Dear Colleagues: The attached notice was posted by EEGS today and may be of some concern to you.
Regards Ken Witherly ----------------- The attached release should be of concern to the entire EEGS membership. The release is a notice of action that the FCC is planning to take regarding Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Technology. The possible action will govern the use of UWB, and as a result, the use of ground penetrating radar systems. The likely FCC action (from what we know about it at the moment) could adversely affect the practice of many of our members. As you can see from the attached, it appears the law will ban any devices that operate between 960MHz and 3.1GHz, and will require licensing of operators from 960MHz and below. At present, it appears that consultants or private-sector geophysicists would not be qualified users of GPR instrumentation. Some EEGS and NSG members have been very involved with this issue for many months, and some had provided input to the FCC on this issue before this likely action, so it is not clear whether our voice has been or was ever considered. Several GPR scientists and practitioners have been involved with this issue for many months. It will soon be time for all of us to be involved, or face the consequences of inaction. I have included the comments from several of our members who have done some recent investigation, including Ron Kauffman and Doria Kutrubes. According to Doria: "These regulations will directly effect all ground penetrating radar manufacturers and all geophysical service providers who use GPR, and ultimately any geoscientist and engineer who rely on such technology for solving engineering, infrastructure/transportation, environmental, and hydrogeologic problems. The total ban from 960 MHz to 3.1 GHz will severely impair our ability to locate voids beneath runways and pavement, find areas of deterioration and delamination on bridges, and locate electrical conduits in slabs. It will prevent us from helping law enforcement agencies from locating burials beneath concrete and from verifying the amount of asphalt materials for which the government was charged. Another, more subtle requirement of "eligible for part 90" licensing, will present a lot of trouble for the current radar manufacturers--GSSI (owned by Oyo Corporation of Japan) and Sensors and Software (Canada). This provision will require U.S. Citizenship and/or no more than 20% foreign ownership. Putting the manufacturers out of business will also negatively impact U.S. Owned small businesses." >From Ron, following discussions with the FCC folks: 1. The rule has not been officially released yet; it will in the next few weeks. 2. We are not in a comment period, and there will not be a new comment period. Our comments should have been made before the rule was adopted. 3. After the rule has been officially released, there is a 30 day period in which to file a "Petition for Reconsideration". This petition is sent to the Secretary of the FCC referencing the rule (Docket # 98-153). The petition must state that the FCC failed to consider technical aspects in making their ruling, or are wrong about facts presented in their ruling. 4. EEGS must draft this petition and specifically target the facts presented in the ruling. We can't draft an official response yet, since we don't have the ruling, but we can start putting together some verbiage based on the news release. 5. According to John Reed, we have an uphill fight since they were instructed that ALL devices operating in the regulated frequency range must conform to FCC rules and regulations. It really does not sound good, but we can't give up yet. 6. We must have other organizations submit a similar petition (SEG, AGU, others?)." When the rule comes out, we will need a multi-pronged response. Obviously, formal responses must be submitted by the society and sister societies. Additionally, our members should file individual petitions. We need to mobilize key leaders in other government agencies to provide support or a response. For example, a statement of support by Dr. Groat as Director of the USGS, or key folks practicing geophysics at the EPA, and others would help our cause as well. We also need to mobilize our Congressmen and Senators with this issue, and get them on our side quickly and actively, as well as the media, perhaps. The FCC's regulations will negatively impact a lot of businesses and could arguably threaten National safety. Using the FCC timetable, they predict that these regulations will go into effect 30-60 days after their final report is submitted in the next couple of weeks. For more information, people should check out <http://www.g-p-r.com> and follow links to the FCC site. For links to your Congress people, use: <http://www.senate.gov/> for the Senate and for your Representatives please use: <http://www.house.gov/>. Thanks in advance for your participation. It will be critical! John J. Nicholl EEGS Past President off - (303) 740-2668, fax - (303) 694-3946 [EMAIL PROTECTED] NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News media information 202 / 418-0500 TTY: 1-888-835-5322 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.gov This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 14, 2002 NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: David Fiske at (202) 418-0513 NEW PUBLIC SAFETY APPLICATIONS AND BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS AMONG USES ENVISIONED BY FCC AUTHORIZATION OF ULTRA-WIDEBAND TECHNOLOGY Washington, D.C. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) adopted today a First Report and Order that permits the marketing and operation of certain types of new products incorporating ultra-wideband ("UWB") technology. UWB technology holds great promise for a vast array of new applications that have the potential to provide significant benefits for public safety, businesses and consumers in a variety of applications such as radar imaging of objects buried under the ground or behind walls and short-range, high-speed data transmissions. UWB devices operate by employing very narrow or short duration pulses that result in very large or wideband transmission bandwidths. With appropriate technical standards, UWB devices can operate using spectrum occupied by existing radio services without causing interference, thereby permitting scarce spectrum resources to be used more efficiently. This First Report and Order ("Order") includes standards designed to ensure that existing and planned radio services, particularly safety services, are adequately protected. The FCC will act vigorously to enforce the rules and act quickly on any reports of interference. The standards adopted today represent a cautious first step with UWB technology. These standards are based in large measure on standards that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA") believes are necessary to protect against interference to vital federal government operations. Since there is no production UWB equipment available and there is little operational experience with the impact of UWB on other radio services, the Commission chose in this First Report and Order to err on the side of conservatism in setting emission limits when there were unresolved interference issues. The Commission intends within the next six to twelve months to review the standards for UWB devices and issue a further notice of proposed rule making to explore more flexible standards and address the operation of additional types of UWB operations and technology. Imaging Systems: Provides for the operation of GPRs and other imaging devices under Part 15 of the Commission's rules subject to certain frequency and power limitations. The operators of imaging devices must be eligible for licensing under Part 90 of our rules, except that medical imaging devices may be operated by a licensed health care practitioner. At the request of NTIA, the FCC will notify or coordinate with NTIA prior to the operation of all imaging systems. Imaging systems include: Ground Penetrating Radar Systems: GPRs must be operated below 960 MHz or in the frequency band 3.1-10.6 GHz. GPRs operate only when in contact with or within close proximity of, the ground for the purpose of detecting or obtaining the images of buried objects. The energy from the GPR is intentionally directed down into the ground for this purpose. Operation is restricted to law enforcement, fire and rescue organizations, to scientific research institutions, to commercial mining companies, and to construction companies. Wall Imaging Systems: Wall-imaging systems must be operated below 960 MHz or in the frequency band 3.1-10.6 GHz. Wall-imaging systems are designed to detect the location of objects contained within a "wall," such as a concrete structure, the side of a bridge, or the wall of a mine. Operation is restricted to law enforcement, fire and rescue organizations, to scientific research institutions, to commercial mining companies, and to construction companies. Through-wall Imaging Systems: These systems must be operated below 960 MHz or in the frequency band 1.99-10.6 GHz. Through-wall imaging systems detect the location or movement of persons or objects that are located on the other side of a structure such as a wall. Operation is limited to law enforcement, fire and rescue organizations. Medical Systems: These devices must be operated in the frequency band 3.1-10.6 GHz. A medical imaging system may be used for a variety of health applications to "see" inside the body of a person or animal. Operation must be at the direction of, or under the supervision of, a licensed health care practitioner. Surveillance Systems: Although technically these devices are not imaging systems, for regulatory purposes they will be treated in the same way as through-wall imaging and will be permitted to operate in the frequency band 1.99-10.6 GHz. Surveillance systems operate as "security fences" by establishing a stationary RF perimeter field and detecting the intrusion of persons or objects in that field. Operation is limited to law enforcement, fire and rescue organizations, to public utilities and to industrial entities. Vehicular Radar Systems: Provides for the operation of vehicular radar systems in the 24 GHz band using directional antennas on terrestrial transportation vehicles provided the center frequency of the emission and the frequency at which the highest radiated emission occurs are greater than 24.075 GHz. These devices are able to detect the location and movement of objects near a vehicle, enabling features such as near collision avoidance, improved airbag activation, and suspension systems that better respond to road conditions. Communications and Measurement Systems: Provides for use of a wide variety of other UWB devices, such as high-speed home and business networking devices as well as storage tank measurement devices under Part 15 of the Commission's rules subject to certain frequency and power limitations. The devices must operate in the frequency band 3.1-10.6 GHz. The equipment must be designed to ensure that operation can only occur indoors or it must consist of hand-held devices that may be employed for such activities as peer-to-peer operation. Action by the Commission February 14, 2002, by First Report and Order (FCC 02-48). Chairman Powell, Commissioners Abernathy, Copps and Martin, with Commissioners Abernathy, Copps and Martin issuing separate statements. Staff Contacts for First Report and Order: Julius Knapp, Telephone: (202) 418-2468, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or John Reed, Telephone: (202) 418-2455, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________ List archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
