Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 466 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to amend its rules so as to prohibit the application to amateur stations of certain private land use restrictions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 10, 2019 Mr. KINZINGER (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. WALDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to amend its rules so as to prohibit the application to amateur stations of certain private land use restrictions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amateur Radio Parity 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H466.IH H466 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 466 IH (1) More than 730,000 radio amateurs in the 1 United States are licensed by the Federal Commu- 2 nications Commission in the amateur radio services. 3 (2) Amateur radio, at no cost to taxpayers, pro- 4 vides a fertile ground for technical self-training in 5 modern telecommunications, electronics technology, 6 and emergency communications techniques and pro- 7 tocols. 8 (3) There is a strong Federal interest in the ef- 9 fective performance of amateur stations established 10 at the residences of licensees. Such stations have 11 been shown to be frequently and increasingly pre- 12 cluded by unreasonable private land use restrictions, 13 including restrictive covenants. 14 (4) Federal Communications Commission regu- 15 lations have for three decades prohibited the applica- 16 tion to stations in the amateur service of State and 17 local regulations that preclude or fail to reasonably 18 accommodate amateur service communications, or 19 that do not constitute the minimum practicable reg- 20 ulation to accomplish a legitimate State or local pur- 21 pose. Commission policy has been and is to require 22 States and localities to permit erection of a station 23 antenna structure at heights and dimensions suffi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H466.IH H466 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 466 IH cient to accommodate amateur service communica- 1 tions. 2 (5) The Commission has sought guidance and 3 direction from Congress with respect to the applica- 4 tion of the Commission’s limited preemption policy 5 regarding amateur service communications to private 6 land use restrictions, including restrictive covenants. 7 (6) There are aesthetic and common property 8 considerations that are uniquely applicable to private 9 land use regulations and the community associations 10 obligated to enforce covenants, conditions, and re- 11 strictions in deed-restricted communities. These con- 12 siderations are dissimilar to those applicable to State 13 law and local ordinances regulating the same resi- 14 dential amateur radio facilities. 15 (7) In recognition of these considerations, a 16 separate Federal policy than exists at section 17 97.15(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, is 18 warranted concerning amateur service communica- 19 tions in deed-restricted communities. 20 (8) Community associations should fairly ad- 21 minister private land use regulations in the interest 22 of their communities, while nevertheless permitting 23 the installation and maintenance of effective outdoor 24 amateur radio antennas. There exist antenna de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H466.IH H466 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 466 IH signs and installations that can be consistent with 1 the aesthetics and physical characteristics of land 2 and structures in community associations while ac- 3 commodating communications in the amateur radio 4 services. 5 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF PRIVATE LAND USE RESTRIC- 6 TIONS TO AMATEUR STATIONS. 7 (a) AMENDMENT OF FCC RULES.—Not later than 8 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 9 Federal Communications Commission shall amend section 10 97.15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, by adding 11 a new paragraph that prohibits the application to amateur 12 stations of any private land use restriction, including a 13 restrictive covenant, that— 14 (1) on its face or as applied, precludes commu- 15 nications in an amateur radio service; 16 (2) fails to permit a licensee in an amateur 17 radio service to install and maintain an effective out- 18 door antenna on property under the exclusive use or 19 control of the licensee; or 20 (3) does not constitute the minimum practicable 21 restriction on such communications to accomplish 22 the lawful purposes of a community association seek- 23 ing to enforce such restriction. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H466.IH H466 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 466 IH (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In amending its 1 rules as required by subsection (a), the Commission 2 shall— 3 (1) require any licensee in an amateur radio 4 service to notify and obtain prior approval from a 5 community association concerning installation of an 6 outdoor antenna; 7 (2) permit a community association to prohibit 8 installation of any antenna or antenna support 9 structure by a licensee in an amateur radio service 10 on common property not under the exclusive use or 11 control of the licensee; and 12 (3) subject to the standards specified in para- 13 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), permit a com- 14 munity association to establish reasonable written 15 rules concerning height, location, size, and aesthetic 16 impact of, and installation requirements for, outdoor 17 antennas and support structures for the purpose of 18 conducting communications in the amateur radio 19 services. 20 SEC. 4. AFFIRMATION OF LIMITED PREEMPTION OF STATE 21 AND LOCAL LAND USE REGULATION. 22 The Federal Communications Commission may not 23 change section 97.15(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H466.IH H466 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 466 IH lations, which shall remain applicable to State and local 1 land use regulation of amateur service communications. 2 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION.—The term 5 ‘‘community association’’ means any non-profit man- 6 datory membership organization composed of owners 7 of real estate described in a declaration of covenants 8 or created pursuant to a covenant or other applica- 9 ble law with respect to which a person, by virtue of 10 the person’s ownership of or interest in a unit or 11 parcel, is obligated to pay for a share of real estate 12 taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance, improve- 13 ment, services, or other expenses related to common 14 elements, other units, or any other real estate other 15 than the unit or parcel described in the declaration. 16 (2) TERMS DEFINED IN REGULATIONS.—The 17 terms ‘‘amateur radio services’’, ‘‘amateur service’’, 18 and ‘‘amateur station’’ have the meanings given 19 such terms in section 97.3 of title 47, Code of Fed- 20 eral Regulations. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H466.IH H466 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS