[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1685 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1685

 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to extend to private 
land use restrictions its rule relating to reasonable accommodation of 
                    amateur service communications.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 25, 2015

 Mr. Wicker (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to extend to private 
land use restrictions its rule relating to reasonable accommodation of 
                    amateur service communications.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than 700,000 radio amateurs in the United States 
        are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission in the 
        amateur radio service.
            (2) Amateur radio, at no cost to taxpayers, provides a 
        fertile ground for technical self-training in modern 
        telecommunications, electronics technology, and emergency 
        communications techniques and protocols.
            (3) There is a strong Federal interest in the effective 
        performance of amateur radio stations established at the 
        residences of licensees. Such stations have been shown to be 
        frequently and increasingly precluded by unreasonable private 
        land use restrictions, including restrictive covenants.
            (4) Federal Communications Commission regulations have for 
        3 decades prohibited the application to amateur radio stations 
        of State and local regulations that preclude or fail to 
        reasonably accommodate amateur service communications, or that 
        do not constitute the minimum practicable regulation to 
        accomplish a legitimate State or local purpose. Commission 
        policy has been and is to permit erection of a station antenna 
        structure at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate 
        amateur service communications.
            (5) The Federal Communications Commission has sought 
        guidance and direction from Congress with respect to the 
        application of the Commission's limited preemption policy 
        regarding amateur radio communications to private land use 
        restrictions, including restrictive covenants.

SEC. 3. ACCOMMODATION OF AMATEUR SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall amend section 97.15(b) 
of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, so that such section 
prohibits application to amateur service communications of any private 
land use restriction, including a restrictive covenant, that--
            (1) precludes such communications;
            (2) fails to reasonably accommodate such communications; or
            (3) does not constitute the minimum practicable restriction 
        on such communications to accomplish the legitimate purpose of 
        the private entity seeking to enforce such restriction.
                                 <all>