The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will invite public comments in response to recommendations presented this month by the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks.

A Notice of Proposed Rule Making that can be found at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-83A1.pdf>NPRM
in EB Docket 06-119, released earlier this year, contains wide-ranging proposals and considerations that could involve FCC rule or administrative changes, a few of which deal with the Amateur Radio Service.

"The devastation of Hurricane Katrina highlighted the importance of telecommunications and media to our daily lives, and our dependency on our national communications infrastructure," remarked FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin in a statement attached to the NPRM. "With this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, we are asking for comments and
suggestions from the public on how to best address and implement the Independent Panel's recommendations."

Ham Radio Part of the Solution, Panel Told

Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) Alabama Section Manager Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, addressed the Independent Panel on March 7 to note that Amateur Radio volunteers "were part of the solution, providing experienced communications operators to replace and supplement local public service communications personnel in the devastated area." For 37 days following Hurricane Katrina, Sarratt -- working at an American Red Cross disaster relief staging area in Montgomery, Alabama - headed the volunteer effort to process Amateur Radio volunteers headed to the Gulf Coast to assist recovery operations.

Sarratt told the FCC panel that his operation ultimately was able to process and deploy more than 200 Amateur Radio volunteers from 35 states and Canada to devastated communities in Mississippi. In his remarks, Sarratt cited interoperability as the most important thing Amateur Radio can bring to the table in emergency and disaster communications.

"Amateurs demonstrated their adaptability by communicating successfully with a multitude of amateur, commercial, public service, EMA, Salvation Army and Red Cross radio systems and personnel," he said.

Among other things, Sarratt recommended installing permanent Amateur Radio stations in federal, state and local emergency operations centers as well as at selected public service, Red Cross chapters and other served agencies. He further suggested that the Commission and the ARRL:
* collaborate to issue FCC credentials to the ARRL for Amateur
Radio responders.
* be key partners in an Amateur Radio awareness program for
multiple government agencies and the first-responder community.
* continue working together on critical frequency spectrum
protection and interference-avoidance issues.

Earlier this year, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, named Sarratt to serve on the ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee.

Panel Report Praises Ham Radio Volunteers

The Independent Panel's report points out that Amateur Radio stations were among those segments of the communications infrastructure adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina. It also praised the efforts of radio amateurs.

"Equipment was damaged or lost due to the storm, and trained amateurs were difficult to find in the immediate aftermath," the report said. "However, once called into help, Amateur Radio operators volunteered to support many agencies, such as FEMA, the National Weather Service, Hurricane Watch [Net] and the American Red Cross."

The Independent Panel pointed out that Amateur Radio volunteers provided communication in many locations where no other means of communicating existed. Hams also provided other technical aid to communities affected by Hurricane Katrina, the panel's report said. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/06/20/5/Katrina-SATERN-Ed-lrg.jpg, Salvation Army Team Emergency Network, http://www.satern.org/SATERN Volunteer Ed Manly, W4AGA, set up an emergency communication post outside Yankie Stadium in Biloxi, Mississippi, following Hurricane Katrina.

Proactive Pre-Positioning

Chaired by former NTIA Administrator Nancy Victory, the Independent Panel's recommendations note that the sheer force of Hurricane Katrina and the extensive flooding "severely tested the reliability and resiliency of communications networks in the Gulf Coast region." The panel recommended adopting "a proactive (rather than reactive)
program for network reliability and resiliency."

In its NPRM, the FCC asked if should explore amending its rules to permit automatic grants of certain types of waivers or special temporary authority (STA) in declared disaster areas. "As a condition of the waiver or STA, the FCC could require verbal or written notification to the Commission staff contemporaneously with activation or promptly after the fact," the NPRM suggested. Following last year's devastating hurricanes, the FCC issued a handful of STAs to permit licensees lacking HF privileges to operate on HF for emergency purposes. The NPRM offered these specific areas for
consideration.

* Waiver of Amateur Radio and license-exempt rules, permitting transmissions necessary to meet essential communications needs.
* Waiver of application filing deadlines, something the FCC did last fall for amateurs who lived in hurricane-stricken states.
* Streamlined STA process, so parties in the affected area may simply notify the FCC in writing or verbally of a need to operate in order to restore service.

Lessons Learned

"The Independent Panel's report described the impact of the worst natural disaster in the nation's history, as well as the overall public and private response and recovery efforts," the FCC said in its NPRM. "Our goal in this proceeding is to take the lessons learned
from this disaster and build upon them to promote more effective, efficient response and recovery efforts, as well as heightened readiness and preparedness, in the future."

The Commission also said it wants to hear comments on "other steps beyond those recommended by the panel that we could take within our statutory authority and jurisdiction to improve or strengthen network resiliency and reliability."

Comments will be due 30 days from the date the NPRM is published in the Federal Register and may be filed via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/>ECFS).