FCC's Blind Love of BPL Shot Down in US Court of Appeals Decision

The ARRL’s contention that the FCC was in violation putting BPL interests ahead of Licensees (including Amateur Radio) was support by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a landmark decision.

From the ARRL Press Release:

Court Finds FCC Violated Administrative Procedure Act in BPL Decision (Apr 25, 2008 ) — The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today released its decision on the ARRL’s Petition for Review of the FCC’s Orders adopting rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) systems. The Court said, “We grant the [ARRL's] petition in part and remand the rule to the Commission. The Commission failed to satisfy the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA“) by redacting studies on which it relied in promulgating the rule and failed to provide a reasoned explanation for its choice of the extrapolation factor for measuring Access BPL emissions.”

The decision of 38 pages of legalese can be found at:  http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200804/06-1343-1112979.pdf

Expect a “plain language” summary in the next few days from the ARRL.  EDIT – Here is the full ARRL Write-Up:  http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/04/25/10064/

Well done to the league as the interests of licensed Radio Amateurs everywhere have been solidly reaffirmed.

73

Steve

About these ads