SB QST @ ARL $ARLB019   
   ARLB019 FCC Eliminates Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Regulatory Fee   
      
   ZCZC AG19   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 19  ARLB019   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  May 26, 2015   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB019   
   ARLB019 FCC Eliminates Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Regulatory Fee   
      
   The FCC is eliminating the regulatory fee to apply for an Amateur   
   Radio vanity call sign. The change will not go into effect, however,   
   until required congressional notice has been given. This will take   
   at least 90 days. As the Commission explained in a Notice of   
   Proposed Rulemaking, Report and Order, and Order (MD Docket 14-92   
   and others), released May 21, it's a matter of simple economics.   
      
   "The Commission spends more resources on processing the regulatory   
   fees and issuing refunds than the amount of the regulatory fee   
   payment," the FCC said. "As our costs now exceed the regulatory fee,   
   we are eliminating this regulatory fee category. The current vanity   
   call sign regulatory fee is $21.40, the highest in several years.   
   The FCC reported there were 11,500 "payment units" in FY 2014 and   
   estimated that it would collect nearly $246,100.   
      
   In its 2014 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding the   
   assessment and collection of regulatory fees for FY 2014, the FCC   
   had sought comment on eliminating several smaller regulatory fee   
   categories, such as those for vanity call signs and GMRS. It   
   concluded in the subsequent Report and Order (R&O) last summer,   
   however, that it did not have "adequate support to determine whether   
   the cost of recovery and burden on small entities outweighed the   
   collected revenue or whether eliminating the fee would adversely   
   affect the licensing process."   
      
   The FCC said it has since had an opportunity to obtain and analyze   
   support concerning the collection of the regulatory fees for Amateur   
   Vanity and GMRS, which the FCC said comprise, on average, more than   
   20,000 licenses that are newly obtained or renewed, every 10 and 5   
   years, respectively.   
      
   "The Commission often receives multiple applications for the same   
   vanity call sign, but only one applicant can be issued that call   
   sign," the FCC explained. "In such cases, the Commission issues   
   refunds for all the remaining applicants. In addition to staff and   
   computer time to process payments and issue refunds, there is an   
   additional expense to issue checks for the applicants who cannot be   
   refunded electronically."   
      
   The Commission said that after it provides the required   
   congressional notification, Amateur Radio vanity program applicants   
   "will no longer be financially burdened with such payments, and the   
   Commission will no longer incur these administrative costs that   
   exceed the fee payments. The revenue that the Commission would   
   otherwise collect from these regulatory fee categories will be   
   proportionally assessed on other wireless fee categories."   
      
   The FCC said it would not issue refunds to licensees who paid the   
   regulatory fee prior to its official elimination.   
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   /EX   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   ... You can hold many degrees and still be an idiot.   
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