the vehicle is operator or controlled, except that a person may operate a motor vehicle while using a federally licensed 2–way radio or mobile telephone, except as provided in sections 8M, 12A and 13B, as long as 1 hand remains on the steering wheel at all times. No person having control or charge of a motor vehicle, except a person having control or charge of a police, fire or other emergency vehicle in the course of responding to an emergency or a person having control or charge of a motor vehicle while engaged in the delivery or acceptance of goods, wares or merchandise for which the vehicle’s engine power is necessary for the loading or unloading of such goods, wares or merchandise, shall allow such vehicle to stand in any way and remain unattended without stopping the engine of said vehicle, effectively setting the brakes thereof or making it fast, and locking and removing the key from the locking device and from the vehicle. Whenever a bus having a seating capacity of more than seven passengers, a truck weighing, unloaded, more than four thousand pounds, or a tractor, trailer, semi-trailer or combination thereof, shall be parked on a way, on a grade sufficient to cause such vehicle to move of its own momentum, and is left unattended by the operator, one pair of adequate wheel safety chock blocks shall be securely placed against the rear wheels of such vehicle so as to prevent movement thereof. The provisions of the preceding sentence shall not apply to a vehicle equipped with positive spring-loaded air parking brakes. No person shall drive any motor vehicle equipped with any television viewer, screen or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast which is located in the motor vehicle at any point forward of the back of the driver’s seat, or which is visible to the driver while operating such motor vehicle. Whoever operates a motorcycle on the ways of the commonwealth shall ride only upon the permanent and regular seat attached thereto, and he shall not carry any other person, nor allow any other person to ride, on such motorcycle unless it is designed to carry more than one person, in which case a passenger may ride upon the permanent and regular seat if such seat is designed for two persons, or upon another seat which is intended for a passenger and is firmly attached to the motorcycle to the rear of the operator if proper foot rests are provided for the passenger’s use, or upon a seat which is intended for a passenger and is firmly attached to the motorcycle in a side car. No person shall operate a motor vehicle, commonly known as a pick-up truck, nor shall the owner permit it to be operated, for a distance more than five-miles, in excess of five-miles per hour, with persons under twelve years of age in the body of such truck, unless such truck is part of an official parade, or has affixed to it a legal ”Owner Repair” or ”Farm” license plate or a pick-up truck engaged in farming activities. No person, except firefighters or garbage collectors, or operators of fire trucks or garbage trucks, or employees of public utility companies, acting pursuant to and during the course of their duties, or such other persons exempted by regulation from the application of this section or by limited application by special permit granted by the selectmen in a town or of the city council in a city, shall hang onto the outside of, or the rear-end of any vehicle, and no person on a pedacycle, motorcycle, roller skates, sled, or any similar device, shall hold fast or attach the device to any moving vehicle, and no operator of a motor vehicle shall knowingly permit any person to hang onto or ride on the outside or rear-end of the vehicle or streetcar, or allow any person on a pedacycle, motorcycle, roller skates, sled, or any similar device, to hold fast or attach the device to the motor vehicle operated on any highway. No person or persons, except firefighters acting pursuant to their official duties, or a person exempted by regulation from the application of this section or by application by special permit granted by the board of selectmen in a town or by the city council in a city, shall occupy a trailer or semi-trailer while such trailer or semi-trailer is being towed, pushed or drawn or is otherwise in motion upon any way. No person shall operate a motor vehicle while wearing headphones, unless said headphones are used for communication in connection with controlling the course or movement of said vehicle. 

General Counsel Joint Committee on Transportation

State House Room 134 Boston, MA 02133

——————————————————————–
ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Thomas D Walsh, K1TW
k1tw@arrl.org
——————————————————————–

From WCVB:

BOSTON–Massachusetts drivers would no longer be able to use hand-held cellphones behind the wheel under a bill approved by state lawmakers.

The Senate voted 38-1 in favor of the bill Wednesday. The House approved it on a 153-1 vote Tuesday.

The legislation now heads to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker for his signature. Baker has expressed support for a ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones and filed a bill earlier this year that included similar language.

Baker’s press secretary said Wednesday that the governor will carefully review the legislation.

Hands-free cellphones would still be allowed. Massachusetts already bans texting while driving. The bill would impose fines of $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and $500 for a subsequent offense.

The bill would also require the Registry of Motor Vehicles to collect data from traffic stops, including the driver’s age, race and gender without identifying the driver. [Full story]

Eastern MA Section Manager Tom Walsh, K1TW, and Western MA Section Manager Ray Lajoie, KB1LRL write:

Based on information we have recently received, it may be time to contact your State Representatives concerning the MA Distracted Driving Bill.  Over the weekend, Ray, KB1LRL and Tom, K1TW posted on both the WMA and EMA websites the following news item:

https://wma.arrl.org/

https://ema.arrl.org/2019/11/16/ma-lawmakers-announce-surprise-agreement-on-distracted-driving-legislation/

Concerns are being raised across the sections asking what the impact this bill has on amateur radio in the state.  Since the hands-free bills were first filed, Eastern Massachusetts ARRL State Government Liaison, Hank W4RIG, has  been closely coordinating with Senator Bruce Tarr, who is the Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader and a radio amateur. Previously the Senator’s office reported to Hank that Amateur Radio operation would not be impacted by earlier versions of the bill.

With the hands-free bill finally clearing committee on the weekend and ready for a vote, I asked Hank to contact the Senators office once again.  Hank reports he has been in touch with the staff at Senator Tarr’s office and with these most recent changes they can no longer confirm there will be no impact on  amateur radio mobile operation.

My understanding is the problem results from the substitution in the final text from committee of “mobile electronic device” in place of “mobile telephone”. In the original wording, the definition of a mobile telephone in Massachusetts General Law specifically excludes amateur radios and citizen band radios.  The definition in Massachusetts General Law of “mobile electronic device” does not contain any exclusion for amateur radios and citizen band radios.

Senator Tarr’s office said they are trying to correct this.

This may be an appropriate time to contact your Massachusetts Representative and Senator politely asking them to incorporate the same words to exclude amateur radio from the revised bill as was previously contained in the definition of mobile telephone.

This website will help you find contact information for your State Legislators if you do not already have it:
 https://malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator.

73,

Ray Lajoie, KB1LRL (WMA Section Manager)
Tom Walsh K1TW  (EMA Section Manager)

ADDITIONAL UPDATE:

On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 1:36 PM Tom Walsh <k1tw@comcast.net> writes:

I have an update from the Eastern Massachusetts ARRL State Government Liaison (SGL), Hank W4RIG.  Hank reports he has been in touch with the staff at Senator Tarr’s office and they are not able to confirm there will be no impact on  amateur radio mobile operation. 

My understanding is the problem results from the substitution in the final text from committee of the words “mobile electronic device” in place of  “mobile telephone”. 

In the original wording,  the definition of a mobile telephone in Massachusetts General Law specifically excludes amateur radios and citizen band radios.  The definition of a “mobile electronic device” does not have this exclusion.

I decided to call my House Representative and Senator and ask the definition of mobile electronic device in the bill and General Laws include the amateur radio exclusion.

Senator Tarr’s office said they are also trying to correct this.

ARRL Section Manager Tom Walsh, K1TW, writes on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 12:54 AM:

“Eastern Massachusetts ARRL State Government Liaison, Hank W4RIG, is working the issue [of hands-free legislation].  Hank is also President of the Cape Anne Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) in Gloucester. 

“Since the hands-free bills were first filed, Hank has been closely coordinating with Senator Bruce Tarr, who is the Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader and a radio amateur.  Previously the Senator’s office reported to Hank that Amateur Radio operation would not be impacted by earlier versions of the bill.  I believe this was based on the Massachusetts General Laws which apply to all bills.  The General Laws state that a ‘mobile telephone’ shall not include amateur radios. 

“Over the weekend, we posted the following news item on our EMA web site https://ema.arrl.org/2019/11/16/ma-lawmakers-announce-surprise-agreement-on-distracted-driving-legislation/

“With the hands-free bill finally clearing committee on the weekend and ready for a vote, I asked Hank to contact the Senators office once again to confirm amateur radio operations were not affected.  We are awaiting that confirmation.  If Hank can get the confirmation or further clarification, I will post the information on https://ema.arrl.org/ .”

Don Greenbaum, N1DG, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, has been appointed to the NOAA/US Fish and Wildlife Service Community Group. He will participate in meetings to discuss the development of the Monument Management Plan that will provide for effective direction over the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM). He will serve as a citizen-at-large representative.  [Full story]

WCVB.com:

Boston — After several years and failed attempts, Massachusetts lawmakers have taken a major step toward enacting a law to restrict the use of handheld electronic devices by drivers.

State Rep. Bill Straus and state Sen. Joe Boncore issued a statement late Friday (November 15, 2019) announcing the six-member conference committee had reached an agreement on the bill, although they did not reveal the text of the final compromise.

In July, the committee appeared to have reached an impasse after Senate negotiators refused to sign off on details that House lawmakers thought had been resolved. Earlier that day, Straus and Boncore had announced an “agreement in principle,” but it vanished within hours as the two sides debated wording of the bill. 

See also:

Massachusetts Hands-free Mobile Device Legislation Update
Proposed MA Legislation Seeks to Require Hands-free Cell Phone Use While Driving

 

BOSTON (AP), June 6 — A bill that would bar Massachusetts drivers from using hand-held cellphones behind the wheel has moved one step closer to becoming law.

The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to approve the bill that would also ramp up the collection of data on traffic stops around the state, after concerns were raised by minority legislators that a cellphone law could lead to more racial profiling.

See also: Massachusetts Hands-Free Mobile Device Legislation Update

Hands-free mobile device legislation moved one step closer to becoming law, passing in the Massachusetts House on May 16. But by all accounts Amateur Radio operation while driving will remain unaffected.

Eastern Massachusetts section staff who have been in touch with legislative aides in both the House and Senate have learned the language that defines mobile devices will continue to exempt “federally-licensed 2-way radios.”

“MGL Chapter 90 Section 13 provides for the use of a federally licensed 2-way radio while driving. The hands-free bill being considered (House Bill 3793) does not alter this provision,” according to a staffer in Rep. Ferrante’s office. Another staffer from Rep. Hecht’s office also confirmed the preservation of the existing language in Chapter 90 Section 13 pertaining to federally licensed 2-way radios.

The full text of the H.3793 can be found at
<https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3793>.

The text of General Law Part I, Section XIV, Chapter 90, Section 13 can be found at <https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section13>.

The Massachusetts Senate is expected to take up the measure in June.

From the ARRL Letter, March 7, 2019:

In what may be a first in the effort to crack down on unlicensed broadcasters, the United States has filed a civil action to stop a church-related pirate radio station from operating in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office is seeking an injunction to shut down the station, operating on 97.1 MHz.

“This groundbreaking step, for an injunction to stop a pirate radio operator’s illegal activities, is part of our continued efforts to combat illegal broadcasting,” FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold said this week. “As we work with our law enforcement colleagues to use every tool in our toolbox to combat pirate radio, I welcome the Justice Department’s renewed use of its Section 401(a) injunction authority. Along with fines, equipment seizures, and warnings, this action underlines our continued interest in combatting this serious problem.”

The FCC already has fined operator Vasco Oburoni and Christian Praise International Church $15,000 for repeated violations of its rules against unlicensed operation. The complaint recounts that Oburoni and the church first began operating an unlicensed station in Worcester on 102.3 MHz. After issuing multiple warnings, the FCC levied the $15,000 penalty, and Oburoni agreed to a payment plan. But later, he began broadcasting again, this time on 97.1 MHz. At least one licensed broadcaster has complained to the FCC, citing interference concerns.