Legislation

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Looking for volunteers to serve as Local Government Liaisons (LGL) in the Maryland-DC Section of the ARRL.

As the State Government Liaison Officer of the Maryland-DC Section of ARRL, it is my duty to monitor legislative and regulatory proposals having the potential to affect the Amateur Radio community at the state and local levels.

Some of my responsibilities include the following:

·        Collecting and promulging information on state legislation and regulation affecting Amateur Radio and works closely with Clubs and the Section Manager(s) in assuring that the laws work to the mutual benefit of society and the Amateur Radio Service.

·        Guides, encourages and supports individual radio amateurs and clubs in representing the interests of the Amateur Radio Service at all levels, including the federal level, when needed and coordinated with the ARRL Headquarters.

·        Report directly to the Section Manager regularly and also keeps ARRL Headquarters informed of all appropriate activities and developments involving the interface of Amateur Radio and government legislative or regulatory matters, particularly those with policy implications.

·        Have access to, or a relationship with, the bill room at the state capitol in order to examine legislation as it is introduced.

·        Monitor the dockets of relevant state agencies such as the department of environmental protection, which might promulgate regulations affecting Amateur Radio

·        In addition, I need to be aware of proposals and actions at the local county government and municipality level which may affect Amateur Radio, and alert section leadership officials and the ARRL to any such proposals or actions, and for coordinating local responses.

It is the bulleted item underlined above in which I will need help in the monitoring of legislative and/or regulatory proposals affecting amateur radio at each of the 23 Maryland counties and the three cities of Baltimore, Ocean City, and Washington D.C. Each county and city are organized according to the five (5) regions provided below.

     Western Region: Allegany, Garrett, Washington, Frederick, and Carroll Counties

     North Central Region: Anne Arundel, Baltimore (including Baltimore City), Harford, Howard, and
Montgomery Counties

    South Central Region: Charles, Calvert, Prince Georges, St Mary’s County and Washington D.C.

    North Eastern Region: Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Caroline Counties

    South Eastern Region: Somerset, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester (to include Ocean City) Counties

I am requesting one volunteer for each of the five regions, who is a member of ARRL and resident of Maryland or D.C.

You can access the full set of duties for the LGL position here.  If you are interested, please send your name, and contact information to me.

You can also apply for the LGL position Here

LGLs are appointed by and report to the Section Manager, or State Government Liaison (acting under delegated authority from the SM).

 

State Legislation, and Zoning affecting Amateur Radio Operators

Provided below is information on legislation and zoning for amateur radio operators. More often than not, this involves antenna placement, but it could also include other concerns such as RFI issues.

If you need legal advice regarding Maryland or DC law, you can search for an ARRL Volunteer Counsel at this link.

If you want general information about antenna regulation and zoning issues, here are some resources you might find helpful.

The ARRL has an introductory page regarding Antenna Regulation and Zoning. The QST article link provides a good starting point. The page regarding PRB-1 will also prove very useful. PRB-1 is an FCC policy document which has been incorporated into the FCC rules. This FCC policy provides limited federal preemption of state antenna laws. Under this policy, state and local governments are required to reasonably accommodate amateur operations, although they may still have reasonable height, safety, and aesthetic regulations. Obviously, this isn’t very black and white, but it can provide a powerful tool for contesting unreasonable local antenna regulations.

On October 1, 2022 Maryland codified the essence of the PRB-1 policy documents into law -Maryland. Code, Local Government § 1-1317, Amateur radio station antenna structures.

Another excellent resource is the website of fellow volunteer counsel Fred Hoppengarten, K1VR, http://antennazoning.com/. In particular, his legal library page provides an enormous amount of resources that will be useful to you or, should the need arise, your attorney.

The single best resource, however, is Fred’s book, Antenna Zoning for the Radio Amateur. The best time to read this book is before you put up your new tower. By following the advice contained in this book, you will potentially save yourself thousands of dollars. But if you are currently embroiled in a dispute, this book is a must. Chances are, your family attorney is not familiar with antenna zoning, and certainly doesn’t know anything about PRB-1. It is worth reading this book before you call your attorney, since you will be able to intelligently discuss the issue with your attorney and help educate him or her. Your lawyer will probably want to borrow the book, since it will save him or her hours of research.

This book is available at the ARRL website. The cost is about $50. This book will save you thousands of dollars in legal fees. As a VC, I’m happy to provide a free initial consultation. But I take such requests much more seriously if my potential client tells me that he or she has made the minimal investment of buying this book and reading it.

The book on the ARRL website is the third edition, published in 2021. Used copies are often available at Amazon through this link, often at a much lower cost. However, most of the used copies appear to be the first edition, which was published in 2001. These older copies will still be useful to educate yourself about the general issues you will encounter. The general law hasn’t changed much since 2001. However, the 2021 edition will be up-to-date with the most current court rulings. Therefore, if you anticipate that there will be problems with your antenna, you should buy the current edition directly from ARRL. More information is available at the author’s website.

Amateur radios and homeowners associations (HOA) and restrictive covenants are a more complex issue.  The U.S. Congress has been working for more than 3 decades to develop legislation to protect the amateur radio enthusiast dwelling in HOA’s or have restrictive covenants on their deeds.  It’s not impossible but there are many stories of amateur radio operators who have been successful with alternative solutions to operating their stations in an HOA.

I’m available to provide guidance to members who have questions or problems about matters in this area.

 

Reasonable Accommodation – Legal Standard in Amateur Radio Antenna Placement.