Justification for change

JUSTIFCATION FOR CHANGE
EMERGENCY BEACON REGISTRATIONS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0295

NOAA operates and maintains the United States 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database System.
Persons buying 406 MHz emergency radio beacons are required to register them with NOAA prior
to installation. These requirements are contained in Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
regulations at 47 CFR 80.1061, 47 CFR 87.199 and 47 CFR 95.1402.
The system allows beacons owners to register their 406 MHz emergency distress beacon online or by
mailing/faxing registration forms to the appropriate location. Four registration forms are used to allow
the public to register their 406 MHz emergency radio beacons with NOAA. The EPIRB (Emergency
Position Indicating Radio Beacon) form is used for nautical beacons. The ELT (Emergency Locator
Transmitter) form is used for aircraft beacons. The PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) is used to register
portable beacons carried by individuals. Ship Security Alerting System (SSAS) beacons are carried
aboard ships, similar to EPIRBs and are used in the event of an emergency situation such as piracy or
terrorism. All forms include contact information (for both owner/operator and emergency contact),
descriptive material of the element in distress, and other information deemed useful to Search and
Rescue (SAR) authorities.
These forms have been revised to address recommendations received from a NOAA Independent
Review Team for enhancing existing controls and/or introducing new controls to ensure the accuracy of
beacon registration information. The changes include providing space for a pre-printed label (to be
supplied by beacon manufacturers at time of sale), separating the space reserved for the beacon ID
(unique identification number) into three groups of five characters, additional categories to allow the
owner/operator to more clearly identify the reason for submitting the form (i.e., new registration,
change of ownership, etc.) and additional descriptive categories to provide details of the element in
distress. All changes on the forms are highlighted in yellow.
It is imperative that the registration forms be understandable and straightforward to aid the
owner/operator in accurately providing the necessary information. The changes described above are
aimed at enhancing the accuracy of the registration data for the sole purpose of providing SAR
authorities with the best possible information to facilitate a rescue.
There is no additional time burden for completion of the changed forms. The average response time
per registration remains 15 minutes or less.