04/12/2021
The
FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a
lengthy 2019??governing
RF exposure standards go into effect on May 3, 2021. The
new rules do not change existing RF exposure (RFE)
limits but do require that stations in all services,
including amateur radio, be evaluated against existing
limits, unless they are exempted. For stations already
in place, that evaluation must be completed by May 3,
2023. After May 3 of this year, any new station, or any
existing station modified in a way that¡¯s likely to
change its RFE profile ¡ª such as different antenna or
placement or greater power ¡ª will need to conduct an
evaluation by the date of activation or change.
¡°In
the RF?Report
and Order, the Commission anticipated that few
parties would have to conduct?reevaluations
under the new rules and that such evaluations will be
relatively straightforward,¡± the FCC said in an April
2?Public
Notice. ¡°It?nevertheless
adopted a 2-year period for parties to verify and
ensure compliance under the new rules.¡±
The
Amateur Service is no longer categorically excluded
from certain aspects of the rules, as amended, and
licensees can no longer?avoid
performing an exposure assessment simply because they
are transmitting below a given power level.
¡°For
most amateurs, the major difference is the removal of
the categorical exclusion for amateur radio, which means
that ham station owners must determine if they either
qualify for an exemption or must perform a routine
environmental evaluation,¡± said Greg Lapin, N9GL, chair
of the ARRL RF Safety Committee and a member of the FCC
Technological Advisory Council (TAC).
¡°Ham
stations previously excluded from performing
environmental evaluations will have until May 3, 2023,
to perform these. After May 3, 2021, any new stations or
those modified in a way that affects RF exposure must
comply before being put into service,¡± Lapin said.
The
December 2019 RF?Report
and Order?changes the methods that
many radio services use to determine and achieve
compliance with?FCC?limits
on human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. The
FCC also modified the process?for
determining whether a particular device or deployment
is exempt from a more thorough analysis by replacing a?service-specific
list of transmitters, facilities, and operations for
which evaluation is required with new?streamlined
formula-based criteria. The?R&O?also
addressed?how
to perform evaluations where the exemption does not
apply, and how to?mitigate
exposure.
Amateur
radio licensees will have to determine whether any
existing facilities previously excluded under the old
rules now qualify for an exemption under the new
rules. Most will, but some may not.
The
ARRL Laboratory staff is available to help amateurs to
make these determinations and, if needed, perform the
necessary calculations to ensure their stations comply.
ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, who helped
prepare ARRL¡¯s?RF
Exposure and You?book, explained it
this way. ¡°The FCC did not change any of the underlying
rules applicable to amateur station evaluations,¡± he
said. ¡°The sections of the book on how to perform
routine station evaluations are still valid and usable,
especially the many charts of common antennas at
different heights.¡± Hare said ARRL Lab staff also would
be available to help amateurs understand the rules and
evaluate their stations.¡±
RF
Exposure and You?is??from
ARRL. ARRL also has an??on its
website.
The
ARRL RF Safety Committee is working with the FCC to
update the FCC¡¯s aids for following human exposure rules
¡ª?OET
Bulletin 65?and?OET
Bulletin 65 Supplement B for Radio Amateurs. In
addition, ARRL is developing tools that all hams can use
to perform exposure assessments.?
