The ARRL has
filed a petition for rulemaking with the FCC requesting the inclusion of
provisions of the Amateur Radio Parity Act in its rules for the Amateur Radio
Service. The bill is intended to protect the rights of amateurs to put up
antennas and operate from homes that are covered by restrictive covenants or
homeowner association rules, many of which prohibit outdoor antennas and/or any
amateur radio operation. The Parity Act bill was passed by the House of
Representatives but not by the Senate, and died at the end of the 2017-18
session of Congress.
According to the ARRL Letter, the specific proposal is to
add a new rule prohibiting the enactment or enforcement of any private land use
restriction that fails to permit amateur radio operation, fails to permit
installation of an effective outdoor antenna or does not meet the "minimum
practicable restriction" standard that already applies to state and local
laws and ordinances. The final language of the Parity Act bill - which the
League wants incorporated into the FCC rules - was controversial because some
antenna law experts felt it might cause more harm than good, requiring all
amateurs living with private land use restrictions to request permission to put
up any antenna, including those not currently required to do so.
The FCC had not
taken any action on the petition prior to the federal government shutdown in
early January.
