In Report and Order FCC 20-184, the FCC has set the amateur radio licensing fee at $35. It includes quite a bit of commentary on how it decided on that amount. In the R&O they noted, “We agree with commenters asserting this fee is too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these applications and therefore adopt a reduced amount of $35 fee for all personal license application fees.”

They also addressed some other concerns brought up by the nearly 4,000 people who commented on the amateur radio license fee. For example, they write:

“Numerous commenters suggest that amateur radio licenses should be exempted or are exempt under section 8(d)(1) of the Act. We disagree and note as a starting point that the Commission has no authority to create an exemption where none presently exists. Thus, if an exemption exists, it must be contained within the wording of section 8(d)(1) of the Act.61 None of the listed exemptions apply to exempt Amateur Radio Service licenses.”

Basically, what they are saying is that since Congress did not specifically exempt amateur radio, they cannot do it on their own.

The FCC also disagreed with the argument that the Amateur Radio Service should be exempt from fees because amateur radio operators provide emergency and public communications:

They also addressed the argument that it will discourage younger people and others who may not be able to afford the fee from entering the hobby:

“ARRL and many individual commenters additionally claim that the proposed fee will harm the public interest by discouraging people who are younger from becoming licensed or by causing people who are older and living on a fixed income to leave the service (depriving others of their skills and experience). These commenters explain that participation in the amateur radio service can be an entry point to science, technology, engineering, and math careers. They also note that amateur licensees have driven innovation in communications and other technologies. While we agree that participation in the Amateur Radio Service offers important public interest benefits, that determination does not alter our obligation under RAY BAUM’s Act to adopt cost-based fees for processing applications regarding non-exempt service.”

They also addressed the argument should this fee go into effect, the FCC should then use that money to provide better enforcement. They write:

“These commenters argue that if the Commission adopts application fees for the service, it should use the fees for the benefit of licensees, for example, by taking more robust enforcement actions against unlawful operators. While we appreciate the commenters’ diligent advocacy for their service, we remind them that the Commission does not have discretion on how to use application fees, which must be deposited in the U.S. Treasury.”

To address the arguments that the FCC's hands are tied with respect to imposing the fees and how the fees are to be used, the ARRL is going to gear up its lobbying effort. The next time a bill like this is in the works, someone is going to have to be looking out for amateur radio and ensure that specific language gets put into the bill. Unfortunately, that's how our system works when your interests are not very high on the priority list.

Download the entire Report & Order - https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-184A1.pdf