Lomita Station – District 17 Disaster Communications Service Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Amateur Radio Net Waiver

Thu 11/19/2009 5:40 PM

You haven't heard much about the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District's disaster amateur radio drills recently--and for good reason.  

We are pleased to report the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District has just received an FCC waiver (see attached) enabling the District's employees who are amateur operators to continue participating in the District's monthly radio-check drills for the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year.  PVPUSD appears to have received the fifth such waiver granted to-date under the FCC's new policy, which followed an ARRL request for clarification to rules in Part 97.

What happened were the following events:

October 20, 2009:  The FCC issued Public Notice DA 09-2259 stipulating that government agencies sponsoring disaster drills must apply for waivers to enable employees with amateur radio licenses to use ham radio during such drills.   Employees could not use amateur radio in any disaster drill without an FCC waiver.

October 22, 2009:  District 17 DCS advised PVPUSD to cancel its scheduled November 3rd radio drill pending FCC guidance.  This drill was immediately canceled.

October 28-29, 2009:  District 17 DCS had email exchanges with the FCC staff seeking clarifications to the language in Public Notice DA 09-2259.

November 4-6, 2009:  We worked with the school district to prepare a four-page waiver request for the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, providing all necessary information.  The school district mailed its waiver request to the FCC on November 6 and it was received on November 16.

November 18, 2009:  The FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau approved PVPUSD's multi-date waiver request and posted it on the FCC website at:  http://wireless.fcc.gov/index.htm?job=headlines

The other amateur radio waiver requests granted so far pursuant to Public Notice DA 09-2259, as noticed on the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau web page, have been for single-date disaster drills by:

• DeWitt County, Illinois, Emergency Services for a nuclear power plant disaster drill;
• Johnson County, Kansas, Emergency Management for a multi-tornado disaster drill in Kansas City metro area;
• Waldo County, Maine, for an EOC test;
• State of Kentucky for a test of emergency response to a chemical agent disaster at Blue Grass Army Depot.

The next PVPUSD school net drill will be at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  Thank you to all for your amateur radio-related work on behalf of the Peninsula's schools and continued support of this project.

Diana Feinberg, T-001
AI6DF