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ATF seeks expansion to regulate Easy Access™ reloads |
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1998 Archived News by Tripoli Rocketry Association
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Wednesday, October 28, 1998 |
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Columbus, Ohio, USA -- In a communication posted on the Compuserve Sport Rocketry Forum, Bruce Kelly, President of the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA), addressed a situation regarding existing regulation that could have far-reaching effects on the rocketry hobby.
At the recent NFPA meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Rocketry Task Force of the NFPA's Committee on Pyrotechnics met with representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to discuss proposals that had been published in the Federal Register on August 24, 1998. The proposals, if adopted, would regulate all motors larger than "F" impulse as well as all motors in the "Easy Access" category. According to Kelly, this action is being driven by a directive for all federal agencies to agree with each other from a regulatory perspective. The CPSC has defined "model rocketry" to end with "F" impulse and defined "high power rocketry" to begin with "G" impulse. Therefore, it is the intention of the ATF to take this same position.
While this will have an impact on high power rocketry, it will have a much larger impact on model rocketry. It also means that all the rules for licensing and storage will now apply to all motors larger than "F" as well as all reloadable motors classified as "Easy Access." According to Kelly, the reason that "Easy Access" motors are falling into this category is for two reasons: 1) first by impulse (like the "G") and 2) by "intended" use. If the intention is to ship six (6) propellant grains which will "stack" to make an assembled "J" motor, each grain will be regulated as if it were a "J" motor. The key word here is "intent."
A meeting has been tentatively scheduled in Washington, DC to see if this situation can be changed in any degree. Representatives from the National Association of Rocketry, the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the industry trade association, High Power Rocketry Manufacturers and Dealers Association, will meet with representatives from the CPSC, DOT, and ATF in November. |
