Number 5-96 -- 11 July 1997

CHANGE IN STATION LISCENSE REQUIREMENT

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave the FCC authority to eliminate individual VHF-FM radio licensing requirements for recreational vessels. Pursuant to this Act, the FCC has proposed a new rule governing the operation of "certain domestic . . . ship radio stations without individual licenses." (Federal Register, Wednesday, April 24, 1996, Vol. 61, No. 80, page 18227) The proposed rule will revise Section 80.13 of 47 CFR 80.

Station licenses would no longer be required for marine VHF-FM radio stations, EPIRBs, or radars aboard recreational vessels unless the vessels travel to foreign ports or communicate internationally. Until the FCC publishes the final rule, an interim rule (IR) is in effect to provide a period for public comment. Under the interim rule, a FCC station license is not required nor will one be issued for a marine VHF-FM radio, an EPIRB, or a radar aboard a recreational vessel which does not travel to a foreign port or communicate internationally. Furthermore, the FCC is not accepting applications for licenses aboard recreational craft.

End of the interim period is expected during the current month (July 1996), when the final rule is to be issued. And, we anticipate that the final rule will not require a station license for recreational vessels. Skippers can use the vessel's name for call identification or the call sign, should an old license exist. If you should have questions, help is available from the FCC by using their toll free telephone number 1-800-322-1117.

If a recreational vessel has a single sideband (SSB) radio in the MF or HF band, the current license requirement still applies. This means it must also have a VHF-FM radio and a license for it and the SSB radio, and if it has an EPIRB and/or a radar in addition to the SSB radio, they must also be licensed. The rule suspending the license requirement for recreational vessels applies only to vessels not required to carry a marine VHF-FM radio by statute, treaty, or agreement to which the United States is signatory. Such vessels must still have a licensed radio station.

• passenger ships irrespective of size,
• power driven vessels over 20 meters (65feet) in length,
• vessels documented for commercial use (including fishing vessels),
• Coast Guard inspected vessels carrying more than six passengers for hire,
• vessels of more than 100 gross tons certified to carry at least one passenger on navigable waterways,
• cargo ships over 300 gross tons operating on the open seas,
• "every vessel engaged in towing another vessel or floating object except:
  (1) where the maximum length of the towing vessel is less than eight meters (26 feet) and the length or breadth of the tow is less than 20 meters (65 feet).... and (4) where the tow has been undertaken in an emergency and neither the towing vessel nor the tow can comply with the" requirement.

Recreational vessels must still comply with all other rules and regulations governing the use of VHF-FM radios.

Bob Bills, Branch Chief, Boating Skills and Seamanship