SB QST @ ARL $ARLB055
ARLB055 FCC's streamlining proposals due out soon!

ZCZC AG55
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 55  ARLB055
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  August 7, 1998
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB055
ARLB055 FCC's streamlining proposals due out soon.

The ARRL has learned that the FCC very likely will release its
anxiously awaited ''streamlined'' Part 97 Amateur Service proposals
sometime during the week of August 10.  The document, part of the
Commission's 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review, was adopted July 29,
but it's undergoing some last-minute tweaking prior to public
release.  Editorial fine tuning like this following FCC adoption of
a document is part of the normal process and not considered unusual.

Details of the FCC's license restructuring or Morse code testing
proposals still are not available.  The Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) will carry WT Docket No. 98-143.  It's expected
that the FCC will use the NPRM to respond to some outstanding
amateur rules-related petitions, including RM-9196, which proposed
changes in the administration of CW tests to handicapped
individuals.  The ARRL will release details of the NPRM via a W1AW
bulletin and on the ARRLWeb (http://www.arrl.org) as soon as the
information is available.  It's expected that the FCC will post the
complete set of proposals on its Web site, http://www.fcc.gov.

Word is that the FCC will provide an extended period--something
longer than the typical 30 days--for the amateur community to voice
its comments on the proposals, and additional time also will be
provided for reply comments.  The ARRL released its own Amateur
Radio licensing restructuring plan last month.
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