Just in time for Christmas, the FCC has postponed the date for hams to comply with the new RF-exposure regulations from January 1, 1997, to January 1, 1998. The ARRL was among those requesting the delay. The League said that the additional time was needed for the FCC to draft implementation guidelines and for amateurs to use them to comply with the regulations (released Aug. 1, 1996 as ET Docket 93-62).
FCC Report No. DC 96-112 announced the amendment of the rules to extend the transition period for licensees to determine compliance with the new bioeffects requirements for RF transmitters. The League obtained a copy of the report just before noon on Christmas Eve.
The time extension to January 1, 1998, will allow changes to Amateur Radio operator examinations to be made along with routine revisions between now and July 1, 1998, rather than requiring hurried special revisions. Among the reasons for requesting the extension was the desire to permit licensees to make a more orderly entrance into this new area, to allow time for information to be promulgated to hams to ensure that they have the information at their disposal to comply with the new rules, and to allow time for appropriate questions to be inserted into the question pools for the various amateur license exams.
In Report No. DC 96-112, the FCC said it disagreed with those petitioners who suggested that the time extension ‘’will have significant adverse effects on public health.’’ The entire text of Report DC 96-112 may be found on the ARRLWeb at http://www.arrl.org/fcc/dc96-112.html (or click on What’s New or RF Safety News).
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Now you can use the ARRLWeb page to search for clubs and examination sites. The ARRL Affiliated Clubs page lets you search for affiliated clubs based on state, ZIP Code (you can search within 20, 50 or 100 miles of the ZIP Code you select) or ARRL section. The ARRL Exam Session Search lets you find exam sessions by state or ZIP Code (you can search within 20, 50 or 100 miles of the ZIP Code you select). You can even find US ham radio test sessions in other countries. Click on Clubs or Exams on the ARRLWeb page, or, to get right to the club search, set your browser to http://www.arrl.org/field/club/clubsearch.phtml. The exam search engine is at http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml.
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