[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11691-11692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04369]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Return Link Service Authorization in the United States Search and 
Rescue Region

AGENCY: National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service 
(NESDIS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (US 
SARSAT) Program, which is managed by NOAA and assisted by the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. 
Coast Guard, is announcing the authorization of the coding and use of 
Return Link Service equipped 406 MHz Satellite Personal Locator Beacons 
(PLBs) and 406 MHz Satellite Emergency Position Indicating Radio 
Beacons (EPIRBs) within the United States Search and Rescue Region.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SARSAT Program Analyst, Mr. Allan 
Knox, NOAA, [email protected], 301-817-4144.
    Background: The US SARSAT Program requested input from all 
interested persons on the U.S.

[[Page 11692]]

authorization of Return Link Service (RLS) acknowledgment Type 1 
capable Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz distress beacons. Specifically, through 
Request for Information (RFI) notices published in the Federal Register 
on February 8, 2021 (86 FR 8598) and March 17, 2021 (86 FR 14595), the 
SARSAT Program sought the public's views on the inclusion of this 
optional RLS feature on U.S. country-coded beacons. The US SARSAT 
Program received 3 responses from the public to the RFI notices. Based 
on consideration of these responses, the addressing of several 
requirements requested by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force, and 
the update of the Standards for 406 MHz Satellite Personal Locator 
Beacons (PLBs) and 406 MHz Satellite Emergency Position Indicating 
Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), the US SARSAT Program is authorizing the coding 
and use of Return Link Service equipped PLBs and EPIRBS beacons within 
the United States Search and Rescue Region. These RLS enabled beacons 
will be legal for sale and use upon the publishing of Radio Technical 
Commission for Maritime services 11010.4 Standard for 406 MHz Satellite 
Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs). Due to the nature of their 
installation, RLS is currently not authorized for use in aviation 
Emergency Locator Transmitters.
    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 883(d) and (e).

    Dated: February 25, 2022.
Mark W. Turner,
SARSAT Program Manager.
[FR Doc. 2022-04369 Filed 3-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-HR-P