Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB459 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 459
5	5	To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the application of
6	6	certain private land use restrictions to amateur station antennas, and
7	7	for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	FEBRUARY6 (legislative day, FEBRUARY5), 2025
10	10	Mr. W
11	11	ICKER(for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill;
12	12	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
13	13	Science, and Transportation
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the
16	16	application of certain private land use restrictions to
17	17	amateur station antennas, and for other purposes.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amateur Radio Emer-4
22	22	gency Preparedness Act’’. 5
23	23	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
24	24	Congress finds the following: 7
25	25	(1) More than 770,000 amateur operators in 8
26	26	the United States are licensed by the Federal Com-9
27	27	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
28	28	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
29	29	•S 459 IS
30	30	munications Commission (in this section referred to 1
31	31	as the ‘‘Commission’’) in the amateur radio services, 2
32	32	and, by treaty, amateur operators licensed by other 3
33	33	countries are authorized to operate within the 4
34	34	United States. 5
35	35	(2) Amateur radio, in addition to providing life- 6
36	36	saving emergency communications at no cost to tax-7
37	37	payers, provides a fertile ground for technical self- 8
38	38	training in modern telecommunications, electronics 9
39	39	technology, and emergency communications tech-10
40	40	niques and protocols. 11
41	41	(3) There is a strong Federal interest in the ef-12
42	42	fective performance of amateur stations established 13
43	43	at the residences of amateur operators. Among other 14
44	44	reasons, when an emergency arises, it can be too 15
45	45	late, and too dangerous, to erect an effective an-16
46	46	tenna. However, amateur stations have been shown 17
47	47	to be frequently and increasingly precluded by un-18
48	48	reasonable private land use restrictions, including re-19
49	49	strictive covenants. 20
50	50	(4) Commission regulations have for more than 21
51	51	3 decades prohibited State and local regulation of 22
52	52	amateur station antenna structures that precludes 23
53	53	or fails to reasonably accommodate amateur service 24
54	54	communications, or that does not constitute the min-25
55	55	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
56	56	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
57	57	•S 459 IS
58	58	imum practicable regulation to accomplish a legiti-1
59	59	mate State or local purpose. The policy of the Com-2
60	60	mission has been and is to require States and local-3
61	61	ities to permit erection of a station antenna struc-4
62	62	ture at heights and dimensions sufficient to reason-5
63	63	ably accommodate amateur service communications. 6
64	64	The Commission struck an appropriate balance by 7
65	65	enabling effective use of the amateur service without 8
66	66	burdening localities and adjoining properties. 9
67	67	(5) The Commission has sought guidance and 10
68	68	direction from Congress with respect to the applica-11
69	69	tion of the Commission’s limited preemption policy 12
70	70	regarding amateur service communications to private 13
71	71	land use restrictions, including restrictive covenants. 14
72	72	(6) In section 207 of the Telecommunications 15
73	73	Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 303 note; Public Law 104– 16
74	74	104), Congress provided guidance, direction, and au-17
75	75	thority to the Commission by directing the Commis-18
76	76	sion to promulgate regulations that have preempted 19
77	77	all private land use restrictions applicable to exterior 20
78	78	communications facilities that impair the ability of 21
79	79	citizens to receive television broadcast signals, direct 22
80	80	broadcast satellite services, or multichannel 23
81	81	multipoint distribution services, or to transmit and 24
82	82	receive wireless internet services. 25
83	83	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
84	84	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
85	85	•S 459 IS
86	86	(7) To further the public interest benefits that 1
87	87	amateur radio brings to society, private land use re-2
88	88	strictions that prohibit, restrict, or impair amateur 3
89	89	operators from operating, installing, or maintaining 4
90	90	effective outdoor amateur station antenna structures 5
91	91	should also be preempted. 6
92	92	SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF PRIVATE LAND USE RESTRIC-7
93	93	TIONS TO AMATEUR STATION ANTENNAS. 8
94	94	(a) I
95	95	NGENERAL.—Part I of title III of the Commu-9
96	96	nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 10
97	97	by adding at the end the following: 11
98	98	‘‘SEC. 346. APPLICATION OF PRIVATE LAND USE RESTRIC-12
99	99	TIONS TO AMATEUR STATION ANTENNAS. 13
100	100	‘‘(a) D
101	101	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14
102	102	‘‘(1) A
103	103	MATEUR OPERATOR .—The term ‘amateur 15
104	104	operator’— 16
105	105	‘‘(A) has the meaning given such term in 17
106	106	section 97.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regu-18
107	107	lations, or any successor regulation; and 19
108	108	‘‘(B) includes any other person authorized 20
109	109	to operate an amateur station in the United 21
110	110	States. 22
111	111	‘‘(2) A
112	112	MATEUR STATION.—The term ‘amateur 23
113	113	station’ has the meaning given such term in section 24
114	114	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
115	115	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
116	116	•S 459 IS
117	117	97.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 1
118	118	successor regulation. 2
119	119	‘‘(3) A
120	120	NTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ in-3
121	121	cludes— 4
122	122	‘‘(A) the transmitting and receiving ele-5
123	123	ments; 6
124	124	‘‘(B) any feedline, control enclosures, or 7
125	125	electrical enclosures necessary for effective 8
126	126	transmission or reception; and 9
127	127	‘‘(C) any support structure, guy wire, an-10
128	128	chor, or tie-off. 11
129	129	‘‘(4) C
130	130	OMMUNITY ASSOCIATION .—The term 12
131	131	‘community association’ means— 13
132	132	‘‘(A) a condominium association (as de-14
133	133	fined in section 604 of the Condominium and 15
134	134	Cooperative Abuse Relief Act of 1980 (15 16
135	135	U.S.C. 3603)); 17
136	136	‘‘(B) a cooperative association (as defined 18
137	137	in such section); and 19
138	138	‘‘(C) a residential real estate management 20
139	139	association (as defined in section 528 of the In-21
140	140	ternal Revenue Code of 1986). 22
141	141	‘‘(5) L
142	142	ESSEE.—The term ‘lessee’ means a per-23
143	143	son who, in exchange for payment— 24
144	144	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
145	145	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
146	146	•S 459 IS
147	147	‘‘(A) takes temporary possession of resi-1
148	148	dential real estate through a lease; or 2
149	149	‘‘(B) takes possession, in whole or in part, 3
150	150	by lease or purchase, of residential real estate 4
151	151	subject to a ground lease. 5
152	152	‘‘(6) P
153	153	RIVATE LAND USE RESTRICTION .—The 6
154	154	term ‘private land use restriction’ means— 7
155	155	‘‘(A) a publicly recorded provision (whether 8
156	156	such provision is denoted as a covenant, deed 9
157	157	restriction, declaration, use restriction, covenant 10
158	158	that runs with the land, or otherwise) that— 11
159	159	‘‘(i) touches or concerns the real es-12
160	160	tate to which the provision applies; and 13
161	161	‘‘(ii) limits or restricts the use of the 14
162	162	real estate or imposes conditions on the 15
163	163	use of the real estate; or 16
164	164	‘‘(B) a rule or regulation of a community 17
165	165	association, whether publicly recorded or not, 18
166	166	that limits or restricts the use of real estate or 19
167	167	imposes conditions on the use of real estate. 20
168	168	‘‘(b) C
169	169	ERTAINRESTRICTIONSPROHIBITED.—A pri-21
170	170	vate land use restriction that prohibits, restricts, or im-22
171	171	pairs, or has the effect of prohibiting, restricting, or im-23
172	172	pairing, an amateur operator from operating, installing, 24
173	173	or maintaining any amateur station antenna on property 25
174	174	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
175	175	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
176	176	•S 459 IS
177	177	subject to the control of the amateur operator may not 1
178	178	be adopted or enforced, except as permitted by subsection 2
179	179	(c). 3
180	180	‘‘(c) P
181	181	ERMISSIBLERESTRICTIONS.— 4
182	182	‘‘(1) I
183	183	N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 5
184	184	the following private land use restrictions applicable 6
185	185	to amateur station antennas may be adopted or en-7
186	186	forced: 8
187	187	‘‘(A) A restriction that requires an ama-9
188	188	teur station antenna to be installed in compli-10
189	189	ance with the specifications of the manufacturer 11
190	190	of the antenna, applicable zoning ordinances, 12
191	191	amateur radio tower ordinances (if any), and 13
192	192	governmentally adopted building codes. 14
193	193	‘‘(B) A restriction that requires an ama-15
194	194	teur station antenna to be maintained in a 16
195	195	structurally safe condition. 17
196	196	‘‘(C) A restriction that requires any dete-18
197	197	riorated or structurally unsafe component of an 19
198	198	amateur station antenna to be repaired, re-20
199	199	placed, or removed. 21
200	200	‘‘(D) A restriction that requires an ama-22
201	201	teur station antenna to be removed if the prop-23
202	202	erty on which the antenna is located ceases to 24
203	203	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
204	204	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
205	205	•S 459 IS
206	206	be subject to the control of an amateur oper-1
207	207	ator. 2
208	208	‘‘(E) A restriction that requires an ama-3
209	209	teur station antenna ground-mounted electrical 4
210	210	enclosure, ground-mounted control enclosure, or 5
211	211	guy wire anchor to be visually screened if such 6
212	212	enclosure or anchor— 7
213	213	‘‘(i) is visible from the street faced by 8
214	214	the dwelling; or 9
215	215	‘‘(ii) is located in an unfenced side or 10
216	216	rear yard and is visible from an adjoining 11
217	217	property. 12
218	218	‘‘(2) R
219	219	EASONABLE APPLICATION AND ENFORCE -13
220	220	MENT.—A private land use restriction permitted by 14
221	221	paragraph (1) shall be reasonably applied and en-15
222	222	forced. 16
223	223	‘‘(d) L
224	224	IMITATIONS ONPRIORAPPROVAL.— 17
225	225	‘‘(1) R
226	226	EQUIREMENT NOT PRESENT IN LAND 18
227	227	RECORDS AT TIME OF PURCHASE OR LEASE .—A re-19
228	228	quirement in a private land use restriction for an 20
229	229	amateur operator to obtain prior approval for the in-21
230	230	stallation of an amateur station antenna may not be 22
231	231	adopted or enforced if such requirement for prior 23
232	232	approval was not present in the publicly recorded 24
233	233	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
234	234	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
235	235	•S 459 IS
236	236	land records prior to the purchase or lease of the 1
237	237	property by the amateur operator. 2
238	238	‘‘(2) I
239	239	NFORMATION REQUIRED FOR PRIOR AP -3
240	240	PROVAL.—A private land use restriction that re-4
241	241	quires an amateur operator to submit an application 5
242	242	for approval of an amateur station antenna prior to 6
243	243	installation may not be adopted or enforced if the in-7
244	244	formation required to be submitted as part of the 8
245	245	application is greater or more detailed than the in-9
246	246	formation required to be submitted as part of an ap-10
247	247	plication for any other improvement. 11
248	248	‘‘(3) D
249	249	EEMED APPROVAL.—If a community as-12
250	250	sociation or other person authorized to enforce a pri-13
251	251	vate land use restriction applicable to an amateur 14
252	252	station antenna does not approve or deny an appli-15
253	253	cation of an amateur operator for approval of the in-16
254	254	stallation of an amateur station antenna by the day 17
255	255	that is 45 days after the date on which the applica-18
256	256	tion is submitted, the application shall be deemed to 19
257	257	be approved on the 45th day. 20
258	258	‘‘(4) E
259	259	XISTING APPROVAL.—If a private land 21
260	260	use restriction requires an amateur operator to sub-22
261	261	mit an application for approval of an amateur sta-23
262	262	tion antenna prior to installation, after a community 24
263	263	association or other person authorized to enforce the 25
264	264	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
265	265	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10
266	266	•S 459 IS
267	267	restriction approves the application, no further ap-1
268	268	proval of the antenna may be required, unless there 2
269	269	is a material change in the dimensions or structural 3
270	270	integrity of the antenna. 4
271	271	‘‘(e) A
272	272	NTENNASTHATDONOTREQUIREPRIORAP-5
273	273	PROVAL.—A requirement in a private land use restriction 6
274	274	for an amateur operator to obtain prior approval for the 7
275	275	installation of an amateur station antenna may not be 8
276	276	adopted or enforced with respect to any of the following 9
277	277	types of amateur station antennas: 10
278	278	‘‘(1) 1
279	279	METER OR LESS IN DIAMETER OR DI -11
280	280	AGONAL MEASUREMENT .—An antenna for use by an 12
281	281	amateur operator that is less than 1 meter in diame-13
282	282	ter or diagonal measurement, or having other meas-14
283	283	urements prescribed by the Commission. 15
284	284	‘‘(2) F
285	285	LAGPOLE ANTENNAS .—A flagpole, capa-16
286	286	ble of dual use as a flagpole and an amateur station 17
287	287	antenna, not greater than 43 feet in height above 18
288	288	ground. 19
289	289	‘‘(3) W
290	290	IRE ANTENNAS.—Minimally obtrusive 20
291	291	wire antennas, of a length necessary for the fre-21
292	292	quency of use intended. 22
293	293	‘‘(4) V
294	294	ERTICAL ANTENNAS.—Vertical antennas, 23
295	295	not to exceed 43 feet in height above ground, includ-24
296	296	ing collapsible whip and tilt-over antennas. 25
297	297	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
298	298	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11
299	299	•S 459 IS
300	300	‘‘(f) RULES OFCONSTRUCTION.— 1
301	301	‘‘(1) C
302	302	ONTROL OF PROPERTY .—For purposes of 2
303	303	this section, property is subject to the control of an 3
304	304	amateur operator if the amateur operator is an 4
305	305	owner, lessee, or legal resident of the property. 5
306	306	‘‘(2) I
307	307	MPAIRMENT OF INSTALLATION , MAINTE-6
308	308	NANCE, OR OPERATION.—For purposes of this sec-7
309	309	tion, a private land use restriction prohibits, re-8
310	310	stricts, or impairs the installation, maintenance, or 9
311	311	operation of an amateur station antenna if the re-10
312	312	striction— 11
313	313	‘‘(A) unreasonably delays or prevents in-12
314	314	stallation, maintenance, or operation of the an-13
315	315	tenna; 14
316	316	‘‘(B) unreasonably increases the costs or 15
317	317	difficulty of installation, maintenance, or oper-16
318	318	ation of the antenna; or 17
319	319	‘‘(C) prevents or degrades reception or 18
320	320	transmission of a signal acceptable to the ama-19
321	321	teur operator. 20
322	322	‘‘(3) L
323	323	IMITED COMMON AREA .— 21
324	324	‘‘(A) I
325	325	N GENERAL.—For purposes of this 22
326	326	section, if there exists, within the property for 23
327	327	which a community association is responsible, a 24
328	328	limited common area to which an amateur oper-25
329	329	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
330	330	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12
331	331	•S 459 IS
332	332	ator has the right to exclude use by others, the 1
333	333	limited common area shall be treated as prop-2
334	334	erty under the control of the amateur operator. 3
335	335	‘‘(B) P
336	336	ERMISSION ACCESS.—For purposes 4
337	337	of subparagraph (A), access by a community 5
338	338	association for roof repairs, landscaping, or 6
339	339	other maintenance activities shall be treated as 7
340	340	a permission, or authorized access, which does 8
341	341	not limit or destroy the control of the amateur 9
342	342	operator. 10
343	343	‘‘(g) E
344	344	NFORCEMENT.— 11
345	345	‘‘(1) S
346	346	TAY OF ENFORCEMENT .—If an action is 12
347	347	initiated to seek a declaratory ruling from the Com-13
348	348	mission or a court of competent jurisdiction regard-14
349	349	ing whether a private land use restriction complies 15
350	350	with this section, any community association or 16
351	351	other person seeking to enforce the restriction shall 17
352	352	suspend all enforcement efforts with respect to the 18
353	353	restriction until a ruling in the action has become 19
354	354	final. 20
355	355	‘‘(2) P
356	356	ROHIBITION ON ACCRUAL OF PENALTIES 21
357	357	OR OTHER COSTS.—No penalty or other cost related 22
358	358	to an amateur station antenna may accrue against 23
359	359	an amateur operator under a private land use re-24
360	360	striction while an action described in paragraph (1) 25
361	361	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
362	362	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13
363	363	•S 459 IS
364	364	is pending to determine whether the restriction com-1
365	365	plies with this section. 2
366	366	‘‘(3) B
367	367	URDEN OF PROOF.— 3
368	368	‘‘(A) R
369	369	EGARDING COMPLIANCE WITH THIS 4
370	370	SECTION.—In any action before the Commis-5
371	371	sion or a court of competent jurisdiction involv-6
372	372	ing the interpretation of any provision of this 7
373	373	section, the burden of demonstrating that a 8
374	374	particular private land use restriction complies 9
375	375	with this section shall be on the party that 10
376	376	seeks to impose, maintain, or enforce the re-11
377	377	striction. 12
378	378	‘‘(B) R
379	379	EGARDING VIOLATION OF PRIVATE 13
380	380	LAND USE RESTRICTION .—In any action before 14
381	381	the Commission or a court of competent juris-15
382	382	diction to determine whether an amateur sta-16
383	383	tion antenna violates a private land use restric-17
384	384	tion, the party alleging the violation bears the 18
385	385	burden of proof. 19
386	386	‘‘(h) P
387	387	RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.—A person harmed 20
388	388	by a violation of this section may bring an action against 21
389	389	the person alleged to have committed the violation in an 22
390	390	appropriate district court of the United States without 23
391	391	first exhausting remedies under State law. 24
392	392	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
393	393	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14
394	394	•S 459 IS
395	395	‘‘(i) AFFIRMATION OF LIMITEDPREEMPTION OF 1
396	396	S
397	397	TATE ANDLOCALLANDUSEREGULATION.—Nothing in 2
398	398	this section shall be construed to modify or otherwise limit 3
399	399	the applicability of section 97.15(b) of title 47, Code of 4
400	400	Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.’’. 5
401	401	(b) R
402	402	EGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 6
403	403	the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu-7
404	404	nications Commission shall promulgate regulations to im-8
405	405	plement the amendment made by subsection (a). 9
406	406	Æ
407	407	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S459.IS S459
408	408	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB